Why Liu He Was Deposed After Twenty-Seven Days

In the last episode, Huo Guang had crushed the Shangguan and Yan conspiracy and stood as the unchallenged regent of Emperor Zhao's reign.

Then Emperor Zhao died young and childless, and the same terrible question returned: who should now inherit the Han throne?

The Succession Question Immediately Returned to the Center

Because Emperor Zhao left no son, the court had to search the imperial clan again.

Some ministers first looked toward Liu Xu, king of Guangling, a surviving son of Emperor Wu. Huo Guang refused. Liu Xu had long been known for disorderly behavior and had never been a serious succession choice even under his father.

So the court moved elsewhere.

They Settled on Liu He of Changyi

Among Emperor Wu's grandsons, Liu He, king of Changyi, seemed a plausible candidate. His bloodline was acceptable and his position easy enough to present.

What worried people was his character.

He was known for indulgence, hunting, pleasure, and intimacy with low companions such as drivers, cooks, and attendants. Advisers in Changyi had tried to restrain him for years with little success.

Warnings Had Followed Him Long Before the Summons

Officials such as Wang Ji and Gong Sui had repeatedly admonished him.

They pointed to his lack of study, his taste for reckless riding, his intimacy with poor influences, and various ominous signs around the palace. Sometimes he admitted fault. Then he reverted almost immediately.

He could listen just long enough to appear corrected and then continue as before.

Even the Summons to Become Emperor Did Not Make Him Sobriety Itself

When the late-night imperial order arrived from Chang'an, Liu He was first frightened and then excited. He rushed toward the capital with damaging speed, exhausting horses and servants alike.

On the way he kept behaving badly. He demanded supplies from local stations, gathered women into his train, and repeatedly ignored the tone appropriate to recent imperial mourning.

Gong Sui had to remind him again and again even to cry properly as he approached the capital.

Once on the Throne, He Brought Changyi into the Palace with Him

After the funeral rites he formally took the imperial seal and became emperor.

He then began pulling large numbers of his old Changyi followers into high places at court. At the same time he drank, watched entertainments, used imperial carriages casually, and behaved with startling looseness even during the period of mourning.

The old habits of Changyi had not been left behind. They had simply been moved into the center of empire.

Men Around Him Still Tried to Warn Him

Gong Sui again urged reform. He even used Liu He's own troubling dreams as openings to argue that the ruler was surrounded by dangerous and corrupt influences.

Liu He would not truly listen.

He clung especially to the people he had brought from Changyi, and he would not dismiss them.

Huo Guang Had Raised Him Up, and Therefore Could Pull Him Down

Liu He's throne did not come from conquest, nor from a settled line of succession. It came from Huo Guang and the court choosing him.

That meant the same court could reconsider.

Within twenty-seven days, his violations of ritual, mourning, behavior, and political judgment had piled up into an overwhelming case.

Huo Guang gathered the ministers and the empress dowager, presented the charges one by one, and removed Liu He from the throne.

The man who had come in such haste from Changyi was sent back out again with equal speed from imperial history.

The Court Had to Choose Yet Again

This time bloodline alone no longer felt sufficient.

The next emperor would need not only the right surname but also the right temperament.

Huo Guang's thoughts now turned away from prominent princes and toward a young imperial great-grandson who had once grown up in prison.

In the next episode, we follow how Liu Bingyi, later Emperor Xuan, rose from that unlikely beginning to the throne of Han.