The Tomb of a 27-Day Emperor Yields Tonnes of Coins

In 74 BC, the imperial court of the Han dynasty experienced a sudden political crisis when Emperor Zhao died without an heir. The dominant regent, Huo Guang, chose to elevate Liu He, a grandson of Emperor Wu and the reigning King of Changyi. Liu He hastened to the capital of Chang'an to take the throne, but his tenure proved remarkably brief. Just twenty-seven days after his accession, Huo and a coalition of leading court officials orchestrated his removal. The formal impeachment presented to Empress Dowager Shangguan cited more than eleven hundred instances of illicit conduct, emphasizing improper feasting, unauthorized appointments of his personal followers, and a blatant refusal to observe required mourning rituals.

Following his dramatic deposition, Liu He was excluded from the official imperial register and stripped of his ancestral kingdom. Many of his regional subordinates were arrested and executed, though a few advisers who had previously cautioned him were sentenced to hard labour instead. Liu He was initially relegated to a private estate supported by tribute from two thousand households. In 63 BC, Emperor Xuan moved him far to the south, conferring on him the modest title of Marquis of Haihun in modern Jiangxi Province. When Liu He died there in 59 BC, on the eighth day of the ninth month by the Han calendar, the central court moved swiftly to dissolve the fiefdom, an edict endorsed by over a hundred officials after weeks of deliberation.