Chapter 54 Seven, the most regicide
Within a year before and after Emperor Xiaozhao of the Northern Qi Dynasty abolished his nephew and became self-reliant, the Kingdom of Chen in the south and the Northern Zhou Dynasty in the west also changed their emperors.On the surface, the regime succession between Chen and Zhou seems to be more normal and stable than that of the Northern Qi Dynasty, but in fact, there is something hidden behind the stability, especially Yu Wenhu, the powerful minister of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, who incidentally broke a record of regicide .
The Xianbei name of Emperor Yuwenyu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was Tongwantu.In the third year of Yongxi (534 A.D.), Yu Wentai was still serving as the governor of Xiazhou in Tongwan City, and Yu Wenyu was born, hence the name. According to Mr. Chen Yinke's textual research, the meaning of the word "Tu" may be taken from the ending sound of the Xianbei word Bargatun, which means fire god and warrior.This "warrior" born in Tongwancheng was twenty-four years old when he ascended the throne of the Northern Zhou Dynasty King. He was the father of two children. Compared with the young and frivolous Yu Wenjue, Ming Emperor Yu Wenyu was much more stable.
The official history’s evaluation of Emperor Ming is good, although there are some praiseworthy words (the Sui Dynasty, which unified the world, inherited the orthodoxy of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Tall), but we can still sketch some of his characteristics.Generally speaking, Emperor Ming had a generous and benevolent personality, somewhat like Gao Yin, the short-lived emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty at the same time, but he had a good relationship with the clan, which was much stronger than Gao Yin, who didn't like his grandmother.Yu Wenjue was abolished, and he became a natural monarch, which did not arouse any dissent in the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
Emperor Ming's benevolence is by no means superficially artificial, but stems from his own cultural accomplishment.He has been eager to learn since he was a child, and has read a lot of books. He not only has excellent writing skills, but also writes good poems.In the autumn of the second year of his accession to the throne, he returned to Tongzhou (now Dali County, Shaanxi Province) where he lived when he was a child. With a lot of emotions in his heart, he wrote a five-character poem:
The poems and essays follow the feelings of Emperor Han Gao's return to his hometown and sing "The Great Wind Song". The words and sentences reveal both the sentimentality of the literati and the spirit of the emperor, which is really rare.Interestingly, the form and style of this poem are far from the typical folk songs of the Northern Dynasties at that time, but it is not different from the Qi and Liang poems of the Southern Dynasties.
Emperor Ming had such a deep degree of Sinicization, of course he understood the essence of Confucian culture - benevolence.He has governed Qizhou for more than half a year, implemented many policies that are sympathetic to the common people, and received a lot of support.After becoming the king of heaven, he explained his philosophy of governing the country openly and honestly in the edict: "The way of an emperor is to be lenient." , all will be corrected; all those who were captured as slaves due to the war will be released.
Next, Emperor Ming set about implementing reforms.The division of prefectures and counties in the Northern Zhou Dynasty followed that of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The political and economic center of the Northern Wei Dynasty had always been in Kanto, and the setting of the Guanzhong area was relatively simple. For example, Yongzhou, where Chang'an was located, was only divided into five counties.With the stability and expansion of the Western Wei-Northern Zhou regime, a large number of residents moved from the Kanto and the South to Guanzhong, and the old administrative resources were insufficient.Recognizing this situation, Emperor Ming readjusted the local organization and divided Yongzhou into twelve prefectures, and added six prefectures in Hedong and Henan areas close to Northern Qi to adapt to the new social structure.At the same time, Emperor Ming issued an edict that the Xianbei people living in the Northern Zhou Dynasty would be renamed Jingzhao people (Jingzhao, another name for the administrative district of Chang'an since the Qin and Han Dynasties). self-awareness.
It can be said that as a successor, Ming Emperor Yu Wenyu is much more qualified than his younger brother Yu Wenjue and cousin Yu Wenhu.But the reality is that, as an adult monarch, he still has to be subject to Yu Wenhu, a half-baked man with first-class power skills and second-rate governance, which is really intolerable.
It was Yu Wenhu who first proposed Yu Wenyu to be the king of heaven. There are two reasons: First, after Yu Wenjue was abolished, Yu Wenyu was the first heir according to the order of elder and younger. He has the courage to go directly to the stage to lead; secondly, Yu Wenyu's benevolence can also be understood as weakness from another angle, and it is a perfectly suitable character to be a puppet.
However, after two years of observation, Yu Wenhu was surprised to find that Yu Wenyu was far from what he imagined.As long as it is a matter of principle that Yu Wenyu thinks is correct, he will stick to it to the end, and two of the things make Yu Wenhu feel even more pressure.
The first incident was related to the incident of Zhao Gui and Duguxin. Zhao Gui was punished for rebellion, and a large number of Yuan clans from the Western Wei Dynasty were implicated.Emperor Ming issued an edict to rehabilitate all the children of the Yuan family who had been taken as official slaves and restore their freedom.On the surface, this move is to pardon the Yuan clan, but in fact it is expressing dissatisfaction with Yuwenhu's suppression of Zhao Gui and Duguxin.
The second thing is the turmoil after Li Li.We have said that Emperor Ming's main concubine is Duguxin's eldest daughter, and the two have a deep relationship.Emperor Ming wants to make Dugu his queen, but encounters obstacles from Yu Wenhu.Duguxin died at the hands of Yuwenhu. Yuwenhu had a guilty conscience and didn't want to see Duguxin's daughter's mother's beauty in the world, which would be detrimental to him in the future, so he tried his best to oppose it.Emperor Ming resolutely refused to give in, fought against Yu Wenhu for several months, and won over most of the courtiers, and finally helped Dugu to the canonization ceremony. (Unfortunately, Queen Dugu only lived in the shadow of killing her father and enemies for two months before she died of depression and failed to leave more beautiful records in history. Some people speculate that there is also Yu Wenhu behind this incident black hand.)
Yu Wenhu was faced with a dilemma: if he did not hand over power, not only Emperor Ming would go against him, but also the princes and ministers of the Northern Zhou Dynasty would not be satisfied, and he might become an "enemy of the people", but he was unwilling to give up power easily However, due to the situation, he came up with a "sure plan".
In the first month of the third year (559 A.D.) when Emperor Ming came to the throne, Yu Wenhu went to the table, praised Emperor Ming for his wisdom and martial arts, admirable, and announced the return of the ruling power.However, this power has a discount-it does not include military power. Yu Wenhu's reason is nothing more than the fact that the foreign enemy is strong and the Emperor Ming lacks military experience.
Emperor Ming was not polite and accepted all the orders.You don't want to give me the military power for a while, it doesn't matter, with my political power, I am enough to win the support of the world, and it will be a matter of course to take back the power that I should have.
Two months later, Emperor Ming led all the civil and military officials to welcome the rising Taibai Jinxing in the east in front of the palace.He changed his elegant image in the past, put on armor, and personally inspected the mighty and majestic Northern Sixth Army.
The six armies that have experienced many battles formed a formation in sequence, with various flags fluttering in the wind.The young and handsome King of the Great Zhou, in armor, riding a horse, holding a sword, how mighty is he under the rising sun?When the soldiers saw this situation, how could they not be agitated and shouted long live?
In just a few months, Emperor Ming's prestige increased greatly. With the strong support of his officials, he announced that he would change to Heavenly King, officially called Emperor, and changed Yuan Wucheng to Yuan Wucheng.With the name of the emperor, Emperor Ming began to appoint the military chiefs of the prefectures, with Ancheng Gongyu Wenxian as the governor of Yizhou, a general and Tianshui Gong Yuwen Guang as the governor of Liangzhou, Zhu Guo and Wu Guogong Wei Chi Gang as the governor of Jingzhou, and Wei Chijiong, Duke of Zhu Kingdom and Shu Kingdom, was the governor of Qinzhou.
Emperor Ming's meddling in the military does not mean that he will counterattack Yu Wenhu.The world has not yet been unified. Gao Yang of the Northern Qi Dynasty has been operating for many years. Even if there are some signs of wasting people and money, his strength is still far superior to that of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.As the supreme ruler, Emperor Ming maintained a high degree of emphasis on military affairs, and his purpose was external rather than internal.This can be seen from Emperor Ming's reign title "Wu Cheng".Yu Wenhu was not as good as Emperor Ming in politics, and there was less and less reason to continue to hold military power in the military. The separation of military and government would only lead to the decline of the country.The best solution is to take the initiative to retreat to the second line and honestly hand over all the power. With the kindness of Emperor Ming, he can still have a good death.
Emperor Ming is a gentleman, but Yu Wenhu is a villain, used to playing tricks.He regards military power as the ultimate guarantee of power and even life, and does not believe that the benevolent is invincible.In his world, those who have military power have everything, and those who do not have military power are at the mercy of others and die.Emperor Ming continued to interfere in military appointments and removals, which suddenly touched Yu Wenhu's political bottom line.
Emperor Ming's mass base was so good that it was impossible for Yu Wenhu to abolish Emperor Ming like Yu Wenjue, so he had to resort to another "unique trick" of his—poisoning.
There is an official named Li An in the imperial dining room, who was originally the cook in Yuwenhu's family and was very favored.In April of the second year of Wucheng (560 A.D.), Yuwen Humi ordered Li An to add poison to sugar cakes and eat to Emperor Ming.Emperor Ming ate the sugar cake, and soon died. Before he died, he was smart and realized the crisis behind him, so he insisted on dictating a will of more than 500 words. Inherit the throne; I hope that my brother (Yu Wenhu) and ministers can work together to complete the legacy of Taizu (Yu Wentai)!"
Yu Wenhu killed Emperor Ming, making him the only person in Chinese history who killed three monarchs in a row (Emperor Gong of the Western Wei Dynasty, Emperor Xiaomin of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and Emperor Ming).However, his historical status is limited to this.We sigh for the death of Emperor Ming who possesses both ability and political integrity, and we are also grateful for him. His chosen successor, Yu Wenyong, is the hero of the generation who completely changed the division of the Three Kingdoms and started the process of unification—Emperor Wudi of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
Regarding Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, we will talk about it in detail after we explain the things about Southern Chen and Northern Qi.