The 50-year-old Western Wei macho Yuwen Tai suddenly fell ill, and he was completely panicked. Why? Because of a lifetime of busy work, having children is a little late, forgetting to cultivate the right successor!
He looked back and saw that his eldest son, Yuwen Jue, was only 15 years old at the time. In the chaotic world, letting such a child inherit the throne is undoubtedly a big gamble.
Of course, his son Yuwen Yu is 23 years old and can completely rule. Unfortunately, he was out of the woods, which Yuwen Tai was very dissatisfied with. And even if you are 23 years old, you can only be considered a child in a chaotic world.
So he set his sights on his nephew Yuwen Gou, who was only 6 years younger than Yuwen Tai and was in his prime. Therefore, Yuwen Tai entrusted all the things behind him to Yuwen Hu, but Yuwen Hu was touched and broken. How can Yuwen Hu He De, why can Yu Wentai value it so much?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="61" >. Yuwen Hu is Yuwen Tai's alternative successor. </h1>
According to Yuwen Tai's past arrangements, he definitely hoped that his son would succeed to the throne, especially his own concubine. It is not until the last resort that he will think of letting Shuzi succeed to the throne.
Of course, before these children have grown up, does Yuwen Tai have to give himself an extra layer of insurance? This insurance is Yuwen Hu.
Because Yuwen Tai has been fighting outside for many years, he will lose his life at any time. Therefore, if he wanted to maintain the power of the Yuwen Family, he must be ready to cultivate a successor at any time.
Yuwen Hu is very good at playing small, and it is very similar to Yuwen Tai. Therefore, during Yuwen Tai's foreign conquests, he always entrusted the affairs of the family to Yuwen Hu to take care of.
In addition, Yuwen Hu's performance on the battlefield is also quite outstanding. Defeating Hou Mo Chen Yue, capturing Dou Tai, fighting in the Battle of Shayuan, defending the Lord at the Battle of Heqiao, and occupying Jiangling during the attack on Southern Liang, Yuwen Hu made great contributions in these wars, and was really a very good successor.
Yuwen Tai's mind was like this:
It is best to let your concubine succeed to the throne, but if you can't do it, let your son succeed to the throne, and if all your sons have not grown up when you die, then you will entrust the great cause to your nephew Yuwen Hu.
Yuwen Tai also did not say that Yuwen Hu would succeed to the throne, he just hoped that Yuwen Hu would become a person like the Duke of Zhou and could assist his sons. Don't be careful not to mention how clever you are.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="56" > ii, Yuwen Hu did take a lot of thought to establish the Northern Zhou. </h1>
Do you think Yuwen Hu took over a complete and stable Western Wei regime? Of course not! At that time, there were many contradictions within the Western Wei.
First of all, there were contradictions between the Western Wei Yuan clan and Yuwen Tai's old clan. Once someone used the Western Wei Emperor to attack the Yuwen family, the Yuwen family would be in trouble.
Secondly, Yuwen Tai's old parts were highly powerful, and they were all great generals in charge of military power, and they simply looked down on Yuwen Hu, who relied on his connections to ascend to power, so why should they listen to Yu Wen Hu's leadership? Moreover, in the past, Yuwen Tai was a courtier like them, and if he did not claim the title of emperor, there would be no difference between kings and subjects. Why should a boy who has achieved less than himself lead them now?
Moreover, at the time of Yuwen Tai's death, Western Wei's territory was still the smallest of the Three Kingdoms. Northern Qi in the east and Southern Chen in the south were both strong opponents, ready to take advantage of The Western Wei civil unrest and attack The Western Wei.
Therefore, Yuwen Hu's choice at this time is very important, he is slightly inaccurate, not only will cause internal contradictions to erupt, but also attract the invasion of external enemies. So what does Yuwen Hu do?
First, Yuwen Hu, after receiving the support of his old minister Yu Jin, decisively asked Emperor Gong of Western Wei to give the throne to Yuwen Tai's concubine Yuwen Jue. In this way, the strength of the Yuan clan can be ignored.
Second, Yuwen Hu made Li Bi the Prince of Taishi and the Duke of Zhao, Zhao Gui the Prince of Taifu and the Duke of Chu, Dugu Xin as the Duke of Taibao and the Duke of Weiguo, Yu Jin as the Grand Sikou and the Duke of Yan, and Hou Mochen as the Grand Sikong and the Duke of Liang. In this way, five of the Eight Pillars of Western Wei were all promoted by Yuwen Hu and temporarily blocked their mouths.
Third, eliminate Zhao Gui and DuGuxin. Regarding the rebellion of these two people, there is actually no ironclad evidence. But the two of them were deprived of their military power, and naturally they held a grudge. Yuwen Hu found a reason to kill both of them, and it was normal. After all, you have just changed the dynasty, you are going to have a mutiny, this is not to create an opportunity for foreign enemies to invade Northern Zhou!
As soon as northern Zhou was established, Yuwen Hu did several major things and directly stabilized the situation in Northern Zhou. It can be said that Yuwen Hu's management ability is still quite strong.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="55" > three, killing three monarchs, Yuwen Hu is difficult to give up power. </h1>
As the nephew of the fierce man Yuwen Tai, Yuwen Hu had long learned a set of governing strategies and methods of leading soldiers from his uncle, and also learned his uncle's cruelty.
The first, Tuoba Kuo, Emperor Gong of Western Wei.
Tuoba Kuo's father, Yuan Baoju, was a puppet emperor during the Yuwentai period. His life is not good, not only will he become a puppet, but he will also be asked to zen.
After Yuwen Hu came to power, he did not give this elder brother any face at all, and dragged Tuoba Kuo off the throne and got Yuwen Jue by the way.
Do you think Tuoba Kuo will be safe and sound by losing the throne? Not every monarch who forcibly zen surrendered knew how to be kind to the former emperor, and Tuoba Kuo was killed by Yuwen Hu not long after.
The second, Yuwen Jue, Emperor Xiaomin of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
If Yuwen Hu killed Tuoba Kuo for the Sake of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, then he dealt with Yuwen Jue for his own sake. After he first killed Tuoba Kuo, he did not sit on the throne, but got his cousin Yuwen Jue up, which was quite moral.
After all, at that time, Yuwen Tai had too many old ministers, and it was basically impossible for him to directly ascend to the throne. As Yuwen Hu gradually controlled the power, Yuwen Jue completely became another puppet.
This made Yuwen Jue very unhappy, but what was even more unhappy was the gang around Yu Wenjue, such as Li Zhi, Sun Heng, Yi Fufeng and others. They were worried that Yuwen Nu would destroy themselves, so they instigated Yuwen Jue to kill Yuwen Hu.
It's a pity that this matter was actually leaked out, which is the end of the calf. Yuwen Jue's men were destroyed by Yuwen Hu, and Yu Wen jue, who was not yet sitting on the throne, was also left behind by Yu Wen Huo and was soon slaughtered.
The third, Yuwen Yu, Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou.
After Yuwen Jue was killed, Yuwen Hu still did not ascend to the throne himself, and instead established Yuwen Tai's eldest son Yuwen Yu as emperor. Yuwen Yu was not eligible to inherit, and suddenly the heavens descended to the throne, not to mention how excited he was.
But the problem is that his brother was killed, and he is a second puppet, how long do you think he can be comfortable? Sure enough, after only 2 years of stable time, Yuwen Yu was a bit unable to hold back!
Yuwen Yu intended to regain power, and in 559, Yuwen Yu personally reviewed the troops and began a formal contest with Yuwen Hu. After that, he began to reuse other clan cronies and disperse the power of Yuwen Hu.
To tell the truth, Yuwen Yu's approach is very correct, it can be described as a step by step. He wasn't so eager to force Yuwen to give up power, he just wanted to make a smooth transition slowly.
In the second year, he worshipped the Master and gave him a crown dress. Fengzi zhi is the Duke of Chongye County. At the beginning, the history of Yongzhou was changed to pastoral, in order to protect it, and to give the joy of gold and stone. In the first year of Wu Cheng's reign, he returned to the government and emperor Xuzhi. The major affairs of the military and the state are still entrusted to the protection. The emperor is intelligent, has the ability to know, and protects the deep. There is Lee Ann, who was favored by the ding, and was slightly promoted to the position of doctor under the catering department. In the end, Gonam ordered Ann to eat at the Emperor and poison him. The emperor fell ill and collapsed. Protecting The High Ancestor, the Hundred Officials always listened to the protection. --- Book of Zhou
But Yuwen Hu was very disgusted by this, he felt that he was threatened, but he couldn't find a reason to clean up Yuwen Yu. Therefore, he had to poison Yuwen Yu.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="54" >4, the end of the power, no one can imagine that Yuwen Yongdao will go deeper. </h1>
After Yuwen Yu was poisoned, Yuwen Hu still did not become emperor himself, and once again established another cousin of his, Yuwen Yong, as emperor. This was already the third emperor he had established.
Yuwen Yong had witnessed his two brothers being killed by Yuwen Hu, and he had long hated them to the bone. But at the same time, he also learned the lesson of his brothers, and did not intend to attack Yuwen Hu until his wings were not yet full.
Yuwen Yong was strong enough, not only did he not ask about political affairs, he talked about literature with his ministers all day long, but he also constantly promoted Yuwen Hu's status in Northern Zhou. For example, Yuwen Yong allowed Yuwen Hu to sacrifice the former emperor, which was a privilege that the emperor had. At the same time, in the documents of the Hundred Officials, Yuwen Hu's name could not be directly called. Even Yuwen Yong himself had to perform a ritual when he saw Yuwen Hu.
Yuwen Hu was instantly confused by Yuwen Yong, he actually felt that he was such a Taishang Emperor, in fact, it was quite good! Therefore, Yuwen Hu let go of his guard against Yuwen Yong.
In 572, Yuwen Yong felt that the time had come, and Yuwen Hu's power was heavenly, but at the same time he was not at all wary. At this time, Yuwen Yong took the form of assassination and beheaded Yuwen Hu, and a generation of powerful ministers lost their lives at the age of 60. At the same time, all his sons were killed.
Because of the "Wine Curse" in his arms, he was given the protection of the "Empress Dowager." "Protect the emperor, as the emperor commanded, read the empress dowager." Before he could do so, the emperor attacked him from behind with a jade sword and protected him on the ground. He also ordered the eunuch He Quan to behead him with a royal sword. Izumi was afraid, and the axe could not be hurt. King Shi Wei hid in the house first, but was beheaded. --- Book of Zhou
Emperor Yuwen Yong of the Northern Zhou Dynasty seemed to be careless, but in fact the city government was very deep, and he was really a not simple figure. Yuwen Hu planted in his hands, not a loss at all.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" > Summary: Northern Zhou lasted for 24 years, and Yuwen Hu was in power for 15 years. </h1>
After Yuwen Hu was killed, only 5 years later, Northern Zhou, under the leadership of Yuwen Yong, destroyed Northern Qi and completed the unification of the north, but unfortunately Yuwen Yong died not long after. Four more years later, in 581 AD, Yang Jian replaced Northern Zhou and established the Sui Dynasty.
The entire Reign of Northern Zhou lasted only 24 years, of which Yuwen Hu was in charge of the imperial government for 15 years, so it can be seen that when talking about Northern Zhou, it is impossible to avoid Yuwen Hu as a person. It was he who single-handedly founded the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and it was he who personally pushed himself into the abyss.
So what is wrong with Yuwen Hu? It's not that there's anything wrong with him as a courtier, and anyone in his position will only go further than he does. The problem is that Yuwen Hu is not so excessive.
Yuwen Hu naively thought that he felt good about being the Emperor of Taishang during the time of Yuwen Jue and Yuwen Yu. As long as you hold power, you can stand in an invincible position.
In fact, he put himself on the stove to bake, in fact, he can completely replace him and establish himself as an emperor, which will be a lot less troublesome. It seems like a step away, but in fact it is a thousand miles away.
References: Book of Wei, Book of Zhou