Relationship With Emperor Ai and Quick Ascension To Great Power
Circa 4 BC, Dong had by this point become a favorite of Emperor Ai's. It was described that whenever Emperor Ai visited places outside the palace, Dong would accompany him, and once Emperor Ai returned to the palace, he would attend to the emperor. Emperor Ai rewarded him with large sums of money. Dong's wife was given unprecedented permission to enter and leave the palace as she wished, and she set up a residence with Dong inside the palace. Emperor Ai also created Dong's sister an imperial consort (with the prestigious title zhaoyi (昭儀)), ranked just below his wife Empress Fu. The three members of the Dong family thereby spent day and night near the emperor. Dong's father Dong Gong (董恭) was made the minister of palace supplies and created an acting marquess (關內侯).
Emperor Ai further ordered the imperial architect to build a luxurious residence for Dong just outside the main imperial palace, Weiyang Palace. The residence was described to be so spacious that it was like an imperial palace. Emperor Ai also gave Dong the best weapons and the most precious jewels from the imperial treasury - so much so that what Dong used was even more precious than what Emperor Ai personally used. Further, imperial burial tools were pre-awarded to Dong in preparation for his eventual burial, and Dong's future tomb was built right next to Emperor Ai's own.
In 3 BC, Emperor Ai became intent on creating Dong a marquess, but could find no good excuse to do it. At the suggestion of a member of his grandmother's clan, Fu Jia (傅嘉), a plan was hatched. In 4 BC, informants Xifu Gong (息夫躬) and Sun Chong (孫寵) had, through the eunuch Song Hong (宋弘), reported that Liu Yun (劉雲), the Prince of Dongping, was using witchcraft; as a result, Prince Yun was demoted to commoner status and committed suicide. Emperor Ai announced that the plot was reported through Dong, not Song, and then created Dong, Xifu, and Sun acting marquesses. Later that year, over Prime Minister Wang Jia's objection, Emperor Ai created the three of them marquesses.
A good number of officials tried to curb Dong's power by begging Emperor Ai not to overly reward him, and they suffered for it. There is no evidence indicating that Dong was behind the punishment of those officials; rather, it appears that Emperor Ai was personally offended that these officials attacked his lover and therefore punished them for it. The officials include:
- Zheng Chong (鄭崇), the palace secretary general, who was arrested and who died while in prison in 3 BC; the governor of the capital province, Sun Bao (孫寶), who tried to get Zheng released, was himself relieved of his post
- Wujiang Long (毋將隆), the security chief for the capital Chang'an, who refused to transfer the weapons to Dong, who was demoted to the post of security chief for the Commandery of Pei
- Wang Jia (王嘉), the prime minister, who several times tried to prevent Dong from being created a marquess and being promoted; he was imprisoned and committed suicide within the prison in 2 BC; Emperor Ai's own uncle Ding Ming (丁明), the commander of the armed forces, who was friendly with Wang and grieved for his death, was relieved of his post and returned to his march
However, Wang Hong (王閎), an imperial attendant and grandnephew of Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, the step-grandmother of Emperor Ai, who also made similar requests of Emperor Ai, was not punished (because Emperor Ai was impressed by his bravery) but was also not listened to.
In late 2 BC, after Ding's successor Wei Shang (韋尚) died of an illness, Emperor Ai made Dong, at the age of 22, the commander of the armed forces (大司馬, da sima) - one of the Three Excellencies, along with the prime minister (大司徒, da situ) and the prime examiner (大司空, da sikong) - and the security chief for the capital. The edict read:
- Heaven gave you to be the helper for Han Dynasty. I know your faithfulness, and I hope that you can guide the great affairs of the empire and follow what is good.
The edict's wording followed that of the alleged wording of the mystical Emperor Yao, when he passed his throne to Emperor Shun, and greatly surprised and shocked all who read it.
Despite his ascension to such great post, Dong continued to accompany Emperor Ai at all times in the palace, not handling the important matters that his post should have required him to handle. At the same time, his father Dong Gong was promoted to an honorary post while his younger brother Dong Kuanxin (董寬信) was made the director of imperial equine operations, succeeding Dong Xian. Many members of the Dong clan were made imperial attendants or deputy ministers.
Read more about this topic: Dong Xian
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