Why did the power of consorts appear many times in the Han Dynasty? What caused it?

Concubine, also known as "foreign" and "consort", is the matriarchal family and wife family of the emperor. If the consorts keep their status, as relatives of the emperor, they can enjoy all the splendor. It's a pity that China has a history of thousands of years, but the ambition of consorts is the most expansive, even far exceeding that of traitors. Their interference in the government and even usurpation of power happen from time to time, which makes the royal family very headache.

The consorts intervened in politics, especially in the Han Dynasty, and specifically in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Most historians believe that there are two reasons for the large number of consorts in the Eastern Han Dynasty, one is the large number of little emperors, and the other is the setting of the Shangshutai.

It seems to be a historical practice that it is difficult for a young emperor to take charge of the throne. Of course, many different people like Emperor Kangxi, because he met a consort without strong ambition, plus his precocious mind and great courage to govern the world. But the Eastern Han Dynasty was different.

There were many young emperors in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and their roots were still in Qin Shihuang's place. After Ying Zheng established the system of succession to the throne, he hoped that his descendants would rule the world forever. Although Qin was not strong for a thousand years, the rule directly inherited by the throne was completely absorbed by the Han Dynasty. Therefore, once the emperor dies young, his children, no matter how young, will inherit the throne. Although most of the emperors in the Western Han Dynasty died after middle age, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, several emperors died in their thirties, and their youngest son inherited the throne, so the power of the harem expanded inexorably.

Women in the harem can't directly interfere in politics, but naturally hold power by supporting their own forces. However, in the Han dynasty, consorts not only had harem power to rely on, but also had a prominent advantage, that is, most of them were active ministers. The consorts in the Eastern Han Dynasty were mainly composed of four families: Ma, Dou, Deng and Liang. Emperor Ma Huanghou of the Eastern Han Dynasty was the daughter of the hero Ma Yuan. Queen Zhang is the great-granddaughter of the hero. The emperor's queen Deng is the granddaughter of the hero Deng Yu; Shun Di Queen Liang is a descendant of the hero Liang Tong. The four big families are both heroes and consorts, with vast fiefs and powerful forces, just like the strongmen in the Eastern Han Dynasty slowly encroached on mountains and rivers.

The young emperor is only one of the reasons for his consorts' participation in politics, and another important factor is the historical problem left by Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu-the establishment of Shangshutai. After Emperor Guangwu established political power in the south, in order to stabilize the imperial power and curb the relative forces, although he retained the positions of Stuart (prime minister), Qiu and three former prime ministers, he took away all the real power of the three, leaving only his own position and salary, and set up a bookshop called "Taige", which held real power and was directly commanded by himself.

The earliest history book is the imperial court of the foreign dynasty, ruled by the emperor, which is equivalent to the work unit of confidential secretary. During the period of Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Shang Shu was privately called "inner dynasty", which was corresponding to the "outer dynasty" of three officials and nine ministers, and had no substantive ruling power. However, Emperor Guangwu promoted the status of Shangshu institution to the point of surpassing the "foreign dynasty". Although the officials of Shangshutai are not high in rank, they have more power than the officials of "foreign dynasties". Soon, this disadvantage was highlighted. Once the emperor died young and the young emperor ascended the throne, he could not control the bookshelf. The "heavy responsibility" in charge of the Shangshutai naturally fell into the hands of the harem and consorts.

Guangwudi's clever and confused behavior made the Eastern Han Dynasty fall into the hands of others. The direct consequence of consort's power is the expansion of eunuch's power. Because the young emperor can only rely on the eunuchs in the harem, when he grows up, eunuchs have made great contributions to helping the emperor regain his imperial power, and his power has expanded rapidly, even surpassing his consorts. The "Ten Regular Attendants' Rebellion" at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was caused by this.

In the later dynasties, although there were also phenomena of consorts interfering in politics, it was really far from the Eastern Han Dynasty.