Late Reign
The late reign of Emperor Jing was marked by an incident for which he was much criticized—the death of Zhou Yafu, who had been instrumental in the victory against the Seven States. Zhou, later as prime minister, offended virtually every powerful figure around Emperor Jing—his brother Prince Liu Wu and his mother Empress Dowager Dou (for refusing to save Liang first when Liang was sieged by Wu and Chu forces), and his wife Empress Wang and her brother Wang Xin (王信), whom Emperor Jing wanted to create a marquess but whose candidacy was rebuffed by Zhou. By 143 BC, he was retired when his son, in anticipation of his death, purchased retired armor and weapons from the imperial armory to serve as burial decorations. Zhou's son refused to pay the delivery workers, and the delivery workers, in retaliation, accused the Zhous of treason. Emperor Jing had Zhou Yafu arrested and interrogated, and the interrogator, when told by Zhou that the armor and weapons were for burial purposes, accused him of "underground treason" -- i.e., ready to commit treason against the spirits of the emperors after he himself dies. Zhou committed suicide in prison.
Emperor Jing died in 141 BC and was buried in the Han Yangling pyramidal mausoleum in Chang'an. He was succeeded by Crown Prince Che (as Emperor Wu).
Read more about this topic: Emperor Jing Of Han
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