The "Desolate Dynasty" Northern Qi was so stigmatized, and the root cause of it all stemmed from the mediocre lord of its short-lived dynasty - Gao Wei, the fifth emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty. This unlucky emperor, who only lived for 22 years, as the king of the dead country, his absurd behaviors undoubtedly achieved the notoriety of "absurdity" in Northern Qi. The famous allusion to "Jade Body Heng Chen" tells how far he is infatuated with a concubine Feng Xiaolian; And "Qi Ji Kaifu" also said the absurd and nonsense that he actually knighted the fighting. However, in addition to these two famous allusions, there are many little-known anecdotes about Cushman & Wakefield's life that are worth laying out.
For example, in order to coax the powerless Gao Wei Neng to place a bet, how did the palace secretly use his hands and feet? For another example, Gao Wei is so obsessed with music, in addition to the "Song of No Sorrows", which music works in the Northern Qi Dynasty were also loved by him? Moreover, although Cushman & Wakefield was known as the "Son of Worry-free", his national power gradually declined during his later reign, and it was inevitable that some people in the government and the opposition would secretly denigrate his authority. In the end, why is the fate of such a mediocre and corrupt Cushman so uncertain, and finally died at the age of 22?
One. From the nine-year-old boy emperor to the twenty-two-year-old monarch of the country's legendary life
The Northern Qi Dynasty was founded in 555 and was built by Gao Huan, a rebel general of the Northern Wei Dynasty. After Gao Huan's death, three generations of six monarchs died in just 28 years, and the most legendary of them was Gao Wei.
Gao Wei was born in the life of Gao Yan, the third emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and his father was Gao Zhan. Zu Shang was originally a minister of the Northern Wei Dynasty, but because he was dissatisfied with Gao Huan's usurpation of imperial power, he broke away from the Northern Wei Dynasty and established the Northern Qi Dynasty together with other important ministers of the Northern Wei Dynasty. After Gao Zhan ascended the throne, he drank heavily and was promiscuous, and he only governed the country for four years before he died. The momentum of the decline of the Northern Qi Dynasty began.
When he was 9 years old, Cushman & Wakefield's father, Gao Zhan, died, and he was forced to succeed him to the throne. For a child as young as nine years old, ruling a country is an unattainable burden. In the first few years of his youth, the power of the government was in the hands of his uncle, and the government and the opposition were temporarily peaceful.
However, by the time Cushman was thirteen years old, everything changed. Ravaged by his father's alcoholism and immorality, Cushman & Wakefield followed his father's mistakes step by step as soon as his adolescence began, and he was completely indulgent and unrestrained in his drinking. He began to build a large number of buildings, in order to provide him with lewd pleasure, built twelve towering palaces in Yedu and Jinyang, and recruited hundreds of beauties from the folk beauty pageant to serve in the palace. Up and down in the palace, all contaminated with his absurdity.
Cushman & Wakefield's mediocrity intensified unrestrained, and the beauties and wine in the palace alone were not enough to satisfy his lustful desires. He transferred this morbid hobby to cockfighting and horse breeding, and in order to serve the incompetent young emperor, the ministers of the court and the central government had to give his favorite cockfighting the senior titles of "Kaifu" and "Junjun", and gave his mount the false title of "Xiaoyao Junjun".
Two. In addition to "No Worries Song", what other music does Cushman and Wakefield love?
It is rumored that Cushman & Wakefield's nickname of "Son of Heaven" stems from his preference and dedication to the song "Song of No Sorrows". This ancient piece of music is said to have been composed by Pei Gang, a nobleman of the clan of Cushman & Wakefield, and depicts an emperor who has no regrets bathed in carefree and happy life. Such a delicate and gorgeous piece of music naturally won the heart of this mediocre gentleman.
However, just one piece of music is far from enough to satisfy Gao Wei's taste and lustful interest in the rhythm of the emperor who wears the word "Luan". In fact, in addition to "Song of No Sorrows", there are also many exotic and rare pieces of music that have also swept the Northern Qi court, and many of them are even composed by Gao Wei's imperial order.
Among them, the most famous is the movement played by a foreign orchestra called "Harmony Song". This band originated in Bactria and traveled in the Western Regions and India, and was finally incorporated into the court by the Northern Qi Dynasty and became the favorite royal band of Gao Wei. The name of "Harmony Song" comes from the ancient Indian word "Harmony Na", transliterated as "Harmony", which means "wonderful and moving". The tune is tactful and slow, extremely exotic, and has been widely circulated since the day it was introduced.
What's more, once "Harmony Song" was introduced to the court, it was overly loved by Gao Wei, and he sang songs day and night. In order to serve the emperor's musical taste, the palace attendants had to recruit a wide range of kabuki and practice tirelessly day and night. Surrounded by the repeated performances of "Harmony Song" all day long, the palace maids and singers who gathered around the scene couldn't help but feel a little afraid of this strange music from a foreign land.
In addition to the music in the court, the folk slang songs of the Northern Qi Dynasty were also favored by Gao Wei. For example, the amnesty music "Song of the Amnesty of the People" composed by Shang Qing, the leader of the peasant uprising in the Northern Qi Dynasty in the early stage, although it is only a very simple peasant ballad, it is also liked by Gao Wei and sung in the palace repeatedly. Shang Qing's later tragic end is embarrassing.
Cushman & Wakefield's penchant for music far outweighs his penchant for women and pets, earning him the nickname "The Son of Heaven". However, the vain music at the time of laughter and conversation could not hide the fact that the Northern Qi Dynasty was rapidly weakening under his mediocre rule.
Three. Pampering and rewarding people are criticized
After Gao Wei ascended the throne, he ignored the government and politics, and indulged in lust all day long, and the ministers of the government and the opposition had to operate secretly in order to flatter this mediocre and incompetent monarch, coaxing Gao Wei to bet on cockfighting and gambling. It is said that Cushman & Wakefield was born without chicken power and knew nothing about cockfighting. In order to please the emperor, the palace secretly manipulated the cockfighting, so that Gao Wei could always win every time he bet, so that he became more and more addicted to it.
At the same time, Cushman & Wakefield has also shifted his hobby to pampering beauties. He built twelve palaces in Yecheng and Jinyang, and selected hundreds of beauties from the people to serve in the palace. Once these beautiful beauties are selected, they are immediately given the title of county lord, county lord or even higher by Gao Wei, and have the same honorable treatment as the powerful of the government and the opposition. Every festival, inside and outside the palace is splendid Wenhua, and the lights are bright.
Cushman & Wakefield's behavior towards the pampered beauty caused an uproar in the government and the opposition. A palace person once said in private: "Your Highness favors characters, and you are bound to lose discipline, and the government and the opposition will be suspicious." Gao Wei was furious when he heard this, and ordered the eunuch to wound the staff of the palace. Since then, no one in the palace has dared to say much about Gao Wei's confusion.
Not only that, Cushman & Wakefield even bestowed a very high knighthood on his favorite cockfights and mounts. For a time, the government and the opposition were in an uproar that an emperor had knighted poultry pets. Cushman & Wakefield's favorite fighting cocks were given titles such as "Kaifu Cockfighting" and "Junjun Fighting", and his mount horse was named "Xiaoyao Junjun". This is unprecedented in Chinese history.
Four. Before Gao Wei's death, some people had a glimpse of the fall of the Northern Qi Dynasty
Gao Wei was young and ignorant, and although the ministers of the court and China did not dare to admonish him in person, some prescient people had already sensed the signs that the Northern Qi Dynasty would inevitably fall at the hands of this faint monarch.
The first person to see through the root of Gao Wei's incompetent rule was the famous writer Song Zhiwen. Song Zhiwen served as the imperial historian in the last years of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and he witnessed Gao Wei's extravagance at close range, and he was extremely worried about the future of the Northern Qi Dynasty. In his "Golden Sudui Nangong Fu", there is the following generous speech: "The royal family is in ruins, and it has not been relieved in the world. Fu Zhong wrote that the dynasty would come to an end on the disintegration of the decaying ruins, which was actually an allusion to the absurdity of Gao Wei had caused the Northern Qi to slide in the direction of its demise.
Gao Yan, the founder of the Northern Qi Dynasty, once foresaw the bane of the Northern Qi Dynasty in his lifetime. Gao Yan is Gao Wei's father and brother, and the official worships Taiwei. He once bluntly said to the emperor: "The country will not be a country, and Your Majesty should know it." The implication is that Gao Wei's mediocrity and corruption will inevitably lead to the destruction of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Gao Wei was furious and wanted to demote Gao He to a concubine, but in the end, he failed because Gao Yan's status was too high. Gao He sighed before he died: "I know that it is over." ＂
However, there are only a few loyal ministers and fools who speak out like this. Even if many people saw the death of the Northern Qi Dynasty, most of them chose to remain silent. For example, Tian Hao, the son of Tian Yi, the founder of the Northern Qi Dynasty, once said the word "Qi died" at a family banquet and was severely reprimanded by his father. Tian Yi explained in his admonition that there have been too many gossips in the government and the opposition, and it is too presumptuous to say such things.
The most suffocating thing is none other than Cui Hu, a famous man in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Cui Hun was originally a famous writer and hussar general of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and later returned to the Northern Qi Dynasty. Although he repeatedly satirized the mediocrity and corruption of the Northern Qi dynasty and the opposition in his poems, he never directly pointed out Gao Wei's faults in words. It wasn't until he was dying of old age that Cui Hun said to Gao Wei on his deathbed: "Your Majesty is not close to the virtuous, but to accept slander, and this death is the root of Qi!" However, this last words came too late after all.
Five. The fate of the faint king
Although Gao Wei was nicknamed "Worry-free Son" by the government and the public, his life was really doomed. The young monarch, who ascended the throne and was canonized as emperor at the age of 9, was still uncertain in the end, but in 22 years he was destroyed and became the king of the country.
After Gao Wei succeeded to the throne, he was mediocre and extravagant, and soon the national power was declining. The Northern Qi Dynasty was not established for a long time, and its territory was not very large, so its own foundation was already unstable. Under the absurd rule of Gao Wei, the fall of the Northern Qi Dynasty was only a matter of time.
Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Yong, saw the opportunity and decided to take advantage of the declining national strength of the Northern Qi Dynasty to send troops to attack. In 558, the army of the Northern Zhou Dynasty marched and attacked Yecheng, the capital of the Northern Qi Dynasty. The much-loved Cushman was shocked when he heard the news and hurriedly dispatched an army to resist. The Northern Zhou army could not capture Yecheng for a long time, and turned to attack alone. The lone army was in chaos, and Cushman & Wakefield became more and more panicked when he heard the news. In the end, the Northern Zhou army smashed Huanglong, Gao Wei retreated to Jinyang, and the Northern Qi was already self-defeating.
In March 559, the Northern Zhou army approached Jinyang. Gao Wei's vitality was greatly damaged, and he was about to take justice, and urgently ordered the distribution of Chaojia property to recruit soldiers from the army and civilians. However, at this time, he was already drunk and angry, and the ministers of Gao Wei and the central government were all pregnant with ghosts, and no one was willing to take his last breath for him. In April of the same year, the Northern Zhou army captured Jinyang, Gao Wei was captured, and the Northern Qi perished.
The Northern Zhou Dynasty showed favor to those who surrendered, and Gao Wei was finally exiled to Shazhou City, where he died at the age of 22. Only 28 years after the founding of the Northern Qi Dynasty, it was also declared extinct. And Gao Wei, who is young and ambitious, mediocre and debauched, has become a representative of the faint monarch who has been stinking for thousands of years in the history books.
In fact, on the eve of the fall of the Northern Qi Dynasty, there were already foresighted people who saw through the disasters that Gao Wei's mediocrity and corruption would eventually bring. Gao Yan's last words and Cui Hu's deathbed advice are all sharp accusations against Gao Wei's incompetent rule. However, this faint monarch was already greedy, and he did not wake up until the last moment, causing the Northern Qi to finally return to dust.