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But when Wang Shichong thought of Xiao Liang's tragic ending, he couldn't help but feel a little sad:

However, the good times did not last long, but Xiao Yan began to show two fatal shortcomings at the beginning of his reign, which also directly led to the demise of the Liang Dynasty in the future.

Xiao Yan's first shortcoming is that he is too suspicious and distrusts his subordinates, probably because he himself is also a usurper, so he has a natural vigilance against the courtiers around him, and even his two old comrades-in-arms and old classmates, Shen Yue and Fan Yun, were suspicious and excluded by him, and finally died of depression within a few years.

Xiao Yan's second shortcoming is that he indulges and dotes on his relatives too much, makes unprincipled concessions and accommodations to them, and his unprincipled and endless tolerance of his relatives and family members finally makes him lose one of the most important qualities of an emperor: justice and fairness.

In his later years, Xiao Yan became obsessed with Buddhism, and once became a monk four times, and then his ministers donated hundreds of millions of dollars to redeem him, and his enterprising spirit and early years of vigorous reform were also worn away by the emperor's career of more than 40 years.

At the end of Xiao Yan's reign as emperor, he was old and mediocre, and accepted Lu Bu of the Northern and Southern Dynasties era - Hou Jing, the general of the Qiang nationality.

This Hou Jing is a Xiongnu (Xiongnu other tribe), fierce and cunning, but also brave and good at fighting, the earliest was a general of the Six Towns Uprising, and later surrendered to the Northern Wei Dynasty minister Er Zhurong, and after the death of Er Zhurong surrendered to the Eastern Wei Dynasty minister Gao Huan, and became the number one general of the Eastern Wei Dynasty.

After Gao Huan's death, his son, Emperor Gao Cheng of Northern Qi, was jealous of Hou Jing's excessive power and began to want to take back Hou Jing's military power. And Hou Jing is only willing to obey Gao Huan's orders. I don't care to continue to be Gao Cheng's subordinate. simply struck first and rebelled, but was defeated by Murong Shaozong, the nemesis who Gao Huan had arranged to deal with him early, and fled to Nanliang with only 800 people.

When Hou Jing surrendered to Xiao Yan, he was still Situ of the Northern Qi Dynasty, the history of Dingzhou Assassin, and there were thirteen prefectures and counties in Henan. Xiao Yan also took a fancy to this territory to accept this capricious rebel general, and sent his nephew Xiao Yuanming to lead the army to meet the scene.

As a result, not only Hou Jing himself was defeated by Murong Shaozong (Hou Jing's art of war was still learned from Murong Shaozong. It seems that the master left a few hands back then, which came in handy at this time), Xiao Yuanming, who came to pick him up, was also taken prisoner, and Hou Jing fled to the Shouyang area of Huainan with eight hundred remnants, and Xiao Yan also named him the king of Henan, let him rest and recuperate here, and all the salaries and ordnance needed for the scene were supplied according to his requirements.

Xiao Yan raised tigers for trouble, and at the same time connived at his relatives to run amok lawlessly, and Emperor Wu of Liang in his later years. Compassion is only used to deal with peerless wicked people like Hou Jing, or their own relatives and nephews. And these arrogant royal relatives are rampant and oppress the people.

In addition, Xiao Yan's crown prince died early, the heir has been unknown, Xiao Yan's sons assigned to various places have different ambitions, and the Southern Liang Empire is in crisis, and it only takes a little fire to cause a fire in the prairie fire.

It was Hou Jing who lit this fire, he recruited troops in Shouyang, and regained his vitality. At this time, Southern Liang and Northern Qi began to negotiate peace, Hou Jing was uneasy, and sent a fake envoy to pretend to be an envoy of Northern Qi to Jiankang to see Xiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang, and pretended to offer to exchange the captured Xiao Yuanming for the rebel general Hou Jing.

And Xiao Yan probably felt that Hou Jing in Henan had no use value, so he actually accepted it in one bite, and after Hou Jing heard the news, he was so angry that he gritted his teeth, and even if he rebelled.

Because the Southern Liang has been peaceful for a long time, coupled with Hou Jing's insight into the internal situation of the Southern Dynasty, he played the banner of crusading against corrupt officials and corrupt officials, attracting a large number of ordinary people who were bullied and humiliated by the emperor's relatives and relatives to join the army.

Xiao Yan's nephew and righteous son Xiao Zhengde, the leading party, defected to the battle, and the troops who responded to Hou Jing crossed the Yangtze River, but Xiao Yi, the two sons of Xiao Yan, who held heavy troops in Nanliang, and Xiao Ji, the assassin of Yizhou, were slow to hold their troops and finally led Hou Jing to capture Jiankang seven months after the army.

Hou Jing plundered the army, burned the prosperous Jiankang and Yangzhou, and Xiao Yan was also imprisoned in the Taicheng Imperial Palace, starved to death, and more than 100 families of the Jiangnan family represented by the Wang family Xie family were almost all wiped out in the massacre after Hou Jing broke through Jiankang.

Although Hou Jing was later killed by Wang Shengbi and Chen Baxian, who nominally belonged to Xiao Yi, the assassin of Jingzhou, but the turmoil he set off tossed away the last bit of essence of the Southern Dynasty, and the entire Southern Dynasty never recovered its previous national strength until the demise of the Southern Chen, and could only be dismembered and destroyed by the Northern Dynasty step by step.

Before Xiao Yan died, he once sighed: "I gain it, I lose it, why do I hate it?" It can be seen that this former generation of male lords still does not have any due consciousness about his loss of the world due to the mediocrity and decay of his old age, his twilight, his favor and treachery, and his luring of wolves into the house.

After Xiao Yan's death, Hou Jing was also defeated and died after destroying the entire Jiangnan region, but the battle between the Southern Liang clan has not ended, which has to start with the issue of Xiao Yan's heir.

Xiao Yan had no children in his early years, and succeeded his good sixth brother Xiao Hong's third son, Xiao Zhengde, as his righteous son. But later, after Xiao Yan became the emperor, giving birth to a son was like a urine collapse, except for Xiao Zong, a white-eyed wolf, he gave birth to seven sons in one go, and finally made his eldest son Xiao Tong the prince, since then Xiao Yan feels more or less sorry for Xiao Zhengde's father and son, which is probably the main reason why Xiao Yan has always been unprincipled tolerance and tolerance of Xiao Hong.

Xiao Tong inherited Xiao Yan's literati genes, and was extremely accomplished in literature, only eight years old, and when he was five years old, he read the Five Classics and never forgot it.

It's a pity that God is not talented, Xiao Tong was thirty-one years old when he and his concubine swam in Xuanwu Lake, the boat fell into the water, and when he was rescued, his leg was seriously injured, and he died soon, and he was called Prince Zhaoming after his death, so Xiao Yan's heir became a big problem again.

The successor Xiao Zhengde, since he was a child, has a very poor character, rampant lawlessness, with the respect of the emperor's adopted son and robbed others with a knife, he has always believed that the position of the prince belongs to himself, after Xiao Yan got a son and changed Xiao Tong to the prince, he fled to the Northern Wei Dynasty in a fit of treason, and later failed in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and ran back to Southern Liang with a cheeky face.

Xiao Yan felt guilty about this Xiao Zhengde, pardoned him for treason and defected to the enemy, and gave him back to Xiao Hong to continue to be his son. He also put him in charge of the defense of the Yangtze River area inside and outside the capital.

The result is this Xiao Zhengde. When he was waiting for the scene to raise troops, he became a leading party. sent a ship to transport the 8,000 troops of Houjing across the river, and the fall of Jiankang, this person was the first culprit.

After Hou Jing invaded Jiankang and starved Xiao Yan to death, he did not let Xiao Zhengde be the emperor, but first set up the crown prince Xiao Gang (Xiao Yan's official prince at that time, Xiao Yan's third son) as Emperor Jian Wen, and then killed Emperor Jian Wen. Xiao Dong, the grandson of Xiao Tong, the prince of Zhaoming, was renamed as the puppet emperor, Xiao Zhengde was resentful again and wanted to betray Hou Jing, but Hou Jing was killed directly.

Because Xiao Gang was the official prince at that time, and he was trapped in Jiankang with Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan's other sons all had crooked thoughts, counting on their father and the prince's brother to finish together, and then they would monopolize power and ascend to the throne in one fell swoop.

The two most powerful feudal towns at that time. One is Jingzhou and the other is Yizhou. They were guarded by Xiao Yan's seventh son, Xiao Yi, the king of Xiangdong, and Xiao Ji, the eighth son, the king of Wuling County, but Xiao Yi and Xiao Ji had strong soldiers, but they did not send troops to rescue their besieged father.

Only Xiao Yan's sixth son, Xiao Lun, really fought a few battles with Hou Jing in person, but he was defeated, and he could only watch his father and brother die at the hands of thieves, and he finally ran to the Xiangyang area, ready to recruit troops to avenge his father, but he was first attacked by his seventh brother Xiao Yi, and then attacked by Western Wei.

After Xiao Yan's death, Xiao Ji couldn't wait to be called the emperor, and after the emperor was addicted, the two brothers themselves also pinched each other, calling each other a traitor, and raising troops to crusade against each other. At that time, the Western Wei Dynasty took advantage of the civil strife in Southern Liang, first sent troops to attack Yizhou, Xiao Ji's dragon chair was not hot, and he found that he could not face the two-sided attack of the Western Wei and Jingzhou, so he could only lose Chengdu and flee in a hurry, and was finally captured and killed by Xiao Yi.

And Xiao Yi captured Jiankang and Chen Ba first in the two gold medal departments, and after expelling Hou Jing, he also officially proclaimed himself emperor in Jiangling, known as Emperor Liang Yuan in history.

This Xiao Yi is the penultimate emperor of Southern Liang, he sent his son Xiao Fangzhi to follow Wang Shengbi and Chen Baxian's army to set off on the eastward expedition, but he was busy slaughtering his brothers and nephews in Jingzhou, not counting the sixth brother Xiao Lun who fled to Xiangyang after being attacked by him, and was finally killed by the Western Wei Dynasty.

Because Xiao Yi attacked and killed Xiao Yu for no reason, as a result, Xiao Tong's third son, Xiao Yu's younger brother Xiao Jing, who guarded the Xiangfan area, suddenly became the person who hated Xiao Yi in the world, and even did not hesitate to defect to the Western Wei Dynasty, dedicated the land of Xiangyang, and led the Wei army to attack Jiangling.

As soon as the Western Wei Dynasty saw that there was a cheap advantage, they sent a general, Yu Jin, one of the Eight Pillars, to lead the army south, because of Xiao Jing's troops as the lead, this time the soldiers and horses of the Northern Dynasty were like bamboos, Xiao Yi did not even have time to transfer the troops and horses of Wang Shengbi and Chen Baxian stationed in Jiankang (at that time, they were also facing great pressure from the Northern Qi, even if Xiao Yi was recruited, they were flawlessly withdrawn), and the city was killed.

After the Western Wei Dynasty broke through Jiangling, Xiao Jing's strategist Yin Deyi advised him to take advantage of the fact that the Western Wei army had just won a big victory and was arrogant and unprepared, and first held a Hongmen banquet, first attacked and killed Yu Jin and other Western Wei generals, and then took advantage of the night to sneak attack the Western Wei army camp that had lost its leader, and completely stand on his own, but Xiao Jing hesitated for a long time and chose to give up.

As a result, the Western Wei army coerced all the hundreds of thousands of people in the whole city of Jiangling and took them into Guanzhong as slaves, and Xiangyang Fancheng and other places were also forcibly included in the territory of the Western Wei Dynasty, leaving only half of the empty city of Jiangling and 800 miles of land near Jiangling.

The Western Wei Dynasty also sent a general to the other half of Jiangling, and specially set up an official position for this person to lead the troops to help defend it, nominally to guard against Nanchen, but in fact to monitor Xiao Jing.

At this time, Xiao Jing regretted it, but at this time, people are swordsmen, and I am fish and meat, and it is too late to regret it. So he had to be a vassal to the Western Wei, and at the same time, he became the emperor and established the Western Liang, also known as Xiao Liang.

At the same time, Chen Ba, who was in Jiankang, first merged with Wang Shengbi, and forced Xiao Fangzhichan to settle in himself, established the Chen Dynasty, and the Southern Liang perished, and Xiao Jing, a semi-puppet emperor, was full of remorse, and did not have the joy of being an emperor at all, and soon died, and his prince Xiao Yue ascended the throne and continued to be the puppet of the Northern Zhou (which had replaced the Western Wei at this time).

When Xiao Cong's son Xiao Cong arrived, the Northern Zhou Dynasty became the Sui Dynasty again, Yang Jian summoned Xiao Cong to Daxing to meet him, detained him in Daxing, and did not put it back, and decided to abolish the puppet of Houliang, and directly put Jingzhou into the ruling area of the Sui Dynasty, and even the Jiangling with a radius of 800 miles was swallowed in one bite. The one who brought the troops to receive it was the famous general Choi Hongdu (the current crown prince) who was known for his ferocity. Fat Yang Zhao's father-in-law).

The fifth son of Xiao Jing who stayed in Jiangling. Xiao Cong's uncle, Xiao Yan, after hearing the news, chose to flee south to the Chen Dynasty.

After the Sui Dynasty destroyed Chen, Xiao Yan did not receive the same leniency as the Empress Chen, and due to his previous betrayal, Xiao Yan was escorted back to Daxing to be killed, and this Xiao Mill was Xiao Yan's grandson.

Wang Shichong was silent for a long time, and he took a look back at the entire history from the Southern Liang to the Later Liang that he knew. was speechless for a long time, and finally it was just a long sigh, a thousand words, all in silence.

Wei Zheng knew that he was starting to reminisce about history when he saw Wang Shichong's appearance just now, so he didn't speak for a long time, standing silently to the side, but thinking about something else in his heart.

It wasn't until Wang Shichong sighed that Wei Zheng came back to his senses and said, "Lord, but after thinking about the past of the Lanling Xiao family?" ”

Wang Shichong nodded heavily: "There is a big problem with Xiao's tutor. Whether it is the last clan of Southern Qi to kill each other or the last brother of Southern Liang to kill each other, it is very worthy of warning. Wei. It is said that there are many well-educated people in the Xiao family, Xiao Ziliang, Xiao Yan, Xiao Yi, Xiao Tong and others are not a generation of Confucianism, but why don't they even understand the most basic principles of life in the world? ”

Wei Zheng shook his head and said with a straight face: "Maybe the temptation of the throne is too great, so they can't refuse." That's why they lose their humanity like this and kill each other. ”

Wang Shichong looked at Wei Zheng and sighed: "In this way, as a descendant of Xiao Yan, Xiao Mo copied books near Yingzhou, did he also want to collect some of the classics that their Xiao family left here before?" ”

Wei Zheng's expression became stern, he shook his head solemnly, and said: "Based on Wei's observation these days, it seems that it is not so simple, although he is just a copyist, it seems that he often visits some old subordinates in the vicinity of Houliang. ”

Wang Shichong was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "No, how many cronies of his grandfather's generation are left by now?" Besides, didn't his grandfather flee to Jiangnan with people in the first place, how could anyone be scattered here? ”

Wei Zheng shook his head and said: "Jiangling is now the seat of Jingzhou, and it is well defended, if he, the clan of Houliang, is active there, it may be easy to expose himself, after all, his grandfather is a traitor, maybe his father also escaped with his life back then, and he survived incognito." ”

Wang Shichong smiled: "But can there be his grandfather or other uncles and brothers' old subordinates here?" ”

Wei Zheng said: "It's hard to say this, but after all, this is the area under the jurisdiction of the original Jingzhou Prefecture, starting from the Southern Qi Dynasty, the Xiao family has been operating here for hundreds of years, and it is deeply rooted, and almost all the families here have some relationship with the Xiao Liang family." ”

Wang Shichong suddenly thought of something, and suddenly realized, and said: "Yes, the whole city of Jiangling was moved to Guanzhong back then, and he was just walking around Jiangling, but I am afraid that he will not find any old people, so it is better to come here." ”

Wei Zheng nodded seriously and said, "The lord is wise. ”

Wang Shichong felt a burst of pride in his heart, and some of the unhappiness caused by recalling Xiao Liang's heavy family pain history just now also disappeared at once, he thought about it carefully, and said: "But I still think that if a person like him still has any different ambitions, it will inevitably be a little unreliable." The Great Sui has been unified in the world for a long time, and his grandfather's old ministries should have long since passed away, and now if he wants his children and grandchildren to be loyal to him, it is basically a dream. ”

"Xuan Cheng, I guess he is just looking for some books to copy, Xiao I have seen a few, whether it is Queen Xiao or that Xiao Yu, they are all personable, elegant and noble people, this family has a cultural heritage, so even if Xiao Milling is in despair, it is understandable to rely on copying books to turn over more ancient books."

Wei Zheng pursed his lips and smiled: "Actually, Wei just now was just a little guess of his own, there was no real evidence to prove that Xiao Mo was contacting the old department, but I just felt that this person was not at ease copying books, and he had to go out to walk the streets and alleys every day, and he always felt a little suspicious." ”

Wang Shichong smiled: "You have been a spy for too long, so it is inevitable that you will be suspicious of everyone." By the way, does this Xiao Mill have a wife's room? ”

Wei Zheng shook his head and said, "This person is about twenty-two or three years old, and all I see is a person, and he doesn't even have a scholar by his side, let alone any wives and children." ”

Wang Shichong nodded, and suddenly asked, "Then how do you know that he is Xiao Miao?" It is said that after this person becomes a traitor, he should be incognito and low-key. ”

Wei Zheng's eyes lit up, and he said: "There is some mystery here, this person has been in Yingzhou for more than two years, and has been renting an old couple's house in Yingzhou City, the couple has no children and no daughters, and the house is empty, so it was rented to him." In the past, this Xiao Mo did not report his name, only said that his surname was Xiao, and the people around him called him Mr. Xiao. ”

"This Xiao Mo makes a living by copying books every day, only eats two meals a day, basically does not eat meat, and lives an extremely frugal life. He went out early every morning and walked the streets to the big families in the city to collect ancient books and copy them, and the price was very low. Because Xiao Mo wrote a good handwriting, more than a dozen large families in the city were willing to let him do this, and even several families invited him to come to the door to be a teacher, but he politely declined. ”

"In the first two years, Xiao Milling copied books, and after copying them, he signed as scholar Xiao. But strange to say, since this year, this Xiao Mill has begun to sign several new books as Lanling Xiao Mill, which is also the first time that people in this city know his real name. (To be continued......)