The Xiao Liang Empire, which Emperor Xiao Yan had painstakingly managed for decades, was very rich and powerful, but it was destroyed by the "Hou Jing Rebellion". At first, Hou Jing crossed the river with a thousand people to launch a rebellion, Xiao Liang's hundreds of thousands of troops did nothing, but Hou Jing wrapped up a large number of rabble-rousers and besieged Taicheng, and Emperor Wu of Liang was eventually starved to death.
Unlike the "Anshi Rebellion" with a very clear context, the whole process of "Hou Jing's Rebellion" seems to be an absurd drama, which seems to be completely contrary to common sense, but it truly destroyed the Xiaoliang Empire in East Asia at that time.
How did all this happen? On the eve of the outbreak of the Hou Jing Rebellion, a letter from Xiao Liang's scattered horseman He Chen may be able to reveal to us the various crises under the prosperous world at that time.
Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu
An extraordinary piece of music
In 545, it was already the 43rd year of Emperor Wu of Liang's reign in the Southern Dynasty. In this year, He Chen, who served as a regular attendant on a scattered horse, plucked up the courage to give the emperor a recital and talked about the serious problems in the four aspects of the country.
<h1>The first is to levy and expropriate and exploit layer by layer</h1>
The state exploited the county, the county to the county, and the superiors and subordinates frantically taxed and squeezed, resulting in the displacement of the people. "The county is not under the control of the state, and the county is not able to bear the county's exploitation, and it is even more disturbing, but the matter is requisitioned." The people are overwhelmed, and the affairs are displaced."
What is more serious is that most of the emissaries of the "Coming of all nations" come from the sea in the east and need to greet them with a smile. Every foreign envoy had to entertain for free along the road, and he had to give many gifts to eat and live, so that "every envoy, belonging to the disturbance, the poor and the slaughtered", resulting in the originally prosperous eastern region "the hukou is empty, all by the mission of the multiplication."
Although His Majesty the Emperor issued an edict every year saying that jobs would be created and tax-free, it would become a dead letter below.
Xiao Liang's tribute to the kingdoms came to the dynasty
<h1>The second is that customs are extravagant and compete for exaggeration</h1>
This question answers the previous question, why officials will levy and be violent, that is, the social atmosphere is not good, and they compete for luxury. "Today the next shouzai is so greedy, and the good is made by customs and extravagance."
To what extent is extravagance? As long as it is a red and white happy event, the aspect of eating is "like a hill, and the dishes are embroidered with the same", tens of millions of family wealth, often only enough to have a party, the rich family's wine and meat are wasted, and a large amount of rot is smelly. Ordinary people also began to raise prostitutes, and the small county ordered the accumulation of assets of hundreds of millions, and just a few years after retirement, it was squandered, mostly for swallow drinks and song tools.
Under such a social atmosphere, how can there be honest officials and frugal people? Not to mention any discipline.
<h1>The third is to disregard the general situation and only trivial matters</h1>
His Majesty the Emperor seems to be very diligent and down-to-earth, and often very small officials will personally receive him, listen to him talk loudly, and personally solve some small things. The tyranny and lawlessness of the ministers and nobles were always tolerated, and even if they committed serious crimes, they were also given leniency and indulgence, resulting in the princes and nobles acting as a blessing in disguise, and the social order became increasingly chaotic.
<h1>Fourth, the institutions are huge and complicated, and the internal friction is serious</h1>
The world has been peaceful for many years, and it should be Haiqing River Yan and recuperation, but the size of the imperial court is more and more miscellaneous. The main reason is that the bureaucracy is constantly expanding, and the number of people is floating and there is constantly fighting with each other. There are many kinds of institutions such as Jingshizhi, Bureau, Dizhi, Sifangtun, Chuan, and Dizhi, and they are constantly stirring up trouble and making waves, making the people unable to rest in peace. Most of the people are inconspicuous labor, but they cannot be counted.
Tongtai Temple where Emperor Wu of Liang sacrificed his life (Jiming Temple)
He Chen presented this seal, originally wanting to remind the emperor that he could make up for it. But I didn't expect Emperor Liangwu's reaction to be: Furious!
Emperor Wu of Liang personally wrote an article refuting this chapter, and his reasons for refutation were also very high-level:
First, when you say that you are corrupt and wanton, why don't you write clearly that it is "a certain assassin who is violent, a certain who is too conservative and corrupt, Shangshu and Lantai who are adulterous, and the messengers who are fishing and hunting, and what is the name?" Who is it? "As long as you write down who it is, I will investigate it, and I will definitely remove him and choose a clean person to serve."
But if you don't write it, you don't!
Second, you say that customs are extravagant, food is wasted, and I don't know about social affairs, but the imperial court certainly does not, and I have not slaughtered livestock as sacrifices for a long time. As for extravagance, there are no carved objects in my palace, nor do I play music, I have not slept with women for more than thirty years, I get up in the early morning to read the recital, I only eat one meal a day, I do not eat meat for many years, I eat vegetables, so that the body shape has slimmed from the previous "waist ten circumference" to more than two feet now. Everyone knows this.
Third, you say that the government is trivial and ignorant of the general situation, if I do not listen to the situation in many ways, how can I understand the situation at the grass-roots level in all aspects? As the saying goes, "Listening exclusively to adultery, leaving one's own hands to become chaos", is it necessary to learn from Zhao Gao's way of confusing the public and referring to deer as horses? When you say "nitpicking", who do you mean? You have to make it clear to me!
Fourth, if you say that the institutions are huge and complicated and should be reduced, then we should clearly explain the governance, the bureau, the residence, the wanton, and so on. Which institutions should be deducted? What kind of construction affairs that hurt people's strength should be slowed down? I must be given something out of the ordinary!
Finally, Emperor Wu of Liang also showed the "killer skill" in a threatening tone, and if you don't explain it to me clearly, it is "if you don't have a list, you are deceiving the imperial court!" "I'm ready to punish He Chen."
Emperor Wu of Liang's dragon face was furious and rebuked the chancellor with the pressure of Mount Tai, and He Chen only prostrated himself on the ground and sweated and begged the emperor for forgiveness.
From then on, naturally no one dared to give Emperor Liangwu a "tiger whisker".
Sima Guang commented: It is a pity that Emperor Wu of Liang was killed. As a talent, Emperor Wu of Liang was indeed an emperor of all ages, "erudite and able to write, yin and yang, bu zheng, riding archery, sound rhythm, grass li, Go, all exquisite." "He is extremely diligent, getting up in the middle of the night every day to deal with government affairs, never stopping in the cold and heat, eating only one meal a day, never eating fish and meat, only vegetable soup and coarse rice. A hat was worn for three years, a quilt was covered for two years, never drank alcohol, did not play music, and the concubines wore short clothes, "the king's way is ready, there is no more to add." Only the relatives are small people, many are lenient, many pagodas and temples are built, and Buddhist affairs are indulged.
Even so, he was not good at humbly accepting He Chen's advice, and who would dare to give advice to future knowledgeable ministers? Coupled with his advanced age, since then "the adulterer has not seen him in front, the great conspiracy has been reversed without knowing, the name is insulted and endangered, the state has been overthrown, and it has been laughed at by all eternity." ”
In just 3 years, an unprecedented great chaos in the Southern Dynasty swept through the prosperous world created by Emperor Wu of Liang. It is a pity that this seemingly good emperor, but the final end of life is planted by himself.
"Liang Gaozu's immortality is also, Yi Ya!"
@ Qingshi Zijian