Removal As Crown Prince and Enthronement
In 124, some of the people trusted by Emperor An -- eunuchs Jiang Jing (江京) and Fan Feng (樊豐) and his wet nurse Wang Sheng (王聖), for reasons no longer known, falsely accused Crown Prince Bao's wet nurse Wang Nan (王男) and chef Bing Ji (邴吉, not to be confused with Emperor Xuan's prime minister of the same name) of unspecified crimes. Emperor An executed Wang and Bing and exiled their families. The nine-year-old crown prince was greatly saddened. Jiang and Fan, fearful of reprisals later, entered into a conspiracy with Empress Yan (who had always hated Crown Prince Bao as not born of herself) to falsely accuse Crown Prince Bao and his servants of crimes. Emperor An believed them, and demoted Crown Prince Bao to be the Prince of Jiyin.
In 125, Emperor An died suddenly while on a trip to Wancheng (宛城, in modern Nanyang, Henan). Empress Yan, although Prince Bao was Emperor An's only son and therefore logical heir, resolved to make someone younger to be the emperor so that she could better control him. She therefore made Liu Yi (劉懿), the Marquess of Beixiang, emperor. The 10-year-old Prince Bao was excluded not only from succession but even from the official mourning for his father. Empress Dowager Yan and her brothers dominated the political scene.
Later that year, the young emperor was gravely ill. The eunuch Sun Cheng, loyal to Prince Bao, entered into a conspiracy with Prince Bao's head of household Changxing Qu (長興渠) and other eunuchs to restore Prince Bao. After the young emperor died, Sun and 18 of his fellow eunuchs made a surprise attack on the palace, killing Jiang and forcing Jiang's colleague Li Run (李閏) to join them. They then welcomed Prince Bao to the palace and declared him emperor. For several days, the eunuchs' forces battled with the empress dowager's forces, finally defeating the empress dowager and her brothers. The Yan clan was slaughtered, while Empress Dowager Yan was confined to her palace until her death in 126.
Read more about this topic: Emperor Shun Of Han
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