The History of China - #24 - W. Han 2: Xiongnu to the Left of Me, Rebels to the Right...

Episode Date: June 2, 2014

The Han Dynasty is established by Liu Bang, who crowns himself it's first Emperor Gaozu. But though this is the beginning of a golden age for China, it get's off to a rough start, as to the north the steppe tribes have united into the terrifying Xiongnu Empire under the ancestor of Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan: Batur Chanyu. Within the empire itself, a murder-happy Empress Lü will inadvertently incite rebellions against her husband's rule. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast. you've made it this far and are still interested in what lies beyond, I hope you'll consider becoming our patron here at The History of China. Again, our Patreon address is www.patreon.com slash thehistoryofchina, or you can find that link as well as a direct PayPal link at thehistoryofchina.wordpress.com. Thank you very much, and enjoy the show. Hello, and welcome to the History of China. Episode 22, Xiongnu to the left of me, rebels to the right. And here Han is, stuck in the middle with Gaozu. Last time, we went over the four-year civil war between the kingdoms of Han and Chu to establish supremacy over China. This time, with the Han kingdom and its king Liu Bang successful after the climactic Battle of Gaixia, the interregnal period was ended with the establishment of the Han Dynasty in 202 BCE,

with Liubang enthroned as its emperor, Gaozhu. Though the previous dynasty had briefly unified the empire and left an indelible mark on the culture, language, and legal code of the nation far into the future, and again is literally why China begins with Qin, it was actually the Han dynasty that is in many respects the real MVP of the early imperial period. The dynasty's lasting influence is reflected, among other things, in the self-designated ethnonym of the supermajority people of China, who we've previously referred to as the Hua Xia, as well as the descendants of the Yan and Huang emperors, the Han people. Likewise, the written character system

is called Hanzi, somewhat ironic considering it was, you'll recall, the first emperor of Qin who unified the written system. History, however, like life, isn't always fair. Ultimately, the Han dynasty's claim to fame is its sheer longevity. In stark contrast to the 15-year historical hiccup that was the Qin, the Han will survive and thrive for more than four centuries, carrying us out of the BC era and up through the 3rd century AD-CE before finally meeting its end. Taken as a whole, the Han dynasty is widely considered to be one of China's greatest

golden ages, but as we'll quickly come to find, that certainly doesn't mean that everyone was out resting on their laurels, and the price of that golden era was often paid in blood. Liu Bang appropriated much from the Qin dynasty he had now officially replaced, beginning with his self-appointed promotion from regional king to emperor. Like the Qin emperors before him, he proclaimed himself Huangdi. Interestingly, most histories of the Han are careful to note that it was with some reluctance that Liu Bang accepted the title and took the imperial throne only at the insistent urgings of his subjects.

But he'd just spent four years waging non-stop war to establish dominance over the country, and had waged a rebellion for years prior to that. And now he's hemming and hawing over whether he should or shouldn't become the emperor? Not likely. A more realistic explanation is that, as would become standard practice among the Roman emperors that would supplant the Mediterranean Republic half a world away, and some 200-odd years from now, Leo was making a show of humility and refusing for the explicit reason of getting his followers to insist that he must. Oh no, I couldn't possibly be the emperor.

Surely there's someone more qualified. Oh, you all insist? Well, if I must. But only for the good of the empire. It's certainly not about the power and glory. No, no, no. It's for the good of the realm. Historically, Liubang is remembered as Emperor Gao or Emperor Gaozu. But it is important to keep in mind that, though I'll be speaking of him as though it was just his name that anyone might have called him on the street, nothing could in fact be further from the truth.

As with virtually all regnal names in Chinese history, Gaozu was only bestowed posthumously. In life, he would be referred to pretty much only by his title, or referenced as His Majesty or His Highness. After all, does a figure like the emperor need any more of a name than just that? It's not as though people would have been unsure which emperor was making proclamations at the time. Liu Bang's wife, Lu Zhi, was declared the first empress of China, and their son, Liu Ying, the crowned prince. That title, Lu was given, by the way, carried real political and even military weight. As the emperor was routinely called away from his seat of government to deal with crisis after crisis, he actually left his wife in charge of running the capital, along with the crown prince.

Though they were assisted by the imperial court officials, Empress Liu proved herself to be a competent administrator of domestic affairs, very capable of interfacing with the ministers of the empire on her husband's behalf, and more than willing to get her hands dirty in the pursuit of what she ruthlessly defined as justice. Believe me when I say that Empress Liu will play a huge role in the early life of the Han dynasty. First things first, though, Gaozong needed to establish a new capital, because if one thing was certain, it was that the former Han kingdom in Sichuan was no place to govern an entire empire. Never mind the enormous logistical challenges that would have been faced

in just getting to and from the far-flung province. Remember those deadly gallery roads through the mountains? But moreover, the imagery was all wrong. Governing the Yellow River Valley civilization from way, way outside of the Yellow River Valley? Not happening. Instead, Gaozu looked both to precedent and the balance of the universe itself, determining that the Han Empire's capital should be placed at the center of the heavens, the holy city of Chengzhou, from which the ancient Zhou dynasty had nominally reigned in the second half of its rule. The magical significance of the temple city, which had long housed the nine bronze cauldrons of authority, was believed to ensure a dynasty would last through the ages, like the Zhou, whose success

the Han had sought to emulate. Very quickly, though, it became obvious that whether or not it was the symbolic center of the universe, Chengzhou was definitely nowhere near the center of Gaozu's earthly empire. In practice, it was nearly as difficult to govern from Chengzhou as it might have been in Sichuan, and the military, economic, and population realities of the day dictated there could really only be one choice for a permanent capital, the one set up by the Qin, and the western Zhou before them, in what is modern Xi'an. And so, less than two years into his reign, he once again moved, this time forcibly compelling several thousand entire clans

within the military aristocracy to the chosen region. The rationale behind the forced march was twofold. First, in keeping with the old maxim of keeping friends close but enemies closer, it ensured that any potential rivals to power would be kept firmly in reach of the throne's justice in case they got any bright ideas. And secondly, it pooled the resources for the emperor to redirect

at the Xiongnu, whose borders fell uncomfortably close to the once and future capital city. Gaozu established his capital about three kilometers northwest of the modern city, calling it Chang'an, meaning constant peace. Gao Zhu's first public proclamations were the sort that politicians and populace alike always loves to hear. Read my lips, no new taxes. And unlike some others who have uttered such statements throughout history, the first emperor of Han actually followed through. Across the board, taxes were significantly lowered from their historic highs under the Qin and the additional burdens brought about through the interceding civil war.

He disbanded the weary Han armies and allowed them to largely return to their homes, while also issuing the order that those under the jurisdiction of his vassal kings would be fully exempt from taxation and official obligation for 12 years if they remained in the capital, and for six years if they returned to their respective prefectures. Those who had sold themselves or their families into slavery over the course of the war to avoid starvation were also proclaimed free. The legalistic bent the Qin had deeply instilled in their empire had also begun to lose sway with gao tzu over the course of his reign though like most of his contemporaries liaobang had ruled case that governing an entire nation through moral virtue was inherently superior to ruling through coercive laws. Gaozu found himself deeply impressed with the philosophy, and with his blessing, that school of thought that had long been officially suppressed was allowed to openly flourish once again. Eventually, it would supplant legalism entirely as the official philosophy of the Han state.

This is not to say, though, that the Han legal system was a total break from the precedence of Qin legal code. To the contrary, the vast majority of Han law, especially in the early dynasty, was lifted directly from the preceding dynasty, including the use of torture, summary executions, and execution via torture. Rather, it was pretty much just the Qin laws already on the books, but with some of the codes now relaxed and some of the penalties reduced. A kind of Qin-lite, now with 25% fewer executions. But far away from the goings-on of the imperial court life and legal reform,

on the far side of the Great Wall of Qin, trouble was brewing. Namely, the disparate plains tribes that had collectively been termed by their southern neighbor the Xiongnu. As individual bands, they had long been something between a thorn in the Chinese's side and a recurring boogeyman for those who lived along or near China's northern border. But all that had gone into overdrive when, in 209 BCE, the son of a tribal leader and brash young warrior called Moudun, or to desinicize the name to its Mongolian pronunciation, Batur or Bayatur, had ordered his own father, Chief Toluman, killed and inherited his rule. As the Chu-Han contention had raged to determine who would rule the Chinese Empire of the

Yellow River Valley, within the steppes of northern Asia, a new empire was being forged through blood and conquest, the Xiongnu Empire. It should be pointed out that Baator was not just the model, but the very prototype of what one thinks of when referencing the Hun or Mongol traced his origins to the conspicuously similar ancestor Borte Chino in a letter. According to Sima Qian, as a young man, his father had wanted another of his sons to inherit his mantle, and so sent the boy as a hostage to a rival people, listed as the Yuezhi.

Then, to eliminate his unwanted heir once and for all, he followed up by launching an attack on the Yuezhi just so that they would execute their hostage Ba Tuo. But the young man escaped on the back of the fastest horse he could find, and returned to his people a hero. As a reward for his show of bravery and daring escape, his would-be murderous father had no choice but to appoint him command of 10,000 horsemen. Young Batur now had the raw material from which to forge his revenge on his father, and began weeding out from his command all but the most absolutely loyal.

He devised a test in which he ordered each of his warriors to shoot Batur's favorite horses. Those who refused were given a pat on the back and sent home. Ha ha, just kidding. They were executed. Those who followed orders made it to round two. Next, Batur ordered his men to shoot his wives, which ended up being all of them but his very favorite. And again, any who would not, or even hesitated, were executed on the spot. Finally certain of their loyalty, he now ordered his elite contingent to prove their loyalty once more by knocking their arrows and firing on his own father and the warrior's chieftain.

None of them failed to follow orders, and atop the arrow-strewn corpse of dear old dad, Bator proclaimed himself Chanyu of the entire Xiongnu, thereafter executing anyone who either did not support his claim or was perceived to be a potential threat, including his half-brother and stepmother. The title of Chanyu is short for Chengli Gutu Chanyu, which is translated in its Chinese format as Child of the Open Sky, which you might compare to the Chinese emperor's title the Son of Heaven. Though there is more than circumstantial evidence

to suggest that this was a translation from the Mongolian, and please excuse my pronunciation as I speak Mandarin, not Mongolian, meaning Child of the Heavenly Wolf. And it should be noted that wolves, then and now, are sacred figures in Mongolian culture. By 203, he had forced all of the remaining Xiongnu clans to submit to his authority, and held control of what is today Mongolia, the Inner Mongolian, Western Manchurian, and Xinjiang provinces of modern China, Eastern Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. In terms of sheer landmass, the Xiongnu Empire dwarfed that of the Han,

and is indeed one of the largest in world history up to that point. In terms of population, however, it was a much different story. The harshness of the Asian steppes bred some of the roughest, toughest people on earth, but those same factors ensured that it didn't breed all that many of them. Still, Ba Tuo Chan Yu wasn't about to let a markedly smaller population get in the way of his goals. And in the year 200 BCE, he struck south with a mounted army of some 300,000 into central Shanxi to lay siege to its largest city, Taiyuan. Emperor Ga Zu responded to the renewed barbarian incursion by mobilizing his own Han imperial army to drive off the massed horse

warriors. Met with the numerical superiority of the Han, Ba Tuo Chanyu broke off his siege and retreated north, followed closely by Gaozu's forces. The pursuit continued into the borderlands of the Xiongnu Empire, to Baideng Plateau, an elevated formation with limited paths on or off. It was at Baideng where Baotou could use his mounted army's superior mobility and the land itself to nullify the Han's numerical advantage. By blocking the ways off of the plateau, the Xiongnu army was able to effectively surround and cut off their pursuers. The standoff would drag on for seven days until,

critically low on supplies, Gaozu accepted the advice of his commanders and sent an emissary to Ba Tuo Chanyu's wife, you know, the one he had not had filled with arrows. The Han emperor sent her precious gifts and asked that she convince her husband to lift the siege on the Han army so that they could return to their own lands. Mator was game, and the two forces entered into peace negotiations. But first, he demanded a show of respect from the Chinese diplomats sent to negotiate. As told in Duan Chengshi's 9th century Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang, according to the Book of Han, Wang Wu and others were sent as envoys to pay a visit to the Xiongnu. According to the customs of the Xiongnu,

if the Han envoys did not remove their tallies of authority, and if they did not allow their faces to be tattooed, they could not gain entry into the yurts. Wang Wu and his company removed their tallies, submitted to tattoo, and thus gained entry. The Chanyu looked upon them very highly." Suitably kowtowed too, the Chanyu stipulated his terms to the emperor's ambassadors. Han would recognize the legitimacy of the Xiongnu Empire as its coat equal, and their mutual border would be set along the existing boundary provided by the Great Wall of Qin. Each year, the Han Empire would send a tribute of silk, liquor, and rice to its northern counterpart, as well as sending noble women of the royal family to intermarry with the Xiongnu chieftains.

This policy, called Heqin, literally peace and kinship, would largely normalize relations between the two empires, and, while no means ending the Xiongnu's propensity to raid the occasional Han border town, would help to keep large-scale military invasions to a minimum for the following six decades. Literally, between a rock and a hard place, Emperor Gaozhu was in no position to bargain for better terms and accepted the conditions of peace. Bator Chanyu lifted his siege of the Han army and the Emperor was able to lead his men home, tail tucked firmly between his legs.

We'll now switch focus over to General Han Xin, who you'll remember as a hero of the Chu-Han contention, and now vassal king of both the Chu and, ever confusingly, Han kingdoms within the Han Empire. Han Xin was now second in power really only to Gaozu himself, and as such he would be just about the last guy one would expect to plot against his liege. But royal paranoia is a rather tricky thing. With his vast territories and people under his command, Han Qin was positioned just about exactly at the fulcrum point of the emergent Han dynasty,

and Gaozhu was ever more uncomfortable with that reality. The breaking point came in 202 BCE when Zhonglimo, one of the former generals under Xiangyu, the now-dead hegemon king of western Chu, came to Hanshin and requested refuge. Though General Zhongli was a wanted man by the Han government, since the two had long been friends, Hanshin agreed to protect Zhongli and let him stay at his house. When Emperor Gaozhu heard that the fugitive Zhonglimuo was hiding in Han Xin's fief, he ordered King Han to arrest him, but Han refused. Later that year, Gaozhu heard rumors that Han Xin was himself plotting a rebellion.

On the advice of his ministers, Gaozhu lured Han Xin into a trap on the pretext of ordering him to attend a meeting in Chen. Zhong Limu, feeling guilty about the trouble he had brought upon his own friend, committed suicide to prevent Han Xin from getting into even more trouble. Han Xin then brought Zhong Limu a severed head to the meeting with Gao Zu and proclaimed his innocence when confronted. But Gao Zu ordered Han to be arrested, and Han Xin exclaimed, Although Gaozu ended up pardoning Han Xin and later released him,

he still demoted Han from King of Chu to the mere Marquis of Huayin. Following his demotion, Han Xin had it pretty well figured that Gaozu no longer trusted him. Hence, he claimed to be ill and stayed at home most of the time to reduce the emperor's suspicions. In 196 BCE, Chen Xi, the Marquis of Yangxia, met with Han Xin before leaving for Julu, and requested Han's support in an uprising he was planning against the Han dynasty. Han Xin, however, declined to participate, citing his supposed ill health. Not long after, Chen Xi rebelled, and Emperor Gaozu personally led an army to suppress that rebellion. While the emperor was away, though, Empress Lu Zhi had heard rumors of Han Xin's involvement

in the rebellion, and she wasn't content with letting him off with a mere demotion. Under the pretext of inviting him to the imperial palace, she had Han Xin surprised en route, arrested, and executed on her own authority, and without consulting her husband. In legend, Gao Zhu had once promised Han Xin that if he faced heaven and stood firm on the earth, i.e. remained loyal to the Han dynasty, It seems oddly specific. And so, in an ironic keeping of the Letter of the King's Law, when she had Han Xin executed, the Empress ordered him hung by the arms inside a great bell and pierced to death with swords made from wood or bamboo.

As such, when he died, Han Xin was neither facing heaven, since his body was covered by the bell, nor standing firm on earth, because he was suspended inside the bell. And he wasn't killed with any weapon used by soldiers, because, of course, soldiers do not use wooden or bamboo swords. Along with the general, his mother, wife, and close relatives were also exterminated on the Empress's orders. Upon returning to his campaign, Gaozu expressed both glee and regret when he learned of Han Xin's death. A similar fate would meet one of the other Qu Han contention's leading generals, Peng Yue.

After quelling Chen Xi's rebellion, Emperor Gao Zu had heard disturbing rumors that Peng was also plotting against him. Gao Zu stripped Peng of his titles and lands, demoting him to mere commoner status, and thereafter exiled him to the remote backwater of Qingyi County in Sichuan. Once again, though, Empress Lu thought the ordained punishment not nearly severe enough, and again took it upon herself to mete out justice. She would travel along Peng Ye's route to Sichuan, meeting the disgraced former administrator on the road. Peng begged the Empress to take pity on him,

and at least allow him to return to his hometown in Shandong. Lu Zhi pretended to agree, and escorted Peng Yue toward his ancestral home. But upon arriving in the holy city Chengzhou, she ordered Peng Yue executed, his body mutilated and chopped into pieces, and then those pieces preserved in salt and sent to the other regional lords as a warning. And of course, Peng's family was also rounded up and executed. This horrifying purge of the upper echelons of the Han administration hadn't gone unnoticed by the other lords of the dynasty. Even if they'd remained in the dark before, salted chunks of pengyue arriving on their doorsteps courtesy of the Empress surely caught their attention. If war heroes like Han Xin and Peng Yue were being tortured and executed, and their family

lines exterminated, who could possibly think themselves safe from imperial wrath? Certainly not yet another prominent general of the Qu Han contention, and now vassal king of Huainan, Ying Bu. That's for sure. Upon learning of the gruesome fate of his peers in 196 BCE, Ying Bu, terrified he'd also end up as jerky, began amassing his forces and paying greater attention to the goings-on in Chang'an. Which, of course, made it seem like he maybe, just maybe, had something to hide.

It was around this time that, coincidentally, one of Ying's favorite concubines had taken ill and required medical treatment. She was sent to Ben He, a nearby physician and neighbor of a palace official. The concubine swiftly recovered, and yet continued to seek out Dr. Bun He for, um, treatment. Ying Bu would eventually find out that Bun was sending her expensive gifts, and the two having drinks at the physician's house. It seemed that medicine wasn't the only thing Bun He had been administering to the beautiful concubine. When Bun He heard his liege,

Ying Bu suspected him of playing doctor with his patient. He shut himself in his home, terrified of the likely consequences of being caught, and refused to answer the summons of Ying Bu. As Ying threatened to have the doctor arrested, in desperation, Ben He began lobbing accusations that Ying Bu was plotting rebellion against the emperor and fled to the imperial capital.

Though he urged the emperor to send his army and crush the, he swears, totally rebelling vassal king, Gao Zu wasn't all that convinced. He discussed the disturbing accusation with his chancellor, Xiao He, who replied, quote, Ying Bu wouldn't do this. I believe his enemies are trying to frame him please put ben he under custody first and then send people to investigate ying bu now it was the case that ying bu had been marshalling his forces in a way that wasn't likely to look good for him to the imperial investigators if you weren't plotting rebellion then what are all these soldiers doing milling around outside your castle, hmm? And with Empress Liu likely to swoop in and have him executed, even if he was officially found not guilty, there seemed precious few options. Figuring the game was up, Ying Bu went forward with his contingency plan.

He executed Bun He's family and expelled the investigators, declaring open rebellion. It is worth noting that as one of the greatest commanders still alive in his age, Yingwu didn't simply expect to make some glorious doomed last stand. He seemed to have liked his odds, and had boasted to his advisors, quote, the emperor is old and hates going to war. He'll definitely not come. Even if he sends any of his generals, among them only Han Xin and Peng Yue are dangerous, but since both of them are already dead, there's nothing to fear." His rebellion met with early successes, as he chose to strike first at the Chu,

Yue, and Changsha regions to the south and away from the capital. Chu prepared its armies, split into three forces, for the coming assault, but by engaging them only one at a time, Ying Bu was able to defeat one and cause the other two to simply give up and go home. But Ying had been wrong about the emperor, and though old and weary of war, Gao Zu was still at his heart General Liu Bang,

and he personally led his armies against his former vassal. The two forces met in modern Anhui province, at a place called Zui. As the two armies squared off against one another, Gaozu noticed that Ying Bu had gone the extra mile to thumb his nose at the emperor. He had deployed his forces in the favored formation of Gaozu's old enemy, the hegemon king of Chu, Xiang Yu. But when the two armies clashed, all the psych-out tactics in the world could not stop Ying Bu's rebel army from being slowly, but surely, driven back, eventually turning into a desperate rearguard retreat, ending with a flight across the Yangtze River and leaving only about 100 of Ying Bu's men alive. In the course of the battle, though, Ying Bu could at least take solace in the fact that

one of his archers had managed to strike Gao Zu directly with an arrow, severely wounding the emperor. At this point, Ying Bu's father-in-law, the king of Changsha, sent the at-rock-bottom general a lifeline, offering him refuge and passage to the southern Yue region beyond Gao Zu's grasp once and for all. Ying accepted the offer and followed the messenger back to Poyang. Once there, however, it became apparent that the lifeline was in fact a noose in disguise. He was betrayed by his father-in-law, King Ai, who saw every advantage in remaining in the Emperor's good graces and was publicly executed. And that was the end of that. His empire now, at last, secured against its major threats,

both internal and external. The aging Emperor Gaozu turned to deal with the question of who would eventually succeed him and continue the Han dynasty. His arrow wound sustained against Yingbu's rebel army was not healing well, and it was slowly becoming apparent that he might not ever fully recover at all. He had sons. Heck, his designated heir had been chosen years before, the child born of his Empress Liu, crowned Prince Liu Ying. But Gao Zu had grown very disappointed in Liu Ying, judging him too soft-hearted and weak to rule,

and even insinuating that he didn't see much resemblance between himself and the boy. As Gaozu and Empress Liu had grown somewhat distant over the years, the emperor had begun favoring one of his younger consorts, who we know of as Concubine Qi. Their son, the crown prince's younger half-brother, Prince Liu Rui, was much more to the aged emperor's liking, and he intended to swap one heir for another. Gao Zhu's ministers urged him against such a course of action. It would set a poor precedent.

It risked destabilizing the realm. It might even put the dynasty itself at risk. Not to mention, it just isn't a very nice thing for a dad to play favorites. But the emperor would hear none of it. He had made up his mind. Lu Zhi, justifiably quite concerned about this whole affair, as it jeopardized her and her son's position in the family, worked with the apprehensive ministers to find a way to convince the emperor to change his mind. At last, they arrived at the solution. They would invite a group of reclusive wise men, known as the Shangshan Sihao, or the Four Haos of Maoshang. The elders arrived and counseled Gaozu against his decision, and promised to remain and assist Liuying if he became the emperor. This is one of those instances in history where it's obvious that, while emperors on paper have effectively unlimited political power,

the ministers and court officials acting in concert can heavily influence the monarch, even to the point that he feels he has no choice but to go along with their collective will. Godzoo remarked to concubine Qi, I wanted to replace the crowned prince, but now I see that he has the support of these four men he is fully fledged and difficult to unseat it would seem empress lu is really in charge the imperial court had made its decision and like it or not the emperor was going to have to accept it niang ying would remain the crowned prince and heir to the throne of Han. Gaozhu appears to, very much unlike the first Qin emperor, have more or less come to terms with his impending mortality. That is not to say that he was particularly happy about the prospect, and he seems to have gone through a period of depression.

For several days or weeks, he was said to have barricaded himself in his chamber and ordered his guards to deny anyone entry when his concerned ministers insisted and came barging in to check on him he was lying in bed with only his eunuch servant at his side led us to conquer the empire and how weary we are now. Your subjects are worried when they learn that your majesty is ill, but your majesty refuses to see us and prefers the company of a eunuch instead. Has your majesty forgotten the incident about Zhao Gao? End quote. At this, Gao Zhu burst into laughter and rose from his bed to meet with his subjects. As his health continued to deteriorate, Empress Liu called for a well-known physician to

heal Gaozu. The physician claimed that he could cure the emperor, but at this, Gaozu grew displeased and scolded the doctor. Quote, isn't it heaven's will that I manage to conquer this empire in simple clothing and with nothing but a sword? My life is determined by heaven. It is useless, even if Bianche was here." Bianche, incidentally, was the magical and miraculous physician to the legendary Yellow Emperor the millennia before, and considered to be the first physician in Chinese mythological history. Gaozu refused treatment altogether, and sent the physician away after giving him gold coins for his time

He had opted to let the wheel of heaven take its course which it did on June 1st, 195 BCE Next time, Crown Prince Liuying will be enthroned as the second emperor of Han, Hui and the now Empress Dowager, Lu Zhi will start her more than 15 year stint as the actual power behind the throne by doing what she did best, having people horrifically killed. Thank you. download, along with a free 30-day trial of the service. With over 100,000 titles to choose from

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