Chen Baxian, who founded the Chen Dynasty, can be regarded as a rare wise emperor in Chinese history. Chen Baxian had four sons in his lifetime, three of whom died prematurely, and one son named Chen Chang survived.
When Chen Baxian died, his only surviving son, Chen Chang, was 22 years old. Moreover, according to historical records, Chen Chang was "a very beautiful person, a beautiful look, elegant and intelligent, and a wise and honest person". If this is the case, why did chen Baxian, who was wise and divine, not pass the throne to his son Chen Chang, but to his nephew Chen Xuan?
(Chen Baxian)
Is it that Chen Baxian doesn't like his son?
Of course not. Chen Baxian had high hopes for his only surviving son. Although Chen Baxian spent his whole life in the course of his military career, he still always remembered his son's study, and once sent Xie Zhe, Cai Jing, and Du Zhiwei, who were the great Confucians of that time, to educate his sons and focus on cultivating his sons. Moreover, Chen Chang also lived up to his father's high expectations, with excellent memory, "a glance into recitation, clarity in righteousness, analysis like a stream.".
So, what was the reason why Chen Baxian did not pass the throne to his son in the end?
It turned out that when Chen Baxian died, his son was not by his side, but in Northern Zhou.
During the reign of Southern Liang, Chen Baxian was ordered by Emperor Wu of Liang to go south to conquest Li Ben. Li Ben was originally a minister, but he supported the army and rebelled, and established himself as emperor. After Chen Baxian destroyed Li Ben, the Hou Jing Rebellion broke out in The country. Emperor Wu of Liang starved to death. Chen Baxian led an army against Hou Jing, and Hou Jing imprisoned Chen Baxian's wife Zhang Yao'er and son Chen Chang. Later, after Chen Baxian and another general, Wang Shengxuan, joined forces to quell the rebellion of Hou Jing and rescue Zhang Yao'er and Chen Chang, the then emperor Liang Yuan made the 16-year-old Chen Chang Wuxing Taishou, and also made him Chen Baxian's son. It can be seen that at that time, whether in Chen Baxian's heart or in the emperor's heart, Chen Chang was the best candidate for Chen Baxian's successor.
(Portrait of Emperor Wu of Liang)
Soon, however, Western Wei marched south, attacked Jiangling, attacked Jingzhou, Emperor Yuan of Liang was killed, and Chen Chang was taken prisoner by Western Wei and taken back as a hostage. However, only two years later, The Western Wei chancellor Yuwen Jue deposed the Western Wei Emperor and established himself as emperor. In this way, Chen Chang became a hostage of Northern Zhou again.
Less than a year after the founding of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Chen Baxian also replaced Southern Liang and established the Chen Dynasty. After Chen Baxian established the Chen Dynasty, he sent emissaries to Northern Zhou several times to demand that Northern Zhou return his son Chen Chang. Northern Zhou ostensibly agreed, but used various excuses to delay. Although Chen Baxian was not happy, he had no choice, because the Chen Dynasty was not peaceful in the country, and Chen Baxian did not care about the matter of handing over to Northern Zhou.
Who knows, Chen Baxian only served as emperor for three years before he died. Before his death, he had been looking forward to the return of his son. But he fell ill very suddenly and died very quickly. In other words, in fact, he died before he had time to confess the aftermath.
After Chen Baxian's death, the ministers consulted with Chen Baxian's empress Dowager Zhang Yao'er on whether to make Chen Baxian's brother's son Chen Xuan emperor. Zhang Yao'er did not want to agree, but his son did not return, and the country could not go a day without a monarch, nor could he do anything, so he had to agree to make Chen Xuan emperor, and he was also Emperor Wen of Chen.
(Chen Wendi stills)
But at this time, in order to shake the Chen Dynasty and let the Chen Dynasty go into civil strife, Northern Zhou released Chen Chang again. On the way back, Chen Chang was unable to return because Wang Lin, a remnant of Southern Liang, occupied the chen dynasty and Northern Zhou, and was blocked at Anlu.
Later, the Chen Dynasty eliminated Wang Lin, and Chen Chang was able to continue to walk back.
When Chen Chang was leaving for The Country, he couldn't wait to write to Chen Xuan, saying that as a "prince", he was coming back, and Chen Xuan, you should hurry back to your own domain.
Chen Xuan's confidante Hou Andu gave him the idea that he should simply not let Chen Chang return to China and get rid of him halfway. So Chen Xuan sent Hou Andu and others to meet Chen Chang, and halfway through, Chen Chang was pushed into the water by Hou Andu and drowned. Pretending to return that because the ship broke down, Chen Chang drowned and died.
Chen Xuan personally wept to greet Chen Chang's body, posthumously honored him as "Dedicated King", and solemnly buried him. In this way, the Jiangshan that Chen Baxian created fell into the hands of his nephew very completely.
(Reference: History of the South)