Four hundred years of agitation: Gao Zhao's leading soldiers died in the Outer Yuan, and the wave of strange clouds and the yuan were in a thrilling position

This article is the 500th in a long series of articles, Four Hundred Years of Turmoil

On the twenty-fifth day of the first month of the eleventh year of the Tianjian (512 CE), Yuan Ke appointed Gao Zhao, a general of the Che Riding General and Shang Shu Ling, as a Situ, the King of Qinghe (Yuan Hong's fourth son) as Sikong, and Yuanhuai the Prince of Guangping (the fifth son of Yuan Hong) as the Grand General of the Horse Riders, and Jiayi Tongsan Si.

Although Gao Zhao was enthroned as the Third Division, because he had lost the important position of Shang Shuling, his heart was very unhappy, and his depression overflowed into words, and everyone who saw it laughed.

Yuan Yi was quite talented and learned, and the reputation of the government and the opposition was also good, in view of the fact that Yuan Xun was killed without guilt, and in the midst of a severe drought, Gao Zhao retried the prisoners without authorization, hoping to win people's hearts and minds, he took the opportunity of the banquet to say to Gao Zhao: "How many brothers can there be?" Now it's almost gone! In the past, Wang Mang was a bald man who usurped the Han dynasty by virtue of his position as an uncle. You are a hunchback, and I am afraid that you will also become the end of the trouble. ”

Yuan Yi then said to Yuan Ke: "Ji Shi surpassed the name and sacrificed at Mount Tai, and Confucius was very indignant about this. Reducing the cost of meals and retriing the prisoners are all matters of His Majesty, but now situ has been allowed to go, where is the duty of a human subject? The Ming Emperor is lost to the top, the traitor is stolen from the bottom, and the root of the trouble is here. Yuan Ke smiled and did not deserve it, and his trust in Gao Zhao did not diminish.

On October 18, Yuan Ke made Crown Prince Yuan, and his birth mother Hu Chonghua promoted to a noble concubine, setting a precedent for not killing his mother, and also having Shang Shu's right servant Guo Zuo concurrently serve as the prince's young master. Not killing the prince's birth mother was a great act of kindness, but it inadvertently brought endless disasters to the Northern Wei.

Guo Zuo (郭祚), a native of Jinyang, Taiyuan, was born into a family of official eunuchs and the seventh grandson of Guo Liang, the younger brother of The famous Cao Wei general Guo Huai. Guo Zuo was an official Qingzheng, loyal servant, diligent in his work, deeply appreciated by Yuanhong, appointed the official Huangmen Shilang, and became a powerful cadre of Yuanhong's Sinicization reform.

In his later years, Guo Zuo became more cautious and skillful in his handling of affairs, and was able to judge the hour and size up the situation, so he was deeply favored by Yuan Ke, moved shangshu to the left servant, and participated in major events in the DPRK. Being able to be elected as the Prince's Young Master shows Yuan Ke's trust in him.

In the twelfth year of Tianjian (513 AD), Yuan Ke came to the Xingdong Palace, and with The Zhongshu Supervisor Cui Guang as the crown prince, he ordered Yuan Xue to bow down to him. Cui Guangci did not dare to be, Yuan Ke did not allow it, and insisted on letting Yuan Xue worship.

After Yuan Xue prayed to the south twice, King Zhan Shi asked for permission to worship with the crown prince, so the Eastern Palace subordinates worshiped together. Cui Guang stood facing north, not daring to answer.

When Wang Zu invaded Southern Liang, Xiao Yan ordered Li Liu of Ningzhou to resist and promised to make him the Assassin of Yizhou after ShiPing. After Wang Zu retreated, Xiao Yan did not keep his promise, and Li Liu was quite resentful and rebelled, and Xiao Yan killed him.

Li Liao's nephew Li Miao was angry and defected to Northern Wei, and the infantry lieutenant Chun Yu was the chief of Yizhou and also defected to Northern Wei from Hanzhong, and the two of them lobbied Yuan Ke to attack Shu and offer advice, and Yuan Ke was convinced.

In the winter of the thirteenth year of Tianjian (514 CE), Yuan Ke made Gao Zhao the great general and the governor of Pingshu, and commanded 150,000 troops to invade Yizhou, and then ordered Yizhou to assassinate Shi Fu to go out of the north of Ba County, Liang Prefecture to stab Shi Yang zhi bing to Fucheng, Anxi general Xi Kangsheng to send mianzhu, Fujun general Zhen Chen bing to send sword pavilion, and yuan yao as the general of the central protector army to conquer the south, so that he could suppress Liang and Chu and contain the main force of Southern Liang.

You Zhao advised: "After years of floods and droughts, the people should no longer work hard. In the past, when the territory was opened, because the city lord surrendered, there was a conquest and no war. Now the people who offer the advice are difficult to distinguish between true and false, or because they have a grudge against Liang Chao and lend us out, so they cannot be fully trusted. The Land of Shu was dangerous, and Zhenshu had not neglected it, so how could he easily dispatch a large army after listening to the floating words of others? ”

Yuan Ke did not listen, and appointed Chun Yu as the general of Xiao Qi, and then asked Li Miao to act as the general of Long Jun, and both of them also served as guides to unify the army and continue to invade Yizhou.

For Gao Zhao, this was his first time to lead an army, which had a special significance, and if he could take Yizhou in one fell swoop, the prestige of the DPRK and China would be incomparable. However, God made a big joke with him, his front foot had just left, and the back foot of the mountain Yuan Ke collapsed violently.

In the fourteenth year of tianjian (515 AD), on the tenth day of the first lunar month, Yuan Ke suddenly fell seriously ill. On the thirteenth day of the first month, Yuan Ke died at the age of thirty-two.

That night, Cui Guang, Wang Xianhe shizhong, the leading general Yu Zhong, and Hou Gang, the sons of Zhongshu, greeted the crown prince YuanXu from the Eastern Palace to the Xianyang Hall.

Hou Gang (侯刚), a native of Dai County, was born in a humble background, and was favored by Yuan Ke for his proficiency in cooking, and successively served as a guerrilla general, a lieutenant of the City Gate, a general of Wu Wei, a general of the Right Guard, and a prince of the Imperial Household.

Wang Xian wanted to wait until dawn before holding an enthronement ceremony for Yuan Xue, and Cui Guang said, "The throne cannot be left without a master for a day, so why wait until dawn?" Wang Xian said, "You must report to the Empress." Cui Guang said, "The emperor dies, the crown prince takes the throne, the norm of the country, why wait for the empress's order!" Wang Xian was speechless.

Therefore, Cui Guang and others begged Yuan Xue to stop crying, and he held the ceshu and offered the seal and ribbon, and Yuan Xue knelt down to receive it, and then put on the dress and walked to the Taiji Hall, that is, the emperor's throne.

Knowing that Yuan Ke was dead, Empress Gao wanted to kill Yuan Xue's biological mother, Concubine Hu Gui, in the name of the old system, and Liu Teng, the minister of the middle school, quickly told Hou Gang about it, and Hou Gang told Yu Zhong.

Yu Zhong asked Cui Guang for advice, and Cui Guang asked him to move Hu Gui's concubine to another residence and keep him under strict guard. Because of this incident, Hu Guifei was deeply grateful to them, especially Liu Teng, who was highly favored.

Liu Teng, a native of Pingyuan County, sat in trouble when he was a child, was tortured into the palace, started a small yellow gate, transferred to the yellow gate, because of exposing Yuan Gong's rebellion and Feng's adulterous affair after the abolition, he moved from servants to shoot and worshiped the great Changqiu. When Empress Gao and Concubine Hu guifei were fighting, he sided with Concubine Hu and wooed Yu Zhong and Hou Gang.

When Gao Zhao's power was monopolized, he was particularly jealous of the famous people in the clan room, and the crown prince Taifu and Rencheng Wang Yuancheng were repeatedly slandered and framed by him, and in order to protect themselves, they were forced to drink all day and pretend to be crazy and not participate in the government.

At this time, Gao Zhao's troops were outside, and Yu Zhong consulted with the officials of Menxia Province, because Yuan Xue was young and could not personally govern, and suggested that Taibao and Gaoyang Wang Yuanyong (YuanHong's younger brother) live in Xibaitang to handle government affairs, and take Yuan Cheng as the Shang Shu Ling, the general Bai Yu, and play Empress Gao, and ask her to entrust her with a handwritten letter.

Wang Xian, who had always been favored and trusted by Yuan, was jealous of the people by virtue of his power and abuse of fornication, and he was afraid that he would not be tolerated by Yuan Cheng and others, so he conspired with Sun Fulian and others to stop the discussion in Menxia Province, forged the order of Empress Gao, and let Gao Zhaolu Shang Shushi, with Wang Xian and Gao Meng, the Duke of Bohai, as fellow attendants.

When Yu Zhong and others heard about it, they immediately made a decision and arrested Wang Xian and deprived him of his title and official position on the charge of serving Yuan Ke ineffectively. When Wang Xian was caught, he shouted loudly, and Zhige slammed his armpit with a knife ring, sending him to the Right Guard Mansion, where he died of his wounds that night.

On the sixteenth day of the first month, the imperial court ordered the approval of the menxia province's proposal, and the hundred officials each took up their own duties, obeying the orders of Yuan Yong and Yuan Cheng, and the government and the public were all satisfied and convinced.

Nowadays, the biggest variable is all in Gao Zhao's body, he sits on 150,000 strong soldiers, is he willing to accept the current situation? No one dares to give a definitive answer.