Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 407: Death and Life Are Absurd

After being carried by the imperial sedan chair, Wen Zisheng was soaked all over.

He used to be the Secretary of the Central Secretariat of Empress Dowager Hu, and because of his outstanding literary talent, he drafted many imperial edicts.

Just now, the world-famous Huangmen Lang Wang Zunye was dragged away from Wen Zisheng and escorted to the river bank. Now he has been buried in the surging Yellow River.

Perhaps because Wen Zisheng's official position was too low, or perhaps because the edict for Yuan Ziyou's accession to the throne was also drafted by Wen Zisheng, Erzhu Rong did not kill Wen Zisheng. At this time, his back was already wet.

As a writer, Wen Zisheng also wrote many tragic poems about indifference to life and death. However, when he faced life and death himself, Wen Zisheng realized how pale the words he wrote were, which were simply whining without illness.

At this critical juncture of life and death, he just wanted to survive.

Gao Huan also walked at the back of the team in a depressed mood. He looked back at the blood-stained riverbank. Those extremely noble figures, those big figures whom he could not even see when he was the envoy, and those big figures who trembled all over when they heard their names, died in Heyin just like that.

Yuan Yong, who was stabbed to death by his own hands, was of very noble status. He was a senior official who had served through three dynasties and the head of the royal family who was in charge of the Menxia Province.

Yuan Yong was just a mortal, and he died after being pierced by the spear.

The image of Yuan Yong kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy was deeply imprinted in Gao Huan's mind. It turned out that these high-ranking figures were more afraid of death than himself.

Gao Huan even wanted to laugh. It turned out that these big shots who could decide the life and death of the Six Garrisons through a document were just like this.

Gao Huan thought again of Zhang Lingshi from the Taiwei Mansion who had whipped him in the past. He wondered where this guy was now.
If we say that the Yulin Rebellion that year made Gao Huan realize that the authority of the imperial court was about to collapse and that the world was about to be in turmoil.

Today's Heyin Incident completely made Gao Huan lose his last bit of awe for the Wei court. Erzhu Rong just kicked this broken house, and it collapsed.

But at the same time, in Gao Huan's heart, something called ambition was also sprouting.

The princes and nobles of the Wei Dynasty were just mortals and could be killed by a spear. What about these bigwigs above him now?

Gao Huan quickly suppressed these thoughts.

Of course, the person who suffered the greatest impact in the entire Heyin Rebellion was naturally the new emperor Yuan Ziyou.

Witnessing his brothers, close ministers, relatives, and friends all being pushed into the Yellow River, this shock almost made the young emperor Yuan Ziyou collapse.

Yuan Ziyou was one of the conspirators who had participated in many palace coups. At this time, Yuan Ziyou realized that in the face of absolute strength, conspiracies and tricks were of no use.

This feeling is undoubtedly despairing.

When they arrived at the Five-Colored Altar of the State, Xi Yi, who had rushed over from Luoyang after hearing the news, finally arrived in Heyin. At this time, he was very sad.

There is a tacit understanding among these powerful families.

Since the reign of Emperor Xuanwu, the long-term intermarriages among the noble families have led to complex relationships between them, and some political tacit understandings have also been formed between the major families.

For example, after the death of Emperor Xuanwu, the powerful official Gao Zhao was purged, but Gao was simply expelled from the court, and not many members of the family were implicated.

When Empress Dowager Hu overthrew the powerful official Yu Zhong, Yu Zhong himself was only exiled. Yu Jin was also a member of the Yu family, so his influence only affected his career in officialdom.

Later, the political struggles of Qinghe King Yuan Yi and Jiangyang King Yuan Yi were similar. Xi Kangsheng and his son directly participated in the coup, but only the father and son were killed. Xi Yi, a member of the Xi family, was only forced to leave Luoyang.

The Heyin Incident completely destroyed this tacit understanding and finally woke up these nobles and officials from their dreams. The foundation of the Northern Wei Dynasty was still the Hu regime in which Emperor Taiwu executed the three clans of Cui Hao. When Erzhu Rong killed the powerful and wealthy in Heyin, he didn't care about your identity.

This was unacceptable to Xi Yi, who always felt that he was superior to others.

Clenching his fists, Xi Yi suppressed his sorrowful expression and rode his horse towards the Five-Colored Altar of Land and Grain.

On the Five-Colored Altar of Land and Grain, as the ceremonial officials shouted "The auspicious time has arrived", the new emperor Yuan Ziyou climbed onto the altar of land and grain like a puppet. Holding in his hand the deep red soil that Erzhu Rong had ordered to be dug from Heyin, he suppressed his inner nausea and began to recite the four-six parallel prose to offer sacrifice to the heaven.

Erzhu Rong was satisfied as he watched Yuan Ziyou complete the sacrificial ceremony in an orderly manner under the guidance of the ritual officer. He said to Yuan Tianmu:
"With His Majesty in Luoyang, this general can finally lead his troops to war."

Yuan Tianmu also nodded. Isn't it true that an emperor who knows how to advance and retreat and be patient is more difficult to control than an impulsive and irritable fool?
Yuan Tianmu couldn't help but say:

"General, don't forget the matter of Xuanwu Xuan!"

Yuan Tianmu was naturally talking about the story of Emperor Xuan of Han and the powerful minister Huo Guang. The powerful minister Huo Guang was in power for a time and deposed and enthroned emperors at will. In the end, he enthroned the submissive and obedient Emperor Xuan of Han.

When Huo Guang was alive, Emperor Xuan of Han was respectful to the Huo family and cooperated very well in being a puppet.

After Huo Guang died, Emperor Xuan of Han immediately launched an attack and exterminated Huo Guang's family. However, Erzhu Rong said indifferently:
"Huo Guang is old, Emperor Xuan is young, the alternation of spring and autumn is a natural law, but it is different for me, the general!"

But think about it, Erzhu Rong is only in his thirties now, which is the prime of his life.

Moreover, Erzhu Rong's grandfather and father lived very long lives, and Erzhu Daiqin outlived several generations of Northern Wei monarchs.

Given the average life expectancy of the Northern Wei royal family, it is hard to say who will outlive whom.

Yuan Tianmu did not persuade him any more. After completing the sacrifice, he returned to Luoyang City with Erzhu Rong.

It was not until the emperor's carriage returned to Luoyang City that the dignitaries in the city discovered something was wrong. When Erzhu Rong announced that the accompanying ministers were all members of Yuan Yong's rebellion and were all killed by Erzhu Rong, there was an uproar in Luoyang City!

The new emperor Yuan Ziyou fell ill immediately after returning to the palace, and many rumors spread in the palace.

Although Erzhu Rong offered the reward of three consecutive promotions to the officials who remained in office, a large number of gentry still chose to flee Luoyang, so that "not a single scholar in the capital remained, most of them fled, and no one dared to leave. The government offices were empty and the officials were abandoned."

Yuan Tianmu, who was in charge of maintaining government affairs, only felt more pressure, but Erzhu Rong did not care. Instead, he ordered his soldiers to plunder the mansions of the fleeing dignitaries, and asked Gao Huan and Heba Sheng to plunder the wealth of Luoyang and leave it as a reward for the soldiers.
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When the news of the Heyin Incident reached Guanzhong, it naturally caused the Guanzhong gentry to feel grief. Suddenly, more and more Guanzhong gentry's sons chose to serve Su Ze, and more and more powerful families joined the army with their servants.

In addition to the Guanzhong gentry's violent reaction and grief over the death of the enemy, a large number of Luoyang officials also fled to Guanzhong.

Faced with such a situation, Li Shen, who was guarding Tongguan, hurriedly asked Su Ze how to deal with these exiled ministers.

"All officials who come to Luoyang to surrender will be kept outside Tongguan and wait for the emperor to come to the palace after they are examined by the Ministry of Personnel."

After Su Ze announced the policy on how to treat officials who came to Luoyang to surrender, everyone in the Government Affairs Hall smiled.

Su Ze chose to put aside the historical burden of Luoyang, and naturally did not want to continue to shelter these uncles.

For the ministers of the Government Affairs Hall, they were originally "Guanzhong bumpkins" who were excluded by the powerful people in Luoyang. They finally succeeded in their venture capital investment in Su Ze and occupied high positions in the Government Affairs Hall and the Shogunate.

The guys from Luoyang already hold high official positions. Su Ze's statement shows that he still values ​​the power of the Guanzhong gentry and is not prepared to pay attention to these gentry from Luoyang.

Su Ze also took in the performance of his ministers. It was indeed a political norm to unite factions to attack dissidents. There would be different factions within any group. They united in various ways and fought for common interests. This did not change because of any personal morality. It was just human nature.

The dominance of any faction will have a negative impact on the entire system.

After expressing his opinion in the Government Affairs Hall, Su Ze personally went to Chongwen Pavilion and talked with Qi Tai, the newly appointed Grand Secretary of Chongwen Pavilion.

Qi Tai brought his family's classics from Liangzhou to Yongle City. Because of the trend of Liangzhou gentry donating their family's classics, he was appointed as the Grand Secretary of Chongwen Pavilion by Su Ze, and was responsible for the proofreading and publishing of the Chongwen Pavilion's collection of books.

It was only then that Su Ze realized that there were not too few Confucian books in this era, but too many!
For example, the "Erjiu Shenjing" handed down in Qi Tai's family is a commentary on the scripture written by Qi Jia, a famous Confucian scholar in the Former Liang Dynasty, based on the "Book of Filial Piety" and combined with the Confucian academic atmosphere at that time.

Wang Zunye, who died in the Heyin Incident, was also known for his mastery of the "Book of Filial Piety". If he had not died in the Heyin Incident, another book interpreting the "Book of Filial Piety" would have been published.

The reason why these Confucian scholars studied the "Book of Filial Piety" is that it is the virgin land of Confucianism.

In the pre-Qin period, there was a saying of "Six Classics", which referred to "Book of Songs", "Book of History", "Book of Rites", "Book of Music", "Book of Changes" and "Spring and Autumn Annals".

In the early Han Dynasty, "The Analects of Confucius" was added to the "Six Classics" to make it the "Seven Classics". Later, "The Book of Music" was lost, so in the Eastern Han Dynasty, "The Book of Music" was removed and "The Book of Filial Piety" was added.

That is to say, the "Book of Filial Piety" was the last to be added to the classics of Confucian classics. Therefore, since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people have been keen on annotating the "Book of Filial Piety". There were so many people annotating other classics that it became a red ocean of fierce competition.

In addition, there is the controversy between the Ancient Text School and the Modern Text School in Confucianism, and each school constantly argues over the words used and the intentions used in the scriptures.

So Su Ze gave Qi Tai a task, which was to proofread and compile a set of classics based on the annotations of the scriptures in Chongwen Pavilion.

Proofreading classics naturally requires a large number of scholars. Su Ze used this as an excuse to expand the school to the size of Chongwen Pavilion again, and began to recruit disciples without any restrictions on their origins.

Su Ze doesn't want the old gang in Luoyang, but he still accepts fresh blood who are willing to study in Chongwen Pavilion and slowly move up from Su Ze's system.

This time, ten children from the Hongnong Yang family were admitted to the school.

After Wang Zunye was executed, the descendants of the Taiyuan Wang family in Luoyang also fled westward. Wang Sizheng was also from the Taiyuan Wang family, so five talented descendants of the Taiyuan Wang family also entered the Chongwen Pavilion.

Proofreading scriptures is certainly not just for the purpose of cultivating scholars who are proficient in reading and writing. Su Ze has a greater goal.

(End of this chapter)