History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 142 The Last Straw
When Wei Zhaodu was prime minister, it reflected Zhaozong's scheming; when Cui Yin was prime minister, it reflected Zhaozong's embarrassment and helplessness; and when Zheng Heng was prime minister, it reflected Zhaozong's absurdity and even greater helplessness.

Zheng Heng also met Zhaozong's personnel recruitment standards. He was a loyal and upright young man of literature and art, and a poet.

He was a minor official in the imperial court, and was very honest in his official duties, so he was very poor. The court took pity on him and made him the governor of Luzhou to make some money. At that time, Huang Chao was in rebellion and wreaked havoc in Huainan. The poor nerd Zheng Heng wrote a letter to Huang Chao, asking him not to invade the state.

Even Huang Chao was amused by his pedantry. Huang Chao laughed at his cute pedantry and admired his integrity and courage. He actually agreed to Zheng Heng's request and did not harass Luzhou, making Luzhou the only place in Huainan that had not been plundered (Chao laughed, in order to gather troops, the state was the only one that was intact).

When Emperor Xizong heard about it, he highly praised Zheng Heng for his bravery.

After his term in Luzhou was over, Zheng Heng resigned and returned to the court. During this period, Zheng Heng had accumulated a total of 1,000 strings of money. However, he did another surprising thing. He put all the money in the warehouse of Luzhou for public use, and did not take a penny for himself. He came poor and left even poorer, perfectly demonstrating the concept of being incorruptible.

Even thieves and robbers were moved by Zheng Heng's personality charm, and a new rule was established in the underworld: no one was allowed to steal the money (later, it was stolen, but it never touched Zheng's money). Yang Xingmi became the governor of Luzhou, and only then did he ask someone to return the money to Zheng Heng.

Here, I need to say a few more words. Yang Xingmi was a bandit at first, and was captured by the government. The governor of Luzhou at that time was Zheng Heng. Zheng Heng saw that Yang Xingmi was very impressive and expected that he would achieve great things in the future, so he released Yang Xingmi, advised him not to go astray again, and encouraged him to be loyal to the country. Yang Xingmi then turned to the government army, and after many twists and turns, he occupied Luzhou and gradually dominated Huainan.

Later, Du Honghui was appointed as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, and Zheng Heng objected to the appointment, saying that Du Honghui's brother Du Rangneng was the prime minister, and Du Honghui should avoid suspicion and should not serve as the Secretary of the Central Secretariat. The emperor ignored him, and Zheng Heng was so angry that he fell seriously ill and resigned.

According to the rules at that time, close family members of high-ranking officials should "avoid suspicion". In the history of the Tang Dynasty, many talented people voluntarily refused promotions because their fathers, brothers, uncles and uncles were in power in the court. There were many people of high moral character.

Of course, by falling out with Du Rangneng, Zheng Heng unexpectedly won Cui Zhaowei's favor, which was an unexpected gain that Zheng Heng had never expected and was unwilling to obtain.

The court also knew that Zheng Heng was a pollution-free product, so it quickly recalled him to office.

Zheng Heng was a poet and a literary youth with a free and easy writing style. He was not good at writing official language or clichés, so he made many mistakes in the official documents he approved. Some people with ulterior motives compiled them into a book and circulated it widely, implying that he was incompetent, so Zheng Heng was demoted to a sinecure.

The ups and downs of his career made this young talent with noble character see through the warmth and coldness of the world, so he became more unrestrained and free-spirited, and finally became a famous poet. His best work is "Allegorical poems". Like allegorical poems, some words are deliberately missing in the last sentence of the poem to express the emotion more strongly.

Zheng Heng often wrote allegorical poems to mock, ridicule, and criticize the current situation. Others said he was too crazy, but he laughed at others for not seeing through him.

This literary young man's humorous and sharp poetry style and his unrestrained and free-spirited personality won him countless fans. Even the eunuchs in the palace recited his allegorical poems, so Emperor Zhaozong also had the honor of reading Zheng Heng's poems.

Emperor Zhaozong also quickly became a fan of Zheng Heng. Zhaozong believed that Zheng Heng had a deep political vision and was a rare talent. So he promoted this internet celebrity joke teller to be the prime minister.

After hearing the news, everyone was shocked (both Chinese and foreigners were shocked).

Even Zheng Heng himself was shocked. Someone from the Prime Minister's Office notified Zheng Heng to report for work. Zheng Heng laughed, "Are you kidding me? You're trying to coax me over here and make me look bad in public, and you guys want to see me laugh? Don't try that!"

When the clerk handed him the red-letter document with its official seal, he couldn't believe it and said, "Did something go wrong? You must have made a mistake!"

After confirming it several times, Zheng Heng was still surprised and said, "Is there no one left in our country? Even if everyone in the country is illiterate, it will not be my turn!" He was too confident in himself.

The clerk told him that it was not ranked according to test scores, but that he was directly recommended and that you, the emperor, had been selected with his imperial seal and promoted as an exception.

Zheng Heng finally believed it and murmured, "Your Majesty, aren't you afraid of being laughed at for doing this?"

Soon after, guests came to congratulate him on his promotion to Premier of the State Council. Zheng Heng even scratched the back of his head and said to himself: "Zheng Wu, the post-hallmaster, can become the Prime Minister. This country is really impressive."

Zheng Heng is the fifth child in the family. "Xiehou Zhengwu" is his online name and his most famous nickname.

Afterwards, Zheng Heng repeatedly declined the position, saying that he was not talented enough to take on such a big responsibility and asked the emperor to find someone more capable. Emperor Zhaozong did not allow him to do so and he had to come to work.

Zheng Heng had no choice but to bite the bullet and take up the post. Zheng Heng was the first person in ancient and modern times to be so humble in accepting the position of prime minister.

Twisted melons are not sweet.

Three months later, Zheng Heng resolutely resigned and asked to retire, which was approved by Emperor Zhaozong.

Afterwards, Zhaozong nominated another senior intellectual to be prime minister, Hanlin scholar Li Xi, who was in charge of writing imperial edicts for the emperor.

Li Xi also has a nickname, "Li Shulou". Different from the playful "Xie Hou Zheng Wu", "Li Shulou" is a praise nickname, which means to praise his large collection of books. Li Xi was a famous book collector with more than 10,000 volumes of books at home. His descendants also loved collecting books. They once spent a huge sum of 100 strings of cash to search for books all over the world and built a dedicated library, named "Wan Juan Shulou". The building has gone through the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties and was destroyed in the Ming Dynasty.

He loved collecting books and reading. He was well-read and his writing was excellent. He was admitted as a Jinshi in one stroke and later became a Hanlin scholar. He was once the teacher of Emperor Zhaozong.

He fled to the capital during the Huang Chao Rebellion. When Li Xun usurped the throne, he summoned him to serve as an official in the court, but he refused.

He was educated, loyal to the court, and did not follow false orders, which met Zhaozong's standards for employing people. Therefore, he was promoted to prime minister by Zhaozong.

When the news of Li Xi's promotion came, Cui Zhaowei was worried that his power would be divided, so he was very unhappy. So he instigated another senior official, Liu Chonglu, to stage a farce of "looting hemp and dismissing from office".

【Looting and dismissal】

Li Xi was not only knowledgeable and eloquent, but also a teacher of Emperor Zhaozong. Therefore, he was highly valued by Emperor Zhaozong and regarded as a trusted minister. He had high hopes for him. Cui Zhaowei was very wary of this and thought that Li Xi was a chess piece used by Emperor Zhaozong to check and balance him. Cui Zhaowei wanted to do everything he could to stop Emperor Zhaozong's strategic layout.

On the day of the announcement, all the civil and military officials stood in line and listened to the eunuch read the edict. Suddenly, Liu Chonglu rushed out from the line, snatched the edict, and burst into tears.

The ministers were shocked, the eunuchs who announced the decree were shocked, and the emperor was shocked.

Zhaozong asked him the reason for his loss of composure.

Liu Chonglu cried, "Li Xi is a treacherous villain! He was recommended to the Imperial Academy only because he clung to the thighs of eunuchs such as Yang Fugong and Ximen Junsui. Your Majesty, don't you remember how Du Rangneng died? People like him are not worthy of being prime ministers, otherwise they will endanger the country!"

Liu Chonglu risked the crime of disturbing the emperor and obstructed the progress of the procedure with such drastic behavior. In fact, he was just a clown on the stage. The real mastermind behind the obstruction of Li Xi's appointment as prime minister was Cui Zhaowei. Cui Zhaowei's source of power was the Guanxi Group that controlled the court. These silent bigwigs were what Zhaozong was concerned about.

The combined actions of Liu Chonglu and Cui Zhaowei put unbearable pressure on Emperor Zhaozong.

Under heavy pressure, Zhaozong cancelled Li Xi's appointment and demoted him to the position of Prince's Tutor as a temporary measure.

Li Xi's subsequent actions were somewhat uncivilized. He did not look like a well-educated bibliophile or imperial tutor, but more like a shrew. Within two months, he submitted ten memorials in a row to defend himself and fight back against Liu Chonglu. His words were fierce and he cursed Liu Chonglu's family from head to toe.

"Liu Chonglu's father, Liu Fu, committed suicide out of fear of punishment for corruption; his brother, Liu Chongwang, flirted with the eunuch Yang Fugong; and Liu Chonglu himself once knelt down and kowtowed to Tian Lingzi in public, and drafted a petition for Li Yan to ascend the throne on behalf of the traitor Zhu Mei. Now he is slandering me for making friends with eunuchs. The thief is crying "stop thief!" The thief's bite is deep in my bones.

Even if I don't have the talent to be a prime minister, Liu Chonglu should have submitted a memorial to impeach me according to the procedures. How could he snatch the imperial edict and cry in the Golden Palace? How shameful! Crying in the Golden Palace is so unlucky, it is clearly a curse on the country's destiny!"

Such and such, such and such.

So Emperor Zhaozong gave each of them fifty lashes with the stick and also issued an imperial decree to demote Liu Chonglu from his post.

Li Xi was still relentless and urged the emperor to sentence Liu Chonglu to death or to allow him to travel to Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan Island, or Vietnam at public expense. The memorial contained thousands of words, full of slander and abuse, and the language was so vulgar that it was unbearable to read.

Liu Chonglu, who was used as a gun by Cui Zhaowei, came from an extraordinary family and a very prominent family, the Henan Liu family.

The Henan Liu family "originated from the Xiongnu", and their ancestor was the Right Sage King of the Southern Xiongnu, named Qubei;
Qubei gave birth to a son named Liu Meng, the Right Wise King of the Southern Xiongnu.
Liu Meng gave birth to Liu Lugu, a son who founded the Dugu tribe;
Liu Lu's orphan son Liu Juan, the leader of the tribe;

Liu Juan gave birth to a son, Liu Luochen, who was the Duke of Yong'an County in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Liu Tan, the sixth-generation grandson of Liu Luochen, was the Minister of Justice of the Sui Dynasty;
Liu Tan gave birth to a son named Liu Zhenghui, who was a "Taiyuan Yuanmou meritorious official" who assisted Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, in ascending the throne. He was one of the twenty-four meritorious officials who founded the Tang Dynasty and whose portrait was painted in the Lingyan Pavilion.

Liu Zhenghui gave birth to a son, Liu Xuanyi, who became the governor of Ruzhou and married Princess Nanping (daughter of Li Shimin);
Liu Xuanyi had a son, Liu Qi, who became the Minister of Personnel;

Liu Qi had a son, Liu Shenzhi, who became the magistrate of Huojia County;

Liu Shenzhi had a son named Liu Xun, who became the magistrate of Dong'e County.

Liu Xun had a son, Liu Zao, who was a secretary.

Liu Zao had a son named Liu Fu, who became the governor of Caizhou.

Liu Fu was the father of Liu Chonglu. Liu Fu had eight sons in total, four of whom were the most famous: Chonggui, Chongwang, Chonglu, and Chongmo.

The four brothers all passed the imperial examination and became high-ranking officials in the central government or military governors in local areas.

When the eldest brother Liu Chonggui heard about his younger brother Liu Chonglu's "crying numbness", he said to the people around him: "It is a disgrace to our family! My father and brothers for several generations have never done such a disgraceful and ridiculous thing for fame and fortune. How could I have such a younger brother?" He was so angry that he didn't eat for several days.

Liu Chonglu was used by Cui Zhaowei and fought to the death with Li Xi, and both of them were dismissed from office. This was the famous "Luoma Dismissal" incident in the late Tang Dynasty, "Luoma" means snatching imperial edicts.

However, Zhaozong really appreciated Li Xi's literary attainments, so he promoted Li Xi again soon after and officially appointed him as prime minister.

Cui Zhaowei gnashed his teeth in hatred. He knew that if he wanted to overthrow Li Xi, crying, making a fuss, and threatening to hang himself would no longer work. So he jumped out of the court and began to use the power of the Guanxi feudal state behind him.

Cui Zhaowei secretly told Jingnan Prince Xingyu, "Some time ago, after my active efforts, the emperor has issued an edict to appoint you as the Minister of the Chancellery, but it was secretly sabotaged by Wei Zhaodu. Now, Wei Zhaodu recommends Li Xi as the prime minister. The two of them are like-minded and have colluded with each other. They originally hated the Guanxi vassal state very much. Now the two of them are singing the same tune, colluding with each other, and deceiving the emperor. I am afraid they will become the second Du Rangneng."

Those who talk about right and wrong must be right and wrong.

Cui Zhaowei turned black into white, spread rumors, angered the Guanxi Group, and wanted to use the Guanxi Group to overthrow Wei Zhaodu and Li Xi. He cleverly used Du Rangneng to subtly but strongly stimulate the sensitive nerves of the Guanxi Group, which finally became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The imperial court was about to face another catastrophe.

Thanks to my old friends "最爱一笑", "纯正lsp", "飞天神龙斩", "卧室大王", "feitian" for their recommendation votes and support! I have something to do today, so the update will be a little late, but don't worry, this book will never be discontinued
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(End of this chapter)