Prince Zhaoming is very famous in Chinese history, his name is Xiao Tong, and the earliest surviving collection of poems in China, "Selected Writings", was compiled by Xiao Tong's organizational personnel. History said that at that time, Xiao Tong was "famous and talented, and the literary grandeur has not been seen since the Jin and Song Dynasties", it is a pity that such a great talent was mistaken by the feng shui of the cemetery, and superstition was harmful.
Pictured: Portrait of Xiao Tong, Prince Zhaoming
But such an outstanding figure, whose tomb was stolen twice in succession, also caused a feng shui scandal. This incident occurred at the end of the reign of Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu, around the time of the "Hou Jing Rebellion". But the truth is still unclear. What is particularly bizarre is that its skull has become a collection of Tang Dynasty people, and the mystery of which cannot be clarified to this day.
This article will talk about the story of Prince Zhaoming.
The prince chooses "feng shui treasure land" for his birth mother
Xiao Tong, the Crown Prince of Zhaoming, was the eldest son of Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu. Xiao Zong, who excavated Xiao Baojuan's tomb "dripping blood and recognizing relatives" that was talked about in the previous article, is Xiao Tong's half-brother, a family.
Xiao Tong was born in Xiangyang in September of the first year of Qi Zhongxing (501 AD), and his mother was Xiao Yan's noble concubine Ding Lingguang. Xiao Yan only had such a son at the age of 40, and he was very happy in his heart at that time. In the year of the reign of emperor, that is, in the eleventh month of the lunar calendar in the first year of the Tianjian (502 AD), Xiao Tong was made crown prince and also favored Ding Lingguang.
According to the Biography of Prince Zhaoming of Liang (vol. VIII), Xiao Tong was a handsome man, although he was a quasi-emperor, he was not crazy at all, he was a humble gentleman, and he was polite to others and things. Xiao Tong was particularly intelligent when he was a child and never forgot. Xiao Yan was very satisfied with the behavior of his eldest son, and also attached great importance to his cultivation, and at the age of three, he let him learn the "Filial Piety" and "Analects" from his teacher, and Xiao Tong could memorize the "Five Classics" at the age of five.
Xiao Tong liked to read, and invited the cultural celebrities of the time to gather and exchange ideas in the garden located on the island in the xuanwu lake park in nanjing to study and learn. "Liang Zhou" is the name of Xiao Tong, the Prince of Liang, who built a garden on it, and the Anthology of Literature was born on this continent.
Photo: Selected Writings of Zhao Ming (Ancient Engraving)
Xiao Tong was a filial prince, and when his mother Ding Lingguang was ill, he served in the morning and evening before and after the bed, pouring tea and water, and serving food and medicine. In November of the lunar calendar in the seventh year of the common year (526 AD), after Ding Lingguang died of illness, Xiao Tong personally sought out the feng shui magicians at that time and chose a feng shui treasure land for his mother. In the end, Dante Lingguang was not buried on the feng shui treasure land chosen by his son, but was buried elsewhere.
Behind the other burial is a disgraceful royal "cemetery trading incident".
"Graveyard Trading Event"
According to the Nanshi Xiao Tong Biography (vol. 53), just when Xiao Tong was about to move the soil and build a tomb for his mother, he had something to do. It may be that the royal land price is high, and someone quietly found the grand eunuch Yu San by Xiao Yan's side and wanted to sell another piece of treasure land to Ding Lingguang to build a yin mansion.
In order to settle this secret land transaction, just as some real estate developers now want to send kickbacks to key people, this person promised that if the land can buy 3 million, 1 million of which is your eunuch Yu.
As the saying goes, having money can make ghosts push and grind, and when you get to Yu San's place, if you have money, you can change the tomb. After following the emperor's ass for many years, the eunuch Yu, who had been turning around for many years, felt Xiao Yan's thoughts, and provided Xiao Yan with "internal reference", secretly saying that the cemetery that the prince chose for his mother was not auspicious to the emperor, not as good as this one, Yunyun.
Pictured: Stone carvings scattered in the tomb of Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu
Xiao Yan was originally very superstitious, and when he got old, he had a lot of taboos, so he let people buy that piece of land and abolishEd Xiao Tong's piece. As for how much Xiao Yan spent to buy it, how many kickbacks Yu Sandi got, the history books did not explain, anyway, later Ding Lingguang was buried separately, and the tomb number was "Ning".
On the day of his mother's funeral, Xiao Tongshui rice did not enter, and after the burial, he always cried bitterly, crying bitterly every time, and his body gradually collapsed. Why Xiao Tong is so sad may not be just the pain of losing his mother, but the "cemetery incident" is probably what makes him sad.
After Xiao Yan knew that Xiao Tong was in pain and did not want to die, he was anxious, and specially asked Gu Xie, a member of the Zhongshu She, to persuade the prince, which probably means that I Xiao Yan is not dead, how can you spoil yourself, and the Xiao family still expects you to be the emperor.
However, Xiao Tong later failed to become emperor and died in front of Xiao Yan.
"Burying the goose" is not a reversal of life
The "cemetery trading incident" was a blow to Xiao Tong, and the troublesome things were not only this, but soon there was a "buried goose scandal".
It turned out that after the burial of his birth mother Ding Lingguang, a Taoist who knew feng shui passed by the Ning Mausoleum cemetery and found that the feng shui of this cemetery was good, but it was not good for the eldest son, and it would break the life, and if he tried to eliminate the disaster, he might be able to prolong his life. This statement is undoubtedly a superstition, but coincidentally, Xiao Tong did die early, which is an afterthought.
Perhaps in the past, people were very superstitious, and Xiao Tong also believed it to be true, but he was careless, so according to the words of the Taoist priest, he let his favorite eunuch Wei Ya bury a wax goose that was said to be able to avoid evil and drive away evil in the eldest son of Ding Lingguang's cemetery. However, he did not think about it but buried a troublesome matter, and Xiao Tong could not explain it clearly until his death.
Pictured: Stone carvings scattered in the royal cemeteries of the Southern Dynasty
Like geese and chickens, geese are special gifts for early marriages in ancient times. It may be used for disgust, it may be because the goose is "I", and the goose has a long neck, which means the longevity of the eldest son. Xiao Tong buried the disgusting things only for his own good, and there was no malice, and the benefits were no longer harmful. The matter was originally in the past, not known to outsiders, but later because of the contradiction between the eunuchs, and the good thing was ruined.
Both Wei Ya and Bao Mizhi were regarded as confidants by Xiao Tong, and the relationship between Wei and Bao was also good. But when Bao Miaozhi grew old, Wei Ya alienated him. Bao Miao was angry and wanted to straighten him out, so he secretly told Xiao Yan about Wei Ya burying the disgusting things for the crown prince, and added oil and vinegar, saying that he wanted to fold the emperor's life.
Xiao Yan secretly sent someone to dig it, and what Bao Miaozhi said was not bad at all, and this was a big trouble.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, witchcraft was prevalent, and Liu Shao, the crown prince of Emperor Wen of Song, buried a jade man resembling Liu Yilong in front of His Highness Hanzhang, cursing the emperor's father for his early death, so that he could quickly succeed to the throne as emperor. After the incident was exposed, Liu Yilong decided to depose the crown prince, but before he could carry it out, he let Liu Shao kill him first. Xiao Yan naturally thought of this matter and made up his mind to abolish the prince. Later, due to the advice of the chancellor, Xiao Yancai did not pursue it, but only killed the Daoist.
Pictured: The common "tired of winning money" in the past, with the words on it: "Descendants of Changyi"
However, Xiao Yan was suspicious of crown prince Yimen from then on, and after Xiao Tong's death, he failed to follow common sense, and made his eldest grandson Zhu Yunjiao the emperor's grandson, as later Ming Taizu Zhu Di did. Instead, he determined that the third son, Xiao Gang, was his successor, which could not but be said to be because of the "buried goose scandal".
Although he did not have a bad heart for burying the goose, Xiao Tong, as the prince, felt very guilty about it. Originally, I only wanted to be good for myself, but I didn't want to make my father angry. Although he made a "profound review" of his father afterwards, Xiao Tong's death could not make Xiao Yan eliminate his suspicions about this matter, and he regretted it for life!