History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 208 Death of Liu Can
"If I don't use the Nine Gifts, can I not be the emperor? (If I don't receive the Nine Gifts, can I not be the emperor?)" This sentence was not correctly interpreted by Jiang Xuanhui, which led to Jiang Xuanhui's life tragedy and also implicated Liu Can.

It was already November, and a few days later (November 11) was the Southern Suburbs Heavenly Offering Ceremony of Emperor Ai, and civil and military officials were rehearsing every day. There was news from Bianzhou that Zhu Wen was almost mad, and believed that Jiang Xuanhui and Liu Can were holding the Southern Suburbs Heavenly Offering Ceremony to pray for the Tang Dynasty and prolong its reign.

Jiang Xuanhui and Liu Can were horrified. The ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven in the southern suburbs had to be postponed again, to the first month of next year.

Jiang and Liu were completely blinded by fear and went all the way to "add the Nine Gifts". After intense conspiracy and almost perverted persistence, the two finally proposed the political issue of adding the Nine Gifts to Zhu Wen in the court.

As expected, most officials were indignant about this, but they could only remain silent under the pressure, expressing their attitudes. Only one person took the initiative to speak out and support Zhu Wen, and that person was Su Kai's father, the Minister of Rites Su Xun.

Su Xun stepped out of the class, with a flattering face, and said shamelessly: "Liang Wang Zhu Wen has made great contributions. He is the destiny and the people's will. Your Majesty should quickly give up his position."

The huge court was completely silent; no one dared to object, and no one was willing to agree.

Emperor Ai issued an edict, ordering Zhu Wen to be the prime minister and the governor of all civil and military officials (Zong Baikui). Zhu Wen was the only one in the entire Tang Dynasty to receive this honor; he was also named "King of Wei", with 21 towns including Xuanwu and Xuanyi (Zhu Wen's sphere of influence) as the Kingdom of Wei; and he was given the Nine Gifts.

Since Zhu Wen already had the title of "King of Liang", why did he go to the trouble of naming him King of Wei? Was he really trying to pay tribute to Cao Cao?

The imperial court issued an edict, not only conferring the title of "King of Wei" on Zhu Wen, but also posthumously conferring the title of "King of Wei" on his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father.

You are the King of Wei, and your entire family is the King of Wei.

In order to show respect for the King of Wei, the imperial court ordered that all place names in the country that violated taboos be changed, such as changing "Zhaoxin Army" to "Rongzhao Army" (avoiding the taboo of Zhu Wen's grandfather Zhu Xin), changing "Chengde Army" to "Wushun Army" (avoiding the taboo of Zhu Wen's father Zhu Cheng), and so on.

Zhu Wen was furious and rejected them all.

Refusing the title was also a standard procedure, as the recipient always had to put on a show. But Zhu Wen acted too much like himself, refusing to accept it.

Jiang Xuanhui hurriedly took the emperor's handwritten edict to Bianzhou to convey the emperor's sincere intention to abdicate. When he came back, he brought everyone a shocking news: Zhu Wen was still furious and refused to accept the throne.

The next morning (the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month), Liu Can made a memorial to the emperor, saying, "The people of the whole country are looking forward to Zhu Wen's ascension to the throne. Your Majesty, it is time to unload the heavy burden on your shoulders. Isn't it wonderful?"

On the same day, Emperor Ai sent Liu Can to Bianzhou again to convey his intention of abdication.

Zhu Wen refused outright.

Wang Yin and Kong Xun added fuel to the fire of Zhu Wen, who was already angry, and further framed Jiang Xuanhui.

First, they made groundless accusations and dug up an old account. Then, they gave full play to the creative enthusiasm of the working people, exaggerated the story and acted recklessly, weaving together a horrifying but popular palace scandal that eventually brought Jiang Xuanhui and others to their death.

This past event has to start with the murder of Emperor Zhaozong:

A year ago, Jiang Xuanhui led his cronies into the palace to assassinate Emperor Zhaozong. When he was planning to kill Empress He, Empress He begged Jiang Xuanhui desperately and saved her life. Recently, Empress He has been in frequent contact with Jiang Xuanhui.

So, Wang Yin and Kong Xun took advantage of the situation and said that Jiang Xuanhui had an affair with Empress Dowager He, and that Empress Dowager He's personal maids A Qian and A Qiu passed the information and played the role of pimps; while Jiang Xuanhui, Liu Can, Zhang Tingfan and others met privately every night and talked their hearts out to each other. They burned incense and swore an oath in front of Empress Dowager He to revive the Tang Dynasty.

The truth is: the three of them did spend the whole day together, but their plan was to speed up the abdication; the two maids did act as liaisons between Empress Dowager He and Jiang Xuanhui, and they had frequent contacts. What they said and entrusted to them was that they hoped that Jiang Xuanhui would save their lives after Emperor Ai abdicated. As for the reason why Empress He was not killed, it was mentioned in the previous article that it was to use Empress He's mouth to cover up the truth of the regicide.

Words are obstacles, and clothes are creepy hair. Wang Yin and Kong Xun distorted and processed these facts, weaving a scandal about the queen mother and falsely accusing Jiang Xuanhui and others of betraying Zhu Wen.

Jiang Xuanhui lost Zhu Wen's trust because he did not understand Zhu Wen's reprimand and still followed the rules to be granted the title of King of Wei and the Nine Gifts; Liu Can was also deeply despised by Zhu Wen because of his popularity in the previous political purge. Zhu Wen, who was born in a poor family, hated the self-proclaimed noble and aloof aristocrats and old nobles who talked about morality all day long, but were full of thieves and prostitutes. Hypocrites were more hateful than real villains. Wang Yin and Kong Xun's false accusations were quite to Zhu Wen's liking. Zhu Wen agreed with their statements without investigation. Kong Xun is my grandson, Zhu Wen, and I believe in this grandson.

The next day (the eleventh day of the twelfth lunar month), the imperial court issued an edict: arrest Jiang Xuanhui and his party; replace them with Wang Yin and Kong Xun. At the same time, Zhu Wen submitted three petitions in succession, resolutely resigning the title of "King of Wei" and the gift of "Nine Gifts". Didn't you say that you should resign three times? I resigned three times in a row. Is that enough?
Two days later (the 13th day of the 12th lunar month), the imperial court issued another decree: approving Zhu Wen's request to resign from the title of King of Wei and the Nine Gifts, and changing him to the title of Grand Marshal of the Army.

At this time, Zhu Wen had already built a palace in Bianzhou. When he received this imperial edict, he was so angry that his nose was almost crooked. He immediately executed Jiang Xuanhui and beat Jiang Xuanhui's followers to death with sticks to vent his anger.

On the 16th day of the twelfth lunar month, the positions of Privy Councilor and Envoy to the Southern Court of Xuanhui were abolished, leaving only Envoy to Xuanhui, who was appointed by Wang Yin and Kong Xun as the Deputy Envoy to Xuanhui. This was actually a consolidation of power in the palace, as Wang Yin and Kong Xun completely divided up all the power of Jiang Xuanhui's party. The conspiracy of the two to frame Jiang Xuanhui was thus declared a complete victory.

The next day (the 17th day of the twelfth lunar month), the imperial court issued an edict prohibiting palace maids from conveying the emperor's will and from accompanying the emperor to the palace. This further marginalized the emperor and cut off the emperor's last line of communication with the outside world.

At the same time, all of Jiang Xuanhui's official titles were stripped, and he was given the title of "evil and rebellious commoner". His body was dragged outside the gate of Luoyang and burned for public display.

A few days later (on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month), Zhu Wen secretly ordered Wang Yin and Kong Xun to execute Empress Dowager He and the palace maids A Qian and A Qiu. Emperor Ai, who endured great humiliation and grief, issued an edict to demote his mother, Empress Dowager He, who had died unjustly, to a commoner.

Due to the death of the Empress Dowager, court was suspended for three days.

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, the imperial court issued an edict: cancel the grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to the gods originally scheduled for the 17th day of the first lunar month of next year. I have nothing to do in the southern suburbs.

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Liu Can was demoted to the position of Governor of Dengzhou and Zhang Tingfan was demoted to the position of Sihu of Laizhou.

Similarly, according to convention and actual situation, the two did not have to travel far to the Shandong Peninsula. The next day (the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month), the two were tied to the execution ground, where Zhang Tingfan was torn to pieces, while Liu Can, a descendant of a famous family, a popular historian, and an internet celebrity, enjoyed the privilege of beheading.

On New Year's Eve, the residents of the capital Luoyang put up lanterns and decorations to welcome the arrival of the New Year, and prepared to listen to the bells to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new, praying for good weather and peace in the country in the coming year. On this day, the court specially arranged a unique Spring Festival Gala for the residents of the capital - Zhang Tingfan was torn apart by five horses; Liu Can was beheaded outside the East Gate.

When a person is about to die, his words are also good.

Zhang Tingfan should have remembered Zhu Yougong's words before his execution;

In just a few days, Liu Can experienced the greatest joys and sorrows in life, and almost fell from the peak of his life to the bottom in an instant, from being in power to death and disgrace.

As death was approaching, Liu Can suddenly repented. Past experiences flashed through his mind quickly, with shame, regret, self-blame, and unwillingness...

According to historical records, Liu Can shouted before his execution: "Liu Can, the traitor who betrayed his country, you deserve to die!"

The Old Book of Tang called Liu Can a "demon disciple", and the New Book of Tang directly included him in the "Biography of Traitorous Ministers", which has also become the mainstream evaluation of him in the historical community. Looking back at his actions, he is indeed worthy of these negative evaluations.

I am also not shameless enough to force a reversal of his verdict to attract attention. A treacherous minister is a treacherous minister.

To be honest, the last words Liu Can left to the world before his death were a loud curse on himself, and he concluded his death with the three words "traitor to the country". This shows that deep in his heart he still had room for the four words "propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame", and deep down he still insisted that he was a scholar.

The evaluation of “traitor to the country” is accurate enough.

Before his death, Zhu Yougong also shouted and insulted Zhu Wen for killing the donkey and shirking the blame, and cursed Zhu Wen to have no descendants. Like Zhu Yougong, many treacherous ministers, villains, and bad guys would shout out the deepest viciousness in their hearts, the grievances and injustices from the bottom of their hearts, and be stubborn when they were dying. However, there were only a few who could realize the truth and curse themselves like Liu Can.

(End of this chapter)