Preface
In Chinese history, there is an emperor through the ages - Liu Yu. His life is full of legends, but it is also destined for him to become one of the most failed Togu in history.
After Liu Yu's death, he left behind a young son, however, his retainers chose a brutal theater to change the dynasty and depose the new emperor in the corner of history.
Why did Liu Yu, the founder of the country, choose the four ministers who assisted the crown prince when he was dying, and how did they depose and execute the young emperor in just one year?
1. The god of war, Tan Daoji
In 410 A.D., bandits were rampant in Jiangnan, and a bandit leader named Guo Jisheng gathered a large number of thieves who robbed the people and eyed them in the Zuotang area. At that time, the Eastern Jin Dynasty was in turmoil, and although Liu Yu had already grasped the actual power, he still needed to stabilize the situation in Jiangnan in order to consolidate his rule.
So, Liu Yu decided to send Tan Daoji, a young and promising general, to lead a detachment of divisions to suppress the bandits. Tan Daoji came from an ordinary background, but he showed outstanding military talent since he was a child. Under Liu Yu's appreciation and training, he rose all the way and made many achievements. This task of suppressing bandits was not a difficult task for him.
Sure enough, Tan Daoji attacked the city and plundered the land all the way, and soon completely annihilated Guo Jisheng's bandit army. Since then, he has established a great military exploit under Liu Yu. During the Northern Expedition to the Later Qin, Tan Daoji showed his skills. In the battle to conquer Luoyang, the Eastern Jin army captured 4,000 Later Qin soldiers.
It was suggested that they should all be executed, but Tan Daoji believed that the slaughter of the captives was immoral, so he released all the captives and left them to fend for themselves. This benevolent act shook the hearts of countless Later Qin soldiers and surrendered one after another. In the end, Tan Daoji conquered Tongguan and paved the way for Liu Yu to seize the world.
After Liu Yu ascended the throne, he naturally named this outstanding Tan Daoji as the general of Zhenbei and entrusted him with important tasks. As a new monarch from a humble background, Liu Yu was well aware of the importance of military strength, so he attached great importance to Tan Daoji.
And Tan Daoji has never lived up to Liu Yu's trust, and always stepped forward at critical moments to solve problems for Liu Yu. This god-of-war general is undoubtedly Liu Yu's most reliable right-hand man.
Second, the adviser Xie Hui
Unlike Tan Daoji, a general, Xie Hui is an excellent advisor. He has shown extraordinary resourcefulness since he was a child, and was praised by Liu Yu as a "jade man". In Qin's decision-making after the Northern Expedition, nine out of ten were made by Xie Hui. He is not only strategic, but also loyal to Liu Yu.
Once, Liu Yu was angry and ashamed of his son-in-law's death in battle, and decided to charge into battle himself. The generals were terrified, only Xie Hui stepped forward and hugged Liu Yu's legs, even if he was slammed by Liu Yu with the hilt of his sword, he was unmoved. It wasn't until the good news came from the front that Liu Yu gave up.
This desperate loyalty made Liu Yu treat Xie Hui differently. Liu Yu knew that although his martial arts were excellent, he was far inferior to Xie Hui in terms of strategy. Therefore, on his deathbed, he deliberately listed Xie Hui as an auxiliary minister and instructed the young prince Liu Yifu to guard against him.
Xie Hui is indeed a resourceful figure. Not only did he make strategic decisions, but he was also able to act decisively at critical moments to protect his monarch. Such a talent is naturally Liu Yu's most trusted courtier.
However, Xie Hui's loyalty also became his weakness. When the young Liu Yifu ascended the throne, he showed an extremely stubborn personality and did not listen to advice at all. Although Xie Hui and others persuaded many times, they only got Liu Yifu's anger. In the end, they had to join forces with Tan Daoji and others to overthrow the young and incompetent emperor.
3. Incompetence to assist
In addition to Tan Daoji and Xie Hui, two outstanding generals and advisers, Liu Yu also appointed Sikong Xu Xianzhi's monk and servant Fu Liang as auxiliary ministers. However, these two are really incompetent.
Xu Xianzhi is just good at managing contacts, and he is quite famous in the court. As for Fu Liang, it was only because he took the lead in making Emperor Jin Gong abdicate that he was reused. The two of them really don't have any real skills.
However, it is precisely because of their incompetence that this "troika" combination is more stable. Tan Daoji is both civil and military, Xie Hui is resourceful, and Xu Xianzhi and Fu Liang, two incompetent people who can balance the interests of all parties, seem to be an almost perfect combination.
The reason why Liu Yu chose such a combination is actually his consideration. As a new monarch, he knew that his position was not yet secure, so he needed a team with both military strength and strategic wisdom to assist him.
And incompetent people like Xu Xianzhi and Fu Liang can play a balancing role to prevent any one person from being too powerful and threatening their status. In this way, Liu Yu could safely focus on the external war and the internal rule without worrying about the internal power struggle.
He believes that as long as this team can operate stably, his country will be able to last for a long time. However, Liu Yu's decision is destined to be a complete mistake. The reason is that he was negligent in the education of the crown prince Liu Yifu.
Fourth, stubbornness
Liu Yifu has been arrogant and arrogant since he was a child, and his conduct is misconducted. Even when Liu Yu was seriously ill, he only cared about playing in the pool with the palace maids and eunuchs, and he didn't return home at night. This behavior naturally made Liu Yu very dissatisfied, so he called him to his side before he died and warned him to guard against Xie Hui and others.
However, Liu Yifu didn't listen at all. After ascending the throne, his behavior was even more unbridled. He opened a market in the palace, and he played the role of an official or a hawker to tease the palace maids and eunuchs. Whenever the ministers come to see each other, they have to pass through this market and mingle with the eunuchs and palace maids, which is naturally disgusting.
Xie Hui, Xu Xianzhi, and Fu Liang repeatedly admonished, but they only received Liu Yifu's anger. Once, Liu Yifu even expressed his desire to get rid of these three people to his close attendants. The three of them were naturally dissatisfied and secretly decided to depose Liu Yifu.
Such a young, incompetent, arrogant and domineering emperor is destined to find it difficult to win the support of his ministers. Not only was he unable to handle the government well, but he also often clashed with his assistant ministers. Such a situation will inevitably lead to internal power struggles.
Although Liu Yu put a lot of effort into choosing an assistant minister, he neglected the education of the crown prince. An heir with bad conduct and a lack of responsibility, even if there is an excellent support team, will inevitably be destroyed. This can be said to be the biggest mistake in Liu Yu's life.
Fifth, the rupture has been made
Just when the relationship between Liu Yifu and the auxiliary ministers was deteriorating, the war in the north was urgent. Tan Daoji led the army to the rescue and asked Liu Yifu for support many times, but was ignored by Liu Yifu. The transportation of money and grain was blocked, and Tan Daoji was greatly enraged.
Xu Xianzhi took the opportunity to test Tan Daoji's opinion, and Tan Daoji expressed his support without hesitation. It turned out that in Liu Yu's deathbed entrustment, he was already wary of the ambitions of Xie Hui and others. Now seeing Liu Yifu's incompetence, coupled with his own military strength, he also decided to join the ranks of overthrowing Liu Yifu.
As a result, the four assistants broke up. On the one hand, there are Xie Hui, Xu Xianzhi, and Fu Liang, who have lost trust in Liu Yifu and are determined to depose the young and incompetent emperor, and on the other hand, Tan Daoji, although he is also dissatisfied with Liu Yifu, still hopes to be able to maintain Liu Yu's country.
Such a situation is destined to trigger a fierce power struggle. No one can predict what the final outcome will be. But what is certain is that no matter what the victory or defeat, Liu Yu's country is already in jeopardy.
Sixth, it ended gloomily
In the second year of Jingping, the four assistants finally led troops into the palace and deposed Liu Yifu. Soon the emperor, who was only seventeen years old, was secretly executed. From the accession to the throne to the downfall, it was only one year.
The result of this coup d'état was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Liu Yu. As a generation of heroes, he has been fighting for the world all his life. But in the end, his country was shattered by an uneducated heir.
The reason why Liu Yu chose Liu Yifu as his heir is actually his consideration. As a new monarch, he knew that his position was not yet secure, so he needed a team with both military strength and strategic wisdom to assist him.
Although Liu Yifu is young, he is his own son after all, and he believes that through the assistance of this team, he will be able to cultivate a virtuous monarch. However, Liu Yu neglected to educate Liu Yifu.
This young man has been arrogant and domineering since he was a child, and he has no sense of responsibility and cultivation at all. Even with an excellent support team, it is difficult to reverse his stubborn character. In the end, the team instead became a tool to overthrow Liu Yifu.
epilogue
Life is like chess, and you must be cautious in every step. A generation of heroes finally lost their chess because of one move, and their country went bankrupt.
The enlightenment of this history is that parents should attach importance to the education of their children, and should not only care about career achievements and ignore the cultivation of their children; even the first emperor of the ages will inevitably make mistakes in the selection of heirs.
Let us work together to build a better tomorrow and let the lessons of history become the driving force for us to move forward. Only in this way will we be able to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and create a more brilliant future.