Emperor Liu Yu of song eventually killed his son Emperor Shao of Song

Emperor Liu Yu of song eventually killed his son Emperor Shao of Song

On the day of june 424, an extremely barbaric assassination occurred in Jinchangting,Wu County (present-day Zhaomen, Suzhou), where several killers suddenly broke into the pavilion and fiercely wanted to take the life of a prince who was imprisoned here, Wang Ye was flesh and blood, young and powerful, and he was not willing to sit still at the moment of life and death, so he rushed left and right, struggled to break free, grabbed the road and fled outside the door, the assassin could not catch up, casually pulled a latch from the door panel, slammed forward, and Wang Ye was unfortunately knocked to the ground. The Assassins stepped forward and crushed the prince to death, then killed him. The prince who died tragically was Liu Yifu, the Young Emperor of Song, who had just been deposed a month ago.

Regarding this assassination, various historical records are quite informative and consistent. Book of Song. The Chronicle of the Young Emperor states that "In the second year of Jingping... In June, Xu Xianzhi and others made the Zhongshu Sheren Xing An Tai Emperor Yu Jinchangting. The emperor had the courage to be restrained, and suddenly walked out of the Changmen Gate, chased after the door and closed it, and died. He was nineteen years old. "Book of Song. The Biography of Xu Xian contains "Envy is not allowed." Emissaries... Kill emperor Yu Wu County. time...... The emperor suddenly walked out of the Chang Gate, and the pursuers knocked him to the ground with the door closed, and then inflicted harm. The Zizhi Tongjian reads: "In the second year of Jingping... In June, The Ugly, Envious, etc. made Xing Antai kill him. Wang Duoli suddenly walked out of the Changmen Gate, and the pursuers killed him with the door closed. Through the words, it is not difficult to imagine the fierce scene of Liu Yifu's hand-to-hand combat with the assassin at the last moment of his life.

Liu Yifu was only nineteen years old when he died. Judging from the historical records, the person who took the lead in committing the murder was Xing Antai, a zhongshu she, and the person behind the scenes who directed the poisoning of Liu Yifu was Xu Xianzhi, who had served as Liu Yifu's chief minister of care.

Gu Ming (Gu Ming) was an auxiliary minister selected by the emperor before his death, who was used to take care of and assist the young lord, to protect the imperial power, to ensure that the society was safe, and that the foundation was eternal. Before the death of Emperor Liu Yu of the Song Dynasty, in view of the fact that the foundation of the Liu Song Empire was initially established and was still unstable, and the prince was young and greedy, and still had no prestige, he followed the example of the emperors of previous dynasties and carefully selected Xu Xianzhi, Xu Xianzhi, Shang Shuling, and Xie Han, who had followed him for many years, as the same ministers, so that they could remember the old feelings of the main ministers over the years and try their best to assist Liu Yifu, the heir to the throne.

The great righteousness of gu fate, heavier than Taishan, is the greatest trust of the emperor and the greatest honor of the people. However, just two years after Liu Yifu took the throne, he was murdered by Xu Xianzhi and others, first deposed and then killed, and staged a political tragedy in which the chancellor killed the young lord. Then, why did Xu Xianzhi and others abandon the great righteousness of their lives and risk the great discord of the world, and they had to abolish and kill Liu Yifu, the object of assistance? This cannot but start from Liu Yifu's growth and ruling experience.

Liu Yifu (406–424 CE), the eldest son of Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Yu, was born to Zhang Que.) Liu Yu spent his life fighting horses, starting from low-level soldiers, killing the enemy bravely, making outstanding achievements, becoming more and more prestigious, and increasingly powerful. With the transformation of Liu Yu's identity, Liu Yifu's status has also been continuously improved. In the twelfth year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (416 AD), Liu Yu was enfeoffed as the Duke of Yuzhang, and Liu Yifu was made the Duke of Yuzhang; in the first year of Yuan Xi (419 AD), Liu Yu was made the Prince of Song; in the second year of Yuan Xi (420 AD), Liu Yu changed dynasties and changed dynasties, and was called emperor by Zen in the Song Dynasty, and Liu Yifu was made crown prince. In May of the third year of Liu Song's reign (422 AD), Liu Yu died of illness and Liu Yifu took the throne, becoming the second emperor of Liu Song.

As the "second generation of emperors", Liu Yifu although "has the strength of travel, good at riding and shooting, and interpreting the rhythm of music" (see Book of Song. The Chronicle of the Young Emperor"), but lacking the character, moral character and qualities that the Xianming Emperor should have, when he was a prince, he was "more than a small group", and after Liu Yu's death, he was "rude", and even "good and left and right, the game is not excessive". During his reign, Liu Yifu was in charge of traveling to Xingxing, playing happily, and he did not ask any questions about major affairs of the government; he did not listen to the advice of loyal ministers; and he did not care about foreign enemies committing crimes. In a word, "The emperor's residence is more than negligent" (see Book of Song. The Chronicle of the Young Emperors).

Liu Yifu is such a person, there are factors due to his natural endowment, and Liu Yu as a father is also difficult to blame. Liu Yu had two daughters in his early years, named Liu Xingdi and Liu Rongnan respectively, hoping to recruit his brother to attract men and continue the incense, but it was not until he was forty-four years old that he expected his eldest son Liu Yifu, "Emperor Wu had no sons in the evening, and Emperor Sheng, and was very happy" (see Book of Song. The Chronicle of the Young Emperors). Liu Yu was born in a humble background, and he himself was "simple and widowed, strict and law-abiding, obedient, frugal in cloth su, rare in feasting, and concubine at least" (see "Zizhi Tongjian"), but he was very doting on Liu Yifu, with little discipline, "Gu has a kind face, and there is no strict training before", so that Liu Yifu has been pampered and habitual from an early age, "the quality of the body is easy to dye, the posture can be lowered, the foreign objects do not violate his heart, and what he wants must follow his aspirations" (see "Nanshi. Song Ji"), stubborn and abnormal, casual in handling.

Regarding Liu Yifu's bad deeds, it is more fully described in the official "Decree on the Abolition of the Emperor" issued by the empress dowager, "The long heir of the righteous fu belongs to the current position, and it is not said to be extremely fierce and rebellious. Daejo is at the funeral, Uchi is mourning, schadenfreude is rampant in rebellion, and joy is expressed in the relationship. Zhi Nai conscripted Le Fu, Jiu Ji LingGuan, Youxian Guan Hong, Jing Bu Fu, Zhen Shame Sweet Meal, and Jia Ping. Choosing a concubine, giving birth to a child in the palace, and being unsure, ugly and loud. And after Yi collapsed his back, he added heavenly punishment, pro-and-left and right chants, pushed and rowed the Zi Palace, clapped his hands and laughed, and the temple province was prepared for hearing. Add back day and night, group small slow play, build thousands of plans, cost millions, empty pockets, and exhaust manpower. The punishment is harsh and the number of prisoners is increasing. The throne of the emperor, the battle of the good Fu, the dignity of the multiplication, and the matter of pleasing the people. Pro-whipping, beating innocents, thinking it was laughter. Through the pond to build a view, the dynasty into the twilight destruction; conscription of craftsmen, tired of the people. Sigh from near and far, and the gods are angry" (see Book of Song. The Chronicle of the Young Emperor"), that is to say, things that lose the royal face and imperial etiquette are almost done by Liu Yifu.

It is true that Liu Yifu was inferior in moral conduct, absurd in behavior, did not do the right thing, acted arbitrarily, and had many problems in his body, including the side of disobeying etiquette and not observing filial piety, the side of sound and color, the absurd and corrupt side, the side of being violent and mean, abusing punishment, and playing games with life, laboring and hurting the people's wealth, but to be fair, he was not a great traitor and a great evil, not to mention that he respectfully obeyed Liu Yu's last will and testament that "if there is a young lord in the future, the chancellor of the court affairs" (see "Zizhi Tongjian"), ordering "Sikong and Shangshu Ling to lead all officials to a prison sentence" and "pingli prison litigation." (See Book of Song. The Biography of Xu Xianzhi" and other major matters were entrusted to Xu Xianzhi, Fu Liang, and other ministers, and he himself was the treasurer, did not ask about state affairs, ignored the government, did not exercise the power of the military state, and did not bring much practical damage to the military state.

From the perspective of history, Liu Yifu is just a childlike child, obedient, accustomed to fooling around and playing pranks, and only knows how to eat, drink and have fun. A generation of tiger fathers gave birth to such dogs, and Liu Yifu's deeds really disappointed the wenwu officials led by Xu Xianzhi and others. Even so, as ministers of the Ministry of Life, Xu Xianzhi and others "could not exhaust their humerus and exert their best efforts" (see Book of Song. The Biography of Xu Xian"), not only did not carry out the necessary discipline, restraint, and goodwill guidance and cultivation of Liu Yifu, but instead joined forces with his henchmen and launched a coup d'état, "Emperor Shi Yu Hualin Garden... That is, sleeping in a dragon boat. When the dynasty was not rising, the soldiers advanced, killed the two attendants on the side of the emperor, and wounded the emperor's finger. Help out of Dong Hao, and collect the seal,...... Sui Yu yu Wu County" (see Book of Song. The Chronicle of the Young Emperors). For the first time in history, it was the first time in history that the ministers of the Gu Order had joined forces and suddenly defected, and had used such violent means to pull down the object of their assistance.

Judging from the historical records, the incident of deposing the emperor was organized, premeditated, had an internal line, and had foreign aid, and the main participants in the coup were Xu Xianzhi, Xie Han, Fu Liang, Tan Daoji, and Wang Hong, of which the decision-makers were Xu Xianzhi, the supporters were Fu Liang, and the responders were foreign ministers Tan Daoji and Wang Hong, but the most positive one was Xie Hao. Xu Xianzhi, Xie Xianzhi, and Fu Liang, who played a key role in the middle, positioned Liu Yifu as "extremely fierce and rebellious" (see Book of Song. The Chronicle of the Young Emperor"), is a typical and unforgivable emperor, nothing more than exaggeration and deliberate blackface. The author believes that the main reason why Xu Xianzhi, Xie Han, and Fu Liang deposed Liu Yifu was because they were afraid that Liu Yifu would be unfavorable to them. The biography of Xu Xian has also been pointed out, "In the end, because of fear of disaster, in order to build a great strategy, and to get away with his rebellious heart."

Regarding "fear of disaster", Xu Xianzhi, Xie Han, and Fu Liang all had an account in their hearts.

Xu Xianzhi was the chief minister selected by Liu Yu before his death, who controlled the major affairs of the military state, with great responsibility, the state Yan Ping, his first contribution, the country's turmoil, his head, can not tolerate half a mistake, the pressure is huge. Xu Xianzhi's "no technique, straight to the level of ambition", the handling of things is just and fiercely decided, it is inevitable that people will be hated, and it is difficult to do as the young emperor intended, and the complexity and tension of the relationship between the monarch and the subordinate and the relationship between colleagues can be imagined. What is even more frightening is that Xu Xianzhi "once he lives in the Lang Temple, the court and the wilderness are subdued, and xian is said to have the hope of zaichen" (see Book of Song. The Biography of Xu Xian"), the prestige of the lord, easy to be framed by villains, will also create a pretext for the Young Emperor to do harm in the future. Liu Yifu has always not played cards according to the conventional routine, and once the pro-government is in power, in order to get rid of the psychological shadow and resolve the resentment of the courtiers, he will take Xu Xianzhi as the first assistant.

Xie Han was from a famous and prestigious family, extremely strategic, and was Liu Yu's first adviser. Xie Han "dabbled in the meaning of literature, Bo Zhan Duotong" (see Book of Song. Biography of Xie Obscure"), has always been unaccustomed to Liu Yifu, who likes to fight and kill. When Liu Yifu was crown prince, Xie Han once said bad things to Liu Yu, "Your Majesty's Spring and Autumn is high, it is advisable to think of all the worlds, the artifact is the most important, and the load must not be made of talent", the implication is that Liu Yifu has no talent for the emperor, and it will be difficult to take on heavy responsibilities in the future. When Liu Yu was dying, he also warned Liu Yifu, "Xie Qianshu has changed from conquest, and if there are similarities and differences, this person must also be" (see Book of Song. Emperor Wu ji"), let Liu Yifu guard against Xie Obscure. Although the matter of the palace is secret, such slanderous and slanderous words are very easy to spread. After Liu Yifu ascended the throne, Xie Was frustrated and worried that the Young Emperor would not be good for him.

Fu Liang followed Liu Yu for many years, knew Liu Yu's ambitions, and was extremely literary. During liu yu's song dynasty and jin dynasty, it was Fu Liang who persuaded Emperor Gong of Jin to take the throne, it was Fu Liang who drafted the edict of the Zen throne, and it was Fu Liang who coerced Emperor Gong of Jin to personally copy the edict of the Zen throne. After Liu Yu ascended the throne, Fu Liang had some personal relations with Liu Yifu as the crown prince Zhan Shi, but Liu Yifu's empress Sima Maoying was Princess Haiyan, the daughter of Emperor Gong of Jin. The tragic death of Emperor Gong of Jin after his ascension to the throne and the fall of the Eastern Jin Dynasty could not be forgotten by Empress Sima who had suffered the destruction of the country, and it was possible that when a wisp of pillow wind could make Liu Yifu do something to Fu Liang, and Liu Yifu was an uncertain youth. In view of this, Fu Liang "had fears in his heart and wrote "Feelings and Objects" to send his wishes", fearing that sooner or later he would be "burned out" (see Book of Song. Biography of Fu Liang).

In addition to the above personal factors, in the handling of the incident related to the survival of the society, Liu Yifu's performance made Xu Xianzhi and others even more uneasy. In the first year of Jingping (423 AD), The Wei soldiers invaded the territory, the Song army was defeated, the counties of Si, Yan, and Yu were all Wei You, and Mao Dezu, Tang Zhan and other generals were captured and martyred. After the loss of the good general, the loss of anointing, Liu Song suffered a heavy blow from the war, the people of the country were shocked and panicked, Xu Xianzhi, Xie Han, and Fu Liang, as ministers of the ministry of life, knew that they were deeply responsible for their crimes, so they "took the land of the dead and lost the land, and impeached themselves on the table", asking Liu Yifu to deal with the fall, but Liu Yifu came to a "commandment not to ask" (see "Zizhi Tongjian"), neither pursuing nor interfering. At that time, Liu Yifu was playing with excitement and did not have the heart to investigate and hold accountable for such a major event; if he settled the account after the autumn, he would ask Xu Xianzhi and the other three people.

There is also a plot about "fear of evil", that is, celestial phenomena. In the first year of Jingping (423 AD), "December 2015, Ying Confused Prisoner's House" (see Book of Song?). Astronomy IV). In the five planets, Mars is red and flickering, and there is a retrograde phenomenon, the whereabouts are very mysterious, the ancients believe that the main disaster of Mars is a disaster star evil; the offense is to pass through or approach; the house is the house, which belongs to one of the seven southern houses, with four stars. Astrological astrology says: "The four stars of the house are the Ming Hall, and the palace of the Heavenly Son.". "Wen Yao Hook" said: "The screen confuses the house, the general is chaotic, and the king is evil." In ancient times, the ying confused prisoner's room was a sinister and ominous celestial phenomenon, not only "the king is evil", but also "will worry about each other" (Book of Song. Astronomy IV). The appearance of this celestial phenomenon deepened the level of worry and fear of Xu Xianzhi and others.

In the first month of the second year of Jingping (424 AD), Liu Yifu did one thing, "When His Majesty was in the back garden, he was quite accustomed to martial arts, and the drums and hammers were in the palace, and the sound was heard outside." Inside the court of Wu Wu, between the noisy provinces", the sound of swords, drums, and shouts of killing resounded inside and outside the palace. At that time, the loyal minister Fan Tai advised and dissuaded Liu Yifu that this move might "give birth to strange people near and far", implying that Xu Xianzhi and others were suspicious of misunderstanding, but Liu Yifu "did not listen" (see "Zizhi Tongjian"), and continued to do his own thing, dancing with a knife and getting a gun. The author believes that Liu Yifu's military training incident, which is contrary to the festive atmosphere, is very likely to make Xu Xianzhi and others perceive that this is a concrete manifestation of the "evil of the king" caused by "confusing the prisoners" and is a sign that Liu Yifu sharpened his knife and was ready to show his killing chance to the generals led by them. In order to prevent the "trouble of worrying about each other" before it happened, "Xu Xianzhi and other deposed emperors, because of harm" (see Book of Song. Astronomy IV).

In addition to saving lives, we must also protect rights. Xu Xianzhi and others followed Liu Yu for many years and made outstanding achievements, witnessing the establishment of the Liu Song Dynasty. When Liu Yifu was in power, the Liu Song Dynasty was only a few years old, the foundation was shallow, the foundation was thin, and at the same time it was facing many problems such as the restoration of the Jin Dynasty, the Northern Dynasty's border violations, internal struggles, etc. Once the situation changed, Xu Xianzhi and others, as a community of interests closely tied to the Liu Song Dynasty, were likely to be subverted together with the dynasty, so they did not dare and could not dare to do the "high ancestral cause" caused by Liu Yifu's reign (see Book of Song. Emperor Wenji") crisis sits idly by. In order to prevent the disaster from coming, in order to save the Liu Song Dynasty, and in order to defend vested interests, if Xu Xianzhi and others wanted to hold power and consolidate themselves, they could only abolish Liu Yifu and establish another sage.

The common "fear of disaster" complex prompted Xu Xianzhi, Xie Han, and Fu Liang to join forces to conspire to depose Liu Yifu, and to act early, it was necessary to rush before Liu Yifu was pro-government. According to the time, Liu Yifu had reached the pro-government age, but the Confucian etiquette system required that Liu Yifu should be Liu Yu's filial piety for three years, so Xu Xianzhi and others did not return to the government. In April of the second year of Jingping (424 AD), the time limit for returning to the government was getting closer and closer, so "Xu Xianzhi and other old generals of the Southern Prefecture Thorn Shi Tan Daoji Dynasty, wei fu dian province, and there were soldiers, they summoned Daoji and Jiangzhou Thorn Shi Wang Hong to enter the dynasty; in May, they all went to Jiankang and told them of the plot to abolish the establishment" (see Zizhi Tongjian), and in that month, Liu Yifu was forcibly deposed.

After Liu Yifu was taken into custody, he was "deposed as the King of Yingyang, and the story of Han Changyi and Jin Haixi" (see Book of Song. The Chronicle of the Young Emperor"), and then moved to Wu County, because of the suddenness of the incident, there was no time to build a palace for Liu Yifu, so he had to live in Jinchangting. Soon, Xu Xianzhi, Fu Liang, and others "discussed the persecution of the King of Yingyang" (see Book of Song. Biography of Cai Kuo), and quickly put into action.

At the same time, Xu Xianzhi and others nominated Liu Yu's third son Liu Yilong to succeed him, and sent Fu Liang to Jiangling to meet the new emperor. During this period, the ancestral department Shangshu Cai Kuo reminded Fu Liang, "Yingyang is in Wu, it is advisable to make offerings; in the event of misfortune, the Qing people have the name of the Lord, and if they want to stand in the world, they will be able to gain evil!" ”。 Fu Liang suddenly woke up and immediately sent someone to "stop believing and stopping it, not enough" (see Book of Song. Biography of Cai Kuo). Jin Changting eventually became the place where the deposed emperor Liu Yifu died. For a long time afterwards, Jin Changting was known as the "Pavilion of the Emperor" (see Book of Song. Biography of Wang Hua).

Xu Xianzhi and others deposed Liu Yifu, so why did they kill him? There are two reasons: first, fear of the long night dream, fear of Liu Yifu's resurgence, restoration of revenge, to borrow the words of Sima Wanghua, "If the deposed lord exists, worry that he (Xu Xianzhi, etc.) will be cursed in the future, causing him to be killed; Gai Yu is born too deeply", in order to prevent the snake from not dying, but being bitten by the snake, Liu Yifu must be killed; second, to curry favor with the new emperor Liu Yilong, to borrow Xie Qian's words, "do not leave the father of the thief" (see Book of Song. Tan Dao Ji Zhuan"), if Liu Yifu is left to Liu Yilong to deal with, kill his brother with his brother, and kill his brother, it is contrary to heavenly reason, provokes people to criticize, and does not give Liu Yilong a problem.

However, Xu Xianzhi and others believed that the new emperor "will be able to understand my red heart" (see History of the South. Fu Liang's biography" of the abolition of the act did not achieve the effect of asking for merit and flattery, but on the contrary caused Liu Yilong's various interrogations and suspicions, and the relationship between the monarch and the subject was similar to that of god and the undercurrent. In order to protect themselves, "Obscure and Xu and Fu Mou are self-sufficient: obscure and high-class, Tanzhen Guangling, each with a strong army, enough to control the imperial court; envy, bright in the middle of the knowledge of power, can be durable" (see "History of the South. Xie Obscure Biography"), but they underestimated Liu Yilong's political means. In the third year of Yuan Jia (426 AD), Xu Xianzhi and others were "guilty of condemnation" (see Book of Song. Emperor Wen's Chronicle"), was swept away by Liu Yilong, who held real power, and Liu Yifu's unjust case was revealed. The incident of Liu Yifu's abolition and murder opened the prelude to the unnatural death of the emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty.

(End of this article)