Emperor Gaozu was the fourth son of Emperor Zhang of Han Zhao, and his biological mother was Liang Guiren. At that time, Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty favored the Dou Empress family, but the Dou family had no children. On the contrary, Mr. Song Guiren married Liu Qing, the eldest son of the emperor, and later Liang Guiren gave birth to Liu Zhao, so Liu Qing was naturally made the Crown Prince. This is anxious for Dou's family. They are all "children are more expensive than mothers, and mothers are more expensive than children." Now the crown prince is not his own son, and Dou's position is not solid. After thinking about it, she thought of a way. If she is infertile, she can adopt one. Ma Huanghou, Emperor of the Han Dynasty, was infertile, and Zhang Han adopted Ma Huanghou.
So she went to Liang Guiren and asked her to adopt Liu Zhao as her son. Liang Guiren thought that his son's following the queen is definitely more promising than following himself, and maybe he will have a chance to be an emperor. So I agreed happily. After Dou had a son, he tried his best to be the Crown Prince. First of all, she constantly ignored Johnny, slandered him and spoke ill of Song Guiren. Zhang Di didn't believe it at first, but after a long time, Zhang Di gradually had an opinion on Song Guiren. Dou also lost no time in framing Song Guiren for witchcraft. Finally, Emperor Zhang was furious, abolished Qing and made him a prince. Song Guiren was finally persecuted to death by Dou. Worried that when Liu Zhao grew up, he knew that Liang Guiren was his own mother and alienated himself. He began to frame and persecute Liang Guiren, and eventually Liang Guiren died of depression.
During the reign of Emperor Guangwu, several consorts were allowed to supervise and restrict each other in order to avoid the excessive power of consorts threatening the imperial power. In the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, this balance of power was broken, and the Doushi consorts group began to occupy a dominant position. In the second year of Zhanghe (88), Zhang Han died, and the Crown Prince Liu Zhao, who was less than ten years old, succeeded Zhanghe Emperor. Because the emperor was young, the Dou family lived in the imperial court in the name of the empress dowager.
As soon as Dou took power, he began to reward Dou's children. Her brother is not in a prominent position and has mastered the center of national politics. Dou Taihou is arbitrary. In order to make Dou Xian, his younger brother, atone for his sins, he ignored the opposition of court officials and spared no expense to "kill ten thousand people with one man's plan" and let Dou Xian lead the troops to attack the northern Xiongnu. Moreover, the Dou Shi brothers also condone domestic slaves to do evil, bully the good and occupy women. "No company dares to play."
Dou's group became strong and thought that keeping the emperor was also an obstacle, so its purpose was to get rid of it. After Liu Zhao secretly knew their plot, he also began to prepare for self-help. At that time, Liu Zhao was surrounded by people from Dou Shi Group, so he couldn't get in touch with all the ministers casually. Only the official hook shield prevented Zheng Zhong from flattering Dou Shi Group, so he plotted with him. In the 4th year of Yongyuan (1992), on June 23rd, Liu Zhaoxian began to fight back. He first arrested the minions of the group, Guo Ju and Deng Diehe, sent them to prison for execution, and sent servants to take back the seal of General Dou Xian. Dou Xian was caught off guard, so the Dou Xian brothers were sent back to China and forced to commit suicide. This year, Liu was fourteen years old, which showed his courage and intelligence.
After killing Dou's consorts, he began to take power. Liu Zhao, who is diligent in politics, often reviews the memorial until late at night, so he is called "diligent and modest". He is also very sympathetic to the people's suffering. He sent letters many times to help the victims, reduce taxes and resettle refugees, without violating the farming season. Under his rule, the cultivated land area reached the maximum of 7.32 million in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the government was established to protect the western regions, expand the territory and serve the four foreigners, which made the national strength of the Eastern Han Dynasty reach its peak and was called "Yuan Long through the ages" by some people.
However, it was also during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that eunuch forces began to rise. Zheng Zhong, an official, made great contributions to Liu Zhao's regaining power, so he was promoted to Da Changqiu, responsible for conveying the will and managing the state affairs. Because Zheng Zhong can be appreciated and valued by He Di in his usual work, He Di also allows Zheng Zhong to participate in the decision-making of some major national policies. The history book says that "the eunuch's right to use began." This also opened the prelude to the eunuch's authoritarian power in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and then the Eastern Han regime came to an end in the alternation of consorts and eunuchs.