History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 241 Zhu Wen was assassinated
【Visiting the North with all speed】

History gave Zhu Wen an opportunity, but his health was not good enough. Zhu Wen dragged his sick body to "tour the north with all his strength", but returned empty-handed twice.

Zhu Wen's illness had been going on for a long time. As early as July of the third year of Kaiping (909), Zhu Wen fell seriously ill and "bedridden", and he never recovered from it.

In August, the condition improved slightly, and the patient recovered slightly.
In November of the fourth year of Kaiping (910), his condition improved slightly, and his illness was slightly cured.
But half a year later (911) in May, it was recorded that Zhu Wen's illness could not be cured for a long time, "the emperor was ill for a long time";
Just two months later, a scary word appeared in the "Records of Emperor Taizu" - "Emperor is not well". If we only look at the literal meaning, it doesn't seem so scary, and it literally means "The emperor is not well", but people who are familiar with history books should understand the true meaning of "not well". If "not well" appears in the "Records of Emperors", it can basically be regarded as a prelude to ineffective treatment.

For example, Emperor Yizong of Tang fell ill in June and died in July at the age of 6; Emperor Xizong of Tang fell ill in February and died in March at the age of 7.

In April of the second year of Qianhua (912), when Zhu Wen was on his way back south from the Heshuo region, he was "detained due to illness" in Liyang. He was too ill to continue his journey and had to stop.
After arriving in Luoyang the following month (May), Zhu Wen's illness became even more serious;
Another month passed (leap May), and "the emperor's illness worsened". At this time, Zhu Wen had already begun to arrange his funeral arrangements.

Zhu Wen lay on his sickbed, crying and speaking his heartfelt words to his attendants, "The remnant of Li Keyong in Taiyuan has great ambitions, but God is going to take my life. How can my sons be a match for Li Cunxu? I'm afraid, I will die without a burial place!" He cried so hard that he fainted and did not wake up until a long time later.

In addition to the military setbacks, the Later Liang Dynasty was also shaky politically, with frequent rebellions and fires everywhere. We don't need to list them one by one, but just emphasize one - Gao Jichang of Jingnan.

Seeing that Zhu Wen was dying, the grandson decided to establish his own kingdom and expanded the city in the name of resisting bandits. Later, Gao Jichang established the "Nanping Kingdom" based in Jingnan, becoming one of the "Ten Kingdoms".

Military and political turmoil accelerated the deterioration of Zhu Wen's illness. In that era of superstition about the connection between heaven and man, heaven also destroyed Zhu Wen's spiritual world more than once.

In the first month of the third year of Kaiping (909), Zhu Wen arrived in Luoyang, offered sacrifices at the royal ancestral temple, prayed for the protection of the ancestral spirits, and "performed affairs in the southern suburbs" to offer sacrifices to the gods in heaven.

A few days later, on February 2, there was a solar eclipse. Zhu Wen felt very upset. It was also in July of that year that Zhu Wen began to "sick in bed".

On the first day of the first lunar month in the fifth year of Kaiping (911), the first day of the new year, a solar eclipse occurred again. Zhu Wen felt even worse, and in July of that year, he fell ill.

In May of the second year of Qianhua (912), just when Zhu Wen's illness was "severe" and "getting worse", a comet appeared again.

I will accompany you to watch the meteor shower falling on the earth, and let your tears fall on my shoulders.

Just as the comet left, the planet Mars invaded the heart. Interestingly, Mars represents war and death, and is unlucky, whether in the East or the West. In particular, the natural phenomenon of Mars in the heart or Mars in the heart is usually regarded as a sign of the death of the emperor.

The relevant departments reported that Your Majesty must issue an edict of repentance to respond to heaven's punishment.

Since Zhu Wen fell ill, he had more than once issued a general amnesty, banned slaughtering, provided relief to the poor, invited monks to perform rituals, etc., in order to pray for blessings and peace.

In October of the first year of Qianhua (911), Zhu Wen visited Bailongtan to enjoy the fish. A fisherman caught a big fish (a fisherman caught a huge fish to offer as a sacrifice), and Zhu Wen ordered it to be released. At that time, the officials who accompanied him all rushed to flatter him, praising Zhu Wen for his kindness and compassion. On the same day, the officials submitted a memorial to change the name of Bailongtan to "Wansuitan".

Amnesty, banning slaughter, releasing animals, issuing an edict of self-criticism... these were all just psychological comforts for Zhu Wen. In recent years, although his condition has occasionally eased, it has generally shown a fluctuating downward trend.

During this period of illness and the Northern Expedition, Zhu Wen was affected by the defeats and illness, and his moods became unstable. He often took his anger out on killing people to vent his anger.

For example, he killed Zhang Quanyi's nephew for being late; he killed General Li Si'an for poor hospitality and neglect of government affairs.

It is extremely ironic that in the same month when Zhu Wen watched the fish in Wansui Lake, he reviewed the troops in the suburbs. Deng Jiyun, He Lingchou and Chen Lingxun were beheaded in public because their "subordinates and horses were too thin."

Deng Jiyun was a direct descendant of Zhu Wen's direct descendants. He was a subordinate of Zhu Wen during the Huang Chao army. When Zhang Jun was besieging Hedong, he was captured by Hedong and was treated favorably and reused by Li Keyong. Later, when Li Cunxiao rebelled, the Jin and Bian armies faced each other. Deng Jiyun seized the opportunity and fled to the Bian army camp at full speed, returning to Zhu Wen's arms, thus gaining Zhu Wen's trust.

He was loyal and conscientious, and had followed Zhu Wen for more than 30 years. Today, he was beheaded simply because his "subordinates and horses were too thin."

He executed old ministers for trivial matters, but because he released a big fish, "the ministers thought the emperor had a kind heart and were all pleased to see him."

In April of the second year of Qianhua (912), Zhu Wen returned to Luoyang and suddenly felt like going boating on the Jiuqu Pond.

Jiuquchi is where the souls of the wronged linger. It was the place where the "Jiuquchi Massacre" that shocked China and the world took place. Many princes, including Prince De Li Yu, died there.

Ghosts and gods may not exist in the world, but cause and effect of good and evil do exist.

Zhu Wen was boating on Jiuqu Pond when his boat capsized without warning and Zhu Wen fell into the water. After being rescued, Zhu Wen seemed to be seriously frightened and could not calm down for a long time.
He was guilty of his crime and had something to hide. Perhaps, he was seriously ill and had hallucinations. In that special occasion and strange accident, he vaguely saw the ghosts of the princes, Emperor Ai, and Emperor Zhaozong who were killed by him. They seemed to be slowly approaching him, and kept chanting "Give me back my life".

The drowning incident occurred in April. In May, Zhu Wen's illness became serious, and the next month his illness became even worse.

Coming out and mixing, sooner or later I have to pay it back.

[Zhu Wen was assassinated]

Zhu Wen had three qualified successors in his mind, his eldest son Zhu Youyu, his nephew Zhu Youning, and his nephew Zhu Youlun. Unfortunately, all three died before Zhu Wen. The remaining sons and nephews were what Zhu Wen called "pigs and dog ears", none of whom were capable.

Among these "pigs and dogs" were Prince Bo Zhu Youwen (adopted son), Prince Ying Zhu Yougui, Prince Jun Zhu Youzhen, Prince Kang Zhu Youzi and so on.

Among them, Prince Kang Zhu Youzi had the most unusual appearance. According to historical records, he had "double pupils in his eyes", which was similar to Xiang Yu, so he always thought he could become the emperor. Apart from his unusual appearance, there was nothing else worth mentioning. The reason why he was remembered in history was that he later plotted to assassinate the king and was killed after the plot was exposed.

Zhu Youzhen, Prince of Jun, was born to Lady Zhang Hui and was the eldest son of Zhu Wen. However, Zhu Wen did not seem to like this eldest son very much. Many historical materials can provide indirect evidence, which we will discuss one by one in the following text.

Prince Ying Zhu Yougui was an illegitimate child. As I mentioned in the previous article, when Zhu Wen plundered Bozhou, he summoned a prostitute to sleep with him. After more than a month, when Zhu Wen was about to leave, the prostitute told him that she was pregnant. However, Zhu Wen was notoriously afraid of his wife (Zhang Hui), and because of her low status, he did not dare to take her back, so he temporarily placed her in Bozhou. Later, she sent someone to announce the good news, saying that she had given birth to a baby boy. Zhu Wen was very happy and immediately gave the child a nickname - Yaoxi.

It was not until Mrs. Zhang Hui passed away a few years ago that Zhu Wen dared to take this Yao Xi to his side. This Yao Xi was Zhu Yougui.

There is no doubt that although Zhu Yougui is now a "prince", he has never received a good education. He lacks fatherly love since childhood, and his mother is a practitioner in a special industry. Zhu Wen is of course not optimistic about him.

After much deliberation, Zhu Wen felt that only his adopted son Zhu Youwen could be a qualified successor.

Zhu Youwen, whose original name was Kang Qin, has followed Zhu Wen for many years and has always been trusted and repeatedly entrusted with important tasks. Now, he has been appointed as the governor of Dongdu, a position basically exclusive to the crown prince.

Even Zhu Wenyou himself seemed to have this strong premonition. While serving as the governor of Dongdu, he indulged in drinking, ignored government affairs, completely let himself go, and arbitrarily raised troops to attack the "rebels" in the country.

Being good at using soldiers and killing people is the bottom line that no ruler can tolerate. Zhu Zhen looked at him from a distance, and Wang Zhongshi looked at him from a close distance. However, Zhu Youwen was not hurt at all, and did not even scold him. In the end, Zhu Youwen felt a little sorry, so he went to Zhu Wen's palace in person to report on his work and asked Zhu Wen to return to the palace as soon as possible.

These are the mainstream historical views and the unified voice in existing history books.

I have always felt that this coup in the Later Liang Dynasty was not that simple, and there must be a deeper conspiracy behind it, but it is really impossible to verify. Because this period of history has obviously been carefully rewritten. As for who rewrote it and why it was rewritten... For the time being, let's just follow the existing historical books:

On June 6, Zhu Wen ordered his great counselor Jing Xiang to send Zhu Yougui to Laizhou as the governor of Laizhou, and ordered him to leave immediately without delay. At that time, it was only a verbal order, and no formal edict was issued.

Zhu Yougui was very scared when he heard about it, because Laizhou was far away from the center of the empire, and the practice at that time was to demote people again and again and then seek permission to commit suicide. Previously, Zhu Yougui was whipped by Zhu Wen for making a minor mistake, and he was very worried when he heard the news of being exiled to Laizhou.

At this time, Zhu Yougui's wife Zhang heard a piece of news that Zhu Wen planned to pass the throne to his adopted son Zhu Youwen, and was preparing to send someone to the Eastern Capital to summon him to Beijing.

Zhu Yougui was greatly frightened, and his close associates advised him to act quickly and not miss the opportunity and be bullied.

So Zhu Yougui changed his clothes, sneaked into the palace, and secretly contacted Han Xing, the commander of the imperial guards. Afterwards, Han Xing sent someone to sneak into the palace with Zhu Yougui.

In the middle of the night, Zhu Yougui chopped open the door of the palace and broke into it. The imperial doctors fled in panic.

Zhu Wen was instantly awakened and shouted, "Who is rebelling?"

Zhu Yougui responded: "Me!"

Zhu Wen sighed with regret and said, "I had expected that it was you, the thief, and I only regretted not killing you before. What, do you dare to kill your father?"

Feng Tingye, a close confidant of Zhu Yougui, stepped forward and chopped with a sword. Zhu Wen staged the scene of the King of Qin running around the pillar, and Feng Tingye swung his sword and chopped the pillar several times.

Zhu Wen had been seriously ill for a long time and was exhausted, eventually falling on the bed. Feng Tingye chased him and finally stabbed Zhu Wen in the abdomen. His force was too great and the sword pierced Zhu Wen through the back, causing Zhu Wen's stomach to burst and his intestines to come out.

Before Zhu Wen died, Zhu Yougui tore off the bed sheets and quilts, wrapped Zhu Wen up, dug a deep pit on the spot, and buried Zhu Wen alive.

Zhu Wen was murdered by his own illegitimate son.

Wrapped in the bed sheet, he was still breathing, and he was crying silently:

"My child, am I afraid of death? Am I greedy for the imperial power? I am not crying just for myself. I am crying for the entire Zhu family and the country of Daliang.

Li Cunxu is as good as his father, and his military and literary skills are not even inferior to mine. All of you brothers, even if you put them together, you are still no match for him!
I see that in the near future, Li Cunxu will take over the two capitals, and Daliang will cease to exist. Our family has a deep hatred with his family, how can you little brats have a good end? When the nest is overturned, no egg will be left unbroken. Kill them all with a sword, and even I can't guarantee that I won't open the coffin and mutilate the corpses, and scatter the bones and ashes!"

Or maybe, Zhu Wen thought of the warning from his elder brother Zhu Quanyu. Zhu Wen killed two emperors of the Tang Dynasty and usurped the throne. Zhu Quanyu scolded him and finally shouted that our Zhu family would soon face the disaster of genocide.

With infinite remorse, regret and unwillingness, Zhu Wen died with his eyes open. He was 61 years old.

(End of this chapter)