If you want to select the top ten war disasters in ancient Chinese history, then the He Jing Rebellion during the Southern and Northern Dynasties was definitely selected. This fierce and bloody battle completely destroyed the economy of Jiangnan that had developed for hundreds of years, and the heavy losses brought to the Jiangnan region could only be compared with the Battle of the Taiping Rebellion more than a thousand years later. Let me tell you about the situation before and after this war.
(i)
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, becoming an emperor was a high-risk job. Of the sixty-five emperors of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, thirty-five died unexpectedly. In the face of such an unusually high mortality rate, I believe that any emperor sitting on the dragon chair will feel liver pain.
In order to save their lives and protect the country, the emperors of the Northern and Southern Dynasties generally formed two factions: one group only believed in foreigners, regarded their relatives as pawns, and protected their families like thieves; One faction only believes in foreigners, treats their loved ones as pawns, and protects their families like thieves; One faction only believes in foreigners, regards their relatives as pawns, and protects their families like thieves. Water, my family is still reliable, so I concentrated all my strength in the hands of my loved ones.
Xiao Yan, the Liang Wudi of the Southern Dynasty, belonged to the latter.
Xiao Yan only trusted the Xiao family, and paid special attention to protecting the interests of the Xiao family. The Xiao family not only holds great power, but also occupies all the wealth in the world. They can spend money, waste extravagantly, and even commit crimes and oppress good people. Xiao Yan let go.
There is an example to illustrate the problem. Xiao Yan's sixth brother is named Xiao Hong. This Xiao Hong not only lived a luxurious life, domineering, but also had the idea of usurping the throne. In order to fulfill this wish, Xiao Hong even had an affair with Xiao Yan's eldest daughter, Xiao Yuyao, the princess of Yongxing. The incest between his uncle and niece was shocking enough, and the two also discussed killing Emperor Wudi of Liang, and then Xiao Hong would be emperor and Xiao Yuyao would be empress.
Xiao Yuyao arranged for two assassins to enter the palace in an attempt to assassinate Xiao Yan. This matter was discovered by Ding Guipin, who arranged for eight strong men to secretly protect and capture two assassins in one fell swoop.
Xiao Hong was actually plotting to kill the monarch, and it was logical that he should have killed Ling Chi and divided the nine races. However, Xiao Yan only dismissed Xiao Hong, criticized and educated him, and after a while, actually promoted him again. Yongxing Princess Xiao Yuyao had just been kicked out of the palace and later died, and Xiao Yuyao was very angry with her, so she did not attend her funeral.
Xiao Yan, the emperor of Liangwu, took care of the Xiao family's apparent harmony and tranquility so carefully. His thoughts are self-evident: at the critical moment, our Xiao family is still reliable.
However, he turned out to be wrong. In the face of the emperor's power struggle, human affection and family affection are worthless. When the "critical moment" really came, everyone in the Xiao family tore off their gentle masks, revealed their true faces with green faces and green teeth, and began to bite wildly.
In addition to the internal contradictions of the Xiao family, there were also extremely sharp social contradictions in the Liang Dynasty itself.
The Liang dynasty belonged to a typical hierarchical society. The top of the social tower is the Xiao royal group under the leadership of Xiao Yan, the lowest layer is the Shi class, and below there are two classes: commoners and slaves.
The royal clique and the gentry class belong to the ruling class, enjoy all the glory and wealth of the world, and have become a group of outright parasites.
The common people are the common people's. If they want to advance, their only chance is to make a mark on the battlefield, and there is no other way to advance. Therefore, there was discord between the people and the gentry, and even hatred of the Lord.
As for the numerous slaves, they will be cattle and horses for the rest of their lives, and they will never be healed. They harbored a deep hatred for the ruling lord, but were powerless to resist.
Therefore, the social contradictions within the Liang Dynasty were very sharp, and the whole country was like a volcano about to erupt, which only needed one opportunity to ignite. And this opportunity finally came, that is, the chaos of Houjing.
(ii)
Hou Jingben is a member of the Hui ethnic group. He came from humble beginnings. He rose through the ranks with military merits. At the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty, he served as the Assassin of Dingzhou, and he was also regarded as a prince.
Later, Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai split the Northern Wei Dynasty and competed with each other for the world. Hou Jing fled to Gao Huan. Gao Huan greatly appreciated Hou Jing's talent and had him stationed in the Henan region, mainly against Yuwen Tai.
In 547, Gao Huan died. The ambitious Hou Jing intends to take the opportunity to create chaos. First fled to Yuwen Tai, and then fled south to Xiao Yan, the emperor of Liangwu.
Although Xiao Yan has been vegetarian and Buddhist all his life, he seems to be pure and ascetic, but in fact, he also has the ambition to unify the world. At the beginning of his accession to the throne, he had waged war against Northern Wei and suffered heavy losses, so he had to abandon this idea.
Now that decades have passed, Xiao Yan is more than eighty years old. Hou Jing's surrender once again ignited the long-buried flame in his heart, and Xiao Yan once again had a strong desire to fight for the world.
As a result, Xiao Yan sent troops to attack Eastern Wei, which was ruled jointly by Gao and Hou Jing, but was defeated, and Xiao Yan's nephew Xiao Yuanming was also captured. Hou Jing had only eight hundred men left and fled back to the territory of the Liang Dynasty. Xiao Yan appointed him as the pastor of Yuzhou and stationed him in the area of Shouyang.
Hou Jing originally came to Southern Liang with his territory and army, and Emperor Wudi of Liang naturally regarded him as a guest. But now Hou Jing has basically become a bad commander and is about to be sent to someone else. By this time, he had become a piece of, worthless.
Hou Jingna is a guy like a monkey. He soon realized his situation, so he took the opportunity to occupy Henan, recruit troops, and expand his army; A helper. At the same time, he always pricked up his ears and actively searched for news, so that if there was a problem, he could take timely measures.
In 548, Hou Jing was shocked to discover rumors that Eastern Wei intended to exchange Xiao Yan's nephew Xiao Yuanming for Hou Jing. Everyone in the world knows how strong the protection of Liang Wudi Xiao Yan is. It is very likely that he will exchange this useless Houjing for his nephew.
In order to find out the news, Hou Jing sent someone to forge a letter from Eastern Wei, exchanged Xiao Yuanming for Hou Jing, and handed it to Xiao Yan, the emperor of Liangwu. No, Xiao Yan immediately agreed after reading the letter. When Hou Jing heard the news, he couldn't help but be furious, scolding the old man for being too bad, and immediately decided to rebel.
In August 548, Hou Jing announced a rebellion under the banner of Emperor Qing, and led Shouyang's 8,000-strong army all the way to Jiankang. Thus began the famous Houjing Rebellion.
(iii)
In 502, Emperor Xiao Yan of Liang overthrew Southern Qi and established the Liang Dynasty, claiming the title of emperor. He ruled for 48 years, worked until he was in his eighties, and was still healthy and delicious.
Xiao Yan's "immortal life" made his children and grandchildren full of anxiety and irritability.
Xiao Yan's eldest son was named Xiao Tong. He is the famous Prince Zhaoming, a great writer, and the editor-in-chief of the "Zhaoming Anthology". In 531, Xiao Tong died, and after his death Xiao Gang became crown prince.
Because Xiao Yan reused the Xiao clan, some of his sons took power outside the country and became princes. With their power, these people basically became careerists, coveting the throne after Xiao Yan's death. Among them, Xiao Zhengde is the most ambitious.
Xiao Zhengde is Xiao Hong's son, and both are incestuous couples. Xiao Hong was engaged to his niece Xiao Yuyao, and Xiao Zhengde married his sister Princess Changle and gave birth to two sons.
Xiao Yan had no son at that time, so he adopted Xiao Zhengde and planned to make him crown prince. But then Xiao Tong was born. Xiao Zhengde's dream of being a prince was shattered. For this reason, Xiao Zhengde held a grudge and always wanted to rebel against the usurpation. He once openly defected to Northern Wei to help him become emperor with the help of Northern Wei's power, but later found that he could not do so, so he returned to Southern Liang. After he returned, Xiao Yan just made him cry, and then continued to use him. As a result, the legacy of tiger farming ended up being a disaster.
The ambitious Xiao Zhengde has long collaborated secretly with Hou Jing. Hou Jing promised to help him ascend the throne. Xiao Zhengde was blinded by interests and joined forces with Hou Jing.
However, the faint Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, appointed Xiao Zhengde to replace the rebellion after Houjing's rebellion. Xiao Zhengde secretly helped Hou Jing, who successfully crossed the Yangtze River and quickly entered Jiankang City.
On October 24, Xiao Zhengde opened the gate of Jiankang City and let Hou Jing in. Emperor Wudi of Liang was under surveillance. Fortunately, there is Taicheng in the city, and that is Miyagi. Taicheng also has a famous general, Yang Kan. Yang Kan was unhurried, and ordered the rest of his troops to hold Taicheng and repel the rebel attacks many times. Hou Jing was a little helpless for a while.
On the first day of November, Xiao Zhengde couldn't wait to announce his accession to the throne and become emperor. After a period of imperial addiction, he also appointed Hou Jing as prime minister to preside over government affairs.
However, Xiao Yan still sat in Taicheng, and Emperor Xiao Zhengde was not recognized by anyone. Xiao Zhengde and Hou Jing were also in a hurry, and could only strengthen the siege.
Hou Jing led only eight thousand soldiers to revolt. This side will attack Taicheng, and the soldiers and horses of the Qin king on the other side will come one after another. How can just eight thousand people be an opponent?
At this time, Hou Jingling moved and came up with a way. He collected slaves from Jiankang and incorporated them into the army. When he first entered the city to strive for the stability of the people, Hou Jing's discipline on the army was still very strict. Now he simply let it go, allowing the soldiers to plunder and rape at will. The city was suddenly in chaos.
At that time, Jiankang City had a radius of 40 li, 280,000 households, and countless gold and silver treasures. Hou Jing's soldiers plundered and did all kinds of evil, and the entire Jiankang City instantly became a hell on earth.
The slaves in the city suddenly got the opportunity to turn over and gain liberation, and they flocked to Houjing to surrender, and then slaughtered the gentry lords who rode on their heads. Hou Jing's forces expanded rapidly, and within a few days they had grown to 100,000 cavalry. At this time, Houjing is no longer what it used to be.
(iv)
In November, Emperor Wu of Liang's sixth son, Yangzhou Assassin Shi, and Xiao Lun, the Prince of Shaoling, led 30,000 cavalry to rescue Jiankang. He killed all the way to the area around the Purple Mountain. Hou Jing led his army to resist, and Xiao Lun won first and then lost. He was killed, only a thousand remained, and fled in embarrassment.
In December, the soldiers and horses of the King of Qin gathered one by one. Xiao Yan's seventh son, Xiao Yi of Jingzhou, King of Xiangdong; In Kang.
In addition, several other governors who were not surnamed Xiao also led troops to Jiankang. The people elected Liu Zhongli of Sizhou as the commander to face the rebels across Qin Huai. All the reinforcements added up, the strength exceeded 300,000.
Although Hou Jing expanded his troops, after all, most of them were rabble, and they could not be compared with the regular army at all. Not to mention attacking together, even if a certain line actively fights, Hou Jing will definitely lose.
But the problem arises, all walks of life are a situation that must be won, but no one attacks, they are watching from afar, and no one wants to take a step forward.
It turned out that Xiao Yan's descendants all had only one thought in their hearts: Let Hou Jing kill the old man and the crown prince Xiao Gang, and I will have the opportunity to become the emperor!
Therefore, the descendants of the Xiao family could only watch their old man fall into danger, but no one was willing to come to save him.
None of those generals surnamed Xiao were willing to step forward. Everyone knows that this world belongs to the Xiao family, and I am an outsider, so why should I bloom for the Xiao family? So they refused to do it. Liu Zhongli, commander of the Qin-Huai coalition army, drank in the barracks all day long with beautiful women in his arms, and never gave orders to attack.
Liu Zhongli's father, Liu Jin, was besieged in Taicheng at the time. The old man stretched his neck and shouted at his son, telling him to hurry up. Liu Zhongli also heard it, but he didn't even want his father, so he didn't pay attention to it anyway.
Emperor Xiao Yan of Liang Wu said to Liu Jin: "Liu Aiqing, what should I do? ”
Liu Jin sighed and said, "Alas, no way, who will raise a good son for the two of us." ”
With no rescue, the situation in Taicheng is becoming increasingly critical. In December 548, Yang Kan, the main force of the city, died of illness, and the defenders were leaderless and more passive. In March 549, Hou Jing poured the water of Xuanwu Lake back into Taicheng and finally conquered Taicheng.
After attacking Taicheng, Hou Jing came to see Xiao Yan, the emperor of Liangwu, and his attitude was still very respectful. Why did he do it? Of course, it was precisely because Emperor Wudi of Liang was still valuable that Hou Jing wanted to hold Xiao Yan hostage and force the reinforcements outside to retreat. For this reason, he "erased" the title of Emperor Xiao Zhengde and changed it to Shizhong and Grand Sima.
Xiao Zhengde lost the emperor's hat, and his heart couldn't help but be angry. He immediately wrote to Xiao Fan, the king of Poyang, wanting to join forces with him to kill Hou Jing. Xiao Zhengde handed the letter to his nephew Xiao Ben and asked him to pass it on to Xiao Fan. No, Xiaoben turned his head and sent the letter to Hou Jing. Hou Jing would not be as polite as Emperor Wudi of Liang, and immediately ordered Xiao Zhengde to be strangled.
(v)
Emperor Xiao Yan of Liang saw that Hou Jing wanted to use him, so he refused to cooperate with Hou Jing. Hou Jing was angry and cut off Xiao Yan's supply. On the second day of May, Xiao Yan died of illness in Taicheng at the age of 86. Without this accident, it is very likely that he will exceed the life of the Qianlong Emperor.
Xiao Yan died, and Hou Jing did not panic, because it was still Prince Xiao Gang. He immediately supported Xiao Gang's accession to the throne, which was Emperor Jianwen of Liang. Hou Jing called himself the "Great General of the World" and commanded the Liuhe troops. Either way, this means that heaven and earth should be under his control. At the same time, Hou Jing also forcibly married Xiao Gang's fourteen-year-old daughter Xiao Miaoxuan, the princess of Liyang.
After Xiao Yan's death, the Xiao family outside Jiankang City not only did not attack the old man to take revenge, but began to kill each other. Their idea is still as simple as that: the old thing is gone, now my worst enemies are my brothers and nephews, and I have to get rid of them first!
It is really a shame for the Xiao family, everyone has received a good education since childhood, and the Xiao family's sense of art is particularly strong. Xiao Yan himself was a great writer and artist, and Xiao's descendants randomly selected a poet or calligrapher. However, such a powerful artistic establishment could not get rid of the Xiao family's vulgar taste. When they saw the emperor's throne approaching one by one, they still saw blood like flies, being frantically bitten, revealing the true face of the wolf.
Xiao Yi, Xiao Xie, Xiao Yu and others all fought hard together, but they couldn't beat each other, so they went to find foreign aid. Some defected to the Gao clan of Northern Qi, while others defected to Western Wei Yuwen Tai. They all trade with their own countries and citizens and only want to exchange them for their crowns.
The Xiao family killed each other, but it was cheaper for Hou Jing. Most of Hou Jing's army were former slaves. They followed Hou Jing to burn, kill and loot, and lived a very happy life. Now, just building a healthy city is not enough to satisfy them. Hou Jing himself wanted to expand his territory, so he led his army to attack several cities in Jiangnan.
From 549 to 551, Hou Jingjun successively captured Jiujiang, Nanchang, Yangzhou, Wuchang and other places. Everywhere they went, they looted, burned and killed. After Hou Jingjun occupied Yangzhou, he buried half of the captives in the ground, trampled on horseback, and finally killed them all. The whole of Yangzhou became an empty city.
Hou Jing's army is so crazy, military discipline will naturally become more and more lax, and combat effectiveness will drop significantly. In August 551, Xiao Yi (later Emperor Yuan of Liang) of eastern Xiangdong began to gain the upper hand in the internal strife of the Xiao family. At this time, he could finally free his hand to deal with Hou Jing.
Xiao Yi ordered the generals Wang Sengbian and Chen Ba to lead an army to attack Houjing. Hou Jing's army was defeated in successive battles. Hou Jing saw that the situation was not good, and wanted to enjoy it before he died. After returning to Jiankang, he sent people to poison Jianwen Emperor Xiao Gang. First of all, Xiao Yan's grandson Xiao Dong was established as emperor. ", for a while passed the emperor's addiction.
However, Hou Jing eventually ushered in death. In February 552, Wang Sengwen and Chen Ba attacked Jiankang first. In April, Hou Jing was finally defeated. He escaped by boat with some of his entourage. He was so ashamed that he even pushed his two sons into the water. In the end, Hou Jing's subordinate Yang Kun killed Hou Jing and offered his body to Wang Sengwei.
Wang Sengbian cut off Hou Jing's head and gave it to Xiao Yi of Jingzhou, and Hou Jing's hands were given to Gaoyang of Northern Qi. The rest of the bodies were displayed on the streets of Jiankang. The Jiankang people cut Hou Jing's flesh piece by piece, and even Princess Liyang ate a piece. In the end, Hou Jing was burned to ashes.
(vi)
Although Hou Jing died, the war in the Liang Dynasty did not end, and the Xiao family continued to kill each other. Northern Qi and Western Wei intervened one after another, and the entire Yangtze River basin fell into war.
In 555, Emperor Xiao Yi of Liang was defeated by Western Wei and Xiao Xie forces in Jingzhou. Jingzhou and Xiangyang were destroyed by war.
The Yangtze River basin suffered an unprecedented catastrophe, turning it almost barren. This tragic situation did not slowly recover until after the Tang Dynasty.
Seriously reflecting on the causes and consequences of the Later Jing Rebellion, we can find that Xiao Yan, the emperor of Liangwu, inherited the tradition since the Three Jin Dynasties, and the carefully constructed hierarchical society was the source of the turmoil. The strict hierarchy of the Liang dynasty eventually led to little room for progress among the common people, and the power of the aristocratic clique expanded viciously. In this way, the contradictions of the whole society become extremely sharp, and once they break out, they will become uncontrollable.
It is precisely because of this that since the Sui Dynasty, successive dynasties have implemented the imperial examination system, and the selection of scholars in writing has been implemented. On the one hand, this opens an upward channel for the lower classes, and on the other hand, it can also counter the backlash of the powerful groups. It can be said that the emergence of the imperial examination system enabled the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties to achieve long-term peace and stability.