In chinese history, The Northern Zhou Dynasty minister Yuwen Hu was definitely a fierce character! During Yuwen Hu's dictatorship, he killed three emperors successively, namely Tuoba Kuo, the Gong Emperor of Western Wei, Yuwen Jue, the Xiaomin Emperor of Northern Zhou, and Yuwen Yu, the Emperor of Northern Zhou Ming. In addition, Yuwen Hu also killed four pillar generals, namely Zhao Gui, Du Guxin, Hou Mochen Chong, and Li Yuan (later Jin Feng)! So the question is, why is Yuwen Hu so arrogant and get rid of so many characters?
Things have to start from 556, when Yuwen Tai, a western Wei chancellor, suddenly fell ill during his western tour, and he realized that he did not have much time to come, so he quickly sent someone to find Yuwen Hu. Yuwen Tai said to Yuwen Hu, "If I describe this, it will be bad." The sons are young, and the thieves are not at peace. The affairs of the world belong to Ru. It is advisable to strive to become a hero. It turned out that Yuwen Hu was Yuwen Tai's nephew, and Yuwen Tai's son was relatively young at that time, so he "entrusted himself" to Yuwen Hu.
After Yuwen Tai's death, although his son Yuwen Jue inherited the relevant positions, the power was actually in the hands of Yuwen Hou. In order to justify the power, Yuwen Hu deposed and killed Tuoba Kuo, the Emperor Gong of Western Wei, and then pushed Yuwen Jue to the "throne" and established the Northern Zhou regime. However, some people were very dissatisfied with Yuwen Hu's dictatorship, and they were zhao gui and dugu xin, the elders. Zhao Gui and DuGuxin were equal in seniority and prestige to Yuwen Tai, so they did not pay attention to Yuwen Hu at all.
So Zhao Gui, DuGuxin, and others planned to murder Yuwen Hu. However, this matter was exposed, and Yuwen Hu sent someone to kill Zhao Gui, and then forced DuGuxin to commit suicide. However, the tyrannical Yuwen Hu also caused dissatisfaction among another person, he was Yuwen Jue, the Emperor Xiaomin of the Northern Zhou Dynasty! Yuwen Jue took advantage of the officials around him, and also planned to get rid of Yuwen Hu and then pro-government. However, the plan failed again, and Yuwen Jue, who was in the middle of the month, was deposed by Yuwen Goku and later assassinated.
In the process, Li Yuan, who had already been promoted to the rank of Grand General of the Pillar State, was also involved in the case and committed suicide under the pressure of Yuwen Hu. After that, Yuwen Hu put Yuwen Tai's eldest son Yuwen Yu on the throne and continued to be a courtier himself. Yuwen Yu was "intelligent and intelligent", which made Yuwen very nervous. It turned out that after Yuwen Hu became a powerful courtier, he had forgotten his uncle's instructions that year, and he only wanted to keep his power as a powerful courtier, and he did not want to be the "Duke of Zhou" at all.
In May 560, The Northern Zhou Ming Emperor Yuwen Yu was poisoned to death at the age of 27, and the mastermind behind the scenes was Yuwen Hu! However, Yuwen Hu did not claim the title of emperor, and he made Yuwen Tai's fourth son Yuwen Yong emperor. After that, Yuwen Hu became more tyrannical and oppressed the korean and Chinese officials, and he killed anyone who complained about him. For example, in 563, Hou Mochen chong, one of the Eight Pillar States, offended Yuwen Hu and was forced to commit suicide.
Emperor Yuwen Yong of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was a very clever emperor, who pretended not to care about the affairs of the country and completely handed over the government to Yuwen Hu, but secretly he had been accumulating strength and waiting for the opportunity that belonged to him. In 572, Yuwen Yong, who had been a puppet emperor for twelve years, finally decided to do it! When summoning Yuwen Hu, Yuwen Yong instructed him to read the "Wine Curse" in front of the empress, and then he quietly came to Yuwen Hu and knocked him down with a jade sword.
After that, Yuwen Yong's half-brother Yuwen Zhi rushed out and killed the invincible Yuwen Hu. Although Yuwen Hu consolidated the rule of Northern Zhou, he did not know how to advance or retreat, and he killed in a big way, sounding the death knell for his own defeat! As later generations have commented, Yuwen Hu "is less than academic, the nickname is small, the Weifu is already there, the conquest is self-explanatory, some people have no king's heart, and they are unbearable for the lord, and finally the wife is killed, and the head is divided, and the cover is appropriate."
References: 1. Book of Zhou; 2. History of the North