Chapter 30 Three, each with ghosts

Even though Emperor Wu of Liang treated his brothers and nephews in such a laissez-faire manner, he was even more lenient towards his own son.Its direct consequence was that the issue of the prince became one of the main factors that destroyed the Nanliang Dynasty. Emperor Wu of Liang had eight sons in total: Xiao Tong, Xiao Zong, Xiao Gang, Xiao Ji, Xiao Xu, Xiao Lun, Xiao Yi, and Xiao Ji.Among them, the three brothers Xiao Tong, Xiao Gang and Xiao Xu were all born to Ding Guifei, and the other five sons were from five concubines respectively.The second son Xiao Zong, as we mentioned before, his mother was Xiao Baojuan's favorite concubine Wu Shuyuan, so he took advantage of the opportunity of leading the Northern Expedition and joined the Northern Wei Dynasty.Emperor Liang Wu once severed his father-son relationship and deprived him of his title of title.Later, Xiao Zongke died in another country. Emperor Wu of Liang missed this "son" and restored his reputation. He sent people to sneak into the Northern Dynasty secretly, steal his coffin, and return to Jiankang for burial.

The era of imperial power in China, counting from Qin Shihuang to Emperor Xuantong, lasted continuously for more than 2,100 years.However, only Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty lived longer than Emperor Wu of Liang.The lifespan of the emperor often affects the stability of the dynasty more than the character and ability of the emperor. The decline of many dynasties is due to the frequent change of the throne. Liu Song and Nan Qi are typical examples in this regard.However, the emperor's long life span is not necessarily a good thing. The decline of the Qing Dynasty is not unrelated to Emperor Qianlong's reliance on the old and self-proclaimed. The same is true for Liang Guo. If Emperor Wu of Liang lived twenty years less, the fate of the people in Jiangnan might not be so bad.

After Emperor Wu of Liang ascended the throne, the crown prince Xiao Tong, also known as Prince Zhaoming, had a very good reputation. There are many legends about Prince Zhaoming.According to legend, when he was born, he had a strange appearance, and his right hand was tightly clenched, and no one could break it apart.Emperor Wu of Liang was worried that he was disabled, and he was frowning all day long. A minister suggested that he should be listed in the world and recruit famous doctors for diagnosis and treatment.As soon as the list was posted, someone came to unveil the list the next day. This person was none other than the famous writer Shen Yue.With the mood of giving it a try, Shen Yue went to see Xiao Tong. Interestingly, Xiao Tong's little hands were separated by him lightly.Emperor Wu of Liang was overjoyed, and worshiped Shen Yue as the prince's teacher. Shen Yue built a library in his hometown and devoted himself to teaching Xiao Tong to read.This library is located in Wuzhen, Tongxiang, Zhejiang today. The remnants of "Prince Zhaoming's Study Place" still remain, which can be regarded as the few remaining Six Dynasties scenery in the south of the Yangtze River.

In fact, this legend cannot withstand scrutiny. Its biggest loophole is that Xiao Tong was born in Xiangyang in the first year of Qihe Emperor Zhongxing (501 AD). Xiao Tong's small hands are even less likely to post the imperial list as the emperor.However, the legend does entrust the beautiful reverie of literati for thousands of years about Prince Zhaoming, and Prince Zhaoming does have the ideal image of a literati and a prince in one. Prince Zhaoming has extraordinary intelligence since he was a child. He read the "Book of Filial Piety" at the age of three, read the Five Classics at the age of five, and was able to give lectures on Confucian classics at the age of ten, which belongs to the level of a child prodigy.When he was an adult, he loved reading even more, with a photographic memory and eloquence.There is also a good story here. Once, Xiao Tong and some celebrities were boating in Houchi. Xiao Gui, the Marquis of Panyu, was very interested, so he said, "There should be a dancer playing music and dancing here." Xiao Tong didn't answer, just chanted Zuo Si, a poet of the Jin Dynasty, wrote "Poetry on Zhaoyin": "Why bother with silk and bamboo? Landscapes have voiceless sounds." Xiao Gui was so ashamed that he was speechless.

Xiao Tong has a collection of tens of thousands of volumes, which is good for communicating with literati. The "Selected Works" (also known as "Selected Works of Zhaoming") edited by him is the earliest extant collection of poems and essays.He is benevolent and filial, never punishes his servants, and has repeatedly reduced or exempted serious crimes of improper punishment; when encountering rain and snow disasters, he sends his subordinates to observe the people's conditions in the streets and alleys, and distributes food and cotton clothes to poor families and homeless people affected by disasters. won the hearts of the people.

It is a pity that the high-profile prince was suspected by Emperor Wu of Liang because of the villain's frame. In the seventh year of Tongtong (AD 526), ​​Ding Guipin, Xiao Tong's biological mother, died.Xiao Tong sent someone to buy a good cemetery, and when he was about to cut grass for burial, a land seller approached the eunuch Yu Sanfu who was next to Emperor Wu of Liang, and promised that if he could sell his land for three million yuan, he would give one of the land to him. A million dollars was given to Third Mate Yu as a reward.The third deputy of Yu was greedy for money, so he secretly reported to Emperor Wu of Liang, saying that the cemetery chosen by the prince had bad geomantic omen, and that a certain piece of land was auspicious, which was beneficial to the emperor.When Emperor Wu of Liang heard it, it was beneficial to me, so let’s buy it, and the third deputy Yu will make money if it is cheap.

After Ding Guifei was buried, a Taoist who watched Feng Shui said to Xiao Tong: "The cemetery of the concubine is not good for you. If you want to avoid disaster, you have to dislike it." "Danfu" is a kind of witchcraft. The method of pressing one object to make a mantra.According to the instructions of the Taoist priest, Xiao Tong buried wax goose and other items in the position of the eldest son next to Ding Guipin's tomb. Unexpectedly, the eunuch came out to make trouble.There was an eunuch named Bao Miaozhi in the crown prince’s womb. He was jealous that another eunuch, Wei Ya, was more favored by the prince, and he was unbalanced. Make tricks and curse Your Majesty."

Emperor Wu of Liang checked and found wax geese and other things in Ding Guipin's tomb.Using witchcraft to seek rebellion is a taboo in the court, and it is no small matter. Emperor Wu of Liang wanted to thoroughly investigate this matter, but fortunately his attendant Xu Mian dissuaded him, and only killed the Taoist priest. After this incident, Emperor Wu of Liang's favorability and trust in Xiao Tong dropped sharply. With the idea of ​​replacing the prince, Xiao Tong was worried and restless all day long.In the third year of Zhongdatong (531 A.D.), he was playing in Houchi. He fell into the water and became ill because of picking lotus flowers.

The early death of Xiao Tong was a great loss to the literary world of the Southern Dynasties, and also a great loss to the Liang Dynasty.Emperor Wu of Liang encountered difficulties in establishing an heir and was hesitant.According to the old system of establishing a descendant, Xiao Huan, the eldest son of Xiao Tong, should be established as the grandson of the emperor, but the case of the cemetery made Emperor Liang Wu's impression of the East Palace very bad, and he would not like Xiao Huan, let alone he has a high-sounding reason : Xiao Huan is too young to preside over the overall situation.

Nearly two months after Xiao Tong's death, Emperor Wu of Liang announced that Xiao Gang, Xiao Tong's same mother and younger brother, would be the new crown prince.This choice itself is understandable. Xiao Gang and Xiao Tong have some similarities. They are also eloquent and submissive. table objection.The other sons of Emperor Wu of Liang, except for the fourth son Xiao Ji who died before Xiao Tong, the remaining Xiao Xu, Xiao Lun, Xiao Yi, and Xiao Ji all believed that since Xiao Gang could offside to become the prince, their chances of becoming emperor Not trivial either.Since then, the flesh and blood brothers have their own concerns, not only jealous of Xiao Gang, but also full of conflicts with each other, no one is pleasing to the eye.

The one who danced the most was Xiao Lun, the sixth son of Shaoling King.Xiao Lun probably suffers from intermittent psychosis and often exhibits absurd behavior characteristics.When he was the governor of southern Xuzhou, he was moody and angry, and ran wild in the state.One day, on a whim, he changed into a servant's clothes and went to the market to conduct a public opinion survey. When he met a fishmonger, he "interviewed" him: "What kind of person do you think the Governor of Honshu is?" The fishmonger said truthfully: "The governor of Honshu has a bad temper and cruel temperament." Xiao Lun was furious, and without saying a word, he forced the live fish to be swallowed by the fishmonger.Live fish ran into people's stomachs to eat, and fishmongers were tortured to death.After this incident got out, the local people were afraid of being interviewed by Xiao Lun on the spot again, and they didn't dare to talk to each other on the road. South Xuzhou almost became a "dead city". Another time, when Xiao Lun went to the street to inspect, he encountered someone attending a funeral.He didn't know why he went crazy, he stepped forward to grab the dutiful son's filial piety clothes and put them on, crawling and howling all the way, more sad than his own dead father.Xiao Lun's signature felt that something was wrong, and he was afraid that he would be convicted if he was investigated, so he secretly reported Xiao Lun's illegal behavior to the court.Emperor Wu of Liang reprimanded Xiao Lun, but Xiao Lun did not repent, so Emperor Wu of Liang ordered him to be removed from office. Xiao Lun felt aggrieved and indignant.He found an old man who looked exactly like Emperor Wu of Liang, put a crown on him, asked him to sit high in the middle of the hall, and bowed respectfully at the bottom, talking about his innocence; He stripped off his clothes and beat the old man half to death with a stick in his own hands. Soon Xiao Lun came up with a new trick. He made a big coffin, put Sima Cuihui in it, installed a hearse, and let a group of old women sit on the hearse, crying as they walked, to give Cui Huiyi a funeral.Cui Huiyi couldn't bear it anymore and reported the matter to Emperor Wu of Liang.Emperor Wu of Liang was so sorry that he stripped Xiao Lun of his title and arrested him and sent him to prison.But not long after, he released Xiao Lun, restored his title, and sent him to be the governor of Yangzhou. Xiao Lun continued to do evil, desperately searching for the people's anointment.The Prime Minister He Zhitong notified Emperor Wu of Liang that Xiao Lun immediately sent his confidants to kill He Zhitong.Emperor Wu of Liang executed Xiao Lun's confidant, but once again lenient Xiao Lun, only imprisoning him for a month. Xiao Gang was established as the prince, and Xiao Lun spread the statement that "the prince is established according to the rank of the princes", which means that as long as his father and elder brother live longer than him, it will be his turn to be the emperor.Xiao Xu died in the second year of Zhongdatong (AD 547). He felt that his hopes had greatly increased, and he planned to kill the king twice: the first time was when Emperor Wu of Liang was on the way out, and the matter was leaked; Emperor Wu offered poisoned Qu'a wine, and Emperor Wu of Liang gave the wine to the eunuch, who was poisoned to death.Emperor Wu of Liang still did not impose any substantive punishment on Xiao Lun. Apart from Xiao Lun, Xiao Xu, Xiao Yi, and Xiao Ji are not good benefactors either.The relationship between Xiao Xu and Xiao Yi has been tense for a long time. Xiao Xu is in the state government, amassing money wantonly, and the level of corruption is no less than that of his uncle Xiao Hong.When Xiao Yi heard about it, he was so happy that he broke his shoes.Xiao Xu's wealth is inherited by his heir Xiao Ying, Xiao Ying is an idiot, how ridiculous is it?He and his servants went to inspect the treasures in the inner treasury, pointed to a gold bar, and asked, "Can this thing be eaten?" The servants replied, "No." Continued to accumulate a lot of money, and ended up like this. Under the pampering and protection of Emperor Wu of Liang, the princes and nobles of the Liang Kingdom are all wastes who are extravagant and lustful, do not abide by the law and discipline, and bring disaster to the country and the people.The dignitaries had the emperor as their backer, and the people were their pigs and dogs. Liang Guo reached the point where "everyone hates suffering and every family thinks of chaos". Emperor Liang Wu was really old, he no longer possessed a clever strategy, nor did he have the courage to make a decisive decision; at most, he could only maintain the existing thinking mode.The long-term so-called "peace and prosperity" made him think that his merits and virtues were perfect, but he did not realize the intensification of social conflicts and the emergence of various new problems; , in order to eliminate disasters and solve difficulties. The harsh reality is that terrible disasters cannot be avoided, and the footsteps of death are approaching.The illusory dream will be shattered sooner or later, and Hou Jing, the lame wolf king, appears on the stage.