Why Emperor Xuan Feared Huo Guang

In the last episode, Liu Bingyi was brought into Weiyang Palace by Huo Guang and became the new emperor of Han.

But the throne he had just taken came from the hands of the same great general who had deposed Liu He after only twenty-seven days.

Huo Guang Stood Beside the Imperial Carriage

After receiving the imperial seal from the empress dowager, Emperor Xuan had to visit the temple of Gaozu, Liu Bang, and perform the proper rites.

Huo Guang stood beside the imperial carriage.

Everyone at court knew his weight. Emperor Xuan looked at the calm, imposing regent and felt the pressure tighten around him. Liu He had been emperor one month and was gone. Xuan knew better than anyone where his own throne had come from.

On the road, he found an excuse. The great general was old, he said, and should not stand beside the carriage for so long. Huo Guang could rest in the rear carriage instead.

Huo Guang accepted. Zhang Anshi took his place beside the emperor, and only then did Xuan breathe a little easier.

That feeling became the source of the phrase like thorns in the back.

The New Emperor Rewarded the Men Who Had Raised Him

After the temple visit, Emperor Xuan rewarded the officials involved in his accession.

Huo Guang stood first. The emperor added seventeen thousand households to his fief. Together with his old holdings, Huo Guang now drew revenue from twenty thousand households.

Zhang Anshi and others also received additional households, marquis titles, or lesser noble ranks. Su Wu, the old envoy who had survived Xiongnu captivity, was among those honored.

The rewards settled the court on the surface. They also confirmed the truth: Huo Guang still held the heaviest power in the empire.

Tian Yannian Died Before the Case Could Go Further

Soon, Grand Minister of Agriculture Tian Yannian was accused of corruption.

During Emperor Zhao's funeral, he had managed the hiring of civilian carts. Someone claimed he had falsely raised the transport costs and taken thirty million cash.

Tian Yannian had supported the removal of Liu He and the enthronement of Emperor Xuan. He was also close to Huo Guang. Emperor Xuan handed the case to Huo Guang.

Huo Guang tried to leave him room, but Tian denied everything. When Huo said the matter would have to be investigated if he denied it, others argued that his service during the succession crisis should count for mercy.

Huo Guang sent word that the commandant of justice would judge him fairly.

Tian Yannian did not want to enter prison in disgrace. When the imperial summons came, he killed himself. The case stopped there.

An Impeachment Forced Huo Guang to Offer Power Back

After Liu He was deposed, the empire had gone twenty-seven days without an emperor. During that gap, Huo Guang handled state affairs.

An official named Yan Yannian submitted a memorial accusing Huo Guang of deposing and enthroning emperors on his own authority and damaging the dignity of the court.

Emperor Xuan was alarmed. His own throne depended on Huo Guang's decision.

He did not support the accuser. Instead, he punished the man who had filed the memorial.

Huo Guang then asked to return power and retire to the proper position of an ordinary minister. Emperor Xuan refused. He ordered that affairs should still be reported first to Huo Guang and only afterward to the throne.

The court still had to pass through Huo Guang.

Emperor Xuan Asked for an Old Sword

The next question was the empress.

Huo Guang's wife, Huo Xian, wanted their younger daughter Huo Chengjun to enter the palace as empress. Many officials understood the Huo family's wish and submitted memorials in support.

Emperor Xuan did not openly refuse.

Instead, he issued a strange decree. In his poor days, he said, he had once owned an old sword. He missed it deeply and wanted the officials to find it.

At first the court did not understand. Then someone realized the emperor was not really speaking about a sword. He was speaking about a person from his poor days.

That person was Xu Pingjun.

Xu Pingjun Had Shared His Lowest Years

When Liu Bingyi was young, he had been raised in the palace service quarters. Zhang He, who managed that office, had once benefited from Crown Prince Wei and took special care of the fallen imperial great-grandson.

Zhang He first wanted to marry his own daughter to Liu Bingyi, but his brother Zhang Anshi objected, fearing renewed danger from the old crown prince case.

So Zhang He arranged another marriage instead. Xu Guanghan, a minor palace official who had been punished and castrated, had a daughter named Xu Pingjun. Zhang He brought the match together and helped Liu Bingyi pay the marriage gifts.

Xu Pingjun and Liu Bingyi lived through his humblest years together. They had a son, Liu Shi.

After Liu Bingyi became emperor, Xu Pingjun and her son entered the palace. The old sword decree told the court what Xuan wanted. The officials changed their memorials, asked for Xu Pingjun to become empress, and Xuan agreed. Her son was made crown prince.

Huo Xian Reached for the Empress's Medicine

Huo Xian did not give up.

When Empress Xu became pregnant again, a female physician named Chunyu Yan attended her. Chunyu Yan's husband wanted promotion and asked his wife to visit Huo Xian for help.

Huo Xian dismissed the attendants and spoke plainly. If Xu died after childbirth, Huo Chengjun could become empress.

Chunyu Yan was frightened. Imperial medicine was checked and tasted. Huo Xian pressed her and promised reward.

After Xu gave birth, Chunyu Yan mixed poison into her recovery medicine. The empress drank it, suffered dizziness and chest pain, and soon died.

Only after Chunyu Yan reported success did Huo Xian tell Huo Guang.

Huo Guang Suppressed the Investigation

Huo Guang was shocked.

Murdering an empress was a capital crime. If the case was pursued, Huo Xian and the Huo family would be exposed.

Officials requested an investigation into the sudden death. Huo Guang wrote that the female physician was not involved and should not be pursued.

Once the great general spoke, the case was pressed down.

Empress Xu's death was left unexplained.

Huo Chengjun Entered the Palace

Huo Xian then urged Huo Guang again to send Huo Chengjun into the palace. Huo Guang resisted at first, but finally yielded.

Officials submitted memorials asking for a new empress. Emperor Xuan could not yet defy Huo Guang openly, so he made Huo Chengjun empress and declared a general amnesty.

Life in the inner palace changed quickly.

Empress Xu had come from poverty and kept modest habits even after becoming empress. Huo Chengjun grew up in the mansion of the great general. Her carriages, attendants, and gifts became lavish, and rewards to palace staff could reach tens of millions.

Soon, forty-nine commanderies and kingdoms reported earthquakes on the same day. Mountains collapsed, homes were destroyed, thousands died, and even ancestral temples were damaged.

Huo Chengjun had taken the empress's seat. The Huo family had not yet reached the end.

In the next episode, the Huo clan moves from overwhelming privilege toward destruction.