The prostitute among the emperors, the best among the emperors

I love history

2024-06-27 19:01Creators in the field of history

But whenever the country is close to death, there will be signs - before Empress Chen ascended the throne, he almost died!

In the fourteenth year of Taijian (582), Emperor Chen Xuan of Chen died, and before his death, he ordered his eldest son Chen Shubao (that is, the queen of Chen) to inherit the throne. According to the ancient rule of "taking the elder not the virtuous", Chen Shubao succeeded to the throne without procedural problems, but his second brother Chen Shuling had quite objections to the decision of the first emperor.

At Emperor Chen Xuan's funeral, Chen Shuling saw the right time, took out a hidden medicine cutting knife, and aimed it at Chen Shubao's neck, which was a random slash.

Due to the suddenness of the incident, the Chen clan relatives present were all blinded, and it was not until Chen Shubao shouted for escort that everyone reacted.

However, the clan relatives who rushed out to escort the car, the one who grabbed the knife, and the one who stuck the neck, no one paid attention to Chen Shubao.

Fortunately in the misfortune, Chen Shubao did not hurt the vital point except for a period of pain and a broken neck.

After Chen Shuling was assassinated in a failed assassination attempt, Chen Shubao completed the enthronement ceremony, and then entrusted the overall state affairs to his fourth brother Chen Shujian in recognition of his previous rescue efforts. But the national fortunes of the Chen Dynasty, accompanied by Chen Shubao's hands-off management, are running out.

1

The emperor was injured, and it was said that the empress and the imperial physician should be by his side.

Empress Chen married when he was sixteen years old when he became the crown prince, and married Shen Wuhua, the daughter of the prince's young master Shen Junli. In history, Queen Shen is "quiet in nature, less lustful, smart and strong, dabbling in scripture and history, and working in calligraphy", which is a proper lady.

But Empress Chen doesn't care much about this genuine daughter-in-law. He has his own "White Moonlight", called Zhang Lihua. Zhang Lihua used to be a singer and was charming and moving. Especially her hair, which is recorded in history as "seven feet long, shiny and shiny".

▲ Zhang Lihua. Source: Film and television stills

Houzhu Chen's love for Zhang Lihua can be glimpsed in the poem "Yushu Backyard Flowers":

Liyu Fanglin is on the high pavilion, and the new makeup is glamorous.

Yinghu Ning Jiao didn't go in at first, and greeted him with a smile when he came out.

Jiao Ji's face is like a flower with dew, and the jade tree shines in the backyard.

The flowers do not bloom for long, and they fall red and fall all over the ground and return to silence.

Zhang Lihua is not only beautiful, but also empathetic, and can perceive the mind of Empress Chen. Therefore, even if Empress Chen has a neck injury, he does not forget to go to her for a few days until he recovers.

While indulging in the "gentle township", Empress Chen issued an edict on the day of his accession to the throne, saying that he should "think about the legacy" and "salty and new". The tone of this enthronement edict was quite humble, and after making his posture clear, he asked the hundred officials to give him more advice in the future in terms of persuading farmers, seeking talents, prohibiting luxury, and accepting advice. Two months after his accession to the throne, he promulgated a "Guihai Edict", saying that in the future, no matter how big or small the official position of the Manchu civil and military forces, there is no need to shy away from it.

The words are very nice, but when someone dares to do so, his bad days will come.

This person's name is Fu Xuan, who is a scholar beside the Empress Chen, who specially drafted various edicts for the emperor, and his writing can be described as first-class in the Chen Dynasty. When he wrote the edict, he never needed to draft it in advance, "although it is a major military event, it can be done in writing", and Chen Houzhu appreciated him a lot. Fu Wei himself is also upright and outspoken, which is an excellent thing, but this person's luck is not very good.

Before and after the reign of Empress Chen, the extravagance of Southern Chen had already formed, and it was common for officials to give and receive things privately. Fu Wei was falsely accused of corruption and bribery by the other two favorite ministers of Empress Chen, Shen Keqing and Shi Wenqing, because he had a holiday with Shen Keqing and Shi Wenqing. In the face of the traitor's malicious slander, Fu Wei did not rush to defend himself, but wrote to Empress Chen, warning His Majesty to be a virtuous minister and a villain, so as to ensure the permanence of the country. Otherwise, with His Majesty's current posture of "excessive wine, ungodly gods of suburban temples, and obscene ghosts", "villains are on the side, eunuchs are erecting power, evil and loyal are like enemies, and the people are treated like grass mustard", Chen Chao's qi is afraid that it will soon be extinct.

▲ Portrait of Empress Chen. Source: Internet

Fu Wei's words are actually very far-sighted. Just a year before Empress Chen ascended the throne, Emperor Wen of Sui Emperor Yang Jian had already proclaimed himself emperor in the north. Compared with Hou Chen, who is in a corner of peace, Yang Jian's highest ideal is to level the four seas.

However, when Empress Chen saw Fu Wei's performance, he was furious. He sent someone to the prison and questioned Fu Wei: "I want to pardon Qing, can Qing change it?" ”

Fu Wei's bones are also hard enough, and he replied: "The minister's heart is like a face, and the minister's face cannot be changed, so the minister's heart cannot be changed!" ”

Empress Chen was furious and ordered Fu Wei to be killed. Since then, both inside and outside the government and the opposition have been silent.

2

If you open the perspective of God to peek into this history, as the king of the dead country, the luck of Empress Chen is actually quite good.

During the reign of his father, Emperor Chen Xuan, the politics were relatively clear, resting with the people, persuading farmers to teach agriculture, and the economy of the south developed steadily. At the same time, his biggest opponent, Emperor Wen of Sui, although ambitious, could only solve internal contradictions with one hand and resist the southern invasion of the Turks with the other, and had no time to take care of the south.

▲Portrait of Emperor Chen Xuan. Source: Internet

However, as the old saying goes, people who have no long-term concerns must have near-term worries. After dealing with the matter of Fu Wei's advice, Chen Shujian, the fourth brother of Empress Chen, made trouble again.

Due to the meritorious escort and the emperor's authorization, during the period when Empress Chen was recuperating from his injuries, Chen Shujian seemed to be a substitute emperor. The emperor has been in power for a long time, and it is inevitable that he will get carried away. With great power in his hands, he had the idea of turning positive. He knew how his second brother Chen Shuling died, so he didn't dare to act rashly, but just tied a little straw man, installed a mechanism, and let the little straw man automatically kneel and kowtow when he saw him.

But soon, the rumor reached the ears of Empress Chen, saying that Chen Shujian had cursed the emperor with witchcraft.

Empress Chen, who had long been suspicious, immediately issued an order to let Chen Shujian lead the history of Jiangzhou assassination and be appointed as the secretary, so that Chen Shujian could enjoy the honor, but he had no real power. In fact, Chen Shujian was hollowed out.

Immediately afterwards, Empress Chen called Chen Shujian to the palace to question, intending to execute him.

Fortunately, Chen Shujian's head was bright, and the moment he saw Chen Houzhu, he immediately knelt on the ground and said: "The minister's heart is not for other reasons, but he wants to kiss and flatter." "I just want to ask for favor, how dare I want to rebel, look pitiful, let Empress Chen spare his brother's life and let him go home to introspect.

After Chen Shujian left, his work was handed over to Kong Fan, Chen Xuan and Jiang Zong.

These three people were all cronies of Empress Chen when he was in the East Palace. What's more, the three of them are all known for their "rare advice", and their writing is first-class, so they accompany Empress Chen to travel around the mountains and rivers and write various travelogues when they have nothing to do. Therefore, later generations collectively referred to them as "Rakke".

In the company of this group of "Monkey Guests", Empress Chen's life was not ordinarily comfortable. Although he has no ability to govern the country, the level of entertainment is getting better day by day.

In addition to "Yushu Backyard Flowers", under the guidance of Mr. Jiang and others, Chen Houzhu also wrote a number of glamorous poems that show women's charming posture, such as the highly sung "Eleven Songs of Three Women's Gorgeous Words":

The eldest woman shelters from the autumn wind, and the middle woman has an empty bed at night.

The little woman has two buns at the beginning, and she blushes with a delicate face.

Proud of the day, poor that is the same?

The northwest building of the eldest woman, the south of the middle woman.

The little woman's first makeup, back to the eyebrows to the moon hook.

Pity is still self-conscious, and people are more ashamed when they look at it.

Not only that, but Chen Houzhu often asked people to play his repertoire in the palace, as if he was a chief director. He once sent people thousands of miles to the north to learn Xiao drums, just for the better accompaniment effect.

The imperial palace of the Chen Dynasty, after all, was rebuilt on the basis of the Liang Palace. Although the palace was renovated on a large scale during the time of Chen Baxian, several emperors of the Chen Dynasty practiced frugality since then, which caused the queen of Chen to look down on the old palace more and more.

In the second year of Zhide (584), after the injury was healed, the queen of Chen was appointed as the chief designer of the palace repair project, and ordered people to build dozens of zhang high Linchun, Jieqi and Wangxian three pavilions in front of the light hall where he lived. These three pavilions are all made of thousand-year-old sandalwood wood, and the pavilions are decorated with gold, pearls, agate, etc. In order to facilitate himself and his concubines to alternate between the pavilions, he also specially appointed skilled craftsmen to erect a connecting compound road in the sky.

Since the construction of the three pavilions, it has become the "nightclub" of the palace. Empress Chen took advantage of the situation to move out of the Hall of Light and lived in the Linchun Pavilion. The private rooms such as Jieqi Pavilion and Linxian Pavilion are inhabited by Zhang Lihua, Gong Guifei and Kong Guifei respectively.

As a faint monarch, Empress Chen quite understands the truth of "three thousand harems are wet with rain and dew". Whenever he sang every night, he never forgot to summon Xue Shuyuan, Wang Meiren, Li Meiren and other seven other favorite concubines to the attic to play at any time.

▲ Chen Houzhu and the beauties have fun. Source: Film and television stills

Empress Chen hosted a very good party, and his banquet must be attended by literati, concubines and palace maids. The theme of each banquet is different, but there is always a constant link – playing music, drinking, and writing erotic poems. At the banquet, he stipulated that the participants were equal in status, and there were rewards and punishments. If the palace maids are talented in reciting poems, they should be rewarded for their talents, and the palace people should compile excellent poems into music and sing them all day long.

As a result, Yuan Dashe and other ten palace maids were appointed as the "Ten Bachelors" of the harem by Empress Chen because of the content of the new poem "You Yanli".

Empress Chen is so reckless, can the loyal ministers of the Chen Dynasty turn a blind eye? I saw it, but compared with Fu Wei, the vast majority of people did not have the courage to die, so they did not dare to squeak.

In the face of the general with heavy troops, Empress Chen had another way.

At that time, the first fierce general of Nanchen was Xiao Maha. This person is brave and powerful, and during Emperor Chen Xuandi's Northern Expedition, he set the most brilliant individual soldier record in the Southern Dynasties. After Empress Chen ascended the throne, he also single-handedly quelled Chen Shuling's rebellion.

Fierce generals are rare, and Empress Chen let his prince marry Xiao Maha's daughter, so that the Chen and Xiao families formed a community of interests. In this way, he is not afraid that the generals under his command will make a fuss.

3

When Empress Chen was busy playing and singing, Emperor Wen of Sui in the north was studying the general trend of the world.

At that time, between the Chen Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty, there was still a puppet regime - Houliang. It was founded by Xiao Jing, the third son of Xiao Tong, the prince of Zhaoming of the Liang Dynasty, with the support of the Western Wei Dynasty. Later, the Western Wei Dynasty returned to the Yuwen family, and Xiao Jing also changed from surrendering to the Western Wei to submitting to the Northern Zhou. When Emperor Wen of Sui replaced Zhou with Sui, this regime turned to the Sui Dynasty in exchange for a moment of peace. Emperor Wen of Sui also asked Yang Guang, the king of Jin, to marry Princess Houliang as his concubine to show that the relationship between the two families was long-term and harmonious.

Princess Xiao of Jin, the future Empress Xiao of Emperor Yang of Sui. This political marriage would have allowed the Later Liang regime to live longer, but since Emperor Wen of Sui defeated the Turks, his ambition to unify the world has begun to stir - even the Chen Dynasty is his goal to be pacified, so what's the point of keeping a Later Liang?

At this time, the destruction of Houliang has another meaning for Emperor Wen of Sui. That is, you can march along the Yangtze River and prepare to wait for an opportunity to eliminate the Chen Dynasty.

▲Emperor Wen of Sui. Source: Film and television stills

Emperor Wen of Sui's ambition to unify the world, and the pleasure-indden Empress Chen was not unaware.

In that year, just after the death of Emperor Chen Xuan, Emperor Wen of Sui sent a letter to the Chen Dynasty to express his condolences. However, at the end of the condolence letter, Emperor Wen of Sui deliberately wrote that "Emperor Yang Jian of the Great Sui nodded his head". This is clearly the etiquette of communication with the enemy in the era of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, which shows that Yang Jian has always had the intention of eliminating the Chen Dynasty and dominating the world.

Chen Houzhu always thought that "the king is here", and the north of Jiankang City is the Yangtze River, and the Northern Zhou and Northern Qi have come to attack one after another, all because of the Yangtze River's natural danger, so that the emperors will be sent back. Now, the Sui Dynasty is just a "copy" of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, what can I do?

So, when Xiao Cong, the queen of Liang, was detained by Emperor Wen of Sui, and the dragons of Hou Liang were leaderless, Hou Zhu Chen took the initiative to lend a helping hand to Hou Liang. The move of Empress Chen was whitewashed by the gang of thieves in the Chen Dynasty as "there is a wise king, and all directions come to the court".

After Emperor Wen of Sui learned about it, he broke out a classic saying: "I am the parent of the people, how can I limit myself to a piece of water and water?" ”

Although the words are domineering, Emperor Wen of Sui does not have full confidence in the matter of cutting down Chen. The situation of the division between the North and the South has been nearly 300 years, and reunification will by no means be accomplished overnight. Although Empress Chen was dumb and incompetent, after more than 30 years of development, there were still hundreds of thousands of people in Nan Chen's navy. And the Sui Dynasty was strong with cavalry, and it was useless when it reached the river. If this battle is unfortunately lost, what will be the outcome?

With all kinds of doubts, Emperor Wen of Sui convened his ministers to hold a mobilization meeting for Chen.

For the urgency of Emperor Wen of Sui to unify the world, Prime Minister Gao Gong saw it very seriously, but he proposed that the matter of cutting down Chen could be slowly figured out.

Gao Gong said that the climate in the southern dynasties was warm, and the crops generally ripen earlier than in the north, so the Sui army could take advantage of the rice harvest in the southern dynasties to gather a small force to the north of the river and threaten to cross the river to grab grain, thus putting pressure on the southern army of the southern dynasties. In this way, the Chen dynasty must have mobilized the whole people to join the army to the river to stop the Sui army from moving south. As soon as the Chen army arrived, the Sui army immediately announced a retreat. If you do this two or three times, the Chen Dynasty army will inevitably be paralyzed. When we really send troops to attack the Chen Dynasty next time, they won't believe it. And our soldiers, as long as they cross the river and have no war horses, they are also land tigers, what else does Your Majesty have to worry about?

Emperor Wen of Sui listened and nodded frequently.

Gao Gong went on to say that the terrain in the Southern Dynasties was low-lying and damp, and the grain could not be stored in the cellar like in the north, and they must have stored the grain in the wooden houses and bamboo warehouses that had been built in advance. The Sui army could send spies to secretly set fire to the granaries of the Southern Dynasty when the Chen army retreated. In this way, within a few years, the national strength of the Chen Dynasty will be almost consumed, and when we send troops a little, won't it be easy to destroy Chen?

The Sui Dynasty followed Gao Gong's combination punch, and the Chen Dynasty's army and people soon fell into a state of overall weakness.

However, Chen Houzhu, who has long been close to his courtiers, has no idea of the dangers around him.

When the Sui Dynasty accelerated the pace of destroying Chen, he remembered that Zhang Lihua had served him meritoriously, and wanted to abolish the elder and the younger, and make the son of the concubine the crown prince, and by the way, depose Empress Shen and replace Zhang Lihua as the queen. All this, after he deposed the crown prince, was destroyed by the offensive of the Sui army.

4

In October of the seventh year of Emperor Kaihuang of Sui (587), the war of war against Chen finally began.

In order to destroy Chen, the Sui Dynasty almost dispatched an all-star lineup. In addition to the commander Yang Guang, the king of the Jin Dynasty, Gao Gong, Yang Su, He Ruobi, Han Baohu and other famous military generals of the Sui Dynasty all participated in the battle.

Before the army set off, Emperor Wen of Sui specially found someone to print 300,000 copies of the inscription of Empress Chen's guilt, and sent people to the south to disturb the hearts of the people of Southern Chen. Immediately afterwards, the 500,000-strong army composed of these famous generals launched a full-scale battle to cross the river to the south in eight routes.

The Sui army pressed the border, but Chen Houzhu was still singing at night.

An old minister named Zhang Hua couldn't help but go to the seal, hoping that Empress Chen would reflect on his actions and quickly order the army to resist. But in the eyes of Empress Chen, Zhang Hua's appearance was just like Fu Wei at the beginning, poking people's hearts. Therefore, Zhang Hua soon went to Jiuquan to meet Fu Wei.

When Zhang Hua was killed, a large force of the Sui army had already begun to cross the river.

Han Baohu and He Ruobi, who were the pioneers of the war against Chen, took less than five days to successively take the important riverside towns of Jingkou and Guxiao, and regrouped their troops to rush towards Jiankang.

At that time, there were still 200,000 Nanchen elites in Jiankang City, and if they fought to the death with the Sui army, they still had a chance of winning. It's a pity that the arrogant Empress Chen didn't take Sui Jun seriously at all. After he entrusted the burden of guarding the capital division to the minister Shi Wenqing, he hid in the harem and continued to die in a drunken dream.

Empress Chen's heart is really big, but Xiao Maha is anxious. Ignoring the strange temper of Empress Chen, he insisted on admonishing him, hoping that Empress Chen would allow him to lead some soldiers and horses, and launch a surprise attack when He Ruobi and other Sui troops were not firmly established, and try their best to drive them back to Jiangbei.

But Chen Houzhu thought that Xiao Maha was in too much of a hurry.

It was not until all the Sui troops were assembled under the city of Jiankang that Empress Chen ordered a "one-word long snake formation", and ordered Xiao Maha and Kong Fan, Ren Zhong, Sima to eliminate difficulties and other organizations to organize their respective troops and launch the defense of Beijing.

Kong Fan brags, but the war is sparse. As soon as he engaged the Sui army, his troops were routed on all fronts. The most important thing about the "one-word long snake array" is the organization and cooperation, and the end echoes, and the failure of Kong Fan's department naturally triggered the successive defeats of Sima and other departments.

Xiao Maha, who is responsible for Nan Chen's combat power, should have been the key to the decisive victory in this battle. However, just as he was fighting on the front line, news came from the rear that Empress Chen wanted to do something wrong to his family.

The family was unfortunate, Xiao Maha was distracted for a while and was captured.

Seeing that Xiao Maha I's reputation was ruined by the faint monarch, Ren Zhong also completely lost his heart to resist. He took the initiative to surrender to Han Baohu, and led the Sui army into the palace from the south gate of the imperial city to capture Empress Chen.

5

A dramatic scene was staged.

Knowing that Ren Zhong had surrendered to the Sui army, Empress Chen was completely panicked, and kept muttering "Kong Fan misunderstood me". Only Empress Shen, Mr. Jiang and several others are still calm.

Seeing that Empress Chen was like an ant on a hot pot, Prime Minister Yuan Xian, who was quietly waiting in the palace to receive it, felt very funny, and he advised Empress Chen, hoping that he could be as calm as Emperor Wu of Liang when he met Hou Jing.

But how can Empress Chen have the courage of Emperor Wu of Liang, at this time, he only thinks about how to save his life.

Seeing that everyone in the palace ran to the harem, he also drilled into the harem. At that time, there was still a dry well called "Rouge Well" in the harem, and Empress Chen didn't think about it, so he plunged into the well.

After the Sui army rushed into the palace, they dug three feet into the ground and did not find Empress Chen. Just when He Ruobi and the others thought that Empress Chen had been killed, there was a sound of tapping from the dry well in Jingyang Palace. Sui Jun immediately called to the well, but no one answered. It wasn't until a soldier threatened to throw stones into the well that Empress Chen recognized his identity and asked the Sui army to rescue him.

The Sui army threw the rope down and pulled people up, only to find that it was unusually heavy underneath.

It turned out that there were not only Empress Chen in the well, but also his favorite Zhang Lihua and Kong Guifei.

▲ Chen Houzhu who was rescued after jumping into the well. Source: Film and television stills

The three of them saw the light of day again, which also meant that Chen Chao was dead. However, the absurdity of Empress Chen is not over.

As Yuan Xian expected, Emperor Wen of Sui did not treat Empress Chen viciously, but was quite polite and named him the Duke of Changcheng County. Moreover, every time there is a banquet attended by Empress Chen, Emperor Wen of Sui will inform the palace people in advance that Wu Di music should not be played, so as not to cause discomfort to Empress Chen.

However, for this kind of thing, Empress Chen doesn't care about it. Ever since he arrived in Chang'an, he has been fascinated by the wine and donkey meat. It is said that he was able to consume one stone of fine wine in a day, and was often so drunk that the officials who monitored him were embarrassed to report the ugliness of the former emperor to Emperor Wen of Sui.

Empress Chen may have done this on purpose, but his operation without a lower limit made Emperor Wen of Sui completely convinced.

Once, Empress Chen reported to Emperor Wen of Sui through the officials who monitored him that he drank wine and ate meat all day long, had nothing to do, and wanted to ask for an official to share his Majesty's worries. was so angry that Emperor Wen of Sui scolded on the spot: "This person has no heart at all!" ”

In order to save his life, Empress Chen also slapped Emperor Wen of Sui on the back.

In the fourteenth year of Emperor Kaihuang of Sui (594), Emperor Wen of Sui toured the east of Pi Mountain, and Empress Chen was summoned to accompany him. The moment he saw Emperor Wen of Sui, Empress Chen immediately wrote a poem:

The sun and the moon are bright and the heavens are deserved, and the mountains and rivers are the residence of the emperor.

There is no way to repay the peace, and I wish to seal the book in the east.

It means that Emperor Wen of Sui is higher than the sky, and only magnificent mountains and rivers can show his imperial prestige. In this regard, Emperor Wen of Sui just smiled and did not say anything.

When Emperor Wen of Sui returned from his eastern tour, Empress Chen went to the table again to persuade him to invite Emperor Wen of Sui to seal Mount Tai. It wasn't until the other party was annoyed and reluctantly agreed that he gave up.

Ten years later, in the fourth year of Sui Renshou (604), Emperor Wen of Sui and Empress Chen both entered the end of their lives. Incredibly, as the captured monarch of the fallen country, Empress Chen died four months later than Emperor Wen of Sui. I have to say that in terms of saving his life, Hou Chen can be called a genius.

Faced with the death of the county prince of Changcheng, Yang Guang, the king of Jin who had led the army to destroy Nan Chen, looked down on him very much. When arranging the funeral of Empress Chen, Yang Guang specially gave this absurd faint gentleman the nickname "Yang", which means that Empress Chen was addicted to alcohol, violated morality, abused the people, and rebelled against heaven and law all his life. Paradoxically, after Yang Guang's death, he also got the nickname of "Yang".

It seems that from beginning to end, Empress Chen has watched Yang Jian, Yang Guang and his son who defeated him being ridiculed by time and history with a shameless attitude. And this just makes people feel the deep sadness that there is no dignified victor in history, only endless cycles.

Bibliography:

Yao Silian: "Chen Shu", Zhonghua Book Company, 2002

Sima Guang, Zizhi Tongjian, Zhonghua Book Company, 2009

Tang Changru, History of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, The Commercial Press, 2010

Shao Hua, "The Sorrow of the Empress of Nan Chen: Rational Thoughts on the Reasons for the Demise of Nan Chen", Journal of Mudanjiang Institute of Education, No. 2, 2009

Yan Hu: "Chen Shubao and His Poetry Research", Master's thesis, Guangxi Normal University, 2007

Liu Xiu: A Study on North-South Relations in the Chen Period of the Southern Dynasties, Master's thesis, Tianjin Normal University, 2019

View original image 32K

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•