In the last years of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, a major event occurred that shocked the whole country, and Gao Cheng, as Gao Huan's heir, was assassinated and killed, which caused great turmoil in the political situation in Eastern Wei. Gao Cheng, as Gao Huan's heir, began preparations for usurpation of the throne after defeating the Western Wei army at the Battle of Yingchuan. At that time, with the prestige of defeating Western Wei, he had already dominated the government as a great general and a state of xiangguo, and the Eastern Wei Xiaojing Emperor Yuan Shanmi was only a puppet emperor. Therefore, he thought that the time was ripe, so he consulted with his confidants about usurping the throne. The incident occurred in Dongbai hall in Yecheng, where Gao Cheng was discussing things with his henchmen, but was assassinated by his own cook Lan Jing. Although the matter was quickly put down under the organization of Gao Cheng's younger brother Gao Yang, it left many doubts and caused controversy among later generations.
As for the reasons for Gao Cheng's assassination and the mastermind behind it, historians of successive dynasties have put forward many hypotheses, and various theories have been discussed. In official history books such as the Book of Northern Qi and the History of the North, the whole process of Gao Cheng's assassination is recorded, and even the details are very detailed. According to these history books, the assassination of Gao Cheng was a temporary idea of the cook Lan Jing. It is said that Lan Jing was the son of the famous Southern Liang general Lan Qin, who was captured in the battle against Eastern Wei and sent to Gao chengfu as a cook. Lan Jing repeatedly begged Gao Cheng to let him return to Nanliang, but Gao Cheng did not allow it, so he held a grudge. On the night of the incident, Lan Jing went to the room where Gao Cheng was talking with his confidants to deliver food, which caused Gao Cheng's dissatisfaction. Gao Cheng told his henchmen that he dreamed that Lan Jing had cut him with a knife, so he wanted to execute Lan Jing.
Lan Jing overheard the news outside the door, so he decided to strike first. He led six men with knives into Gao Cheng's room, and first cut Gao Cheng's guards to death and injured them, frightening Gao Cheng into hiding under the bed. Then Lan Jing led someone to stab Chen Yuankang, the minister who came forward to stop him, and then asked someone to open the big bed and stab Gao Cheng to death. This news soon reached Gao Yang's ears at the east gate of Yecheng, and Gao Yang quickly led his troops to hunt down the Assassins and kill Lan Jing and others. He then claimed that Gao Cheng was only injured and did not have any worries about his life, suppressed the matter and took control of the Eastern Wei Emperor Yuan Shanmi, and then led his troops to the Eastern Wei military town of Jinyang to control the military power, quickly quelling the political chaos that appeared after Gao Cheng's death. It was not until the following year that Gao Yang made public the news of Gao Cheng's death and handled the funeral.
Since Gao Yang was a vested interest in Gao Cheng's assassination, many scholars identified the mastermind behind the incident as Gao Yang. But their reasons are far-fetched and have no tangible evidence. Their first reason was that, according to Chen Yuankang's historical records, one of the assassins who followed Lan Jing to assassinate Gao Cheng was Gao Yang's bodyguard. This bodyguard, named Ah Gai, consulted with Lan Jing to assassinate gao cheng and gao yang brothers at the same time. Due to the suddenness of the incident, Ah Gai participated in the operation and became one of the murderers of Gao Cheng. Many scholars believe that this history book is intended to cover up the fact that this Ah Gai is not to assassinate Gao Yang, but to contact Gao Yang and Lan Jing. It was in this way that Gao Yang was able to secretly lay out and use Lan Jing to assassinate Gao Cheng.
Scholars also have some circumstantial evidence for this claim. For example, after Lan Jing and others assassinated Gao Cheng, they did not leave the scene quickly, but were hunted and killed by Gao Yang's guards who rushed to the scene. They believe that Lan Jing and the others did not leave the scene, but were actually waiting to ask Gao Yang for credit. Gao Yang asked the guards to kill Lan Jing and the others immediately without trial, in fact, in order to extinguish his mouth and prevent the matter of his brother killing from being exposed.
The second reason of the scholars is that Gao Cheng and his henchmen discussed the important matter of usurping the throne, and Gao Yang was not around, but went to the east gate of Yecheng under the pretext of the old place, which was too suspicious, and it was obvious that he was creating alibi. Gao Yang is Gao Cheng's half-brother, and although Gao Cheng's attitude towards Gao Yang is not very good, he is given a lot of positions. Every time Gao Cheng was promoted, he gave up his original position to Gao Yang, so Gao Yang was the second in command of Eastern Wei.
The usurpation of the throne was the first major event of Gao Cheng at that time, how could Gao Yang, as the second in command, be absent at the crucial moment of discussion? After Gao Yang went to the east gate of Yecheng, he was able to get the news to return in time, which was obviously arranged in advance. Therefore, scholars believe that this is a bureau laid out by Gao Yang in advance, the purpose of which is to assassinate Gao Cheng and seize power. Gao Yang was the second-in-command of Eastern Wei, and Gao Cheng naturally respected him after his death, and it was logical to abolish the emperor. As for the content written in the history books, it is likely that in order to cover up Gao Yang's sinister intentions in seizing the throne, he deliberately created the illusion of contradictions between Lan Jing and Gao Cheng. Moreover, scholars believe that Gao Cheng should be very fond of Lan Jing, otherwise he would not be his own cook, because the ancients also attached great importance to food safety.
If only these logics are analyzed, it seems that Gao Yang seems to be the mastermind behind the assassination of Gao Cheng. However, if we look at the records in the history books, this statement is also difficult to justify itself. First of all, from the perspective of Lan Jing's history, it is simply impossible to establish. The history books say that Lan Jing was the son of the famous Southern Liang general Lan Qin, but from the records in the "History of the South" and the "Book of Liang", Lan Qin only had one son named Lan Xiali. The names of Lan Xia Li and Lan Jing are completely unrelated from the literal end, and they do not conform to the rules for the names of the children of the official eunuch families in the political era of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Therefore, the origin and account of this Lanjing has become a great doubt, and the Agai who conspired with Lanjing to assassinate Gao Cheng and Gao Yang has become even more problematic, and this historical material is obviously difficult to justify itself.
In addition, Gao Yang's behavior after the incident did not resemble the normal performance of the mastermind. Although Gao Yang's visit to the East Gate at the time of the incident was more suspicious, it was also very likely that gao Cheng would be sent by Gao Cheng as the second in command to make important arrangements. After Gao Yang disposed of Lan Jing and other assassins, he did not publicize this matter, but did not mourn Gao Cheng's secrets, and actively controlled the power and military power of Eastern Wei. This shows that before the incident, Gao Yang did not make some arrangements in the military and government, so Gao Yang's layout is untenable. Although Gao Yang quickly calmed down the chaos after Gao Yang's assassination, he was obviously unprepared. Whether it was suddenly going to the palace to find Yuan Shanmi, or suddenly descending into Jinyang, this was a sudden event.
If Gao Yang had already laid out the plan to assassinate his brother, it would have been impossible to do so hastily. The risks of such a struggle for power are enormous, and it is impossible to act in such a hurry without full certainty or compulsion. Gao Yang obviously had no reason to be forced, nor was he completely sure, such a hasty action was simply asking for trouble. Some people think that gao yang may be worried that gao cheng will not have the opportunity to become emperor after he ascends the throne, which is complete nonsense. Gao Cheng was originally more honest among the brothers, saying that she looked loyal and adulterous, taoguang was obscure, but they all escaped Gao Cheng's eyes. In fact, even his mother Lou Zhaojun did not look favorably on Gao Yang and even prevented him from plotting to usurp the throne.
It can be seen that before Gao Cheng was assassinated, Gao Yang had been living in the shadow of his brother. He was surrounded by Gao Cheng's henchmen, where did he have the space to arrange the bureau of assassinating his brother? After Gao Yang succeeded Gao Cheng in controlling Eastern Wei, the people who supported him to abolish the emperor were all the military generals left by Gao Cheng, among whom Yang Yan and Cui Jishu were also ministers who escaped from Gao Cheng's assassination. And these ministers were later reused by Gao Yang, which was obviously not the practice of a king who had killed his brother and ascended to the throne. After Gao Yang ascended the throne, he was extremely fond of Gao Cheng's sons, especially Gao Cheng's younger son Gao Yanzong, who was simply closer than his own son. Gao Cheng's daughter Princess Le'an was wronged in her in-laws' house, and Gao Cheng personally went out to take revenge. The famous Gao Changgong is Gao Cheng's concubine, and can be used without suspicion.
Compared with Li Shimin's disposition of Li Jiancheng's children and subordinates after the xuanwumen revolution, is Gao Yang still like a king who killed his brother and seized the throne? It is completely unreasonable that he did not take the opportunity to attack his brother's henchmen or persecute his brother's children. Wasn't he afraid that these children of Gao Cheng would seek revenge on him when they grew up? From these perspectives, Gao Yang and Gao Cheng's assassination are likely to have nothing to do with each other.
Since Gao Yang was not the mastermind behind the assassination of Gao Cheng, who assassinated Gao Cheng? Because Gao Cheng offended many people, scholars also had various speculations. Judging from the notes of the literati in history, the second suspect is the Eastern Wei Xiaojing Emperor Yuan Shanjian. Because Gao Cheng was already blatantly plotting to usurp the throne, it was also very likely that Yuan Zenmi would be stronger in order to keep the throne.
One of the reasons for this is that the owner of Dongbai Hall, where the incident occurred, was Yuan Yuyi, the princess of Langya of Eastern Wei, and this woman was Gao Cheng's most beloved concubine. Gao Cheng often worked here because of his infatuation with Yuan Yuyi, and even reduced the guards here for the convenience of access, leaving only two close-fitting Wang Hong and Qi Xi Shele. As a result, at the time of the incident, Wang Hong was seriously injured, and Qi Xi Shele was killed. Yuan Yuyi was the granddaughter of Yuanyong the Prince of Gaoyang in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and because her parents were killed by Erzhu Rong during the Heyin Rebellion, she was reduced to the point of working as a prostitute for Sun Teng. After being abandoned by Sun Teng, he was favored by Gao Cheng, who not only took her as a concubine, but also made Yuan Shanmi crown her as a princess of Langya. Moreover, Gao Cheng also had an affair with Yuan Yuyi's sister Yuan Jingyi, so the two sisters were highly valued in Gao Cheng's heart.
Therefore, many scholars believe that after the Yuan Yuyi sisters were the clan, they had a private collusion with Yuan Zenmi, so they assassinated Gao Cheng. Judging from the path of the sisters' lives, this is completely impossible. Preserving the existence of the Eastern Wei regime and letting the Xianbei Yuan clan continue to be emperors was not good for the sisters at all. When they were at their worst, they were reduced to the level of being prostitutes for others, and they could still manage this? If it were not for Gao Cheng's relationship, how could they regain the title of princess and the glory and wealth. Moreover, as Gao Cheng's concubines and outer chambers, they are not pleasing to both sides in the political struggle. They help Motoyoshimi get rid of Takashi in time, and there will be no good end. Therefore, the idea that the Yuan Yuyi sisters colluded with Yuan Shan to find out the layout is completely nonsense.
And the assassination of Gao Cheng was a sudden event for Gao Yang, and it was also unprepared for Yuan Zenmi. When he heard that Gao Cheng had been assassinated, he was overjoyed and cheered loudly. Judging from his performance, it is obviously an unexpected surprise, not a great joy of early layout. But in terms of the speed of dealing with this political event, Yuan Zenmi obviously did not react as quickly as Gao Yang. Gao Yang quickly took control of the Yecheng army, hunted down Lan Jing and other assassins, gathered Gao Cheng's henchmen and Gao Huan's old ministers around him, and controlled the military and political power inside and outside yecheng. Then, while letting Gao Huan's old ministers stare at Yuan Shanmi, he secretly sent troops to Jinyang and seized the military power of Jinyang. Judging from this process, Gao Yang's ability is superior, and his reaction reveals some clues in the details.
All of Gao Yang's actions after Gao Cheng's assassination were carried out in secret, and the news of Yecheng was completely blocked to the outside world, which was obviously abnormal. In particular, he suddenly sent troops to Jinyang to seize military power, which caught the veteran warlords of Jinyang by surprise, which showed that his defense against these people was very heavy. From this point of view, there is reason to suspect that the mastermind behind the assassination of Gao Cheng is among the veteran warlords of Jinyang.
In the military and political system of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the warlord veterans of Jinyang and Gao Cheng had always been in conflict. The veteran warlords of Jinyang were the humble nobles who started with Gao Huan and played a pivotal role in the military and political system of eastern Wei. Before Gao Cheng entered the Eastern Wei court, Gao Huan relied on these people to control the power of Eastern Wei. After Gao Cheng entered the Eastern Wei court, he supported the Han gate valves headed by Boling Cui and formed a confrontation with the Xianbei nobles.
Gao Huan ostensibly did not take sides between his son and his old courtiers, but in fact he implicitly supported his son, which caused the Xianbei nobles to suffer a great blow. Because of Gao Huan's relationship, the Xianbei nobles were inferior in the political struggle, and Gao Cheng formed a clique in the imperial court, mainly composed of the Han Mongol clan. If anyone else expressed opposition to Gao Chengmou's usurpation of the throne, it must be these humble nobles in Jinyang. The Northern Wei Dynasty was originally a state established by the Xianbei people, while Gao Cheng preferred to appoint the Han Mengmen shi clan, and there were inherent contradictions between the two sides. If Gao Cheng succeeded in ascending the throne and becoming emperor, it would be the biggest blow to the interests of the Xianbei clan. Therefore, for their own interests, these humble nobles will certainly not let Gao Cheng ascend the throne smoothly.
However, Gao Cheng was extremely powerful, inheriting Gao Huan's military and political power, and Yecheng was completely under his control. And there were also many Han generals in the Jinyang army, so the Xianbei nobles could not fight Gao Cheng openly, and it was possible to assassinate them in secret. In fact, when Gao Yang plotted to usurp the throne later, these humble nobles also strongly opposed it, and even brought out Gao Yang's mother, Lou Zhaojun. In the end, Gao Yang successfully ascended the throne with the support of the Han Mongol clan and became emperor, changing the name of the country to Qi, and the history was called Northern Qi. After Gao Yang ascended the throne, he soon began to clean up the army, and many of the humble veteran generals who opposed his ascension to the throne rose and fell, gradually squeezing out the northern Qi army system. It can be seen from this that in the political situation at that time, the biggest threat to Gao Cheng and Gao Yang was these humble nobles left by Gao Huan.
These Xianbei noble warlords were either the demos recruited by Gao Huan after the Six Towns Uprising, or the Xianbei nobles native of Northern Wei, who were strongly opposed to Tuoba Hong's hanhua policy. Gao Cheng's intention to take this path was obviously a violation of their interests, and it was not impossible to be targeted by his arrangement. Only these people could quietly arrange the Assassins to enter the Takasumi Mansion and complete the assassination plan. Lan Jing and the others did not leave in time after assassinating Gao Cheng, most likely waiting for the internal response in Yecheng. Because Gao Yang reacted quickly and blocked the sending of messages to jinyang within the city of Yicheng, the Xianbei nobles lost control of the situation. From this point of view, Gao Yang's series of operations on the night of Gao Cheng's assassination were all aimed at the Xianbei nobles.
Judging from the historical records, from the time of Gao Huan's death, these humble nobles became very unstable. In addition to the rebellion set off by Hou Jing, the humble nobles in the north also engaged in many things of taking advantage of the fire and looting. These meritorious generals of the Gao Huan era were all untamed, unwilling to look up to people under Gao Cheng and the Han gate valve, and naturally took action. At a time when Gao Cheng was intensively plotting to usurp the throne, these xianbei nobles used assassinations to provoke political disputes, which could not only prevent the continuous implementation of the Han policy, but also crack down on the Han gate valve clique, which was completely two wins for one stone. If Yecheng fell into civil strife, they could also take the opportunity to attack and stand on their own. Therefore, the possibility that the Xianbei noble warlord sent someone to assassinate Gao Cheng was extremely high, and there was a strong interest relationship.
But no one expected that Gao Yang, who usually gave Gao Cheng a fart worm, suddenly became calm and decisive, and quickly controlled the inside and outside of Yecheng, so that the conspiracy of Gao Cheng's assassination was dissolved into invisibility. Many scholars have speculated that the relationship between Gao Cheng and Gao Yang is extremely poor, and even some wild histories say that the two are in the same situation. However, from the perspective of this matter, Gao Yang was completely set up as a spare tire. Once Gao Cheng has an accident, Gao Yang has enough ability to control the overall situation. Imagine how could a tyrant like Gao Cheng not make arrangements at the crucial moment of plotting to usurp the throne? If Gao Yang is really a mediocre person, why should Gao Cheng let him take over the position he left behind? It can be seen that gao yang is the one who knows gao yang best, after all, they are brothers of a mother.