Chapter 284: The Origin of the Three Punches to the Emperor

"Brother Wenyun, why the need for such courtesy, please get up quickly."

Zhang Jie first helped Chen Wenyun up, then fell into thought about these "Qi" states,

and he found that these Qi states were all as Chen Wenyun said, their state longevity and inheritance were not very good.

The Qi State in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period had Qi Huan Gong of Qi, one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period,

and in the Warring States period, it was also one of the Seven Heroes of Qi, Chu, Qin, Yan, Zhao, Wei, and Han,

and the King of Qi was even called the "Eastern and Western Emperors" for a period of time, which seemed quite good.

But in fact, the Qi State in the Spring and Autumn period and the Qi State in the Warring States period were a little different:

Although the state name was "Qi," the surname and bloodline of the royal inheritance were different.

Qi Huan Gong of Qi, Young Master Xiaobai, had the surname Jiang, but the ruler of the Qi State destroyed by Qin had the surname Tian.

The Jiang-surname Qi State established by Jiang Ziya was usurped by people with the surname Tian, historically known as "Tian Family Replaces Qi"!

The Tian family took 286 years and went through 11 generations of hard work and struggle,

finally completing an almost impossible task—replacing the Jiang family,

firmly grasping the political power of the Qi State, and becoming the ruling family of the Qi State.

The Qi State in the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties was even more of a master among masters.

At that time, there were two "Qi" states, the Southern Qi and the Northern Qi, and their common feature was that they were short-lived.

The Southern Qi existed from 479–502 AD, and the Northern Qi from 550–577 AD, both with state longevity of more than twenty years,

one-third shorter than the Great Sui, which had a state longevity of thirty-eight years.

What is even more astonishing is that with such short state longevity, which is almost a generation's gap,

the emperors of the two Qi states changed more diligently than changing clothes.

The Southern Qi was established by Xiao Daocheng, with Jiankang (now Nanjing) as the capital, and went through seven emperors;

the Northern Qi was established by Gao Yang, with Yecheng (now Linzhang, Hebei) as the capital, and went through six emperors,

and the average time each emperor was on the throne was only three or four years.

Compared with them, the Great Yuan, which had a state longevity of 98 years and went through five generations and eleven emperors, was very stable.

And among them, the Northern Qi emperors were even better observation samples for human mental illness.

Gao Cheng, the Emperor Wenxiang of Northern Qi, was simply a meme king comparable to Zhao Guangyi.

His memes include "Three Punches to the Emperor," "Zhen! Zhen! Dog-foot Zhen!", "Why did Your Majesty rebel?", "Driving the Big Cart," etc.

Three Punches to the Emperor and Dog-foot Zhen: This was the conflict between Gao Cheng, the powerful minister of Eastern Wei, and Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei, Yuan Shanjian.

Gao Cheng had great power and bullied the emperor many times.

Once, at a banquet, Gao Cheng toasted Yuan Shanjian, and Yuan Shanjian was displeased and responded:

"Since ancient times, there has been no country that has not perished, why would I need this life!"

Gao Cheng was furious after hearing this and scolded: "Zhen! Zhen! Dog-foot Zhen!"

Then he ordered his confidant Cui Jishu to punch Yuan Shanjian three times, and then flicked his sleeves and left.

Why did Your Majesty rebel?:

Gao Cheng discovered that Emperor Xiaojing, Yuan Shanjian, was planning to escape the imperial palace by digging a tunnel,

and unite with external forces to regain power, so he led troops to break into the palace and questioned:

"Why does Your Majesty intend to rebel!

My father and I have merits to the country, how have we failed Your Majesty!"

"Driving the Big Cart": The incident of Gao Cheng having an affair with Zheng Dache, the concubine of his father Gao Huan.

In the second year of Tianping (535 AD), when Gao Cheng's father Gao Huan went out to conquer Liu Li Shi,

14-year-old Gao Cheng took the opportunity to get into the bed of his father's beloved concubine Zheng Dache.

The emperors of Northern Qi, from the founding monarch to the last emperor who lost the state, were all "men of action."

Gao Huan (founder): The beginning of debauchery, taking the empress and concubines of Northern Wei,

setting the tone for the royal family's debauchery; ambitious in politics, leading to division.

Gao Cheng (Emperor Wenxiang): Continuation of debauchery, having an affair with his father Gao Huan's concubine Zheng Dache,

and forcing Gao Yang's wife Li Zu'e; forcing the marriage of a minister's wife, debauchery became the norm.

Gao Yang (Emperor Wenxuan, founding emperor): Diligent in the early stage, tyrannical and unrestrained in the later stage.

Addicted to killing, often killing people for fun after getting drunk, once dismembered his favorite concubine Xue to make a "meat pipa" to play and sing;

manufactured torture tools such as large pots and long saws, and abused and killed ministers or relatives at will.

Also had perverted behaviors such as streaking and dissecting the abdomen of pregnant women to see the fetus.

Gao Zhan (Emperor Wucheng): Loss of ethics,

forcing his brother Gao Yang's empress Li Zu'e, and killing Li Zu'e's son Gao Shaode;

to consolidate power, he abused and killed his nephew Gao Bainian under the pretext of "writing the imperial character";

after succeeding to the throne, he favored treacherous officials, exacerbating corruption and leading to the decline of people's livelihood.

Gao Wei (Last Emperor): Unrestrained debauchery, the source of the allusion of his favorite concubine Feng Xiaolian "lying horizontally with her jade body."

Letting Feng Xiaolian lie naked in the imperial court, and having ministers line up to pay to visit;

delayed military opportunities for this, such as when Northern Zhou attacked Qi, because Feng Xiaolian requested "another siege" or makeup,

leading to the delay of military opportunities, eventually leading to the destruction of the country;

also had absurd behaviors such as dressing up as a beggar for fun and conferring official titles on pets.

The Northern Qi emperors were addicted to killing, incestuous and lewd, abandoned government affairs, and had perverted behaviors,

all of which are clearly recorded in official history, leading to Northern Qi being called the "Beast Dynasty."

And the Qi State in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was relatively normal. In 937 AD, the adopted son of Xu Wen, a powerful minister of Southern Wu,

Xu Zhigao, who was added as the Prince of Qi by the Emperor Ruizong of Southern Wu in 935 AD, deposed the Southern Wu Emperor Yang Pu and established himself,

with the state name "Qi," and posthumously conferred Xu Wen as the Zhongwu Emperor, with Jin Ling as the capital.

It's just that this "Qi State" only existed for three years: in 939 AD, Xu Zhigao restored the Li surname, changed his name to Li Bian,

claimed to be the fourth-generation grandson of Li Ke, the Prince of Jian, the son of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, and changed the state name to "Tang," historically known as Southern Tang.

That's right, this Southern Tang is the one that wrote "Little building last night again east wind,

the old country is unbearable to look back on in the bright moon. The carved railings and jade steps should still be there, only the red faces have changed.

Ask how much sorrow one can have? Just like a river of spring water flowing eastward" by the last emperor Li Yu,

and the Southern Tang that fulfilled the title of "Deadly Poison Master" for Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi.

It can be said that the fates of the "Qi" states in history were one more miserable than the other,

and the emperors inside were mostly one more abstract than the other.

Using "Qi" as the name, isn't this a kind of curse?

"This, this 'Qi' should be skipped."

Even Zhang Jie smiled unnaturally.

Although he didn't quite believe in things like fate,

it's better not to touch such unlucky things if you can avoid them.

There are other choices, why use such an unlucky thing?

After Chen Wenyun popularized the several Qi states to the rough guys like Du Qian, they all fell silent.

They also didn't expect that the actions of their predecessors were so abstract.

Compared with these predecessors, the Great Song, which valued civil over military, called military men "treacherous soldiers,"

and openly stated that "only those who sing their names outside the Donghua Gate are good men," was so normal.

How wise an emperor was Zhao Ji, who was addicted to zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, scraped the Flower and Stone Gang, and built royal gardens like the Wan Shou Garden.

"In my opinion, I fear it is better for us to find a new one from classics like the 'I Ching'."

Wang Lun thought carefully and finally proposed.

"That would be very good."

"The military advisor's words are reasonable." Everyone agreed one after another.

Finding one that no one has used, it shouldn't be contaminated with those unlucky things in history, right? ===== CHAPTER 285 =====