As we all know, Wang Mang’s rise is the result of careful planning. I won’t repeat it here. As everyone knows, Wang Mang’s cousin Chun Yu Chang is not a fuel-efficient lamp. Although he is not as ambitious as Wang Mang, he is full of creativity in calculating his personal interests, which also caused a ripple on the historical stage at the end of the Han Dynasty.
Chunyuchang belongs to both the relatives group and the sycophant group. He took advantage of the opportunity to have close contact with the royal family members to occupy the information highland of the imperial court, in exchange for interests, and even blackmailed empress Xu. Author of this edition / Liuliping
Wang Mang and his cousin
Rise by serving the same patient
Speaking of Chunyu Chang, he is also a relative of Wang Mang. Wang Zhengjun, the empress of the Yuan emperor of the Han Dynasty, is his own aunt, and Wang Zhengjun is Wang Mang’s own aunt. The two brothers are cousins. By the way, wangzhengjun, one of her most famous body movements in the world is that when Wang Mang usurped the throne, she was so angry that she smashed the imperial seal on the ground, leaving it missing.
Chunyuchang and Wang Mang, the cousins, had a striking similarity in their rise: they made their fortune as caregivers for the same patient, who was the top civil and military official in the chengdi period of the Western Han Dynasty – General Wang Feng.
Wang Feng was Chunyu’s uncle and Wang Mang’s uncle. Later, Wang Feng was ill in bed, and his nephew and nephew took care of him in shifts. They all served him very attentively.
It is recorded in the book of the Han Dynasty, the biography of flattery and happiness: “Wang Fengbing, a senior general of the association, was ill, and (Chunyu) served him well in the morning and at night. He helped him around. He was very kind to his nephew.” However, the biography of Wang Mang in the Han Dynasty records that “the great general of the world father, the king, was ill with a Phoenix, and the king was ill with a rash. He tasted the medicine himself, and his head was unkempt and his face was unkempt. He didn’t undress for months.”
In contrast, Wang Mang’s nursing attitude seems to be more diligent. His nephew Chunyu is only cooking in the morning and in the evening and is always around, while his cousin Wang Mang personally tastes medicine at the risk of his life. His hair is not combed and his face is not washed. He is unkempt and never takes off his clothes to sleep.
Regardless of their work attitude, they are treated the same. Before her death, Wang Feng entrusted her nephew Chunyu Chang and nephew Wang Mang to the emperor and the Empress Dowager. Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty seemed to be more satisfied with Chunyu Chang. “Emperor Jia (Chunyu) Changyi”, the emperor praised Chunyu Chang’s friendship, so Chunyu Chang made an early career. Wang Mang just got the position of huangmenlang, and Chunyu Chang became a school lieutenant and Cao. Of course, early mixing does not mean good mixing.
The emperor and the Empress Dowager both like nursing because they are good nurses. Objectively, they are relatives, and subjectively, if they like it, they will naturally have the opportunity to have close contacts. And this opportunity is resources – resources that can generate a lot of wealth.
Although Wang Mang did badly later, it is certain that he is an ambitious and ambitious man who disdains to take these resources in exchange for practical benefits, while the bad boy Chun Yuchang can’t wait to exchange cash for pleasure.
Zhaofeiyan, the super beauty in Chinese history, stepped onto the stage of history and gave Chunyu a chance.
Rely on information communication
Help zhaofeiyan become Queen
Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty and Chunyu Chang are cousins, and wangzhengjun is his aunt. Chunyu Chang can keep in close contact with emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty and the Empress Dowager wangzhengjun, often chatting and talking about family life. Chunyu Chang takes this opportunity to the extreme.
Around 16 B.C., the sisters zhaofeiyan and zhaohede entered the vision of emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty. For their beauty, even the Zizhi Tongjian of the eight classics couldn’t help but give a key Description: “the posture and nature are especially elegant.” Chen Yanjuan Jie, the Zhao sisters are not only fragrant and beautiful, but also full of bony beauty. Even Sima Guang, who is highly cultivated, couldn’t help but leave this description, not to mention emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, who was contemporary with the Zhao sisters!
Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty was determined to make Zhao Feiyan queen, but there was an obstacle in the process – Zhao Feiyan was a dancer, and her family was humble. That was what the Empress Dowager and King Zheng Jun disliked. Who will remove this obstacle? It depends on Chunyu.
Chunyuchang’s position at that time was as a “servant”, and he could walk between emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty and Empress Dowager Wang at any time. Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty asked his cousin, “ah Chang, do me a favor and persuade my mother to allow me to make Zhao Meimei queen.” Chunyu was convenient to speak with the empress dowager, so he advised the Empress Dowager: “Auntie, the sister of the Zhao family is good. It’s not humiliating to be queen.”
Although the above statement is a bit fictitious, it is not fiction. According to the book of Han Dynasty, “for a long time, zhaofeiyan was lucky enough to be the queen, but the Empress Dowager was difficult to be the queen. (Chunyu) the LORD came and went to Tongyu east palace. At the age of more than years, empress Zhao was able to be the queen, and she was very virtuous.” Coming and going, I spent more than a year grinding my lips in front of the empress dowager, and finally got my wish. The emperor was very grateful to Chunyu Chang.
Chunyu Chang removed the obstacles of emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty. Naturally, Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty removed the obstacles of Chunyu Chang’s official career, and immediately appointed him Duke of Dingling. The reason was far fetched: at that time, many officials advocated that the residents should not be moved around the imperial mausoleum, but should be allowed to return home freely. Chun Yu Chang just echoed it, but it became his great contribution. The emperor praised him for his “first and most important policy”, and was the first to put forward key ideas.
At this time, Wang Mang was quietly cultivating his own acre of land and gradually cultivating his reputation. Chun Yu Chang made full use of the convenience of visiting the court as a tool to obtain benefits.
Chunyu Chang had close contacts with the prefects of the Western Han Dynasty. He exchanged what he needed and asked for bribes, accumulating a huge amount of wealth. On this basis, he lived a lavish and dissolute life. He “kept more wives and concubines, lusted more than the law”.
Chunyu Chang, who had no end to greed, even extended the claw of extortion to empress Xu, who was abolished at that time.
Take advantage of information asymmetry
Deceive and blackmail the deposed queen and finally take the blame
Chunyuchang has never forgotten his workplace attitude: to use precious Royal information to win material benefits. He can smell this demand from any corner and then exchange it with people who have this demand. At that time, the most needy person was empress Xu, who was abolished by Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty.
Zhaofeiyan was made queen, and the original empress Xu was moved to Changding palace. Such a poor woman, Chunyu grows up but does not let go of her last extractable value. His sister, who had an affair with empress Xu, promised through her that I could help you return to the Imperial Palace and become empress Zuo.
Originally, empress Xu thought that she could go back to the palace to be a Jieyu (Jieyu is a kind of concubines with a fairly high rank, only ranking behind the empress and Zhaoyi). She didn’t expect to be the left queen. She was ecstatic. Chunyu gave Chunyu as much as he wanted. She didn’t show mercy. She gave Chunyu long carriages, money, expensive clothes, etc. before and after the approval. The accumulated capital was tens of millions. “After the approval, money took advantage of public opinion and served the imperial objects before and after the approval.”. Why does empress Xu believe in Chunyu Chang? Of course, it’s because this boy can contact the emperor and the Empress Dowager at any time and can talk.
Chunyu grew up to be a rotten man. Taking advantage of the asymmetric information environment, he frantically blackmailed Xu Hou. The history books gave him a verb – “fraud”. He said that he would persuade the emperor to re-establish Xu as empress Zuo. Did he say so? According to the records, it should not be mentioned at all. Not only that, he also took advantage of empress Xu’s demand for him. Every time he wrote to empress Xu, he did not forget to harass him, and may even take a greater advantage.
This is the most immoral and unkind thing Chunyu has done in his long career. While squeezing a desperate woman out of her money, he promised her a bright future. And this bright future is just a soap bubble — a soap bubble filled with a woman’s blood and tears. This is not even allowed, nor is it allowed by the Western Han Dynasty.
Chunyu Chang’s cousin, Wang Mang, who is slowly rising, began to expose Chunyu Chang’s crimes. It was not that Wang Mang was unkind, but that Chunyu Changshi was too miserable. Finally, Chunyu Chang lost the trust of the Empress Dowager. The emperor also felt ashamed to keep such a minister around him, so he found a reason: once, when Chunyu got on the carriage, he saw Wang Mang’s mother, who did not show humility and comity, but directly got on in front of the elders. He was removed from office and sent back to his fief.
Chun Yu Chang has strong willpower and tenacious vitality. He still wants to take every opportunity to return to the Han court. He actually thought of cooperating with his enemy, Hongyang Hou Wang Li. The opportunity for cooperation is that Chunyu Chang will be sent back to the fief. There are a large number of carriages left in the capital. Chunyu Chang immediately thought of giving them to Wang Li and asked him to say something nice in front of the emperor. Although emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty indulged in sound and color, he was a wise man. This immediately aroused his suspicion, so he handed Wang Li and Chunyu Changdu over to the judicial organ for trial. After the trial, the trick of insulting empress Xu was also revealed. If you make this mistake, it will be a dead end. Chunyu died for a long time, and empress Xu also died. The former deserved it, while the latter was really pitiful and innocent.
Later, Wang Mang killed all the relatives of his cousin Chunyu Chang.
There is a poem in the Tang Dynasty: “at sunset, candles are passed from the Han Palace, and the light smoke disperses into the five Marquis’ homes.” The so-called five Marquis are Chunyu Chang’s uncle’s family. Chunyu Chang, like a wisp of smoke, dissipated on the historical stage of the Western Han Dynasty. The lessons left are enough to ponder.