Chapter 152 Chapter 151

Hou Jing, whose name is Wanjing, was born in Huaishuo Town (today's Guyang North, Inner Mongolia) in the Northern Wei Dynasty. At the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, there was great chaos in the north.Hou Jing joined Er Zhurong's subordinates, served as a vanguard, made military achievements in suppressing Ge Rong's uprising, was promoted to governor of Dingzhou, and began to gain some fame.Gao Huan destroyed the Erzhu family, and Hou Jing returned to Gao Huan.Because he was a good friend in his youth, Gao Huan regarded him very highly, and he was appointed as the prime minister and governor of Dingzhou.Later, he successively served as Shangshu Youpushe, Libu Shangshu, Sikong, Situ, and Daxingtai of Henan Dao. He had 100,000 soldiers and ruled Henan. He became Gao Huan's most effective helper.

Hou Jing's appearance is unremarkable, his right foot is short, and he was once called lame.Riding and archery is not his strong point, but he is clever and good at strategy. Although he is cruel by nature, he manages the army well, and rewards the soldiers for all the plunder, so his subordinates are willing to work hard for it and fight bravely.Gao Huan's generals Gao Aocao, Gu Le and other generals were all famous generals who were brave and crowned for a while, but Hou Jing ignored them, saying that they were brave but not resourceful. Hou Jing has long had the ambition to run amok in the world.He still respects Gao Huan, who is both wise and courageous, but he is very dissatisfied with his son Gao Cheng. He once said to people: "Gao Wang (referring to Gao Huan) is here, and I dare not disagree. After the death of the king, I cannot be with Xianbei. Work with children!" Of course Gao Cheng was not unaware of this.

The first month of the second year of Zhongdatong (547 AD).Gao Huan was critically ill. Seeing his son Gao Cheng worried, he asked, "You are so worried, it seems that it is not only because of my illness, but also because you are worried about Hou Jing's rebellion?" Gao Cheng nodded in agreement.Gao Huan also said: "Hou Jing has ruled Henan for 14 years, and he often has the ambition to be domineering. Although I can use him, you are difficult to control. The only one who can defeat Hou Jing is Murong Shaozong. I deliberately did not promote him. It’s just for you to use.” Not long after the face-to-face instruction, Gao Huan died.Gao Cheng immediately wrote a letter in the name of Gao Huan to call Hou Jing back to Yedu, intending to seize his military power.But they didn't know that Hou Jing had made an agreement with Gao Huan that all Gao Huan's personal letters should be marked with dots. solid.At the same time, he sent someone to represent Emperor Wu of Liang, expressing his willingness to submit the thirteen prefectures of Henan to the Liang Dynasty.Regardless of the objections of his ministers, Emperor Wu decided to accept it, and granted Hou Jing the title of General and King of Henan, and he supervised all the military forces and Daxingtai in the north and south of Henan.And in March, Yang Yaren and others were sent to lead 30,000 troops to transport food to meet Hou Jing.Before Liang Bing arrived, the Eastern Wei Dynasty had already sent troops to attack, and Hou Jing asked for help from the Western Wei Dynasty. Yu Wentai knew that Hou Jing was treacherous and changeable, so he accepted the surrender and sent troops to take over the seven prefectures and twelve towns occupied by Hou Jing one after another, and demanded that Hou Jing The scene entered Chang'an.Hou Jing saw that things could not get any advantage from Wei, so he decided to surrender to the Liang Dynasty.In August, Emperor Wu sent his nephew Xiao Yuanming to lead the Liang army to attack the Eastern Wei with 50,000 troops. The Liang army was defeated by the Eastern Wei army led by Murong Shaozong at Hanshanyan, 18 miles south of Pengcheng.After several months of stalemate with Murong Shaozong in Qiaocheng, Hou Jing was also defeated due to lack of food. He took 800 steps to win Shouyang City. Emperor Liang Wu had to let him be the governor of Nanyu Prefecture and guard Shouyang.

After the victory of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, Xiao Yuanming, who was captured, wrote a letter to Emperor Wu of Liang, expressing his willingness to exchange prisoners for reconciliation.In order to provoke the relationship between Liang Chao and Hou Jing.After Hou Jing learned about it, he successively expressed his opposition to the friendship between Emperor Wu and the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Emperor Wu only wanted to seek peace and ignored it.Hou Jing forged a letter from the Eastern Wei Dynasty and sent someone to the Liang Dynasty, demanding that Hou Jing be exchanged for Hou Jing.Emperor Wu didn't know what it was, so he replied to the letter and promised: "As soon as Zhenyang arrives, Hou Jingxi will return." Hou Jing got the book and said to the left and right: "I have expected that Mr. Wu is kind-hearted!" His confidant Wang Wei also said: " Now you will die if you sit and listen, and you will die if you do great things, and you can only rely on the king's ideas to find a way out!" Hou Jing then began to actively prepare for the rebellion.

Hou Jing learned that Xiao Zhengde, the nephew of Emperor Wu of Liang, had always been dissatisfied and plotted to seize the throne, so he sent someone to contact Xiao Zhengde, expressing his willingness to support him as emperor, and Xiao Zhengde also agreed to be an internal response.In August of the second year of Taiqing (548 A.D.), Hou Jingsui rebelled, took Qiaozhou, attacked Liyang, and marched on the Yangtze River in October. Emperor Wu of Liang didn't know that Xiao Zhengde was in collusion with Hou Jing, so he ordered Zhengde to be the governor of the military forces in the capital and responsible for defending Jiankang.Xiao Zhengde took the opportunity to send dozens of large ships to transport Hou Jing from Hengjiang on the north bank to quarrying on the south bank. At this time, Hou Jing only had hundreds of horses and 8,000 soldiers.

Hou Jing quickly entered and besieged Taicheng. By March of the second year (549 AD), Taicheng had been besieged for nearly five months.At the beginning there were 20,000 soldiers in the city, but now 60 to 70% of those who died of starvation and war died, and the 4,000 soldiers who were still able to fight were all skinny and panting.There are corpses strewn all over the city, and no one cleans them up.Although reinforcements from all walks of life gathered around Jiankang, no less than 200,000 to 300,000 troops, far surpassing Hou Jing's soldiers, however, the generals of each army had different orders, and most of them waited and watched instead of fighting.Seeing this, Hou Jing attacked the city with all his strength, and finally captured Taicheng.

Hou Jingjin established Xiao Zhengde as emperor in November of the second year of Taiqing before Jiankang.After entering Jiankang, Xiao Yan, who had a more ideal puppet, demoted Xiao Zhengde to the rank of servant and great Sima, and made himself the governor of all military affairs at home and abroad, recorded the affairs of the minister, and took control of the military and political power.Soon after, Xiao Yan felt disobedient, so he was put under house arrest, and his diet was reduced. In only two months, the 86-year-old Mr. Wu was starved to death.Then, the prince Xiao Gang was appointed as the puppet emperor, Emperor Jianwen.Hou Jing himself was the prime minister, the general of the universe, and the governor of Liuhe and other military forces. He also married Princess Liyang, the daughter of Emperor Jian Wen.In March of the first year of Dabao (550), Hou Jing invited Emperor Jianwen to set up a tent in Leyou Garden for a three-day feast.After Emperor Jian Wen returned to the palace, Hou Jing and the princess sat on the south side of the imperial bed, and ordered the officials to sit on the left and right to serve the banquet, and tasted what it was like to be an emperor once.

Hou Jing originally thought that the Southern Dynasty was weak and easy to attack, so he planned to take the Liang Dynasty first, then expand the Central Plains, and then proclaim himself emperor.However, the development of the situation was contrary to his wishes, and he met fierce resistance in various places in the south of the Yangtze River.In the second year of Dabao (551 A.D.) in the battle of Xiabaling, the main force was wiped out, and many generals died. Not to mention expanding the Central Plains, how long they could stay in Jiankang became a problem.Therefore, Hou Jing decided to usurp the throne as soon as possible.

According to the traditional practice of abolishing the establishment first when changing dynasties, Hou Jingxian abolished Emperor Jianwen in August of the second year of Dabao, and made Xiao Dong, king of Yuzhang, the emperor; in October, he ordered people to crush Emperor Jianwen to death with a soil bag.In November, Xiao Dong was forced to take the Zen position and officially became the emperor. He was changed to Yuan Taishi and the country was named Han. In order to establish and consolidate his rule, Hou Jing took a series of measures.He ordered the release of all the northerners who had not been slaves to free civilians, and promoted them to various official positions.A tattooed slave in Zhu Yi's family came to defect with his companions. Hou Jing named him Yitong and rewarded him with all Zhu Yi's family property.This caused a sensation inside and outside Jiankang. Within three days, thousands of slaves came to join Hou Jing's team, and Hou Jing gave them generous treatment one by one, making them all grateful and willing to serve him.

Hou Jing also reused the northerners who fled to the Southern Dynasties and used them to rule the people in the south of the Yangtze River. More than 10 people from the Yuan family of the Northern Wei Dynasty were named kings. Hou Jing brutally suppressed the resistance of the people in the south of the Yangtze River.When he attacked Dongfu City, he killed all 3,000 generals and soldiers guarding the city.Under his supervision, every time the generals won a battle, they focused on burning and plundering, and regarded killing as a child's play.After he entered Jiankang, he set up a big pound in the stone city, and whoever dared to resist would be put into the pound and killed.He also built a big 璺碓, and cut off the prisoner from foot to head.They also forced the citizens of Jiankang to watch, in order to intimidate the people.It is also strictly forbidden for two or more people to talk to each other. Offenders will not only be punished, but also their wives will be implicated.

In its prime, Kangkang was once a prosperous city with more than 280,000 households and millions of people. After the war, less than one or two percent of the people survived.Originally the most affluent Dongtu Kuaiji area, after Hou Jing's attack and destruction, there was also a great famine that had never been seen in the first year of Dabao (AD 550). Seven or eight people were starved to death, and even grass roots and leaves They were all stripped and eaten.In the prosperous land of the south of the Yangtze River, there was a tragic scene of no smoke for thousands of miles, few people, and piles of bones.The social economy of the Southern Dynasties was severely damaged. The northern gentry who moved to the south of the Yangtze River were also hit hard.According to the records of Yan Zitui in the Northern Qi Dynasty, in the early Jin Dynasty, more than a hundred northern gentry families who went south, all those in Jiankang were almost wiped out after the Hou Jing Rebellion.And those high-ranking nobles scattered all over the place died in the war because of their fragile bones, weak bodies, weak bodies, unbearable walking, and intolerance to cold and heat.The further decline of the power of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River has something to do with the Hou Jing Rebellion. Although Hou Jing occupied Jiankang, he failed to conquer the entire Jiangnan.In the process of expanding to various places, he encountered strong resistance from Liang Jun and local landlords.In the second year of Dabao (551 A.D.), after Hou Jing captured Jiangzhou and Yingzhou, he took advantage of the victory and marched westward. The water army claimed to be 200,000, with thousands of miles of flags, and its momentum was unprecedented in the Southern Dynasties.But when he entered Baling, he was defeated by General Xiao Yi Wang Sengbian, Hou Jingdeli's fierce general Song Zixian and others were killed, and Ren Yue and others were captured.Hou Jing never recovered from the fall. In February of the second year (AD 552), Wang Sengbian and Chen Baxian met in Baimao Bay and swore to go east.In March, in the water battle in Gushu, Hou Zijian, the general of Hou Jing, was wiped out, and the Liang army entered Jiankang.Hou Jing led more than ten thousand people to resist desperately and was also defeated. After Hou Jing received some remnant soldiers in Jinling, he went to Wujun, where he was overtaken by Liang general Hou Zhen in Songjiang, and all 200 warships and thousands of soldiers were wiped out.Hou Jing had no choice but to push his two sons into the river and drown them. He took dozens of his confidants in a boat and planned to go down the river east into the sea to escape for his life.On the way, Yang Kun, the son of Yang Kan who followed him to the east, took him to sleep and ordered the helmsman to turn the bow of the boat and drive the boat back to Jingkou.When the boat arrived at Hudouzhou (now north of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province), Hou Jing woke up and asked the people on the shore. He learned that Guo Yuanjian, the former Ministry, was still in Guangling, so he ordered the boat to sail straight to Guangling, trying to rely on Guo Yuanjian's soldiers to make a comeback.At this time, Yang Kun had drawn his sword in his hand, ordered the boatman to continue sailing to Jingkou, and assassinated Hou Jing with a spear.His body was sent to Jiankang, and Wang Sengbian ordered his people to send his head to Jiangling, where he was amputated and sent to Northern Qi, where his body was thrown in the city.