Chapter 61 Fourteen, the stars will fall

After Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty killed Ziwenhu, he immediately ordered the palace boss Sun Lan and others who were in charge of the palace guards to hunt down all Yuwenhu's sons, brothers and cronies (even Li An, the cook who poisoned Emperor Ming himself). In one fell swoop, he took back the imperial power that he had never really obtained since the founding of the country, and also unveiled his "mysterious veil" in a blockbuster way. The pro-government Emperor Zhou Wu announced amnesty in the territory, changed the Yuan and built morality, and then carried out a series of appointments and dismissals of officials, which proved that his seizure of power was by no means a fluke.

The ambitious emperor Yu Wenzhi, who had vowed to be Otsuka's governor, did not get what he wanted. Emperor Wu handed over this important position to his fifth brother, Yu Wenxian, the Duke of Qi. Yu Wenxian was one year younger than Emperor Wu and was not born to the same mother, but he was more like Emperor Wu in temperament than Yu Wenzhi, the younger brother of Emperor Wu.The two played together since they were young, and received Confucian culture education together, and their intelligence levels were similar, so Yu Wentai liked it very much. Once, Yu Wentai got a batch of good horses and was going to give them to his sons, and asked them to choose them by themselves.Ordinary people think that pure-color horses have noble pedigree and good quality, and they all like to choose pure white and pure black beautiful horses.Xiaoyu Wenxian was not the case, he screened a little, and pulled out a colored horse (that is, a barge horse) with mixed coat and color.Yu Wentai was surprised, so he asked Yu Wenxian: "Why did you choose an inconspicuous flower horse?"

Yu Wenxian replied: "This horse has a special color, it is probably a fast horse; moreover, if it goes to war, the horse breeder will recognize it at a glance, and it is easy to distinguish." Yu Wentai was very happy when he heard this, and said to the left and right: "My son has different insights from ordinary people, and he will become a great weapon in the future." From then on, whenever he saw similar colorful horses in the official stables, he would always think of Yu Wenxian Answer and give the horse to Yu Wenxian. Yuwen protects the exclusive power and attaches great importance to Yuwenxian. He often invites Yuwenxian to play on his behalf.Yu Wenxian used his special status to coordinate the relationship between Yu Wenhu and Emperor Wu, and became a lubricant between the two.

In the battle between Zhou and Qi, Yu Wenxian mostly participated. Although the Northern Qi Dynasty was led by three heroes, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty lost more than its victors, Yu Wenxian was good at fighting against the wind. Through his orderly command, he ensured that the Zhou army would not be defeated too badly.In the sixth year of Tianhe (the second year of Wuping in the Northern Qi Dynasty, 571 A.D.), in the border contact war south of Yiyang, Yu Wenhu repelled the 40,000 troops of Hu Luguang, captured the fortress of the Qi army, and broke the Zhou Qi army. The myth of Hu Luguang's invincibility in the history of war.

Yuwenxian's outstanding performance made Yuwenzhi very jealous (this guy couldn't even beat the relatively weak Chen Jun), so after getting rid of Yuwenhu, he repeatedly reminded Emperor Wu: "Yuwenxian and Yuwenhu have a close past!" Emperor Wu further eliminated Yu Wenxian.Emperor Wu understood Yu Wenxian's intentions, and also saw through Yu Wenzhi's attempt, so he was unmoved, and appointed Yu Wenxian as Otsuka Prime Minister, and Yu Wenzhi as Da Situ.Of course, since Emperor Wu held great power, the power of Yu Wenxian, the Otsuka governor, could not be compared with that of Yu Wenhu. (Yu Wenzhi had counted all the organs, but he never counted Zhou Wudi, who knew people with his eyes. Two years later, Yu Wenzhi, who had repeatedly framed Yu Wenxian, rebelled in Chang'an, was defeated and was killed.)

The Northern Zhou side stepped up internal integration, but the Northern Qi side was doing the exact opposite - self-destructing pillars.The three masters of the Northern Qi Dynasty who caused Bei Zhou a headache fell one by one, and the last weight on this end of the balance finally ceased to exist. In the second year of Wuping (AD 571), Duan Shao and Gao Changgong, the oldest of the three masters, captured Dingyang (now Ji County, Shanxi), an important stronghold in the Northern Zhou Dynasty in Hedong. Unfortunately, Duan Shao, who was over seventy years old, fell seriously ill in the army. , within a few months after returning to court, he died of illness.

In the Northern Qi Dynasty, where the emperor was in power and the treacherous ministers were in power, it was a blessing to be able to end his life like Duan Shao. Neither Hu Luguang nor Gao Changgong had such good luck.It all started when He Shikai was killed. After He Shikai's death, two people were most affected.The first one is He Shikai's lover, Empress Dowager Hu.Without He Shikai by her side, the Empress Dowager Hu, who couldn't stand the loneliness, found a new lover—Monk Tan Xian.Empress Dowager Hu asked Tan Xian and his entourage to pretend to be nuns when they entered the palace to deceive everyone's eyes and ears, but the secret spread, and some monks even jokingly called Tan Xian the Supreme Emperor.

When Gao Wei heard about this, he didn't believe it at first.It wasn't until later that the lecherous emperor saw two little nuns in the queen mother's palace, stepped forward and found out that they were men, so he found out about Tan Xian's dirty work by the way.Gao Wei was furious, and ordered Tan Xian and all monks who knew about it to be beheaded, and put the Queen Mother under house arrest in the North Palace, where even her clan relatives were not allowed to see each other.For the first time, Queen Mother Hu was deprived of "sexual freedom". Empress Dowager Hu "suffered" because of He Shikai, and Zu Ting, who "re-emerged" under the call of Gao Wei, benefited from He Shikai.Zu Ting learned the lessons from the past, and with his own intelligence, he slowly climbed to He Shikai's seat before his death, and became friends with Lu Lingxuan, Mu Tipo and others.Empress Dowager Hu was banned, Zu Ting took the opportunity to curry favor with Lu Lingxuan, and suggested to Gao Wei that Lu Lingxuan be the queen mother. Maybe it really looks like a national treasure giant panda with dark circles).

Zu Ting and Lu Lingxuan have the same tastes, and their power is in the hands of the government.Hu Luguang couldn't get used to it, and secretly scolded Zu Ting for "a villain in power".The Manchu Dynasty of the Northern Qi Dynasty was either following the trend, or protecting one's life wisely. How can it work for you, Hu Luguang, to be an honest gentleman by yourself? (It's like Hai Rui in the late Ming Dynasty. If you want to be upright and open-minded, how can others be greedy? Naturally, there is no good fruit for you.) Zu Teng bribed Hu Luguang's domestic slave and asked Hu Luguang's evaluation of him.The slave reported: "My prime minister hugs his knees at night and laments: 'If a blind man enters the court, the country will perish!'" Zu Ting is blind, and he is most afraid of being mentioned by others. Hearing this, he immediately hates it. itch.

Another "red man" in Gaowei's court, Mutipo, wanted to marry the daughter of Huluguang's concubine, but Huluguang refused; And let it go.Now, the two families of Zu and Mu formed a united front against Hu Luguang, trying every means to find opportunities and prepare for revenge. There is a hostile country, and it is convenient to eliminate the political opponent, and the opportunity will come when it is said. Wei Xiaokuan, a general of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, fought against Hu Luguang, but he couldn't always win, so he came up with an out-of-the-box trick.He made up two nursery rhymes, sent people to sneak into Yecheng, and taught the folk children to sing them.The first nursery rhyme is: "A hundred liters fly to the sky, and the bright moon shines on Chang'an." The second song is: "The high mountain will collapse without being pushed, and the oak tree will lift itself without support."

When Zu Teng first listened to nursery rhymes on the streets of Yecheng, he understood the mystery inside.He added two lines to the nursery rhyme: "The blind husband receives a big axe, and the rapping old mother can't speak." Let the children continue to sing.Over time, the lyrics reached Gao Wei's ears. Gao Wei couldn't understand, so he called Zu Ting and Lu Lingxuan and asked them, "Have you ever heard a strange folk song? What does it mean?" Zu Teng put on a serious look and analyzed: "I have indeed heard it. This song is not trivial. Baisheng means a dendrobium, which implies that Dendrobium and Mingyue will be the lord of Chang'an. Gaoshan refers to the royal family's surname, and oak is a homophonic dendrobium. Law, the blind husband and the chattering old mother seem to refer to Wei Chen and the Lu family (Lu Lingxuan), the rumors are terrifying!" In fact, Wei Xiaokuan, the author of the ballad, may not have expected this trick to work. He probably just wanted to use rumors to break down the cohesion of the enemy just like Yubi.But the pig-headed emperor Gao Wei actually believed it under the instigation of a group of ministers in the court. In the third year of Wuping, according to Zu Teng's plan, Gao Wei sent someone to reward Hu Luguang with a horse, and invited him to travel with him the next day.Hu Luguang went to the inner hall of the palace to thank him, and Liu Taozhi, who specializes in killing ministers, jumped out from behind, and together with three warriors strangled Hu Luguang to death with a bowstring. Gao Wei executed Hu Luguang's younger brother Hu Luxian and all their sons on charges of treason.Afterwards, Zu Ting sent people to search Hu Luguang's house, and got only fifteen bows, seven knives, a lance given by the emperor, and twenty jujube sticks for punishing slaves. There was no trace of Hu Luguang's rebellion. The evidence, however, came too late. When the news of Hu Luguang's death reached Chang'an, Emperor Wu of Zhou was overjoyed and immediately issued an amnesty for the whole country to celebrate. The only pillar of the Northern Qi Dynasty left was Lanling King Gao Changgong, and as the emperor's cousin, he only had his last year left. Gao Wei loves music. After listening to "Lanling King Entering the Battle", he seemed to feel the danger of the battle from it, so he asked Gao Changgong with concern: "If you enter the battle too deeply, if you lose, wouldn't you regret it?" ?” Gao Changgong replied without hesitation: "Family affairs are kind, and I moved forward without knowing it." Gao Changgong told the truth, but when Gao Wei heard about the "family affairs", he was startled, don't you want to be an emperor?The scruples are getting stronger and stronger. It's not that Gao Changgong doesn't understand the truth that the master is overwhelmed by meritorious deeds.He tried to avoid the emperor's suspicion by accepting bribes and bad reputation, and deliberately died of illness, taking the opportunity to "retire to the second line", but these were not enough to save his life. In the fourth year of Wuping (573 A.D.), Gao Wei sent someone to deliver a cup of poison to Gao Changgong.Gao Changgong sighed: "I served the emperor with loyalty and lived up to the heavens, yet I was met with such a cruel hand!" Princess Zheng of Lanling cried bitterly: "Why don't you ask to see the emperor, maybe there is a turning point?" Gao Changgong shook his head and said, "What reason do you have to see the emperor?" After that, he drank medicine and committed suicide. In three years, the three strong generals withered one after another.The days of Northern Qi's demise began to count down. At this time, Gao Wei is still busy changing the empress and concubine. The number of beauties in Gaowei's harem is extremely large, and most of them are fleeting.His first queen was Huluguang's daughter. Huluguang was punished, Queen Hulu was implicated and deposed, and the empress dowager's niece, Hu Shi, was changed to be the queen.Lu Lingxuan fought for power with the Queen Mother, and wanted to establish her adopted daughter Mu Huanghua, so she said to the Queen Mother: "The Queen told us all: 'The Queen Mother has behaved badly, and it is not enough to teach me!" The Queen Mother was furious when she heard the words, and she also abolished the Hu family. Yes, Li Mu Huanghua is the queen. Mu Huanghua is Gao Wei's favorite queen, and she gave birth to the prince Gao Heng before becoming queen.Gao Wei made pearl skirts for her and sent people to buy pearls in the Northern Zhou Dynasty.The two drank wine and drank all day long, like glue, but there was also a day of indifference.Gao Wei fell in love with Cao Zhaoyi, the daughter of a musician. In order to win back his favor, Mu Huanghua gave Gao Wei her maid Feng Xiaolian as a gift.Unexpectedly, Gao Wei was immediately fascinated by Feng Xiaolian, a pipa master who is good at singing and dancing. He named her Concubine Shu and regarded her as the jewel in his palm. There is a nursery rhyme circulating in Yecheng that satirizes Mu Huanghua's fate: