Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

Chapter 188 Entertainment Emperor

However, the first attempt to recruit the rebels failed, and the court sent Zhang Shuye to suppress them. Song Jiang was forced to surrender and participate in the expedition against Fang La, but his ending was different from that in "Water Margin".

After the Song army returned victoriously, Song Jiang was arrested. Although there is no clear record of his fate, it is very likely that he was executed. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Song Jiang's story began to spread among the people, and with the influence of "Water Margin", Song Jiang's uprising became popular.

Finally, there was the Red Turban Rebellion at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Natural disasters occurred frequently and civil unrest continued in the late Yuan Dynasty. Han Shantong and Liu Futong were superstitious about the birth of the Ming King, so they burned incense and gathered people to plan an uprising against the Yuan Dynasty. It happened that the Yellow River flooded, and the Yuan Dynasty recruited civilians to build embankments and dams, so Han Shantong and Liu Futong decided to use this opportunity to build momentum.

"Don't say the stone man has only one eye, it will stir up the world to rebel." Soon, they dug out a one-eyed stone man. Han Shantong and Liu Futong rose up and raised the banner of rebellion, opening the curtain of the Red Turban Uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Volunteer armies from all over the country rose up to respond, and for a time the Yuan Dynasty was in chaos and its rule was in jeopardy.

However, like most peasant uprisings in history, the leaders of the Red Turban Army also faced several thorny problems. First, the logistics were insufficient. Even if they captured a city, they would be besieged by the government troops and could only roam around. Second, the rebels became complacent after achieving some success and started to fight among themselves.

In addition, the military discipline of many rebel armies was as bad as that of the government army, and they were unpopular. In 1359, the capital of Han Song, Bianliang, was captured by the Yuan army. Liu Futong fled to Anfeng with the young leader Han Lin'er, and was later surrounded by Zhang Shicheng. As the nominal leader of the Red Turban Army, Han Lin'er pales in comparison.

Han Song, the Prime Minister of Jiangnan Province, asked for help from Zhu Yuanzhang, who placed him in Chuzhou. The reign titles and official positions used by Zhu Yuanzhang's army were all based on the Han Song regime as orthodox.

As Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the rebels and prepared to unify the country, Han Lin'er, the nominal emperor, lost his usefulness. In 1367, one year before the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Han Lin'er fell into the water and drowned on his way to Yingtian, and Liu Futong was also killed.

[A list of artists and emperors who were delayed by the throne. A little knowledge of emperor history]

They were artists among emperors and emperors among artists, proficient in poetry, calligraphy, painting, music, and dance. They created the thin gold style and fine brushwork, and composed the "Colorful Skirt and Feathered Coat". They were proficient in all kinds of skills, but they just couldn't be emperors.

In this video, let us take a look at the artist emperors in Chinese history.

The first artist emperor Chen Shubao Chen Shubao was the last emperor of the Southern Dynasties. He was born in Jiangling in 553 AD. His father Chen Xu was the son of Chen Baxian, a powerful official in the Southern Liang Dynasty.

Later, they were looted by the Western Wei and taken to Chang'an, and Chen Shubao and his family became hostages of the Western Wei. Later, Chen Baxian borrowed Li Nan, and Chen and Chen Xu's family were able to return to their country. Seven years later, Chen Xu seized the throne of Southern Chen through a coup, and Chen Shubao also jumped from an ordinary clan member to the crown prince.

The political struggle in the Southern Chen Dynasty was very fierce, but Chen Shubao, who was at the center of the political struggle, was extremely naive. He recited poems and composed rival poems with the beauties in the harem all day long, completely unaware that there were dangers lurking inside and outside the palace walls.

In 582 AD, Emperor Xuan of Chen died, and Chen Shubao's younger brother Chen Shuling wanted to kill Chen Shubao. Chen Shubao escaped with the help of his mother and wet nurse, sent generals to attack Chen Shuling, and sat on the throne without any danger.

After ascending the throne, Chen Shubao spent all day in the harem, ignoring the affairs of state. He built pavilions and towers for his favorite concubines Zhang Guifei, Gong Guipin and Kong Guipin, and lingered there every day, reciting poems and writing couplets with the concubines and female officials, composing music and singing, and left behind famous works such as "Yu Shu Hou Ting Hua".

On the eve of the unification of the Sui Dynasty, Chen Shubao's drunken life hastened the demise of the Southern Chen Dynasty. In 589 AD, the Sui Dynasty sent troops to the south and soon reached the southern capital of Jinling. Chen Shubao fled into a dry well with his favorite concubine and was captured by the Sui army.

The second artist emperor was Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji. Li Longji was the third son of Emperor Ruizong of Tang, Li Dan, also known as Li Sanlang. When he was 9 years old, his biological mother Dou and his stepmother Liu were executed by Wu Zetian.

His father, Li Dan, was a coward and did not dare to speak up for them. He lived in fear every day. Li Longji and his brothers were imprisoned in the deep palace and had not stepped out of the palace for more than ten years.

After the Shenlong coup, Zhongzong Li Xian was restored to the throne and Li Dan's family regained their freedom. However, a few years later, Li Xian was killed. Li Longji and his aunt Princess Taiping joined forces to kill Empress Wei and supported his father Li Dan to ascend the throne. Li Longji became the crown prince for his support, but soon Li Longji and his aunt Princess Taiping had conflicts.

Princess Taiping wanted to depose Li Longji, so Li Dan had to give the throne to his son and called himself the emperor emeritus. However, the real power was still shared by Princess Taiping and Li Longji.

In 713 AD, Li Longji launched the Xiantian coup and killed Princess Taiping's followers. From then on, he completely held power in his hands. At this time, Li Longji was only 29 years old. After three dynasties, the national strength of the Tang Dynasty reached its peak during Li Longji's reign. The politics was clear, the society was stable, and the people were prosperous.

"During the heyday of Kaiyuan in the West, even small towns still had thousands of households, and rice was white and fat. During the period of great power, the emperor was not immune to being immersed in such a peaceful and prosperous era, and there were hidden dangers in the prosperous era. Li Longji was a man of outstanding talent and versatility. In addition to reciting poems and writing couplets, he was also good at calligraphy, music and dance, especially in music.

Li Longji often instructed the musicians to arrange and compose dance music in the Pear Garden. The legendary "Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Coat" was composed by Li Longji. After marrying Yang Guifei, Li Longji spent all day enjoying himself with her, and the Yang family also prospered. In 755 AD, the Anshi Rebellion broke out, and Li Longji hurriedly fled Chang'an. When passing through Mawei Slope, a mutiny broke out.

Yang Guozhong, the brother of Yang Guifei, was hacked to death by angry soldiers, and Li Longji was forced to execute Yang Guifei. The An-Shi Rebellion caused the Tang Dynasty to decline, and Li Longji was also seized by his son Tang Suzong and became a nominal emperor. In 762 AD, Li Longji died in Chang'an at the age of 78.

The third artist emperor, Li Yu, the last ruler of Southern Tang, said, "How much sorrow can one have? It is like a river of spring water flowing eastward." During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Xu Zhigao established Southern Tang and changed his name to Li Bian, the first ruler of Southern Tang. By the time of Li Yu, the strong national strength was limited to self-preservation.

When Li Yu ascended the throne, the Five Dynasties period had ended. Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty through the Chenqiao Mutiny. Li Yu respected the Song Dynasty as the orthodox dynasty and called himself the King of Jiangnan in order to preserve the foundation of the Southern Tang Dynasty. However, Li Yu could not think of any other solution except to seek peace.

Li Yu was a man of great cultural attainments and many talents. He was proficient in poetry, calligraphy, and painting. He was also good at music. He once restored the "Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Coat" together with Queen Zhou.

After the death of the Great Zhou Consort, Li Yu married the younger sister of the Great Zhou Consort, the Little Zhou Consort. The couple enjoyed flowers, drank wine, and wrote poems, but they did not know that the end of the world was approaching. In 975 AD, Zhao Kuangyin sent troops to destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty, and Li Yu wanted to burn himself to death for his country.

However, in the end, the city surrendered, and Li Yu and his wife were taken to Kaifeng. Zhao Kuangyin named Li Yu the Marquis of Weiming and named Xiao Zhouhou the Lady of Zheng. Soon after, Zhao Kuangyin died mysteriously, and the newly succeeded Zhao Guangyi was actually quite polite to Li Yu, the king of the fallen country, but still poisoned Li Yu to death two years later, and Xiao Zhouhou committed suicide for love.

The fourth artist emperor, Song Huizong Zhao Ji, is rumored to be the reincarnation of Li Yu, who came to avenge the Song Dynasty. Why is there such a rumor? Because the scripts of these two emperors are too similar, both of them are artist emperors who are proficient in poetry, calligraphy and painting, but they just can't be emperors.

Zhao Ji was the eleventh son of Emperor Shenzong of Song and the younger brother of Emperor Zhezong of Song. Since Emperor Zhezong had no son and inherited the throne, Prime Minister Zhang Dun once asserted that Prince Duan was frivolous and unfit to rule the country.

After Zhao Ji ascended the throne, he appointed Cai Jing as prime minister and persecuted his political enemies, making the court a mess. Zhao Ji himself was proficient in poetry, music, calligraphy, and painting, and created the thin gold style and fine brushwork. The cross-sea bridge established during Zhao Ji's reign left countless cultural treasures for Chinese culture.

If it was just for his own entertainment, it would be fine, but Zhao Ji also had a very expensive hobby of gardening. He ordered the collection of various exotic flowers and stones from all over the country and transported them to Kaifeng to build Yuanhua Garden.

In ancient times when there were no cranes, it would have taken a huge amount of manpower and material resources for the local people to transport these to Kaifeng. The so-called Flower and Stone Gang was only to satisfy Zhao Ji's enjoyment.

The fleet that transported these exotic flowers and stones was called the Huashi Gang. The classic novel "Water Margin" was based on this. The construction of Yuanhua Garden was just a microcosm of the labor and expense of the people during the Huizong period.

What really pushed the Northern Song Dynasty to its doom was the recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. In 1118 AD, the Song and Jin Kingdoms formed a maritime alliance, and the Northern Song Dynasty and the Jin Kingdom cooperated to attack the Liao Kingdom and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

However, when recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the Song army was defeated by the remnants of the Liao army, exposing its weak nature. The Jin Kingdom looked down on the Northern Song Dynasty even more, and the Northern Song Dynasty only recovered Youzhou, Jizhou, Shunzhou, Jingzhou, and Xizhou. The most prosperous Youzhou had been looted, and the territory of the Song Dynasty reached its peak.

However, before Zhao Ji could be happy for long, the Jin Kingdom sent troops to attack the Song Dynasty. In 1127 AD, the Northern Song Dynasty fell, and Emperor Huizong Zhao Ji, his son Emperor Qinzong Zhao Huan, as well as the royal family women, civil and military officials were taken back to the Jin Kingdom, and Kaifeng City was looted. Eight years later, Emperor Huizong Zhao Ji died of illness in Wuguo City at the age of 8.

Fifth: Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji

Zhu Zhanji, known as the "good saintly grandson", was the son of Zhu Di, the Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty. When Zhu Zhanji was a child, he was placed in the palace by his grandfather as a successor. He not only inherited Zhu Di's military talents, but also had a high talent in calligraphy and painting.

In addition, he could also help his father Zhu Gaochi deal with his second uncle, the King of Han. If it were not for Zhu Zhanji, this good and holy grandson, Zhu Gaochi might not have been able to sit firmly on the position of crown prince, and there would have been no "Renzong and Xuanzong's Reign" later.

In 1424, Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty passed away, and Zhu Gaochi, who had been the crown prince for 20 years, ascended the throne. Zhu Zhanji, as the eldest son, was naturally made the crown prince.

Ten months later, Zhu Gaochi died suddenly, and Zhu Zhanji, then 10 years old, ascended the throne. Compared with the previous emperors who were artists who did not do their jobs, Zhu Zhanji was a rare wise ruler, both civil and military, who worked hard to govern the country, rectified the administration of officials internally, rested and recuperated, gave up wars externally, and sent Zheng He to the West seven times.

The economy was rich and the society was prosperous, and he and his father Zhu Gaochi were known as the "Renxuan Reign". If Zhu Zhanji had any regrets in his life, it was that he died too early and did not educate his son well.

In 1435, Zhu Zhanji died and was given the temple name Xuanzong. The 8-year-old crown prince Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne. Fifteen years later, the Tumu Incident occurred, and the Ming Dynasty went from prosperity to decline.

[Understand the whole process of the Spring and Autumn Period in one go]

After Zhou conquered Shang, the Zhou emperor divided the world into fiefdoms on a large scale, but he never expected that it would eventually lead to more than 100 vassal states fighting for the position of overlord, and the emperor's authority was completely destroyed.

Why did the Zhou Dynasty, which ruled the country with courtesy and virtue, end in this way? Today, let us understand the whole process of the Spring and Autumn Period in one go.

The Zhou Dynasty had been ruled by 11 monarchs since King Wu defeated King Zhou. By 782 BC, the Zhou Dynasty had lasted for more than 260 years.

The situation was obviously exhausted. By the time of King You of Zhou, Ji Gongyin, not only were there many conflicts within the royal family and frequent invasions by foreign enemies, there was even a riot by the people, which led to the absurd incident of the king being expelled.

In the second year after King You of Zhou ascended the throne, two major events occurred in the country. First, Mount Qishan, the birthplace of the Zhou Dynasty, collapsed; second, the Jing River, Wei River, and Luo River dried up at the same time.

The people firmly believed that it was a sign of a great disaster, but King You of Zhou did not take any measures. Instead, he continued to ignore state affairs and indulged in wine and women. Bao Si, the monarch of Baoguo, was imprisoned by King You of Zhou for speaking out.

In order to rescue his father, Bao Si's son presented a group of beauties to King You of Zhou, among whom was Bao Si, who we all know. In order to win the smile of the beautiful Bao Si, King You of Zhou set fire to the princes and not only deposed Queen Shen, but also demoted Crown Prince Ji Yijiu to a commoner.

This made his father-in-law, the King of Shen, very angry, so he joined forces with the barbarian tribe Quanrong to launch the Battle of Haojing. As a result, the Zhou army was defeated, King You of Zhou died at the foot of Mount Li, and the Western Zhou Dynasty perished.

After King You of Zhou died, his grandson Ji Yijiu was immediately enthroned as King Ping of Zhou. After the baptism of war, Haojing was already in ruins, and Haojing was always under the threat of Quanrong, so King Ping of Zhou had no choice but to move the capital to Luoyang, the eastern capital, under the protection of the princes of Zheng, Qin, and Jin.

China entered the Eastern Zhou Dynasty from then on. At the same time, more than a dozen princes in the northern country, including Gongbofu, Wei, and Lu, also supported King You of Zhou's younger brother Ji Yuchen as king in a place called Xie, known in history as King Xie of Zhou. Since then, the Zhou royal family has had two kings coexisting.

It was not until 760 BC that Duke Wen of Jin sent troops to kill King Xi of Zhou in order to please King Ping of Zhou. This ended the 10-year-long situation of two kings coexisting in the Zhou royal family. This is known in history as Duke Wen's loyalty to the king.

However, the Zhou emperor's direct jurisdiction was gradually reduced by the constant encroachment of the Rong and Di tribes, and his control over the vassal states was gradually lost. The vassal states of Jin, Song, Chen, Zheng, Wei, Lu, Chu, Qin, Wu, Yue, and Yan took the opportunity to rise up, bypassing the Zhou emperor and waging a series of annexation wars.

The Zhou emperor, whose power was threatened, would not give up. In 707 BC, the state of Zheng, which bordered the Zhou emperor's capital, openly sent troops to harvest nearby wheat, which made King Huan of Zhou very dissatisfied.

He immediately mobilized the armies of Chen, Cai, Wei and other vassal states, and personally led the Zhou army to attack Zheng with great momentum, which was known in history as the Battle of Ge. However, the result of the war was far beyond King Zhou Huan's expectations. As soon as the battle started, the armies of Chen, Cai and Wei collapsed.