"The Story of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and Emperor Xuan of Zhou" In 578 AD, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty died of illness and was succeeded by his son Yu Wenyun, that is, Emperor Xuan of Zhou. The untimely death of Emperor Wu of Zhou dealt a heavy blow to the unification of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. However, Emperor Xuan of Zhou was completely different from his father, he was extravagant and had little ambition, but he had a conspiracy. When Emperor Wu of Zhou died, he did not show the slightest sadness, but sadly touched the scars left by his father's lessons before his death, and said angrily: "It's too late!."(Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 173). Emperor Wu of Zhou was well aware of the prince's character during his lifetime, and took drastic measures to try to induce the prince to change his ways.
However, the crown prince loved wine banquets and was often drunk, and Emperor Wu of Zhou stipulated that wine should not be sent to the East Palace, and even dismissed Yin Zhengyi and others from the imperial palace. However, all these efforts were to no avail. Emperor Wu of Zhou was troubled by the prince's behavior, but the other princes were either young or as incompetent as the prince. Regarding the prince's **, incompetence, and the fate of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, even the cronies and ministers of Emperor Wu of Zhou can see it clearly. Emperor Wu of Zhou finally allowed this incompetent son to inherit the throne, and the tragedy of the decline of the Northern Zhou Dynasty began.
When he was dying, Emperor Wu of Zhou quickly recalled Yuwen Xiaobo and granted him the position of the chief doctor of the guard, in charge of the Su Guard. Soon after Emperor Xuan ascended the throne, he tried to get rid of the highly respected Yuwenxian and asked Yuwen Xiaobo for help, but Xiaobo resolutely refused, saying: "The first emperor has an edict and is not allowed to kill relatives indiscriminately." King Qi is His Majesty's uncle, who has made outstanding achievements and is a pillar of the country, if His Majesty harms him for no reason, then I will become a disloyal minister, and Your Majesty will become an unfilial son. (Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 173). Emperor Xuan began to harbor resentment against Xiaobo, and conspired with Yu Zhi, Zheng Yi and others to kill Yu Wenxian.
In the following year, he killed Wang Rail and Yuwen Xiaobo one after another. Some small people were able to stay with Emperor Xuan and be reused. Emperor Xuan indulged in wine all day long, ignored political affairs, and relied on eunuchs to present things for him. A corporal named Yang Wenyou sarcastically said: "Drunk in the morning, drunk in the evening, often drunk every day, and government affairs will be disorderly." (Sui Shu Criminal Law Chronicles). Emperor Xuan of Zhou was afraid that he would be too extravagant and lascivious, and he would not be recognized by the people of the world, so he implemented a strict criminal law and abused his brutal power to intimidate his ministers.
At the same time, he secretly ordered the left and right to closely monitor the words and deeds of the ministers, and immediately kill them if they made the slightest mistake, causing everyone to be in danger. However, despite this, Cheng Leyun of Jingzhao County risked his life to come to admonish and enumerate the emperor's eight faults.
Le Yun pointed out that Emperor Xuan Zhou's mistakes included arbitrariness, not allowing Zaifu to participate in political affairs, taking concubines privately, marrying privately without ceremonial ceremonies, not going out for a few days after entering the palace, all the music had to be cashed out by eunuchs, and the edict was lenient, and the original system was tightened in less than half a year. Emperor Xuan of Zhou was furious when he heard this, and threw Leyun into prison and wanted to be executed. The ministers were afraid to intercede.
Only in the internal history, the doctor Yuan Yan sighed: "Zang Hong died for justice, and people call it a wish: (see "Three Kingdoms" for Zang Hong's affairs). What's more, like now, when I met Bigan, I would rather live and die with him. Then he admonished: "Although Le Yun does not hesitate to sacrifice his life, in fact it is only for the sake of gaining fame, Your Majesty might as well send him back with kind words, so as to show the magnanimity of the saints!"This advice finally moved Emperor Xuan of Zhou, who realized that he had lost the hearts of the people, and at the same time felt that as an emperor he had to concentrate on government affairs.
Therefore, only one year after ascending the throne, he passed the throne to his seven-year-old son Wen Xian, and he became the emperor directly when he was in his twenties. Since then, Emperor Xuan of Zhou has been more obsessed with wine, and has set up five queens one after another, ordering the construction of Luoyang Palace, and selecting beauties from the people to enter the palace. He often went out on cruises, leaving early and returning late, which was unbearable for the courtiers. Because of his indulgence in pleasure, he soon fell ill and died. Emperor Xuan of Zhou reigned for only one year, and only another year after the Zen throne, for a total of only three years, and died at the age of twenty-two. Emperor Xuan of Zhou's son, Emperor Jing of Zhou, who was only eight years old at the time, was too young and ignorant to deal with state affairs.
Since then, the real power of the Northern Zhou Dynasty has fallen into the hands of Yang Jian, the father of Emperor Xuan's empress Yang. Yang Jian took advantage of the foolishness of the Northern Zhou lord and young ministers, seized the power of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and established the Sui Dynasty, which was 581 AD. Yang Jian is a native of Huayin, Hongnong County, and is of Han nationality. His father, Yang Zhong, was the founder of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and was awarded the title of Duke of Sui for his high merits. Yang Jian inherited his father's title and showed extraordinary intelligence at a young age. When Yu Wentai saw him, he sighed: "This son is heroic and sassy, different from the people at that time!."(Sui Shu Gaozu Ji I).
The rise of Yang Jian and the pacification of the Northern Zhou Emperor Wu of Zhou trusted Yang Jian very much, although Emperor Wu's younger brother Yu Wenxian repeatedly advised him to get rid of Yang Jian as soon as possible to avoid trouble in the future, but Emperor Wu refused them one by one. Yang Jian knew that he was prone to arouse suspicion, so he deliberately showed a lack of ambition. On the occasion of the death of Emperor Xuan of Zhou, Zheng Yi, Liu Fang and others forged an edict to let Yang Jian assist in the government with the help of Yang Jian's identity as the father of the empress. On the one hand, Yang Jian lured the kings of the Northern Zhou Dynasty to the capital and controlled them, and at the same time quelled the armed resistance of the former ministers of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Wang Qian and Wei Chi Hui, by force.
On the other hand, he took a series of reform measures to correct the maladministration of Emperor Xuan of Zhou since his accession to the throne. This period is known as "the great worship of the government, the laws and regulations are simple, and the practice is frugal, and the people of the world are satisfied with it" ("Sui Shu Gaozu Ji I"). As a result, the political situation in the north was stabilized and began to show a strong momentum.