On March 18, the seventh year of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (572 AD), In Chang'an Hanren Hall, Yuwen Hu, who was leaning towards the opposition, was holding a copy of the Prohibition of Alcohol And Drinking Order, when he was suddenly smashed on the back of the head with a jade wat, and before he could fight back, he was stabbed several times.
As the "Emperor Terminator", "Cousin Killer", and "Northern Zhou Bearer", Yuwen Hu fell in a pool of blood and wailed and mourned, at the age of 60.
One dared to do his job, one was the emperor, the other was the Great Sikong, and they were all little brothers who were often bullied by him. It was indeed careless, and he had been smooth sailing in the long-term political struggle, so that he ignored the hidden killing opportunities in those low eyebrows.
If he knew that there was someone who would be hit on the head even fishing, he would definitely wear a hard hat and enter the palace. What's more, the one who exploded his head was Yuwen Yong, the Emperor of ZhouWu with the word "Wu" in his title, and he was a thief.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > the path of power for the king</h1>.=
The historical background and the life of the characters are roughly like this:
In the chaotic last years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Gao Huan lied to Yuan Xiu as emperor, but Yuan Xiu felt that Gao Huan was not cute at all, so he ran to Chang'an to join Yuwen Tai.
Gao Huan smiled darkly, you run yours, I will set up another one. Therefore, Yuan Shanjian was also established as emperor and moved the capital to Yi, which was Eastern Wei. (Thereafter, Gao Huan's son Gao Yang accepted Yuan Shanmi's Zen concessions, Northern Qi was established, and Eastern Wei perished.) ）
Yuan Xiuwan, who ran away from Chang'an, did not expect that this Yuwen Tai was even less cute than Gao Huan. A year later, he was poisoned by Yuwen Tai.
Yuwen Tai thought to himself, Your surname is Gao Nengli Emperor, I can't stand up? Therefore, Yuan Baoju was made emperor and the capital was Chang'an, which was Western Wei. Yuwen Tai naturally became the first ruler of the Western Wei Dynasty, and the autocratic court lasted for 22 years.
As Yuwen Tai's nephew, Yuwen Hu followed his fourth uncle after he was 17 years old. In the year of confusion, his fourth uncle died, and before he died, he entrusted him with all the important affairs of the military state and instructed him to take good care of several little brothers.
Yuwen Hu was grateful to the fourth uncle Ender, and he felt that he could not repay it, and he thought that he would simply put on a dragon chair and help these little brothers to sit on it.
So Yuwen Hu forced Emperor Gong of Western Wei to step down from power, and put Yuwen Jue, the eldest son of the fourth uncle, to the throne, Northern Zhou was established, and Western Wei was destroyed.
Yuwen Protector, who had been enfeoffed as the Grand Sima and the Duke of Jinguo, was in his hands, and seeing that yuwen Juetang's founding prince of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was actually going to fight with himself for power, the idea of destroying his relatives jumped out at once, and he gave his little brother Yuwen Jue a "click".
The throne is empty, this still has to help the fourth uncle's baby to go up, otherwise how can he be worthy of his old man's home? Yuwen Hu pushed Yuwen Yu, the eldest son of the fourth uncle, up.
(Here only talk about the history, not to talk about the adaptation of the TV series of the wind and snow moon, what a dog blood love triangle.) ）
What Yuwen Hu did not expect was that Yuwen Yu was still dishonest after four years as emperor, and he still wanted to seize power with himself, and then poisoned this little brother, and then established Yuwen Yong as emperor according to his will.
Since then, the achievement of "destroying the Three Emperors" has been achieved. Fortunately, Yuwen Yong hid well, Yuwen Hu didn't have to kill again, otherwise he was really afraid that he would take turns to hold the fourth uncle's children on the throne and then do a good job.
At the same time as killing 3 emperors in a row, Yuwen Hu also incidentally overthrew Zhao Gui, DuGuxin and others in the "Eight Pillar Kingdom", and the Yuwen family became dominant from then on. Until he was killed, Yuwen Hu always carried the banner of "Northern Zhou Carrying Handle" on his shoulders.
So, how could such a ruthless person not sit on the dragon seat himself?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="65" > the anomalous practice of Yuwen Hu</h1>
There are quite a few powerful ministers in the ancient world, and there are also many courtiers who dare to do the abolition of the establishment, but Yuwen Hu is not the same as those people, because his approach is more strange, which can be described in this sentence:
Give your brother face, and your brother will hold you. Dare to seize power, Lao Tzu will kill you.
Therefore, it is easier to understand why he did not become emperor himself after killing his two cousins.
According to the Book of Zhou, Yuwen Hu did not dare to become emperor himself the first time because yu Yifeng was not rich, and the second time was because Yuwen Yu had a will and testament designating Yuwen Yong to succeed to the throne, so he did not dare to mess around. I think this statement seems a little unscientific.
Because just when he was abolishing Yuwen Jue, Manchu Wenwu was eating melon and watching the drama next to him, and he said to him: "You decide on your own family affairs, you don't have to ask, ask and abolish." ”
If he wanted to be emperor, there should be no pressure.
However, according to common sense, if he wanted to become emperor, he must first eliminate the forces of the fourth uncle's family, which was the premise of his righteous succession.
However, he did not, he supported the 3 emperors are all Yuwen Tai's sons, and he also reused Yu Wentai's other sons, such as Yuwen Xian, Yuwen Zhi, Yu Wensheng, Yuwen Chun, etc., all of which gave them the right to lead the army alone.
Judging from such a strange operation, Yuwen Hu really didn't want to be emperor himself, otherwise what would he do if he cultivated so many more orthodox heirs to the throne than him?
Or rather, he had a sense of trespassing, after all, he was such a person who was so keen on power that he suppressed this idea for some reason.
So, what makes him so entangled?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="66" > what kind of person Yuwen Hu is</h1>
"Fangzheng has the degree of ambition" and "sex to filial piety", these two points are given by the "Book of Zhou" and the "History of the North", and Yuwen Tai once said, "This child Zhidu is like me".
This child is very, very filial, and has the same temperament and ambition as his fourth uncle, who is a politician, a reformer, and a military man, with an excellent aura of "outstanding" 3 characters. People like this generally have a relatively lofty vision, and most of them are placed on military affairs and family honor and disgrace.
Judging from his continuation of Yuwen Tai's governing philosophy, this was indeed a man with ideals, and he did contribute to the stability of northern Zhou during his reign. In order to safeguard the interests of the family, he overthrew Zhao Gui, DuGuxin and others, and completely consolidated the dominance of the Yuwen family, which was a good thing for the Northern Zhou and Yuwen families.
At the same time, he also had a measure, and the treatment of these political enemies was all a crime, unlike Sima Yi who destroyed the three tribes of Cao Shuang. This is a manifestation of the overall situation, and it is necessary to consolidate the position of the Yuwen family in the Guanlong clique, and not to drag down the Northern Zhou because of excessive internal friction.
Based on such a big picture, it is not difficult to understand why he would support those little brothers and give them military power. He could kill the emperor, but Northern Zhou could not stop developing, and the entire Yuwen family could not be crushed.
Such people often have a strong desire for power.
However, he was also an extremely filial piety, losing his father at a young age, and then following the fourth uncle for decades, although only a few years younger than the fourth uncle, but the uncle and nephew here should be extremely deep.
Perhaps because of such a thought, coupled with the fourth uncle's dying orphan's love, he had to support the fourth uncle and a pulse.
Not only to satisfy their own desire for power, but also to remember the instructions of the fourth uncle, so it is best to coexist peacefully with the little brothers, anyway, everyone is a member of the Yuwen family, you are your hand-throwing treasurer, I am my Zhou Gongdan.
If the little brother wants to take away his rights, then let's do it. He Yuwen Hu is filial piety, but filial piety is the elders, not filial piety to this group of little brothers who are more than 20 years younger than him.
This is probably the logic behind Yuwen Hu's various strange operations, his heart is contradictory, there is the idea of usurping the throne and holding back, afraid of failing the fourth uncle, more afraid of shaking the overall situation of the Northern Zhou regime and the Yuwen family, so he chose a path similar to "co-rule of kings and subjects", it is best for the little brothers to "arch".
The little brother gives face, the elder brother protects the throne, the little brother does not give face, the old brother protects him to the western heavens.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="67" > Yu Wenhu's merits</h1>
It is not an easy task to evaluate a historical figure in an all-round way, especially a super powerful minister like Yuwen Hu, it is difficult to evaluate the position, and it is arrogant to say so.
The reason why the Northern Zhou regime was able to be established, Yuwen Hu's great contribution was absolutely indelible, and how to say that he was also the one who took the initiative to carry the cauldron of "forcing the palace to kill the king".
In the 24 years of the State Zuo, the military and political power of the first 15 years were basically in his hands, although there is a saying of "returning the government to the king", but it is basically a formality. During these 15 years, Yuwen Hu continued the strategy of the fourth uncle Yuwen Tai to enrich the country and strengthen the army, and also laid a certain foundation for the later Zhou Wu Emperor to fight Qi.
Militarily, Yuwen Hu made corresponding reforms, such as merging the three provinces of Assassin History, General, and Governor into "Governor's Office", effectively consolidating and rectifying local military affairs, and to a certain extent eliminating the drawbacks of redundant officials and redundant personnel.
In the Book of Zhou, these were written in the name of Emperor Yuwen Yu of the Ming Dynasty, but at that time all the military power was in the hands of Yuwen Hu, which should be his handwriting. At the same time, the encouragement of military officers and soldiers is improved, so that the fathers and sons of the military merits and children can cultivate the army's fierce fighting style.
In terms of employment, Yuwen Hu was to a certain extent equivalent to starting a war against the shi clan, and when selecting officials, more consideration was given to ability than origin, and the Jiupin Zhongzheng system was basically abandoned in the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
The basic work of lightly giving small gifts, persuading peasants to teach, building water conservancy, building the Great Wall, and so on, these clichéd basic work has not been left behind.
However, due to his struggle for power with the emperor, he suppressed many ministers and buried many evils.
Although Yuwen Hu was suppressing them, Yuwen Hu also represented the Yuwen Family after all, hating The House and Wu, and many ministers magnified their hostility towards the Yuwen Family.
For example, the Li Mu family took sides when Yang Jian usurped Zhou.
Moreover, although Yang Jian's usurpation of Zhou had a great deal of serendipity and could not be regarded as Yuwen Hu's pot, it was more or less related to Yuwen Hu.
In general, although he overthrew two cousin emperors, Yuwen Hu was still worthy of Northern Zhou and had merit.
Finally, I would like to add that when a powerful courtier enters the palace, he must wear a hard hat.