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preface
In the thirty-four years of Wei Mingdi's life, the most famous evaluation of his twelve-year reign was the word "extravagance". The so-called extravagance is extravagant and extravagant.
Pei Songzhi's note in the third volume of the "Records of the Three Kingdoms" "Book of Wei and Emperor Ming" "Three Years of the Blue Dragon" quotes Zhang Mao's advice from the crown prince in the "Wei Luo": "Your Majesty... It's extravagance..."
In the preface to this chapter, it is also mentioned that there is a chapter "Emperor Ming's extravagance" in the "Tongjian Chronicle", which concentrates on the advice to Emperor Wei Ming.
Overhaul of the palace
Based on the rapid decline in population after the war in the late Han Dynasty and the current state of the wartime system in which Cao Wei confronted Shu and Wu, Chen Qun believed that the expropriation of unnecessary labor exhausted the people, and may even cause a crisis related to the survival of the country due to disasters.
Therefore, he advocated supporting agriculture, replenishing military resources, and caring for the people as the foundation of the country. In other words, Chen Qun advocated giving priority to the rest and recuperation of the people.
Zhichen Yang Fu and Gao Tanglong also spoke in unison, issuing the same advice as Chen Qun. In addition, you can see opinions criticizing the expansion of the harem and the extravagance of use.
In any case, Emperor Wei Ming's most criticized behavior was to requisition peasants for labor, build civil works, and build palaces. Luoyang City, which started construction in the third year of Qinglong (235), is an example.
Luoyang was originally the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the first year of Chuping (190), Dong Zhuo took Emperor Xian of Han and his officials and palace maids to Chang'an, and a fire turned Luoyang into scorched earth.
As the situation in the world stabilized, Cao Cao began to rebuild Luoyang. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Wei, he continued the construction of Luoyang Palace and built a new first hall on the remains of the Luoyang North Palace of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The symbol of Emperor Wei Ming's palace is the newly built Taiji Hall and Zhaoyang Hall on the ruins of the Luoyang South Palace of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Their status is similar to that of the Taihe Hall and the Qianqing Palace in the Ming and Qing Imperial Palace in Beijing today.
In particular, the Taiji Hall is the source of the main hall of the capitals of Heijo-kyo and Heian-kyo in Japan, the Dajiden. According to historical records, Emperor Wei Ming also rebuilt the Chonghua Hall, which was destroyed by two fires, and renamed it the Nine Dragon Hall. The General Zhangguan and Yunlongmen were built, and the pond was excavated.
Incidentally, the Chonghua Hall (Nine Dragon Hall), the apse of the first hall, has been used as a funeral palace in the two dynasties of Emperor Wen and Emperor Ming. In addition to the above-mentioned large-scale construction, Emperor Wei Ming also decorated the new palace with dew trays carried from Chang'an, bronze man Weng Zhong cast from extremely heavy copper pillars, and a guide car restored by the technical genius Ma Jun.
In addition, Emperor Wei Ming also planned to build a high hall on the mountain north of Luoyang, overlooking Mengjin, the crossing of the Yellow River where the palace was located, but finally accepted the advice and ended the matter.
Liezu
Although the courtiers continued to advise, Emperor Wei Ming insisted on building a palace, what was the reason?
According to the Book of Song, volume 33 (Five Elements Zhi 4), in September of the first year of Jingchu (237), obscene rain caused floods in Jizhou and other places.
This suggests that, at least in the Southern Dynasty, there had been explanations for attributing Emperor Ming's extravagance to selfish desires. However, it should also be noted that Emperor Wei Ming had another aspect: he mobilized officials and students with the privilege of exemption from military service, and he himself took the lead in the construction of the palace.
So, why did Cao Ying have such a strong desire to build the palace? Previous studies do not seem to be clear and clear.
It is worth noting that in his reply to Chen Qun, Emperor Wei Mingdi mentioned "Xiao Hezhi's general strategy". The so-called "general strategy" refers to the construction of the Weiyang Palace in Chang'an, the capital of the Han capital.
In Xiao He's answer, the most important is the phrase "non-magnificent, incomparable". In Emperor Wei Ming's understanding, building a magnificent palace was a means for dynasties and emperors to express their prestige in a form visible to the naked eye.
At a time when the enemy country is about to move, the necessity of "heavy power" is more prominent than after the reunification of the world. In fact, the courtiers who spoke out did not object to Emperor Wei Ming's continued cause of building palaces for three generations after Cao Cao and Cao Pi.
It's just that some people think that the world is undecided, and it is too early; Some people think that it is not advisable to overbuild.
From this point of view, the emperor and courtiers were opposed over the construction of palaces, and the main idea of the arguments of the two sides was essentially the same as the contemporaneous controversy surrounding corporal punishment (see Chapter I). The so-called corporal punishment is the criminal law that harms the body.
During the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, corporal punishment was abolished in principle. However, by the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the discussion of resuming corporal punishment as an intermediate punishment between the death penalty and flogging was on the rise.
During the Cao Wei and Western Jin dynasties, there were many controversies in court deliberations about whether to resume corporal punishment. During the reigns of Cao Cao, Emperor Wen of Wei, and Emperor Ming of Wei, there were four times.
During the reign of Emperor Ming of Wei, in the first year (227) or the second year (228) of Taihe, Cao Ying, who was in favor of resuming corporal punishment, took the letter of Zhong Xiu, who was in favor of resuming corporal punishment, issued an edict to the ministers to discuss.
The discussion was huge, involving more than 100 courtiers, but most of them agreed with the opposition Wang Lang. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Emperor Wei Ming suspended the imperial discussion on the grounds of the external situation in Wu and Shu, and in fact abolished the proposal to restore corporal punishment.
In fact, there was no fundamental conflict between the re-corporal punishment faction in the imperial court and the anti-corporal punishment faction. Neither denies corporal punishment per se, but the attitude towards corporal cruelty is different.
The former advocated reinstating only the right toe execution, while the latter considered it premature. If there is a contradiction between the two, it is that the Restoration Corporal Punishment faction hopes to punish evil deeds and give retribution by substantially restoring intermediate punishment, and establish the authority of the regime as a public power; The opponents of corporal punishment pay more attention to public opinion and popular support as the foundation of the regime. In other words, the difference between the two can be attributed to the priority of authority or public opinion and people's hearts.
In this regard, the main ideas of the pro-supporters and the opposition have common between the controversy over corporal punishment and the controversy surrounding the construction of palaces.
Emperor Wei Ming, who was enthusiastic about restoring corporal punishment and vigorously arguing for the construction of palaces, also took positive measures in internal affairs, such as formulating decrees and promulgating a new calendar, which also shows the direction of establishing the authority of the emperor.
So, what is the root of Emperor Wei Ming's strong will? The key to interpretation lies in the fact that in July of the first year of Jingchu (237), Emperor Wei Ming built seven temples, and at the same time established the system of three ancestors who never destroyed the temple.
It is very rare for the emperor to build a temple on his own and determine the temple number before his death. The so-called temple number is the name of the sect temple and the spirit temple. According to the convention, the emperor who has the merit of founding the country and Zhongxing is called "a certain ancestor", and the emperor who inherits regularly is called "a certain ancestor".
So, why did Emperor Wei Ming call himself Liezu?
According to the relevant departments that proposed this matter, Cao Cao "rectified the chaos" and returned stability to the troubled times; Emperor Wen "took orders from heaven" and was destined by heaven; And Emperor Ming "made Xingzhi", created a system, and built a rule of the world.
His grandfather, Cao Cao, rose to prominence in the midst of the division of power, unified northern China, and established the Wei state, and was the de facto master of entrepreneurship. His father Cao Pi founded the Cao Wei dynasty through the Han and Wei dynasties and became the first emperor.
Emperor Wei Ming, who succeeded Cao Cao and Cao Pi, chose Liezu as the temple number, probably because he was proud that he could complete the system construction that the Cao Wei dynasty still lacked.
Located on this extension line, there is also Feng Zen. In order to achieve the canonization, Emperor Wei Ming ordered Gao Tanglong to study the relevant ceremonies. Gao Tanglong served as the kingdom fu during the period when Emperor Ming was the king of the plains, and after Emperor Ming came to the throne, Gao Tanglong served as a squire and a doctor of Guanglu, planning for Emperor Ming. Due to the death of Takashi Takado, the consecration was interrupted. When Emperor Wei Ming received the obituary, he sighed: "Heaven does not want to do my thing, and I will die in the high hall." ”
It can be seen that the root of Wei Mingdi's consciousness in building the Cao Wei dynasty lies in his conceit from the royal family, as well as his personal longing for his father and grandfather, especially his love for his grandfather Cao Cao.
For the great and admired "Emperor Ancestor" Cao Cao, Emperor Wei Ming frankly sang his thoughts and feelings, and was also determined to inherit his career and complete it.
The above discusses the psychology of Emperor Ming's insistence on building palaces. In addition, it can be noted that although the purpose of restoring prestige is also criticized by the mainstream in public opinion, there is a certain difference between corporal punishment and the construction of palaces.
Emperor Wei Ming abandoned the former and insisted on the latter. In addition, Chen Qun had the opposite attitude towards these two things, he was in favor of resuming corporal punishment, but opposed the construction of the palace.
As seen in the murder of Bao Xun in the seventh year of the early Huang Dynasty (226), Chen Qun was bitter about Emperor Wei's abuse of punishment, ignoring the courtiers' begging, and insisting on beheading Bao Xun, but not to the extent of a personal grudge. Emperor Wei Ming, on the other hand, had his own obsession with building palaces.
This is the difference between the two. However, this obsession was not to satisfy Emperor Ming's personal desires, as public opinion criticized the emperor's extravagance, but was full of the aforementioned admiration for Emperor Wei Ming's grandfather Cao Cao. Everything Emperor Wei Ming did was for the Cao family, which was a royal family.
Contrary to his selfishness is the tendency to reuse nobles in parallel with the construction of palaces. During the reign of Emperor Wei Ming, the close attendants belonging to the inner dynasty, such as the scattered horse Chang Shi and Shilang, and the five captains headed by the chief of the Praetorian Guard, the captain of the infantry, gradually occupied by the clan and foreign qi, the so-called noble qi clique.
The pinnacle of this tendency was the edict that arranged for the young emperor to be an auxiliary minister six days before Emperor Wei Ming's death.
The auxiliary ministers named by Emperor Wei Ming were headed by his uncle Cao Yu the Prince of Yan, as well as Cao Shuang and Cao Zhao, the sons of Cao Zhen and Cao Xiu, and Xiahou Xian, who was born in the Xiahou clan of the quasi-clan of the Emperor, although he was a different surname, but entered Cao Cao's harem with his mother since childhood and raised him with the children of the sect.
epilogue
All five were nobles and all served as generals or lieutenants. The family clans were excluded from the list of auxiliary ministers. The most notable of these was the appointment of Cao Yu the Prince of Yan as a general. Cao Pi, who had fiercely contested Cao Zhi for the crown prince, distanced himself from the clan and forbade them to hold official positions.
Although his beloved father Cao Pi set the rules, Emperor Wei Ming still broke the convention, and it was not difficult to feel his dependence on Guiqi. However, this decision was ultimately not implemented due to the resistance of Zhongshu supervisor Liu Fang and Zhongshu Ling Sun Zi.
Liu and Sun forcibly wrote the edict by Emperor Wei Ming, who was on his sick bed. As a result, the auxiliary ministers were designated as Cao Shuang and Sima
Yi two.
On the surface, he did obey the order of Emperor Wen Cao Pi and returned to the balance of the clan and foreign ministers. But in fact, compared with the young Cao Shuang, Sima Yi was not only a civil official, but also a heavy minister who had made great achievements in battle and had a faint influence in the army. The edict written by Cao Ying himself opened the way for the usurpation of the Sima clan in Hanoi.
This incident occurred three days before Emperor Wei Ming's death. In any case, judging from the vacillation in Emperor Wei Ming's heart when he died, especially from the edict he originally appointed five nobles to form an auxiliary system.
The selection of auxiliary ministers was biased towards noble Qi, reflecting Emperor Wei Ming's anxiety and anxiety about the future of the Cao Wei imperial family. In fact, although Emperor Wei Ming had daughters, his sons Cao Feng the Prince of Qinghe and Cao Mu the Prince of Fengyang died in the seventh year of the early Huang Dynasty (226) and the third year of Taihe (229). In the fifth year of Taihe (231), the prince Cao Yin was born in the expectation of everyone, but died in the sixth year (232).
Emperor Wei Ming had no heirs, so in August of the third year of Qinglong (235), when he began to build the Luoyang Palace, he made his uncle Cao Zhang's grandson, Cao Xun and Cao Fang's brothers, who had been raised in the palace, the kings of Qin and Qi respectively, as future princes.
This contemporaneous movement is not directly related to the construction of the palace, but if the maintenance of the Cao Wei imperial family is used as a medium, a consistent direction can be seen in it.
Reference: Records of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 3, Book of Wei. Emperor Ming
Tatsuro Sato, History of Oriental Studies, Vol. 52, No. 1
"Ancient Sites of Weicheng" in "Henan History" "Map of the Capital City of Cao Wei"