In the history of the Southern Dynasty, there were many emperors who were deposed, and many of them became famous emperors in history. During the Liu Song Dynasty, Liu Yifu, Liu Ziye and Liu Yu were deposed and killed for various reasons, becoming synonymous with Duan Jun in the history books. The first deposed emperor of Southern Qi was Xiao Zhaoye, who was the grandson of Emperor Xiao Zhao of Qiwu and the son of Xiao Changmao the Prince of Wenhui. A year after he ascended the throne, he was deposed and killed by Xiao Luan, the Marquis of Xichang, and became the first emperor in the history of Southern Qi. The history books say that The reason for Xiao Zhaoye's abolition and murder was his greed for pleasure and squandering a large amount of money left by Emperor Qiwu. Not only did he ignore the government, but he also had an affair with his father's concubine Huo Shi and favored the eunuch Xu Longju, and did not listen to Xiao Luan's advice. Therefore, after being intolerable, Xiao Luan gathered the power of the imperial court to enter the imperial palace and kill it.
Judging from this historical data, it can be said that Xiao Zhaoye's death was self-inflicted, and Xiao Luan seized the throne for the sake of the country and the people, which seems to be very great and justified. However, a careful reading of the records of the Book of Southern Qi reveals that there are many contradictions in it. These contradictions are difficult to justify themselves, and it is difficult to make Xiao Zhaoye's black history fully established. It can be said that from the history books, Xiao Zhaoye's death is very suspicious.
Xiao Zhaoye recorded in the Book of Southern Qi is a very contradictory figure, that is, a hedonistic emperor who covets pleasure, a disobedient son who is not filial piety, and a good child who is favored by Xiao Zhao and Xiao Changmao. The history books say that he had a set in front of him and a set behind his back, and won the favor of Xiao Zhao's father and son with his performance of drama, so that he could inherit the throne of Southern Qi. However, from the analysis of specific facts, this statement is obviously untenable.
Judging from the historical materials mentioned above, Xiao Zhaoye is indeed a faint prince. He ignored political affairs, lived a luxurious life, coveted pleasure, and used a large amount of funds from the treasury left by Xiao Zhao for his own luxurious life consumption. Such a person is naturally a dark lord, and Xu Longju and other people he favors are absolutely traitors, so the history books have concluded the coffin of Xiao Zhaoye in the image of a traitorous minister. However, in the details of the history books, we can see Xiao Zhaoye's talented side. For example, his lishu was highly respected by Xiao Zhao and was very famous at that time. Xiao Zhao also ordered that all of Xiao Zhaoye's subordinate books should be collected and could not flow out of the palace. If Xiao Zhaoye was really a person who coveted pleasure, then how could he have such a superb foundation in lishu at such a young age?
Practicing calligraphy is never done quickly, and there must be perseverance and patience. It is a very boring life, and you must mentally restrain your desires and devote all your energy to the practice of calligraphy. Xiao Zhaoye was not yet twenty years old and was famous for his lishu, which obviously took a lot of effort. If such a person covets pleasure and lives in luxury, and is also lustful enough to have an affair with his mother-in-law, who has the energy to practice the book? From the perspective of cleaning up, the two behaviors recorded in the history books are obviously contradictory. As the emperor and the emperor's grandson, Xiao Zhaoye's life was understandably extravagant, but to say that he put all his energy into the aspect of pleasure would be a bit unreasonable, let alone explain the problem of being famous for his lishu.
In the process of Xiao Zhaoye being killed by Xiao Luan, the change in the whole situation was very strange. Almost all the ministers surnamed Xiao who participated in the abolition and killing of Xiao Zhaoye were the ministers of the Southern Qi imperial clan, and the rest were officials of the Men valve clan. In addition to Xiao Luan himself, Xiao Chen and Xiao Tanzhi, who were Xiao Zhaoye's close associates, Xiao Yan, who was known for his talent in the family, Xiao Yaoguang, the general xiao Yaoguang, the secretary Lang Xiao Yaoxin, and the xiao Yaochang brothers in the matter all occupied Xiao Luan's camp. In terms of the Gate Valve Clan, famous clans such as the Langya Wang Clan, the Wuxing Shen Clan, and the Donghai Xu Clan all sided with Xiao Luan. It seems that Xiao Zhaoye committed public anger and was accused by the imperial court, so Xiao Luan killed him and seized the emperor's throne.
What is interesting is that judging from the so-called traitor group that appeared in the process of abolishing and killing Xiao Zhaoye, Xiao Zhaoye's side was surrounded by people of extraordinary origin. For example, Zhou Fengshu, a male in Qujiang County, was a well-known fierce general in Southern Qi, who defeated the Northern Wei army with his father Zhou Panlong in the Battle of Jiaocheng, and the enemy was intimidated. Xiao Zhao appointed him as the Zhige of the Eastern Palace, and asked Xiao Zhaoye to follow him to learn archery on horseback, which was the military leader of Xiao Zhaoye's team. Another example is that Xiao Zilong, the king of Suiwang, is known for his elegance and literary talent in the clan, and his reputation among the literati is very high. The Zhige general Cao Daogang had a good reputation in the Forbidden Army, and was known for his upright and unsympathetic personality. Liyang made Du Wenqian well-known in the local area, and was respected for his speech and knowledge.
If Xiao Zhaoye is really a hedonistic and unscrupulous monarch, why are the traitors in his group all people with a good reputation in the folk? Could it be that these people's reputations in the folk are all deceived, and when they reach Xiao Zhaoye's side, they appear in their original form? And these people knew that Xiao Zhaoye was greedy for pleasure, but they could also refuse the solicitation of Xiao Luan's clique, loyally follow him and Xiao Luan to carry out political struggles, and finally they were killed one after another before Xiao Zhaoye. The emergence of this situation just shows that these people are not vain people, but all have the quality of loyalty and patriotism. From this point of view, the Xiao Zhaoye they were loyal to should not be the Wu dao duan jun mentioned in the history books, because the wu dao di jun would not have such appeal, let alone someone such an upright minister would be martyred for him.
Therefore, from the analysis of the history books, Xiao Zhaoye is simply untenable. There are great doubts in those historical materials, and it is impossible to justify themselves. Such historical data can be understood as the smear and framing of the losers by the successful coup d'état, in order to wash away their own infamy of killing the king and seizing the throne, so that they are legally in line with the conditions for inheriting the throne. Such a thing is not uncommon in the history of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and Liu Yifu, Liu Ziye, and Liu Yu analyzed in the previous article were all treated in this way after they were abolished. It can be seen from this that after the abolition of the emperor, he was smeared, which became a routine recorded in the history books of the Southern and Northern Dynasties period. So the question is, since Xiao Zhaoye is not a pathless emperor, what is the reason why he caused the imperial court ministers to collectively abolish him?
When compiling the information of the participants in this coup, an interesting phenomenon can be found, xiao Luan's camp is all prominent people, and Xiao Zhaoye's camp is an official from the Hanmen Shu clan except for the clan relatives. Combined with the history and era background of the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, it can be found that this is a typical struggle for power between the Gate Valve Clan and the Han Men Shu Clan. Xiao Daocheng usurped the imperial power of Liu Song with the support of the Gate Valve Clan, so after the founding of the Country, the Southern Qi Imperial Court became the domain of the Gate Valve Clan, and the Gate Valve Clan represented by the Langya Wang Clan once again held the power of the imperial court. However, Xiao Zhaoye did the opposite of his grandfather's way, promoting many officials of the Hanmen Shu clan and letting them replace the positions of the officials of the Gate Valve Clan in the imperial court.
In the process, the two sides had many contradictions in order to compete for official positions and power positions, and Xiao Zhaoye, despite Xiao Luan's obstruction, forcibly supported the Hanmen Shu clan to ascend to the throne, thus making the political struggle white-hot. After the death of Xiao Ye, the King of Wuling who supported Xiao Zhaoye, the situation in the imperial court became unbalanced, and Xiao Luan's power became more and more important, causing conflict between the two sides to erupt. While Xiao Luan was wooing the Gatekeeper clan to seek to kill the king, Xiao Zhaoye was also conspiring with Empress He Jingying's cousin Zhongshu Ling (中書) to kill Xiao Luan. Because the Lujiang He clan was also a member of the Gate Valve Clan and did not dare to turn face with the Door Valve Group, He Yin stopped Xiao Zhaoye's action. Xiao Luan, on the other hand, grasped the close plot and successively eliminated the soldiers who supported the emperor in the forbidden army represented by Zhou Fengshu, and completely controlled the power of the palace guards.
After losing the power of the imperial palace, Xiao Zhaoye's personal safety was completely under Xiao Luan's control. In the end, Xiao Zhaoye sent Xiao Chen, Xiao Tanzhi, and others in charge of the forbidden army to enter the palace to arrest Xiao Zhaoye and execute him halfway out of the palace. In this coup d'état, the palace guards did not play a role at all, because the military power was controlled by Xiao Luan, and it was Xiao Chen and Xiao Tanzhi who were directly operated by Xiao Zhao before his death. It can also be seen from this coup that at that time, the power of the Mongol clan in the imperial court and the localities was very large, and they had enough ability to change the political situation. Although Xiao Zhaoye tried to regain imperial power and also received the support of the Hanmen Shu clan, he was ultimately defeated by the Menmen Clan, and Xiao Luan was their political spokesman.