Gao Zhan (537 – January 13, 569), also known as Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi, was a native of Bohai County. The ninth son of Emperor Gao Huan of Northern Qi, the brother of Emperor Gao Cheng of Wenxiang, Gao Yang of Wenxuan, and Gao Yan of Xiaozhao, the mother of Empress Dowager Wuming, was the fourth emperor of Northern Qi, reigning from the first year of Taining (561) to the fourth year of Heqing (565).
Gao Zhan's appearance is magnificent since childhood, and his demeanor is high, which can be amazed by the people of the times, and is even loved by his father Gao Huan.
Historical records record: "The emperor was eight years old, with a strict crown, a relaxed look, and Hua Rong sighed. "What is being said here is the fourth emperor of Northern Qi, that is, the ninth son of Emperor Shenwu Gao Huan, Gao Cheng and Gao Yang and even Gao Yan's half-brother Gao Zhan. This gao zhan has been a talent since childhood, his appearance is extraordinary, and his temperament is incomparable to others, so he is loved by his father.
Although he is not a benevolent monarch, he has also taken active measures to develop the country and achieved corresponding achievements.
Gao Zhan was born during the reign of the Eastern Wei regime, when Gao Huan was already a little successful and had his own power. This gives Gao Zhan the opportunity to receive a good education from an early age, he has been smart and clever since childhood, and he is even more important for learning, so he has a skill.
Coupled with his handsome appearance and extraordinary temperament, his father liked him even more. Gao Huan served in a military stronghold on the border, and Gao Huan was very fond of this son, and even deliberately made Gao Zhan's engagement to the daughter of Prince Ruoran. At that time, Gao Zhan was only eight years old, and people were surprised to see him with a serious face and a straight coat.
After his brother Gao Yang established the Northern Qi regime, Gao Zhan was also made the Prince of Changguang, and later served as a lieutenant.
In 560, Gao Yan had not yet become emperor at this time, but he had close contacts with Gao Zhan, the king of Changguang, which made Emperor Gao Yin and others feel afraid, so they wanted to cause conflicts between the two of them to break out and alienate each other. In order to achieve this goal, Gao Yan was also deliberately crowned as a chancellor, and this Gao Zhan was made the Grand Sima in the hope that they could have disputes because of their power.
However, their plots and tricks were discovered by Gao Zhan and others, so they turned around and conspired with Gao Yan to kill those who had ill intentions against them.
It turns out that they achieved the final success and succeeded in deposing the emperor, while Gao Yan ascended the throne and Gao Zhan became taifu. After that, Gao Zhan was again given the title of Right Chancellor.
At that time, Gao Yan was living in Jinyang as emperor, while Gao Zhan, as the emperor's closest relative, was guarding Yecheng, and everything in the local area was handled by Gao Zhan.
Unexpectedly, it was also in this year that Gao Yan made his son crown prince, which made Gao Zhan dissatisfied, because Gao Zhan's promise was made to gao Zhan's brother-in-law, so Gao Zhan felt unfair to this result.
After Gao Yan fell seriously ill, Gao Zhan conspired with his men and was ready to raise an army to seize the throne. It was also because the wizard said that soldiers would not necessarily succeed, and Gao Zhan temporarily stopped his pace.
On the occasion of Gao Yan's death, he was afraid that his son would repeat the mistakes of Gao Yin, so he passed the throne to Gao Zhan. In this way, Gao Yan died, and Gao Zhan naturally inherited the throne.
However, Gao Zhan's initial resignation was extremely prevaricating, and only under the repeated persuasion of the civil and military officials did he agree to this request, thus occupying a better position of public opinion and dispelling the doubts of the people of the world about his plot to usurp the throne.
In the first year of Daning, Gao Zhan, the king of Changguang, officially inherited the throne in the main hall and immediately announced a general amnesty for the world. Just as the so-called one dynasty and one courtier, they were naturally uneasy about the use of the ministers during the reign of the previous emperor, and even once suspected that they had the idea of restoration, so they simply re-established a political institution themselves.
The ministers he appointed were all his old subordinates, making the court firmly in his hands and his rule even more stubborn.
According to the usual practice, Gao Zhan also sent Ambassador Chincha to inspect all parts of the country, inquire about the development of local affairs in various localities, and extensively understand the people's living conditions and hardships, and select those who are truly talented to become officials in the DPRK.
In the second year, in order to show his attention to talents, Gao Zhan personally went to the court to participate in the show of talent. Sure enough, inspired by the emperor, those literati began to actively enter the army and offer suggestions for the development of the country.
He then had Sikong build military camps near the border and send troops to garrison them to defend against the invasion of the ethnic minorities in the north.
But what everyone did not expect was that the first challenge gao Zhan faced after succeeding to the throne, and a serious insect plague broke out in other states, making the local harvest completely empty and the people's lives a problem. Gao Zhan sent ministers to the disaster relief in time, so that the local social order was finally stabilized.
After that, the Northern Zhou generals led a Turkic army of about 200,000 people, and the soldiers came to attack Northern Qi in three ways. It was already winter, the snow had never stopped, and the soldiers were shivering.
Gao Zhan personally went to Jinju to inspect the army and encouraged the soldiers to go to war with it. The first engagement between the two sides was officially held in the first month of 564 AD, when the Northern Zhou army suddenly approached the city, and the two sides held a major battle west of the city.
With the blessing of the emperor, the Northern Qi side broke out extremely strong combat effectiveness, and the Northern Zhou and Turkic allies were defeated, both in terms of materials and soldiers, and the losses were extremely heavy.
Gao Zhan did not intend to let them go so easily, and ordered a force to continue to pursue until the outside world barely stopped. The Turks were not dead-hearted, and soon after they attacked Youzhou to invade the Great Wall, plundering the frontier areas before returning.
Gao Zhan did not choose to act rashly considering various factors, but he did not expect the Turks to make a comeback again. At the same time, Northern Zhou also responded to the call and led a force to plunder Luoyang.
Seeing that the Northern Qi side was facing the situation of being attacked by the enemy on its belly and back, it was unexpected that after Gao Zhan arrived on the battlefield, it directly reversed this situation, not only lifting the siege of Luoyang, but also letting the Turks be repelled. This is enough to see that Gao Zhan's own talent is indeed an excellent ruler.
Although some of Gao Zhan's actions were indeed unpopular, it cannot be denied that during his reign, he also played a certain positive role in some of the state's policies. In particular, when he led his troops to resist the Turks and the invasion of Northern Zhou, he showed his might and made the enemy army timid.
Li Yanshou commented on him in the "History of the North": "Wucheng has a high demeanor and is calculated to be long. The officials of the civil and military forces have all the strength and the power of the emperor. "To be able to become an emperor of a generation, it is natural that he has his corresponding reason."
#History##Southern and Northern Dynasties##Northern Qi##高湛 #