Since the Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowu Yuanxiu and Gao Huanjun had a conflict, Emperor Xiaowu fled into Guanzhong Yuwen Tai in a negative mood. Gao Huan established Emperor Xiaojing as emperor, and from then on, Northern Wei was invisibly divided into two. Gao Huan controlled Eastern Wei, and Yuwen Tai controlled Western Wei. Since the Eastern Wei Dynasty was directly inherited from the imperial court system of the Northern Wei Dynasty, everything was relatively sound. Coupled with the wealth of Eastern Wei's jurisdiction, so the people's livelihood is rich, which is incomparable to Western Wei. However, on the surface of eastern Wei's seeming wealth, there were many hidden problems.
Ethnic contradictions within the Eastern Wei Dynasty were fierce, and there was no peace between the Xianbei and the Han Chinese
Due to the wars and strife in the late Northern Wei Dynasty, the central part of the Northern Wei Dynasty was cowardly and incompetent, and the masses rose up together, and soon split into two. At that time, Gao Huan had a puppet emperor in his hands, but he had great power to monopolize, and he still had to deal with Yuwen Tai. However, at that time, Eastern Wei was not only an external problem, but also an internal worry.
It is better to say that it is an internal worry than a problem of ethnic contradictions left over from history. The Northern Wei Dynasty developed from the Xianbei people, although it has been Sinicized, but in the eyes of the Xianbei people, the roots are still in the Xianbei, and naturally the Han people who can only dance and ink and play tricks will not look at it.
On the other hand, the Han people, who have always called themselves Confucians, also look down on the humble warriors who are only powerful and have no ink on their chests. Therefore, the relationship between the Xianbei and the Han people has always been harmonious, and there is a tit-for-tat meaning everywhere. Therefore, it was common for the Xianbei and Han people to clash, which caused the rulers a deep headache.
Gao Huan mediates the contradiction between Han Xian and Xian
Gao Huan relied on his unique identity to minimize the contradictions between Xian and Han
However, under this contradiction, Gao Huan played the role of a double-sided adhesive. He was Han Chinese in his bones, but he was born in a Xianbei environment. Even his marriage partner is a Xianbei, which makes him live more comfortably than other Han Chinese in the Xianbei tribe.
And Gao Huan went from a small city head soldier to a generation of powerful ministers, naturally no one dared to have an opinion on him. For Gao Huan himself, along the way, he had a lot of dealings with the Xianbei people. So he played a role in reconciling the contradiction between the Xianbei and the Han people.
In fact, for Gao Huan at that time, it was completely possible to stand on a certain side, but Gao Huan did not do so. Because no one knows better than him that once this contradiction is not suppressed, it is not handled well. Then the "fierce tiger" outside the door YuwenTai will definitely take advantage of this chaotic opportunity to break in. And the foundation he had accumulated so hard would also be successful, which was the last thing Gao Huan wanted to see.
Therefore, it is reasonable that Gao Huan has an unshirkable obligation to mediate this contradiction. So Gao Huan said to the Xianbei people: Why do you despise the Han people? They are our food and clothing parents, without them, where do we eat? Then he said to the Han people, "Why do you hate the Xianbei people?" Without them defending our homeland, where would we have a complete home?
Sure enough, under the mediation of Gao Huan, the situation has been greatly improved. However, ethnic contradictions are still inevitable, but they are suppressed to a minimum, which is also a kind of comfort for Gao Huan.
Gao Ao Cao fought against the Xianbei people
The Han people were high and proud and dared to fight against the Xianbei people
However, although Gao Huan has been trying to reconcile the Han and Xianbei people, there are still some people who do not buy it.
Under Gao Huan's hands, there was a man named Gao Ao Cao, who was good at martial arts. Following Gao Huan's eastern expedition to the west, he made a lot of merits, and Gao Huan, who was also a Han Chinese, attached great importance to him.
Once Gao Ao Cao invited Zheng Yanzu to his home to play, and Liu Gui, a humble man, sent a servant to invite Zheng Yanzu to come over. However, Gao Ao Cao resolutely refused to let him go, and he did not expect that the servants sent by Liu Gui would be very rude to Gao Ao Cao with the prestige of their master. Gao Ao Cao's anger was ignited at once, and he killed the servant on the spot.
Although Liu Gui, who heard about this incident, was very angry in his heart, he looked at Gao Huan's face and did not dare to do anything to him. But the next day, several generals conspired together, and the people below came to report that a worker who was building the Yellow River had died.
At that time, Liu Gui said innuendo that it was just a few Han Chinese, and it was not worth much. However, it was because of this sentence that Gao Ao Cao was angry. He drew his knife and killed him, but fortunately he was persuaded by the people next to him.
Later, Gao Ao Cao was still angry. He wanted to send troops to attack him, but was bitterly persuaded by Hou Jing and others, so he did not use force.
Du Bi asked Gao Huan to curb greed
Eastern Wei was corrupt, and Du Bi's request to cure the corruption was startled by Gao Huan's platoon
However, at that time, the Eastern Wei Dynasty did not only have contradictions between the Xianbei and the Han. Although Gao Huan is a powerful minister, the ministers below are yin and yang, and corruption is not uncommon.
However, during the Eastern Wei Dynasty, there was a rare sober person, a person who was honest and impartial, Du Bi. He was upright by nature and did not like these corruptions. So he repeatedly asked Gao Huan to punish him, but Gao Huan only agreed to it but did not act for a long time.
When Du Bi saw Gao Huan like this, his heart was even more anxious. He once again approached Gao Huan and asked him to give orders to punish corruption, and Gao Huan understood what he meant. So he asked the soldiers to take swords and stand in two rows, letting Du Bi walk through the middle.
Du Bi was a civilian official, and where he had seen this battle, he was suddenly frightened and scattered. Gao Huan then said, you just walked around from under these swords, but the soldiers were born and died on the battlefield, and what about greedy for some money. Although Du Bi was still a little dissatisfied in his heart, looking at the situation, Du Bi did not dare to say anything more.
Eastern Wei corruption left a curse on Northern Qi
Gao Huan wanted to shift the political center of gravity, but unexpectedly laid a disaster for Northern Qi
In fact, Gao Huan faced the problem of fierce ethnic contradictions and corruption within the Eastern Wei Dynasty. The reason why he chose to turn a blind eye was because of his consideration. He did not ignore these problems, and he was in charge of the problem of national contradictions, but the effect was not significant.
As for corruption, he also knows the seriousness of the problem. But he wanted to shift the political focus, that is, to satisfy the corrupt and humble samurai as much as he could, so that they could help him fight the world. And what Gao Huan wants to do most is naturally to fight the world and get the whole world.
However, Gao Huan's practice made irreparable mistakes for the corruption in the Eastern Wei officialdom. It was precisely because of this mistake that the Northern Qi established by his son Gao Yang was swallowed up by Northern Zhou, which was weaker than Northern Qi, because of its serious corruption.
Overall:
Although Gao Huan failed and Northern Qi was later destroyed, Gao Huan's personal merits were indelible. He was a very sober man, and he worked hard in the face of the contradictions between the Han and Xianbei tribes. But he was just a man, with limited ability, and it was impossible to do everything. Moreover, he was a very ambitious man, he wanted to unify the world, he wanted to do a thousand years. However, his strategy was wrong, and only one step would lead to the destruction of the later Northern Qi. It's just that people make mistakes sometimes, especially when they are in a high position, and Gao Huan is no exception.
Today's sharing is here, if you also like today's content, please like, share!
More exciting historical stories, welcome to pay attention to 【Historical Memory Room】