Four hundred years of agitation: The Northern Zhou Dynasty's new Yuwen Protector took power, and Yuwen Jue's attempt to pro-government was deposed

This article is the 637th in a long series of articles, Four Hundred Years of Turmoil

On the first day of the first lunar month of the first year of Yongding (557 AD), Yuwen Jue officially took the throne, lit a bonfire to pray to the heavens, accepted the worship of wen and military officials, posthumously established Yuwen Tai as king of Wen, and granted amnesty to the world. This newly established dynasty was named Zhou, and the history was called Northern Zhou.

In order to reflect the Wooden Virtue in the Five Elements to indicate the inheritance of the Water Virtue of the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty implemented the Xia Dynasty calendar, and the color of the costume was black.

In terms of personnel arrangements, Yuwen Jue made Li Bi the Taishi, Zhao Gui the Taifu and Otsuka Zai, Dugu Xin as the Taibao and Emperor Dazongbo, and Zhongshan Gongyu Wenhu as the Grand Sima (大司馬).

At that time, when Yuwen Tai was in power, although Gui was the de facto ruler of Cheng Xiang and Western Wei, he could still discuss with Zhao Gui, Du Guxin and others when encountering major events, and on the surface he was also on an equal footing.

However, after the establishment of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Hu, in order to maintain his authority, acted arbitrarily and arbitrarily, never consulted with Zhao Gui and Du Guxin when things happened, and under the huge gap, the two were very unhappy in their hearts, Yuwen Tai was polite to us, what do you boy rely on?

Soon, Zhao Gui moved the idea of getting rid of Yuwen Hu and was stopped by DuGuxin. However, this matter was still known to Kaifu Yi and the third division Yuwen Sheng, and reported it to Yuwen Hu. Yuwen Hu acted decisively and decided to get rid of these elders who could endanger his authority.

On February 18, taking advantage of the Shang Dynasty, Yuwen Hu arrested Zhao Gui and killed him, and deposed DuGuxin's official.

On February 25, Yuwen Jue made Yu Jin taifu, Emperor Dazong's uncle Mo Chen Chong, Yuwen Hu the Prince of Taibao, Zhu Guo Helanxiang the Grand Sima and Gaoyang Gongda Xiwu the Grand Sikou.

He Lanxiang, a nephew of the Xianbei clan and Yuwen Tai, became an orphan at the age of eleven and was raised by Yu Wentai. He has a deep affection for Yuwen Hu since he was a child, and he was also involved in killing Zhao Gui.

Not long after, Yuwen Hu forced Dugu Xin to commit suicide. From this point on, Yuwen Hu's ambitions began to swell, and his actions became unscrupulous, causing strong dissatisfaction among some people.

In April, Yi Tong and the Three Divisions qi railed to Xue Shan, the Grand Master of the Imperial Palace, and said, "The military and political power of the country should all be in the hands of the Heavenly Son, how can it still be in the hands of the Powerful Gate Dignitaries!" Xue Shan turned around and reported this to Yuwen Hu, who immediately killed Qi Qi, making Xue Shan the Sima of the Chinese and foreign capitals.

Unsurprisingly, Yuwen Jue's tyranny aroused Yuwen Jue's disgust. After all, he was the emperor of northern Zhou, and he was strong and decisive, and he began to secretly look for allies.

When the dynasty changes, some people have the will, some people are frustrated, and the frustrated people want to regain power, only to unite with Yuwen Jue. Therefore, Yuwen Jue's allies are not difficult to find.

Li Zhi, the secretary of the imperial council, served as the secretary of the Xiangfu Prefecture from the time of Yuwen Tai and participated in the government, and the military Sima Sun Heng also held a position of power for a long time, and when Yuwen Hu was in power, Li Zhi and Sun Heng were worried that they would not be accommodated by him, so they said bad things about Yu Wen Hu in front of Yu Wen Jue together with Gong Bo Yi Fu Feng, He Batti and others.

Li Zhi and Sun Heng said, "Since killing Zhao Gui, Yuwen Hu's authority has become more and more powerful, and the generals are all vying to rely on him, and political affairs are decided by him, no matter how big or small." According to the observation of the ministers and others, Yuwen Hu will not observe the festival of the courtiers sooner or later, and will try to take the throne, hoping that His Majesty will make arrangements as soon as possible to avoid future troubles! ”

Yi Fufeng and He Batti also said: "The previous kings clearly observed the situation and still entrusted the government to Li Zhi and Sun Heng, which shows their talents and qualities. Now if you entrust them with the matter of getting rid of Yuwen Hu, are you still afraid that things will not work out? Moreover, Yuwen Hu often compared himself to the Duke of Zhou, and the ministers and others heard that the Duke of Zhou had been regent for seven years, so how could His Majesty submit to him for seven years? ”

This year, Yuwen Jue was already sixteen years old, how could he wait for seven years. After hearing this, he began to secretly prepare, and repeatedly took the samurai to practice how to arrest people in the back garden of the court.

Li Zhi and the others seduced The Palace Uncle Zhang Guangluo as accomplices, but Zhang Guangluo reported them to Yuwen Hu. Therefore, Yuwen Hu transferred Li Zhi to Liang Prefecture Assassin History and Sun Heng to Tong Prefecture Thorn History, hoping to disintegrate them.

Later, Yuwen Jue repeatedly wanted to summon Li Zhi and Sun Heng, and Yuwen Hu wept bitterly: "There is no one in the world who is more dear than a brother, if the brothers still doubt each other, who else can trust?" Because His Majesty was young, Taizu entrusted the affairs to his subjects, who were loyal to His Majesty and brotherly affection and the righteousness of the monarchs, and were willing to do their best to serve the humerus. If His Majesty can personally observe all opportunities and impose authority on the four seas, then the subject will still be alive. However, I am afraid that after removing the subject, the traitor and the villain will take advantage of the opportunity to gain his will, which will not only be detrimental to His Majesty, but will also endanger the society. Moreover, the subject is both the emperor's uncle and the official and the prime minister, so what else is there to covet? May Your Majesty not believe rumors and alienate flesh and blood relatives. ”

After all, Yuwen Jue was still young, and after listening to Yuwen Hu's earnest words, he stopped summoning Li Zhi and others, but he still had doubts about Yu Wen Hu in his heart.

When Yi Fufeng and the others saw this, they became more and more frightened, began to work closely together, and finally determined a date to take advantage of the opportunity to gather the courtiers into the palace to drink and feast, and arrest Yuwen Hu and kill him.

But what made people speechless was that this matter was learned by Zhang Guangluo again, and then reported to Yuwen Hu.

Therefore, Yuwen Hu summoned the pillar state He Lanxiang and the leader Wei Chi Gang (Wei Chiyi's brother) to discuss countermeasures, and He Lanxiang and others advised Yu Wenhu to simply depose Yuwen Jue and establish a new emperor.

At that time, Wei Chigang was forbidden by the palace, and Yuwen Hu sent him into the palace to gather Yi Fufeng and others to discuss state affairs, and when they came, they were grabbed one by one and sent to Yuwen Hu's mansion, and at the same time, all the Guards were replaced and dismissed.

Yuwen Hu noticed that things had changed, and hid in the inner temple alone, leaving the palace people to guard themselves with weapons. Yuwen Hu sent Helan Xiang into the palace to force him to abdicate, imprisoning him in the old mansion of the Duke of Luoyang, and Yi Fufeng and Sun Heng were killed outside the palace gate.

Subsequently, Yuwen Hu summoned all the secretaries of state to discuss major matters, and announced that Yuwen Jue would be deposed as the Duke of Luoyang, and that Yuwen Yu, the Duke of Qi Prefecture and the Duke of Ningdu, would be made emperor. Gongqing was intimidated by Yuwen Hu's power and said in unison, "This is your family affair, how dare we not listen to your orders!" ”

At that time, Li Zhi's father, Li Yuanzhen, a general of the Pillar State, was guarding Hongnong, and Yuwen Hu ordered Li Yuan and Li Zhi to return to the dynasty, and Li Yuan suspected that the imperial court had changed, and he muttered for a long time: "The eldest husband would rather be a loyal ghost than a traitor!" He was eventually called up.

After arriving in Chang'an, Yuwen Hu considered Li Yuangong's high esteem and wanted to save his life, so he summoned him to the front and said: "Your son is caught up in a conspiracy, not only to kill me, but also to subvert the society." We deserve to hate such traitors and thieves together, and you can make your own decisions. He then handed Li Zhi over to Li Yuan, hoping that he would execute Li Zhi privately.

Li Yuan has always loved Li Zhi, and Li Zhi has eloquence, and he vigorously argues that he is not involved in the conspiracy. Li Yuan thought his defense was credible, and the next morning Chao took Li Zhi to visit Yuwen Hu.

Yuwen Hu thought that Li Zhi had been executed, but the people around him told him that Li Zhi had also come to the door, and Yu Wen Hu was furious: "Yang Pinggong does not believe me!" So he summoned Li Yuan in, still let Li Yuan sit with him, and also let Yu Wenjue and Li Zhi confront each other in front of Li Yuan.

Li Zhizhi exhausted his words and said to Yuwen Jue: "My participation in the rebellion was originally to stabilize the society and benefit the authoritarian power of the Supreme Being. Today, I got to this point, what else is there to say! ”

Li Yuan listened intently and threw himself on the seat, "If this is the case, it is really a sin that deserves death!" As a result, Yuwen Hu killed Li Zhi and forced Li Yuan to commit suicide, and Li Zhi's younger brothers Li Shuyi, Li Shuqian, and Li Shurang were also killed, and Li Yuan's other sons were spared because of their young age.

More than a month later, Yuwen Hu killed Yuwen Jue, deposed the queen Yuanshi, and made her cut her hair as a nun.

On August 23, Yuwen Yu came to Chang'an from Qizhou, and the next day he took the throne and pardoned the world. At this time, only eight months had passed since Yuwen Jue ascended the throne as emperor, and the newborn Northern Zhou was doomed to be unstable.