History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 227 Li Kening's Rebellion
[Li Kening's treason case]

The tree wants to be calm and the wind does not stop.

In front of Li Keyong's spirit, Li Kening flatly rejected Li Cunxu's request to "give up the throne", and took the lead in kneeling and kowtowing to Li Cunxu, swearing allegiance.

However, the "old gang" still hoped that Li Kening could become the head of the Hedong Group. People kept lobbying Li Kening, urging him to depose his nephew and establish himself as king. The most active member among them was Li Cunhao.

Li Cunhao actively lobbied Li Kening, "It has been a tradition since ancient times for a brother to succeed his elder brother. How can an uncle kneel down to his nephew? Now, the military and political power of Hedong is in your hands, and the people's support is very high. As the saying goes, destiny is your will and the people's expectations are yours. God gave it to you, but you refused it. It will be too late for you to regret it in the future!"

Whether it is the Central Plains civilization or the nomadic civilization, there is a saying that the son inherits the throne after the father dies, and the younger brother inherits the throne after the elder brother dies. But generally speaking, the Central Plains mainly adopts the son to inherit the throne after the father dies, while the nomadic peoples adopt the younger brother to inherit the throne more commonly. In fact, this is not really due to the constraints of morality and etiquette. All behavioral habits have traces to follow. Simply put, it is the result of a comprehensive power game. If the younger brother or other forces are stronger than the son, then the younger brother must inherit the throne after the elder brother.

Nomadic peoples are generally less civilized, and their political form is basically a complete reflection of military strength, a loose military alliance system. Therefore, after the death of the old chieftain or Khan, fierce internal armed conflicts often break out, and the next chieftain or Khan is determined by the strength of military strength. In this primitive and direct game, the "younger brother" is often stronger than the "son", which gives people the illusion that nomadic peoples advocate "brother-to-brother succession".

Facing Li Cunhao's persuasion, Li Kening flatly refused and solemnly declared: "Our Li family has been famous for the kindness of fathers and filial piety of sons from generation to generation. The legacy of the previous king can only be passed on to the son. Don't try to sow discord anymore, otherwise, I will chop off your head first!"

Like Li Cunhao, the "old gang" was unable to convince Li Kening. But they still did not give up, so they changed to the "wife route" and sent their wives to lobby Li Kening's wife.

Li Kening's wife, Mrs. Meng, was a very strong woman, but also a woman who was easily influenced. She could not resist the lobbying and also believed that Li Kening should seize power and become independent. So she kept whispering in Li Kening's ear, urging him to make the decision.

Li Kening was caught in a situation of being besieged from all sides, with people fanning the flames both inside and outside. He and Zhang Chengye and Li Cunzhang also had disagreements at work and quarreled repeatedly.

This is not difficult to understand, because although Li Kening did not want to overthrow Li Cunxu, he was after all a representative of the "Yi Lao Gang" and had to safeguard the interests of the "Yi Lao Gang". Li Cunzhang also took action against the "Yi Lao Gang", and Zhang Chengye tried his best to assist Li Cunxu and actively weakened the "Yi Lao Gang". It was completely reasonable for Li Kening to have a rift with the two of them.

Soon, the political struggle between the "Prince Gang" and the "Old Gang" reached its peak, with two landmark events:

First, Li Kening killed Li Cunzhi without authorization. Li Cunzhi's position at that time was Du Yuhou, equivalent to the chief inspector of the army and the captain of the military police, and he was the pioneer in weakening the "old gang".

Second, Li Kening split Hedong. Li Kening allocated Wei, Shuo and Ying prefectures to establish the Datong war zone and personally served as the governor of Datong.

It can be said that Li Kening has objectively started the road to seizing power.

Next, Li Cunhao and Li Kening conspired to set up the Hongmen Banquet, launch a coup, kill Zhang Chengye and Li Cunzhang, capture Li Cunxu and his mother alive, and surrender them to Zhu Wen as a token of their allegiance and become vassals of the Later Liang Dynasty.

In order to ensure that there were no mistakes, Li Kening wanted to find out some information about Li Cunxu, so he found a confidant, Shi Jingrong. Shi Jingrong had been with Li Keyong since he was a child and had always been trusted.

The following description is well-documented in historical records, but I insist that it has been artificially embellished and there must be a bigger conspiracy behind it. Let's first follow the historical description and then make a deductive restoration.

Existing historical records describe:

Li Kening told Shi Jingrong about the coup plan and asked him to find out about Li Cunxu. Shi Jingrong agreed on the surface, but then he revealed the whole coup plot to Li Cunxu and his mother.

Mrs. Cao (Li Cunxu's biological mother) immediately summoned Zhang Chengye and pointed at Li Cunxu and cried, "The late king entrusted this child to you. I heard that someone wanted to stage a coup to seize power. We, an orphan and a widow, dare not have any other ideas. We only ask you to have mercy on us and spare our lives. Don't send us to Bianzhou!"

Zhang Chengye was shocked and immediately stated his position, "Even if I die, I dare not go against the late king's wishes. Why did the lady suddenly say such a thing?"

Li Cunxu then told Shi Jingrong all the information he had disclosed, and cried in anger and grief, "How can blood relatives kill each other? If my uncle really wants to seize power, I will resign."

Zhang Chengye said in a categorical voice: "Li Kening actually wants to send the king and his son into the tiger's mouth. He is totally unscrupulous! If we don't get rid of him today, the king will not be safe." So he summoned Li Cunzhang and other confidants to conspire to take the initiative.

Soon, Li Cunxu set up a banquet in the palace hall and invited all the generals to the banquet. During the banquet, the swordsmen rushed out and captured Li Kening and Li Cunhao on the spot.

Li Cunxu burst into tears and accused Li Kening, "My nephew was willing to give up his title and military and political power to me from the beginning, but you refused. Why do you have such a conspiracy now? You actually have the heart to hand us mother and son over to the hands of the enemy!"

Li Kening sighed to the sky and said that it was all the villains who fanned the flames and sowed discord, but now that things have come to this, I have nothing to say.

Afterwards, Li Kening and Li Cunhao were beheaded in public, and a civil strife was promptly quelled in its infancy.

It is written in black and white in the history books, and it seems reasonable at first glance. But when I think about it carefully, I always feel that something is wrong. The problem lies with the informer Shi Jingrong. Why did Li Kening tell him such a secret conspiracy?

If you were Li Kening, plotting a coup and wanting to find out what was going on in the palace, you would just tell Shi Jingrong to do it. It would be nothing more than asking him to report every move in the palace and every word and deed of Li Cunxu every day. In this way, even if Shi Jingrong was suspected, caught, or turned against, you would have a good reason to explain: I care about you! I am busy with official duties and cannot ask about your daily life and greet you in the morning and evening. Can't I send a secretary to help me care about you?

Furthermore, if Shi Jingrong knew these inside stories, would he still be able to remain calm and composed when he went deep into the palace? Unless he was a professionally trained agent, he would definitely be in turmoil. Even if he didn't want to betray Li Kening, it was hard to guarantee that he wouldn't be noticed. The deeper someone is at the front line, the less they can know about the inside stories. This is the basic principle of intelligence work.

Historical records say that Li Kening told Shi Jingrong the entire conspiracy and then asked Shi Jingrong to lurk beside Li Cunxu... Is Li Kening mentally retarded?

History is written by the victors.

Just like the "Anti-Yang Movement", I always believe that the truth of the "Li Kening Rebellion Case" is far from as simple as the few words in history books.

The "Li Kening Rebellion Case" was the climax of the political game between Li Cunxu's "Prince Gang" and Li Kening's "Old Guard Gang", and was a decisive battle for the ownership of the highest power in the Hedong Group.

As the saying goes, a tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop. Li Kening did not want to rebel, but the "old guard gang" needed him to rebel and spared no effort to instigate and encourage him to rebel.

Therefore, if Li Cunxu wanted to maintain his position in Hedong, Li Kening had to die and the "old gang" had to be eliminated. "Li Kening's rebellion" was a serious political issue. Li Kening's rebellion was both the demand of the "old gang" and the political need of the "prince gang", just as "Yang Fugong's rebellion" was the need of Emperor Zhaozong.

Once you are in the arena, you have no choice. Li Kening's personal will is not important. Although he is in a high position, he is just a pawn in a political struggle. The organization needs him to "rebel".

The "informer" Shi Jingrong is also just a pawn. There are countless such pawns in history, and there are many in this book alone.

After Li Kening was arrested, facing Li Cunxu's questioning, Li Kening cried: "The slanderers are plotting against me, what else can I say!" There are two interpretations of this particularly crucial sentence.

The first is the mainstream view, which supports the claim that Li Kening actually plotted a rebellion, explaining it as "I was misled by slander, so I plotted a coup. I have nothing to say and I plead guilty and accept the punishment."

The second is the "truth" I reasoned: "This matter (rebellion) is slander. You can always find a pretext to accuse me. You use this as an excuse to kill me. What else can I say?"

Those who wronged me know my injustice better than I do.

Li Kening followed Li Keyong in his military career, and was used to seeing the wars and battles, and was even more used to seeing the autumn moon and spring breeze in the political struggle. What did he not understand? So he did not cry out for injustice, did not make excuses, "You want to kill me, then do it, I know it all, it's useless to say anything, so don't say anything, "what else can I say"?
As for Li Kening's "splitting" of Hedong, it can actually be seen as a compromise and concession to the "old guard". Since you have been making trouble for me all day, I will help you fight for some benefits. Stop it now, and don't make trouble for me!
It is an indisputable fact that in the face of Li Cunhao's instigation, Li Kening did not hesitate to issue death threats and severely rebuked those who instigated him to seize power. However, he completely "turned evil" in just one month (Li Keyong died of illness on January 1, and Li Cunxu captured and executed Li Kening on February 19). This is indeed very intriguing, and I have to wonder whether Li Kening really "turned evil".

In summary, I personally believe that Comrade Li Kening is innocent, wronged, and a victim of the political struggle of the Hedong Group. Once again, I emphasize that this is purely a personal opinion.

When Li Cunxu first ascended the throne, he faced three major problems: internal and external troubles.

Externally, of course, there was the "Battle of Luzhou", in which the Later Liang army marched into the country in large numbers and was at the gates of the city; internally, there were two aspects, which can also be divided into the inner line and the outer line. Among them, the "Regent" Li Kening was the inner line, and the outer line was Zhou Dewei.

Li Cunxu used his extraordinary political wisdom to resolve the internal crisis in less than a month. Next, he had to quickly resolve the external crisis so that he could concentrate all his efforts on dealing with the external threat from the Later Liang Dynasty.

Zhou Dewei is the "first echelon" of the Hedong Group. He is a man of both civil and military talents and has served the king for a long time. He has military accomplishments that are beyond the reach of ordinary people. For example, he can guess how many troops the enemy has by looking at the smoke and dust from a distance (looking at the smoke and dust, knowing the military situation). He has been present in all the battles of the Hedong Group.

Even in the Bian army, there was a saying that "the Jin people rely on Zhou Yangwu". Zhou Dewei was the hope of the whole village, and the Hedong Group was counting on him. At that time, a fierce general under Shi Shucong, "Chen Yasha" Chen Zhang, was confident that he could capture Zhou Dewei alive, and even proposed to exchange Zhou Dewei for a position as a governor. Zhou Dewei was brave and resourceful, and he did not rely on his courage. He used a little trick to capture him alive by changing his skin. From then on, Zhou Dewei became even more famous.

After the "Battle of Luzhou" broke out, Li Keyong mobilized all the troops in the country, led by Zhou Dewei, to reinforce. The reason why the "Battle of Luzhou" could last for more than a year and forced the Later Liang Dynasty to change its commander three times was inseparable from Li Sizhao's tenacious defense and Zhou Dewei's assistance.

Now that Li Keyong has passed away, Zhou Dewei has become an important external factor threatening Li Cunxu's smooth succession to the throne. There are two reasons:
First, Zhou Dewei had a long career and high prestige. Most importantly, he commanded a large number of troops (almost all the troops of the Hedong Group) and led the army outside. If he had other ideas, or was encouraged by his generals to have other ideas, he could drive Li Cunxu off the throne by waving his flag.

Secondly, Zhou Dewei might also defect to the Later Liang Dynasty because he was afraid of Li Cunxu's suspicion. In this way, he would indirectly overthrow Li Cunxu. So Li Cunxu's inner monologue to Zhou Dewei was "I believe you will not rebel, but you have to believe that I believe you will not rebel."

Just when Li Keyong was critically ill, Zhou Dewei led his troops to retreat. The Taiyuan government was full of doubts, not knowing what Zhou Dewei's intentions were.

After Li Cunxu spent a month to deal with Li Kening, he ordered Zhou Dewei to return to the capital to test Zhou Dewei's attitude.

After receiving the order, Zhou Dewei led his army back. Zhou Dewei left his army outside the city and walked into the city alone. He threw himself on Li Keyong's coffin and cried bitterly. After crying for a long time, Zhou Dewei was helped down and met the young emperor Li Cunxu.

Zhou Dewei was extremely respectful to Li Cunxu, and was very respectful to him. At this time, everyone was relieved that Zhou Dewei and Li Keyong were in true love! Zhou Dewei was loyal to Li Cunxu.

At this point, Li Kening in the inside and Zhou Dewei in the outside were properly dealt with. Li Cunxu basically stabilized the "internal troubles" and began to tackle the "external troubles".

(End of this chapter)