Northern Qi was a divided regime during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, established at the end of the Northern Dynasty, built by Gao Yang of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, with the capital at Yecheng. Northern Qi existed in history for a short time, only 27 years from the founding of the country to its demise.
Northern Qi was also a powerful and resource-rich country at that time, and in the early days of the founding of the country, the emperors worked hard to carry forward the arduous and simple style, and governed the country well. However, "no more than three generations of wealth", the emperors of Northern Qi began to abandon the glorious traditions of their predecessors.
In these 27 years, Northern Qi has changed 6 emperors, most of whom died young, and each one is more absurd than the other. The longest reign was Gao Wei, the fifth emperor of Northern Qi, who had a place on the list of Qihua emperors.
Since Gao Wei ascended the throne, he has stayed away from loyal subjects, loyal courtiers, and good generals, and his life style is extravagant and obscene. Because of him, Northern Qi was on the verge of extinction.
No worries
Gao Wei has a name called "The Son of Heaven without Worries", and it seems that there are really no moments of sorrow in his life. Since he ascended the throne, he has always left state affairs aside and only cared about his own fun.
There were more than five hundred palace women in the palace, and Gao Wei gave them all official titles, not only enjoying the high-ranking official Houlu, but also each palace lady rewarded them with a skirt worth ten thousand gold.
He was also close to his traitors, resulting in the power of the government being controlled by villains, such as Gao Anaqiu, Mutiba, Han Changluan and others. Not only that, but even slaves, eunuchs, and prostitutes were knighted by officials, and for a time northern Qi politics was a miasma.
Gao Wei's officialdom was like buying vegetables in a wet market, making the northern Qi court unclear, and many government decrees could not be delegated from the central government to the localities, let alone enforced.
The concubines were dressed in fine clothes and jade every day, and there were countless treasures in the palace. In the morning, when I play with it, I still love it, and in the evening, I will throw it away and abandon it like a shoe.
Gao Wei has a favorite concubine, Feng Xiaopi, and in order to make her happy, Gao Wei has also done a lot of strange things. Once he and Feng Xiaopi went hunting in the wild, but at this time, Northern Qi was fighting with Northern Zhou, and military information came from time to time, which showed that the situation was very urgent.
However, Feng Xiaopi said "I haven't had enough fun", and Gao Wei threw the military situation aside, which later led to heavy casualties in the Northern Qi army.
There was another strange thing in Gao Wei's body, he liked to raise animals, cattle, horses, and dogs, which he kept in captivity in the palace, and also sealed their official positions. For example, his beloved horse was named the Prince of Runaway County, and the cockfighting was named the Kaifu Cockfighting.
At the same time, Gao Wei also particularly likes to play the game of "passing the family". He often asked the eunuchs to build a poor village in the palace, and he disguised himself as a beggar to live in it. Open a market for the poor, and he runs to consume.
Gao Wei liked to play the pipa, often asking people to play the "Song of No Worries", sometimes he would play it himself, and hundreds of palace people would join him. Hence the name "Son of Heaven without Worries".
As the so-called "companion is like a companion tiger", Gao Wei has a cowardly personality and is not good at words, so he is particularly afraid to talk to people. Many ministers came to play, and looking at him more could make him angry. Frightened ministers always said things concisely and without stopping to withdraw.
Gao Wei was suspicious and only close to his own attendants, which led him to be at the mercy of these courtiers, and he mistakenly killed many loyal generals, including the great general Huo Luguang.
Feud with the courtiers
Huo Luguang was a chancellor of Northern Qi and a great general. During his life on horseback, he defended the long-term peace of Northern Qi with his soldiers such as gods and bravery. Moreover, he ruled the army strictly and respected the generals, so he had a high reputation in the army.
Such an upright person will naturally offend many people in the Northern Qi court where the adulterers are dominant. Those who had been feuding with him for a long time were Mutiba and Zulu. They were close to Gao Wei and made the imperial court miasma, and Huo Luguang did not have any good feelings for them.
One day, Huo Luguang sat on the curtain hanging down from the court, and Zu Jue did not know that he was sitting on the court, so he rode through the door of the court. This disrespectful behavior completely angered Huo Luguang, who reprimanded, "This man is so bold."
Once Zu Jue was speaking loudly, he was heard by Huo Luguang, who happened to be passing by, and he was once again attacked by a unified and nameless fire, scolding Zu Jue. And Zu Jue knew Huo Luguang's position in the dprk, and although he had Gao Wei to support him, he still did not dare to easily offend, and could only swallow his anger.
Mu Ti po is the son of the female official Lu Lingxuan, who is Gao Wei's nursing mother and has a deep affection for Gao Wei. Mu Ti Po had wanted to marry Huo Luguang's daughter, but Huo Luguang did not agree, making him very faceless, and the two formed a vendetta.
Later, Gao Wei gave the Jinyang field to Mutiba, and Huo Luguang questioned it in the court, saying: "The fields of Jinyang have been used to cultivate grass since Emperor Shenwu, raising thousands of horses, and giving this land to Mutiba, is this not destroying military affairs?" ”
As soon as this remark came out, it caused a heated discussion in the court, this Jinyang field was a military important place, and Huo Luguang naturally thought that MuTiba did not deserve it at all. In this way, Huo Luguang completely offended the courtiers of Zu Jue and Mu Ti Po, and also laid the groundwork for his death.
Good will be killed
At that time, there was a children's song widely circulated in northern Qi folklore, "A hundred liters fly to the sky, and the bright moon shines on Chang'an". According to the Northern Qi measurement system, Bai was promoted to Yihu, and the word Huo Luguang just happened to be "Bright Moon".
This nursery rhyme was originally a song of praise for The Heroic Battle of Hu Luguang, but it became a rebellious word in Mutiba's ears. He told his mother, Lu Lingxuan, about this, saying that Huo Luguang had the intention of rebellion.
Zu Jue felt that this children's song was still lacking, and added a few words: "The blind husband has a big axe on his back, and the rap old mother can't speak." "And bribed many children to sing in the streets."
After Lu Lingxuan heard this, he thought that the "rap old mother" was talking about himself, and he was greatly annoyed. So he went to Gao Wei and complained: "The rumors are terrible, I'm afraid they are not empty." ”
However, Han Changluan believed that Lu Lingxuan's mother and son were too on the line, and misinterpreted Xiao'er's words as Huo Luguang's attempt to usurp the throne. Gao Wei had always been suspicious of the phenomenon of Huo Luguang Gong Gao Zhen Lord, and listening to Lu Lingxuan's mother and son, he had actually killed Huo Luguang.
However, the killing machine was suppressed by Han Changluan, but Gao Wei, who was seriously suspicious, was still grumpy about this matter. Coupled with the fact that Mutiba and Zu Jue were not dead-hearted, they had been fanning the wind and ignition in his ears, which made his heart begin to shake.
Later, he Hongzhen, a courtier, said: "This kind of thing is better to believe in what it has than to believe in what it does not have." But it was easy to kill a good general of a country, so Gao Wei had been hesitant.
What really made Gao Wei make up his mind was that he received a secret message, saying that Huo Luguang had gathered his army to approach the capital, and he was afraid that he would want to do something wrong. This touched Gao Wei's sensitive heart, and before he could figure out the reason, he decided to get rid of Huo Luguang.
How do you do it? Gao Wei consulted MuTiba on this: "Do you have any plans to get rid of the Great General?" ”
Seeing that Gao Wei had finally made up his mind, Mu Ti Po did not mention how happy he was, and immediately offered a plan, "Your Majesty can reward him with a horse." ”
Then Gao Wei ordered He Hongzhen to pass on the message to Huo Luguang, saying: "Tomorrow Your Majesty wants to go to Dongshan to play, I hope that the general can go with you and reward you with a horse, go and claim it." After Huo Luguang thanked the emperor for his kindness, he immediately entered the palace.
Who knows, he had just entered the Liangfeng Hall with his attendants, and Liu Taozhi, the first imperial killer of Northern Qi who had been waiting there for a long time, immediately rushed out to kill him, at the age of 58.
As soon as Huo Luguang died, Northern Qi lost its protective umbrella and was soon destroyed by Northern Zhou. Gao Wei was also killed on the run, and was only in his 20s when he died.
There are many emperors in history who have brutally harmed Zhongliang, and most of them have not been able to get a good death, either destroying the country or usurping the throne. It can be seen that "water can carry boats, and it can also cover boats" is said to have a certain truth.
The demise of Northern Qi is not the best witness, if Gao Wei can be like his ancestors to be meritocratic and think about the people, the history of Northern Qi should be extended for many years, not just a glimpse of history like fireworks.