Chapter 44 3. Tuobahong Zen position

The states under the command of Jinan Wang Murong Baiyao are basically equivalent to the areas controlled by Nanyan established by Murong De.The descendants of the Murong family once again came to the place where their ancestors had created glory, but after all, they were no longer as brave as before.Murong Baiyao defeated the army of Liu Yu's descendants, avenging the thousands of Murong nobles slaughtered by Liu Yu, but he could not escape the suspicion of the Northern Wei court. Although Northern Wei Emperor Tuo Bahong appointed Murong Baiyao on the battlefield, it was just a stopgap measure. "If the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog will cook it", once the battle is over, Murong Baiyao no longer has important use value.When Yi Hun took power, Murong Baiyao was attached to him. This is a very sensitive issue of political stance; and Murong and Tuoba are feuds, so it is impossible to trust them completely, let alone Murong Baiyao in Shandong. Anmin has done a good job and won the hearts of the people - once the common people feel relieved, the superiors will not feel at ease.Thus, just over a year after the Battle of Qingzhou ended, Ta Bahong fabricated a charge of treason, imposed it on Murong Baiyao, and arrested and killed him and his younger brother Murong Ruyi together. (This unjust case was not rehabilitated until Ta Bahong's son Tuo Bahong later became emperor.)

At this time, Tuoba Hong had already been in charge for almost three years, and he had to thank his eldest son, Tuoba Hong.Empress Dowager Feng especially loved the children of the royal family. In the second year of Tian'an (AD 467), Tuoba Hong was born. Both Empress Dowager Feng and Tuoba Hong were very happy.Soon, Ta BaHong was established as the crown prince, and Empress Dowager Feng announced that she would devote all her energy to raising the crown prince, and handed over the ruling power to Ta BaHong. Ta Bahong is also very diligent like his father, with clear rewards and punishments. He has achieved great results in removing corruption from local officials.

When we introduced Gao Yun earlier, we mentioned the corruption of officials, a big problem that has been a headache for the rulers since the founding of the Northern Wei Dynasty but was helpless.Officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty had no salary, and most of them adhered to the principle of "use the right and lose it after the expiration date", and within the scope of their duties, they could get it if they could, and they were greedy if they could.Tuoba Tao once hated this phenomenon deeply, but he had to rely on these civil servants and generals to work for him in his wars, so he often reprimanded his officials, but it was impossible for him to make up his mind to punish corrupt people.During Tuoba Jun's time of recuperating and recuperating, the assessment of state and county officials still could not touch the fundamental interests of corrupt officials, let alone supervise those important princes and officials around the emperor.

Tuo Bahong was determined to overcome the problem. He issued an edict saying: "Any official who accepts more than one sheep and more than one dendrobium wine will be executed, and those who bribe at the same time will be punished as accomplices. Replace the uncovered officer's position." As soon as the edict was promulgated, many people were frightened. This is a very heavy punishment. If it is left until now, more than half of the officials may not be able to keep their heads.An official named Zhang Baize next to the emperor hurriedly advised him, saying, "I'm afraid this method won't work. In the days of Emperor Zhou, even small officials had the salary of finding someone to do the farming (i.e. hire farmers to do the farming for them). Nowadays, the high officials and ministers of our dynasty have worked hard but have no rewards. Your Majesty let the officials who received the gifts be punished, and let the person who exposed him take his place. The humble ministers are worried that the traitors will take advantage of it, and the real loyal ministers will be discouraged. Want to It is too difficult to simplify the administration and make the people safe in this way! For the current plan, we still have to refer to the past laws and regulations, and reward clean and honest officials with salaries."

Zhang Baize's suggestion is actually to reward "honest officials" instead of punishing "corrupt officials", so as to avoid the dangers that may be caused by severe punishments for corruption.On the surface, it seems that severely punishing corrupt officials is very satisfying, but if it is actually implemented, it is likely to be used by villains as Zhang Baize said, causing social turmoil.Corruption cannot be solved fundamentally by means of punishment or reward alone, and only through institutional regulations and constraints will it be effective.Tuo Bahong felt that what Zhang Baize said was reasonable, so he had no choice but to abolish the new law.

Ta BaHong was frustrated and annoyed in the process of getting rid of the old evils. What made him even more upset was the heavy pressure from the Queen Mother. Empress Dowager Feng did not completely give up control of power after retiring to the second line. She promoted her own brother Feng Xi as Taifu, and always supervised the emperor's words and deeds.As a father, how could Ta Bahong be willing to be manipulated like this? His awe of Queen Mother Feng gradually turned into resentment, and he decided to take revenge. Empress Dowager Feng was young and widowed, so she was lonely and unbearably lonely. Her palace often had faces in and out. At that time, the most favored one was Li Yi, the son of Li Shun who was executed by Emperor Taiwu Tuoba Tao.

Li Yizheng's elder brother, Nan Shangshu Li Fu, was an old minister of several dynasties, and the empress dowager loved her very much, and she didn't take the emperor seriously.Ta Bahong was dissatisfied with the Queen Mother, and also regarded Li Yi as a thorn in his side. Opportunities are not hard to find.Li Fu's old friend in the officialdom, Li Xing, served as the governor of Xiangzhou and accepted bribes. When Tuo Bahong cracked down hard, someone came out to report and expose.Out of past friendship, Li Fu tried every means to cover up for Li Shi, but unexpectedly let Ta BaHong know about it.Ta Bahong then ordered Li Shi to be escorted back to Pingcheng and interrogated in person. The evidence was solid and he should be executed according to the law.

Ta Bahong intended to use this to make a fuss, and he was not in a hurry to close the case. He sent a law enforcement officer from Yousi to hint to Li Xing: "If you can confess the scandal of Brother Li Fu, you can be exempted from the death penalty." Li Shi is very depressed, this is a way to survive, but Li Fu is an old friend for decades, and he helps him so much, his conscience can't convince himself, he struggles with his thoughts every day, and he almost collapses.At this time, his son-in-law Pei You came to visit him in prison.He said to Pei You: "Although Li Fu and I have the same surname and different clan, we are as kind as brothers. Now the officials of Yousi persuade me to do such a thing. I can't bear it. I pulled out my hairpin several times and stabbed myself to death. He hanged himself under the belt, but he failed to die (this is probably a hypocritical excuse, it is true that he did not have the determination to seek death). Besides, how could I know about the scandal of Brother Li Fu? How do you think about it?"

Pei You thought for a while and said, "This is the emperor who wants to kill Li Fu's brother. Why do you need to be a scapegoat? I heard that there was a man named Feng Chan who was killed by Li Fu. His family hated Li Fu very much." To the bone. I will help you to ask his brother, and I will definitely find out some of Li Fu's crimes." Li Shi gritted his teeth and agreed with this idea. Sure enough, Pei You collected a bunch of evidence of Li Fu's crimes from Feng's family and presented them to the emperor.At the same time, Li's good friend Fan Wei also wrote to the court, reporting more than 30 crimes committed by Li Fu's brothers.

Ta Bahong has been suppressed for a long time, and this is not yet a ruthless vent.Based on these charges, he immediately ordered the execution of the two brothers Li Fu and Li Yi.Li Shi reported meritorious service and was spared from death. After being flogged and shaved, he was sent to serve in the military, and later returned to the post of minister. Empress Dowager Feng let the emperor take away her beloved lover. She was so sad and angry that her lungs almost exploded.She believed that Ta Bahong, whom she had worked so hard to bring up, was ungrateful. If this continues, she still doesn't know what will happen to her in the future.She tried every means to restrain the emperor, and the conflict between mother and son intensified.

Tuo Bahong acted resolutely and decisively, and especially hated people telling him what to do behind him; he was also influenced by the aristocratic atmosphere, and he liked the theories of Buddhism and Taoism; Depressed, lost interest in politics.The emperor's uncle Tuoba Zitui is generous and kind, with a high reputation, and he also made contributions in the war against Rouran. Tuobahong called the ministers to discuss that he should give up the throne to his uncle. The ministers overwhelmingly opposed it, and their opinions were almost unanimously unanimous. They believed that since the founding of the Northern Wei Dynasty, father and son had always been inherited.What's more, the crown prince has no fault at all, even if he wants to abdicate, he should give it to the prince. Tuo Bahong was very embarrassed, and said to the officials: "The prince is only five years old, he is too young, I think it is better to pass the throne to the elder Zi Tui." The old minister Gao Yun was silent for a long time and did not speak. At this time, he said: "I don't dare to say more, I only hope that your majesty will go to the temple to think about the importance of the country, and remember the old Zhou Gong who assisted the king." As a minister of government, only a veteran like Gao Yun dares to say such a thing.) Tuobahong thought for a while, and had no choice but to give in, and sighed: "Forget it, then let the crown prince succeed to the throne, and you can help me!" In the fifth year of Huangxing in the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 471), Tuoba Hongchan was located in the five-year-old prince Tuoba Hong, and changed his Yuan to Yanxing.At the enthronement ceremony, Tuo Bahong carried his son to sit on the throne, and the little Tuo Bahong was already sobbing.Ta Bahong wondered why such a small child was crying, so he asked him what happened.Little Tuobahong replied: "The feeling of being a parent comes from the heart!" It means that I replaced my father's throne, and I feel very sad in my heart.God, such a young child can say such words that convince adults, which is in stark contrast to the arrogant and unruly Song Emperor Liu Ziye when he ascended the throne! The ministers went up to play and respected Ta BaHong as the Supreme Emperor, and Ta BaHong accepted it.Interestingly, Tuo Bahong was the first person in Chinese history to be both emperor and Supreme Emperor, and the title of Supreme Emperor also started from him.In the past, Liu Bang gave his father Liu Taigong the title of Taishanghuang, not Taishanghuang. In name, Tuo Bahong became the supreme emperor, but in fact he was not much different from the emperor, and he was still responsible for directing major national affairs.However, his daily life was finally a little more leisurely. He moved to another palace. The rafters and steps of the palace were made of natural wood and soil.The Feng family who was promoted to the empress dowager's hatred for him not only did not decrease, but became more intense.