Emperor Yuanhong of the Northern Wei Dynasty specially let people count a gua on this day, and only looked at the gua elephant once, and he smiled and said: Oh yes, this is the auspicious elephant that conquers the south and unifies the world!
Everyone glanced at it, those who couldn't understand didn't dare to speak, those who could understand didn't dare to talk casually, they were most afraid that the air would suddenly be quiet, and none of the ministers dared to take this stubble, you said Yuanhong was embarrassed, no?
Fortunately, at this time, Yuanhong's uncle Rencheng Wang Yuancheng finally broke the awkward silence: This GuaXiang, I don't think it can be understood in this way, the Guaxiang is talking about reform will make the country prosperous and developed, not that the Southern Expedition can achieve this goal!
I thought that Rencheng Wang Yuancheng would open his mouth to support Yuanhong crisply, but Yuanhong was disappointed, and even a little angry: Rencheng King, this world is my world, I want to do it!
Rencheng Wang Yuancheng did not panic at all, but slowly and leisurely said: This world is indeed your world, but I am a courtier of the world, I can't say two words?
This can make Yuanhong angry, and he immediately flicked his sleeve away. Being able to make the emperor so angry but not punished shows how high the status of Rencheng Wang Yuancheng was in the Northern Wei.
Emperor Xiaowen Thought for a while, but finally he was discouraged, and secretly considered: Everyone expressed their own opinions, willing to tell the truth, what is wrong with King Rencheng?
So Yuanhong quickly shouted Rencheng Wang Yuancheng over: "Uncle, what I said today, don't take it to heart!"
Yuan Cheng smiled: "Your Majesty, what I said today, you have to take it to heart!"
The uncle and nephew looked at each other and smiled, so Yuanhong began to express his true thoughts in his heart: we now live in Pingcheng, although the country has a large territory, but this place has never radiated to the Central Plains, and this is a place of use. I think that if you want to rule the world with wende, you must move the capital to the Central Plains around Luoyang.
Obviously, Yuanhong's meaning is to say that the Southern Expedition is an illusion, and what he really wants to do is to move the capital! But since the real estate of the old nobles was in the north, this matter could not be solved for a while and a half.
At this time, Rencheng Wang Yuancheng patted his head and laughed: "It was so, it was so." Your Majesty said earlier, I am 100 percent supportive, moving the capital to the Central Plains is conducive to the rule of the state, why not enjoy it?
But Yuanhong had worries: those old aristocrats bought all the school district houses in Pingcheng, and built a bunch of shops and restaurants, and they still had so many real estate in their hands, so it was not easy for them to move the capital!
Rencheng Wang Yuancheng also expressed understanding, but he pointed out one point: as long as His Majesty has made up his mind, these people cannot set off any big waves!
Cheng Yue: "At that time, the sound flowed bamboo. Since the subjects are close, how dare they? Yu zhizi takes the four seas as his home, and Xuan Wende cherishes the world, but the river is still obstructed, the car book is not one, and the people of the Ji dynasty are easy to be intimidated and difficult to rule. The law of the birth of the fool should be used temporarily, and after the datong, it will be transformed into the Tao. Gao Zu's heart changed, and he was deeply good at it, and smiled: "Non-Rencheng has no way to understand the changing body." Yuanfang created and reformed the dynasty system, and should be the ear of the world with Rencheng. "--- Book of Wei
From then on, Emperor Xiaowen regarded Yuan cheng, the king of Rencheng, as his own Zhang Liang, and made him the general of Fuyuan, the crown prince Shaobao, and concurrently served as Shangshu Zuo's servant.
In fact, Rencheng Wang Yuancheng supported the Sinicization reform very early. When Empress Feng was still alive, she was very optimistic about Yuan Cheng, and Empress Feng was the vanguard of the Northern Wei Sinicization reform, and Emperor Xiaowen Yuanhong was completely influenced by this grandmother to pay so much attention to the Sinicization reform.
After being reused by Empress Feng, Yuan Cheng was also very concerned about the matter of Sinicization. After Emperor Xiaowen Yuanhong took over the government, the two people who attached great importance to Sinicization naturally came together.
However, no one could have imagined that Yuanhong's determination was so great that he not only wanted to reform Sinicization, but also planned to move the capital for the sake of reform. Ren Chengwang suddenly realized, only to feel that his pattern was low.
Yuan Hong led the army south with great fanfare, and when he reached Luoyang, it happened to be raining heavily. Many nobles themselves felt that there was no reason for this labor expedition, and now it was suffering from heavy rain, so they did not want to go forward one by one.
At this time, Yuanhong was unusual, and he had to force the army to go south, so he asked you, how many times have you seen this kind of thing of sending people's heads thousands of miles? So everyone pleaded bitterly and did not want to continue the march.
Yuanhong felt that the fire was almost over, and he cleared his throat and said: I lead the army to go out on the expedition, can I not return in vain? Since everyone is not willing to march, then, we simply move the capital to Luoyang, which is also a reason, or we will continue to march!
As soon as this remark came out, everyone agreed to move the capital to Luoyang, and only fools were willing to send people's heads thousands of miles! Moving the capital is better than losing a small life, right? After settling the gang of nobles in front of the eye, Yuanhong handed over a heavy task to Yuancheng, the king of Rencheng: You go to Pingcheng and explain the matter of moving the capital to the gang clearly!
This is a troublesome thing, because the nobles of Pingcheng are old and stubborn, will they agree to move the capital? After Rencheng Wang Yuancheng arrived in Pingcheng, he began to knock on the door door to persuade him, quoting scriptures, talking about the stars and the moon, and finally opened up the gang. It can be said that this task was completed perfectly.
Afterwards, Emperor Yuanhong of Xiaowen couldn't help but sigh: If there is no Rencheng King, I don't think I can do anything about moving the capital!
After that, Yuan Cheng concurrently served as the official Shangshu, specializing in the management of these officials. At that time, there were tens of thousands of Officials in the Northern Wei Dynasty, many of whom looked like street skaters and had nothing to do. Yuan Cheng divided the gang into three classes, leaving a capable force through the evaluation. It laid the foundation for Emperor Xiaowen's reforms.
Rencheng Wang Yuancheng was the Jiangshan of Emperor Xiaowen Yuanhong, which can be described as a broken heart. Ordinary ministers assisted the emperor, and even if they got by, they could do it, but Yuancheng, the king of Rencheng, was a member of their Tuoba family, and they were loyal to Emperor Xiaowen, so naturally they were more troublesome and laborious.
The most difficult thing is that Yuan Cheng still has to help Yuan Hong carry out reforms, which ordinary people really can't do, because they have offended people! If it was an ordinary minister, he would have been beaten by the old nobles wearing small shoes.
The vast majority of people in the reform have benefited, but there are certainly some people who are not satisfied. These people speculated on the house prices in Pingcheng to a high level, and as a result, this time the receiver was moved to Luoyang by Yuanhongdu, do you say that they are angry?
So Hengzhou Assassin Shi Mutai joined forces with a group of old nobles to start planning a rebellion. Yuanhong was very nervous, and the things he didn't want to see finally appeared. He hoped that big things would be small and small things would be made small, and if ordinary generals were sent, they would definitely cause large-scale vendettas, so Yuanhong still chose Rencheng Wang Yuancheng.
At that time, Yuan Cheng's health was not good, and after learning of Yuan Hong's intentions, he rolled off the sick bed without saying a word, and then led his troops to suppress the rebellion. He was a reader, but was able to accurately analyze the situation on the battlefield and the emperor's ultimate goal.
On the way to the march, Yuan Cheng found that Mu Tai was going to the King of Yangping, and immediately realized that Mu Tai was not strong enough to defend the city alone, so he planned to join forces with the King of Yangping.
After learning of this intention, Yuan Cheng attacked decisively, and at a speed that no one could have imagined, he captured Mu Tai in an instant and quelled the rebellion at the same time. At that time, Mutai was still in a state of ignorance, and he didn't know where he was or what was happening.
Only more than 100 people were caught in the whole incident, and the counter-insurgency was too fast to make a big deal out of it. After Yuanhong learned about it, he almost didn't want to die, claiming: King Rencheng is my Great Wei's Gao Tao!
After Yuanhong became seriously ill, The Southern Qi Emperor Xiao Baojuan immediately sent troops to the Northern Expedition, so angry that Yuanhong planned to march in person. However, he was very ill, and in desperation, Yuanhong had to take Yuancheng, the king of Rencheng, to the battlefield together, and basically transferred his power to the king of Rencheng. Unfortunately, Yuanhong still could not survive and died halfway through, so Yuancheng, the king of the city, became an auxiliary minister. He was ordered to assist the 17-year-old crown prince Yuan Ke.
The so-called one dynasty tianzi and one courtier, Rencheng Wang Yuancheng, can get the double trust of Empress Feng and Emperor Xiaowen Yuanhong, which is already very cattle, how can he expect to continue to be reused during the reign of Emperor Xuanwu Yuanke?
Therefore, not long after Yuan Ke ascended the throne, some people impeached King Rencheng and returned home for retirement on the grounds that King Rencheng had arrested Zaifu Wang Su without authorization. Although he also came out to lead the army to fight, he was never able to enter the center of the imperial court.
Why? Because Yuan Ke's employment strategy is completely different from his father Yuan Hong. Yuan Ke did not trust the clan, but trusted the foreign forces around him even more. After that, in the final Xuanwu Emperor's dynasty, Yuan Cheng was not reused in a serious way, which was also a pity.
During this period, Yuan Ke's uncle Gao Zhao, who controlled the imperial government, began to dispose of the clan on a large scale. For example, the powerful Beihai King Yuanxiang was killed by Gao Zhao, and Gao Zhao also wanted to move Yuan Cheng, fortunately, Yuan Cheng was quite smart at this time, he chose to buy drunk at home, eat and drink, and did not ask about the world, which avoided a disaster.
It was not until Yuan Ke died and Emperor Xiaoming came to power that the princes of the old Yuan family had a turnaround. They deposed Gao Zhao, and Yuan Cheng was reappointed as Shang Shu Ling, which was equivalent to returning to the center of the imperial court.
Sejong collapsed at night, current affairs were in a hurry, Gao Zhao supported the army outside, Suzong chong was young, and the government and the opposition were uneasy. Cheng Shu rebuked not foreshadowing the secret, but looked towards the belonging. The leaders Yu Zhong, Cui Guang, and others played the role of Shang Shu Ling, so the hearts of the people were convinced. He also added the scattered riding changshi and the hussar riding the general, and the search for Sikong and the addition of the attendant. The Russian Edict led the Shang Shu Order. --- Book of Wei
But do you think Yuan Cheng has regained control of the government? Of course not, because Yuan Xuan was young, the affairs of the DPRK and China were under the jurisdiction of his old wife, Empress Dowager Hu Chonghua. In order to revive the Northern Wei Dynasty and continue the achievements of Emperor Xiaowen's Sinicization reform, Yuan Cheng once wrote ten articles:
First, unify weights and measures.
Second, set up schools to select talents.
Third, meritocracy is the only way to govern the country, so that all ethnic groups can nominate talents to govern the country.
Fourth, it is forbidden to disturb the people and use the labor of the people, up to 3 days a year.
Fifth, the official appraisal system. Sixth, the descendants of displaced people, if not craftsmen, can settle in their places of residence.
Seventh, check whether the border soldiers died in battle or fled.
Eighth, the rent of generations of industrial and commercial families is exempted.
Ninth, grass-roots officials cannot be ruled across regions, and those who are dissatisfied with the hukou should be merged nearby.
Tenth, the Yulin Army and the Tiger Army, when there is a war on the border, can be temporarily transferred to the battlefield.
These ten suggestions are indeed well thought-out, and they are definitely a policy that benefits the country and the people. So what did Empress Dowager Hu think? Empress Hu said: Let's take it down and discuss it, anyway, I can't get through it here!
Each time Yuan Cheng was able to put forward a lot of very good suggestions, and Empress Hu also praised them, but they were not allowed to be implemented. Doesn't that mean it's lonely!
That is to say, although Yuan Cheng had entered the center of the imperial court at this time and could also participate in the study of state affairs, he could not get attention and did not have any decision-making power, which was much more embarrassing than in the past! It's better to eat, drink and have fun at home!
The 53-year-old Rencheng Wang Yuancheng finally ushered in the end of his life. Although his proposal was never adopted by Empress Dowager Hu in his later years, he did not stop his advice.
Everyone respected Yuan Cheng, including Empress Dowager Hu herself. Every time Yuan Cheng finished proposing his thoughts, Empress Hu only nodded, but it was still impossible to implement it, and afterwards she had to praise Yuan Cheng, which made Yuan Cheng particularly embarrassed.
Therefore, under Empress Dowager Hu's misdeeds, the Northern Wei state power was gradually declining, and Yuan Cheng watched and left with infinite regrets. Before leaving, he may have seen his nephew Emperor Xiaowen Yuanhong again, the Ming Emperor and Saint Lord who had great ambitions and was keen on reform.
Reference: Book of Wei