Chapter 42 1. Civilized Empress Dowager Feng

"The Book of Southern Qi·Wei Lu Biography" records an incident: Emperor Xiaowen Tuobahong of Wei respected the ministers of the Southern Qi Dynasty very much when he communicated with the Southern Dynasties and the Northern Dynasties. Excellent minister.He often sighed to the ministers: "What a good minister in the south of the Yangtze River." There was a secretary named Li Yu, who was the great-grandson of Li Xian who had given Tuoba Gui a cultural enlightenment, and replied: "What a good minister in the south of the Yangtze River, The master changes every year; there are no good ministers in Jiangbei, but the master changes every hundred years.” It means, Your Majesty, you said that there are so many good ministers in Jiangnan, why do you change the emperor every now and then? We have no good ministers in Jiangbei, but the emperor rarely changes. .It is said that Emperor Xiaowen was ashamed for a while and didn't say a word for a long time.

The Southern and Northern Dynasties were such an era of strong contrasts but full of fun. On the one hand, there were frequent changes of faint kings, and on the other hand, the wise masters worked hard to govern.We might as well follow the eyes of the people of the time to revisit the story of the wise masters and the faint kings. The story should start with the sudden death of Tuoba Jun, Emperor Wencheng of the Northern Wei Dynasty. In the summer of the sixth year of Heping (AD 465), people inside and outside Pingcheng, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, were in panic.Basically every summer, the emperor Tuoba Jun drove to the north of Yinshan Mountain to escape the summer heat. Except for receiving envoys from all parties at Loufan Palace on Guancen Mountain in the early spring, he stayed in Pingcheng and did not go out.This phenomenon can not help but lead to all kinds of gossip among the market.Tuoba Jun is a very diligent emperor who issues a large number of imperial edicts every year, and often visits places to visit people. It has been like a day for more than ten years. Why is it so quiet this year?

Unfortunately, the ominous premonition came true, and the emperor suffered a serious health problem.Most of the emperors in the Northern Wei Dynasty were precocious, supervising the country at the age of eleven or twelve, and marrying and having children at the age of thirteen or fourteen.The problem caused by precocity is often premature aging. In fact, the life span of the emperors in the Northern Wei Dynasty was relatively short, but the first few emperors, whether it was Tuoba Gui, Tuoba Tao who were killed, or the frail and sick Tuoba Si, all lived to the end of their lives. Thirty or forty years old.Although Tuobahuang, who only served as the crown prince but not enthroned, only lived to be twenty-four years old, we have said before that his death was the result of a court battle, which is a special case.Tuoba Jun was only twenty-six years old, which shouldn't be the age of Dajian, why did he fall down when he was young and vigorous?

People speculated that Tuoba Jun might have some kind of sudden illness, which occurred in the summer of this year, and the imperial doctors around him were caught off guard, so that he passed away with just such an illness.It is a custom maintained by the nomadic emperors who occupied the Central Plains to move to the north with a cool climate in summer to spend the summer. It was unavoidable from the Northern Wei Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty to Qing Dynasty.Although these emperors rode horses to fight on weekdays and were physically strong, they often couldn't bear the scorching heat. For southerners, the high temperature of more than 30 degrees, which is very common, is a disaster of the century for them, and it is easy to induce various diseases. .Tuoba Jun somehow got the idea, and died before he could get up and leave the palace. (Diligent emperors always have a short time to enjoy Zuo. There was Tuoba Jun before and Yongzheng later. Sometimes the emperor's job can be done desperately.) The ruling class of the Northern Wei Dynasty, who had finally been safe for a while, surrounded There will be another round of turmoil in the throne and power.

Tuoba Jun's prince is the eldest son, Tuoba Hong, who is only twelve years old. Although he was established as a prince when he was three years old, he is intelligent and quick-witted, but he has no experience in governing the country.Yi Hun, who was the general of the chariot at that time, took the opportunity to help the prince succeed to the throne, falsely passed on the imperial decree, and summoned Shangshu Yang Baonian, Pingyang Gong Jia Airen, Nanyang Gong Zhang Tiandu and other powerful figures to the palace to kill. Pingyuan Wang Luli was an important minister of Tuoba Jun. At this time, he was recuperating in a hot spring near Daicheng. Yihun had been afraid of him for a long time, so he sent Mu Duohou, the inspector of the guard, to inform him of the death of the former emperor and let him go to Beijing. .Mu Duohou saw Yi Hun's intentions, and advised Lu Li to wait and see for now, not to act without authorization, in case Yi Hun made trouble.Lu Li disagreed, and based on loyalty, she went to Pingcheng for the funeral with Mu Duohou.Lu Li could not understand Yi Hun's domineering behavior in the court, and had disputes with him on many issues.Yi Hun did not do anything, and continued to kill Lu Li and Mu Duohou, and made himself a captain and prime minister, ranking above the kings, and he ruled on everything big and small.He planted cronies in the court and further eliminated dissidents. Tuobayu, Duke of Shunyang, planned to kill Yihun, but was killed by him again.

Some people cover the sky with one hand in the court, and they are quite bloodthirsty, so naturally some people will not accept it.General Anyuan Jia Xiu is one of them. Jia Xiu was in charge of official affairs, and his position was similar to that of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials in the Southern Dynasties, and he was upright.Yi Hun wanted to give his wife the title of princess, so he asked Jia Xiu, but Jia Xiu refused.Once, Jia Xiu went to Yihun's mansion to meet Yihun and his wife. Yihun brought up the matter again. Jia Xiu sternly refused, saying: "Princess is a title that is extremely respected and favored. How can it be used by a common surname like you?" Yes! I, Jia Xiu, would rather die today than do such a stupid thing to make fun of for future generations!" Everyone around Yi Hun turned pale with shock, only Jia Xiu looked calm.Yi Hun and his wife were so angry that they couldn't speak for a long time. Since Jia Xiu was also a former minister of several dynasties, it was inconvenient to lash out in person. Afterwards, they scolded: "This old slave is really stingy!" They looked for opportunities to frame him.

Jia Xiu understands that Yi Hun must be brought down as soon as possible, otherwise it will not only be a matter of her own survival, but the state of Wei will "perish forever".But to bring down powerful ministers, it is far from enough to rely on a few upright old ministers, and a stronger backer is also needed.They began to secretly contact the royal family and win over all the forces against Yi Hun.At this critical juncture, the Empress Dowager Bao respected by Tuoba Hong appeared on the stage. She was the legendary woman called "a very relevant figure in the Northern Wei Dynasty" by Mr. Lu Simian--Empress Dowager Feng Wenming.

The grandfather of Empress Dowager Feng was Feng Hong, the last monarch of Beiyan. As we said in "The Struggle Between Song and Wei", Feng Chong, Feng Lang, and Feng Miao, Feng Hong's sons, were envied by envy. He surrendered to the Northern Wei Dynasty.Among them, Feng Lang, the second son, was moved to Guanzhong by Tuoba Tao, the emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and served as the governor of Qin and Yongzhou.His son and daughter were both born in Chang'an. This daughter is a natural beauty and has been liked since she was a child. When the poor little girl was only a few years old, Feng Lang was implicated and killed for treason.Fortunately, Feng Lang's younger sister is Tuoba Tao's Zuo Zhaoyi, and the children were finally spared from death.The little girl entered the palace with her aunt, and was educated and brought up by her.Ten years passed in a flash, and the Feng family was born into a slim, well-educated girl, who was naturally eye-catching in the palace.When she was fourteen years old, when Emperor Wencheng Tuoba Jun came to the throne, she was elected as a nobleman, and four years later she was established as a queen, and she was the mother of the world.

Prince Tuo Bahong was also established as prince in the same year.His biological mother, Li, was born in the Southern Dynasty. When Tuoba Tao sent his troops to the south in the last years of his life, the army of Tuoba Ren, the nephew of Tuoba Tao, passed by Li's house in Shouchun and took her captive to the north.Later, Tuoba Ren rebelled and committed suicide (we mentioned it when we talked about Tuoba Jun's Zhongxing earlier), and Li Shi was sent to Pingcheng with Tuoba Ren's family. Unexpectedly, Tuoba Jun fell in love with him at a glance.At that time, Tuoba Jun asked the left and right in amazement: "Is this woman beautiful?" The left and right agreed, "Yes, yes."

Unexpectedly, Tuoba Jun couldn't wait to meet Mrs. Li in the warehouse. Afterwards, he became pregnant with Tuoba Hong, was called into the palace, and was named a nobleman.Tuo Bahong became the prince, and according to the old rules in the palace, Li was ordered to commit suicide, while Tuo Bahong was raised by Empress Feng. Empress Feng did not have children herself, but she treated little Tuo Bahong very well, as if she was her own child, the little prince was influenced by Empress Feng in all aspects during his growth, and the degree of Sinicization was very deep. The death of Tuoba Jun had a great psychological impact on Empress Feng. She was only twenty-seven years old, and she was still a charming young woman from the current point of view.The reality of being a widow early on was almost unacceptable to her.During the funeral, a big fire broke out in the palace and burned the emperor's supplies during his lifetime. All the officials and concubines were present and wept.The cries shook the sky, Empress Feng was deeply affected, and suddenly screamed and jumped into the fire, hurriedly stepped forward to drag her out, and it took a long time to wake up.Regardless of whether this jump is true or not, it is a wonderful scene that Empress Feng performed before she stepped onto the political stage, which moved people.

When Tuo Bahong became the emperor, the young Empress Feng became the Empress Dowager Feng, and Yihun monopolized the power. The Empress Dowager Feng was extremely dissatisfied, but she did not act immediately.She understood that if she acted too hastily, it might cause total chaos in the entire Northern Wei Dynasty, and the situation might be worse than the time when Tuoba Tao was murdered.It was luck that time, and with the assistance of several capable ministers, it was possible to turn the crisis into safety.If he wants to bring down Yi Hun this time, he also needs careful arrangements. Like Jia Xiu and others, she also thought of a person, Tuobapi, the emperor's distant relative and servant. Tuoba Pi is the fourth great-great-grandson of Tuoba Shiyijian's elder brother Tuoba Yihuai. In terms of seniority, he is much higher than the emperor, but his title is very low. He won a viscount only after following Tuoba Tao's southern expedition.With Tuoba Yu's lessons learned, Tuoba Pi is also looking for opportunities.Jia Xiu and others found him, and he found Queen Mother Feng, and the two quickly agreed on a strategy to get rid of the rebellion. In the first year of Tian'an (AD 466), without any warning, Empress Dowager Feng suddenly sent Tuoba Pi to lead soldiers into Yi Hun's mansion, captured Yi Hun and his cronies, and counted the people who plotted against him and wanted to rebel. evidence, put him to death.In this way, Empress Dowager Feng had enough reasons to take over the power. She announced that she would be in charge of the imperial court, and Gao Yun, Gao Lu, and Jia Xiu, former ministers of the former court, would jointly participate in politics.The Northern Wei Dynasty entered the era of civilized Empress Dowager Feng.