刘亏 / Liu Kui (Bohai king)
刘亏 enters the wiki through Hanji 903 as a brother of Emperor Huan who had been demoted to a lower title and then sought restoration as king of Bohai. The source transcript preserves the spelling 刘亏; this page keeps that spelling until later evidence requires normalization.
His restoration depends on an access bargain with 王甫: Liu promises fifty million cash if Wang can persuade the throne to restore him. After the restoration succeeds, Liu refuses to pay, saying the decision came from imperial kinship rather than Wang’s work. The refusal turns inner-court access brokerage into a trap: the same intermediary who delivered restoration can monitor Liu’s network and recode the debt dispute as a security threat.
Wang Fu then uses Liu’s resentment and his links to 郑萨 and 董腾 to construct a treason frame, with 廉中 forging evidence that Zheng and others planned to install Liu as emperor. 汉灵帝 accepts the accusation, sends a Jizhou inspector to Bohai, and Liu is forced into suicide. The episode emphasizes the collateral toll: Liu’s concubines, children, dancers, and fief officials are destroyed along with him, while Wang Fu and other accusers are rewarded.
Connections
- 渤海王国 / Bohai Kingdom (late Han) - Liu’s restored royal fief and the administrative field hit by the purge.
- 王甫 / Wang Fu (late Han) - access broker, creditor, accuser, and beneficiary.
- 郑萨 / Zheng Sa (late Han), 董腾 / Dong Teng (late Han), and 廉中 / Lian Zhong (late Han) - the supporting actors through whom the accusation is assembled.
- Treason Accusation Trap / 谋反指控陷阱, Personal Revenge Through State Power / 以国力行私仇, 内廷通道攀附风险 / Inner-Court Access Brokerage Risk, and Collateral Punishment And Guilt By Association - the conceptual pattern of Liu’s fall.