Four hundred years of agitation: Xiao Yan was addicted to Buddhism and could not extricate himself, Xiao Tong was depressed and finally Xiao Gang succeeded him

This article is the 546th in a long series of articles, Four Hundred Years of Turmoil

The Northern Wei Dynasty was in turmoil and fragmentation, which was the best time for Southern Liang to regain its lost territory, but Xiao Yan, as the supreme ruler, plunged into Buddhism and could not extricate himself.

On September 15 of the first year of the Zhongda Chao (529 AD), Xiao Yan personally visited the Tongtai Temple and held four unshaved assemblies. He took off his imperial robes, changed into his robes, and carried out a clean house, taking the province of Ben in The Tongtai Temple as his residence, setting up a bed and tile utensils in the room, riding a small car, and serving as a private person.

Subsequently, Xiao Yan ascended to the Dharma Seat of the Lecture Hall and gave lectures on the Nirvana Sutra for the four members of the public, as if he had the posture of becoming a monk, and the Southern Liang Qunchen had to find a way to invite him back.

On September 25, Southern Liang Qunchen collected 100 million yuan to donate to Tongtai Temple to redeem Xiao Yan.

On September 27, the hundred officials came to the east gate of The Tongtai Temple, asked Xiao Yan to return to the palace, and after three consecutive requests, he agreed, and when he replied, he also used the word "Dunshou" to present himself as a monk.

On the first day of October, Xiao Yan once again held four unshaked assemblies, with more than 50,000 monks and laymen attending. After the conference, Xiao Yan took the golden car back to the palace, approached the Taiji Hall, pardoned the world, and changed the Yuan Zhong Datong.

Xiao Yan ruled the country in the Buddhist lineage, but not all of southern Liang were as desireless and undesirable as him, and his years were quiet and good, and it was inseparable from Chen Qingzhi to solve his worries and difficulties.

On the fourth day of December, Zhang Jingyong of Yanzhou, Li Lingqi of Jingzhou, and Xiao Jinming, the general of Xiongxin, rebelled against Southern Liang and surrendered to Northern Wei.

Taking advantage of the emptiness of the border guards, a demon thief named Monk Qiang called himself The Son of Heaven and fought against the imperial court, and the local tycoon Cai Bolong responded with an army of 30,000 soldiers and soldiers, and captured Xuzhou. Xiao Yan took Chen Qingzhi as the assassin of Yanzhou and asked him to lead his troops to conquest, and soon pacified him.

On the sixth day of the first month of April in the third year of Zhongda Tong (531 AD), Xiao Tong, the crown prince of Southern Liang, died at the age of thirty.

Xiao Tong was Xiao Yan's eldest son, who was made crown prince after only one year of birth, and from an early age he behaved generously and loved literature and Buddhism, and Xiao Yan had high hopes for him. Since the crown ceremony, Xiao Yan began to let him handle the affairs of the dynasty, and the officials of various departments came to play things, and all gathered in the East Palace, and Xiao Yan became the treasurer.

Xiao Tong was good at distinguishing between true and falsehoods, and had a deep insight into the inaccuracies, but only ordered the relevant departments to correct them, and did not pursue the guilt. He was fair in his judgments, often more protective and lenient to prisoners, gentle in his treatment of others, tolerant of others, and moody and angry.

In addition to government affairs, Xiao Tong likes to read books and write articles, and introduces talented people. After living in the Eastern Palace for more than twenty years, Xiao Tong never kept musicians and singers. Whenever it rained heavily or the snow did not melt, Xiao Tong always sent his men to inspect the streets and alleys, and if they found poor people, they would help them.

Moreover, he was filial and obedient, and lived in the Eastern Palace, even when there was nothing to do, they would sit together facing west, and if they received an edict in advance and called him to enter the palace tomorrow, they would sit in danger until dawn.

All in all, Xiao Tong can be called a perfect prince, kind by nature, delicate in mind, cautious in handling things, and it is precisely his personality that makes him unfortunate to die young.

On November 15, 526, Xiao Tong's birth mother, Ding Guifei, died, and he sent people around to buy the best feng shui cemetery and buy a piece of land at a high price.

Under the huge interests, some people moved their minds and paid bribes to the eunuch Yu San vice-admiral, begging him to help sell his land to Xiao Tong, and promised to give one-third of the proceeds from the sale of the land to Yu San vice-admiral.

Yu San was greedy for money and secretly said to Xiao Yan: "The land purchased by the prince is not as auspicious as the land he has purchased now for His Majesty." Xiao Yan was old and jealous, so he ordered someone to buy the land. Forced by Xiao Yan's authority, Xiao Tong had no choice but to bury Ding Gui's concubine in the cemetery that Xiao Yan personally bought.

After Ding Gui's concubine was buried, a Taoist priest said to Xiao Tong: "This piece of land is not conducive to the eldest son, if the town is a town, maybe it can be extended." Xiao Tong believed that it was true, so he buried the wax goose and other items in the position of the eldest son on the side of Ding Gui's tomb.

Previously, the palace supervisors Bao Miaozhi and Wei Ya were both deeply favored by Xiao Tong. Later, the two were at odds, and Bao Mizhi held a grudge against Wei Ya, and he used this incident to play to Xiao Yanqi: "Wei Ya cursed His Majesty for the crown prince. ”

Xiao Yan sent someone to the cemetery to inspect the excavation, and sure enough, he dug up wax geese and other objects. Enraged, Xiao Yan wanted to pursue the matter thoroughly, but only gave up under Xu Mian's strong persuasion and only killed the Daoist.

Because of this, Xiao Tong became depressed and died young. When they learned of his death, the government and the public were very shocked and regretful, and Jiankang men, women and children rushed to the palace gate to mourn, crying continuously along the road.

After Xiao Tong's death, Xiao Yan intended to establish Xiao Tong's eldest son, Xiao Huan, the Assassin of Southern Xuzhou, and Xiao Huan the Duke of Huarong, as heirs, but he still remembered the wax goose in his heart, hesitated for a long time, and finally gave up.

On May 27, the third year of Zhongda Tong (531 CE), Xiao Tong's half-brother Xiao Gang the Prince of Jin'an was made crown prince.

Like Xiao Tong, Xiao Gang was also a man with a strong literary atmosphere, and although he held important positions, his literary achievements far exceeded those in politics.

Around Xiao Gang, a literary group with a staff-based and distinct style was formed, and with his appointment as the crown prince, the literary influence of this group reached its peak, openly advocating the famous palace style literature in literary history, flowing as far as the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

After being made crown prince, Xiao Gang served as a servant of Xu Shu as a family order, concurrently served as a pipe secretary, and soon became a leader, becoming his confidant and the leader of palace literature.

Xu Shu, born in the Xu clan of the East China Sea, was a young scholar, a botong jingshi, and the words of the article were known for their brilliance and lightness, and the Eastern Palace literati imitated his style, and Yu Shoulder Wu was called The Great Xu Yu.

When Xiao Yan heard this, he was greatly annoyed, so he summoned Xu Yan and planned to ridicule and blame him. After seeing Xu Wei, he found that he was quick to respond, his words were full of literary style, and his unhappiness disappeared.

Then, Xiao Yan asked Xu Yan some questions about the history of scriptures and Buddhism, and Xu Yan compared himself horizontally and horizontally, and responded to the flow, and Xiao Yan praised him greatly and favored Rilong.

Regarding Xu Wei's sudden favor, the leader Zhu Yi was very unhappy and said to his cronies: "Xu Wei has recently been in and out of the two palaces, deeply favored, and has become more and more a threat to me, and I must make arrangements as soon as possible." ”

Therefore, he took the opportunity to say to Xiao Yanjin: "Xu Yan is old and loves mountains and rivers, and he hopes to be able to serve in the county to support himself." Xiao Yan thought that Xu Yan really thought so, so he summoned him and said to him: "The scenery of the landscape in Xin'an County is very beautiful. "Transferred Xu Yu out of Jiankang to serve as the Taishou of Xin'an County.

On June 15, under the pressure of public opinion, Xiao Yan established Xiao Huan as the King of Yuzhang, his younger brother Xiao Xiao the Duke of Zhijiang as the King of Hedong, and Xiao Xiao, the Duke of Qu, as the King of Yueyang.

After that, Bao Mizhi violated the criminal law for luring and robbing people, and the crime did not lead to death, but Xiao Gang thought of Xiao Tong's grievances and executed him with tears.

With a new prince to handle state affairs in his place, Xiao Yan turned his attention back to Buddhism.

On October 13, Xiao Yan visited Xingtongtai Temple, ascended to the Dharma Throne, and preached the Nirvana Sutra to the crowd, which lasted for seven days before it ended.

On November 29, Xiao Yan visited The Temple of Xingtongtai again and preached the Prajnaparamita Sutra to the monks, which lasted for another seven days before it ended.

This was the norm in Xiao Yan's later years, indifferent to state affairs, and in addition to wandering things all day long, he also posed as a high monk from time to time, preaching the Dharma and purifying all sentient beings.