Judging from the results, the Yi Chu incident of the Sui Dynasty had a serious impact: it not only led to the death of the Sui Dynasty II, who had created countless benchmarks and glory, but also made the subsequent Tang Gaozu Li Yuan throw rats and did not dare to easily replace the prince (but it triggered the tragic Xuanwumen Incident).
Today, we will not discuss the problem of Yang Jian, the Emperor of Sui Wen, but discuss a heavy and realistic topic from the perspective of the former crown prince Yang Yong: Why do honest people who follow the rules often become losers?
Emperor Yang Jian of Sui had a total of 5 sons in his lifetime, all of whom were born to the Dugu Empress, that is, all the sons were concubines. He was quite comfortable with this: "The fifth son and the same mother, the true brother of the iron fight, will never have the problem of competing for the reserves of the past generations." ”
But the later result just hit the face: the Sui Dynasty's battle to seize the reserve was extremely fierce, the death of the five sons, the abolition of the waste, Yang Jian himself died inexplicably, and the successor Yang Guang single-handedly buried the prosperous world.
Although history cannot be assumed, in the eyes of many historians, Yang Yong's abolition is undoubtedly a turning point in the development trajectory of the Sui Dynasty.
According to historical records, as the eldest son, Yang Yong was diligent and studious, proficient in words, and the most rare thing was his generous and kind personality. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty in 581, he was made crown prince. Next, he was given the authority of the crown prince by his father: "The military and state affairs and the shang shu song have been punished with death, and they are all ordered to participate in the decision." ”
During this period, for some of Yang Jian's excessive policies, Yang Yong, who has a generous personality, often put forward different opinions and was repeatedly recognized. Yang Jian was very satisfied with this, and once expressed his beautiful vision for the future to the courtiers.
However, 19 years later, in 600 AD, Yang Jian, dressed in military uniforms and honor guards, publicly announced in the court that Yang Yong and his children would be deposed as Shuren and imprisoned in Neishi Province. Four years later, Yang Guang took the throne and could not wait to give this brother to death.
In order to find out the reason for Yang Yong's dethronement, let's first list how he fell out of favor step by step.
Initially, Yang Yong ordered people to add a pattern to one of his sets of Shu armor, which caused Yang Jian's dissatisfaction. The latter, fearing that his heir would henceforth live in luxury, deliberately reprimanded him and gave his sword to his son as a warning.
Yang Yong's real loss of his father's favor stemmed from receiving congratulations from his courtiers on the winter solstice of the year. At that time, "hundreds of officials are brave, brave Zhang Le is congratulated", that is, the imperial court officials went to the Eastern Palace in droves to congratulate the prince, who solemnly dressed in dresses and played court music to receive the hundred officials. Yang Jian was angry about this, and since then he has been estranged from Yang Yong.
At the same time, due to harem problems, Yang Yong also lost the trust of his mother, the Lone Empress.
There were many concubines in Yang Yong's harem, of which Yun Zhaoxun was particularly favored, and the crown princess Yuan shi was snubbed. Later, the Yuan Concubine died of a heart attack, but the Dugu Empress thought that things were not so simple, and in her opinion, the Yuan Concubine was most likely murdered due to the palace dispute for favors. Therefore, she not only reprimanded Yang Yong, but even sent people to stalk and find faults.
Seeing that the wind direction was not right, Yang Yong, the King of Jin, who had long coveted the position of the Eastern Palace, launched a "public relations". On the one hand, he tried his best to win the favor of his mother, and on the other hand, he co-opted Yang Su, the prime minister who was deeply trusted by Yang Jian and his wife, to create his own good image and smear Yang Yong.
Yang Jian, who was already dissatisfied with Yang Yong, gradually made up his mind to save it easily, and although there were constantly explicit advice from ministers, it could not change this pattern.
But the above context will make people wonder: as the saying goes, "the emperor loves the eldest son", why was Yang Yong, the eldest son, easily replaced by his younger brother when he occupied the first-mover advantage? As parents, why do Yang Jian and his wife believe in one son but doubt the other? Not to mention that Yang Yong is a loyal and kind child?
The core reason, if explained by an old saying, is "integrity is difficult to kiss, and it is easy to be honest and easy to agree";
If we use the Internet language that we are familiar with today, it can be understood as "since ancient times, the true feelings cannot be retained, only the routine wins the hearts of the people".
In terms of ability, Yang Yong and Yang Guang are very good, not only equally talented, but also experienced in politics, and have their own unique views on governing the country.
However, character determines destiny, and the two are diametrically opposed in this regard. When comparing the personalities of Yang Yong and Yang Guang, the history books emphasize two groups of words:
The former is "spontaneous and unpretentious", that is, straightforward personality, unpretentious, and consistent in appearance;
The latter is "arrogant and reserved, arrogant and fierce, sinister on the inside, and condensed on the outside", to put it simply, that is, the inside and outside are not the same, good at packaging, fierce inside, but the performance is very harmless.
According to the first reaction, I believe that most people are willing to be around people like Yang Yong; but in practice, it is often people like Yang Guang who are more popular. In the modern workplace, the father and son of the ancient royal family, mother and son, also can not escape this law. Under the guidance of different personalities, Yang Yong and Yang Guang ushered in completely opposite results.
If we analyze it in combination with the above, we know why Yang Yong offended his parents.
Why did Yang Yong accept the congratulations of the courtiers, which would cause his father's thunderous anger? Doesn't Yang Jian want his successor to adapt to the heavy responsibilities of the future as soon as possible?
In the feudal era, "only names and instruments cannot be ductified, and the king's division is also", and there is only one person who masters the name and instrument, the emperor, even if he is his son and future successor, cannot be transgressed in this regard, which is why the relationship between the emperor and the prince in ancient times was often delicate.
And Yang Yong's meeting with the courtiers with the etiquette of the monarch naturally greatly violated Yang Jian's taboo; the high degree of exclusivity of the imperial power made him highly wary of his son. After all, no one wants to be at fault themselves, and they all want to keep the present tense forever.
Yang Guang is a different face. You are the king of Jin, but he "respects the courtiers, the courtesy is extremely humble", the reception of people and things is even humble, there is no frame of the king of the clan or the royal family, such a person is not only widely welcomed by the government and the public, but also his father is extremely assured: the way of heaven, the damage is more than enough to make up for the deficiency; such an unambitious child, will make people can't help but want to give him more.
Look at the private life aspect.
Yang Jian and the Dugu Empress are the other kind of ancient ones: both are from the Northern Zhou Guanlong family, and the door is right; they have been working together for many years to deal with sinister political crises, and their feelings have become deeper and deeper, so they have agreed to stick to monogamy. Even if Yang insisted on being empress, he only added a few harems in form, but almost never did he get lucky (Wei Chishi, who had been lucky by him, was decisively executed by the Dugu Empress).
Therefore, both of them were not accustomed to the hordes of wives and concubines, and the lonely queen was even more serious, she was extremely disgusted with men,and the wives and concubines of the court officials would be targeted by her; her own children would also be picked up.
But we should look at the ancients from the perspective of historical materialism, when it was normal for the magnates to have three wives and four concubines. Yang Yong knew his mother's preferences, but chose to go with the flow, just touching his mother's red line. And the lone queen was disgusted, Yang Jian would also not have a good face, so Yang Yong lost another point.
And Yang Guang is too clever, whenever his parents come, he will hide the beautiful concubines in advance, leaving some old and ugly women around to do miscellaneous work; at the same time, he also deliberately broke the strings, and even deliberately kept the dust. After seeing this scene, Yang Jian and his wife thought that Yang Guang was not good at speaking, and their good feelings for him were once again enhanced, believing that he was enough to assume the responsibility of the family and the country.
However, what is Yang Guang's nature in this regard, I believe that I do not need to say more.
In addition, due to his upright personality and poor concealment, Yang Yong often fell into artificial traps.
When he knew that his father was dissatisfied with him, Yang Yong tried to do what he liked, and built some simple houses in the East Palace for his own use. After hearing about this, Yang Jian sent Yang Su, the prime minister, to inquire. However, Yang Su had already sided with Yang Guang.
Hearing that Yang Su was coming, Yang Yong found out the time and deliberately packed up and respectfully greeted him; but after Yang Su arrived at the Eastern Palace, he deliberately stayed outside and did not go in. This was undoubtedly a naked provocation to the prince, and the upright Yang Yong could not swallow this breath, and the situation of dissatisfaction was expressed.
This is exactly the trap of Yang Su. He secretly changed the concept and reported that Yang Yong had a grudge, "I am afraid that he will change, and I am willing to take a deep defense." That is, Yang Yong has ill intentions and may rebel, so he must strengthen his vigilance. The consequences can be imagined.
We can assume that if Yang Yong succeeds, the Sui Dynasty will never die. Combined with the few words in the history books, we can know a little about Yang Yong's political style. He once opposed the migration of people to the border and advocated that the people live and work in peace and contentment and reproduce in their homeland, but Yang Jian listened to this opinion and stopped the radical measures.
During the kaihuang period, the Sui Dynasty was more benevolent to the people as a whole, and the people obtained a rare peaceful life, and in just over 20 years, the population doubled. When the people's hearts are stable, the political power is stable, and the rule of the Sui Dynasty created countless new records in feudal history.
But then Yang Guang did the opposite, although his series of huge projects were beneficial in the thousands of autumns, but for the people at that time it was an unbearable weight, the people were displaced, starved to death, and the only choice was to open the pole.
As an outstanding politician who grew up in the brutal political struggle of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yang Jian experienced various hardships and had a profound understanding of human nature; however, when his status changed, he was unconsciously blinded by the illusion and swayed by his own preferences when it came to his children. Before dying, after seeing Yang Guang's true face, he once shouted sadly: "Alone and wrong! "It's a pity that it's been overwhelmed and hard to harvest.
It can be seen that prejudice and partial belief are the great enemies of anyone. Being able to correctly look at the differences with yourself can form a more authentic understanding of people and things.
On the other hand, with complex human hearts, each of us cannot be too "real". Pictures need proper PS to be more beautiful, and so do people.