Imperial art has always been a compulsory course for ancient emperors, and in order to control the courtiers, the emperors often supported two difficult ministers and let them fight each other to maintain a balance of power.
Since ancient times, China has been a country with very strong cohesion, but it is also a nation that is very good at infighting, like the Niu-Li party struggle in the late Tang Dynasty, which completely exhausted the afterglow of the former glory of the Tang Dynasty, so that the Tang Dynasty fell into an endless party struggle, and finally, it irreversibly went into decline.
However, the support of these parties by the rulers is very easy to cause the ministers to attack each other in the court, as well as to shirk and ridicule each other in political affairs. This kind of endless party struggle has seriously affected the operational efficiency of the power center, and will also make the country's national fortunes gradually exhausted, so it can be seen that the struggle between parties is very harmful.
So, are the rulers unaware of these drawbacks?
The rulers certainly knew, but, out of desperation, they had to do so. After the emergence of the beggar system, as the head of the civil officials, if no one above the court can compete with it, for a long time, the power will be excessively concentrated on the chancellor, which is not conducive to the realization of the monarchy's centralized absolutism.
Therefore, in order to achieve a firm control over the power of the world, the ruler had to "sing both white face" and "black face". When necessary, rulers would also kill their former friends, or their brothers who had fought together, and this kind of bridge crossing was very common in history.
Among them, the most typical is Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang, the experience of the first half of his life was very bumpy, his parents died in his early years, and he was forced to become a monk. Later, after being introduced by a friend to join the rebel army, and relying on his outstanding military strategy and ability to dispatch troops, he defeated Chen Youyi and Zhang Shicheng, who were also tyrants, and expelled the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty from the Central Plains and drove them to the desolate Mongolian steppes.
However, all this changed completely with the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang also changed his fate. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, those brothers who used to call Zhu Yuanzhang brothers and brothers were actually killed and exiled by Zhu Yuanzhang one after another, and in the end, only a seriously ill Tang He was left.
Some people will say, how can Zhu Yuanzhang be so cruel? Even your own brothers in life and death are killed, these are all people who fight with you to the death, if there are no people, how can you get jiangshan? How can you be so ungrateful?
Yes, without these people, Zhu Yuanzhang could not lay the foundation of this great Ming Dynasty by relying on the strength of one person. However, Zhu Yuanzhang had to do this, even if it was wrong, he had to do it. Because, Zhu Yuanzhang understood, he was well aware of the ability of his subordinates, if they were given the same opportunity, under the temptation of the throne, they would most likely commit the following crimes.
In order to make his family forever solid, in Zhu Yuanzhang's later years, in order to leave his descendants a more stable era, so that he could rule the Ming Dynasty with peace of mind, he became a butcher, not hesitated to leave a notoriety in history, and eradicated all the potential crises of the Ming Dynasty one by one, even if they used bloody and brutal means.
Compared with Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhao Kuangyin was much milder.
Zhao Kuangyin successfully seized the right to rule the world by virtue of his yellow robe in Chen Qiao.
However, after he had taken over the world, he always had deep concerns in his heart, always thinking that if one day his subordinates followed his original behavior, then he would not be reduced to a prisoner of the order. Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin specially held a banquet and invited many of his generals who held military power to participate in the banquet.
At the beginning, Zhao Kuangyin first praised the support of these subordinates, and when the cocktail party was in full swing, he turned his words sharply and made a sad look.
At that time, the generals were naturally confused and did not know what had happened, so they had to carefully ask Zhao Kuangyin why this was so. Zhao Kuangyin said: Now that he is the emperor, he is not as happy as he was when he was a jiedushi, and he will worry every day about whether he will be expelled from the throne.
As soon as Zhao Kuangyin finished speaking, the general was so frightened that he quickly knelt down and immediately said that he had absolutely no different intentions. However, Zhao Kuangyin was still not at ease, saying: In the future, some people will imitate the original Chen Qiao mutiny, and I am afraid that you will not be able to get away with it. The generals were even more anxious, and they did not know how to answer, so they had to pray to the emperor to show them a clear path.
At this time, Zhao Kuangyin said:
You have followed me to fight in the country, you are also a horse for half a lifetime, hard work for most of your life, it is better to seal a spare job and go home to enjoy the blessings, so that it is also a kind of shade for your children and grandchildren. After listening to this, these generals understood the spirit, so when they went to the court the next day, they wrote to the court one after another, saying that they were old and weak, and they could not win the position, and hoped to return to their hometown.
Zhao Kuangyin pretended to make some reservations, and then agreed to their request.
Historically, there have been many phenomena like Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhao Kuangyin crossing rivers and demolishing bridges, just like Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, who has always been very friendly to his subordinates, has also slaughtered his own heroes and let a generation of warrior gods Han Xin return to Huangquan. And Zhang Liang is well aware of the principle of rabbit dead dog cooking, after Liu Banggong became famous, he consciously retired from the mountains and forests and became a worldly master to die well.
Most people in the world can share hardships and hardships, but they are rich and noble, and this is the truth that has been said since ancient times when it is said that the companion is like the companion of the tiger. For the emperor, the courtiers and strategists are the tools of their own rule, and when the tools become sharp blades and stab at themselves, there is no doubt that they will be eradicated, even if they do not want to become sharp blades.
However, to avoid potential threats, early action is also a way to avoid future troubles. Therefore, the so-called imperial art is to speculate on the greed and evil in human nature with the deepest malice, which is actually the nature of human beings.
Resources:
[Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang", "Song Shi Taizu Benji", "History Of History Volume VIII, Gao Zu Benji VIII"]