Chapter 55 Fourteen, one year old and three chaotic Qi Ting

Moving the capital to Luoyang was only the first step in Emperor Xiaowen's Sinicization plan.According to the established plan of Emperor Xiaowen, the next thing to do is to implement the Sinicization reform system step by step. When the time is right, he will use the posture of an orthodox dynasty to wipe out the remnants of the Southern Dynasty that has not yet been attached to, and unify China.However, at this time, a huge turmoil occurred in the political situation within the Southern Dynasties, which brought a big battle between Qi and Wei ahead of schedule. Before Emperor Qi Wu's plan for the Northern Expedition was implemented in the eleventh year of Yongming (493 A.D.), he himself fell ill.The emperor's funeral was on the table, and the situation at this time was extremely delicate.

Why do you say this way?The problem lies in the storage.If power is handed over normally, then the thirty-six-year-old prince Xiao Changmao will take over the throne.Generally speaking, Xiao Changmao was more satisfied with Emperor Wu of Qi Xiao Yu. In his later years, he devoted himself to cultivating the prince, and handed over many specific affairs of Shangshu Province to Xiao Changmao. On the one hand, he observed his ability to handle affairs, and on the other hand, he also improved his prestige. .However, Xiao Changmao also has his flaws. Contrary to the frugality of his grandfather and father, he advocates extravagance and likes to build large-scale construction projects, because he has also been scolded by his father for this matter.It is conceivable that even if everything goes well and Xiao Changmao becomes emperor, he is likely to be a mediocre emperor, and the situation in Southern Qi is probably not much better.

It's a pity that God didn't even give him a chance. Just after the new year in the eleventh year of Yongming, Xiao Changmao fell seriously ill. His father died before he died.Now the storage space is vacated. Faced with this situation, Xiao Yu was very embarrassed.He has two choices, one is to select the one who has both ability and political integrity from other sons to be crowned prince;Xiao Yu has twenty-three sons, but the only one who is really qualified to be the prince is Xiao Ziliang, the second son and King of Jingling. Xiao Ziliang has rich experience in governing. When Xiao Yu kept his mouth shut, he was a right-hand man, and later became an official in the local area.After the establishment of the Southern Qi Dynasty, he stated his political opinions many times. Although not all of his opinions were adopted by the emperor, he was deeply favored.Moreover, Xiao Ziliang recruited many talented people to the mansion to discuss academics, which was quite popular.After Xiao Changmao's death, many people believed that Xiao Ziliang was the best candidate for the crown prince.It never occurred to him that Xiao Yu preferred the second option, instead of establishing a prince, he established a young grandson. Xiao Changmao's eldest son, Xiao Zhaoye, King of Nanjun, became the successor to the throne.

Looking through the history books, it is difficult for us to find the real reason why Xiao Yu made such a choice.The only two possibilities are that Xiao Zhaoye is handsome, and the "Book of Southern Qi" says that he is "short and beautiful", with good handwriting and unusual conversation. His grandfather naturally loves him very much. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, his appearance and demeanor were paramount. At that time, being outstanding in appearance was the biggest advantage, not to mention being an emperor, even being an official was also very important.In addition, he is also young, which is good for the stability of the throne.Xiao Yu did not expect that Xiao Zhaoye was a typical "embroidered pillow with rotten straw", and entrusting the country to him can be said to have harmed both the country and him.

Establishing a descendant, establishing a long, or establishing a virtuous, this has always been a big headache for feudal emperors.Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty established a heir, which led to the disintegration of the empire; Liu Song also followed the principle of establishing a heir, and as a result, every time the emperor changed, he had to go through a big reshuffle; , I lost my life, and almost brought the empire down; Later, Emperor Wu of Liang learned his lesson and did the opposite. Chaos led to the fall of the empire; Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who controlled the Quartet, also stumbled on this, setting up an emperor and grandson, which plunged the empire into civil war.The only successful transfer of power seems to be between Yuan Shizu and his successor Yuan Chengzong (the two are in the relationship of grandparents and grandchildren), but it is a foreign regime, and the Yuan Dynasty's fortune is not long.The bloody and tearful lessons of countless predecessors tell us that the emperor's family affairs are the most difficult thing in the world, and it is also the most important thing related to chaos.

As soon as the emperor's grandson was established, Xiao Yu couldn't do it anymore.On the sickbed, he repented, and maybe he had a thought of reforming Xiao Ziliang.He ordered Xiao Ziliang to enter the palace to serve medicine, and Xiao Ziliang waited in the palace day and night with Xiao Yan and Fan Yun as his side (Xiao Yan has appeared). Xiao Yu's indecision is a torment for all parties.Wang Rong, the Zhongshu Lang who drafted the will, was appreciated by Xiao Ziliang because of his good writing, and he intended to support Xiao Ziliang.What he did was, when Xiao Yu was dying, he drafted a will, stating that the throne should be passed on to Xiao Ziliang.After drafting, he put on his military uniform and stood at the gate of Zhongshu Province to intercept the guards of Taisun Donggong.

The secret was known to Xiao Yan and Fan Yun somehow, and Xiao Yan, who is extremely politically sensitive, quietly said to Fan Yun: "A big event is going to happen in the palace, Wang Rong is not a talent for helping the world, we just sit back and watch it fail." Fan Yun said: "Wang Zhongshu is concerned about the country and the people!" Xiao Yan sneered: "Worrying about the country and the people? Does he want to be Zhou Gong, Zhao Gong, or Shu Diao (one of the three traitors of Duke Huan of Qi in his later years, who caused civil strife in Qi after the death of Duke Huan of Qi)?" Cloud couldn't answer.

At the critical moment when Wang Rong thought his strategy was successful, Xiao Yu suddenly woke up and asked around casually, "Where is the grandson of the emperor?"Xiao Yu asked the prince to enter the palace with the guards of the East Palace, and then there was no need for Wang Rong to write an edict, and he directly instructed the prince face-to-face that the prince should inherit the throne.As for political affairs, his cousins ​​(sons of Xiao Daocheng's second elder brother Xiao Daosheng) Xichang Marquis Xiao Luan and Xiao Ziliang jointly assisted him.This is another unexpected upset, we don't know how much Xiao Luan himself has done behind this.According to my guess, this is likely to be the product of the balance of power among the various factions, and Xiao Ziliang acquiesced.

Xiao Zhaoye's performance in this scene was very eye-catching, and he burst into tears, which was touching.Xiao Yu held his hand tightly and said: "Don't cry, if you miss your grandpa, then you should do it well!" After all, Xiao Yu felt relieved and swallowed his breath.Wang Rong still wanted to do a dying struggle and ordered Xiao Ziliang's soldiers to guard the gate of the palace.How could Xiao Luan, who managed to gain power with great difficulty, miss the opportunity. He used the golden signboard of the first emperor's decree to rush into the main hall unimpeded, helped Xiao Zhaoye ascend the throne, and ordered his left and right to help Xiao Ziliang out.All the officials in the hall were shocked by Xiao Luan's aura, and no one dared to express different opinions.

Therefore, the two assistants in the edict of Emperor Wu of Qi were actually executed by Xiao Luan by one person, which became one assistant administration.Xiao Ziliang has become a tutor, but he has no real power to speak of.Wang Rong, who supported Xiao Ziliang, was sentenced to death in prison soon. Xiao Ziliang himself was in danger, so he dared to rescue him. (It can also be seen from this that Xiao Ziliang's so-called talent is actually only from the perspective of a minister. If he succeeds to the throne, he will probably be a cowardly king, and sooner or later he will be defeated by his uncle and brother who are as powerful as tigers and wolves.) Xiao Ziliang also " Awareness", only one year later, he died of illness in fear and worry. In troubled times, this is the best end.

Both Xiao Zhaoye and Xiao Luan were happy to accept the news of Xiao Ziliang's death, and the following is the duel between the two of them. Xiao Zhaoye is basically a composite version of Liu Shao, Liu Yu, and Liu Ziye (it does not rule out that the historian created a new version of the tyrant template by referring to the previous template in order to discredit the deposed emperor).Like Liu Shao, he recruited a witch to play witchcraft.Luckier than Liu Shao, his witchcraft behavior was not discovered. He first cursed his father to death, and then cursed his grandfather to death. Within a year, he completed the rapid transformation from a little prince to an emperor.This man is handsome, but has no conscience.When his father died, he wrote a big happy character in the letter to his concubine He, surrounded by thirty-six happy characters to celebrate; Can't help but be overjoyed. In terms of entertainment, he is no different from Liu Yu, he likes to travel around with his cronies, and also likes to go to his father's grave to play gambling games.If you have fun, you will be rewarded. Anyway, it is the money from the treasury, so you don't feel bad about using it.Every time he looked at the money, he still sighed: "When I missed you, I couldn't get a dime, but today I didn't discuss it with you?" Xiao Zhaoye was so reckless, he spent almost all of it in less than a year.All kinds of treasures and utensils in the palace are even used for throwing and throwing jokes, just for a laugh. In terms of licentiousness, he chased Liu Jun, Liu Ziye and his father from far away, and had an affair with Concubine Huo, who was favored by his grandfather, changed her name and surname to Concubine Xu, and brought her back into the harem.His queen, He Shi, was equally dissolute, and Xiao Zhaoye's confidant, Yang Min, was a little boy, handsome as hell, and she would hang out with him all day long, even sharing the same bed.Her skill in serving Xiao Zhaoye was also top-notch, so that Xiao Zhaoye was made submissive by her, and turned a blind eye to her promiscuous behavior. Xiao Luan saw all this with joy in his heart.He had intended to usurp the throne a long time ago, so he recruited Xiao Zhaoye's cronies, Xiao Chen and Xiao Tanzhi, who were both members of the clan, to win their support.He took Yang Min first and explained the situation to Xiao Zhaoye, intending to kill Yang Min.Empress He burst into tears and begged: "Yang Lang is young and handsome, and he is innocent, how can he be killed in vain!" Xiao Zhaoye looked sad, and Xiao Tan who was beside him had benefited from Xiao Luan early on, and whispered: "Everyone knows that Yang Min and Yang Lang are innocent. The queen's affair has become a big deal, so why not kill him?" Xiao Zhaoye reluctantly agreed.After a while, I regretted it again, but my head had already moved, so it didn't help. Xiao Luan continued to exert pressure, and after a few days, he demanded to kill Xu Longju, the eunuch favored by Xiao Zhaoye, on the charge of disrupting the government.The emperor couldn't do anything, he was a government assistant, but he hated this uncle to the core, and secretly conspired with Zhongshuling He Yin to get rid of Xiao Luan.Xiao Chen and Xiao Tanzhi were afraid of harming themselves, and after thinking about it, they felt that Xiao Zhaoye had no future, so they completely relied on Xiao Luan.Bloodshed on both sides was inevitable. In July of the first year of Longchang (AD 494), after Xiao Luan had done his political and ideological work, he first sent Xiao Chen into the palace to clean up Xiao Zhaoye's left and right cronies, and then led his left servants to shoot Wang Yan, Dan Yangyin, Xu Xiaosi, Xiao Tan The others entered the palace and abolished the king. Xiao Zhaoye was in the inner hall. Hearing that something happened outside, he hurriedly ordered Xiao Chen to rescue him, and at the same time closed all the rooms in the inner hall.After a while, Xiao Chen led the soldiers into the inner hall, but they didn't come to save him, but to kill him.Xiao Zhaoye knew something was wrong, so he fled to Concubine Xu's room and stabbed his neck with his sword.His hands trembled, but Xiao Chen who rushed into the room immediately stopped him, bandaged him, and ordered someone to carry him out of the hall. The guards wanted to protect the emperor, Xiao Chen waved his hands and said, "My target is not you, you don't need to do anything!" Looking at Xiao Zhaoye who came out of the palace, his face was ashen, and he didn't say a word.Seeing this scene, the guards lost their fighting spirit to resist, and watched helplessly as Xiao Chen's left and right escorted the emperor away, leading him to a hidden place in the lane at the west end of the hall. Xiao Zhaoye was beheaded after less than a year of playing, and the rest of the concubines were also killed.Xiao Luan falsely handed down the Queen Mother's letter, abolishing Xiao Zhaoye as Yulin King, welcoming Xiao Zhaoye's second brother, Xin'an King Xiao Zhaowen, and changing Yuan Yanxing. Xiao Luan was a hundred times more ferocious than Xiao Zhaoye, and he was still worried about monopolizing power. In a few months, he was accused of treason and killed seven sons of Emperor Qi Gao and five sons of Emperor Qi Wu in succession.The Southern Dynasty, which had been peaceful for only ten years, seemed to have returned to the state of cannibalism in the last years of Liu Song Dynasty in an instant.When the killing was over, Xiao Luan believed that the threat had been eliminated, so in October of the same year, Xiao Zhaowen was abolished as the King of Hailing, and he established himself as Emperor, and changed Yuan Jianwu.Emperor Qi Ming believed that he could maintain his rule by killing, but he didn't know that such cruelty not only left an excuse for later generations, but also gave the Northern Wei Dynasty, who moved its capital to the south, an excuse to conquer.