Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty

Yu Wenyong

Yu Wenyong, Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty

(543-june 21, 578), small characters

Muratu

The Han nationality of Xianbei, whose ancestral home is Daijun Wuchuan (now the west of Wuchuan, Inner Mongolia), was born in Tongzhou Wuxiang (now Dali, Shaanxi). Yuwenjue, the fourth son of yuwentai, the emperor of Zhou Xiaomin, and yuwenyu, the emperor of Zhou Ming, are the different mother and brother of Chinu, the empress of Wenxuan. They are the third emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty in the northern and Southern Dynasties. They were in power from the second year of Wucheng (560) to the first year of xuanzheng (578).

When Wei Yugong was 12 years old, he was granted the title of Xifu county. When yuwenjue, Emperor Xiaomin of Zhou Dynasty, succeeded to the throne, he paid homage to the general and left TongZhou (now Dali County, Shaanxi Province). In the first year of Wucheng in the Northern Zhou Dynasty (559), he was appointed as the chief minister of the state of Lu. Yu Wenyong is intelligent, farsighted, decisive and resourceful, and can judge great events. In April of the second year of Wucheng (560), yuwenhu held the throne. In the first year of Jiande (572), he finally killed Quan Xiangyu Wenhu and took charge of the government. After that, he continued to carry out the system of equal field, improved and developed the system of government troops, took back the command power of government troops from the military offices of the Chinese and foreign governors to the emperor, and began to recruit peasants of equal field households to serve as government troops, expand the source of troops, enrich the military forces, and prepare to annex the Northern Qi Dynasty. In October of the fifth year of Jiande (576), he returned to lead the seven routes to attack Qi. In the first month of the sixth year of Jiande (577), he led the army to conquer ye, captured the father and son of the empress of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and destroyed the Northern Qi Dynasty. During the reign of Yu Wenyong, he got rid of the old custom of Xianbei. Rectifying the administration of officials made the politics of the Northern Zhou dynasty clear, the people's life stable and the country powerful. Yu Wenyong lived a simple life and was able to care about the sufferings of the people in time.

In May of the first year of xuanzheng (578), Emperor Wu of Zhou led all the troops to fight against Turks. He was ordered to stop marching because of illness. In June, he was very ill and returned to Chang'an. That month, he died. He was only 36 years old. His posthumous title is Emperor Wu, and his temple title is emperor Gaozu. He was buried in Xiaoling and passed on to his eldest son, Yu Wenfu.

The outline drawing is taken from the painting of emperors of all dynasties by Yan Liben of Tang Dynasty.

Life of the characters

Early experience

In 543, Yu Wenyong was born in Tongzhou, the fourth son of Yu Wentai. It is said that Yu Wenyong knew to serve his parents with filial piety when he was young, and he was smart, sensitive and magnanimous. Yuwentai likes him very much, and often says to others, "it must be this son who can realize my ambition in the future."

Because his father was a powerful official of the Western Wei Dynasty, Yu Wenyong had a bright future in his youth. In 555, the second year of emperor Gong of the Western Wei Dynasty, Yu Wenyong was granted the title of Duke of Fucheng county when he was 12 years old. In 557, the first year of emperor Xiaomin of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, yuwenjue, the third brother of emperor Xiaomin, ascended the throne by Zen and established the Northern Zhou Dynasty. He worshipped yuwenyong as the general and left Tongzhou. In September of the same year, Otsuka zaiwuhu abolished emperor Xiaomin and supported emperor yuwenyu to succeed him. On December 16, he was transferred to yuwenyong as Zhu state and granted Puzhou military and Puzhou governor.

In the first year of Wucheng (559), Yu Wenyong entered the court and served as the grand commander of the state of Lu. Emperor Zhou Ming was very close to him, and the imperial court often discussed with him when there were major issues. Yu Wenyong had a deep personality and a great insight. It was not because of the question from Emperor Ming of Zhou Dynasty that he never expressed his opinions easily. Emperor Zhou Ming often praised him and said, "if you don't speak, you must be right."

Officials in power

In April of the second year of Wucheng (560), the powerful minister yuwenhu sent people to poison the emperor of Zhou Ming, and appointed 17-year-old yuwenyong as the emperor. When Yu Wenyong ascended the throne, the political situation of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was very unstable. The key reason was that Yu Wenhu monopolized the real power of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Yu Wenhu is Yu Wentai's nephew. In the Western Wei Dynasty, he served as a general and Sikong. In the second year of Dading (556), before Yu Wentai died of serious illness, he solemnly told Yu Wenhu that his sons were young, and his foreign enemies were powerful, so he asked Yu Wenhu to take charge of military affairs and inherit his ambition. Yuwenhu promises to come down on the surface. In the second year, he established yuwenjue as emperor and established the Northern Zhou regime. Yuwenjue is a tough man, especially disgusted with the autocracy of yuwenhu, the Duke of Jin.

Yuwenyong knew that yuwenhu's power had grown, so he adopted the strategy of hiding his power and keeping his back. At the beginning of his accession to the throne, he did not dare to expose his dissatisfaction with Yu Wenhu. In the first month of the first year of Baoding (561), Yu Wenyong took dazhongzai and yuwenhu, the Duke of Jin, as his dukes, and all kinds of military affairs at home and abroad. And in daily trying to please yuwenhu. Chen Chong, marquis mo of Zhou Liang, went to Yuanzhou with Yu Wenyong. At night, he insisted on returning to Chang'an. Everyone thought it was strange. Hou Mo and Chen Chong think that they are smart, so they threaten that yuwenhu has been killed. Some people spread the words of Hou Mo and Chen Chong. After hearing this, Yu Wenyong immediately summoned all the princes to the Dade hall and scolded Hou Mo Chen Chong in front of the public. Hou Mo Chen Chong was afraid to apologize. On that night, yuwenhu sent soldiers to rush into houmo Chenchong's house, forcing him to commit suicide. Yu Wenyong shows that he has no second intention to protect Yu Wenyong. Soon after, Yu Wenyong praised Yu Wenhu with a hidden plan. He said in an imperial edict, "the emperor of Jin was killed by Otsuka, and Yikun was appointed as the assistant of Yuan Dynasty. Since today, the imperial edict and the documents of Bai Si can not be called the public name." In the imperial edict, the name of yuwenhu, the Duke of Jin, can not be called, which shows the degree of yuwenyong's temporary "respect" for yuwenhu.

Yu Wenhu's mother was captured by the Northern Qi Dynasty and separated from her son for 35 years. Later, the Northern Qi Dynasty released her. Yu Wenyong tried his best to flatter her. Everything that she was rewarded with must be extremely luxurious. Every four o'clock in Fula, Yu Wenyong led his royal relatives to give family rites to Yu Wenhu's mother, which was known as "birthday on the cup". Use this to win yuwenhu's favor. Because of Yu Wenyong's superficial respect and obedience, Yu Wenhu didn't treat him like he did to Yu wenjue and Yu Wenyu. However, in the dark, Yu Wenhu always threatened Yu Wenyong, domineering, always want to replace him.

In the fourth year of Baoding (564), Yu Wenyong planned to attack the Northern Qi Dynasty. In November, the Duke of Zhu and Shu led a large army to besiege Luoyang, Duke Yu Wenxian of Qi besieged Qi in Mangshan, and Duke Yu Wenhu of Jin stationed his army in Shanzhou. In December, Quan Jingxuan attacked Yuzhou in the Northern Qi Dynasty, and Wang Shiliang, the governor of Qi Dynasty, surrendered to the Northern Zhou Dynasty. However, Gao Changgong and Duan Shao, the governor of Bingzhou, were sent to Luoyang by Gao Zhan, Emperor Wucheng of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Duan Shaoli defeated the Northern Zhou army with strategy. The initial plan of Yu Wenyong and Yu Wenhu to annex the Northern Qi Dynasty was contained. The failure of this campaign greatly reduced the prestige of yuwenhu in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and created certain conditions for the later capture of power by Emperor Wu of Zhou.

Monopolize the court power

Yu Wenyong learned from the two elder brothers, and on the surface, he was at peace with his cousin and allowed him to exercise his power. In the dark, however, they are slowly gathering strength to seek opportunities for protection. In the first year of Jiande (572), Yu Wenyong was determined to eradicate Yu Wenhu. When Yu Wenhu returned to Chang'an from Tongzhou, Yu Wenyong came to see the Empress Dowager with him. While walking, Yu Wenyong said to Yu Wenhu: "the Empress Dowager is old, but she is good at drinking. Although we repeatedly admonished, the Empress Dowager did not adopt it. Now that my elder brother has entered the court, please go and admonish the Empress Dowager. " With that, he took out a piece of Jiugao from his arms and gave it to Yu Wenhu to persuade the Empress Dowager. Yuwenhu went to the place where the Empress Dowager lived. As expected, he listened to what yuwenyong said and read Jiugao to the Empress Dowager. As he was reading, Yu Wenyong raised Yu Yu and hit him on the head. Yuwenhu falls to the ground. Yuwenyong orders eunuch he Quan to kill yuwenhu with a knife. He Quan is flustered and his hand trembles. He doesn't even hit the point with a few knives. At this time, Yu Wenyong and his mother and brother Wei Gong run out to help kill Yu Wenhu.

It is an important event in the life of yuwenyong, Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty, to destroy yuwenyong. It made Yu Wenyong avoid the old way of being a short-lived emperor, and rescued the Northern Zhou from civil strife. After Yu Wenhu was killed, the power of the Northern Zhou Dynasty really began to be in the hands of Yu Wenyong. Yu Wenyong got rid of his troubles and began a series of reform measures. On the basis of his father Yu Wentai, he finally made the Northern Zhou Dynasty, which was weaker than the Northern Qi Dynasty, stronger. Then he killed yuwenhu's son, brother and cronies. Kill Yu Wenhui, Yu Wenzhi and Yu Wenjing, the sons of Yu Wenhu, as well as Fu Hou long en, general Wan Shou and General Liu Yong. Amnesty to the world, reform yuan Jiande.

After killing Yu Wenhu and his cronies, Yu Wenyong weakened the power of dazhongzai, and stipulated that the six prefectures did not have to listen to the Tianguan dazhongzai, so that their power was weakened, so as to strengthen the imperial power. He also changed the soldiers into servants, indicating that the army was subordinate to the Emperor and the country. Then the racial restriction on the source of troops was abolished, and all men in the territory could serve as soldiers, greatly expanding the military strength. It also limits the relationship between the chief executive and his staff to prevent local privatization. In the first month of the third year of Jiande (574), Yu Wenyong conferred the titles of Yu Wenxian, Duke of Qi, Duke of Wei, Duke of Zhao, Duke of Yue, Duke of Teng, and so on.

Unify the North

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In the fourth year of Jiande (575), Yu Wenyong once again led his troops into the territory of the Northern Qi, intending to destroy the Northern Qi. For a long time, the relationship between the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty was mainly a war relationship. The two sides won and lost each other, and their strength was generally balanced. But since Yu Wenyong came into power, great changes have taken place: first, after the destruction of Buddhism, the country's economic power has increased; second, it has absorbed the majority of Han farmers in the field to serve as soldiers, expanded the ranks of soldiers, and formed a military advantage; third, it has made peace with the Turks in the north, and made good relations with the Chen Dynasty in the south, which is a success in diplomatic strategy. However, in the Northern Qi Dynasty, there were many kinds of political activities, such as selling officials in prison, looking only at profit, wantonly drinking and sex, and avoiding harming loyalty and good

Chinese PinYin : Zhou Wu Di