In the history of China's feudal society, there have been countless puppet emperors. The obscenity of the powerful clique and the manipulation of the traitors and traitors have completely reduced the "95th Emperor" to a tool of domination that has been used by others and has become a doll forced to perform on the political stage. The scenery of the front desk is no longer there, and the humiliation of the backstage is secretly born. Their lives have different endings, but they all have tragic similarities: no one wants to be a puppet of others, let alone be controlled by others.
The Northern Wei Empire was the first dynasty of the Northern Dynasty during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and was the regime established by the Sinicized Xianbei people in the north, which can be called a great era in Chinese history. However, no dynasty seems to be able to escape the historical law of prosperity and decline, and the Northern Wei Empire is naturally no exception. In 398, when the founding emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Daowu Tuoba Jue, established the Northern Wei Dynasty, in order to avoid the decline of the country caused by foreign relatives interfering in the government, he implemented a cruel imperial succession system of "setting up children and killing mothers". Concubines in the harem were executed whenever they gave birth to a prince and were made crown princes, in order to avoid the situation of mothers using their sons to abuse their power. This seemingly inhumane system lasted for more than a hundred years, until the death of Emperor Xuanwu of northern Wei, but did not kill Empress Dowager Hu, the mother of Crown Prince Yuanxu. Unexpectedly, it was emperor Xuanwu's "good deed" that brought a huge disaster to the Northern Wei Empire. In 528, in Luoyang, the capital of the Northern Wei Empire, Empress Hu, in order to maintain state power for a long time, ruthlessly poisoned her own son, Emperor Xiaoming. Subsequently, she established another 3-year-old Yuan Zhao as emperor. The pillar general Erzhu Rong, who was stationed in Taiyuan, had always had political ambitions, so he took advantage of the opportunity to take revenge on Emperor Xiaoming and led a large army all the way south to the capital Luoyang.
Erzhu Rongbing went to Jingshi to plot the abolition of the establishment, so he supported Emperor Xiaoming's cousin Yuan Ziyou as a king, for Emperor Xiaozhuang. Soon, Luoyang fell into the hands of Erzhu Rong's army, and Empress Hu, along with the young emperor Yuan Zhao, whom she had just established, was put into a bamboo cage by Erzhu Rong and drowned in the Yellow River. In the name of greeting the new emperor Yuan Ziyou outside the city, Erzhu Rong lured all the Hundred Officials of Northern Wei to the Yellow River, and then drove the cavalry to kill them. At this point, more than 2,000 civil and military officials and royal nobles of the Northern Wei Dynasty were slaughtered by him, which is the famous "Change of Heyin" in history. Subsequently, Erzhu Rong originally wanted to establish himself as emperor, but on the one hand, he wanted to stabilize people's hearts, and on the other hand, because his own wings were not yet full, he officially welcomed Yuan Ziyou into Luoyang to ascend the throne and changed Yuan Jianyi. In this way, Erzhu Rong and the puppet emperor Yuan Ziyou, who controlled him, one monopolized power and ran amok in the opposition, while the other was unwilling to be restrained and wanted to be autonomous, and the contradictions between the two became increasingly sharp and sharp. History tells us that the secret struggle is far more terrifying than the open struggle, and the contest of heart strength is far more dangerous than the confrontation between swords and swords.
The complete intensification of the contradictions between the two sides stemmed from an ordinary personnel change, and this head-to-head confrontation also vividly reflected the tough personality of Emperor Xiaozhuang. Erzhu Rong controlled the Government of the Northern Wei Dynasty and was free to install his henchmen as officials in the Court as he pleased. However, when changing the officials of the Henan provinces, his nominal superior, Emperor Xiaozhuang, resolutely did not agree. In this regard, Erzhu Rong's minions Yuan Tianmu once said to Emperor Xiaozhuang: "Since the great general of the Pillar State had made great contributions when he defended the country, even if he was an official who changed all over the world, I am afraid that His Majesty would not dare to disobey his will, but why did these people not use them?" When Yuan Tianmu said this, his tone was arrogant and threatening, and he did not take Emperor Xiaozhuang' "Ninth Five-Year Dignity" seriously at all. Emperor Xiaozhuang's temper was also straight and stubborn, and when he heard this, he immediately retorted: "If the great general of the Pillar State does not want to be a courtier, I, the emperor, can also take his place." But if you still want to be a courtier, you don't have the reason to change the world's hundred officials, and this matter need not be said again! In the face of the aggressiveness of Erzhu Rong and his minions, Emperor Xiaozhuang, although indignant in his heart, had no choice but to do anything. However, the young and vigorous man did not steal peace, but quickly made up his mind and summoned Wen Zisheng, a member of the Zhongshu She, to inform him that Erzhu Rong would be eliminated immediately. Emperor Xiaozhuang wanted to emulate the Eastern Han court in cutting off the traitor Dong Zhuo, so he asked Wen Zisheng in detail about what had happened. After Wen Zisheng passed by, Emperor Xiaozhuang finally couldn't resist and issued a heroic cry of "I'd rather die for the noble township than for the common life of Changdao township.".
The puppet emperor mentioned two people in his words, but they were both famous puppet emperors in history. The Noble Township Duke refers to Cao Xi, the grandson of Emperor Cao Pi of Wei, who was only 20 years old and was not willing to be slaughtered by Sima Zhao, but did not hesitate to hit stones with pebbles and send troops to raid. In the end, although he died at the hands of Cheng Ji, he was defeated and died violently, worthy of the heroic spirit of Cao Wei's ancestors. Changdao Xianggong, on the other hand, refers to the puppet emperor Cao Huan after Cao Huan, who became a puppet of the Sima family at the age of fifteen and abdicated at the age of twenty. Throughout his life, he made promises to the Sima family, causing his own country to fall into the hands of thieves, but he lived to the age of 57 without worry. Through Emperor Xiaozhuang's two loud words, the image of a tall bloody boy jumped on the paper. This is a puppet emperor who would rather die like a man than a pig or a dog, which is honorable and lamentable. At this point, he paralyzed Erzhu Rong and dispelled his vigilance. On the other hand, they stepped up their deployment, using the empress's birth of a son as an excuse to invite Erzhu Rong, his maternal grandfather, to visit the palace, and hid a sharp blade under his knees in advance, and finally killed the rebel Erzhu Rong and his minions Yuan Tianmu with his own hands. Unfortunately, Emperor Xiaozhuang was eventually strangled to death by Erzhu Rong's subordinate Erzhu Zhao, who was only twenty-four years old when he died, and reigned for only three years. However, his integrity is applauded, and he can be called the most bloody puppet emperor in history.