Liu Yuan’s Designated Arrangement of Minister and the Reconstruction of Imperial Power in Han Dynasty at the Time of Herui and Jiaping

Liu Yuan’s assistant political structure in July 310 was the result of the evolution of the power structure of the Han state since 304. In the first year of Yongfeng (308), the transformation of Liu Yuan’s royal power into imperial power means that the Liu clan of Tu Ge monopolized the power. Liu Yuan’s life-saving arrangement aimed to maintain the balance between the forces of Five Tu Ge, Six Barbarians and the balance of power between the nobles. Although the successor was Liu Cong, who seized power by force, he still continued Liu Yuan’s political structure. On the one hand, through the alliance with Liu Yi, the cooperation between the Five Tu Ge and the Six Barbarians was maintained. On the other hand, the legitimacy of his succession was shaped by respecting the minister who gave orders. After the overthrow of Luoyang, Liu Cong married Liu Yuan’s ministers’ daughters in the second year of Jiaping (312), and let his sons take charge of Forbidden army, and old capitals such as Lishi, Puzi. These measures separated the imperial power of Liu Cong from the clan power of Tu Ge Liu, and initially established the autocratic imperial power of the Han Dynasty.