Emperor Xiao Yan of Southern Liang was more than eighty years old and was still dreaming of unifying the world in the Spring and Autumn Period, and as a result, he lured wolves into the house and caused the rebellion of Hou Jing, which was a joke in the history of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In this matter, we must learn from Lao Xiao's ambition of "lao Ji Fu Qi"; on the contrary, we can really learn a lesson, we must firmly establish a sense of risk, and we must not be carried away by desire, just as the so-called "I am fortunate to be lucky, I am lost my life."
After Gao Huan's death, Hou Jing rebelled against Eastern Wei, and Gao Cheng obeyed the will of the former king and appointed Murong Shaozong, successfully defeating Hou Jing. When the battle was defeated, Hou Jing, faced with Murong Shaozong's expulsion, only said one word, winning a chance for himself to live, he said: "If Jing ruo is captured, what is the use of public restoration!" In this way, Murong Shaozong released the tiger and returned to the mountains, and Hou Jing collected the remnants of infantry and cavalry, a total of 800 people, and completely defected to Southern Liang. But why did Hou Jing, who had a mere 800 people, finally stir up Southern Liang to the point of almost destroying the country? This can only be blamed on Lao Xiao's blind connivance, let's take a look at how Lao Xiao raised tigers for trouble, and every step was wrong.
After Hou Jing's defeat, the southern Liang court was worried about this, but the officials of the Eastern Palace hyped up the blessing of the imperial court, because Hou Jing was capricious, and if he was accepted, it would definitely disrupt the Southern Liang Dynasty, and Xiao Gang, the prince of Southern Liang, was greatly surprised by this. Even though there were many signs of discussion, Nanliang was still not alert enough.
After receiving the report of Hou Jing's defeat, the imperial court not only did not dismiss Hou Jing from his post, but also agreed to his request to supplement his military supplies and ordered him to be pastor of Southern Yu Prefecture.
Eastern Wei Gao Cheng extended an olive branch, regardless of Southern Liang's immorality in accepting Hou Jing, and also asked for reconciliation, but some people said that Gao Cheng's peace was another plot, in order to split the relationship between Southern Liang and Hou Jing. Emperor Wu of Liang passed through Hou Jing, and xiao Yuanming was captured by Eastern Wei, and he was tired of the war, so he agreed to reconcile with Eastern Wei.
However, when this national policy reached Hou Jing's ears, it greatly stimulated Hou Jing's self-esteem, and he quickly wrote a letter to advise Xiao Yan, and sent 300 taels of gold to Zhu Yi, who advocated peace. As a result, Xiao Yan constantly reassured Hou Jing that the state has a normal system, and you just have to clean yourself up; Zhu Yi collects money and does not do anything, and does not pay attention to Hou Jing's demands.
Hou Jing mourned more than his heart died, so he faked a letter from Eastern Wei, saying that he wanted to exchange Xiao Yuanming for Hou Jing, and his intention was naturally to test whether Xiao Yan cherished him. After Xiao Yan received the letter, he agreed to this false request to send Hou Jing to Eastern Wei in exchange for Xiao Yuanming. Hou Jing once again saw through Xiao Yan's thin feelings and widowhood. It is better to be at the mercy of Southern Liang than to seek hegemony.
Hegemony is so easy, but Xiao Yan still helps him again and again. Hou Jing planned to rebel against Southern Liang, and all the people in Shouyang City he occupied were armed into soldiers, stopped collecting rent, and all the daughters of the people were sent to soldiers.
At the same time, Hou Jing continued to make unreasonable demands to Southern Liang, such as officials, soldiers, weapons, and grain, and the imperial court never refused him. Once, Hou Jing asked to find a wife from the Wang family or the Xie family, and Emperor Wu of Liang replied that the Wang family Xie family was noble, you and them were not in the right household, and you could choose a woman from the family below the Zhu family. Everyone knows what the identity of the Wang family Xie family was during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, "In the old days, Wang Xie Tang Qianyan flew into the homes of ordinary people." This incident once again angered Hou Jing, who swore: "Wu children will be enslaved!" "Say that one day, I will let the daughter of the Southern Dynasty give it to the slaves!"
Coincidentally, Xiao Yan's nephew Xiao Zhengde was criticized by Xiao Yan many times because of his greed and cruelty, and he resented Emperor Wu of Liang, so he secretly raised a group of death squads in the hope of a change in the royal family. When Hou Jing learned of this situation, he actively contacted Xiao Zhengde and drew him a big cake, expressing his willingness to serve him and assist him in inheriting the throne. Xiao Zhengde was pleased with the shape, so he agreed that the inside should be combined with the outside.
The situation continued to deteriorate, and Xiao Fan, the king of Poyang, secretly enlightened Emperor Liangwu, saying that Hou Jing was plotting a rebellion, but Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu wrote back that Hou Jing was alone and in danger before committing himself to Southern Liang, so how could he rebel? Similar secret folds were transmitted to the imperial palace one after another, and Emperor Wu of Liang turned a blind eye, and Zhu Yi, who was responsible for passing on the folds, even directly pressed and did not report.
When Hou Jing invited the border officials to rebel against Southern Liang, the minister arrested Hou Jing's messenger and urgently reported to the imperial court, resulting in Zhu Yi saying: "Jing hundreds of rebels, how can he do it!" Emperor Wu of Liang not only directly released Hou Jing's messengers, but also gave more rewards, in a vain attempt to entrap Hou Jing.
It's really a mountain rain that wants to come and the wind is full of buildings. When Hou Jing saw this situation, he was even more unscrupulous. Soon, Hou Jing, in the name of "Qing Jun's side", relied on 8,000 troops to raise troops in Shouyang. When Xiao Yan heard this, he didn't pay enough attention to it, and even smiled and said to the ministers, what great things these rabble-rousers can do, I can break a wooden stick and whip him. Therefore, he ordered a reward, and whoever could kill Hou Jing was enfeoffed and granted the post of assassin of the state.
When Hou Jing heard that the imperial court had sent troops to fight, he asked wang Wei, a strategist, and Wang Wei said that it was natural to hit the stone with an egg with an outnumbered enemy, so it was better to hit the snake seven inches, abandon Huainan, and lead the light cavalry straight to the capital Jiankang. This strategy is really good, in the face of the Southern Liang Dynasty, which has the strongest land area and strength in the post-Three Kingdoms era, only by surprise, and then relying on Xiao Zhengde's internal and external cooperation, Hou Jing's 8,000 people can have a chance of victory.
With this strategy, how to quickly break through the defensive lines to reach Jiankang is the greater test that Hou Jing faces. On the one hand, he falsely claimed to go out on a parade and hunt, taking advantage of the short-term advantages of poor communication in ancient times and running a long way. Subsequently, when the imperial court decree reached the border pass, Hou Jing attacked the east and the west again, threatening to attack Hefei, but in fact attacking Yuzhou, and sparing no effort to spread wealth and bribe local officials. In the more than 40 years of peace in Southern Liang, the military and the people coveted pleasure and had no fighting spirit, and wherever Hou Jing went, the defensive army of Southern Liang was defeated. In the process of marching all the way, Hou Jing recruited a city extensively to fill the army, which gradually increased its strength.
It was not until Hou Jing reached the Yangtze River that Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu was frightened, and the chancellor suggested strengthening the defense of the Yangtze River, but Zhu Yi made a major misjudgment, believing that Hou Jing's strategic purpose was not to cross the Yangtze River. At the same time, Emperor Wu of Liang also made a similarly erroneous decision, using Xiao Zhengde to supervise the military of the Jing Division. Xiao Zhengde sent dozens of large ships, threatening to transport reeds, but in fact came to receive Hou Jing's army across the river. The people heard that the rebels had crossed the river and poured into Jiankang City; officers and soldiers rushed into the arsenal to get their own weapons and armor, and the city was in chaos.
Oh my God, a series of mistakes, like dominoes, allowed Hou Jing, a rebel of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, who had only 8,000 people, to attack the Yangtze River unimpeded from the border pass, and this natural danger was once Cao Cao's nightmare.
Jiankang is in a hurry! The imperial court is in a hurry! Nanliang is in a hurry! At this moment, the 80-year-old Xiao picked a son, and he handed over the fate of the imperial court to the crown prince Xiao Gang. Although Xiao Gang was not dazed, he was by no means a sober person, Xiao Zhengde made frequent small movements under his eyes, he did not notice it at all, and still entrusted him with heavy responsibilities in defense. For example, the moat was an important defensive line in the capital, and the prince ordered Xiao Zhengde to strengthen the defense and break the pontoon bridge. Xiao Zhengde said that the people would be very frightened when they saw the pontoon bridge broken, and they should close the pontoon bridge at the appropriate time in order to appease the people's emotions, and the prince agreed. As a result, when Hou Jing's army arrived, Xiao Zhengde used this as an excuse to close the pontoon bridge and let Hou Jing's army successfully cross the moat.
Since then, Hou Jing's rebels and the Southern Liang royal defenders have carried out a very fierce tug-of-war struggle for a long time, among which fire attack, water attack, building soil for mountains, digging tunnels, and espionage warfare, but Hou Jing has done everything in his power to attack the city. Behind the brutal war is the destruction of the lives of the people. The Zizhi Tongjian records the tragic situation of the people of Jiankang City at that time:
- It is after the rice rises to seven or eighty thousand dollars, cannibalism, and the starvation of the dead is five or six. (Prices soared, there was a human tragedy of cannibalism, and fifty or sixty percent of the people starved to death.
- Expulsion of the people, no limit to the nobility, indiscriminate beatings, the tired because of the killing to fill the mountain, crying and crying. (Hou Jing forced the people to work, fists and feet were added, and the tired and sick people were directly killed and filled in the earth mountain, and the people wailed and shook the earth))
- Soldiers slaughter horses in the provinces of the temple, mixed with human flesh, and the eaters will be sick. (Soldiers are hungry by killing horses, including special meat, and they are sick when they eat it)
- The corpses are full of roads, not buried, and the juice is full of ditches.
……
During this period, Xiao Zhengde also completely tore his face with the royal family, proclaimed himself emperor, appointed Hou Jing as a chancellor, and married his daughter to Hou Jing.
At this time, you may be thinking, are the princes of Southern Liang busy eating? Let's take a look at how the various princes outside the capital operate.
The first to send troops to serve the king was Xiao Xuan, the king of Xiangdong, who contacted five or six other princes to send troops to aid the capital, and they jointly elected Liu Zhongli as the governor of Dadu. However, Liu Zhongli was arrogant and vicious, had a serious idea of privilege, and often bullied and neglected the generals, so he formed a vendetta with various princes and kings, so that the various departments of the coalition army were suspicious of each other, and set obstacles for each other, and they did not have the intention of fighting. When the coalition army first arrived, the people of Jiankang helped the old and the young to come out to greet them, but as soon as the troops crossed the Qinhuai River, they burned and looted the people, and the people were almost desperate.
So, why was the Great Southern Liang Dynasty so vulnerable? In fact, in Hou Jing's reply to Lao Xiao, it can be spied that the Southern Liang at that time was really a strong external cadre.
- First, the DPRK is corrupt. Nanliang, which has been without war for more than 40 years, has been like a frog in warm water, with no sense of risk. Social extravagance prevailed, and the key was the imperial court officials, who raided the commoners, lived in a large number of civil engineering, accompanied by thousands of followers, ate the taste of the mountains and the sea, and enjoyed the wives and concubines.
- Second, the traitors are in charge. Lao Xiao was originally still an emperor who worked hard to govern, but he was too old at that time, and Zhu Yi and others blocked the audio-visual and arbitrary power, resulting in poor government decrees and difficulty in reaching. If Lao Xiao should be mainly responsible for the rebellion of Hou Jing, then Zhu Yi and others should be directly responsible.
- Third, people's hearts are scattered. Mainly the disciples of the Grandmaster, who are jealous of each other, each pregnant with a ghost fetus, all look forward to the old emperor whining one day, in order to take advantage of the opportunity for personal gain. Xiao Zhengde and his ilk colluded with traitors inside and outside for their own selfish interests; Xiao Zhengde and other princes, who were seriously formalistic, although they sent troops to help, they were suspicious of each other with their brothers, indulged in pleasure outside the city, and sat on the mountain to watch the tiger fight.
When the internal and external stalemates reached a fever pitch, Hou Jing was unable to attack the city, and faced with reinforcements from outside Beijing, he was attacked by the enemy on his stomach and back, and the situation was very grim, so on the one hand, he actively sought a way out; on the other hand, he did his best to do his capricious work and began to pretend to make peace with Southern Liang.
However, there was not a single sober person in Southern Liang, and it was difficult to distinguish between loyal and adulterous courtiers. First, after Chen Xin was captured alive by Hou Jing, he was given preferential treatment, and he secretly contacted Fan Taowan to attack the rebels and surrender to the imperial court. Fan Taowan agreed, and took advantage of the night to send Chen Xin to Jiankang City, but the crown prince Xiao Gang was worried about deception and indecisiveness, which led to the discovery of the matter, and as a result, both were killed by Hou Jing.
Therefore, when Hou Jing pretended to seek peace, the crown prince Xiao Gang learned a lesson, once again made a major wrong decision, and agreed to Hou Jing's explanations and conditions, not only ceding the land of the four states west of the Yangtze River, but also sending Xiao Daqi, the king of Xuancheng, as a hostage, and ordering all the armies to stop advancing. This gave Hou Jing a great opportunity to rest, and when the defense was weak, he led a large amount of water to flood the city, and finally attacked the palace.
Let's look at the scene where Hou Jing meets Old Xiao and Prince Xiao Gang. Hou Jing entered the Taiji Hall with more than 500 bodyguards, and Lao Xiao looked at ease, but Hou Jing was sweating and did not even dare to lift his head. Lao Xiao asked, how many people did you have when you first turned to Nanliang? Hou Jing said that there were 1,000 people (in fact, only 800 people). Old Xiao asked again, How many people did you have when you besieged the Imperial City? Hou Jing said, 100,000 people. Old Xiao asked again, how many people are there now? Hou Jing said that there is no one in the four seas who does not belong to me. Hou Jing went to see Crown Prince Xiao Gang again, and Xiao Gang was not afraid at all, and asked Hou Jing to speak, but Hou Jing was still trembling and did not dare to speak.
After Hou Jing came out, he said to his generals, I have experienced hundreds of battles and have never been afraid, but when I saw Lao Xiao and the prince today, I couldn't help but panic in my heart.
Hou Jing starved Old Xiao to death and strangled Xiao Zhengde, of course, the harem beauties were naturally not spared. After The Crown Prince Xiao Gang succeeded to the throne, Hou Jing proclaimed himself the Great General of the Universe and the Governor of Liuhe, and married Xiao Gang's daughter Princess Liyang, whose power reached its peak. Later, Hou Jing killed Xiao Gang and established himself as emperor, changing the name of the country to Han. It was not until 552 AD that Xiao Xuan, the king of Xiangdong, led his army in a fierce counter-offensive that Hou Jing was beheaded, and the Hou Jing Rebellion, which lasted for 4 years, was declared over.
Of course, Hou Jing's death was also very tragic, the corpse was exploded, the army and the people competed to eat his flesh, and even his wife Princess Liyang also ate a few bites.
Hou Jing's rebellion had a major and far-reaching impact on ancient Chinese history.
- First, it caused unprecedented disaster to the Southern Dynasty, and Southern Liang quickly collapsed, and Chen Baxian, who had risen from it, soon forced the puppet emperor of Southern Liang to abdicate and establish the Chen Dynasty. Economic and cultural disasters need not be elaborated upon.
- Second, Hou Jingyin proposed to the Wang Xie nobles, almost bloodied the Southern Liang Clan, for those low-level slaves, it can be said that it was a liberation movement, and the social class pattern also underwent major changes.
- Third, the decline of Southern Liang from prosperity to decline also completely reshaped the pattern of China in the post-Three Kingdoms era, and the Eastern and Western Wei dynasties were the beneficiaries of this turmoil, which indirectly led to the great improvement of the comprehensive national strength of the Western Wei's successor imperial court, northern Zhou, which in turn laid a solid foundation for the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian to unify China, ending the turbulent 400-year history of the division of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.