Text/Kingdom Building
In Chinese history, in order to safeguard common interests and promote the reproduction and progress of the family, high-ranking officials and nobles would intermarry with each other to achieve this goal. And this relationship, which is bound by marriage and blood, is called the children's home. But this relationship often plays no role in the struggle for political power. Below, Xiaobian will introduce to you the story of the relatives of the more famous sons and daughters in Chinese history who turned against each other.
01. Li Yuan and the Sui Emperor
Li Yuan of Tang Gaozu and Yang Guang, the Emperor of Sui Dynasty, were cousins because their mother, Dugu Shi, was a sister. Later, in order to enhance the affection between the two families and safeguard common interests, the Sui Emperor married his daughter Concubine Yang to Li Yuan's son Li Shimin, and the two became relatives.
In 617, the Sui Emperor was still playing in Jiangdu. Li Yuan led an army into Chang'an as the Duke of Tang and supported Emperor Sui's grandson Yang You as emperor, emperor Gong of Sui (because Yang You's father Yang Zhao died early, his eldest grandson Yang You was made acting king by Emperor Sui and remained in Chang'an). The old emperor was still on the throne, and his cousin Li Yuan led the army to rebel, what was going on?
In 618, the Sui Emperor was strangled to death by the rebels, and then Li Yuan forced his nephew Yang You to take the throne and established the Tang Dynasty. Even if the usurpation of the throne is also counted, Li Yuan is not at ease with the young Yang You, and the following year he killed the 15-year-old Yang You with poisonous wine, and the Sui Dynasty royal family has no heir. Princess Yang, the daughter of the Sui Emperor who married Li Shimin, actually bore the Li family two sons, namely King Wu and King Shu, of course, these two sons naturally did not have the right to inherit the throne.
02, Yan Song and Xu Jie
Yan Song was the chancellor of the Jiajing dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, served as the first assistant of the cabinet for 20 years, and was a close confidant of the Jiajing Emperor. Yan Song took advantage of the gap between the Jiajing Emperor's retreat and Qing Xiu (the Jiajing Emperor did not go to the court for more than 20 years in order to cultivate the Tao, and many jinshi had never seen what he looked like), monopolized the government, and wantonly installed cronies and corrupted the law. In particular, Yan Song's son, Yan Shifan, was sinister and vicious, greedy for money and lustful, and even The Jiajing Emperor's son Yu Wang had to pay him a bribe, otherwise he would not be paid living expenses. At that time, xu jie, the second assistant of the cabinet, was the master of King Yu, and in order to deal with Yan Song's father and son, he had to marry his granddaughter to Yan Song's grandson and form a family of children, thus escaping the persecution of Yan Song's father and son. Yan Shifan had always been unreasonable to this elder, whether in the court or in private, he called him by name.
In 1562, Xu Jie and others finally seized the opportunity of the Jiajing Emperor's gradual dislike of Yan Song's father and son, and overthrew the tumbler who had been in power for more than 20 years. Xu Jie was very generous, killing only One yan Shifan, leaving Yan Song and his grandson of the old Dragon Bell. It was just that Yan Song had done many evil deeds, and the common people hated it very much, and they could not buy food if they had money, and finally starved to death on the way to exile.
03. Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin
Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin can be said to be a pair of old enemies during the Beiyang government of the Republic of China (1912-1928). Cao Kun was a general under Yuan Shikai, and Zhang Zuolin was a rising star of the Beiyang warlords. After Yuan Shikai's death, both Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin made their mark, one became the head of the direct line, and the other was a Feng clan tyrant. In order to unite the various departments of Beiyang against the revolutionaries in the south, Cao Kun gave his daughter Xu to Zhang Zuolin's son and married him. This combination made Duan Qirui, the leader of the Beiyang Anhui clan, shake his head and bluntly say that the Beiyang government would never have a peaceful day.
Sure enough, after cao kun and Zhang Zuolin allied, they defeated Duan Qirui in 1920 and gained the right to govern the Beiyang government. The Beijing government was left with only Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin in contention, and the contradictions immediately sharpened and developed to the point where soldiers were fighting each other.
In 1922, Zhang Zuolin joined forces with the Zhejiang warlord Lu Yongxiang and the southern revolutionaries to challenge Cao Kun. Cao Kun's brother ran to kneel in front of Zhang Zuolin and begged Lao Zhang not to make a big fuss when he looked at the face of the "family". But what does this so-called affection gain in the face of political rights? As a result, in the First Battle of Zhifeng, Zhang Zuolin lost only his pants, and in anger, he withdrew his affair with Cao Kun.
In 1924, after Zhang Zuolin won the Second Zhifeng War, Cao Kun was imprisoned in Beijing for two full years, and it would be good not to shoot him. However, Zhang Xueliang still had a little conscience, and later gave Cao Kun, who lived in Tianjin, a lot of care, so that the Beiyang warlord could comfortably spend the second half of his life.