We read all the lead to present a different history.
Throughout history, the ancients have always paid attention to "no two days in the sky, no two masters in the world", and the degree of concern for the legitimacy of the legal system and the regime has even reached the point of paranoia. No matter what means the founding emperor used to win the world, he must be justified in order to have a solid foundation for rule. In the same way, no matter how the dynasties change, some basic etiquette cannot be changed, such as the empress and the emperor, and a country can only have one. After all, yin and yang are harmonious, and the country can have long-term peace and stability. Of course, the so-called empress means that there is only one empress at the same time, and if the empress dies, the emperor can appoint a successor empress.
▲The Northern Zhou Palace imitated by the present-day people
However, there are always exceptions to everything, and there is such an emperor in history who canonized five empresses in one go, which can be called a "feat" of no one who has never been seen before. This person was Yuwen Yun, the Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Yuwen Yun (宇文赟), born in the first year of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (559 CE), was born in the capital Chang'an, and his father was Yuwen Yong, the third emperor of Northern Zhou. Yuwen Yongxiong was the most outstanding emperor of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and during his reign he succeeded in completely unifying the North, and if it were not for his untimely death, the unification of China would not be a problem.
▲ Portrait of Yuwen Yong, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty
The tiger's father gave birth to a dog, and Yuwen Yun, who had mediocre ability, was made crown prince at the age of 13 as the eldest son of the emperor and became the heir of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. For this prince, Yuwen Yong initially carried out strict discipline and behavior surveillance, gradually became disappointed with his poor performance, and had the idea of establishing another prince, and finally reluctantly gave up under the strong opposition of the empress and her courtiers. It turned out that Yuwen Yong's premonition was not wrong- in the first year of Xuanzheng (578 AD), after Yuwen Yong's death, Yuwen Yun succeeded to the throne and changed his era name to Dacheng. After ascending the throne as emperor, Yuwen Yun's strongly suppressed nature during the princely period was suddenly released.
▲ Northern Zhou Wu Emperor Yuwen Yong stills
After ascending the throne, Yuwen Yun first married Yang Jian's eldest daughter Yang Lihua, and then elected a beautiful woman to enrich the harem and live a life of fornication and luxury. In the first year of the Elephant (579 AD), Yuwen Yun, in order to be able to enjoy himself with peace of mind, simply zen the crown prince Yuwen Yan (that is, the Northern Zhou Jing Emperor Yuwen Yan), claiming to be the Emperor of Tianyuan, who could continue to hold imperial power and avoid the trouble of participating in court meetings and handling government affairs. The arrogant and confused emperor called his residence "Tiantai" and even called himself "Heaven" when he issued edicts to his subordinates. When the chancellor saw Yuwen Yun, he had to fast for three days in advance and bathe for another day.
▲ Northern Zhou Xuan Emperor Yuwen Yun stills
On the other hand, the struggle between the empress and the four favored concubines became more and more fierce, and Yuwen Yun was really reluctant to be a beauty, and simply made a trick, that is, everyone became the empress together. Speaking of which, Yuwen Yun is really very positive about being able to smile at Bo Meiren. It didn't take long for him to draw up an edict, appointing Yang Lihua (Empress), Zhu Manyue, Chen Yueyi, Wei Chi, and Yuan Leshang as Empress Tianyuan, Empress Tianzhong, Empress Tianzuo, and Empress Tianyou respectively, and Yuwen Yun thus became the only emperor in ancient times with five empresses, breaking the record of the former Zhao Emperor Liu Cong's "three queens standing side by side".
▲Tianyuan Empress Yang Lihua stills
After the farce after the sealing, Yuwen Yun intensified his indulgence in sound and color dogs and horses, taking various elixirs to supplement his body, and embezzling a large amount of imperial funds to build a palace. Disgusted with handling imperial politics, Yuwen Yun even handed over power step by step to his father-in-law Yang Jian, who took the opportunity to firmly hold the power of imperial politics in his hands. Due to too much indulgence, Yuwen Yun, who had been emperor for only two years, suddenly died in the Tiande Hall. Liu Fang, the Grand Master of imperial succession, and Zheng Yi, the Grand Master of Internal History, took the opportunity to forge edicts and let Yang Jian, the Duke of Suiguo, accept the will and assist the imperial government.
▲Portrait of Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of Sui
Two months later, Yang Jian, who had actually controlled the political situation, no longer had any worries, and forced the Northern Zhou Jing Emperor Yuwen to give in to himself, and Northern Zhou became the Sui Dynasty. Although some of them were not righteous, for the group of courtiers, Yang Jian, who was wise and divine, was obviously more able to win support than the faint-hearted Yuwen Yun. After Yang Jian ascended the throne, he carried out large-scale reforms, and the national strength of the Sui Dynasty increased greatly, and with the foundation laid by Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou in the past, he already had the strength to unify the Central Plains. After this, Yang Jian sent troops to attack Southern Chen, re-established a unified dynasty, and recovered the homeland that had been lost for hundreds of years. During this period, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the officials were fair and honest, and later generations praised it as "the rule of the emperor". Yang Jian, as the great emperor who ruled the world, was recorded in the history books, and the faint and incompetent Yuwen Yun did not know how to meet his father Yuwen Yong under the Nine Springs.
bibliography:
Book of Zhou, Volume VII, Emperor Ji Vii, Northern History, Volume X, Zhou Ben Ji Xia, Tenth
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