World history is very interesting: Yuan Tengfei talks about Japanese history

Chapter 13
I am the emperor, his father, who am I afraid of?
The latter three emperors are the pioneers of the Japanese government system, but it is his son who really developed the system and theory of the government system, the No. 70 second-generation Shirakawa Emperor of Japan.

Emperor Shirakawa was 20 years old when he succeeded to the throne. His father, Emperor Gosanjo, was still alive at the time. Shirakawa was ordered by his father to appoint his younger brother, Prince Miren, as the East Palace. The latter had higher expectations for his third son, Prince Furen. Prince Furen inherited the Datong.But Baihe is not magnanimous, he is not like Boyi and Shuqi scrambling to give way, and he is not like Wu Taibo who is giving way to the world.He didn't want his third brother to succeed him. After he became the emperor, he endured it until 14 years later, when his second brother, Prince Donggong Miren, died. As soon as his second brother died, he immediately made his son the East Palace. He abdicated the inner Zen and let his sick son succeed him as Emperor Horikawa.

After Emperor Horikawa succeeded to the throne, Shirakawa became the Supreme Emperor and moved his office to the court. If the emperor's office is the imperial court, the emperor's office is the court, which is also the origin of the word "Yinzheng".

From the perspective of the legality of administrative work, the courtyard is not as good as the imperial court, but Emperor Baihe has nothing to fear. I am the emperor's father and I am afraid of anyone. The emperor has to listen to me, and you subordinates of the emperor have to listen to me even more.Until the death of the 110th Emperor Guangge in 1840, the institutional system lasted for 750 years in Japan.That is to say, starting from Emperor Shirakawa, Japan's political system has added an existence outside the system-the emperor's administration.

In theory, the emperor is the center of the administrative organization, but what he wants to do can't be done as long as Kanbai objects, because the Taizheng Minister, Left Minister, Right Minister, and Internal Minister are all members of the Fujiwara family. As long as Kanbai objects, everyone Just sing along with the sound, and the direct consequence is that the emperor can't do anything he wants.But the emperor is different from the emperor. He is an existence outside the system, and he can ignore the objections of the court officials headed by Guan Bai within the system. His court announcement can replace the emperor's imperial edict.It is a principle that the imperial edict of the emperor can only be issued after the collegial discussion of the ministers, and the emperor's court announcement has no direct connection with the opinions of the ministers. The emperor has many loyal fans around him, and there is no sense of resistance to the emperor's words and deeds , the hospital's announcement can be sent out smoothly, and the operating system of the hospital administration is much more flexible than that of the emperor.

In this way, Emperor Baihe became the ruler of the sky.After fighting there, the emperor of Japan must abdicate and become the emperor if he wants to gain power and get rid of the politics of repression.It is also a spectacle in the history of world monarchy that one cannot hold power while in office, only by abdicating.

Emperor Shirakawa not only consolidated the administration of the court, he also created an armed group - the Emperor's Guards - the northern samurai used to guard the courtyard, and later this armed group became the advance force for the rise of the Heike family.

marry a sister to a son

Although Emperor Baihe consolidated the government system and regained the power of the royal family, he was not like his father, who was able to select talents and appoint talents, worked hard to govern, and was not a righteous monarch.

After he became emperor, his third younger brother, Prince Furen, was still there. Moreover, Prince Furen was handsome, talented and learned. He was born with the appearance of an emperor, and his courtiers called him Sangong.Shirakawa's own son, Emperor Horikawa, was only eight years old when he succeeded to the throne.

In his heart, Baihe only wanted his direct descendants to continue the imperial line, so he was pissed off by Prince Sannomiya Furen, who had a high voice for succession.Besides, the sick man is not completely useless, he can still have children, give birth to a grandson for himself, and it is reasonable for the grandson to inherit the throne.In order to get a grandson as soon as possible, Shirakawa actually married his 30-year-old sister Atsuko to his 13-year-old son, which is equivalent to his nephew Emperor Horikawa marrying his own aunt. .

Why do you marry your sister to your son?According to Bai He's thinking, a mature and healthy younger sister is more likely to give birth to grandchildren for him.The problem is that this does not conform to eugenics at all. My aunt married my nephew. Although she can take good care of her, the incestuous flowers can't bear fruit. After waiting for several years, the girl's stomach still hasn't moved.

The son was seeing that the day was not as good as the day, so Emperor Shirakawa had to go to the temple to pray everywhere, and recruited concubines for his son. Finally, one of the concubines gave birth to the prince. The long-awaited thing finally came true.

give birth to a son named uncle

Four years after his grandson was born, Emperor Horikawa, who was weak and sick, died, and then the emperor was in charge, and a four-year-old kid succeeded him. This is Emperor Toba.

With meticulous planning, Baihe succeeded in cutting off Prince Furen's desire to succeed to the throne, but Baihe was still worried about Prince Furen, so he simply found an excuse to participate in the rebellion and imprisoned him, so that he could sweep away the emperor's succession for his support. Obstacles cleared.

In order to be able to hold the power in his hands, Emperor Baihe did everything he could.Not only did he personally arrange for his son's incest, but he also set an example by himself, inheriting, carrying forward, and practicing the tradition of incest in the Japanese royal family to a new level, and even got involved with his grandson-in-law.Even if the Japanese royal family has a rich tradition of incest, it is still outrageous to be dirty with one's own granddaughter-in-law.

Emperor Shirakawa has been messing around since the early death of Empress Xianzi, never letting go of any woman around him. When he was in his 60s in his later years, he even met a stunner——Fujiwara, the daughter of Dai Nayan Fujiwara Komi Zhang Zi.Zhangzi is a beautiful woman of a generation, with a frivolous nature. When the emperor fell in love with her at first sight, he pulled her into the tent.But the age gap is too big, Zhangzi is more than 50 years younger than Emperor Baihe.The emperor was embarrassed to include her in the harem as a concubine, so he had to recognize her as a righteous daughter first. When his grandson Emperor Toba was 16 years old, he married her to Toba as the queen.

But in fact, nothing happened on Toba and Zhangzi's wedding night, and Shirakawa was the groom for Toba.In the second year, the grandfather gave birth to a son for his grandson. Baihe is old enough to have a son. This real son and nominal great-grandson is simply his sweetheart.Toba was very angry about this, and when the child was born, he didn't go to visit at all. When the attendant reported to him that the queen had given birth, Toba angrily threw the black hat on the ground on the ground, and then shouted: "Not a widow! son!" And he openly referred to the queen's son as "uncle father and son", a son in name but an uncle in fact.

When Toba's nominal son and actual uncle turned five years old, Shirakawa forced Toba to abdicate.The 21-year-old grandson was young and strong at this time. Although the eldest was reluctant, he dared not resist due to his grandfather's strict orders, so the five-year-old child ascended the throne, known as Emperor Sutoku, and Toba became Emperor Toba.At this time, Baihe converted to Buddhism, but he did not shave his hair, nor did he take up a dharma title. He called himself the emperor and continued to interfere in the politics of the court.As a result, in the history of Japan, there appeared a strange phenomenon in which the emperor, the emperor, and the emperor coexisted side by side.

In July 1129, Emperor Shirakawa fell ill and died at the age of 7.Throughout Japanese history, Shirakawa was regarded as a monarch who was truly in charge of the regime, and immediately after his death, there was a flood.

A chance for revenge

As soon as Emperor Shirakawa died, the opportunity that Emperor Toba had been waiting for came, and revenge began.

One of Emperor Toba's concubines named Dezi, also from the Fujiwara family, gave birth to a prince for him.Seeing that Chongde and the queen had not yet given birth to a son, Toba gave Chongde his son as an adopted son. Chongde had no choice but to accept this half-brother.In fact, this is not his younger brother, but his grandnephew according to his seniority.But soon, Chongde had a son of his own.

Toba took his grandfather as an example, followed his way, and gave back to him, forcing Emperor Chongde to abdicate and give way to his son, who was Chongde's adopted son in name.His son was only three years old at the time, and this was Japan's No.70 sixth-generation Emperor Konoe.Although Chongde was reluctant, but there was no way, who made his own father too wicked back then, and put others together, now in 30 years in Hedong and 30 years in Hexi, the justice of heaven will be repaid, and the retribution is on him, so Emperor Chongde has no choice but to do Emperor Chongde.

If Emperor Konoe wanted to stay in front of him all the time, this would be the end of the matter.It's a pity that he was a short-lived ghost. He ascended the throne at the age of three and died at the age of 17. He died before leaving any descendants.Infinite hope arose in Chongde's heart. Seeing an opportunity, he hoped that he could be restored, and no matter how bad he was, he would have to let his own son succeed him.But the psychological shadow Baihe and Chongde left on Toba is too deep, and Toba has been a daughter-in-law for many years at this time and has become a mother-in-law. people.He neither restored Chongde nor succeeded Chongde's son to the throne, but allowed Chongde's younger brother from the same mother to succeed him. This is Japan's No.70 Seventh Generation Shirakawa Emperor.

The mother of Emperor Goshirakawa is the famous promiscuous empress Shoko in Japanese history. This little girl is very indiscreet and has an affair with her own grandfather, the emperor.But she and the Emperor only gave birth to one son, Chongde, and the other sons, including Emperor Goshirakawa, were really born to her husband Toba.That is to say, Toba let Zhang Zi give birth to his own son, Emperor Shirakawa, to succeed him.Although it is the same mother, but the father is different, the same mother and half father.From Toba's point of view, Goshirakawa is a relative, and Chongde is not the son of a widow, but an "uncle and son". Of course, he has to let his own son succeed him.

Although Chongde is very unconvinced, we are both emperors, why can you appoint your son to succeed me, and I can't let my son succeed?But Chongde was no match for Toba, he was not as powerful as his nominal father and actual nephew, even though he was not convinced in his heart, it was okay, just like Toba succumbed to Shirakawa back then, he had no choice but to succumb to Toba.

The emperor becomes a big tengu

In 1156 AD, Emperor Toba died. Emperor Sutoku felt that the opportunity had come. With the cooperation of the left minister Fujiwara Yorimaga and General Minamoto, he decided to start an uprising with the intention of seizing power in one fell swoop. 1156 was the first year of Emperor Goshirakawa's Hogen, so Japanese history called this war the "Hogen Rebellion".

Emperor Hou Shirakawa appointed Minamoto as his general, within a few days he quelled the rebellion and captured Emperor Chongde alive.Emperor Go-Shirakawa ordered him to be exiled.More than 70 supporters of Chongde were executed.

In the history of Japan, the emperor was dispatched, which was the first time in the world.After Chongde was dispatched, he must have harbored resentment, but the matter has come to this point, and there is no way to recover.The days of exile were boring, and he was good at poetry. He gradually fell in love with Buddhism, and hand-copied five great scriptures including "Fahua", "Yanhua" and "Nirvana" with his tongue and blood Gongkai (some say that he copied them in ink).It is very difficult for a normal person to read through these five great scriptures, because the volumes are voluminous and the amount of reading is too large.However, it took Chongde a full three years to complete it.

On the day when the work was completed, Chongde did not delay for a moment, and immediately sent someone to the capital.As his offering to the dead in battle, he wanted the imperial court to enshrine it in the temple.Unexpectedly, Emperor Goshirakawa, the half-brother of the same mother, said that there was a curse of Sutoku hidden here, and he could not help but return the manuscript rudely.

Chongde was full of pious and repentant heart, never thought that it would end like this, he was furious for a while, cursed loudly, very unwilling.He said: "In Tianzhu and Tang (that is, India and China), there are many brothers fighting for the throne. What is wrong with me fighting for the throne? I have completed a large number of copying scriptures with a sense of atonement. These five books Who of you has copied it? You still receive this kind of treatment! Well, I will dedicate the scriptures to the devil, to hell, and I will become a devil myself, and I will vent my anger."

After finishing speaking, Emperor Chongde bit his tongue and wrote four large characters with blood on the scripture he had hand-copied—the world will perish!Curse Empress Shirakawa with this.He also said, "From now on, it will become the great magic fate of Japan, take the emperor as the people, and make the people the emperor", and then throw the scriptures into the sea.

Since then, Chongde cursed towards Kyoto every day, and vowed to let all his enemies die under the sea.Chongde doesn't cut his nails or shave his hair. He looks exactly like the big tengu, one of the three great monsters in Japanese legend.Chongde wrote in the scriptures with blood, "take the emperor for the people, take the people for the emperor" means to let the heavenly royal family decline, and let people other than the heavenly royal family become kings of the country.

This is fundamentally opposite to the founding spirit of Japan. The founding spirit of Japan is that the world is boundless and the heavenly royal family will prosper forever.Since Japan's first emperor, Emperor Jimmu, ruled the world, the rule of Japan's founding has been the line of emperors.Now Emperor Sutoku openly curses the emperor, which is unprecedented in Japanese history, and there will be no one since.

After nine years of miserable exile, Chongde closed his eyes in resentment, at the age of 46.His own son became a monk after his father was exiled, and died tragically of illness two years after his father died.Emperor Chongde's father and son had a very miserable end, and the retribution of Emperor Baihe's misdemeanor and evil debts was passed on to his descendants.

Another big wraith
After Chongde died, strange things happened one after another in the world.

First, the monks and soldiers of Enli Temple began to riot.There were monks and soldiers in several major temples in Japanese history, and they were very powerful.Emperor Shirakawa was known as the "King of Heaven", but he thought there were three things he couldn't control: the water of Kamo River (a river near Kyoto), the dice used for gambling, and the monks and soldiers of Enli Temple. big.The greater the power, the greater the harm of the riots. Coupled with successive famines and floods, natural disasters and man-made disasters continued for a while, and the society was in turmoil.

In just three months, people around Emperor Hou Baihe—the empress, younger sister, and daughter-in-law died one after another.Fires broke out frequently in Kyoto, and all the rare treasures were reduced to ashes.Emperor Erjo also died of illness.

Twenty days after the death of Emperor Chongde, according to the instructions of the court, he was buried on a mountain in Qi, but it rained heavily while carrying the coffin up the mountain.When the coffin bearers put the coffin on the roadside stones to shelter from the rain, a lot of blood flowed out of the coffin, staining the stones red, and everyone ran away in fright.This red-dyed stone was regarded as a divine body, and a small temple was built to worship it, called the Blood Palace.

People have said that all of this is caused by Chongde's resentful spirit.The Hou Baihe court was terrified. First, they added titles to Chongde, changed the Qiyuan that worshiped Chongde to Chongdeyuan, and then built two temples, but the chaos never stopped.

The big tengu, the incarnation of Chongde, is also ranked as one of the three great monsters in Japan in later generations.Sotoku-in has successively experienced Hira Kiyomori's power, Genpei war, Kamakura shogunate, Muromachi shogunate, and Tokugawa shogunate in Japan, watching the imperial power completely fall to the side.

During the Kamakura Shogunate period, Emperor Toba was punished and exiled by his subordinates, which marked that Emperor Chongde's curse of taking the people as the emperor and the emperor as the people really came true.Since then, the emperors of all dynasties have attached great importance to the soul-suppression of the spirits of worshiping virtue until the Meiji period.

Before Emperor Meiji succeeded to the throne, he sent people to Chongde Mausoleum to act as envoys to calm the spirits of resentment, to please Emperor Chongde, and fear that Chongde would make trouble for him.Emperor Meiji did not succeed to the throne until the envoys who suppressed the soul went to the Mausoleum of Emperor Chongde to read the imperial edict the next day.From the perspective of Emperor Meiji and the ministers in the court, the succession of Emperor Meiji and the subsequent change of the Yuan would not have been possible without the approval of Emperor Sutoku.

It can be seen that the Japanese belief in resentful spirits is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people even in modern times.Soon after Emperor Meiji officially ascended the throne, another temple was built in Kyoto to solemnly worship the spirit of Emperor Sutoku.And this move was seven hundred and five years after Chongde's death.

(End of this chapter)