In 207 AD, Cao Cao finally unified the north, and the major nomadic peoples in the north came to show their goodwill, and the Xiongnu emissaries sent several cars of rare treasures in order to see Cao Cao. Cao Cao felt that his image was ugly and not enough to deter the Xiongnu, so he called his cronies to replace him, while he disguised himself as a bodyguard and held a steel knife and stood next to him.
After the Xiongnu emissary left, Cao Cao could not wait to send spies to ask the other party what his impression of "Cao Cao" was, and the Xiongnu emissary said a word:
"'King Wei' looks elegant and handsome, but in my opinion, the guard holding the knife next to him is the real hero!"
Everyone knows this story, but few people know that the person who pretended to be Cao Cao, named Cui Yan, was a famous courtier of Cao Wei's generation. The New Language of the World records:
Wei Wu saw the Xiongnu envoys, thinking that they were ugly and not enough to be far away from the country, so that Cui Ji Guidai and the emperor himself grabbed the sword and stood at the head of the bed.
Cui Yan (崔琰), courtesy name Ji Gui, was a famous scholar in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and at the same time, he was also one of Cao Cao's important advisers. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms records:
Cui Yan character Ji Jue, Qinghe Dongwu City people also.
Note that Cui Yan's place of origin is Qinghe Dongwu City, and he represents a huge family, the Qinghe Cui clan.
The Qinghe Cui clan originated in the Han Dynasty and began to rise during the Three Kingdoms period, and entered its peak during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Qinghe Cui clan was a famous magnate, with 12 family members serving as tang dynasty prime ministers, and the family had 700 years of glory and was extremely prestigious in society.
The Qinghe Cui clan was so brilliant, but in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, it was desperately suppressed by Tang Taizong Li Shimin. In this article, the author will share with you the story of Qinghe Cuishi.
First, the "five surnames and seven hopes" that cannot be climbed high
In the fifteenth year of zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin gave Li Yuanji's daughter Xu to xue yuanchao, the prince of the prince, who had already been posthumously honored by Li Shimin as the king of Hailing County, that is to say, Xue Yuanchao married the county lord of the dynasty, Jinzhi Yuye.
During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Xue Yuanchao became prime minister and held a high position of power for a while, but when others asked Xue Yuanchao what regrets he had in this life, Xue Yuanchao said:
"Those who regret in this life have not been able to marry a woman with five surnames!" (Sui and Tang Dynasty Tales, Vol. 2)
Xue Yuanchao had already married a royal county lord, and he actually said that he regretted not marrying a "five-surnamed woman", how good was this "five-surnamed woman" in the end, and could it be better than a royal woman?
In fact, the "five surnames" mentioned by Xue Yuanchao refers to the most famous seven gate valves in the Sui and Tang dynasties, which were called "five surnames and seven hopes" at that time, that is:
Qinghe Cui, Boling Cui, Fanyang Lu, Longxi Li, Zhao County, Xingyang Zheng, Taiyuan Wang.
Among them, although the Li Tang royal family claimed to be from the Li clan of Longxi, it was questioned by other giants.
From Xue Yuanchao's words, it can be seen that the status of "five surnames and seven hopes" in the minds of the scholars at that time.
Since the Wei and Jin dynasties, the door valve family has become the most important channel for the imperial court to select talents, and in the Sui and Tang dynasties, the "five surnames and seven hopes" were the most outstanding 7 families at that time, they married each other, so that others could not climb high, for those "cold doors", it was more glorious to marry a "five surname" woman than a royal woman.
Another example is the "poet saint" Du Fu, who wrote an article about Du Fu's life, arguing that Du Fu and Tang Taizong Li Shimin were actually related by blood, but there were 5 generations in between, and Du Fu's maternal grandmother (grandmother) was the daughter of Li Chun (Li Shimin's grandson) the Prince of Yiyang. Du Fu's maternal grandmother married into the Cui clan of Qinghe and later gave birth to Du Fu's mother. In other words, Du Fu's mother was the daughter of the Cui clan of Qinghe.
Du Fu's father was Du Xian, the son of Du Zhenyan, Du Fu's mother died of illness after giving birth to Du Fu, Du Xian married a continuation, Du Fu was not tolerated by his stepmother, so he lived in his aunt's house from an early age and tasted the cold and warmth of the world.
Du Fuzu was from the Jingzhao Du clan, and although he was not as good as the "Five Surnames and Seven Hopes", he was also famous. The strange thing is that when Du Fu went out to introduce himself, he did not introduce himself to the Jingzhao Du clan, nor did he introduce himself to the royal family, but instead introduced himself as "the nephew of the Qinghe Cui clan". Because in the Qinghe Cui family, there are many of his "uncles". In Du Fu's eyes, the influence of the Qinghe Cui clan among the literati was far greater than that of the "Jingzhao Du clan" and the "Li Tang royal family".
In fact, Du Fu's view represented the literati of the Tang Dynasty, and the "five surnames and seven hopes" at that time were a high and unattainable door valve group that tried to climb, even if it was "poetic saint" Du Fu, he was not exempt from vulgarity.
Second, the family that glorified 700 years
According to the Notes on the Water Classics, the Cui clan originated from the surname Jiang and is a descendant of Jiang Ziya. In 975 BC, Jiang Ziya's grandson Jizi ceded his inheritance to his younger brother Duke Yi of Qi, and then returned to Caiyi, whose descendants later took the surname Cui as their surname. Ji Zi's twelfth grandson, Cui Zhu (崔杼), was the zhengqing of the State of Qi, but was later killed by the execution of Jun's entire family, but fortunately, he had a son named Cui Ming who escaped the grave and was taken in by the State of Lu. Cui Ming's fifteenth grandson was Cui Ruyi, who had two sons, Cui Ye (崔伯基) and Cui Zhongmu (崔仲牟). In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the brothers Cui Ye and Cui Zhongmu settled in Dongwucheng County, Qinghe County, and Anping County, Zhuo County, respectively, forming two branches of the Qinghe Cui clan and the Boling Cui clan. And these two branches, by the Tang Dynasty, both entered the list of "five surnames and seven hopes".
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the two brothers Cui Yan and Cui Lin of the Cui clan of Qinghe served the Eastern Han Dynasty and Cao Wei successively, and became famous in the annals of history, of which Cui Yan was the person mentioned above, pretending to be Cao Cao to receive the Xiongnu emissaries.
When Chen Shou compiled the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, he specially wrote a biography for Cui Yan, saying that he was "cui yan gaoge optimal". A "most" word can be seen, Cui Yan in the eyes of the literati of the Three Kingdoms, can be called a titan. (The picture below is a still of Cui Yan in "The League of Military Divisions")
During the Cao Pi period, Cui Lin successively served as the Grand Duke of Dahong, Guangluxun, and finally the Third Duke, and was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Anyang.
The brothers Cui Yan and Cui Lin held high positions in Cao Wei and had a high prestige, and later, Cao Cao had his beloved son Cao Zhi marry the daughter of the Cui clan, making the Cui clan of Qinghe become an imperial relative.
Cao Pi era, began to implement the "nine products in the right system" to select talents, at that time to assess whether a person is qualified to be an official, mainly look at three aspects, namely "family lineage + line + fixed product", if you want to rank above the court, first look at the family lineage, followed by others, this system gradually blocked the promotion of the cold door, at the same time, also opened the monopoly era of the rich family.
The Qinghe Cui clan was luckier, they just caught up with this shareholder wind, gradually moved to the center of power, and affected the fate of generations of the family.
After the change of Gaopingling, the Sima family completely controlled the court, until Sima Yan established the Western Jin Dynasty, still safeguarding the interests of the major clans, the Qinghe Cui clan was also at this time, the population continued to grow, and later gradually expanded other branches, such as Qinghe Big House, Qinghe Small House, Qinghe Qingzhou House, Xuzhou Yanling House, Qi County Wushui House, Zhengzhou Cui Family, Nanzu Cui Clan and other branches.
In the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Rebellion of the Eight Kings and the Rebellion of Yongjia continued to break out, and the unified dynasty instantly became a chaotic world, Sima Rui rushed south to establish the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the Qinghe Cui clan, as a large clan under the heavens, also moved south, of course, a small number of clans remained in the Qinghe homeland, for example, Cui Lin's sixth grandson Cui Hong and his sons Cui Hao, Cui Jian, and Cui Tian father and son, successively served Former Qin Jian, Later Yan Murong Chui, and Northern Wei. At that time, the world said that Cui Hong had the "talent of Wang Zuo", so although the dynasty changed, Cui Hong was always a figure of contention between various forces. After Cui Hong's death, his son Cui Hao served as the number two figure in Northern Wei for a long time, and his power fell to the opposition.
At that time, the Qinghe Cui clan was very hot, including the Fanyang Lu clan, the Langya Wang clan, the Taiyuan Wang clan, the Hedong Liu clan and other family clans, all competing to marry the Qinghe Cui clan, if you hear that the Qinghe Cui clan has a daughter to be married, several major families rush to come to ask for relatives. It can be said that Cui Hong's father and son pushed the Qinghe Cui clan to another climax.
Mr. Chen Yinke once concluded:
"The Cui clan of Qinghe is the first sheng gate of the Northern Dynasty, and the Cui Hao clan is the most prominent room in the Cui clan of Qinghe."
Because of the chaotic times of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Cui clan later encountered several major disasters, and the clan members were not very enthusiastic about the career path, and began to live a life of "not entering the career path, cutting clothes and avoiding the world". In the Sui and Tang dynasties, the imperial examination system appeared, and although the Qinghe Cui clan was famous, it was not conspicuous in the imperial examination, so its influence in the imperial court declined. Despite this, in the tang dynasty, the Qinghe Cui clan still had 12 prime ministers. Perhaps, their influence in the court was not as great as that of the Cao Wei and Northern Wei dynasties, but in the jianghu, in the eyes of the scholars, the Qinghe Cui clan was still the first magnate in the jianghu.
3. Li Shimin and Qinghe Cui
During the reign of Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the prison of national history broke out, and Cui Hong's son Cui Hao was implicated and almost exterminated, and Cui Hong's nephew Cui Wei desperately fled to Jiangzuo as a minor official of Liu Song. Cui Wei's eldest grandson was named Cui Chanzhen, and Cui Chanzhen had a daughter who married Dugu Xin, and later gave birth to a seventh daughter to Du Gu Xin, a small character Garo, which was later called Du Lonely Garo.
Dugu Xin also had a wife surnamed Guo (who had died at the time), who gave birth to a fourth daughter for Du Gu Xin, who was Li Yuan's mother and Li Shimin's grandmother Du Gushi (Empress Yuanzhen).
That is to say, ethically speaking, the stepmother of Empress Yuanzhen (Li Yuan's mother) was also the daughter of the Qinghe Cui clan.
It is precisely because of this relationship that in 617 AD, Li Yuan rebelled against the Sui in Taiyuan, and he did not forget to win over the Qinghe Cui clan, hoping that the Qinghe Cui clan could support him. However, 9 years later, after Li Shimin ascended the throne through the "Xuanwumen Change", his attitude toward the Qinghe Cui clan changed greatly, and Li Shimin publicly stated:
I really don't understand why the four surnames of Shandong are self-effacing, and why are they important in the human world?
The "four surnames of Shandong" here refers to the four families of Cui, Lu, Li and Zheng, and Li Shimin means: "I don't understand why these four families are so conceited, and why do the people of the world value them so much?" ”
This is not to mention, according to the "Zhenguan Politicians" record, Li Shimin also said to Fang Xuanling: "The four major surnames in Shandong are obviously already in the middle of the family road, why do they have to beat up the swollen face and become fat, they rely on the glory of their ancestors, exaggerate themselves, every time their children marry, they always have to receive a lot of bride price, like human trafficking, this custom is not advisable." He felt that they were not worthy of the throne, and the imperial court should suppress their arrogance as soon as possible. ”
Fang Xuanling has followed Li Shimin for many years and has long become a roundworm in Li Shimin's stomach, Fang Xuanling said: What Your Majesty said!
How to suppress it? As emperor, Li Shimin had a way. In the spring of the twelfth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin asked the official Shangshu Gao Shilian to lead Cen Wenwen and others to compile a "Clan Chronicle", the main task was to enter all the clans in the world, and then divide the ranks.
Gao Shilian was the uncle of Empress Changsun, and naturally thought about Li Shimin, but compared with Fang Xuanling, Gao Shilian obviously did not know Li Shimin well enough. The Zhenguan Politician records:
Shi Lian and others and the Jinding clan ranked first, so Cui Gan was the first class. Emperor Taizong said, "I am now a member of the clan, and I sincerely want to worship the crown of this dynasty, why is It that Cui Ganyu is the first class, and only looks at Qing and so on, and it is not expensive for me to be an official?" "So Cui Gan was made the third class."
Gao Shilian acted honestly and honestly, and designated the Qinghe Cui clan as a "first-class" clan, and when Li Shimin saw the results, he made a big fuss and scolded Gao Shilian. In the end, Gao Shilian, who was scolded, finally understood Li Shimin's intention in compiling the "Clan History", so he designated Li Shimin's "Longxi Li Clan" as the first class, and several major clans such as the Qinghe Cui Clan as the "third class".
Here I need to say that regarding the specific origin of the Li Tang family, there is a great controversy in history, and the Li Tang royal family said that they were born in the Li clan of Longxi, because the lineage in the middle is not clear, so it has been questioned. During the Kaiyuan period, Tang Xuanzong even referred to Laozi (Li Er) as his ancestor and named Laozi the "first ancestor". It can be seen from this incident that the Li Tang Dynasty was not confident in front of other door valves.
Back to the topic just now, why did Li Shimin designate the Qinghe Cui clan as a "third-class" clan?
In fact, Li Shimin and Qinghe Cui and other "five surnames and seven hopes" do not have a vendetta, and there are three reasons why he did this:
First, Qinghe Cui's and other door valves are not matched. During the "Nine Pins zhongzheng" period, the Qinghe Cui clan took full advantage of the time and place, so there were many celebrities, but in the Sui and Tang dynasties, they began to avoid the world, and they performed generally in the imperial examination, and few people came out to be officials. Not coming out to be an official means that you can't contribute to Li Tang. But they relied on the fame of their ancestors and enjoyed a higher influence than the imperial family in the Tang Dynasty, which was intolerable to Li Shimin, who was a man of great talent.
Second, the attitude of qinghe Cui and other door valves is very arrogant. They flaunted their ancestral exploits everywhere, boasting of family loyalty and filial piety, looking at no one well, and even pointing fingers at the court's practices. And many ministers were also happy to make friends with the Qinghe Cui clan and send them money and gifts, which further encouraged the arrogance of the Qinghe Cui clan, and this negative impact was unacceptable to Li Shimin.
For example, the Old Five Dynasties History Li Zhuanmei Biography records:
"The distant ancestor of the special beauty is out of the Guzang Big House, and the Qinghe Xiaofang Cui Clan, the Beizu Second Fang Lu Clan, and the Zhaoguo Zheng Clan are the Four Wang Clans, all of which are not respected by their talents, and they do not regard Xuan Tian as precious, although they are clothed on foot, they regard the Gongqing as contemptuous. Among them, those who have not yet reached it will know: 'The surnames cui, lu, li, and Zheng are gone, and Yu Fu He Qiu Ye!' ’”
There was a man named Li Zhuanmei, who was from the Li clan of Longxi, and he was a large clan like the Cui clan of Qinghe and the Lu clan of Fanyang. This person usually points out to the secretary of state, but he does not think of making progress, and is high and arrogant. He is always crazy: in this life, the surname cui, lu, li, and Zheng are gone, why should the husband ask for it?
Li Zhuanmei is not an isolated case, among the giants of the Tang Dynasty, there are many such "Li Zhuanmei", which is why Li Shimin must suppress the giants.
Third, there is a more important point, that is, Li Tang's Jiangshan cannot be shared with the giants.
Although Li Shimin listed the Qinghe Cui clan as the "third class", but this is only the imperial court's statement, in the folk, the Qinghe Cui clan is still the first door valve, Fang Xuanling mouth to cater to Li Shimin, privately still married to the Qinghe Cui clan, in addition to Fang Xuanling, Li Shimin's other confidant Wei Zheng also married the daughter of the Qinghe Cui clan as a daughter-in-law, cheng yaojin and other early Tang dynasty heroes.
After Li Shimin's death, his successor, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, inherited his father's legacy and continued to suppress the Qinghe Cui clan and other Hao clans.
The second son of Cui Zongbo of Qinghe, the second son of Cui Yuansun, the sixth son of Li Bao of Longxi of Northern Wei, the fourth son of Wang Qiong of Taiyuan, the third son of Zheng Wen of Xingyang, the fourth son of Lu Dushi of Fanyang, the sixth son of Lu Fu, the unknown son of Lu Pu, the eighth son of Cui Yi of Former Yan Boling, and the fourth son of Li Kai of Zhao County in the Western Jin Dynasty.
Although Tang Gaozong's means were sharp, but the worms with hundreds of feet were dead but not stiff, and once the door valve clan like the Qinghe Cui clan was recognized by the people of the world, even if they did not intermarry with other Hao clans, their influence was still undiminished, and many officials and eunuchs competed to marry the Qinghe Cui clan. Like Du Fu's father, Du Xian, this is the case.
Fourth, the people of the past have gone by the yellow crane
Although the Qinghe Cui clan "avoided the world", after all, the poetry book was handed down, and under the Imperial Examination System of the Tang Dynasty, the probability of their meritorious titles was still higher than that of the Hanmen, so some of the Qinghe Cui clans who wanted to enter the shi still had great opportunities. For example, Cui Shenyu, Cui Yuanzong, Cui Guicong, and many other prime ministers are from the Qinghe Cui clan.
And the Cui Hao who left for everyone that "the people of the past have gone by the Yellow Crane, and the Yellow Crane Tower is empty here" is also from the Qinghe Cui clan, Cui Hao was a famous and famous writer in the Tang Dynasty, and during the Tang Xuanzong period, Cui Hao entered the Dynasty as an official, even the "poetry immortal" Li Bai, also admired Cui Hao.
According to the New Book of Tang, the Qinghe Cui clan produced a total of 12 prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty, and a total of 22 people left more than 300 poems and articles for posterity.
Long Sheng's nine sons, whether it is a tycoon such as the Qinghe Cui clan or a cold door, with the changes of the times, there are always some of them who adapt to the development of the times and leave a page in the history of Qing. And for those children who are lazy and lazy, hiding at home and sitting in the mountains and eating the sky, they will be eliminated by the times.
In 907 AD, the Tang Dynasty fell, starting from the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination system was paid unprecedented attention, many Hanmen disciples counterattacked successfully, there was no longer a distinction between the rich and the cold, so the Qinghe Cui clan, which continued the glory of more than 700 years, completely disappeared in the long river of history.
The author believes that if a family wants to inherit forever, there are two very important points, the first is that it must constantly adjust the direction of the family's progress with the changes of the times, and the second is that it must make positive contributions to the era in which it lives.
As the leader of the ancient door valves, the Qinghe Cui clan lasted for 700 years before and after, which was enough to make future generations awe-inspired. However, the failure to do the above two points is the main reason for the decline of this family.
In fact, whether it is the Qinghe Cui clan or the Langya Wang clan, every family in history has its highlights, but this has passed. Whether it is a certain family or a certain nation, if it only sits on the mountain and eats the air and "eats the old book", then it will also wither away. In the new era, we need to adapt ourselves to the development of the times, actively forge ahead, and make our due contributions to the development of the motherland and world peace, so that we can always stand tall among the nations.