History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 201 Three Tragedy in Luoyang

【The Three Tragedy in Luoyang】

The iconic beginning of this political purge was the "Jiuquchi Massacre", in which Zhu Wen remotely controlled and pressed the terrifying button.

In the second year of Tianyou in the Tang Dynasty (905), the ninth day of the second lunar month was the "Community Day" for worshiping the god of land. It was an important activity for the ruling class in the feudal era. The emperor would hold a grand sacrificial ceremony on this day to pray for a good harvest.

Zhu Wen instructed his confidant Jiang Xuanhui to hold a banquet at the Jiuqu Pond in the Luoyang Palace under the pretext of a "community day" and invited all the princes to the banquet. During the banquet, all the princes were strangled to death and their bodies were thrown into the Jiuqu Pond. The princes who died were all the princes of Emperor Zhaozong and brothers of the current Emperor Ai, including Prince De Li Yu, whom Zhu Wen had always missed.

The "Jiuquchi Massacre" was even worse than the "Shiliuzhai Massacre" created by Han Jian. Zhu Wen was even more brazen and unscrupulous. Not only did he not look for excuses beforehand, he did not even say a perfunctory word afterwards, and the murder took place inside the palace.

If there is any slight thought, it is that Zhu Wen has an alibi, and it was still his confidant Jiang Xuanhui who took the blame for him.

In broad daylight, the murder was committed in the palace, and the victims were a large number of royal blood. Is there anything else that Zhu Wen dared not do?
Afterwards, the shameless scholar Liu Can, who clung to Zhu Wen's thigh, guessed Zhu Wen's intentions and began to actively frame and exclude dissidents, listing the other three prime ministers Pei Shu, Dugu Sun and Cui Yuan as the top targets.

In March, the three prime ministers were dismissed from their posts at the same time. Afterwards, they were demoted again and again and were ordered to commit suicide. Also demoted and executed were former prime minister Lu Jian, Vice Minister of the Ministry of War Wang Zan, Zhao Chong, and others.

Lu Jian had been active in all the political struggles during Emperor Zhaozong's reign, and always appeared as a victim; Wang Zan and Zhao Chong were loyal talents recommended to Emperor Zhaozong by Han Wei, but they were not appointed as prime ministers due to Zhu Wen's obstruction. However, Zhu Wen was still unwilling to let them go, especially Zhao Chong, who had already retired with the honorary title of Prince Taibao, but still could not escape his bad fate.

Those who were exiled and excluded together were either from noble and prominent families or highly educated intellectuals, a total of 30 people. They were gathered by Zhu Wen at Baima Posthouse outside Huazhou and all massacred, which is known in history as the "Baima Posthouse Disaster" and the "Baima Posthouse Massacre".

At the massacre site, Zhu Wen's think tank Li Zhen said leisurely: "These people are usually arrogant and proud, and often regard themselves as the 'clear stream'. Now we should throw them into the Yellow River to turn it into a 'muddy stream'." After hearing this, Zhu Wen laughed out loud and threw all the bodies of the victims into the Yellow River nearby.

The distinction between clean and turbid officials has a long history. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, "clean stream" had become the self-labeling of the civil service group, while "turbid stream" had basically become a synonym for eunuchs.

Faced with the wronged victims, Li Zhen did not show the slightest mercy, but instead ruthlessly insulted them.

The narrow-mindedness shown by Li Zhen comes from the dark side of his heart. In his early years, Li Zhen took the imperial examinations many times, but failed repeatedly, turning his inferiority complex into hatred. Li Zhen had a deep hatred for the officials who passed the imperial examinations.

Now, Zhu Wen was extremely powerful. As Zhu Wen's right-hand man, Li Zhen took advantage of his power and vented his inner darkness. Whenever he came to Luoyang from Bianzhou, he would find all kinds of reasons to demote central officials. He treated central officials like slaves, bossing them around and shouting at them. Central officials were always terrified in front of Li Zhen, and dared not speak. Behind his back, they nicknamed him "鸱鸮" (pronounced the same as "吃肖", commonly known as owl, often used to describe greedy and evil people).

Liu Can and Li Zhen, due to their background or education, both have dark psychological sides due to their inferiority complex. As their power continues to expand, their distorted personalities ultimately vent their inner narrow-mindedness and insignificance in the most extreme form - killing.

In addition to the "Jiuquchi Massacre" and the "Baimayi Massacre", Zhu Wen also personally handled the "Pointing to a Deer and Calling it a Horse Case". Unlike Zhao Gao, Zhu Wen killed those who followed his lead.

Once, Zhu Wen went out with his staff and guests, and they took a rest under a big willow tree. Suddenly, Zhu Wen had an idea and blurted out, "This willow tree can be used as a hub for a wheel."

The hub is the ring in the middle of the wheel, used to connect the wheel and the axle. In that era without bearings, the hub had to be made of hard and wear-resistant wood, but willow wood was soft in texture and could not be used as a hub at all.

Zhu Wen's words obviously went against basic common sense, so most of his staff and guests remained silent. Only a few flatterers echoed him, saying that the leader was right and quite forward-looking.

Before they finished filming, Zhu Wen's face changed and he shouted at them: "You intellectuals just like to stir up trouble, confuse right and wrong, and play tricks on others. The wheel hub must be made of elm, not willow?" He turned around and glared at the guards, "What are you waiting for?"

As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of warriors strode forward like tigers entering a flock of sheep, grabbed the flatterers by the hair and beheaded them on the spot.

This is the allusion of "appropriate for the wheel hub" that Zhu Wen left for future generations, which can be compared with "pointing to a deer and calling it a horse". Due to the public's cognitive habits, I still call it "pointing to a deer and calling it a horse case".

The "Jiuquchi Massacre", "Baimayi Massacre" and "Pointing to a Stag and Calling it a Horse Case" are typical examples of the political purge carried out by Zhu Wen after he murdered Emperor Zhaozong. I call them the "Three Luoyang Massacres". The "Luoyang" here is not the actual place where the case occurred, but uses its role as the capital to explain the bloody changes in the top power circle.

If you want to talk about the rise and fall of ancient and modern times, please just look at Luoyang City.

As Zhu Wen's followers carried out a large-scale purge of dissidents, a large number of vacancies appeared in the central court. Of course, this was the moment for Zhu Wen's group to share the fruits of victory. At the same time, in order to take their appearance into consideration, they still needed to place a few vases on the table.

The court promoted Yang She, the Minister of Personnel, to be prime minister.

"Zizhi Tongjian" says that Yang She is the grandson of Yang Shou, the prime minister during the reign of Emperor Yizong (She is the grandson of Shou), however, "Old Book of Tang" and "New Book of Tang" clearly point out that Yang She is the nephew of Yang Shou.

Yang Shou, prime minister during the reign of Emperor Yizong, was stoned to death by Wei Baoheng because he offended the eunuch Yang Xuanjia (Yang Fuguang's adoptive father), as mentioned above. Yang Shou had two half-brothers: Yang Fa and Yang Jia, and a full-brother Yang Yan.

All of Yang Shou's brothers, nephews and nieces passed the imperial examinations and became famous. Among them, Yang Yan had two sons: Yang She and Yang Zhu. So Yang Shou was Yang She's uncle, not his grandfather.

The Yang family is full of learned and upright people:
Yang Fa: "He was admitted as a Jinshi and was outstanding among the candidates." He was highly regarded by Emperor Xuanzong. He was demoted for his honest and upright advice. After being demoted to the local area, he still made outstanding achievements and was "known for his ability in politics." His son Yang Cheng "also passed the Jinshi exam and was a talented person... He held important positions."
Yang Jia: The historical records used a side detail to highlight his character. According to records, when he was buried, more than a thousand people spontaneously came to see him off.

Yang Shou's three sons: Yang Jian, Yang Ju, and Yang Xun, all became Jinshi.
Yang Yan: He passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi during the reign of Emperor Wuzong. At that time, five candidates including Yang Yan were suspected of "using connections" and "using backdoors", and the matter was reported to the emperor. Emperor Wuzong personally conducted a re-examination and wrote in red ink that "Yang Yan is the only one who passed the exam, and the other four failed". This shows that Yang Yan had a profound cultural foundation. His son Yang She passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the second year of Qianfu (875); Yang Zhu passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the second year of Zhonghe (882).

Yang Shou became the only stain on the Yang family. However, Yang Shou's demotion and death were somewhat unfair. This has been detailed in the previous article, so I will not repeat it here and only talk about his nephew Yang She.

The court appointed Yang She, who came from a family of officials, to be prime minister. Yang She knew this very well. When he got the news of his promotion, he did not feel any joy. Instead, he cried with his family, as if he had received the bad news that his entire family was going to be executed. Yang She cried and said to his son Yang Ningshi, "It is unfortunate for our family! You will definitely be implicated by this."

Like Yang She, almost all loyal officials and scholars were unwilling to serve in the imperial court, and fled in large numbers, hiding in the mountains and forests. The imperial court ordered all prefectures and counties to forcibly send them away. Among them, Li Deyu's grandson Li Yangu was among them.

Li Deyu, the leader of the "Li Party" in the "Niu-Li Party Dispute", was a senior in the political arena and had a much greater reputation than Yang Shou. Li Yangu also became one of Zhu Wen's top vases.

Li Yangu lived in Pingquanzhuang at that time, which was 30 miles away from Luoyang. Before the imperial edict was delivered, Luoyang issued a letter of appointment first, which was a move that was made before the report was made. It was impossible to wait for the 30-mile round trip, which showed how hungry Zhu Wen's group was for political vases.

There is another vase, Sikong Tu.

Sikong Tu, whose courtesy name was Biaosheng, was a Jinshi during the reign of Emperor Yizong. He was a poet and poetry critic in the late Tang Dynasty. Three volumes of his poems were included in the Complete Tang Poems, and his poetry theory work Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry is an immortal work and a monument in the poetry theory world.

When Huang Chao invaded Chang'an, one of his brother's servants joined Huang Chao's army and persuaded Sikong Tu to serve Huang Chao. Sikong Tu did not succumb to the enemy, but resigned and retired. Later, he heard that Emperor Xizong was in Fengxiang, so he went to see him. Not long after, Emperor Xizong fled to Chengdu. Sikong Tu could not follow him and retired again. After Zhaozong ascended the throne, Sikong Tu served again, but unfortunately fell seriously ill and retired again. After that, Zhaozong summoned him several times. Sikong Tu knew that the power of the emperor had fallen into the hands of others, and he did not want to help the emperor to commit atrocities, so he kept refusing to go to court on the pretext of illness.

Sikong Tu's career was full of ups and downs. Generally speaking, he spent much more time in seclusion than in office. He was basically in seclusion. His poems were mostly completed during his seclusion, so his poetry style is mostly about the leisurely and leisurely feelings of seclusion in the mountains and rivers, indifferent to fame and fortune, and a sense of seeing through the world.

"There are concerns in poetry, but one must be careful not to express discontent in poetry."

Sikong Tu's background may not be prominent enough, but he was a cultural celebrity and internet-famous scholar at the time, and naturally he was also a target for Zhu Wen's group to win over.

Facing the imperial court's call, Sikong Tu still refused to go because of illness. However, Liu Can used both soft and hard tactics, and Sikong Tu was afraid of causing disaster to his family, so he had to bite the bullet and go to Luoyang. But Sikong Tu was unwilling to go along with the thieves from the bottom of his heart, so he came up with a plan.

Sikong Tu was nearly 70 years old, so he pretended to be old and frail, spoke slurred words on purpose, answered irrelevant questions, and showed severe symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. He trembled so much that even his tablet slipped to the ground.

Liu Can was disappointed when he saw this, so he rescinded the appointment and expelled the old man from Luoyang. Sikong Tu was able to escape unscathed and continued to live in seclusion. Two years later, Zhu Wen murdered Emperor Ai, ending the Tang Dynasty. Sikong Tu was so grief-stricken that he starved himself to death at the age of 71.

(End of this chapter)