In almost every ancient Chinese dynasty, it was almost inevitable that there would be some powerful courtiers, who had a lot of power in their hands. Even some powerful ministers could abolish and kill emperors, and in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, there was a powerful minister who killed three emperors in just three or four years.
During the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Hu was definitely a powerful vassal, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty existed for a short period of 24 years, and Yuwen Hu held the government for 15 years. More importantly, during Yuwen Hu's reign, he seemed to be more powerful than the emperor.
Yuwen Hu (宇文護), the third son of Yuwen Tai ,邵惠公宇文颢, the eldest brother of Emperor Wentai of Northern Zhou, was Yuwen Tai's nephew. When he was young, Yuwen Hu, dignified and upright, ambitious and dignified, was loved by his grandfather Yuwen Qiu, and his expectations of him exceeded those of his brothers.
In the fifth year of Northern Wei Guang (524), when Yuwen Hu was twelve years old, his father Yuwen Hao died, and he was in Ge Rongjun with his father. After Ge Rong's defeat, he moved to Jinyang. In the third year of Yong'an (530), when Yuwen Tai entered the customs, Yuwen Hu did not follow Yuwen Tai because of his young age.
It was not until Yuwen Hu was 19 years old that Yuwen Hu came from Jinyang to Pingliang, when Yuwen Tai's sons were still young, and entrusted Yuwen Hu to manage the household. During this period, Yuwen Hu showed a strong talent, although he did not exert power, but governed the inside and outside in an orderly manner. Yuwen Tai once praised Yuwen Hu's ambitions and temperaments were very similar to him.
In the years that followed Yuwen Tai on the battlefield, Yuwen Hu made great achievements in the conquests of Eastern Wei, the capture of Jiangling, and the Battle of Yaoshan, so Yuwen Hu's status in the army became higher and higher. However, it was not long before Yuwentai became seriously ill, and soon after Yuwentai died.
Yuwen Hu quickly stabilized the situation in the army by virtue of his military merits and the superiority of his official position. In the third year of The Western Wei Emperor Gong (556), Yuwen Hu forced The Western Wei Gong Emperor Chan to take yu Wentai's third son, Yuwen Jue. The following year (557), Yuwen Jue (Emperor Xiaomin) proclaimed himself King of Zhou and established Northern Zhou. Bai Yuwen was made the Grand Sima and the Duke of Jin, with 10,000 households.
At this point, the Northern Zhou Dynasty was officially established with the support of Yuwen Hu. Thus, for the next 15 years, Yuwen Hu controlled the government of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and successively persecuted Yuwen Tai's contemporaries Zhao Gui and DuGuxin. After eliminating these opponents, Yuwen Gou was promoted to Ōtsuka Zai.
Yuwen Hu became more and more arrogant, and for the Northern Zhou Emperor, as long as he did not go along with his heart, he would find an excuse to depose the emperor. Under Yuwen Hu's manipulation, he deposed Emperor Gong of Western Wei, Yuwen Jue, and Yuwen Yu, and all three were eventually killed by Yuwen Hu.
However, it is worth wondering that Yuwen Hu did not claim the title of emperor himself, and after killing Yuwen Yu, he supported Yuwen Tai's fourth son Yuwen Yong as emperor, for Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou. Yuwen Yong was extremely intelligent, and he knew that he could not confront Yuwen Hu hard, and he endured it for more than ten years, just to paralyze Yuwen Hu.
In the end, Yuwen Yong united with Yuwen Zhi, Wang Rail, Yuwen Shenju, Yuwen Xiaobo and others, and single-handedly overthrew Yuwen Hu and his henchmen. After the execution of Yuwen Hu, Yuwen Yong was truly able to achieve pro-government, however, the Northern Zhou Dynasty did not exist for many years, and the fruits of Northern Zhou fell into the hands of Yang Jian.