Chinese is sometimes very interesting, such as "humble heart" and "heart deficiency", although there is only a slight difference in the order of arrangement, but the meaning is very different, "humble heart" is a typical positive word, and "heart void" is a common derogatory word.
"Lack of heart" is definitely not a big problem, but it can even kill people.
It is said that in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were three states on the land of China, south of the Yangtze River was the State of Chen, and in the north of the River there were two states, the Northern Zhou of the Yuwen clan in the west and the Northern Qi of the Gao clan in the east.
Northern Qi was founded by Gao Yang, the second son of Gao Huan, a powerful minister of Eastern Wei. In the early days of Gao Yang's reign, he worked hard to govern and was diligent in political affairs, and Northern Qi's national strength was the strongest of the three countries. However, Gao Yang soon went to extravagant corruption, fainted and cruel, and mutilated flesh and bones, tortured and killed his brothers, and eventually became unable to drink due to excessive drinking, and as a result, he died at the age of thirty-four.
Gao Yang's hands were indeed stained with the blood of his brothers, but if he did not talk about family affection at all, and his humanity was completely destroyed, it was indeed wronged by others. You must know that the brothers who were killed by him were all his half-brothers, that is to say, they were all the children of his father and Xiao Sansheng, in other words, Gao Yang was avenging his mother, Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun.
For his brothers, Gao Yang still has some feelings, and can even be said to have a lot of feelings, if you don't believe it, please see this scene before his death.
When Gao Yang was dying, he summoned his mother, wife, children, and brothers to the dragon bed, and in front of everyone, he pushed his heart and said in a serious tone to the third brother, King Gao Yan of Changshan: "In the future, after Gao Yin (Gao Yang's eldest son) succeeds to the throne, if you have the opportunity to take the throne, the throne will be given to you, but you must not hurt Gao Yin..." Before he finished speaking, Gao Yang hurriedly reported to the King of Yan Luo.
Why did Gao Yang say these things to Gao Yan and not to others, because he knew that Gao Yan had great ambitions and would not stay under the people for a long time, which was definitely a dangerous factor for the future emperor Gao Yin, but he had always been confined to the relationship between a mother and a compatriot and had not attacked Gao Yan.
Although Gao Yang was a faint gentleman, his judgment of Gao Yan was completely correct.
Gao Yan is the third son born to Gao Huan and Lou Zhaojun, "beautiful and dignified". Gao Yan began to participate in the government affairs of the DPRK in his twenties, and he was decisive in his work, meticulous in his thinking, and far-sighted and open-minded to the world, and he was one of the rare sober people in the Northern Qi court. At that time, Gao Yang indulged in wine and ignored the government, and most of the ministers tended to be inflamed and followed the tide, only Gao Yan was worried about state affairs, his face was not happy, and from time to time he spoke bluntly to Gao Yang.
After Gao Yang's death, the fifteen-year-old crown prince Gao Yin successfully succeeded to the throne, and according to Gao Yang's will, He was assisted by Shang Shu ling Yang Xi and others. With the support of Gao Yin, Yang Xi carried out comprehensive reforms in a bold and bold way; they punished corruption, laid off redundant personnel, reduced servitude, asked questions about the people's sufferings, straightened out the army, and strengthened national defense, thus alleviating northern Qi's critical national situation and showing a sense of prosperity.
At that time, many talentless, unscrupulous, and bribe-taking those who came to power were deposed and dismissed, and the traitors among them were resentful and defected to the conservatives who opposed reform, Gao Yan, and Gao Zhan, the king of Changguang. Behind the second king was the old empress dowager Lou Zhaojun, who also resisted reform. By the way, after his grandson Gao Yin ascended the throne, the old lady Lou Zhaojun was promoted from empress dowager to empress dowager.
Under the obstruction of Empress Lou and the Second King, the young emperor Gao Yin wanted to raise the cause of reform to a higher level, which could be said to be more difficult and difficult to ascend to Qingtian, and what was worse was that the command of the army in the Gyeonggi region was controlled by Gao Yan and Gao Zhan. The reformists with seals in their hands and the conservatives with guns in their hands did just that, and the contradictions soon reached a white-hot state; "mountains and rains are about to come and the wind is full of buildings" and "black clouds are pressing down on the city and destroying the city," and a civil war in the court where you live and die is about to break out.
In 56 AD, with the acquiescence of Empress Lou, Gao Yan preemptively launched a coup d'état, killed Yang, Xi and other important reformers, and deposed Gao Yin as the king of Jinan, after which Gao Yan ascended the throne and became the third emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
Realistically speaking, Gao Yan was a good leader, Wenzhi was not bad in martial arts, and he was the only emperor in Northern Qi worthy of a book.
After coming to power as a conservative, he surprisingly raised the banner of reform, but he was relatively mature politically and tried not to touch the interests of the upper class, so he achieved good results. Under Gao Yan's rule, Northern Qi's political, economic, and military development was rapid, and its national strength surpassed that of Northern Zhou at one time.
However, he knew that the common people liked peace and longed for stability, so he always gave up on Northern Zhou and did not launch a land war; as for Kumoxi and other nomadic people who often harassed the northern border, Gao Yan was unceremonious and personally led his troops on a crusade, so that the enemy fled in the wind and did not dare to look south.
After Gao Yan ascended to the throne, it seemed that everything was going smoothly and naturally, but he always had a great worry in his heart, and he was always worried that one day the deposed emperor Gao Yin would come back and take away everything he now had. How can I settle my heart? One did not do, two did not stop, he finally decided to let Gao Yin disappear from this world forever.
When the emperor wants to do something, there is nothing that cannot be done. At this time, Gao Guiyan, who betrayed Gao Yin and turned to Gao Yan, came in handy, and he was secretly sent by Gao Yan to the Palace of Jinan to carry out the order to kill the former master, and the young Gao Yin died tragically under the butcher's knife of Yu Jing's subordinates.
When Gao Yin was deposed that year, Empress Lou remembered Gao Yang's words when he was dying, and made a gentleman's agreement with Gao Yan: No matter what happens, gao Yin must not be hurt. Empress Lou actually liked Gao Yin very much, and if it weren't for Gao Yin's efforts to change the law, Empress Lou would not have let her two sons challenge her grandson's throne, after all, "the palms of her hands and the backs of her hands are all meat"!
After getting rid of Gao Yin, did Gao Yan's heart settle down? Not only was there none, but it was even worse, because his lack of heart made him have a new worry: the death of his brother Gao Yang when he was dying, the agreement between his mother Empress Lou and him, and the ubiquitous ghost of his nephew Gao Yin, and his heart was full of guilt and guilt that was difficult to get rid of. During the day, when he was busy with political affairs in the court, Gao Yan could still hold on, and when it came to the evening, Gao Yan was full of Gao Yin's bloody ghosts, which could not be avoided no matter what, and could not fall asleep at all in less than half a night, and after falling asleep, he often woke up from nightmares in cold sweat.
Empress Lou did not see Gao Yin for many days, so she asked Gao Yan with great doubts about the whereabouts of her grandson, and Gao Yan was speechless, and Empress Lou knew that Gao Yin had been killed, and the old man was extremely angry at the cannibalism of his relatives, saying that he would never forgive his son Gao Yan.
His mother's scolding and Gao Yin's ghost (of course, Gao Yan's imagination) finally made Gao Yan look confused and unsettled during the day, so he found a good day to ride a horse on the outskirts of the capital with a few retinues to relax.
Just as Gao Yan was ascending to a high place to enjoy the scenery in the distance, suddenly a hare rushed out of the bushes next to him, and Gao Yan's mount jumped up in fright, and Gao Yan thought that there was a ghost again, and for a moment he let go of the reins of the horse, and as a result, he fell heavily from the horse, fractured his ribs, and seriously injured his internal organs.
Gao Yin's ghost did not spare Gao Yan, who was seriously injured, and Gao Yan's condition deteriorated sharply, and less than a year and three months after he ascended to the throne, at the age of twenty-seven, he left the splendid rivers and mountains and his wife and young son to go west.
In order not to let Gao Yin's tragedy happen to his son Gao Bainian, Gao Yan changed Gao Zhan, the King of Changguang, as the heir to the throne before his death, and specially wrote a letter to Gao Zhan, pleading with him:
"You must treat my wife and children well, and don't follow my example so that you harm others and harm yourself."
However, "the praying mantis catches cicadas, the yellow finches are behind", and history soon repeats itself. Three years after Gao Yang's eldest son Gao Yin was killed by Emperor Gao Yan, Gao Yan's eldest son Gao Bainian was killed by Emperor Gao Zhan. The three brothers Gao Yang, Gao Yan and Gao Zhan played the roles of cicadas, praying mantises and yellow finches respectively in the royal cannibalism.
The handsome man Gao Yan used his gorgeous life as a tragic price to tell posterity a profound truth - if
If your face is not thick enough and your heart is not vicious enough, don't do things that hurt nature and reason, such as bending the law for personal gain, embezzling and accepting bribes, killing people, and setting fires, otherwise, even if you can escape the punishment of the law, you will not be able to escape your own heart.