In the last few months of his life, Gao Huan, a generation of heroes and the actual controller of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, dragged his sick body and led an army of more than 100,000 to besiege Yubi City in the Western Wei Dynasty (now southwest of Jishan, Shanxi).
The Eastern Wei army besieged it for 50 days, but the city could not be captured. The number of soldiers killed in battle and from disease was as high as 70,000. Gao Huan was angry in his heart, for more than ten years, he had fought four or five battles with his sworn enemy and the actual operator of the Western Wei Dynasty, Yu Wentai, with several times the strength of the other party, and the result was more defeats and fewer victories, so he could only watch the Western Wei slowly sit down.
Suddenly, a meteor fell in the Eastern Wei military camp, and all the donkeys began to grow, and the soldiers were frightened. Gao Huan's mount was also frightened, stumbled, and threw him off his horse.
The Eastern Wei army retreated. In the cold wind, Gao Huan, who fell ill, returned to his base camp Jinyang (Taiyuan).
At this time, the Western Wei spread rumors that its general Wei Xiaokuan, who defended the city, had shot Gao Huan to death, so as to break the hearts of the Eastern Wei people.
In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Gao Huan forcibly dragged the sick body and appeared in public to refute the rumors. At the meeting with the military nobles, Gao Huan specially asked his general Hu Lujin to sing the "Song of the Emperor", and he himself sang along:
Eilechuan, under the Yin Mountain.
The sky is like a dome, covering the four wildernesses.
天苍苍,野茫茫。
The wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep low.
Singing and singing, Gao Huan was in tears.
More than a month later, this heroic figure of the Northern and Southern Dynasties came to the end of his life. When Gao Huan died, he happened to encounter a solar eclipse, and he said: "The eclipse is me?
The year was 547 A.D., only 30 years before the unification of northern China and 42 years after the unification of the Sui Dynasty. However, the triumph of history came at the cost of the fall of the dynasty established by the Gao Huan family.
Victory does not belong to this proud and mad family.
All the foreshadowing has been laid when Gao Huan was alive. It's just that he doesn't realize that he is both the one who achieves and buries the entire family.
小兵成长史
Troubled times produce heroes. The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were the most chaotic period in Chinese history, and it was also a period of simultaneous rise of many heroes.
In the twenties of the sixth century, with the Six Towns Uprising crushing the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Wuren group began to dominate the direction of history.
Er Zhurong was the first to gain power, and once controlled the real power of the Northern Wei Dynasty, but in the end he only became a meteor of that era. The "Twin Stars" that really influenced history rose under the command of Er Zhurong - Gao Huan and Yu Wentai, these two people later rose to become the "Twin Stars" who controlled northern China, and they were also fierce rivals for most of each other's lives.
Although history finally took the Western Wei-Northern Zhou-Sui Dynasty laid the foundation of the Yuwentai family as the unified export during the period of China's Great Division, it is said that Gao Huan's career was earlier than Yuwentai, and his strength was stronger than Yuwentai. Therefore, the story of Gao Huan and his family is essentially a story of saving a good hand, but playing a good hand badly.
Gao Huan's starting point is actually very low. Historical records say that he was originally from Bohai County (now Jing County, Hebei), but some scholars say that this was just a "fake scholar" in order to form an alliance with the wealthy people in Hebei, and that he was not from the Han nationality, but from the Xianbei or Goryeo people.
According to the official history, Gao Huan's grandfather Gao Mi, an official to the Northern Wei Dynasty, was exiled to Huaishuo Town (now Guyang South, Inner Mongolia) for breaking the law.
Huaishuo Town is one of the six towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The Six Towns were the backbone of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the Six Towns Warrior Group once held a high status. However, since the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital from Pingcheng (Datong) to Luoyang, the function of the six towns to defend the capital was greatly weakened, so that the selection of military generals was very arbitrary, which laid the foundation of the Six Towns Uprising in the future. The Six Towns even became a place of exile for some degraded officials, and Gao Mi came to Huaishuo Town for this reason.
When Gao Huan was born, his family had lived in Huaishuo Town for three generations, "the north of the world, so he learned his customs, and then became Xianbei", becoming a Xianbei Han people. Gao Huan has a Xianbei name, called "He Liuhun".
Gao Huan is the lowest person in the Six Towns, and he was the first to be a border soldier, specifically responsible for standing guard at the city gate. He is handsome and talented, but he cannot be promoted, because according to the rules, to be a small leader - the condition of the team owner is that you must have a war horse of your own. His family was poor and couldn't buy a war horse.
The handsomeness inherited by the family has become his invisible capital at this time. It is said that when he was standing guard, he was taken by Lou Shi, the daughter of a local Xianbei wealthy clan passing by, and the two soon got married, and Gao Huan relied on his wife's bride price to buy a war horse, and finally became the leader of the team, achieving the first rise in social class.
Subsequently, Gao Huan became a signal soldier, traveling back and forth between the six towns and the capital Luoyang. His eyes were suddenly opened.
According to the "Northern History", after Gao Huan once returned to Huaishuo Town from Luoyang, he "poured production to settle customers". Relatives and friends expressed puzzlement about his sudden disbursement of wealth and making friends, is it because your wife's property is not fragrant?
Gao Huan said that I happened to meet the rebel of the forbidden army in Luoyang, and directly burned down their leader's house, and the court didn't dare to say a word. Is there any hope for such a court? What is the use of guarding property?
The keen Gao Huan foresaw the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty from a turmoil. History books say that he has had the ambition to clarify the world from then on. Although he was only a petty officer at this time, the dream still had to be had, what if it came true?
Soon, Gao Huan, who is "light on wealth and heavy on people", made many friends of the same class and created a promising circle of friends.
Like him, these people were all low-level officers or officials in Huaishuo Town, but they expected each other, "Be rich and noble, don't forget each other." As long as there was nothing to do in the army, they would gather together, or drink highly, or go out hunting, as if they were a small group.
Among them were Sima Ziru, Liu Gui, Sun Teng, Hou Jing, Wei Jing and others, who later basically became Gao Huan's left arm and right arm to achieve hegemony, and were called "Gao Huan's Seven Friends".
From Er Zhurong to Gao Huan
In 524 AD, the Six Towns Rebellion broke out, and the power structure of the Northern Wei Dynasty was reconfigured.
Gao Huan entered the Hebei region with the downgrading of the six towns. After the Northern Wei Dynasty suppressed the Six Towns Uprising, more than 200,000 children of the Six Towns were moved into Hebei in order to control it, but in fact the whole situation was out of control.
Among the martial arts groups such as Du Luozhou, Ge Rong, and Er Zhurong, Gao Huan finally chose to defect to Er Zhurong after being recommended by his friend Liu Gui.
When Er Zhurong saw Gao Huan for the first time, he had no good impression of this broken kid who was only 3 years younger than him. Until one time, Gao Huan followed Er Zhurong to the stable, and there happened to be a fierce horse making trouble inside. Er Zhurong asked Gao Huan to tame it. Gao Huan made the fierce horse obedient in three or two clicks, and his skills were calm and skillful, and he said to Er Zhurong: "You have to do the same to deal with the wicked." ”
Er Zhurong was quite shocked and began to realize that Gao Huan was a master, so he invited him into the room and asked him to express his views on current affairs.
Gao Huan asked Er Zhurong, what do you want to do with so many horses?
Erzhurong said, you just have to say what you mean.
Gao Huan said, if there is chaos today, but this is your time. As long as you play the banner of "Qingjun's side" and raise troops in the name of crusading against the ministers, the hegemony can be whipped. That's what I mean by He Liuhun.
Erzhu Rong Dayue.
The two talked from noon to midnight.
Since then, Gao Huan has become Er Zhurong's chief military advisor and confidant. Er Zhurong once publicly said that the only person who could replace him to lead the whole army was He Liuhun (Gao Huan).
In the process of Er Zhurong's domination of the north, Gao Huan and his old friends made a lot of efforts. Er Zhurong's rival Ge Rong was captured by Gao Huan's friend Hou Jingsheng.
In 530 AD, Er Zhurong entered Luoyang with only his personal retinue, and was assassinated and killed by Emperor Xiaozhuang of the Northern Wei Dynasty. After the death of a generation of heroes, his army was in the hands of his cousin Zhu Zhao.
But Gao Huan no longer wants to "work" for the Erzhu family. He is no longer interested in being a professional manager, he wants to start his own business.
He took aim at the army that had been incorporated by Erzhurong after Ge Rong's defeat. This army was mainly composed of Huaishuo townspeople, and although Erzhurong was surrendered, it was often bullied by the descendants of the Erzhu family. After Er Zhurong's death, Gao Huan called on him with his fellow villagers on the one hand, and on the other hand, he falsely claimed that "Er Zhuzhao wants to treat you as slaves".
Er Zhuzhao, who had just hanged Emperor Xiaozhuang and mastered the politics of the Northern Wei Dynasty, had a headache for the rebellion-addicted Six Towns Surrender Army, so he asked Gao Huan for advice. Gao Huan took the opportunity to say, you just need to choose a confidant to lead the six towns to surrender the troops, and if there is a rebellion, just ask the generals for their crimes, and you can't kill a large number of soldiers every time.
Erzhu Zhao asked, who can be the commander well?
He Bayun, who was drinking with him at the time, hurriedly said: I think Gao Huan is very good.
Gao Huan pretended to be angry, got up and punched He Bayun's front teeth to the ground, and scolded: "When the king of Taiyuan (Er Zhurong) was alive, he did whatever he wanted, but now that the king of Taiyuan is dead, everything in the world is up to the king (Er Zhuzhao)." What are you, the king didn't speak, and it was your turn to say anything!"
Er Zhuzhao was very moved, and took advantage of the wine to announce Gao Huan as the commander of the troops surrendered to the six towns.
Gao Huan was overjoyed in his heart, worried that Er Zhuzhao would regret it after waking up, so he hurriedly rushed out of the camp and announced to everyone: "I am ordered to command the troops of the six towns, and they will all go to Fendong to receive my orders." ”
In a very short period of time, the troops of the six towns were assembled under Gao Huan.
Since then, Gao Huan finally started from scratch and has an army of his own. Shi Zai Gao Huan is deep and good at scheming. Sure enough, it lives up to its name.
But Gao Huan wants to break away from Er Zhu Zhao and fight against him, and his strength is still too weak. The method he adopted was to form an alliance with the Hao clans in the Hebei region. At that time, the wealthy clans of Hebei, such as the Bohai Gao clan, the Zhaojun Li clan, the Fanyang Lu clan, etc., had their own private armed forces for self-protection in troubled times. In the turbulent years, these wealthy armed forces gradually developed into an integrated and stabilizing force for social order.
When Gao Huan left Fukou (Fukou, one of the eight Taihang mines, located in the Fengfeng Mining Area of Handan City, Hebei Province), he ordered his subordinates to "double the restraint, the slightest thing, and not listen to the violation". Passing by the wheat field, he personally led the war horse on foot, and all the soldiers saw this, all of them abided by the military order, and everywhere they passed, there was no offense in autumn. These details are in stark contrast to the erzhu family's brutality in governing the army and their hatred of the Han people. As a result, Gao Huan won the favor of the two wealthy clans of Bohai Gao and Zhaojun Li, and the alliance with the armed forces of the Hebei Hao clan was initially formed.
In the process of "starting a business", Gao Huan integrated marriage, friends, township, alliance and other forces, slowly saved a good hand, and formed his own political and military group. Subsequently, he officially broke with the Erzhu clan.
After two decisive battles, in 533 AD, Erzhu Zhao was defeated and committed suicide, and the Erzhu clan, which had controlled the Northern Wei dynasty for seven years, completely collapsed.
Gao Huan personally buried Erzhu Zhaohou, and then entered Luoyang and set up a new emperor, that is, Emperor Xiaowu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Yuan Xiu. After Emperor Xiaowu ascended the throne, he named Gao Huan as the prime minister and the prince.
The power of the Northern Wei Dynasty was in fact in the hands of Gao Huan.
This year, Gao Huan was 38 years old, and the hegemony was achieved.
The aftermath of Gao Huan's hegemony
For Gao Huan, the next history is just the aftermath of his own hegemony.
Gao Huan regarded Emperor Xiaowu as a puppet, but Emperor Xiaowu regarded himself as a real king, and the contradictions between the two sides were on the verge of breaking out.
In 534 AD, Emperor Xiaowu pretended to be the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Expedition and frequently dispatched troops. When Gao Huan heard the wind, he felt bad, and quickly mobilized an army of 200,000, and also used the southern expedition to the Liang Dynasty as an excuse to march from Jinyang to Luoyang.
Emperor Xiaowu was unable to resist and hurriedly defected to Guanzhong, becoming a political hole card for Yuwentai to stand on his own feet and fight against Gao Huan. And when Emperor Xiaowu's political function was completed, he was killed by Yuwentai at the beginning of the second year. Maybe he didn't understand until he died that Yuwentai was a Gao Huan who was more deeply hidden.
During this period, Gao Huan and Yu Wentai successively established members of the Yuan royal family as emperors, and the Northern Wei Dynasty was divided into Eastern and Western Wei.
▲The Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Western Wei Dynasty, and the Liang Dynasty were established. Base map: Historical Atlas of China
Gao Huan chose Yuan Shanjian, who was only 11 years old, the great-grandson of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, as Emperor Xiaojing, and moved the capital from Luoyang to Yecheng. At this time, Emperor Xiaojing became a real puppet emperor, and all military and political affairs were under the Prime Minister's Mansion of Jinyang.
Since Er Zhurong, he has been sitting in Jinyang as the "King of Taiyuan" and controlling the imperial court remotely. Gao Huan inherited Er Zhurong's political legacy, and continued to use Jinyang, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, as a political and military base. At the same time, he moved the six town sergeants from Hebei to Bingzhou and Fenzhou to defend Jinyang.
Gao Huan himself lived in Jinyang for a long time, and only sent his henchmen to manage the government in Yecheng. He and his son Gao Cheng began a 16-year reign in Jinyang.
Historian Michio Tanigawa argues that the Ye-Jinyang dual capital system is a manifestation of the coexistence of the old dynasty that maintained its authority and the emerging warlord power. The process of the hegemonic rule of Gao Huan's father and son is a process of constantly overcoming the old authority with power, constantly strengthening the new authority, and gradually generating a new regime from the old regime.
However, like Cao Cao and Sima Yi, Gao Huan only became the uncrowned king, and did not touch the work of changing the dynasty within reach. It was their son who pierced the layer of window paper.
After Gao Huan took control of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, his main energy was on how to annex the Western Wei Dynasty operated by his old rival Yu Wentai. This ambitious plan met with strong resistance from the Western Wei Dynasty and made no progress. For more than 10 years, in the four or five major battles in which the two sides fought head-to-head, the Eastern Wei Dynasty vainly occupied the advantage of military strength and national strength, but lost more and won less. Even 30 years after Gao Huan's death, Gao Qi was swallowed up by Yuwen Zhou.
Why?
From the analysis of the Gao family itself, the Gao Huan period planted two thunders for the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi - the Hu-Han contradiction and corruption.
Two mines were buried
At the beginning of the business, in order to develop and grow, Gao Huan formed an alliance with the Hebei Hao clan and took some measures to integrate Hu and Han. However, when the Eastern Wei regime steadily controlled the Hebei region, Gao Huan began to suppress the Han people, making the Hebei family only play a supporting role in the Eastern Wei-Northern Qi political arena. This is in strong contrast with Yuwentai's practice of absorbing local wealthy families in Guanzhong to build the Guanlong Military Meritorious Group and build the Huhan community.
The two heroes of the same era, in terms of the fundamental attitude towards Xianbei and Sinicization, determine who can be finally chosen by history.
Gao Huan certainly knew that in that era, national contradictions could determine the survival of a country. Therefore, in the actual process of rule, he always used the image of "duplicity" to reconcile the national issue.
When he ordered the sergeant, he said to the Xianbei people of the six towns: "The Han people are your slaves, the husband is your ploughing, the woman is your weaving, you lose your silk, so that you have food and clothing, what are you a mausoleum?"
And to the Han people, he changed his words and said: "Xianbei is your guest, you get a piece of corn and a silk, for you to fight thieves, make you peaceful, why are you sick?"
In fact, this "ingenious" gesture cannot hide the exploitation and discrimination of the Han people by the Gao Huan military and political clique. In history, in the Eastern Wei Dynasty and Northern Qi Dynasty, "Xianbei Gongqing Chinese Dynastymen".
Gao Aocao was born in the Bohai Gao clan, known for his bravery and good fighting, and was entrusted by Gao Huan to the position of the governor. But in the political arena of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, Gao Aocao often felt uncomfortable. One day, Liu Gui, one of the "Seven Friends of Gao Huan", was with Gao Aocao, and someone came in to report that many people had drowned in the river. Liu Gui replied: "A money man, and then die." (Han people are not worth a penny, and when they die, they die.) Gao Aocao was furious when he heard this, and pulled out his knife to cut Liu Gui. Liu Gui was so frightened that he ran out of the barracks, and after Hou Jing and others lifted the siege, the matter calmed down.
Gao Huan himself didn't trust the Han people, and he didn't feel at ease with Gao Aocao, afraid that his army would be full of Han people, so he deliberately arranged more than 1,000 Xianbei soldiers for him to "mix sand". Before he died, he specially explained to his son Gao Cheng who was a Xianbei person and who was a Ele person, these people "will never live up to you", and who is a Han person, these people may have different intentions.
Gao Huan passed on his closed national concept to the next generation, which made the Xianbei of the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi Dynasty go against the general trend of national integration and come to an end in the continuous infighting.
Corruption was also the catalyst for the collapse of the Gao family's regime, and Gao Huan connived at and witnessed the spread of corruption during his lifetime.
In history, Gao Huan himself is "not still beautiful", "elegant and frugal", his sword saddle, and there is no gold and jade ornament. But the circle of friends and marriage circles who started a business with him back then did not have this kind of self-control. After the hegemony was established, these people became nobles, greedy and bribed, debauchery, and betrayal, as if it were commonplace. "Zizhi Tongjian" records, "Sun Teng, Sima Ziru, Gao Yue, Gao Longzhi, all (Gao) Huan's pro-party, entrusted to the government, Ye Zhong is called the four nobles, their power scorched China and foreign countries, and the rate is arrogant and greedy." ”
Wei Jing is one of the "Seven Friends of Gao Huan" and Gao Huan's brother-in-law. This person is extremely greedy, whether in the center or in the locality, he is a bribe-soliciting man, and has no sense of shame. Gao Huan reminded him not to go too far, but Wei Jing turned a deaf ear.
Once, Gao Huan had a party with several relatives. During the banquet, Gao Huan's brother-in-law, Di Gan, suddenly asked to serve as a lieutenant of the imperial history. At that time, Di Gan had been promoted to Taibao and Taifu, and Gao Huan asked him why he wanted to be a discipline inspection junior official. Di Digan said that he would arrest Wei Jing and punish him. Gao Huan smiled.
However, in the face of Gao Huan's admonition, Wei Jing always had a heartfelt word: "I will stop people from taking it and cut off the tune of the son of heaven." "You are even "greedy" for the emperor's whole world, and my greed is nothing at all. Gao Huan could only laugh and not answer.
Seeing that the atmosphere of the Eastern Wei Dynasty was damaged by these heroes and nobles, but Gao Huan turned a blind eye, people of insight in the court smelled the crisis. Du Bi stated to Gao Huan the necessity of anti-corruption, hoping to attract attention.
Who knew that Gao Huan put out a sword and lance array, and the soldiers on both sides held knives and lances, led bows, and ordered Du Bi to pass through the middle. After Du Bi left, he was so frightened that he sweated. Gao Huan laughed and said: "Although the arrow does not shoot, although the knife does not strike, although the lance does not stab, you are still dead and courageous." The lords are guilty of sharp crimes, and they die for a hundred lives, although they are greedy, and those who take are great, how can they be the same as ordinary people. ”
Anyway, in Gao Huan's view, the honorable and corrupt are the rewards they deserve after risking their lives to fight the world. He only asked the nobles to remain politically loyal to him and his family, and to let everything else go.
Not only that, Gao Huan has an even more bizarre reason to condone corruption. He once said to Du Bi that corruption is a problem left over from history, and now that the three kingdoms are separated, if I strictly fight corruption, I will force the heroes and generals to defect to Yuwentai in Guanzhong, or Xiao Yan in the south.
Judging from Gao Huan's theory of defending corruption, although he can be called a master of scheming and achieving hegemony from scratch in the turbulent times, his political vision is still very limited, and his ability to govern the country is relatively lacking. It's okay to be a reckless big brother, and you can let the brothers below live a life of doing whatever they want, but being a leader of a country needs to be trained.
Gao Huan has been fighting on the front line for a long time, and the external war has covered up the internal troubles, however, his sons will soon have to face the chaos of the country he left behind.
Founder of the Gaoqi Dynasty
In 547 AD, 52-year-old Gao Huan died of illness. His eldest son, Gao Cheng, controlled the Eastern Wei regime as a general and a great general. However, the transfer of power to the second generation did not go well.
Before Gao Huan died, he foresaw that Hou Jing might rebel. As one of the "Seven Friends of Gao Huan", Hou Jing has always been obedient to Gao Huan. Gao Huan also trusted this fierce general very much, "so that he has 100,000 troops and dominates Henan", so that he can concentrate on using troops in Western Wei. The history books say that Gao Huan wrote a letter to Hou Jing, and the sentences used were like adding a password, which only the two of them could read, even Gao Huan's sons couldn't read it.
But Hou Jing served Gao Huan, but he did not accept Gao Huan's son.
After the two sides lost the basis of mutual trust, Hou Jing led his army to surrender to the Liang Dynasty and formed an alliance with the Liang Dynasty to counterattack the Eastern Wei.
Gao Cheng is worthy of being Gao Huan's son, or in other words, Gao Huan's sons have inherited Gao Huan's genius of strategy. In a very unfavorable situation, Gao Cheng used a counter-trick to disintegrate the relationship between Hou Jing and the Liang Dynasty, and successfully led Hou Jing's disaster to the Liang Dynasty. In the end, the "Hou Jing Rebellion" broke out in the territory of the Liang Dynasty, which shook the north and south, and the Liang Dynasty became weak, while the Eastern and Western Wei took advantage of the situation.
After Gao Cheng stabilized the situation, he stepped up the pace of self-reliance on behalf of Wei. Emperor Xiaojing of the Eastern Wei Dynasty gradually lost his personal freedom, and was often insulted by Gao Cheng as a "dog's foot".
In 549, Gao Cheng arrived in Yecheng and conspired with his cronies on the affairs of the Chan Dynasty. Who knew that history played a big joke on him, just when everything was ready for Wei to stand on his own, a cook (food slave) assassinated Gao Cheng, who had a very high political talent.
Gao Cheng was stabbed, and the hegemony of the Gao family may be subverted. At this time, Gao Yang, who was regarded as a "fool" by family members since he was a child, made a move.
Gao Yang is Gao Cheng's younger brother. Unlike Gao Cheng, who has shown extraordinary wisdom since he was a child, Gao Yang seems very stupid and is often ridiculed by Gao Cheng. Even their mother Lou Zhaojun looked down on Gao Yang, and later heard that Gao Yang also wanted to seek self-reliance, and openly objected, saying, your father is like a dragon, your brother is like a tiger, they haven't done it, what are you, and you are also worthy?
Only Gao Huan saw that Gao Yang was different before his death, and once said to people: "I have realized it here." ”
After Gao Yang was pushed to the front desk, he immediately seemed to be a different person, calm and sophisticated, and released a few big moves in a row, stabilizing the political situation of the Eastern Wei Dynasty in one fell swoop:
Calm people's hearts - Gao Yang secretly did not mourn, concealed the truth that Gao Cheng was dead, and declared to the outside world that Gao Cheng was just injured;
Control of Jinyang - After quelling the rebellion and dealing with the assassins, Gao Yang left his cronies to guard Yecheng and led his team to Jinyang to firmly control the political and military base of the Eastern Wei Dynasty;
Change of Decree - After arriving in Jinyang to stabilize the political situation, Gao Yang immediately summoned Jinyang's former ministers and generals and announced the adjustment of some of Gao Cheng's outdated policies in order to establish his personal authority.
Emperor Xiaojing originally thought that Gao Cheng was dead, and Providence wanted to restore the authority of Yuan Wei, and he also wanted to make some moves. As a result, a more ruthless corner came, and he was suddenly suppressed to death.
Although Gao Yang's mother, Lou Zhaojun, opposed her son's practice of the Chan dynasty, Gao Yang ascended to the throne in 550 AD, the second year of his reign, and became the controversial Emperor Wenxuan of Qi. From Gao Huan's control of the Northern Wei Dynasty in 533, after 17 years of hard work by two generations and three people, the Gao family finally replaced the Yuan family and established the Northern Qi Dynasty.
▲The image of Gao Yang in film and television dramas. Source: Film and television stills
After the establishment of the Gao Qi dynasty, Gao Yang showed amazing political and military genius. He carried out a series of reforms, "pay attention to political skills, and use the law to control the subordinates", which greatly strengthened the imperial power and made achievements in the system, law, and economy. He reorganized the army, selected brave and warlike Xianbei men to serve as the central guard, under his own command, and selected brave and martial men from among the Han Chinese to serve as border guards.
Soon after the founding of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Yuwentai led his troops to cross the Yellow River eastward, and Gao Yang led the new army he personally formed to meet the battle. In history, Yuwentai saw that the Northern Qi army was full of glory, and exclaimed: "Gao Huan is immortal!" After that, the military strength of the Northern Qi once surpassed that of the Western Wei and Northern Zhou.
At this time, everyone found out that the "fool" in their eyes was just pretending to be crazy and stupid to avoid the suspicion of their eldest brother Gao Cheng. In terms of political ability, Gao Yang is not below Gao Cheng, and in terms of political character cultivation such as enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens, Taoguang and cultivating obscurity, Gao Yang is obviously stronger than Gao Cheng. Therefore, the unfinished cause of changing the dynasty of his father and brother was finally completed in the hands of Gao Yang.
However, after bringing the Northern Qi Dynasty to a height, the founding emperor, known as the "Heroic Son of Heaven", completely let go of himself and released the evil of the family and human nature - indulgence, incest, alcoholism, indiscriminate killing, infighting, and the Hu-Han contradictions and corruption left by Gao Huan, all problems broke out together, making the Northern Qi Dynasty a notorious "dynasty of beasts" in history.
▲The ruins of Xiangtang Mountain Changle Temple. Source: Picture Worm Creative
Alcoholism, fornication, and power struggles
Gao Yang reigned for 10 years, and did many absurd and evil things in the later period, so much so that the Tang Dynasty historian Li Baiyao said in the "History of the Northern Qi Dynasty" that Gao Yang was the king of "lewd and violent".
Some historians now point out that the contrast between Gao Yang and before and after may stem from the psychotic inheritance of Gao Huan's family. Not only Gao Yang, but almost all the emperors of the Northern Qi Dynasty had similar manifestations of psychopathy.
Specifically, the spiritual temperament of the Gao Huan family is manifested as martial arts, alcoholism and lust, high IQ, and lack of emotional intelligence.
Gao Huan's children and grandchildren all have outstanding military talents, and Gao Yang often charges on the battlefield, taking the lead and performing very bravely. But on the other hand, he also inherited his father's love of drinking. Gao Huan "rarely drinks dramatically", but his self-control is very good, and after doing big things, he will drink no more than three glasses. Gao Yang, on the other hand, often indulged in alcohol and wantonness, and in the late period of his reign, he only drank and did not eat, and finally died of excessive drinking at the age of 34.
Judging from historical records, Gao Yang often showed murderous and promiscuous behaviors after drinking, and historians believe that this was a manifestation of psychotic episodes. For example, Du Bi and Gao Dezheng, the important ministers of the Northern Qi Dynasty, were killed by Gao Yang under the pretext of drunkenness. Du Bi and Gao Dezheng have repeatedly admonished Gao Yang to "govern the country with Han people", and the entire Gao family and Xianbei Xungui have always despised and suppressed the Han people, so they are very angry with such advice. With the help of alcohol, Gao Yang wanted to solve this contradiction once and for all in his confusion.
After sobering up, Gao Yang always regretted his indiscriminate killing. This kind of regret that does not help can just show that he is a schizophrenic.
The wine is one, and fornication is also a pathology of the Gao Huan family. Gao Huan himself is a wife. In addition to Lou Zhaojun and Princess Rouran, after he took control of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, he successively collected the concubines of the Yuan Wei clan such as Emperor Xiaozhuang of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Empress Xiaoer Zhu of Emperor Jianming, Princess Zheng Dache of Wei Guangping, and Princess Feng of Rencheng.
In this regard, Gao Huan's sons are better than their fathers.
Gao Cheng successively had an affair with his father Gao Huan's two concubines. At the age of 14, he had an affair with his father's concubine Zheng Dache and was almost deposed, and later had an affair with his father's concubine, Princess Rouran, and gave birth to a daughter. He also raped the wife of the Eastern Wei general Gao Shen, causing Gao Shen to defect to the Western Wei Dynasty and triggering the Battle of Bishan between the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasty.
Not only that, Gao Cheng also molested and raped his second brother Gao Yang's wife Li Zu'e many times.
This incident greatly stimulated Gao Yang, so Gao Yang became the emperor and openly raped Gao Cheng's wife Yuan. When raping Yuan's family, Gao Yang said bluntly: "My brother raped my wife in the past, and I must report it now." ”
The same thing was done by Gao Huan's other son, Gao Zhan, the fourth emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty. During Gao Zhan's reign, he forced rape of his second sister-in-law Li Zu'e and threatened her: "If you don't allow it, I will kill Er'er." In order to protect her son, Li Zu'e had to obey. In addition, Gao Zhan also raped Emperor Qi Xiaozhao's queen and sixth sister-in-law Yuan.
Only between Gao Huan's father and son for two generations, incest has been messed up.
What's even more perverted is that Gao Yang and Gao Zhan also gathered people to fornicate.
In history, Gao Yang once said that "Gao's women have no relatives, and they all make the left and right promiscuous". During Gao Zhan's reign, he recruited Gao Yang's concubines and the daughters of several heroes into the palace and publicly prostituted them.
Historians have been trying to explain the incest and lascivious behavior of the Gao royal family. It is generally believed that the Gao family considers itself a Xianbei person and is very reluctant to the Sinicization reform, so it does not have the Gangchang ethics advocated by Confucian culture in its concept, but regards the Xianbei ethnic customs such as marrying a younger brother and daughter-in-law and accepting a widow and sister-in-law as a normal thing. In addition, the Gao family may have a family genetic disease, which leads to their character defects, and they are prone to make pathological behaviors that are difficult for normal people to understand.
And hidden behind the eroticism of drunkenness and fornication is the ruthlessness and murder within this family.
When Gao Huan was alive, he consciously or unconsciously trained his sons in ruthless and ruthless power arts. When he was seriously ill, he saw Gao Cheng's face with a worried face, so he asked why? Before Gao Cheng could answer, he asked again, Are you worried that Hou Jing will rebel after I die? Gao Cheng actually replied, yes. Between father and son, they care more about political power struggle than about human affection.
After Gao Yang established the Northern Qi Dynasty, he faced the same dilemma as his brother Gao Cheng: he needed members of the clan and Huaishuo nobles to maintain military and political rule, but he also feared that the expansion of their power would pose a threat to imperial power.
One of the main tasks of Gao Yang's later reign was to focus on suppressing the kings of the clan, hoping to clear the way for his son to succeed to the throne. He successively forced his uncle, Gao Yue, the king of Qinghe, and his two younger brothers, Gao Jun, the king of Shangdang, and Gao Jun, the king of Yong'an, to death for various reasons.
In 559, after Gao Yang's violent death, he was succeeded by his son Gao Yin.
In the second year, Gao Yin's two uncles, Gao Yan and Gao Zhan, united with Huaishuo Xungui Hu Lujin and others to launch a coup d'état and depose Gao Yin. And the reason for their coup d'état was still under the banner of the division between Hu and Han, saying that they were worried that Yang Su, an auxiliary minister from the Hongnong Yang family, would monopolize the power of the court and threaten the interests of the Xianbei people, so they directly killed him.
But once Gao Yan and Gao Zhan came to power respectively, they all used scholars or people from humble backgrounds to contain the royal family and Huaishuo nobles and strengthen the imperial power.
In round after round of infighting, the clan and the nobles were slaughtered.
In 563, Emperor Gao Zhan of Qi killed Gao Cheng's eldest son, Gao Xiaoyu, the king of Henan.
In 566, Gao Zhan killed Gao Cheng's third son, Gao Xiaowan, the king of Hejian.
In 568, Gao Zhan, like his brother Gao Yang, died of excessive drinking.
Three years later, in 571, his two sons, Gao Wei, the successor of the Empress of Qi, and Gao Yan, the evil king of Lang, met each other with the support of their respective forces, and Gao Yan was defeated and killed.
In 572, at the instigation of Zu Ting, Lu Lingxuan and other cronies, Gao Wei booby-trapped Hu Luguang, the most powerful of the Huaishuo nobles, and exterminated Hu Luguang in the name of rebellion.
In 573, Gao Changgong, the last famous general of the Gao royal family and the king of Lanling, caused Gao Wei's suspicion because he said that "state affairs are family affairs", and immediately gave him poisoned wine and ordered him to commit suicide.
▲The image of Gao Changgong in film and television dramas. Source: Film and television stills
Three years later, the Northern Zhou gathered the strength of the whole country to attack the Northern Qi. The Northern Qi, which had already destroyed the Great Wall, was defeated in the decisive battle.
In 577, the Northern Qi dynasty, which had been established for 28 years, fell to the outside world, and the Northern Zhou unified northern China.
The 40,000 families of the sons and daughters of the Northern Qi Xungui who guarded Jinyang were forced to move to Guanzhong by the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the once-prominent Gao family, together with the Huaishuo Xungui group, then disappeared into the smoke and clouds of history.
For the next 300 years, no matter how the dynasty changed, the Guanlong Military Meritorious Group, built by the Yuwentai family, always dominated China's political situation. In contrast, the Gao Huan family and its military and political clique completely faded out of the historical narrative, except in Tang poems as a negative image of fornication and exile:
If you fall in love with each other, you will die, and you will be hurt by the thorns.
The little pity jade body is lying in the night, and it has been reported to Zhou Shi to enter Jinyang.
——Li Shangyin, "Two Songs of Northern Qi" (Part 1)
This famous poem satirizes Gao Wei, the queen of Qi, saying that he thinks that his concubine Feng Xiaolian is a peerless stunner, and he must let the ministers appreciate Feng Xiaolian's jade body together. So, he chose a night and let Feng Xiaolian lie naked on the court for the minister to open his eyes. At this moment of absurdity, the army of the Northern Zhou Dynasty had already broken through Jinyang, the military and political center of the Northern Qi Dynasty and the old nest of the Gao family.
How ironic poetry is, how absurd history is. Perhaps, we can say that the death of the Northern Qi Dynasty was due to the madness of the Gao family.
At the end of the full text, thank you for your patience in reading, and let me know that you are reading~
Bibliography:
Li Baiyao, Book of Northern Qi, Zhonghua Book Company, 1972
Li Yanshou, Northern History, Zhonghua Book Company, 1974
Sima Guang, "Zizhi Tongjian", Zhonghua Book Company, 1956
Tang Changru, "History of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties", Zhonghua Book Company, 2011
Huang Yongnian, A Political History of China from the Sixth to the Ninth Centuries, Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House, 2004
Yan Buke, Crests and Troughs: The Political Civilization of the Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Peking University Press, 2017
Tao Xiandu, "Gao Huan's Father and Son's Discussion on the Hegemony", Journal of Qingdao University Teachers College, No. 1, 2006
Xue Haibo, "A New Theory on the Causes of the Demise of the Northern Qi Dynasty", Journal of Northeast Normal University (Philosophy and Social Science Edition), No. 6, 2017
Li Wencai, "A Trial Appraisal of Emperor Gao Yang's Instrumental Knowledge and Talent of Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi", Jianghan Forum, No. 9, 2011
(Material source: WeChat public account Classical Literature and Poetry)