The inheritance of the Northern Qi throne began as a brother among Gao Huan's sons, and this situation has been criticized by many history buffs. This not only violated the Confucian system of primogeniture, but also filled the process of succession to the throne with fierce political struggles and killings. The inheritance of the throne of Emperor Xiaozhao of Northern Qi is the most typical, and before his death, he did not pass the throne to the crown prince Gao Bainian, but to his younger brother Gao Zhan, the Prince of Changguang. This led to the Northern Qi court, which had just subsided from the killing of the previous round of regime change, to start a second round of political infighting. This inheritance has been criticized by scholars of later generations, and it has also caused a lot of controversy. Many people wonder why Gao Yan did not pass the throne to his son, but chose his younger brother Gao Zhan.
Gao Yan was the sixth son of Gao Huan, a powerful minister of Eastern Wei, and the biological son of Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun. His throne was not inherited from his father and brother, but directly from his nephew Gao Yin. On his deathbed, Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi, Gao Yang, passed the throne to his son Gao Yin, and arranged for Yang Yan, Yan Zixian, Song Qindao, and other courtiers to serve as auxiliary ministers to take charge of the affairs of the Northern Qi court. After Gao Yang's death, Gao Yan, with the support of his mother Lou Zhaojun and his younger brother Gao Zhan, took control of the military and political power, booby-trapped Yang Yan and other auxiliary ministers, abolished Gao Yin's position as emperor, and officially ascended the throne as emperor. Although this round of power change eventually fell on the process of brother and brother, from the perspective of Gao Yang's own wishes, he was still inclined to his son Gao Yin.
However, in the change of power after Gao Yan's death, the legitimacy of the crown prince as the crown prince was denied from the legal procedure, and the throne was directly passed to Gao Zhan, which caused a lot of controversy in history. In particular, after Gao Zhan's brutal rule of the country took the throne, not only caused chaos in the imperial court, but also the national strength of Northern Qi also began to decline, which also laid a huge hidden danger for the demise of the country. Because of such antecedents and consequences, many people are even more confused about gao yan's idea of making this decision. No emperor in history did not want his son to be the heir, and Gao Yan established Gao Bainian as the crown prince, also out of the inheritance of his own throne. But when he was dying, he changed his original intentions, which made people very curious, what made him change his mind?
Based on the analysis of historical materials at that time, Gao Yan made such a strange decision, which was actually a choice he had to choose after taking the wrong road. However, judging from the subsequent development of the political situation, his choice was also futile, and it was impossible to reverse the end of Northern Qi's defeat. Analyzing the reasons, the earliest can be traced back to the political pattern of the Northern Wei Daowu Emperor Tuoba Jue. After Tuoba Jue moved to the north, he established the Northern Wei regime in Yunzhong and began to appoint Han officials in the imperial court. At this stage, the Northern Wei court was still dominated by xianbei nobles, and although the Han gate valves held a certain amount of power, they were in a weak position in political power. After Empress Feng came to power, she began to appoint Han officials on a large scale, expelling the Xianbei nobles from the Northern Wei court, and reversing the political pattern of the Northern Wei.
After Empress Feng poisoned and killed Tuoba Hong, the Northern Wei Emperor Xianwen, the power of the Han gate valves increased day by day in the Northern Wei court, and finally promoted sinicization reforms during the Period of Tuoba Hong, Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei. After this Sinicization reform, han door valve officials and Sinicized xianbei aristocratic officials in the Northern Wei court occupied the mainstream, while officials who refused Sinicization were gradually excluded from the northern border. After the Six Towns Rebellion and the Heyin Rebellion, the Northern Wei Was split into the Eastern and Western Wei, but the predecessor of Northern Qi, The Eastern Wei, had a strange political pattern. Gao Huan, who was in power, was a Han Chinese from the Bohai Gao clan, but his rise was supported by the humble nobles who defected in the Six Towns Uprising. Gao Huan's eldest son, Gao Cheng, was at odds with the Xianbei nobles and vigorously supported the officials of the Han Mongol clan.
After Gao Cheng's assassination, Gao Yang succeeded him to the throne and deposed The Eastern Wei Emperor Yuan Shanjian and created the Northern Qi state. During Gao Yang's reign, the Northern Qi court was controlled by Han officials, and the Xianbei nobles, led by Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun, strongly opposed this governing strategy. After Gao Yang's death, Lou Zhaojun supported Gao Yan and Gao Zhan in launching a coup d'état, booby-trapping and killing the assistant chancellor from the Han dynasty, and regaining the power of the imperial court back into the hands of the Xianbei nobles. Judging from this process, the infighting in the inheritance of the Northern Qi throne is actually a manifestation of the struggle for power and profit among the Xianbei and Han princes and ministers in the Northern Qi court. Although Lou Zhaojun supported the Xianbei nobles to come to power, he still had reason and knew the importance of maintaining the balance of power between the two sides.
After Gao Yin was deposed as emperor, he was not executed, but was demoted by Lou Zhaojun to the position of King of Jinan and moved to Jinyang. This was not only Gao Yang's will before his death, but also Lou Zhaojun's arrangement to balance the forces of the Han and Xianbei tribes. Before Gao Yang died, he knew that his two younger brothers were going to usurp the throne, so he left a last word to let them leave a way for Gao Yin to live. Gao Yin not only represented Gao Yang in the Northern Qi court, but also represented the Han Gate Valve Group. As long as there is a high Yin, the Han Gate Valve Group can form a constraint on the Xianbei aristocratic group, so as to balance the power of the DPRK. Lou Zhaojun instructed Gao Yan to keep Gao Yin, the purpose of which was to win over the Han Gate Valve clique and avoid the xianbei aristocratic clique from becoming uncontrollable after it came to power.
Then Gao Yan executed Gao Yin on his back for his own throne, and this made a big mistake. This operation of his seems to solve the hidden danger of the throne, but in fact it is a complete parting of the Han Gate Valve Group. This also made the Xianbei aristocratic clique have no restraints and completely controlled the Northern Qi court. Gao Zhan is an agent elected by the xianbei nobleman, and has always had a fierce conflict with Gao Yan in the struggle for the throne. From the beginning, Gao Zhan's position as the emperor's brother-in-law was sought on the grounds that he had made an agreement in the process of Gao Yan's seizure of the throne. However, Gao Yan did not want to pass the throne to his younger brother, so he made his son Gao Bainian the crown prince. However, when Gao Yan was dying, he found that his decision was wrong, and it caused his son Gao Bainian to worry about his life.
Although Gao Yang knew before his death that the Xianbei aristocratic clique would launch a coup d'état to seize the throne, he was also relatively fully prepared. He arranged for the auxiliary chancellor to entrust the military power to his uncle Gao Guiyan, the purpose of which was to help Gao Yin suppress the Xianbei aristocratic clique. As soon as Gao Yang died, Yang Yan began to reform with Shangshu to weaken the power in the hands of Gao Yan and Gao Zhan's brothers, the purpose of which was to strengthen imperial power and ensure Gao Yin's position as emperor. Unfortunately, Gao Yan and Gao Zhan, with the support of Lou Zhaojun, launched a coup d'état, and Gao Guiyan defected to the Xianbei aristocratic clique, which led to the killing of the Han auxiliary chancellor and the abolition of Gao Yin's imperial throne. However, the situation on the deathbed of Gao Yan was far worse than that of Gao Yang, and he almost had no courtiers who could be trusted.
Due to the execution of Gao Yin, this made the Han Gate Valve Group very distrustful of Gao Yan. Although Gao Bainian had a good relationship with Han civilian officials, he did not have the support of the Han gate valve forces. Gao Yin's death also caused the Han ministers to be expelled from the Northern Qi court, and the Xianbei nobles appeared in the imperial court, and they were unable to restrain the power of the Xianbei nobles. Under such circumstances, Gao Bainian's ascension to the throne was no different from that of Gao Yin. At this time, Gao Yan regretted that the execution of Gao Yin was useless, so he could only pray that his younger brother Gao Zhan, who would look at the love of a mother and compatriot, let his nephew go. In order to reassure Gao Zhan, Gao Yan bypassed the identity of Gao Bainian's crown prince and directly passed the throne to Gao Zhan, which was his dying plea.
Unfortunately, Gao Zhan is a highly humble Han Chinese, with a very low sense of identification with the Han people and great ambitions. Therefore, after he ascended the throne, he did not govern according to the logic of the Han regime, but opened the brutal rule of the minority regime in the north. In his eyes, it is completely the weak and the strong, and there is no family affection and faith at all, so it is absolutely impossible to let go of Gao Bainian.
Gao Yan's execution of Gao Yin was a big mistake, and Lou Zhaojun was furious when he learned the news. This is not only because of family affection, but also because of the disruption of the political balance. Without the constraints of political balance, why did Gao Yan control the Northern Qi court? He pinned his life and death on Gao Zhan's benevolence, which is completely a fool's dream. How could Gao Zhan, known for his ruthlessness and brutality, leave hidden dangers for himself?