Chapter 170 Chapter 169 Xuanwu Emperor Yuan Ke

Yuan Ke, Emperor Xuanwu of Wei Dynasty, was the second son of Yuan Hong, Emperor Xiaowen of Wei Dynasty.In the summer of the seventh year of Taihe (AD 483), he was born in Pingcheng, the capital of Wei (now Datong, Shanxi).It is said that Yuan Ke's mother, Mrs. Gao, conceived Yuan Ke in her sleep with a dragon that changes from the sun.Yuan Ke was beautiful and elegant, loved reading classics and history, gentle and docile, so he was selected by Emperor Xiaowen as the heir to the throne.In the 23rd year of Taihe (AD 499), after the death of Emperor Xiaowen, 16-year-old Yuan Ke ascended the throne of emperor.In the second year, the reign name was changed to "Jingming".

In five or six years since Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital, Luoyang has become the most prosperous city in North China at that time.However, the old Xianbei nobles who still could not forget their homeland, after the death of Emperor Xiaowen, once again had the desire to return to the Great Wall.They reported to Yuan Ke that when Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital, he promised to live in Xindu, Henan in winter and return to his hometown in Daibei in summer.Yuan Ke hesitated at first, but finally accepted Yuan Hui's opinion and rejected the request of these old nobles.In the second year of Jingming (501 A.D.), in order to adapt to the development of society and economy, Yuan Ke adopted the suggestion of the auxiliary prince Yuan Jia, conscripted more than 50,000 civilian husbands, expanded the old city of Luoyang since the Han and Jin Dynasties, and built 320 square meters outside the city. Xinfang.The following year, the majestic and majestic new palace was completed, and Yuan Ke feasted on the officials in the front hall of Taiji. He himself was very excited.

During the Jingming period (500-503 AD) in the early days of Yuan Ke's rule, the Southern Dynasty was in the period of the faint rule of Xiao Baojuan, Donghun Hou at the end of Qi Dynasty.Xiao Yanle, the governor of Qi Yongzhou, attacked Jiankang (now Nanjing) in the east, and established the Liang regime on behalf of Qi.The internal contradictions of the ruling class in the south were full of contradictions, and they attacked each other, which just gave the Yuan Wei an opportunity to invade the south.Yuan Cheng, Yuan Ying, Xing Luan and other princes, generals and ministers who had accompanied Emperor Xiaowen on the southern expedition all tried their best to persuade Yuan Ke not to hesitate to slow down and miss the opportunity.So from Jingming to Zhengshi years (500-508 A.D.), the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties fought a series of wars, and the territory of the Northern Wei Dynasty expanded greatly to the south. , now belonging to Henan), Jingzhou (governing Rangcheng, now Deng County, Henan) and Yizhou (governing Jinshou, now Zhaohua, Sichuan) contiguous for thousands of miles from east to west, becoming the southern border of the Northern Wei Dynasty.The national power of the Northern Wei Dynasty was extremely prosperous for a while, and Yuan Ke was full of ambition for it.

However, at this time, the body of the Northern Wei Dynasty had been eaten away by corrupt officials.Yuan Ke's uncle, Prince Xianyang Wang Yuanxi, who was ordered by Emperor Xiaowen, although he was the head of the prime minister, shirked government affairs, was idle, and corrupted the law.During the days when Yuan Ke was in mourning for Emperor Xiaowen, Yuan Xi was secretly accepting bribes, and Yin was a powerful force.He is arrogant and extravagant, greedy for money and sex, and has dozens of concubines in his family, but he still sends people to search for beauties everywhere.There are hundreds of thousands of child slaves and maidservants in far and near places who manage the fields and salt and iron industries for him.Another auxiliary prince, Beihai Wang Yuanxiang, is Yuan Ke's youngest uncle. With his respected status, he started a business of "official downfall" that sells and exploits far and near.He spent a huge amount of money on the construction of the mansion, and occupied the houses. Even if the coffins to be buried were parked at home, they had to be moved out immediately and parked in the streets.

Yuan Ke did not promptly and severely punish the corruption that had worsened at the beginning of his administration, and the greed of the nobles and bureaucrats intensified.Yuan Ke's younger brothers, Wang Yuanyu of Jingzhao and Wang Yuanhuai of Guangyang, competed for extravagance and luxury, and indulged in lawlessness.General Xing Luan captured the beauties of good people and used them as private slaves when he marched south to Hanzhong.Yuan Hui and Lu Chang, Yuan Ke's favorite ministers, first urged Cui Liang, Lieutenant of the Procurator Yushi, to impeach Xing Luan, and promised that if the impeachment of Xing Luan was successful, they would ask the emperor to promote Cui Liang.Xing Luan became frightened, and immediately selected more than 30 stunning beauties who had been robbed and sent them to Yuan Hui.Yuan Hui was very happy to accept this bribe, so he excused Xing Luan in front of Yuan Ke behind Lu Chang's back, and Yuan Ke let it go.Another aristocrat, Yuan Li, plundered more than 700 innocent people as slaves in the process of suppressing the uprising people in Qinzhou and Jingzhou.Yuan Ke also ordered the relevant supervisory agencies not to pursue Yuan Li's evil deeds of breaking the law and corrupting violence because he wanted to reward Yuan Li's contribution to "putting down the thieves".

In the Sinicization reform, Emperor Xiaowen also copied the gentry family system that had no positive social significance since the end of Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, and delineated the surname and family rank for the noble officials of the Northern Wei Dynasty.The patriarchal system of the Wei, Jin and Southern Dynasties was rooted in the cultural gentry formed in history. When the imperial court selected people, although they paid attention to family status, they also paid attention to character and talent.Even so, the patriarchal system ultimately hindered the way for poor scholars to display their ambitions.However, the Xianbei people had no academic and cultural traditions and had just left the original state. In order to make the political and social status of the Xianbei nobles who lacked cultural literacy not lower than that of the Han scholars, Emperor Xiaowen implemented the policy of only recognizing family status and not emphasizing talent and morality. Surname system.The surname system guarantees the hereditary privileges for the aristocratic bureaucrats, and thus also guarantees the corrupted officials' false inheritance.Yuan Ke realized this and wanted to correct it, but his two edicts contradicted each other. The motion to reform the clan system comically evolved into a decree to consolidate the clan system.

In the second half of Yuan Ke's reign, Gao Zhao, his relative, took power, and the government became more corrupt.Gao Zhao is the elder brother of Yuanke's mother, Empress Dowager Wenzhao (Mrs. Gao), and he is an ignorant and evil-minded person.Yuan Ke became emperor, and made Gao Zhao the Duke of Pingyuan County, and Gao Xian, Gao Zhao's younger brother, the Duke of Chengcheng County.Mr. Gao Zhao and Mr. Gao Xianyuan grew up in a remote place. On the day of being knighted, when they met their nephew emperor for the first time in the Royal Garden, they looked nervous and behaved very unnaturally.However, in an instant, he became rich and prominent.Gao Zhao soon served as the prime minister of the empire.Due to the rebellion of the Chief Assistant Prince Yuan Xi, Yuan Ke gradually transferred his trust in the princes to his uncle Gao Zhao.Gao Zhao, who came from a humble background, was full of jealousy towards the princes of the royal family. Taking advantage of the favor of his nephew the emperor, he advanced to force and kill Yuanxiang, the king of Beihai who was above him, and at the same time asked Yuan Ke to take strict precautions against the princes.Jingzhao Wang Yuanyu was dissatisfied with Gao Zhao's monopoly.In August of the first year of Yongping (508 A.D.), Yuan Yu conspired against him when he served as the governor of Jizhou. He claimed that he had received a secret report that Gao Zhao had murdered the emperor.Yuan Ke sent soldiers to suppress the rebellion of his younger brother Yuan Yu.During the crusade against Yuan Yu, Gao Zhao bribed a villain to falsely frame Pengcheng Wang Yuanxie as a secret co-conspirator with Yuan Yu.One day in September, Yuan Xie was also forced to drink the poisoned wine that Yuan Ke "given death".

Yuan Xie's innocence was murdered, which made everyone inside and outside the court frustrated.Yuan Kuang, the uncle of Yuan Ke, accused Gao Zhao of relying on his power and seizing his own position, which is almost the same as Zhao Gao who pointed at the deer as a horse.The court officials who followed Gao Zhaoyan's power immediately attacked Yuan Kuang, saying that Yuan Kuang "slandered the prime minister and slandered the Ming Dynasty" and should be executed for the crime.This time, Yuan Ke showed mercy and "forgive" the "capital crime" of his uncle Prince Yuan Kuang.Yuan Yi, king of Qinghe, was Yuan Ke's younger brother. He made a generous speech to Yuan Ke, denouncing Gao Zhao as a treacherous official who usurped the government.Yuan Ke just smiled and didn't answer.Rencheng Wang Yuancheng, who was ordered by Emperor Xiaowen to assist the government and was also Yuan Ke's uncle, was worried that Gao Zhao would cause trouble for himself, so he pretended to be drunk all day long to show his own ruin.

The corruption of officials, the political darkness, and the natural disasters of drought and flood in successive years forced the people to rise up and resist violence.During the 16 years of Yuan Ke's rule.There were more than 10 people's uprisings against tyranny.In November of the 23rd year of Taihe (AD 499), Wang Huiding, a native of Youzhou, gathered a crowd to revolt and called himself "Emperor Mingfa".In the spring of the third year of Zhengshi (506 A.D.), the people of Qinzhou revolted, and the year was named "Jianming".In November of the third year of Yanchang (514 A.D.), Liu Sengshao, a monk in Youzhou, gathered a crowd to revolt and named himself "Jingju Guoming Dharma King".But these uprisings were suppressed.

In the first month of the fourth year of Yanchang, Yuan Ke died of illness in the palace-style Qiandian at the beginning of his 17th year of ruling the empire.The posthumous title is "Emperor Xuanwu", and the temple name is "Sejong".