People often say that people have two sides, one is an angel, and the other is a devil. There is some truth in this statement, especially when it comes to Emperor Gao Yang of the Northern Qi Dynasty.

People often say that people have two sides, one is an angel, and the other is a devil. There is some truth in this statement, especially when it comes to Emperor Gao Yang of the Northern Qi Dynasty.

Gao Yang was emperor for nine years. In the early days of his rule, he worked hard, advocated Confucianism, carried out reforms, developed the economy, and expanded territory, bringing the Northern Qi to its peak. He was known as the "Heroic Emperor" and was like a wise emperor.

However, in the later period of his rule, he was arrogant and arrogant, indulged in alcoholism, carried out large-scale construction projects, killed innocent people indiscriminately, was cruel and cruel, and committed many heinous crimes. He was like a devil, and the contrast between the past and the past was huge.

" Northern History " records that Gao Yang was only twenty-four years old when he became emperor, while Yuwentai , the actual ruler of the Western Wei , was 44 years old. Yuwentai looked down on the young Gao Yang a little, and wanted to test his ability, so he personally led an army to invade Northern Qi. Gao Yang just wanted to show his strength and ability. He quickly mobilized his troops, lined up his troops, and waited for the Western Wei army.

Yuwentai led his army to arrive, and saw the Northern Qi army with banners covering the sun, numerous swords and guns, and a strict and majestic military formation. Yu Wentai sighed: "It's as if Gao Huan is not dead." The Western Wei army did not dare to fight and immediately withdrew its troops and returned. Yuwentai saw the strength of Northern Qi and did not dare to advance eastwards easily.

The Western Wei Dynasty did not invade, and the Northern Qi Dynasty did not attack it. The Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties were temporarily peaceful. At this time, it was the end of the Southern Liang Dynasty. Emperors changed frequently and the situation was very unstable. Gao Yang took advantage of this opportunity and marched southward, seizing large tracts of land in northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui. Nanliang was unable to resist, so he had to pay tribute and seek peace. Relying on the strength of his troops and horses, Gao Yang sent troops south to escort the captive Xiao Yuanming to Jiankang, forcing Nanliang to make him emperor. When Xiao Yuanming became the emperor of Nanliang, he was naturally the puppet of Northern Qi.

Conquered Nanliang, Gaoyang sent troops to the Northern Expedition, defeated Rouran , chased Khitan and Turks far away, and expanded the territory thousands of miles away. In this way, during the reign of Gao Yang, the territory of the Northern Qi Dynasty extended to the Yangtze River in the south, the Mongolian desert in the north, the sea in the east, and the Yellow River in the west. The vastness of the land, the large population, the strength of the army, and the large amount of grain reserves, at that time Among the three separatist regimes of Nanliang and Western Wei, it was second to none.

Gao Yang made outstanding contributions in opening up territories and was also very wise in internal governance. When he first ascended the throne, he issued an edict to restore the salary system formulated by Empress Dowager Feng. Due to the war, since Emperor Xiaozhuang, all officials have no salary and have to rely on robbery and corruption to support their families. This naturally brings many disadvantages. Gao Yang determined the salary according to the size of the official position, which ensured the official's source of livelihood. At the same time, he strengthened the administration of officials, severely punished corruption and bribery, and changed the official atmosphere.

Gao Yang ordered the renovation of the Confucius Temple , worshiped Confucius , promoted Confucianism and established education throughout the country. Gao Yang also invited famous Confucian scholars to give lectures in the palace. Gao Yang came to listen in person. He seemed to have the style of a Confucian scholar and could be called a wise king.

However, in the later period of Gao Yang's rule, he completely changed his appearance and even became a devil. Gao Yang was praised by people for his outstanding political achievements, so he became elated and began to pursue enjoyment, indulging in wine and sex all day long. Gao Yang ordered to recruit 300,000 civilians and built three luxurious halls in Yecheng, , for his own enjoyment. A large number of beauties were placed in the palace, and Gao Yang feasted and engaged in prostitution with them all night long. Sometimes when he was happy, he would expose his body and play drums and sing songs himself.

Gao Yang felt that his rule was very solid, so he exposed his cruel nature. One day, Gao Yang suddenly asked his niece-in-law Yuan Shao : "Why was Liu Xiu able to restore the Han Dynasty ?" Yuan Yun didn't know what she was thinking about, but she said: "That's because all the people with the surname Liu were not killed at that time. ." Yuan Yun did not expect that his words would bring disaster to herself and the Yuan family.

Gao Yang believed that the large number of Northern Wei royal Yuan clan was a great hidden danger, so he ordered all the clans of the previous dynasty to be killed."Northern History" records that Gao Yang killed all 44 former royal families including Yuan Yun, totaling more than 3,000 people, and even the babies were not spared. All the corpses were thrown into the Zhang River . When people ate fish, they often found human toenails inside the belly of the fish. This disgusted the residents on both sides of the river and stopped eating fish from the Zhang River for a long time.

Gao Yang later became more and more cruel. He liked to kill people for fun and often killed them cruelly. Once, an officer violated military discipline. Gao Yang ordered his men to cut him into eight pieces and called nine soldiers to eat his flesh. The soldiers dared not disobey and even ate all his internal organs.

Gao Yang also likes to kill people himself. He often takes prisoners from prison to serve as chauffeurs, called "prisoners for the emperor", for his pleasure in killing people. When Gao Yang became unhappy, he casually chopped off the head of the "offender" with a knife.

Once, Gao Yang went to the home of minister Cui Siam. Cui Siam had just died and his wife Li was crying bitterly. Gao Yang asked her: "Do you miss your husband?" Li replied: "How can we not miss you as a married couple?" Gao Yang said: "Since I miss you, I will send you to see him." After that, he drew out his knife and slashed Cut off her head.

Gao Yang was drunk all day long and killed ministers at will in the court. Gao Yang killed people in many ways. Sometimes he cut with a knife, sometimes he shot with an arrow, and sometimes he used a saw. After killing the person, they would dismember the body or throw it into the fire and burn it to ashes. Once, Gao Yang shot Mu Zirong, the great Sinong, with a bow and arrow. Mu Zirong dodged and missed. Gao Yang was angry and ordered him to lie on the ground, take off his pants, insert a wooden stick into his anus with his own hands, and stab him to death.

Gao Yang had a very beloved concubine named Xue Bin. Xue Bin was originally the woman of clan brother Gao Yue, but was snatched away by Gao Yang. Suddenly one day, Gao Yang remembered that Xue Bin had been on good terms with Gao Yue. He became jealous and cut off Xue Bin's head with a knife.

Gao Yang put Xue Bin's head in his arms and went to the banquet. At the banquet, when everyone was in high spirits, Gao Yang took out Xue Bin's head and said to everyone: "It's so rare to find a beautiful woman, what a pity!" The people in the house were all frightened and their souls were flying.

Gao Yang dismembered Xue Bin's body and used her bones to make Pipa. Gao Yang innocently killed Xue Bin and felt a little regretful. When Xue Bin was buried, he followed the hearse on foot with his hair loose, crying as he walked, as if his own mother had died.

Gao Yang was equally cruel and unkind to his relatives. When he saw that the queen's sister was beautiful, he called his brother-in-law Yuan Ang and asked Yuan Ang to dedicate his wife to him. Yuan Ang refused, so Gao Yang shot him with arrows. He shot more than a hundred arrows in a row, and as much as a stone's worth of blood condensed on the ground. Yuan Ang was so courageous that he refused to obey until death. However, after his death, his wife still did not escape Gao Yang's clutches.

Gao Yang's mother Lou Zhaojun was very angry when she saw her son behaving like this. One day, the old lady took a cane and wanted to hit Gao Yang. Gao Yang's mouth was full of alcohol and he cursed viciously: "You old guy, you still want to beat me, I will marry you to a barbarian as my wife." Lou Zhaojun was so angry that he fainted.

After Gao Yang sobered up, he felt that it was too much and served his mother personally. Unexpectedly, he knocked down the bed and injured his mother. Gao Yang was so regretful that he wanted to set himself on fire, so Lou Zhaojun had no choice but to forgive him. Gao Yang swore to his mother that he would stop drinking in the future. However, after only quitting for ten days, it was still the same, and I was still drunk every day.

One day, Gao Yang was drunk again and went to the queen's natal home. When he saw his mother-in-law Cui looking pampered, he suddenly thought that he had been rude to his mother and the queen's mother should be treated equally. So Gao Yang picked up his bow and arrow and shot his mother-in-law in the cheek, causing blood to flow profusely. Gao Yang didn't give up and said, "I've beaten my mother-in-law, but I haven't beaten you yet. It's not fair." Gao Yang raised his riding crop and gave his mother-in-law a hundred lashes.

Gao Yang’s behavior is a bit weird and crazy, which is difficult to understand.He sometimes climbed to the roof of the palace, which was twenty-seven feet high. The craftsmen had to tie safety ropes when going up, but Gao Yang had no protective measures and just ran back and forth on the roof, spinning and dancing. This is of course very dangerous. Once it falls, it will be shattered to pieces. People were horrified to see it, but Gao Yang laughed and didn't care.

What is even more incredible is that in the hot summer, Gao Yang took off his clothes and sat under the scorching sun to expose himself; in the cold winter, Gao Yang was naked and galloping. The followers all felt embarrassed, but Gao Yang looked calm and showed no shame.

Gao Yang also likes to put on makeup, disheveled hair, dress up like a woman, and wander around on the street. Sometimes he rides a horse on the street and throws money and things while running. Gao Yang feels very happy when he sees people fighting for it. Gao Yang asked people on the street: "How is today's life?" Someone said contemptuously: "You are crazy, what kind of emperor do you look like!" Gao Yang was furious and killed him immediately.

Regarding Gao Yang's debauchery and cruelty, the ministers initially tried to persuade him, but Gao Yang either refused to listen or killed those who advised him. As time went by, no one dared to speak. There was only one minister, named Li Ji, who kept giving advice and taught the emperor the examples of Xia Jie and King Zhou who destroyed the country through violence.

Gao Yang was angry, and ordered his men to tie Li Ji up, sink him into the river, and drown him half to death. Then he pulled him up and asked, "How am I compared to Xia Jie and King Zhou?" Li Ji said angrily, "What are you doing?" Not as good as them." So he sank Li Ji into the river again, pulled him up and asked again. This happened several times. Li Ji was already dying, but he still did not change his words. Gao Yang was furious and said: "There are such fools in the world. Today I know that the ancient Long Pang and Bigan must also be fools." Gao Yang ordered that Li Ji be cut in half in public and tortured.

Gao Yang is indeed not as good as Xia Jie and King Zhou. He is probably the most cruel and absurd emperor in history, even more cruel than the devil. Both "Book of Northern Qi" and "History of the Northern Dynasty" use a long length to list a large number of examples of Gao Yang's cruelty, which is horrifying and shuddering after reading.

Gao Yang was originally a wise king, but why did he turn into a devil later? "Northern History" says that Gao Yang drank too much for a long time, leading to alcoholism and losing his true nature. Later, some scholars believed that Gao Yang suffered from intermittent schizophrenia. Judging from historical records, Gao Yang's behavior does seem to have symptoms of mental illness.

However, in feudal society, the supreme emperor became mentally ill, but it was the people of the world who suffered.

In 559 AD, Gao Yang died of illness at the age of thirty-one. "Book of Northern Qi" says that Gao Yang died of drinking. It can be seen that excessive drinking is equivalent to drinking poison!

After Gao Yang's death, his son Gao Yin succeeded to the throne. Since Gao Yin was young, Gao Yang's younger brother Gao Yang was appointed as assistant to the government. However, Gao Yan launched a coup and took away his nephew's throne, which was a bad thing. Please watch the next episode. I have done something wrong and my mind is not at peace.