On June 8th, 580, the Northern Zhou Emperor Xuan Di died of illness. Emperor Wendi of Sui joined forces with some ministers to support the young Northern Zhou Emperor Yuwen Chan as emperor, but some ministers were dissatisfied with Emperor Wendi's autocratic power and began to resist. So Emperor Wendi sent troops to suppress it.
Emperor Wendi usurped the throne and the Sui Dynasty was established.
The royal family became weak because the Zhou Emperor Xuan Di attacked and suppressed members of the royal family. In this context, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, as the representative of the Yang family and the Dugu family, was also the father-in-law of Zhou Xuan. The influence of the Northern Zhou Empire is naturally growing.
Later, the coexistence of the five queens of Zhou was, in a sense, a measure to strengthen the power of the imperial court and disperse the power of the military and political leaders.
The emperor dotes on many women, usually because of lewdness. However, the emperor gave many women the title of queen, usually not because of pure lust. Because the general contractor usually has too many political factors.
Because a woman becomes a queen, it means that her position in the court has risen; Because a woman becomes a queen, it means that the family status rises. If there are several queens in the harem, it means that the power of the harem is scattered; If the emperor has several empresses, it also means that the power of consorts is dispersed.
Emperor Xuandi of Zhou was the most prosperous, and died in less than two years. Five years later, over a year later, Xuan Di, the King of Zhou, died. In a sense, the coexistence of five generations is just an unfinished weird power layout. What would happen if the Emperor Xuandi lived a little longer? We have no way of knowing. However, one thing is certain. If Emperor Xuandi lived longer, the power of Emperor Wendi of Sui would definitely be weakened.
Because there are five queens in the harem, the status of Emperor Wendi's daughter in the harem will naturally decline; The power of Emperor Wendi as a consort will naturally decline.
More importantly, at the same time, Xuan Di, the King of Zhou, allowed his son to inherit the throne and become the emperor's behind-the-scenes father. And Zhou Jingdi (the son of Zhou) is the son of Queen Zhu, not the son of Queen Yang. This obviously means that Queen Yang's position in the harem has declined again. Because Queen Yang is not the birth mother of the little emperor, there are four queens standing side by side with her in the harem. How good can she be?
In addition, after the death of Xuan Di, the power center of the Northern Zhou Dynasty may be manipulated by Zheng Yi, Liu Yun and others. From here, we can also see that Emperor Xuandi of Zhou also wanted to gradually move his power into the imperial court.
Neither Zheng Yi nor Liu Yun came from a big family, but they were able to influence the overall situation of the empire after the death of Xuan Di, the King of Zhou, mainly because they were trusted and reused by Xuan Di, the King of Zhou. Such people become the main force of the empire, which usually means that the power of the empire has entered the court.
However, when Emperor Xuandi became emperor, he died within two years (he ascended the throne in June 578 and died in May 580), and his son was only 8 years old. So this unfinished weird layout becomes full of loopholes.
If Emperor Xuandi of Zhou did not get rid of the powerful prince of Yuwen royal family, it is estimated that it would not be Emperor Wendi of Sui who usurped the throne. However, the influence of the royal family was hit, and the status of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty was naturally highlighted.
If Xuan Di had not died young, Emperor Wendi of Sui might not have usurped the throne. Because, the pattern of coexistence of the five dynasties is largely aimed at Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty. Moreover, judging from the situation at that time, the imperial power was rising and the aristocratic forces were declining, so it was unlikely that Emperor Wendi of Sui could escape Zhou Xuan's suppression.
However, the sudden death of Xuan Di made Emperor Wendi of Sui finally seize this opportunity.
Of course, the dispute between Emperor Xuandi of Zhou and Yang Jian, no matter who wins or loses, will not really change the general direction of history. Because the northern dynasties had an overwhelming advantage over the southern dynasties, and the influence of the rich and noble families was gradually weakening, Zhou Xuan's empire naturally had the opportunity to unify the world as long as it consolidated its imperial power.
Of course, the biggest disadvantage for Xuan Di is that his father, Emperor Wu of Zhou, tried his best to crack down on Buddhism. Under the deep-rooted background of Buddhism, its negative impact is amazing. Although this kind of content is only vaguely revealed in the official history. However, one thing is certain: after such a blow, the Buddhist forces will never let go.
However, this negative influence, if handled properly by Emperor Xuandi Zhou, should also have a chance to improve. Because, in the past, Tuoba Tao also tried his best to crack down on Buddhism. Later, Tuoba Tao and his successors constantly adjusted their religious policies, so that imperial power could still coexist with Buddhism.
In other words, as long as Emperor Xuan Di did not strictly implement the religious policy, he would not fail.
Generally speaking, the extreme religious policy of Emperor Wu of Zhou has both advantages and disadvantages. Because, when Emperor Wu of Zhou destroyed the Buddha, the population and materials that the empire could control increased significantly; It is even said that this is an important reason why Emperor Wu of Zhou conquered Northern Qi. However, he created countless potential enemies for the empire. It is even said that this is an important reason why Emperor Wendi succeeded in usurping the Yuwen family.