"Recall the heroes of the Han Dynasty in the prequel to the Three Kingdoms - Baijia"

Author: Yi Zhongtian / Country:
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: During the Wuxu Rebellion, Emperor Jing of Han sent the official Deng Gong to the front lines to fight. When Deng Gong returned from the front and reported to Emperor Jing, the emperor asked him a question: "Now that Chao Cuo has been killed by His Majesty, should the states of Wu and Chu withdraw their troops?" Why did Emperor Jing ask this question? If you have watched the TV series Emperor Wu of Han, you would know that the Wuxu Rebellion was a rebellion led by the states of Wu and Chu, along with five other states, against the imperial capital. Their slogan was "Eliminate Chao Cuo, Purify the Emperor's Court." What does "Purify the Emperor's Court" mean? It means eliminating the villains around the emperor. Who are the villains? Chao Cuo. So Emperor Jing said, "Since your slogan is to 'Purify the Emperor's Court,' claiming that there are villains around me, and the villain is Chao Cuo, if I kill Chao Cuo according to your opinion, should you withdraw your troops?" Deng Gong replied, "How could they possibly withdraw their troops? The King of Wu has been planning rebellion for decades! The King of Wu has been preparing to rebel for decades. How could he possibly withdraw his troops just because Chao Cuo is killed? That's impossible." Deng Gong also said, "Instead, I think everyone in the world will shut their mouths because of this." Emperor Jing asked him why. Deng Gong said, "Your Majesty, please think about why Chao Cuo died. Chao Cuo advocated for weakening the feudal lords, which means strengthening centralization and consolidating the central government. This is a great cause for the Han Dynasty. However, just as his plan was about to be implemented, he was unjustly executed. Who would dare to speak after this? Who would dare to tell the truth? Who would dare to offer advice to the court?" After hearing this, Emperor Jing was silent for a long time, then sighed and said, "I also regret it deeply!" Now, it seems that Emperor Jing's regret was indeed genuine. To show that killing Chao Cuo was done out of necessity, the TV series Emperor Wu of Han arranged a scene where Emperor Jing and Chao Cuo drank their farewells—this scene is likely not recorded in history. According to the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han, Chao Cuo was unaware that he was going to be killed. He was not the only one executed; his entire family was killed. Moreover, the execution of Chao Cuo was formally approved by court officials. The report was drafted by three officials: the Chancellor Tao Qing, the Imperial Commander Chen Jia, and the Chief Justice Zhang Ou. The "Ou" in Zhang Ou is the same as in Europe, but according to ancient texts, the character should be pronounced as "qu," meaning Zhang Qu. These three formally submitted a report to Emperor Jing, and the (crime) proposed for Chao Cuo was very severe. Who were these three? We must know that the Han Dynasty's central government system was called the "Three Ducal Ministers and Nine Chamberlains" system. What does this mean? It means three prime ministers and nine ministers. The "Three Ducal Ministers" included:
1. The Chancellor, equivalent to the current Prime Minister;
2. The Grand Commandant, equivalent to the current Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the highest military official;
3. The Imperial Secretary, the deputy prime minister in charge of supervision, equivalent to the current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Supervision. Together, the "Three Ducal Ministers" were considered prime ministers.
The "Nine Chamberlains" were nine ministers, some of whom were called "" (wèi). The aforementioned Imperial Commander Chen Jia and Chief Justice Zhang Ou were both "." What does "" mean? "" refers to military officials. At that time, the military and police were not separated—some were military officers, some were police officers, and some were dual roles of both. What kind of official was it? It depends on the character before it. For example, the Grand Commandant: "" (tài) means supreme, so the Grand Commandant is the supreme military commander and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. "" (zhōng) means palace, central, or capital, so the Imperial Commander is the commander of the capital's garrison and also the Minister of Public Security. What about the Chief Justice? "" (tíng) means court, so the Chief Justice is in charge of criminal law, criminal investigation, and case judgment, making the Chief Justice the Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Now, a government premier, a public security minister, and a justice minister jointly accused Chao Cuo—this was very serious. The crime proposed was "Disregarding the rites of a loyal subject, committing great rebellion and treason." The punishment imposed was beheading at the waist. Beheading at the waist means cutting someone in half at the waist, a very cruel form of execution. After being beheaded, the person would still move, and it was extremely painful. This form of execution was not abolished until the reign of Emperor Yongzheng. Emperor Yongzheng himself executed someone using this method. The person was beheaded in two pieces and rolled around on the ground, dipping his hand in blood and writing the character "" (cǎn, meaning "terrible") seven times before dying. Upon hearing this, Emperor Yongzheng was horrified and immediately issued an edict to abolish the practice of beheading at the waist. Chao Cuo was beheaded at the waist, and his parents, wife, family members—all those who had not separated from him—were all executed. Thus, the crime imposed on Chao Cuo was extremely severe.
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