History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 1045 Internal Conflict

[Internal friction]

“Kill the donkey after it has done its job”

As soon as the imperial court received the victory report from Linzhou, Wang Hanzhong, the governor of Baojing Army, was demoted on the grounds that he had violated the imperial edict and had achieved nothing. It was all your fault that the northwest was in such a mess. Within a month, Wang Hanzhong died of a sudden illness.

Wang Hanzhong was praised in history books for his profound knowledge, generosity, courtesy to Confucian scholars, and love of reading. He never put down his books in his spare time, which inevitably led to the common problem of scholars: aloofness and arrogance, always considering himself a man of culture. Therefore, his relationship with his colleagues was not harmonious, "so the generals were not happy with him."

One day, the palace guards An Shouzhong and Zheng Huaide came to guide the work. Wang Hanzhong despised rough people, and even more so people with connections, so when he received the two, he was not polite and perfunctory, which made the two very unhappy. When beating a dog, look at the owner. To treat people with connections with contempt, you must first look at their relationship. Who are An Shouzhong and Zheng Huaide related to? Answer: The current emperor Zhenzong Zhao Heng.

These two were old retainers of Zhenzong's fiefdom, and were genuine lackeys of the emperor.

"This is not a spanking of our butts, it's a spanking of your face."

After the two returned to the capital, they joined in accusing each other of corruption. The Song Dynasty emperors were deeply ingrained with suspicion of military commanders, especially those who were stationed at the border and commanded a large number of troops. At this time when the war in the northwest was in a mess, the phrases of "playing with the enemy without advancing", "nurturing the enemy for self-preservation", "wait-and-see", "holding troops but having other intentions"... were enough to announce the end of a military commander's life.

Historical records bluntly state that these two people contributed the most to Wang Hanzhong's demotion and death.

"A widow is always in trouble"

In October of the same year (1002), Prime Minister Xiang Minzhong was demoted to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and sent to Chang'an (to be the governor of Yongxing Army); Zhang Qixian was also demoted and sent to Xijing. Xiang Minzhong was the prime minister of the dynasty, and Zhang Qixian was appointed prime minister twice. The demotion and sending of such political heavyweights must have hidden hidden power struggles.

Let’s talk about Zhang Qixian first. This name has appeared many times in the previous article.

Zhang Qixian was born in the late Later Jin Dynasty. When he was young, his family moved to Luoyang to avoid war. Although his family was poor, he studied hard and was very courageous. When Zhao Kuangyin was inspecting Luoyang, Zhang Qixian stopped his carriage and wanted to offer advice to Zhao Kuangyin. Zhao Kuangyin, who was eager to find talents, immediately invited him for tea.

Zhang Qixian spoke eloquently and presented ten suggestions for governing the country. Zhao Kuangyin thought that four of them made sense and could be tried. However, Zhang Qixian was not afraid of tigers and confronted Zhao Kuangyin in person, insisting that all ten suggestions were perfect and must be adopted.

Zhao Kuangyin was immediately furious, "I gave you face, didn't I? Come on, drag him out!"

However, when Zhao Kuangyin returned to Beijing, he secretly told his brother Zhao Guangyi: "I only got Zhang Qixian when I went to Luoyang. He is a man of great use and has the potential to be a prime minister, so I will not use him and leave him to you."

As soon as Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, he held an imperial examination to recruit officials. Zhang Qixian passed the exam and entered the official career under Zhao Guangyi's personal care. Zhang Qixian had a lot of political achievements and dared to speak out. Everything he said was verified, so his official career was relatively smooth. He rose all the way and also gained the appreciation of Zhao Pu, an old senior in the political arena. Under Zhao Pu's strong recommendation, Zhang Qixian was promoted to Deputy Privy Councilor and entered the core decision-making level. Two years later, he was promoted to Prime Minister.

Not long after, he was dismissed from his position because of a trivial matter regarding interpersonal relationships in the workplace.

After Emperor Zhenzong ascended the throne, he immediately summoned him to the court and appointed him as prime minister for the second time. Within two months, he was dismissed again for being drunk and missing work.

Last year (1001), Li Jiqian of Xiazhou invaded the border. Zhang Qixian immediately submitted a memorial pointing out that Lingzhou would inevitably become Li Jiqian's next target and suggested that the court must strengthen military preparations in Lingzhou.

Since Emperor Taizong's expedition against the Northern Han, Zhang Qixian's strategic vision has been verified countless times, and he was able to accurately predict the enemy's next move every time. However, both Emperor Taizong and Emperor Zhenzong missed the correct option for one reason or another.

This time, Zhenzong listened to the bad advice of his ministers and did not adopt Zhang Qixian's suggestion. Soon, Li Jiqian captured Lingzhou according to Zhang Qixian's prediction.

The court appointed Zhang Qixian as the commander of the Yongxing Army's cavalry and infantry, and asked him to stay in Chang'an and coordinate the northwest war. Before he set out, he was demoted and sent out, which is the political struggle we are about to launch.

Let’s look at Prime Minister Xiang Minzhong who was demoted at the same time.

Xiang Minzhong also passed the imperial examination in the early years of Emperor Taizong's reign. After entering the official career, he was recommended by Zhang Qixian and thus entered the central government from the local level. Zhao Guangyi personally interviewed him and was very satisfied with him. As a result, Xiang Minzhong was able to rise rapidly and his official career went smoothly.

Zhao Guangyi once personally wrote a note with the names of Xiang Minzhong and Zhang Yong (who entered Shu to quell the rebellion and check Wang Jie'en as mentioned above) on it, and told the Secretariat that these two people were famous officials of the time and he wanted to use them.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong, Xiang Minzhong was promoted several times. As soon as Emperor Zhenzong ascended the throne, he promoted him to Deputy Privy Councilor. Also last year (1001), Xiang Minzhong was officially promoted to Prime Minister.

At this point, the two people's timelines intersect and the story unfolds.

The cause of the incident was that Zhang Qixian was planning to marry a young widow. This widow was not an ordinary widow. Her late husband was Xue Weiji. You may not be familiar with Xue Weiji, but it is different when you mention his father. He was the late prime minister Xue Juzheng. Zhang Qixian, who was appointed as prime minister twice, married the widowed daughter-in-law of the late prime minister. However, he was sued in court by someone. The plaintiff was Xue Anshang, the son of Xue Weiji and the grandson of Xue Juzheng.

At this point, we need to re-examine the family relationships of the people involved in the case. In fact, Xue Weiji was not Xue Juzheng's biological son. Xue Juzheng was a famous "henpecked husband" in history. His wife was infertile but brave and strong, and she did not allow Xue Juzheng to try to have a baby with his maids and concubines, so Xue Juzheng adopted a godson, Xue Weiji.

Xue Weiji was one of the famous "Four Young Masters of the Capital", a complete playboy, uneducated, and with a very bad reputation. When Xue Juzheng died, Emperor Taizong called him out by name, "Where is your unworthy son? Have you changed your ways?" Xue Weiji, who was kneeling on the side, was so scared that he dared not get up. From then on, he turned over a new leaf and became a prodigal son. After Xue Weiji's death, his wife Chai, who was also an important party in this case, was also a rich widow who could not give birth. In other words, she was actually the stepmother of the plaintiff Xue Anshang. The young widow was young, white, rich and beautiful, and unwilling to remain a widow. She had the idea of ​​remarriage, which led to this lawsuit.

Xue Anshang was not against his stepmother remarrying, but he accused her of embezzling the family property. According to Xue Anshang, Chai had hidden the Xue family's property and wanted to remarry with it, which was suspected of illegally transferring the property after marriage.

Because the people involved in the case were powerful, the petition was always submitted to Emperor Zhenzong. Emperor Zhenzong was very impatient. The country was now in internal and external troubles, and he was too busy to care about the family affairs of a widow remarrying? It was the Xue family's matter again, so he was even more reluctant to distract himself, because Xue Juzheng's grandson had the charm of his father when he was young, and they were all famous dandies in the capital. At the beginning, because they were worried that he would ruin the family, they specially issued an edict not to sell the house and real estate to protect Xue Juzheng's reputation and the face of the country. Now their family really filed a petition to the emperor to fight for the family property. A bunch of unfilial descendants, I am too lazy to care!

Zhenzong sent a minor official, Zhang Zhenglun, the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to mediate and deal with the matter. In line with the principle of reducing big things to small things, he mediated and smoothed things over. It was not a big deal. Was it necessary to make it known to the world? You have no shame. Don't you care about Comrade Xue Juzheng's face? Don't be like the Hou family in the capital. The second uncle and the eldest niece went to court, and the actors were involved. It was a laughing stock. The reputation of two generations of Hou was ruined.

Unexpectedly, the wealthy young widow Chai was a virtuous and chaste woman. She denied the accusation of embezzlement and said she would not accept any form of reconciliation. She must appeal to clear her name. The pre-court mediation failed and the case could only be handed over to the Censorate for formal legal proceedings.

This was a big deal. Two prime ministers (Xue Juzheng and Zhang Qixian) were involved in a dispute over family property, a widow remarrying, and a lawsuit between a mother and her son.

The legal process had just begun, and facing the accusation of embezzlement of family property, Chai counter-sued the plaintiff for colluding with the prime minister of the time, Xiang Minzhong, and selling the ancestral property at a low price in violation of the imperial edict.

Another big melon, which revealed the third prime minister, Xiang Minzhong.

As mentioned above, in order to prevent Xue Juzheng's descendants from selling their ancestral property, Emperor Zhenzong issued an edict that the Xue family's ancestral property could not be traded. However, according to Chai, Xiang Minzhong coveted the Xue family's ancestral property and had already purchased it at a low price. He also proposed to her, but she refused, so he held a grudge against her and joined forces with others to frame her.

The Censorate did not dare to conduct the trial. Good fellow, there are three prime ministers at the beginning, who knows how many hot melons will be in the future... Your Majesty, you should taste this melon.

Zhenzong was furious. No wonder the country was in trouble both internally and externally. The important ministers of the country were always thinking about having affairs. How could they make the Song Dynasty great again if they were with these insects? So he called Xiang Minzhong to understand the situation in person.

Xiang Minzhong provided Zhenzong with a third confession, which was not surprising inconsistent with the previous two: he did purchase the Xue family's ancestral property in violation of the imperial edict, but he had never proposed to Chai, and his wife had just passed away, and he had no intention of remarrying for the time being. Chai's statement was extremely absurd.

Zhenzong felt much more relieved. Be it greed or lust, it was human nature. After all, it was just a family fighting over the family property. So he did not want to distract himself and continue investigating. He instructed the Censorate to close the case as soon as possible. It was not a big deal.

Seeing the official's perfunctory response, the chaste and heroic woman Chai became anxious and appealed to higher authorities, beating the drum to appeal for justice. A bunch of big men bullied a little widow like me, is there any justice in the world?

With Chai's help, the court obtained a strong piece of evidence - the original contract of Xiang Minzhong to purchase the ancestral property of the Xue family. At the same time, Chai's confession also changed subtly, claiming that the reason why she went to court with her adopted son Xue An was to prevent the Xue family from selling off their property. The prime minister Xiang Minzhong took advantage of his power to bully others and coaxed and deceived them into taking the ancestral property of the Xue family for himself. Her so-called "hiding the family property" was actually to protect the Xue family's property.

The case was reversed.

The staff of the Censorate were experienced and believed that Chai must have received guidance from a master to change her confession. As expected, they followed the clues and implicated Zhang Qixian and his son. According to records, it was Zhang Qixian and his son who gave Chai the idea to change her confession.

The Censorate reported this situation to Emperor Zhenzong.

Zhenzong was furious. He thought that Zhang Qixian was so righteous and righteous. He only saw him making decisions in the court, but he never thought that he was so shameless and despicable in private. He immediately dismissed Zhang Qixian and sent him to Xijing, depriving him of all power. His son Zhang Zonghui was demoted to Haizhou Beijia.

The story was almost coming to an end, but someone gave Zhenzong a big trick at the end and presented the ultimate big news: Xiang Minzhong deceived the emperor!
When Xiang Minzhong was invited by Emperor Zhenzong for tea, he admitted to him that he had violated the imperial edict and purchased the Xue family's ancestral property. However, he firmly denied that he had proposed to Chai, saying that he had recently lost his wife and that "marriage was no longer an option." Emperor Zhenzong had no doubt about this. After all, who would dare to lie in front of the emperor?

But this has been arranged.

Wang Sizong, the Salt and Iron Commissioner, had always been jealous of Xiang Minzhong. He believed that this case was a golden opportunity to bring Xiang Minzhong down, so he took the initiative to investigate the case on a voluntary basis and finally found a clue: Xiang Minzhong was planning to marry Wang Chengyan's sister!

Wang Chengyan's father was Wang Shenqi, a founding hero, and his father-in-law was Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin. According to the secret agreement made during the "Releasing Military Power with a Cup of Wine", he married Emperor Taizu's daughter, Princess Zhaoqing.

According to the clues provided by Wang Sizong, Xiang Minzhong and Wang Chengyan's sister were having an underground love affair and were even discussing marriage. However, Xiang Minzhong had previously vowed to Zhenzong that he had no intention of remarrying.

Zhenzong first went to Wang Chengyan's sister to verify, and Wang gave a positive answer. This made Zhenzong very angry. Xiang Minzhong actually dared to deceive the emperor!
Let's put aside the matter of the young widow. According to the general logic in movies and TV dramas, the starting price for the crime of deceiving the emperor is the extermination of nine generations of the family. This is not the case in real history, but there must be punishment, so Xiang Minzhong was dismissed from his post and sent out.

The young widow fought with her stepson for the family property and successfully overthrew two prime ministers, which was a joke. Looking beyond the phenomenon to the essence, a rich young widow reflects the ugliness and corruption of the officialdom of the Song Dynasty: the prime minister, who was in a high position, was so greedy that he did not hesitate to disobey the imperial edict and "cheat marriage"; the treacherous villains represented by Wang Sizong took advantage of every opportunity to exclude their colleagues. Outside the court, the widow fought for the family property, and inside the court, the officials fought for power and profit.

Is this a trivial matter? Perhaps, but fortresses are often breached from within. Compared with Li Jiqian of Xiazhou and the Khitans in the north, it is hard to say where the crisis of the Song Dynasty lurks.

Zhenzong, you really need to think about this seriously.

(End of this chapter)