The Five Elements Cloth was cast by the Northern Zhou Emperor Yuwen Yong in the third year of Jiande (574 AD), when Yuwen Yong had just killed The Right Minister Yuwen Hu, and northern Zhou was politically clear and the country was strong. Yuwen Yong's sword pointed to Northern Qi and intended to annex.
Puppet Emperor
In the ninth year of the Reign of the Western Wei Dynasty (543 CE), Yuwen Yong was born in Tongzhou (同州, in present-day Dali, Shaanxi), and was the fourth son of Yuwen Tai. Yuwen Yong was filial to his parents when he was young, and he was intelligent and dignified, so Yuwen Tai liked him very much, often saying to others: "The one who can realize my ambitions in the future must be this son." ”
However, Yuwen Tai was only half right. In 557, Yuwen Yong's third brother Yuwen Jue ascended the throne and established Northern Zhou, with Yuwen Yong as a general and out of Tongzhou. However, in September of the same year, Otsuka Zai Yuwen Go, also known as Yuwen Jue and Yuwen Yong's cousin, deposed Emperor Xiaomin Yuwen Jue and established Emperor Ming Yuwen Yu to succeed him. Although he was Yuwen Yong's cousin, Yuwen Jue was thirty years old, almost not a generation.
After Yuwen Yu succeeded to the throne, he was very close to Yuwen Yong, and the imperial court consulted with him on any major matters. Yuwen Yong had a deep personality and knew the way of it, so he was not asked by Emperor Zhou Ming, and he would not easily express his opinion. Emperor Ming of Zhou often praised him: "This man does not speak, and his words will be in the middle." In the first year of Wucheng (559 AD), Yuwen Hu requested that the power of the dynasty be returned to Emperor Zhou Ming, and Emperor Zhou Ming agreed to his request, but the military affairs were still entrusted to Yuwen Hu. Emperor Zhou Mingdi had a wise personality, insight and courage, and gradually, Yuwen Jue began to fear him. Therefore, in the second year of Wucheng (560 AD), Yuwen Jue sent people to poison the food and poison emperor Zhou Ming. After the death of Emperor Ming of Zhou, Yuwen Yong succeeded to the throne as Emperor Wu of Zhou.
In the third year of Baoding (563 AD), the Northern Zhou Emperor Yuwen Yong issued an edict saying: "Yuwen Hu, the Duke of the Jin Dynasty, assisted Yu Wenhu to complete the imperial business and raise the people of the world, and his merits were incomparable." Henceforth, edicts and official documents will not allow him to be called by his first name. At this point, Yuwen Protector's power was tilted towards the opposition, and the limelight was indistinguishable. Yuwen Yong was well aware that Yuwen Hu's power had grown, so he adopted the strategy of Taoguang and obscurity for nearly a decade.
Regain power in the dynasty
In the third year of Baoding (563 AD), Yang Zhong, a general of yuwen's guardian pillar state, joined forces with the Turks to attack Northern Qi and besieged Luoyang, but because Northern Qi reinforcements arrived, they returned without success. The defeat of Vaqi greatly reduced Yuwen Hu's prestige in Northern Zhou.
On March 18, the seventh year of Tianhe (572 CE), Yuwen Hu returned to Chang'an from Tongzhou. Yuwen Yong rode to the Wen'an Hall, and after seeing Yuwen Hu, led him into the Hanren Hall to meet the Empress Dowager. When Yuwen Hu entered the temple, Yuwen Yong said to him, "The empress dowager is very old and loves to drink. Although she had been advised many times in the past, she could not listen to it. Since it is the elder brother to meet today, I hope that you will persuade the empress dowager again. So he took out the "Wine Curse" and handed it to Yuwen Hu. After Yuwen Hu entered the temple, according to Yuwen Yong's words, he read the "Wine Curse" to the empress. Before he could finish reading, Yuwen Yong beat him from behind with a jade wat, and Yuwen Hu fell to the ground. Yuwen Yong then ordered the eunuch He Quan to take the imperial sword and cut him. He Quan was afraid, and after cutting it down, he did not hurt Yuwen Hu. At that time, Yuwen Zhi, the King of Wei, hid in the room in advance, so he rushed out and killed Yuwen Hu.
After Yuwen Hu was killed, Yuwen Yong summoned the palace uncle Sun Lan and others to tell them about this, and immediately ordered the arrest of Yuwen Hu's son and a cadre of people, and gathered in the palace to kill.
In the third year of Jiande (574), Yuwen Yong ordered the restoration of Yuwen Hu and his sons to their original titles, adding the title of Yuwen Hu to "Dang", and reburied Yuwen Hu.
Yuwen Yong lived a frugal life and hoped to surpass the ancients in everything, so he sent troops to fight Qi in the fourth year of Jiande (575 AD), and finally destroyed Northern Qi the following year, thus having the Yellow River Valley and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, laying the foundation for the unification of the later Sui Dynasty.
Five lines of cloth
When the Five Elements Of Great Cloth was minted, it coincided with the Zhou Wu Emperor Yuwen Yong's plot to cut Qi, so it belonged to the fictitious value of the coin, initially with one dang ten (Bu Quan), parallel to bu quan and five baht. The face text "Five Elements Big Cloth" jade seal, money and production are extremely exquisite, the currency is bronze. There are three kinds of five-element large cloth: large, medium and small. The diameter of the large sample money in the early stage is about 27 mm, and the diameter of the small sample minted in the later period is only about 22 mm. The Five Elements Of Great Cloth, together with Buquan and Yongtong Wanguo, are called the Great Springs of the Northern Wednesday.
Yongtong Wanguo usually has the following types.
1, five elements of large cloth sample: the diameter of about 27 mm, the market price of about 800 yuan, good product can reach one to three thousand yuan.
Five elements of large cloth sample
2, five elements of large cloth sample: the diameter of about 25 mm, the market price of about 500 yuan.
Five elements of large cloth in the sample
3, five lines of large cloth large characters: generally for large samples, the diameter of more than 25 mm, to about 27 mm, than the normal five lines of large cloth font full, the market price of more than 1,000 yuan.
Five lines of large cloth in large characters
4, five elements of large cloth sample: the diameter of about 22 mm, the market price of about 500 yuan.
5, five elements of large cloth back: the diameter of about 26 mm, very rare, the grade of four, the market price of about thousands of yuan.
Five lines of large cloth closed back
During the Jiande years
A small thing reflects Yuwen Yong's high moral character. In the third year of Jiande (574 AD), Empress Dowager Lingnu of Northern Zhou died. Emperor Yuwen Yong of Zhou wu lived in a mourning house and ate very little in the morning and evening. The group of ministers asked Emperor Wu of Zhou not to shrink his diet, and it took dozens of days to stop. Yuwen Zhi, the Prince of Wei, said to Emperor Wu of framing Yuwen Xian of Qi: "(During the mourning period), Yu Wenxian drank and ate meat, just like usual. Emperor Wu of Zhou replied, "King Qi and I were born of a half-mother, neither of whom was an authentic concubine, and because of me, we served the empress dowager together." You should be ashamed that you can't talk about gains and losses! You are the queen's own son, and you are especially loved by her; you should encourage yourself not to talk about others. ”。