In ancient Chinese history, there were many powerful courtiers, who monopolized the government and blackmailed the Son of Heaven to order the princes, which had a huge influence on history and was also criticized by many future generations. In the course of these rulers' reign, the emperor was a puppet and rubber stamp in their hands, and could only act according to orders. Yuwen Hu, a powerful minister of Western Wei and Northern Zhou, was one of the most typical, and he was arguably one of the most powerful courtiers in ancient Chinese history who killed the most emperors. Less than five years after he had been in charge of the government, he killed three emperors in a row, and his methods were really arrogant and domineering. However, when later generations commented on his deeds, they always talked about a problem. Since Yuwen Hu had the power to kill the emperor three times in a row, why didn't he ascend the throne himself and become emperor?
Yuwen Hu was the nephew of Yuwen Tai, a Western Wei chancellor, and his father, Yuwen Hao, was Yuwen Tai's older brother. Yuwen Tai rose in the Northern Wei Six Towns Uprising and warlord melee, and eventually became the chancellor of Western Wei, dominating the government and deposing the emperor, which was his final say, and it can be said that the power was tilted to the opposition. Western Wei developed rapidly under Yuwen Tai, and after a series of innovations in the Togu reforms, the national strength was strengthened, quickly reversing the unfavorable situation against Northern Qi and Southern Liang. By the time of Yuwen Tai's death, Western Wei had already gained a strategic advantage, and it was only a matter of time before yuwen tai continued to dominate the world, but Yuwen Tai's sudden illness interrupted this development process, and Yuwen Hu, as Yuwen Tai's heir, ascended to the commanding heights of power and continued the Yuwen family's control over the Western Wei court.
Since Yuwen Tai died, his sons were still relatively young and had no way to inherit his career, so he handed over power to his nephew Yuwen Hu. Yuwen Hu grew up around Yuwen Tai and was highly regarded by Yuwen Tai in the Northern Wei Liuzhen Rebellion and later warlord melee. After Yuwen Hu inherited Yuwen Tai's power, he quickly stabilized the overall situation of the Western Wei court and began the operation of usurping the throne. He forced the Western Wei Emperor Tuoba Kuochan to give up the throne, and Yuwen Jue, the third son of Yuwen Tai, ascended the throne as emperor, creating the Northern Zhou Jiangshan Sheji. After that, in order to dominate the government, Yuwen Hu began the process of frequently killing the emperor, killing three emperors within five years, and the viciousness of his methods was simply heinous.
Yuwen Hu's uncle Yuwen Tai was a courtier, and the Western Wei Emperor was a puppet in his hands. Although his exploits to Western Wei were great, the Yuwen family was also the biggest beneficiary under his rule, which can be described as a power tilted against the opposition. Even so, Yuwen Tai did not choose to kill The Emperor as often as Yuwen Hu did, but only killed Emperor Yuan xiu of Xiaowu who fled to Guanzhong after the Northern Wei Split. But Yuwen Hu was much stronger than Yuwen Tai, and he killed three emperors in a row within five years, leaving a very poor reputation in Chinese history. The emperors he killed included not only Tuoba Kuo, the Gong Emperor of Western Wei, but also yuwen tai's two sons, Yuwen Jue of Northern Zhou and Yuwen Yu of the Ming Dynasty. It can be said that in order to monopolize the power of the imperial court, Yuwen Hu has done everything to the extreme, and has reached the point where the six relatives do not recognize it.
The first emperor Yuwen Hu killed was Tuoba Kuo, the Gong Emperor of Western Wei, who did so in order to usurp the throne. Judging from the historical background at that time, Tuoba Kuo had such a day sooner or later, and from the beginning of Yuwen Tai's monopoly on the government, he decided his end. It can be said that from the beginning of the division of the Northern Wei into the Eastern and Western Wei, the imperial dynasty established by the Tuoba clan of the Xianbei clan has already existed in name only. Yuwen Tai died, Yuwen Hu forced Tuoba Kuochan to give up the throne, and the Western Wei Dynasty changed dynasties, which was also the inevitable development of history. Yuwen Hu killed Tuoba Kuo, which is also the standard process for disposing of the king of the fallen country since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, although it has been despised by many people, but later historians can still understand it, and it will not cause too much controversy.
The second emperor to be deposed and killed by Yuwen Hu was Yuwen Jue, who was Yuwen Hu's cousin and was also helped to power by Yuwen Hu. Only a few months after he ascended the throne as emperor, he was deposed by Yuwen Hu as the Duke of Luoyang, and was soon poisoned and killed at the age of sixteen. Yuwen Yu then supported Yuwen Jue's brother Yuwen Yu as emperor, but Yuwen Yu did not last long. According to historical records, Yuwen Hu had Li An, a subordinate of Yuwen Yu, poison Yuwen Yu's diet, and soon Yuwen Yu was poisoned to death, serving as emperor for less than three years. Next, Yuwen Hu supported Yuwen Yu's younger brother Yuwen Yong as emperor, and Yuwen Yong did not dare to compete with Yuwen Hu, and Tao Guang raised obscure puppet emperors. Yuwen Yong's attitude reassured Yuwen Hu, which saved his life.
Judging from the above process, Yuwen Hu's process of deposing and killing the emperor was relatively smooth, and it did not cause any chaos and turmoil. From this point of view alone, Yuwen Hu could have ascended the throne on his own, without having to let the throne slip between cousins and make himself a controversial courtier. However, Yuwen Hu did not do so, but insisted on being a powerful minister for more than ten years, which made many history lovers wonder.
Why didn't Yuwen Goo ascend the throne and become emperor? There is only one word used in the history books, and the wings are not yet abundant. Yuwen Hu was able to kill the emperor three times, how could such a great power be in the wings? Isn't it contradictory that the fledgling can still kill the emperor again and again? To fully explain the above problems, we must start with the political and military system left behind after the reform of Yuwen Taitogu.
As mentioned above, in order to enhance the national strength of the Western Wei Dynasty and to improve the Yuwen family's control over the country and the imperial court, Yuwen Tai carried out a series of reforms in the form of the Togu reform system. These reforms eventually formed the Guanlong aristocratic clique, with Yuwen Tai becoming the de facto ruler of the country with the support of this gate valve group, while the Western Wei Emperor was only a puppet in Yuwen Tai's hands. After Yuwen Tai's death, Yuwen Hu inherited Yuwen Tai's power and became the new leader of the Guanlong aristocratic clique. But Yuwen Hu is not Yuwen Tai after all, and there are many opponents in this aristocratic group. Especially the old brothers who fought the world with Yuwen Tai, there were great opinions about Yuwen Hu's ascension to the throne, such as Zhao Gui and DuGuxin in the Eight Pillar Kingdoms, who were typical representatives.
Yuwen Hu forced Tuoba Kuochan to give up the throne and let the Yuwen family replace the Tuoba clan, which was already agreed within the Guanlong aristocratic clique, so the first time the emperor seized the throne was very smooth. However, after Yuwen Jue ascended the throne, Yuwen Jue clashed with the Guan Long clique. Although Yuwen Jue was only sixteen years old, he also intended to take charge of the government alone, and he also had the support of the elders of the Guan Long Group, which deviated from Yuwen Jue's wishes. Although Yuwen Hu used the power inherited from Yuwen Tai to first execute Zhao Gui, one of the Eight Pillar Kingdoms, and later forced Dugu Xin, one of the Eight Pillar States, to commit suicide, he was never able to fully control the Guanlong noble clique. Unable to control this fundamental force in the Western Wei and Northern Zhou imperial courts, Yuwen Hu was not sure of ascending the throne as emperor.
The biggest reason for this situation is that the Guanlong aristocratic group is extremely different from other door valve groups, and the relationship between the gate valve families is close, and they are closely related politically, militarily, and economically, which can be said to be intertwined. In particular, after Yuwen Tai established the prefectural military system and established the Eight Pillar Kingdom, these gate valve families married in the form of the Xianbei clan, which also strengthened the ties between the families in terms of blood. Although the Yuwen family is the leader of the Guan Long group, from the perspective of personal relations, it is more complicated. As Yuwen Tai's heir, the Guanlong clique could abide by their agreement with Yuwen Tai, but that did not mean that they would support Yuwen Hu as emperor. In fact, yuwen hu was a powerful subject, and he also had to use Yuwen Hu's son to become the emperor's name.
From the incident of Yuwen Hu's execution of Zhao Gui and DuGuxin, it can be seen that Yu Wenhu's influence in the Guan Long clique is very limited. Zhao Gui and Dugu Xin were both one of the Eight Pillar States, and they were executed for opposing Yuwen Hu's monopoly of power, and then Yuwen Hu deposed Yuwen Jue and established Yuwen Yu. If this had happened in other dynasties, the family that supported Yuwen Jue would definitely be uprooted. However, zhao gui and dugu xin's family was not harmed at all, and continued to enjoy the treatment of the Eight Pillar Kingdom and the Guanlong Gate Valve. Is it Yuwen Who is kind and leaves life for the two major families? In fact, it is not, but Yuwen Hu does not have this ability. His execution of Zhao Gui and DuGuxin could make the two major families swallow their anger, but if they were tough, they would probably not be able to get too much benefit.
After Yuwen Tai was reformed by Togu, he was both a powerful vassal of the imperial court and the leader of the Guanlong clique. Yuwen Hu inherited Yuwen Tai's power and commanded the military and political power of the whole country with Otsuka Zai at the imperial court, but there were not many troops under direct command within the Eight Pillar Kingdom. At that time, when the Eight-Pillar State was established, Yuwen Tai did not directly lead troops, and the army was under the command of the Six-Pillar State such as Zhao Gui and Dugu Xin. Yuwen Hu's power came from Yuwen Tai, so he directly commanded the army near Northern Zhou Chang'an, and he could also privately mobilize the generals among the twelve generals who were willing to get closer to him. Judging from the history books, there are not many of these generals, except for some generals of the Yuwen family, most of them are relatively close relatives of Yuwentai, such as Yuwentai's nephews He Lanxiang, Wei Chigang, Wei Chiyi and others.
Yuwen Hu's main power was still in Chang'an and its surroundings, and there were many other Gate Valve families in northern Zhou. Especially on the front line of the battle against Northern Qi and Southern Liang, many of the great generals who led the troops were from other pillar countries or the Gate Valve family. If Yuwen Hu had hastily claimed the title of emperor, if the armies in these places did not support him, and even rebelled against King Qin of Chang'an, his throne would not be stable, and Northern Zhou would also fall into civil unrest. Therefore, Yuwen Hu chose to blackmail tianzi to order the princes, and in the name of Yuwen Tai's sons, he commanded the world, and he dominated the government with the political status of Otsuka Zai. In fact, this was also a choice that Yuwen Had to choose, after all, the power of the Eight Pillars State and the Guan Long Clique was too great, and to call the emperor was to find death.
Although Yuwen Tai died and the country was controlled by Yuwen Hu, the political landscape of Western Wei and Northern Zhou did not change radically. The fundamental force that controls the country is not the Yuwen family, but the Guanlong clique with the Eight Pillars as the core. These families may have internal contradictions, but they have considerable commonalities in political and military interests, and they are more related in terms of connections. Yuwen Hu's desire to claim the title of emperor was not just a personal matter, nor was it just an internal dispute within the Yuwen family, but involved the entire Guan Long clique. Before obtaining the support of the major families, Yuwen Hu did not rush to claim the title of emperor, but chose a safe route of power and subjects, which was also a comprehensive consideration in all aspects. Especially in the case of foreign enemies Northern Qi and Southern Liang, his choice is relatively excellent.