introduction
Slanting grass trees, ordinary alleys and strange, humane slaves once lived. Think of that year, Jinge iron horse, swallowed like a tiger. --Song Xin Renjie, "Yongyule Jingkou Beiguting Huaigu"
The "slave" in the poem "Zhi Nu" refers to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the founder of the Song Dynasty, The Song Dynasty Emperor Liu Yu, Liu Yuxiong was brilliant, before he was proclaimed emperor, he was committed to the north to recover the Central Plains, and was considered to be the most promising person to expel Hu Yu, although he did not succeed in the end, but this did not affect his reputation as the "First Emperor of the Southern Dynasty".
Liu Yu was born in 363 AD, nicknamed Ji Nu, and claimed to be the 22nd grandson of Liu Jiao, the younger brother of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu. Liu Yu, like Liu Bang, Zhu Yuanzhang and other grassroots emperors, grew up in a poor family, his mother died of illness when he gave birth to him, and his father once wanted to give up raising him. Fortunately, he was raised by Liu Huaijing's mother to survive.
Due to the poverty of his family, Liu Yu helped the family work since he was a child, cutting firewood, farming, fishing, and selling straw shoes. When he grew up, Liu Yu joined the army, starting from a small army, and became a famous general in the Eastern Jin Dynasty step by step by obtaining military merit. Later, when his power expanded, he led his troops to quell the civil unrest, recruited Lu Xun, Liu Yi, Sima Xiu, and others, and finally unified the south.
Just when Liu Yu was full of ambition and intended to unify the world, Liu Muzhi, his right-hand man who helped him stabilize the rear, died, and in order to stabilize the rear, Liu Yu had to abandon the plan of the Northern Expedition. In 420, Liu Yu formally usurped the throne as emperor and replaced the Eastern Jin Dynasty to establish Liu Song as Emperor Wu of Song, but by this time he was 58 years old. Two years later, Liu Yu's plan to conquer Northern Wei had not yet been implemented, and he had already died of illness.
In 422, Emperor Wu of Song was seriously ill, and he knew that he would soon die, but he was worried that his young eldest son would not be able to take on the heavy responsibility of governing the country, so Liu Yu summoned Liu Yifu, the young emperor of Song, and four close confidants Xie Han, Fu Liang, Xu Xianzhi, and Tan Daoji, entrusted the young emperor to the four ministers, and instructed them to assist the young emperor wholeheartedly.
After the death of Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Yifu, who was only 16 years old, ascended the throne as emperor. However, unlike his father Liu Yu, the Song Shao Emperor Liu Yifu was born playful, believing that having 4 ministers govern the country for him could sit back and relax, so he was indifferent to the government and politics, indulging in sound and color all day long, and had no potential to become a Ming Jun.
For the behavior of Emperor Shao of Song, Xie Han and other ministers naturally did not sit idly by, they repeatedly advised Emperor Shao of Song, but the effect achieved was minimal, continuing to seek pleasure in the palace, it seems that they did not think of inheriting the legacy of their father Liu Yubei. At this time, the Liu Song Dynasty was not the world at peace, and northern Wei launched an attack on Liu Song.
In the face of the powerful offensive of Northern Wei, the ministers had to temporarily stop advising Emperor Shao of Song and concentrate on dealing with foreign enemies, but at this time, Emperor Shao of Song still only knew how to play with the palace people. After fending off the Northern Wei offensive, the four ministers understood that they could no longer deceive themselves, that the new emperor was simply incapable of governing the country, and that they were afraid that the foundation laid by Emperor Xian would be buried in the hands of Liu Yifu.
Therefore, the four ministers decided to join forces to abolish Liu Yifu and choose a new monarch among Liu's sons. In 424, only two years after the death of Emperor Liu Yu of the Song Dynasty, Xie Han and other ministers deposed Liu Yifu, the Shao Emperor of Song, and installed Liu Yu's third son Liu Yilong as emperor, emperor for Emperor Wen of Song. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Song, he made great efforts to rule and created the prosperity of the Liu Song Dynasty, known in history as the "Rule of Yuan Jia".
Logically, Xie Han and the other four ministers who took care of their lives violated Liu Yu's dying trust, but Liu Yifu, the young emperor of the Song Dynasty, was really useless, addicted to wine, and did not want to make progress, and in the hands of Liu Yifu, the future of Liu Song was really obscure and difficult to understand. The author believes that the practice of the 4 orphan ministers is completely correct, otherwise it would not have made the Liu Song Dynasty develop to a peak, and the blame can only be blamed on Liu Yifu himself for not being angry.
References: Yong yule Jingkou Beiguting Huaigu, Book of Song, History of the South