History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 239: The Prince's Rebellion

[The Prince's Rebellion]

Wang Jian was old and had many adopted sons, as many as 120. All of them held important troops and high positions, and they all coveted the position of successor, such as Wang Zongji.

Forced by reality, Wang Jian appointed his second son Wang Zongyi as the crown prince, and gave him the command of the central imperial guards. He also set up Yonghe Prefecture and selected outstanding people from the civil and military officials as the crown prince's staff. The "crown prince's gang" grew in power and was ready to take over, just waiting for the old emperor to die.

Crown Prince Wang Zongyi was well aware of the principle that "a new emperor appoints his own ministers", and he excluded all of Wang Jian's meritorious old ministers. Tang Daoxi, as the leader of the "old ministers gang", became Wang Zongyi's number one target of suppression.

The last person to fight with Tang Daoxi was Wang Zongji. It seems that Wang Zongyi did not learn enough lessons from his brother.

Wang Zongyi publicly humiliated Tang Daoxi many times, making no effort to conceal his contempt and rejection of him. The two accused each other and threw dirty water on each other in front of Wang Jian.

On one side was his own son, and on the other side was his trusted old minister. Wang Jian had no choice but to send Tang Daoxi away to Xingyuan Prefecture as the governor of Shannan West Road. Distance creates beauty.

At this point, it should be said that Wang Zongyi had achieved a phased victory. However, things did not go as planned. At this time, the relationship between Qi and Shu broke down, and Xingyuan Prefecture became the front line of the war. Tang Daoxi made another outstanding achievement on the Xingyuan front, so he was transferred back to the central government and served as the Privy Councilor again.

Wang Zongyi continued to make trouble. As a result, Tang Daoxi was demoted and given the title of Prince's Guardian, losing all his real power. The "Prince Gang" won again.

Today, the meritorious old officials have been suppressed to the point where they can’t even raise their heads. The “adopted son gang” doesn’t even need Wang Zongyi to do anything personally. Wang Jian started suppressing them a long time ago. The prince Wang Zongyi has a bright future.

In order to ensure that Former Shu had a qualified successor, Wang Jian ordered people to select well-educated people with simple temperament and high morals to be Wang Zongyi's tutors to teach him the art of being an emperor. However, Wang Zongyi was very rude to the imperial tutors and did not even say a word to them. He played games with actors and actresses all day long without restraint. Moreover, Wang Zongyi was irritable, cruel and tyrannical, and none of his subordinates dared to persuade him.

Wang Zongyi had not yet officially assumed the post of emperor, but he had already shown signs of being a tyrant.

In early July of the third year of Qianhua (913), Wang Jian planned to go out of the palace for a trip on the Double Seventh Festival (July 7). On the day before (July 7), Wang Zongyi convened a banquet for all the princes and senior central officials. Everyone gathered together, drank and talked happily, and "discussed the etiquette of going out on the Double Seventh Festival."

Wang Zongyi, who was meticulous yet narrow-minded and suspicious, calmly counted the number of people attending the banquet and found that Wang Zonghan (Wang Jian's adopted son), Pan Qiao and Mao Wenxi were absent.

Wang Zongyi was furious and said that Wang Zonghan's failure to attend the banquet must have been caused by Pan Qiao and Mao Wenxi! He raised his absence from the banquet to the level of political alignment.

During the banquet, Wang Zongyi's two confidants, Xu Yao and Chang Qian, kept looking at Tang Daoxi, whispering to each other and exchanging glances. Tang Daoxi was terrified and fled the banquet early, using the excuse of going to the toilet.

Early the next morning (July 7), Wang Zongyi went to the palace to file a complaint. He had no evidence to support his claim that Pan Qiao and Mao Wenxi were trying to sow discord between us brothers.

Wang Jian immediately banished the two men from the court without any investigation.

No one knows a father better than his son. Wang Zongyi knew that stirring up trouble between his adopted son and the crown prince was the most untouchable red line in Wang Jian’s heart. “Adopted son” was his most sensitive nerve and the biggest taboo.

Wang Zongyi walked out of the palace triumphantly.

At this time, a figure flashed into the palace. This person was Tang Daoxi.

When Wang Jian saw Tang Daoxi, he told him everything that had just happened without any hesitation. His original intention was to complain to Tang Daoxi, saying that Confucian scholars were hateful and were alienating fathers and sons, and between the ruler and his subjects.

Tang Daoxi's words shocked Wang Jian: "The prince is plotting a rebellion!"

"what?"

"The prince is plotting a coup and wants to take the opportunity to imprison the princes. Your Majesty is going out of the palace for a walk today, but he summoned all the officials and princes the day before, and the troops outside are all the prince's troops..."

The most destructive power is to leave the words unsaid. Let the listener use his imagination and scare himself.

Wang Jian broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this and immediately announced the cancellation of his Valentine's Day travel plans.

In fact, Wang Jian was always on guard against the "Prince Gang". During the previous battle between Qi and Shu, as soon as the situation on the front line stabilized, Wang Jian would be eager to return to Chengdu to prevent the "Prince Gang" from plotting a rebellion.

The "Prince Gang" controls the central imperial guards and has a complete and independent set of civil and military officials. Even if the prince does not want to help the old emperor until his death, it is inevitable that his subordinates will be eager to help him become a regular employee.

Tang Daoxi added another explosive plan, suggesting that the field army be ordered to enter the capital to guard the palace. It is not advisable to have the intention to harm others, but it is necessary to be on guard against others. Wang Jian approved the suggestion, so the field army from various places suddenly moved towards Chengdu, and Chengdu City was declared under martial law. Wang Zongyi really did not intend to rebel at that time. When he heard that Tang Daoxi had mobilized the field army to enter the capital, he also hurriedly mobilized the imperial army to defend himself. At the same time, he arrested Pan Qiao and Mao Wenxi and tortured them severely. The two were even more wronged. They were almost tortured to death, but they did not get the confession that Wang Zongyi wanted, so they were temporarily imprisoned.

The next day (July 7), Wang Zongyi decided to take the initiative and led the imperial army to attack Tang Daoxi. Tang Daoxi was shot by a stray arrow, and then captured and beheaded by Wang Zongyi. Many field troops entering Beijing were also killed. For a time, rumors spread throughout the Former Shu, some saying that the crown prince Wang Zongyi was going to rebel, and some saying that Tang Daoxi was going to rebel... China and foreign countries were shocked.

At this time, there were wise people in the court who pointed out that this was just a power struggle between Crown Prince Wang Zongyi and Tang Daoxi, and neither of them had any intention of rebellion. Your Majesty should meet with senior officials to mediate and appease them.

So Wang Jian summoned Wang Zongkan, Wang Zonghe and Wang Zonglu and ordered them to attack the rebels Xu Yao and Chang Qian.

After a small-scale conflict, Xu Yao was shot dead, and Chang Qian protected Wang Zongyi and escaped, hiding at the bottom of a cabin. The imperial guards, who had lost their command, were immediately suppressed by Wang Zongkan and others.

At midnight, Wang Zongyi was hungry and begged for food from the people on the boat. His identity was exposed and he was reported. Wang Jian sent his adopted son and nephew, Wang Zonghan, to comfort him.

But when Wang Zonghan arrived, Wang Zongyi was already dead.

When the news came, Wang Jian burst into tears and believed that Wang Zonghan had deliberately killed the prince. The attendants around him were worried that Wang Jian would launch a purge, and the people were in panic.

At this time, Prime Minister Zhang Ge had just drafted an edict to appease the people and sent it to Wang Jian for review. The purpose of the draft edict was to determine that Wang Zongyi was plotting a rebellion, but now that the rebellion had been settled, the people should not panic.

Wang Jian immediately regained his sanity, since the dead could not be resurrected anyway, so he announced that Wang Zongyi's title of crown prince would be abolished and he would be demoted to a commoner. Wang Zonghan also found out the murderer of Wang Zongyi and executed him according to law, along with dozens of Wang Zongyi's attendants.

Crown Prince Wang Zongyi died, and Wang Jian needed to re-appoint a successor.

Wang Jian was hesitant about the selection of the new crown prince. He had two candidates in mind: Wang Zonglu and Wang Zongjie. Wang Zonglu had the charm of Wang Jian when he was young, while Wang Zongjie was outstandingly talented.

Wang Zongyan, the son of Wang Jian's favorite concubine, Concubine Xu, was only 15 years old this year and was incompetent and not even among the candidates for the crown prince. Concubine Xu took the initiative and bribed Prime Minister Zhang Ge with ingots of gold.

Zhang Ge was the son of Zhang Jun, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. When Zhang Jun's family was exterminated, his good friend took the risk to help Zhang Ge escape to Shu. After the establishment of Former Shu, he was appointed prime minister.

As mentioned above, Zhang Jun's life was dishonorable, absurd and funny, and his son Zhang Ge inherited and carried forward the dishonor. Historical records record that Zhang Ge was "handsome and cunning, with his father's style." This means that Zhang Ge was knowledgeable and cultured, but he was immoral, just like his father.

Zhang Ge was petty, narrow-minded, jealous of talented people, and ruthlessly rejected and suppressed anyone who was more talented than him. More stories about him will appear later.

According to historical records, when Wang Jian appointed Zhang Ge as prime minister, he said to him with great expectations: "Don't rely on your power, don't act in private, and be impartial. This is the duty of a prime minister." However, Zhang Ge's actual behavior was to "cater to others' ideas and eliminate those who are better than him."

The reason why Wang Jian appointed Zhang Ge as prime minister was, on the one hand, to use his background - "the son of the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty" to decorate his appearance, and on the other hand, to take advantage of his jealousy of talented people to complete the political purge and pave the way for the prince.

No matter how much he planned, Wang Jian never expected that he would suffer the consequences of his own actions.

Zhang Ge and Concubine Xu hit it off immediately. Even though he didn't have 100 ingots of gold, Zhang Ge was happy to cling to the "crown prince" and enjoy the credit of supporting him. So that night he drafted a memorial requesting the enthronement of Wang Zongyan as the crown prince, and secretly showed it to Wang Zongkan and other veteran meritorious officials for review, deceiving them that it was a secret decree from Wang Jian and was Wang Jian's intention.

Everyone believed it, and the "Crown Prince Rebellion Case" broke out and was calmed down in a muddled way. There were many doubts, and everyone was in danger. Who dared to argue with Wang Jian on the issue of the crown prince at this time? Since it was Wang Jian's idea, all the civil and military officials signed their names on the memorial to show their support.

Zhang Ge also secretly colluded with several well-known fortune tellers whom Wang Jian trusted, and revealed to them that Wang Jian favored Wang Zongyan.

The next day, Wang Jian received a joint memorial from civil and military officials in support of Wang Zongyan. As expected, Wang Jian secretly summoned these "masters" and asked them to read the faces and bones of these princes. Several "masters" who received "inside information" deliberately catered to Wang Jian's "will" and unanimously determined that Wang Zongyan had the appearance of great wealth and honor, and was indescribably noble.

Wang Jian then issued an edict to appoint Wang Zongyan as the Crown Prince.

Until the moment the imperial edict was announced, Wang Jian could not help but mutter to himself: "This kid is young and ignorant, and he is also stupid and cowardly... How can we know that he can handle such a big responsibility?"

After Wang Zongyan was established as the crown prince, the political situation of Former Shu was stabilized. Another unstable element, Wang Zongxun (Wang Jian's adopted son), was killed, and the "old ministers gang" was deterred again; the war between Qi and Shu was rekindled, and Former Shu won battle after battle, with frequent good news; Nanzhao invaded again, but was defeated by Wang Zongfan, Wang Zongbo, and Wang Zongshou. Wang Jian took advantage of the situation to suppress the "traitor" group, and from then on, Nanzhao never dared to invade again.

Wang Jian’s intuition was not wrong. Wang Zongyan was not capable of protecting the family at all. The foundation he had worked so hard to build was destroyed by Wang Zongyan’s hands.

The story of the death of the second emperor of Former Shu will be presented in detail later.

In short, Youzhou Liu Shouguang's claim to the throne tied up the main energy of Hedong Li Cunxu; the dispute between Qi and Shu also helped the Later Liang stabilize the western territory. The Later Liang finally ushered in the best opportunity for a northern expedition. Can Zhu Wen seize this opportunity?
(End of this chapter)