"As we all know, Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, and Xiang Yu, the overlord of Qin, were their respective kings, and after several years of conquest, Liu Bang finally established his Great Han Dynasty, which is the Western Han Dynasty."

"And Wang Mang was a political figure in the late Western Han Dynasty, originally a courtier, but in the end he seized the throne and established a new dynasty."

"Both of these two have an important influence on the history of the Western Han Dynasty, but one is standing and the other is broken."

"In the final analysis, there is a difference of two centuries between Wang Mang and Liu Bang, and there should be no connection, but there is a slight connection because of a legendary dream."

"If it's just a coincidence, a joke, but this joke is actually recorded in the "Historical Records", then this legend is not ordinary."

"The Han Dynasty lasted for more than 400 years, from 202 BC to 220 AD."

"And it was at a time of about two hundred years that Wang Mang killed Emperor Hanping and usurped the throne."

"From this point of view, the jokes and legends on Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty in the past, seem to be true, is Wang Mang really the reincarnation of the white snake under Liu Bang's sword?"

"Then it depends on everyone's imagination, I still have to look at the whole thing with ordinary eyes."

"Wang Mang was born in the period of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, and he was also the queen of the family in the late Western Han Dynasty."

"Wang Mang's aunt Wang Zhengjun is the queen mother of the dynasty, and the uncle of his family is also a high-ranking official in the Western Han Dynasty, so the family can be described as prosperous."

"Wang Zhengjun has been in the palace for more than a year, and Emperor Liu Xun of the Han Dynasty asked Empress Wang to select suitable palace maids in the harem to give to the prince."

"The queen picked five women, including Wang Zhengjun."

When the prince arrived at the palace, he was not interested in the five women, but did not want to disobey the will of the queen, so he said, "One of them can." ”

"At this time, because Wang Zhengjun sat closest to the prince and was dressed elegantly, everyone thought that the prince belonged to Wang Zhengjun, so they sent her to the East Palace, and Liu Zheng and Wang Zhengjun became husband and wife."

"The crown prince originally had more than ten concubines, but he had not been pregnant for many years, and after Wang Zhengjun became the crown princess, he became pregnant overnight, which made Emperor Xuan of Han very happy."

"In 51 BC, Wang Zhengjun gave birth to a son, and Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty personally named the emperor's grandson Liu Biao, the word Taisun, and always took it with him."

"In 48 BC, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty died, and Liu Zheng ascended the throne as the emperor, and he was the Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty."

"First crown Wang Zhengjun as Jieyu, and three days later promote her to queen."

"In 33 BC, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty died, and Liu Biao ascended the throne as the emperor, which was the Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, respected his mother Wang Zhengjun as the queen mother, his uncle Wang Feng as the general of the Great Sima, and his brother Wang Chong as the Marquis of Ancheng."

Later, on the same day, Wang Tan was named Ping Ahou, Wang Shang was Chengdu Hou, Wang Li was Hongyang Hou, Wang Gen was Quyang Hou, and Wang Fengshi was Gaoping Hou, known as the "Five Marquis". ”

"Although Wang Mang was born in such a family, his childhood was also a little bumpy, because his father died early, he did not have his father's shade, so he would naturally have a rough walk."

"Fortunately, he also has an uncle Wang Feng, who is the great Sima of the dynasty."

"When his uncle Wang Feng was seriously ill, Wang Mang tasted the decoction for him day and night, and took care of him, which naturally made Wang Feng pity this nephew very much."

"So before Wang Feng died, he exchanged his own resources for the opportunity for Wang Mang to be appreciated by Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty."

"Despite such an opportunity, Wang Mang still really joined the company in the year of his establishment."

"At that time, Wang Mang was named the new marquis, and served as the captain of the cavalry, the doctor of Guanglu, and finally became the emperor's bodyguard, which was the beginning of Wang Mang's appearance in the political arena of the Western Han Dynasty."

"In fact, even if Wang Mang was in a high position at this time, he was still frugal and honest, and he scattered all his family wealth, just to help the poor people, without the characteristics of a careerist, which really has nothing to do with the legend."

"In 8 BC, after the Great Sima Wang Gen fell seriously ill, Wang Mang, who was nearly forty years old, ascended to the high position of the Great Sima in the court, began to lean into power at home and abroad, and gradually revealed his ambitions."

"Wang Mang is indeed different from ordinary people who seek to usurp the throne, he does not have a reputation for being ruthless, or causing trouble to the government and the opposition, but some are in the name of filial piety and virtue, and his ascension to the throne was actually expected by everyone at the beginning."

"Wang Mang's high moral character can be seen from several aspects, such as filial piety to his mother, support for widowed sisters-in-law, raising nephews, and being courteous to others."

"When the power was in China and abroad, he was still fair and honest, and he also helped the poor people."

"With such a noble character, it is naturally in the government and the opposition, and among the common people, they have a very good reputation."

"Even when Wang Mang had not yet sought to usurp the throne, many people regarded him as the existence of a saint when the Duke of Zhou was alive."

"In fact, everything Wang Mang does is for ambition."

"Because at a time of corruption and social turmoil in the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang understood that his opportunity was coming, so he gathered a group of like-minded people to overthrow the Han Dynasty in one fell swoop and establish a new dynasty."

"How can it be so quickly revealed, how can there be no planning? How is it possible to say that he has no ambitions? The answer is no! ”

"Wang Mang has always been a saint in the reputation of the people, benevolent, and the people's hearts are naturally not worried."

"Wang Mang is indeed able to fully grasp the hearts of the people, he uses the psychology of the people, and after receiving support, he can still obey the will of the people."

Wang Mang also promoted the Confucian doctrine of "people-oriented" and relieved the people, so that his throne was naturally solid. ”

"It's just that Wang Mang is too idealistic after all, how can the social problems that have accumulated for a long time be solved overnight, and in the end, it was only ten years before he embarked on the road of destruction."

"In just 15 years, I have lost the world that I have conquered."

"There are two main social contradictions at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, one is that a large amount of land was annexed by the landlord Haoqiang, and the other is that a large number of peasants who lost their land became slaves of Haoqiang."

"These problems have become more and more serious since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the reason why Wang Mang was able to establish a new dynasty is because people have lost confidence in the rule of the Han Dynasty, and the common people hope that Wang Mang can solve these problems."

Wang Mang had long realized the seriousness of the problem, and immediately after taking the throne, he implemented two new policies, "Wang Tian" and "private belonging". ”

"Wang Tian" stipulates that all fields in the world belong to the imperial court, and private buying and selling are not allowed.

The original intention of this new policy was to stop the trend of peasants becoming slaves, so as to stop land annexation and the sale of slaves.

"In order to reduce the wealth of the rich and eliminate polarization, Wang Mang began to reform the currency system in 10 AD."

"He abolished the five-baht coin and introduced six categories of 28 currencies, which, like the two new policies of Wang Tian and his private family, showed Wang Mang's nerdy style and revealed that he could not govern the country at all."

(End of chapter)