February**Dynamic Incentive Plan There have been many founding emperors in Chinese history, and when we talk about the founding emperors, we think of their praise for their hard work and appointing meritocracy. But Xiao Yan, the founding emperor of the Southern Dynasty Liang, people not only praised him, but also had some derogatory views about him.
Some even called him "the emperor lost in the long river of time". So, what kind of changes have taken place in Xiao Yan's life?
Born in the eighth year of Emperor Xiaowu of the Song Dynasty, Xiao Yan was destined to become an extraordinary figure. His father was the younger brother of Emperor Qi Gao and had a close relationship with the royal family. His birth also brought a peculiar appearance: the top of his head was raised, the two hips were connected, and there was a "wu" character on his right hand, and people at the time said that he had "imperial energy".
His house is surrounded by "clouds" all year round, and people passing by are all in awe. Xiao Yan's innate advantages have made him highly regarded, and his acquired efforts have made him a young talent in the eyes of everyone.
Xiao Yan has been extremely intelligent since he was a child, and has made remarkable achievements in literature. He, Wang Rong and others often recited poems in the mansion of Xiao Ziliang, the king of Jingling, and was respected as the "Eight Friends of Jingling".
After the death of Emperor Wu of Qi, Xiao Zhaoye, the grandson of the emperor, ascended the throne, and Xiao Luan, the Marquis of Xichang, assisted the government. However, after Xiao Zhaoye ascended the throne, he did not want to make progress and indulged in a debaucherous life. Xiao Luan consulted Xiao Yan after many times to no avail, and finally abolished Xiao Zhaoye and established Xiao Zhaowen, the king of Xin'an County, as the emperor.
Xiao Zhaowen is just a puppet in Xiao Luan's hands, and he is the one who really holds the power. However, three months later, Xiao Luan simply abolished Xiao Zhaowen and established himself as emperor. After Xiao Luan ascended the throne, because Xiao Yan made great contributions to the "decision", he handed over all the important military power to him.
Since then, Xiao Yan's status has gradually improved.
Xiao Luan's death made Xiao Yan's originally peaceful life begin to fluctuate. The appearance of Xiao Baojuan brought endless troubles to Xiao Yan. He has a deep city, and as soon as he ascended to power, he killed all the ministers who assisted him, and in the end, even Xiao Yan was not spared.
In 500 AD, Xiao Yan's elder brother Xiao Yi was killed by Xiao Baojuan, which made him realize that the tyrant in front of him could not bring anything good. So, he decided to raise an army to rebel against Xiao Baojuan, and supported Xiao Baorong, the king of Nankang, as emperor.
After some hard work, the mediocre Xiao Baojuan was finally killed by Xiao Yan's army. Two years later, Xiao Baorong took the initiative to cede the throne to Xiao Yan. As a result, Xiao Yan successfully became the emperor.
Although Xiao Yan's success does not rely on his talent and virtue, the "imperial heart technique" is vividly reflected in this process.
Before Xiao Baorong officially gave in, Xiao Yan had contacted his old friends Fan Yun and Shen Yue through secret channels many times. After receiving Xiao Yan's instructions, the two wrote letters to Xiahou Xiang, who was serving as a general next to Xiao Baorong, many times, asking him to force Xiao Baorong to take the throne.
In addition, Xiao Yan also instructed his younger brother and those close to him to spread the folk song "Walking in the water, for the Son of Heaven". In fact, the phrase "walking in the water" implies the word "Yan" in Xiao Yan's name.
When Xiao Yan's ** as emperor became hotter and hotter, Xiao Baorong really sent an edict and respectfully invited Xiao Yan to be emperor, but at this time, Xiao Yan still pretended to be pretending to be in front of people.
However, behind the scenes, he instructed Fan Yun and others to unite with the ministers of the court and the central government, and wrote to the emperor to request Xiao Yan to be appointed emperor. After such a back-and-forth "politeness", Xiao Yan successfully became the emperor.
In the second year of Xiao Yan's reign as Emperor Liang Zhongxing, he swore an oath to heaven and earth in the southern suburbs of the capital and accepted the worship of hundreds of officials, officially establishing the Liang Dynasty. Soon after, he sent someone to send the raw gold to the first emperor Xiao Baorong and asked him to cut it off on his own.
After Xiao Baorong died, he claimed that he died of illness and was buried according to the emperor's specifications, so that he could sit on the throne. In the early days of Xiao Yan's reign as emperor, he immediately abolished the harsh policies of Xiao Baojuan, the Marquis of Dongdu, and publicly burned luxury items during Xiao Baojuan's reign in order to rectify the court atmosphere.
He learned the lesson of the fall of the previous dynasty, worked hard, and often got up at the fifth watch to review the recitals. In addition, although he attaches great importance to the noble gate valve, he is also trying to find a balance between the noble gate valve and the Han family.
He realized that under the influence of the Jiupin Zhongzheng system, the door has become the first standard for selection. However, most of the sons of noble families were addicted to pleasure and lacked the ability to handle government affairs.
Xiao Yan successfully found an ingenious solution. He first gave priority to promoting the children of the nobility and allowing them to hold important positions in the court. At the same time, he also appointed the best people from the poor family, and although the positions they held seemed to be unimportant, in reality, they controlled most of the power and real power.
In addition, in order to be able to select more poor talents, Xiao Yan established the Five Classics Museum among the people. Just like today's schools, students could study the scriptures for free in the Pentateuch Hall, and the state would provide room and board.
If they are proficient in a scripture, they can pass the examination and enter the court as officials. In this way, the children of the poor family will have the opportunity to enter the court as officials. It is worth mentioning that Xiao Yan's move laid the foundation for the later imperial examination system.
Although Xiao Yan made great contributions to the development of the country when he was young, in his later years, he was tired of dealing with the government because of his superstitious Buddhism. He became a monk four times in his life, three of which were redeemed by the ministers who donated hundreds of millions of incense.
This behavior led to a decline in the economy of the DPRK and China, and he began to dislike women and avoid eating meat, which shows the extent of his obsession with Buddhism.
For the emperor, the heirs were the future hope of the country. However, Xiao Yan turned a blind eye to this. Not only did he insist on keeping the precepts and rules himself, but he also demanded that the whole country follow his example.
However, Buddhism's blow to the entire Liang dynasty was not fatal. The real fatal blow came from Hou Jing, a great general introduced by Xiao Yan. Hou Jing was a member of the Qi tribe and fought for the Northern Qi Dynasty for a long time and made many achievements, so he held a lot of military power.
However, with the death of Gao Huan, the founder of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Hou Jing's status was greatly reduced. To make matters worse, Gao Huan's son tried to seize military power from Hou Jing many times.
In order to stabilize his position, Hou Jing surrendered to Xiao Yan and took twelve continents with him. Xiao Yan was very happy when he heard the news, so he personally sent an army to meet Hou Jing and appointed him as the king and general of Henan.
Later, Xiao Yan reached a reconciliation with the Northern Qi. However, the Northern Qi's request was to send Hou Jing back to China. When Hou Jing learned about it, he launched a rebellion on the "Qing Jun's side". As a result, the rebels attacked directly towards Jiankang, and the capital was under serious threat.
Xiao Yan tried to summon reinforcements from all over the country, but the trust of the courtiers in him had long been lost, and they chose to sit back and watch the changes, causing the rebels to approach Taicheng. Seeing the rebels attacking, he not only did not resist, but opened the city gate, so that Taicheng finally fell, and Hou Jing took power.
After Hou Jing seized power, he became even more unscrupulous, and even allowed his soldiers to enter the court and inner court with bows and arrows and swords and guns. When Xiao Yan found out, he asked them, "Who allowed you to bring a knife into the palace?" ”
The soldiers replied in unison: "It was allowed by Prime Minister Hou." ”
Xiao Yan suddenly found that his country had already fallen into the hands of Hou Jing. However, his troubles did not end there, as Hou Jing's ambitions did not stop there. After that, Hou Jing transferred all the guards, entourage, and palace maids around Xiao Yan, and his requirements became more and more difficult to meet.
Not only that, Hou Jing also grounded Xiao Yan in the palace's pure residence hall. His diet gradually dwindled, and eventually he could not even get water. Xiao Yan lived in such an oppressive environment, and the pain and anger in his heart continued to accumulate.
In the third year of the Taiqing Dynasty, Xiao Yan was already 86 years old, and he knocked on the door of the Pure Residence Hall with difficulty, but the guard who opened the door yelled and asked him what was the matter. Xiao Yan tried to say from his throat: "I have a hard mouth, can you give me a little honey?" ”
However, his request, like many previous ones, went unanswered.
Xiao Yan died in two screams of surprise, and Hou Jing ordered secrecy when he learned about it, and it was not until 26 days later that he was mourned in the Taiji Palace, and was succeeded by Xiao Yan's third son, Xiao Gang.
From then on, the power of the Liang Dynasty basically fell into the hands of Hou Jing, and even Xiao Gang was deposed and killed by Hou Jing two years after succeeding to the throne. It is sad that the final outcome of a generation of monarchs turned out to be starvation.
In fact, the problems of the Liang Dynasty have long been deep-rooted, and Xiao Yan tried to mediate the contradictions of various classes, but in the end they were hindered by the bondage of classes. The "prosperity" he created was actually full of problems.
The Hou Jing Rebellion is enough to show that the corruption of the Liang Dynasty has reached the point of no return.