In ancient Chinese history, there are many last kings who actually have good abilities, but because the dynasty they were in before has been terminally ill, the imperial power has no longer ruled, so that their talents have no room to show, and they can only watch the inheritance left by their predecessors perish in their own hands, and Liu Xie, the emperor of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, is the best example.
In the Eastern Wei Dynasty of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Xiaojing Emperor Yuan Shanmi was also such a monarch, who was made a puppet emperor by Gao Huan at a young age. But in the process of growing up, he did not give up on himself, but always had the idea of overthrowing the Gao rule. He also showed great ability in his daily life, and was compared to his great-grandfather Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei.
However, like Liu Xie, Yuan's efforts to overthrow the warlords ultimately failed to yield the desired results, and his position in the dynasty became increasingly depressed as Gao's power continued to consolidate. This made Motoyoshimi's spirit of resistance increasingly depressed. Especially after Gao Cheng's death, he saw the dominance of the Gao family and knew that there was no hope of restoration, and he could only zen in Gao Yang.
Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei yuan was quite satisfied
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the rapid growth of Motoyoshi during the Gao Huan period</h1>
In the last years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Yuan Xiu fled west from Gao Huan's control and went to Guanzhong to seek Yuwen Tai's protection, which made Gao Huan have to find a new emperor to inherit the Northern Wei imperial family. In view of the rebellion that Yuan Xiu had launched, gao Huan chose the eleven-year-old Yuan Zenmi as the new emperor to facilitate his control. Soon after, Gao Huan also moved Yuan Shanmi from Luoyang to Yecheng to facilitate his control, which officially led northern China into the era of the parallel wei of the east and the west.
Northern Qi Shenwu Emperor Gao Huan
Although Yuan Zenmi's ascension to the throne was controlled by Gao Huan, he had no actual power. But Gao Huan was still respectful to the nominal ruler of the country. He not only invited many famous scholars to teach Yuan Zenmi knowledge, but also did not impose too many restrictions on the freedom of the little emperor. Whenever the emperor went out on a tour, Gao Huan would also serve closely by the emperor's side, which gave Yuan Shanmi a good growth environment.
At this time, Motoyoshimi also showed his excellent qualities, he was not only tall and healthy, skilled in bow and horse, but also had a good political attainment, and had a certain reputation in the dynasty. This made the adult Yuan Zenmi not willing to just be a puppet under Gao Huan, and gave birth to the idea of regaining imperial power.
Most importantly, Gao Huan's attitude of maintaining and respecting Yuan Shan's views in the court made him have a certain deviation in his understanding of the influence of imperial power, and he did not recognize the current situation of the Eastern Wei Dynasty's government returning to the Gao clan, and had plans to regain power.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > a head-on conflict between Motoyoshimi and Takashi</h1>
During Gao Huan's lifetime, due to his strong influence, Yuan Shanjian did not dare to act rebelliously. After Gao Huan's death, his eldest son Gao Cheng succeeded Gao Huan in the imperial court. Unlike Gao Huan, Gao Cheng's attitude towards Yuan Shanmi was very unfriendly, and he even scolded Yuan Shanmi at the banquet as "dog foot decay" and privately called him "idiot", which made Yuan Shanmi's status in the DPRK a significant decline.
Northern Qi Wenxiang Emperor Gao Cheng
This situation gave Yuan Shanmi a plan to rebel against Gao Cheng, and he and his attendant Xun Ji and others contacted several Northern Wei clans in the middle of the dynasty, planning to secretly attack gao Cheng and regain power. As a result, when they were digging tunnels in the palace, the palace guards heard a strange noise and reported it to Gao Cheng. When Gao Cheng learned of this, he went straight into the palace and questioned Yuan Zenmi why he wanted to "plot rebellion", and Yuan Shanmi knew that the matter was exposed, and instead of asking Gao Cheng for forgiveness, he counted his disobedient behavior and showed rare courage. Takashi also immediately apologized to Motoyoshimi, but the ministers involved in the matter were still killed by Takasumi, and Motomi's rebellion ended in failure:
Wen Xiangle entered the palace and said, "Your Majesty does he mean to oppose evil!" The father and son of the subject are meritorious and the society is in the society, and he bears the evil of His Majesty! "The concubines will be killed." Emperor Zheng se said, "The king is rebellious, what is the matter with me?" I don't care, let alone a concubine! Wen Xiang got out of bed and prostrated his head, crying out in thanks.
From the incident of Yuan Shanmi's secret murder of Gao Cheng, it is not difficult for us to see that even the guards in the palace at that time were Gao Cheng's cronies, which is enough to explain the decline of imperial power at that time. Moreover, Motoyoshimi only plotted to assassinate Takashi, and lacked sufficient arrangements for how to take power back into his hands afterwards, which was enough to show that Motoyoshimi was still lucky about the prestige of the imperial power, and he believed that after the courtiers were cursed, he would naturally get the support of the courtiers. After the failure of this uprising, although Motoyoshimi still had plans to regain imperial power, he no longer dared to directly confront the Gao family and could only continue to wait for the opportunity.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > The High Yang dictatorship and the Yuan Zen position</h1>
When Gao Cheng was in power, he already had the intention of abolishing Yuan Shan's self-reliance. However, he was later assassinated by his own chef, allowing Motoyoshimi to see the hope of a revival of imperial power.
Stills of Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi
But to his surprise, Gao Yang, who was the governor of the capital at the time, quickly captured the Assassins and brought the situation under control. The civil and military officials of the court also saw signs that Gao Yang was about to take over the power of the Gao family and expressed their allegiance to him. Yuan Shanmi's bitterly awaited opportunity often had no impact on his own situation in the end, and Gao Yang may be more difficult to deal with than his brother, so the cruel blow finally made Yuan Shan see the position of the Northern Wei imperial family in the hearts of the courtiers, and he could no longer regain the support of the people.
Under such circumstances, Yuan Shanmi finally gave up the idea of resisting, and after Gao Yang went to Jinyang to subdue Gao Huan's old courtiers, he knew that the entire Eastern Wei was already the domain of the Gao family, and he no longer had the idea of resisting. After Gao Yang returned to Yecheng, he made a proposal to him to make a Zen concession, which Motoyoshimi also accepted calmly, and the Eastern Wei Dynasty came to an end.
Northern Qi forces map
As the little emperor chosen by Gao Huan in the chaotic world, Yuan Zenmi was treated well and well educated during Gao Huan's lifetime. This gave him great ambitions to revitalize the imperial power of the Yuan clan. And Gao Huan's respectful attitude also made him have an excessive estimate of the majesty of the imperial power, which was also an important reason why he dared to attack Gao Cheng.
After Gao Huan's death, Gao Cheng's attitude towards Yuan Shanjian was far inferior to Gao Huan's, and he repeatedly insulted Yuan Shanjian in public, which made him determined to assassinate Gao Cheng. However, at that time, Motoyoshimi did not have enough cronies, and his plot was soon learned by Takasumi, and the ministers who conspired with him were all killed, and Motoyoshimi temporarily put away the idea of rebellion.
However, after Gao Cheng's death, Motoyoshimi found that Gao Yang had controlled the power in a very short period of time, which made him finally realize the loss of imperial power, and he finally gave up the idea of revitalizing the imperial family, and finally accepted Gao Yang's request for the throne, stepped down from the throne, and was killed by Gao Yang shortly after.
bibliography:
[1] "Wei Shu Xiaojing Emperor Yuan Shan Jian Ji"
[2] Book of Northern Qi, Emperor Wenxuan Gao Yangji
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