After the death of Emperor Wencheng of Wei, Empress Feng killed the auxiliary chancellor Yihun and began her first reign.
Is the empress dowager in power good or not? From the perspective of the rich and powerful warriors and military and political tycoons: if they cannot govern, then the empress dowager is the best choice.
If the empress dowager infringed on the interests of the nobles and military and political tycoons in the process of ruling, they could suppress the empress dowager in the name of honoring the emperor; if the emperor violated the interests of the noble clan and the military and political tycoons after pro-government, they could also suppress the emperor by supporting the empress dowager to continue to govern.
In this context, both the empress dowager and the emperor must try their best to curry favor with the rich and powerful military and political leaders, and this power structure is very favorable to them.
Empress Feng's first reign was unsuccessful and lasted less than two years before ending.
Many people believe that Empress Feng's first reign was quite successful, but only because Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei xianwen became her father, so Empress Feng should return the right to govern.
Peng Shen, the Wei lord Lady Li, gave birth to a son Hong. Madame, hui's daughter also. Empress Feng raised Herself; - Zizhi Tongjian, Song Ji XIV
If Empress Feng's work could satisfy the magnates and military and political tycoons in general, then Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei would have absolutely no chance of regaining power, because it was uncertain whether Tuoba Hong would respect their interests as much as Empress Feng did. If Tuoba Hong's approach is not fundamentally different from Empress Feng's, then why bother to remove the ruler at will?
From this point of view, Empress Feng's first reign must not be able to satisfy the rich and powerful military and political leaders, so everyone found a reason and ousted Empress Feng from power. Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei was given the opportunity to be pro-government, and he was only fourteen years old at the time.
After Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei took over the government, he began to try to expand imperial power, how did he expand imperial power? Answer: Severe punishment.
After two years of pro-government, Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei tried to enact a law: "Whoever accepts bribes more than one sheep or a piece of wine shall be sentenced to death." The briber is punished as complicit, and the whistleblower can obtain a certain official position. ”
Lord Wei commanded: "Whoever is imprisoned takes a sip of a sheep and drinks wine, he dies; Those who are able to correct shang shu for having committed a crime shall be given according to the severity of the correction. - Zizhi Tongjian, Song Ji XIV
In my opinion, the law is always a prop on the stage, just a prop used to represent the competition under the stage.
Of course, it is a very good law to severely punish corruption and bribery, but Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei Xianwen set the punishment so severe that it seemed very impersonal. Once the emperor decided to strike at an official who disobeyed him, he only needed to put this charge on the head of the relevant official, which was almost a hundred shots. Not to mention the officials, even if we are ordinary people, how many people have not taken advantage of the slightest advantage?
For officials, a sheep or a bottle of wine is probably only a small bargain, and they don't even care about these small bargains, but these small bargains will eventually become evidence of the officials' crimes.
If we really want to severely punish corruption and bribery, we must start by cracking down on vested interest groups. If only one person is severely punished by such an impersonal law, everyone will only think that this person's life is not good, or that he has lost power in the political struggle, but they will not think that he really died of corruption and bribery.
Prior to this, Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei Xianwen also formulated some laws to reduce the burden on the people at the bottom, and the effect was good after implementation.
Lord Wei was always pro-state affairs, diligent in governance, strict in rewards and punishments, cleaned up, and deposed of corruption, so Wei Zhimushou began to have people who were known for their integrity. - Zizhi Tongjian, Song Ji XIV
At the same time, Tuoba Hong killed the important ministers Murong Baiyao and Li Shi, who were not small people: Murong Baiyao opened the fu yi and the third division, Li Shi attacked the Duke of Gaoping, and his brother Li Yi was close to Empress Feng. But when Tuoba Hong killed them, he only used some false charges. In other words, the two men were killed only because they stood in the way of Tuoba Hong's centralized power.
Four years of winter to see the curse. Chu Yihun had exclusive power, and Bai Yao was quite heroic, so he was held responsible. And will be cursed, cloud plot rebellion, time to discuss injustice. - Book of Wei, vol. 50, Liechuan 38, Wei Yuan, etc
Shiki saw the second, and there were more than ten brothers and relatives in the dynasty. Di Yi was also favored by empress dowager Wen. Li Lieqi concealed more than twenty crimes, the emperor was furious, the emperor was in the winter of the fourth year, and he was a brother of The Emperor, and he was given the title of Shuren. - Book of Wei, vol. 36, Liechuan 24. Li Shun
In the above, we can probably see the ambition of Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei Xianwen.
But such an ambitious emperor will certainly find it difficult to satisfy the rich and powerful warriors and military and political tycoons. In this context, the powerful warriors and military and political tycoons turned to support Empress Feng out of the mountains, so Empress Feng began her second reign.
When everyone unanimously demanded that Empress Feng return to power, Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei xianwen made a decision that surprised everyone: Zen!
Tuoba Hong's decision to make such a decision was not at all what the history books said about seeing through the red dust, but stemmed from the increasingly fierce contradiction with Empress Feng.
Initially, Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei xianwen planned to give the throne to his uncle Tuoba Zitui, the King of Jingzhao, was this Tuoba Hong's real idea? Apparently not.
Di Ya is thin in time affairs, often has the heart of the world, and wants to Zen located in his uncle Prince Jingzhao. - Book of Wei, vol. 6, Emperor Ji 6, Xianzu Ji
Some people also said that the reason why Tuoba Hong would do this was to hope that an older emperor would suppress Empress Feng, which obviously could not stand up to scrutiny.
In order to fight with Empress Feng, Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei Xianwen did not hesitate to let the emperor become the biggest beneficiary, which is really unimaginable. If Takumi was really willing to do this, why would he want to zen? It is better to let Empress Feng continue to govern, after all, it is his nominal mother-in-law, better than her uncle ruling?
If Tuoba Zitui, the king of Jingzhao, really became a powerful emperor, and Empress Feng was likely to lose the opportunity to regain power, would the fate of Tuoba Hong, the emperor of Wei Xianwen, be very good? Can he be sure that his uncle won't cross the river and tear down the bridge?
Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei Xianwen's move was called "retreating to advance", according to Mr. Lu Xun's words: "Chinese temperament always likes to reconcile and compromise." For example, you said that this room is too dark, you must open a window here, you must not allow it. But if you advocate tearing down the roof, they will come to reconcile and be willing to open the window. Without more drastic ideas, they will not even carry out peaceful reforms. ”
If King Tuoba Zitui of Jingzhao is really a powerful royal family, then the rich warriors and military and political tycoons will definitely resist his succession. Because for the powerful man, he will never be willingly balanced. Once he doesn't have enough power to break this balance, he's likely to throw up the table: "If you don't make me feel better, I'll let all of you go to hell with me!" ”
Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei xianwen proposed to let Tuoba Zi, the king of Jingzhao, push him to succeed to the throne, which was bound to be resisted by everyone, and after being resisted, he let his son succeed to the throne, and the possibility of success was much greater. Tuoba Hong is the emperor after all, the first time you can dismiss his proposal, if you reject his proposal the second time, it may anger the emperor, and ordinary people will not do this.
Why did Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei Xianwen play such a trick? The main reason is also age. At that time, Tuoba Hong was only eighteen years old, and his son was only four years old. It is absurd in itself to let such a young child succeed to the throne. If the first proposal was to let his four-year-old son succeed to the throne, he might be resisted. But once Tuoba Zi, the king of Jingzhao, pushed forward, it seemed that it was not unacceptable for the emperor's four-year-old young son to succeed to the throne.
"Either It's King Tuoba Zi Tui, or my four-year-old son Tuoba Hong, let's choose one!" (Note: Emperor Xianwen of Wei was named Tuoba Hong, and his four-year-old son, the future Emperor Xiaowen of Wei, was named Tuoba Hong, not my mistake.) In order to prevent everyone from being confused, I will refer to Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei Xiaowen as the "Little Emperor" later, and hereby declare. ）
He took The Prince of Feng as the Taibao (太保), and was entrusted with the Emperor Xi Chuan (绂绂傳) by the Emperor Yuanhe. - Zizhi Tongjian, Song Ji XV
At this point, it seems that Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei had suffered a great loss: he not only passively lost his position of power, but also took the initiative to lose the throne.
But after careful calculation, I found that Tuoba Hong may not suffer losses.
After the little emperor succeeded to the throne, on the one hand was the Taishang Emperor Tuoba Hong, on the other hand was the Empress Feng Taihuang (grandmother), who should become the little emperor? Emperor Taishang Tuoba Hong naturally had more legal advantages, because he was the father of the little emperor, and Empress Feng was only the grandmother of the little emperor, and the relationship was separated by one layer.
From this point of view, Emperor Taishang Tuoba Hong's throne was only to make it more convenient to compete with Empress Feng for power and profit.
There is also a corroboration that although the Taishang Emperor Tuoba Hong has already taken the throne, he has not escaped into the Buddhist Gate to seek purity, but has always handled state affairs as the Emperor Taishang, and even put his hand into the army, repeatedly leading the army to march in person.
In February, Rouran invaded Wei, and the emperor sent generals to attack it; Rouran left. In the east, the Emperor rebelled against Rouran, and the Emperor himself chased after him, to the stone moraine, and did not return before he could return. - Zizhi Tongjian, Song Ji XV
In the face of such a strange move by Emperor Tuoba Hong, Empress Feng did not seem to have a clear response. But one more thing is certain: after Tuoba Hong's round of moves, the rich warriors and military and political leaders not only did not bow down, but more actively supported Empress Feng.
This bizarre political pattern lasted for about five years, and emperor Takumi Hiroshi died inexplicably, and the term used in the history books was "collapse", that is, sudden death. At that time, there were rumors that Empress Feng had poisoned The Taishang Emperor Tuoba Hong.
The empress dowager is not right, and she spoils Li Yi. The Empress Dowager was displeased because of the incident. The Ancestors collapsed violently, and the Empress Dowager shiyan did the same. - Book of Wei, vol. XIII, Liechuan No. 1, Empress Liechuan
We can see this rumor in the history books, and at that time, the speed of this rumor must have been more exaggerated.
If empress dowager Feng had not poisoned Emperor Tuoba Hong, then those who dared to spread such rumors would not have lived long. However, the vitality of this rumor is so tenacious that it has spread directly through the history books to the present, and the theory of poisoning is probably true.
However, even if Empress Feng poisoned The Emperor Tuoba Hong, she was not prosecuted in any way, but went directly to the front of the stage to govern. From this point of view, it should be that the entire upper class of Northern Wei collectively abandoned the Taishang Emperor Tuoba Hong, so Empress Feng dared to do such a rebellious thing.
After five years of going around, the Northern Wei Dynasty returned to its original political landscape: the ten-year-old little emperor and empress dowager Feng, the two grandchildren played double-headed politics.
When Empress Feng and Emperor Tuoba Hong of Wei xianwen played double-headed politics, they were ousted from power after only two years in power; now that Empress Feng is in power for the second time, the little emperor has grown from the age of ten to twenty years old, and has only been given the opportunity to be pro-government. And even if the little emperor was given the opportunity to pro-government, it could not prevent the fact that Empress Feng continued to be active in the political arena.
Since the empress dowager came to the dictatorship of the dynasty, Gao Zu was filial and respectful, did not want to participate in the decision, and did not have any big details, and was entrusted to the empress dowager. - Book of Wei, vol. XIII, Liechuan No. 1, Empress Liechuan
Why is this happening? It is not that the Tuoba royal family has weakened, but that Empress Feng's wrists are becoming more and more mature, and it has become a conventional rule for her to govern.
But one thing to be clear: although Empress Feng could rule for a long time, it did not mean that she had controlled the imperial power.
The Northern Wei imperial tuoba clan always firmly controlled the imperial power and still enjoyed priority in the distribution of benefits. If Empress Feng really controlled the imperial power, Tuoba's privileges would inevitably disappear.
But this was obviously not the case, when Empress Feng was alive, she dared to open her teeth and claws to the little emperor at best, but her identity was always that of the little emperor's senior assistant. And as soon as she died, the little emperor immediately took back the power.