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

Chapter 8 The royal family is really a bit messy (1)
The Emperor is Han Chinese

The actual leader of the Taika Reform, which had a profound impact on Japanese history, was Prince Nakadai and the famous minister Kamazu.Nakatomi Kamazu is the ancestor of the Fujiwara family in Japan; Prince Nakata later ascended the throne and became Japan's No.30 eighth-generation emperor-Tenchi Emperor. His son was posthumously regarded as the No.30 Nine-generation Hirofumi Emperor in the Meiji period; No.40-generation Emperor Before Emperor Tenmu succeeded to the throne, he was the son of Hairen, the younger brother of Emperor Tenchi; their father was the No.30 Fourth Emperor Shumei of Japan, and their mother was Japan's No.30 Fifth and No.30 Seventh Emperor Ji-Empress Qiming.This is common sense in Japanese history, and it is also recognized by the Japanese Emperor.

But the actual situation is not as recorded in Japanese history books.According to Japanese historical records, on October 671, 10 A.D., Emperor Tenchi, who was dying of illness, said to Prince Hairen who came to visit him at his hospital bed: "I don't have many days to come, so I will leave the funeral to you." But Dahai The prince resolutely refused. He said: "Forgive me for not obeying the emperor's will. I want to go to Yoshino to become a monk. You should give the throne to your son, Prince Otomo." Emperor Tenchi presented the cassock to Dahai Prince Ren, it shows that the request has been granted, you go to become a monk.

Why did the prince of Hairen reject the olive branch offered by his brother? Is he really not interested in the throne?Judging from the subsequent Jinshin Rebellion, Prince Hairen did not hesitate to use force to launch a coup to seize the throne. It can be seen that he still misses the throne very much, but why did he reject Emperor Tenchi's suggestion at this time and not come to a peaceful succession? ?He guessed that the emperor's brother didn't really want him to be the successor. He has a son, so why should he pass the throne to his younger brother?It is very likely that the emperor's brother set him a trick. If he agrees to take over, he will be executed immediately for the crime of conspiracy and rebellion.

Seven months after Emperor Tenchi's death, Prince Hairen raised his troops to get rid of Emperor Tenchi's son, Prince Otomo, who was ratified after the Meiji era, and then became the emperor himself, Emperor Tenmu.

Why did Emperor Tianzhi feel that the prince Hairen was a potential threat to his son's succession to the throne?What is the relationship between Emperor Tenchi and Emperor Tenmu?The age records of the two emperors in Japanese history books are particularly suspicious.There are clear records of the birth and death years of Emperor Tenchi, and he was 46 years old when he died; while Emperor Tenmu did not record his birth date until the Southern and Northern Dynasties in Japan, saying that he was 65 years old when he died, and calculated according to this record When the elder brother Emperor Tenchi died at the age of 46, the younger brother Emperor Tenmu was already 50 years old.This is unbelievable, how could it be possible that my younger brother is four years older than my elder brother?
So, are Emperor Tenchi and Emperor Tenmu brothers?When Emperor Tenchi was alive, he married all four of his daughters to his younger brother, Prince Kaijin (Emperor Tenmu).Although the ancient Japanese royal family had a tradition of close relatives marrying, it is also very rare for the emperor, who holds the highest power, to package up his four daughters and distribute them to his younger brothers at one time.Therefore, there is only one possibility, that is, the two brothers have no paternal blood relationship.

Since there is no paternal blood relationship, who is the father of Emperor Tenmu? There is a clear record in "Nihon Shoki" that Empress Qiming, the mother of Tianwu and Tianzhi, was married to King Gao Xiang at first, and gave birth to a son named Prince Han, who later remarried to Emperor Shuming.In other words, before Emperor Qiming and Emperor Shuming got married, they had a marriage history with a man named Gao Xiangwang, and they had a son named Prince Han.

The name Prince Han indicates that he has Han blood. His biological father, the ex-husband of Emperor Qiming, King Gao Xiang, was a naturalized Han.

Don't call the king the emperor

At that time, China went through the turmoil of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms and the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Many Han people fled to Japan for refuge. The descendants of these people were called naturalized people.Gao Xiangwang is very likely to be a Han Chinese who escaped.Therefore, Emperor Tenmu may be the child of his mother's first marriage, and he should not have the blood of the Japanese Emperor.

Therefore, Emperor Tianzhi was very wary of him, because the two had no paternal blood relationship, and the four daughters were married to him for the purpose of monitoring and win over.But what I didn't expect was that less than seven months after Emperor Tenchi's death, Prince Hairen raised his troops in Yoshino, and the famous Jinshin Rebellion in Japanese history broke out.

Emperor Tenchi's son, Prince Otomo, committed suicide in defeat, and his head was sent to Prince Kairen three days later.The Hairen prince also killed eight important officials in the court.In this way, within seven months after the death of Emperor Tenchi, the heir designated by himself to the throne was wiped out by the so-called younger brother.

After Emperor Tianmu succeeded to the throne, it is said that he liked Chinese laws and regulations very much. He used the cultural heritage of "Historical Records" and "Book of Changes" to build the country, imitated Chang'an to build a new capital, and formulated laws and regulations, minted currency, and compiled national history. A centralized state centered on the Emperor.These measures are quite different from those of the previous emperors. Therefore, some people think that he is likely to be a descendant of the Han people who traveled to the east.If this is true, it means that the lineage of the Japanese royal family has actually been cut off long ago.

It is said that Emperor Tenmu was the first Japanese monarch to call himself emperor.Before Tianwu, the official title of the Japanese emperor was Dawang, and his full name was Dawang.How did the name Emperor come from?In fact, Tang Gaozong, the third emperor of the Tang Dynasty, began to use it in the first year of Shangyuan (674). According to the "Old Tang Book", the emperor is called the emperor, and the queen is called the empress.Why did Tang Gaozong call himself the emperor?Because Emperor Gaozong was obsessed with Taoism, he chose the highest god of Taoism, the Emperor of Heaven, as his self-proclaimed name according to the Taoist theory of emperor, emperor, and emperor.Emperor Tenmu followed the example of the Tang Dynasty in China, and also changed the title of the Japanese king to the emperor.

In China, the title of emperor was only used by Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, but in Japan, it is the highest title of the ruler of the country, which has been handed down from generation to generation until today, and all the 39 generations of rulers before Emperor Tianmu have been renamed emperor.

Japan also has Wu Zetian

It is very likely that Emperor Tenmu, who is a descendant of Han Chinese, deliberately took the throne from his nephew.Some historians believe that both Emperor Tenchi and Emperor Kobun may have been killed by Emperor Tenmu.

Emperor Tenmu did not expect that after he died of illness, his children and grandchildren would suffer the same fate as Emperor Tenchi's children and grandchildren.After the death of Emperor Tenmu, it was not his son who succeeded the throne, but his empress. This is the No.40 generation of Emperor Jitong in Japanese history.

Emperor Jitong is the daughter of Emperor Tenchi. When she was 13 years old, her father married her to the 33-year-old Prince Hairen, who later became Emperor Tenmu.Although the couple had a good relationship, and she later became the queen, but because she had experienced too many battles in the court, there were too many bloody storms in her life.The lingering horror and gore have a very bad influence on the formation of a girl's personality, which makes Emperor Jitong's heart very cold.When she was in power, she showed an extremely cruel side, and was known as the coldest woman in the Japanese royal family.

After the Jinshin Rebellion, Emperor Tenmu came to the throne, and Jitong was the empress at the time. The couple were particularly sensitive to discord and rebellion within the imperial family, because they rose to power by launching rebellions.Seven years after Emperor Tenmu succeeded to the throne, he led the princes to Yoshino, and vowed not to rebel or fight within the family.At that time, there were six princes who participated in the oath. Facing the emperor and the empress, these six princes promised that they would act in accordance with the imperial edict of the emperor in the future, that they would live in peace and that they would never fight for power.

This is the famous Yoshino Covenant in Japanese history.Similar oaths are not uncommon in history. The ancestors of Genghis Khan and Genghis Khan himself once asked their sons to break their arrows and swear, so that everyone can unite and fight against the enemy together.

Among the six princes who participated in the oath at that time, Prince Caobi, Prince Otsu, and Prince Takashi were the most famous.Prince Cao Bi was born to the queen and was established as the crown prince.After the death of Emperor Tenmu, it is reasonable to say that Prince Kusakabe should inherit the throne, but Prince Kusakabe was weak and sick, with a cowardly personality. He was a sick child and died of illness before he succeeded to the throne.

Before Prince Caobi died of illness, Prince Otsu launched a rebellion and was executed by the queen.Prince Otsu was born to the empress's sister, Empress Ota.

According to historical records, Prince Dajin was burly in appearance, extraordinary in appearance, capable of writing and martial arts, and won the favor of his father.When Emperor Tenmu was in power, Prince Otsu's voice for succession was very high, but as Emperor Tenmu became terminally ill, the empress became more and more powerful. Taking advantage of Tenmu's illness, the empress strengthened the surveillance of Prince Otsu together with Prince Takashi.The ministers who originally supported Prince Otsu also acted accordingly at this time.Prince Otsu saw that something was wrong, and his aunt wanted to attack him.Everyone is sharpening their knives, anyway, they can't hide anyway, so they simply climbed the threshold—just to see this double (double), decided to raise troops and plot rebellion.

But Prince Otsu's plan was not well thought out, and before he could make a move, the queen discovered it.The queen took the lead and captured and executed the 25-year-old prince Dajin, who was buried in random stones at random.This happened less than a month after the death of Emperor Tenmu.

Don't hesitate to kill your own son

Once Prince Otsu died, it stands to reason that the queen's own son, Cao Bi, should succeed him.Prince Cao Bi also wanted to succeed to the throne, but his mother refused to let him succeed for various reasons and kept delaying.

One day after five months, the crown prince Sobe received a summons from his mother, saying that there was a banquet in the inner palace, and he was asked to attend it quickly, and the minister Monobe Maro had allocated a chariot, and was already waiting at the gate of the palace. .Prince Caobi saw that his mother specially sent a favorite to pick him up in a chariot, and he was in such a hurry, he thought that he probably wanted him to succeed him.So, he hurried to the outside of the mansion and got into the chariot.

The chariot carrying the crown prince soon arrived at the queen's bedroom, and the queen came out to greet her in person, asking questions about her health and problems.The banquet centered on the Empress and Crown Prince Kusakabe, and Minister Fujiwara Buhiwai and Monobe Maro sat on the left and right.Just halfway through the banquet, Monobe Maro was all smiles and compliments, and brought a plate of dishes to Crown Prince Sokabe, saying that this dish tastes very good, please try it, the Crown Prince, it was made by a famous chef Yes, I regret not eating.Crown Prince Cao Bi had no doubts in his heart, he took the plate and started to eat, halfway through eating, he suddenly yelled, fell to the ground and died.

At that time, there were other ministers at the banquet, and everyone was too surprised to speak out when they saw this scene. They all knew that the crown prince was poisoned to death, but no one dared to say anything.

The Crown Princess Axian was at home, when she suddenly received bad news, she cried and ran all the way, and brought the children to her mother-in-law's palace, where she saw her husband's body.The servants in the palace said that the crown prince had a sudden illness and died before the doctor arrived.Princess Axian knew the cause of her husband's death, but she didn't dare to say it in front of her mother-in-law.

In this way, Prince Otsu died, and Prince Kusakabi also died.Another Prince Gaoshi, who was qualified to inherit the throne, was named the Grand Minister, but he was also a short-lived ghost, and had already died by this time.Therefore, eight months after the death of Crown Prince Kusakabi, the empress of Emperor Tenmu ascended the throne and became the No. 40 generation emperor in Japan-Emperor Jitong.

This woman is very similar to Wu Zetian in Chinese history.In order to succeed to the throne, Wu Zetian strangled his princess to death with his own hands and abolished four sons, two of whom were forced to death.The same is true for Emperor Jitong. In order to succeed to the throne, he did not hesitate to poison his own son, let alone kill the prince who was not his own.

But there is a big difference between Emperor Jitong and Wu Zetian.Wu Zetian wanted to cut off the blood of Li Tang's royal family. She once wanted to pass the throne to her nephew.Emperor Jitong may know that her husband, Emperor Tenmu, is not the blood of the imperial family, but a descendant of Han immigrants. One of the important reasons why she does not want her son to succeed to the throne is that she does not want the emperor's blood to be cut off, so she poisoned her own son to death. , killed all the sons of Emperor Tianwu, and succeeded to the throne by himself.

(End of this chapter)