History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 165 Zhu Wen's Right-Hand Man
【misfortune】

Zhu Wen had already learned of the palace coup before meeting Liu Xidu and Li Fengben.

Cui Yin immediately wrote a letter to Zhu Wen, informing him of the situation in Chang'an and urging him to raise an army to support the king and purge the emperor's side.

Zhu Wen, who had just conquered Hebei, heard the news in Dingzhou, so he led his troops back to Bianzhou to observe the developments.

Zhu Wen was wavering, fearing that he would stand on the wrong side and lose all his previous efforts. So he used Cui Yin as a pathfinder and forwarded Cui Yin's letter urging him to remove the emperor's entourage to the eunuch Liu Jishu, with a note saying, "Cui Yin is a fickle villain. Kill him first."

Zhu Wen's evaluation of Cui Yin was very pertinent. Cui Yin was indeed a profit-seeking and capricious villain. Although the two were tied together by interests and each got what he needed, Zhu Wen never trusted Cui Yin.

Giving Li Keyong's son to Luo Hongxin and Cui Yin to Liu Jishou were all Zhu Wen's plans to see if the other party would accept this token of allegiance and test their sincerity.

Liu Jishu was fooled. Instead of killing Cui Yin directly, he confronted Cui Yin with the secret letter Cui Yin had written to Zhu Wen.

Cui Yin was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat and denied it flatly, insisting that it was a villain who forged the letter and framed him maliciously.

Cui Yin's career was full of ups and downs. He was appointed as prime minister four times, and was nicknamed "Cui Siru". After so many years of struggling in the court during the turbulent times, he had accumulated many political enemies. It was reasonable to say that someone was stabbing him in the back. Moreover, Liu Jishu had recently been engaged in forging letters and even forging imperial edicts, so he believed Cui Yin's words and thought that Cui Yin's political enemies had framed him.

Cui Yin's acting skills were impeccable. He said seriously, "If you really want to kill me, please kill me and don't involve my innocent family members! (It has been a practice since ancient times for traitors to forge books. They must be punished. Please do not punish my entire family.)"

The bite of a thief goes deep into the bone. In his words, it seems to imply that Liu Jishu forged the letter to maliciously frame Cui Yin.

Faced with Cui Yin's best-in-class acting skills and eloquent speech, Liu Jishou became uneasy and felt a little guilty. He quickly patted Cui Yin's chest to assure him that he was definitely not that kind of person. He even pulled Cui Yin to swear an oath, and the two of them actually formed an alliance like this.

Cui Siru's calmness in handling matters and his composure when lying with his eyes wide open do show that he has the potential to be a politician.

After coaxing Liu Jishu away, Cui Yin hurriedly wrote another letter to Zhu Wen: "Brother, why are you selling me out? You are trying to kill me! On the surface, I have formed an alliance with Liu Jishu, and we will not invade each other, but I only have you in my heart. We are grasshoppers on the same rope."

After Zhu Wen received the letter, he was furious and cursed Liu Jishu, "Jishu made me a two-faced person."

This is interesting. Zhu Wen betrayed Cui Yin to Liu Jishou, Liu Jishou betrayed Zhu Wen to Cui Yin, and Cui Yin betrayed Liu Jishou to Zhu Wen again, a "plastic triangle".

Facing this sudden palace coup, Zhu Wen seemed somewhat indecisive on how to express his stance. He had his concerns and his own hidden agenda:

First, it is a matter of geopolitical structure.

The masterminds of the palace coup were Liu Jishu and a few other insignificant eunuchs. Although they held some of the power of the imperial guards, they were nothing compared to their predecessors, such as Tian Lingzi and Yang Fugong. It was not worth mentioning them at all. Their boss behind the scenes, the Guanxi Group, was the real force that the loyalists needed to face.

Although the Guanxi Group suffered a certain blow and weakening, they have been entrenched in the Guanxi area for a long time and have deep roots. They are still a political and military entity that cannot be underestimated. They regard Chang'an as their core interest. Once the Guandong princes extend their sphere of influence to Chang'an, it will inevitably cause a strong backlash from the Guanxi Group and become the biggest obstacle to the king's army.

In addition, Li Keyong in the north cannot be ignored either. Li Keyong has also recently encountered a low period since returning to the Central Plains, but anyone who dares to defy him will pay a heavy price. Once Zhu Wen and the Guanxi Group start fighting in Chang'an, Li Keyong will have three options:

Go west to directly reinforce the Guanxi Group in Chang'an; go south to launch a surprise attack on Zhu Wen's base in Bianzhou; go east to attack Heshuo and seize the Heshuo area that Zhu Wen had not yet digested.

No matter what choice Li Keyong makes, it will put considerable pressure on Zhu Wen.

In addition, Yang Xingmi and Zhu Jin in Huainan in the southeast were also ready to make a move. Once Zhu Wen put his main force into the Chang'an battlefield in the northwest, Yang Xingmi would have a great chance to take advantage of the situation and fight for Xuzhou, Yanzhou, Yunzhou and other places.

As for the fence-sitters in the two lakes region, there is no doubt about their speed and perseverance in changing their ways. Profits are always their only value orientation.

In addition, after the battle for Chang'an broke out, Xichuan Wang Jian might have responded to Zhu Wen, but his real purpose was just to take the opportunity to annex the land of the Guanxi Group in Shannan. At that time, the Guanxi Group must have focused its main energy on Chang'an, and could only take a tacit attitude towards Wang Jian's encroachment. Zhu Wen was tantamount to taking advantage of Wang Jian's fire.

The second is the historical characterization and public opinion orientation of this battle for Chang'an.

On the banks of the Wei River, Zhu Wen could legitimately claim that he was "fighting the enemy in accordance with the imperial edict", while the other side of the river could also claim that they were "fighting the rebellion in accordance with the imperial edict". However, both the new and old emperors were under the actual control of Liu Jishu, who could change his identity and issue edicts to the world at any time.

The imperial edict of Emperor Zhaozong forged by Liu Jishou could instantly destroy Zhu Wen's legal foundation.

Therefore, under this circumstance, the staff around Zhu Wen were almost unanimously inclined to compromise and cooperate, and opposed Zhu Wen's support for the king.

The retired former prime minister Zhang Jun, together with Liu Jishu's brother Liu Chongchu, came to lobby Zhu Wen and persuade him to cooperate with Liu Jishu.

In addition, Liu Jishu sent his adopted son Liu Xidu and his confidant Li Fengben to carry a forged imperial edict of Emperor Zhaozong, cooperating with each other to deceive Zhu Wen, saying that Emperor Zhaozong also intended to abdicate to Zhu Wen. As long as Zhu Wen publicly supported the new emperor, he would abdicate the country to him after the situation stabilized.

It is really difficult to support the king and start an uprising. The eunuchs' sugar-coated bullets are so tempting, and the think tanks on both sides are unanimously instigating... It seems that the only correct way out is to collude with Liu Jishou's eunuch party.

However, Zhu Wen was still hesitant. Even in the face of the temptation that made him salivate, he still did not make a final decision. Because he was waiting for someone, and this person's attitude would determine his final decision.

[Zhu Wen's left and right arms]

This person was one of Zhu Wen’s most important think tanks, his name was Li Zhen.

Li Zhen is the great-grandson of Li Baozhen, the former governor of Luzhou. His grandfather and father were both county governors. His ancestors lived in the Western Regions and were surnamed An. Because they were ashamed of having the same surname as An Lushan, they changed their surname to Li.

Li Zhen also had the inspirational label of "failing in examinations many times". His ambitions were not fulfilled, so he joined the army and was promoted from the imperial army. He finally got the position of "Governor of Taizhou". When he was happily going to take up the post of Taizhou (now Linhai, Zhejiang), Dong Chang proclaimed himself emperor in eastern Zhejiang, so he could not take up the post.

On his way back to the west, he went to Bianzhou and took refuge with Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen appointed people based on their talents, regardless of their academic qualifications or work experience. After a simple interview, he found that this person was a rare genius, so he promoted him greatly. Soon after annexing Yunzhou, he appointed him as the deputy governor of Yunzhou Tianping Army.

After that, Li Zhen's real job was to be Zhu Wen's "diplomat", lobbying everywhere, maneuvering, and accomplishing many important things for Zhu Wen on this invisible battlefield, and he won Zhu Wen's trust. This time, he visited Chang'an as the "Director of the Beijing Office".

Li Zhen was in Chang'an when the eunuch Liu Jishou launched a coup.

Before the coup, Liu Jishou sent his nephew Liu Xizheng to test Li Zhen's attitude, saying that the emperor was incompetent and killed innocent people indiscriminately, so we plan to depose and enthrone.

Li Zhen was shocked and immediately stated his position, firmly opposing the abolition and enthronement of the emperor. "A slave of a hundred years serves a master of three years!" Then, Li Zhen left Chang'an and returned to Bianzhou. Almost on the same day, Liu Jishu and others launched a coup.

This "Director of the Beijing Office" has a deep and accurate understanding of the situation in Chang'an, so his opinions will directly affect Zhu Wen's final attitude.

Li Zhen rejected all objections and firmly advocated the removal of the emperor's entourage. He knew that Zhu Wen was deceived by Liu Jishu's lies and thought that he could obtain the "abdication" of the Tang emperor by keeping his troops in place and obeying orders. So Li Zhen changed his words and said that since ancient times, chaos in the palace has always been an opportunity for the hegemon to achieve great things. Now, a few eunuchs have humiliated the emperor. If you don't fight them, how can you rule the world in the future?
Zhu Wen was still hesitating.

"Once the young master is recognized by the world, the power of the country will fall into the hands of the eunuchs. You will be lying on the chopping board of others and be willing to be slaughtered."

Zhu Wen finally had an epiphany and cursed the former prime minister Zhang Jun, "You are leading me into a ditch! Don't you just want to become prime minister again by currying favor with me and the eunuchs?" He then ordered the arrest of Liu Xidu and Li Fengben, and sent his confidants Jiang Xuanhui and Li Zhen back to Chang'an to discuss with Cui Yin how to restore order.

Until this time, Zhu Wen had not made his position public. Zhu Wen had made two preparations.

Thanks to "Pure lsp", "Laona Sifan" and "Bedroom King" for their recommendation support!
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(End of this chapter)