History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 249 The Family Will Destroy Itself 1 The In-laws Seize Power
[The family will destroy itself 1 The relatives in power seize power]

The succession of Zhu Youzhen, the last emperor of the Later Liang Dynasty, was full of suspense and doubts. Because of his lack of prestige, he could not convince the people. In this regard, Zhu Youzhen could only adopt an appeasement attitude towards the generals outside the court, and intensified the seizure of power through political struggle within the court.

Zhu Youzhen's accession to the throne was not legitimate. This was his biggest taboo, and everyone knew it. Even his wife Zhang (daughter of Zhang Guiba) was unwilling to acknowledge him.

Zhu Youzhen planned to make Zhang the empress, but Zhang said, "You haven't even "had anything to do in the southern suburbs," so you can't be considered a proper emperor, so how can I be the empress?"
Before Zhu Youzhen came to the temple, Zhang was already seriously ill, so Zhu Youzhen hurriedly conferred her the title of Defei. Defei Zhang was unlucky and died of illness at the age of 24 on the night of her canonization.

Zhu Youzhen was extremely sad. On the eve of Concubine De's funeral, Zhu Youzhen tossed and turned, unable to sleep at night, and felt uncomfortable all over his body. So he got up and wandered alone in the bedroom, looking up at the bright moon and thinking about his virtuous wife. Suddenly, the sword on the wall of the dragon bed made a faint sound, like a dragon's roar. Zhu Youzhen shouted incredible and went closer to take a look. At this time, an assassin suddenly appeared, and Zhu Youzhen immediately drew his sword to defend himself and killed the assassin with his own hands. Afterwards, Zhu Youzhen made a sword box with expensive mica, kept the sword in it, and named the sword "General Protector of the Saint".

The above description is also from official history, and it is very convincing. But it sounds more like a martial arts novel or a storytelling novel, which is very incredible.

And if you look further down, perhaps it will become clear:

After investigation, it was found that the assassin was sent by Zhu Youzi, the Prince of Kang, to assassinate him. Therefore, Zhu Youzhen executed his brother Zhu Youzi for treason.

So far, in the five years since the founding of the Later Liang Dynasty, there have been three palace assassinations, an average of one every less than two years. Each time was an unsolved case.

Zhu Youzhen framed his brother Zhu Youzi, perhaps to prevent himself from becoming the second Zhu Yougui. With the bloody precedent, only he knew how he won the throne.

He didn't trust his brothers or his old ministers, so who did he trust? The answer was: his relatives. The people he trusted most were his cousin Yuan Xiangxian, his brother-in-law Zhao Yan, his brothers-in-law Zhang Hanlun, Zhang Handing, Zhang Hanjie (the above three brothers were the sons of Zhang Guiba and brothers of Concubine De), Zhang Hanqing (the son of Zhang Guihou and cousin of Concubine De), and Zhang Hanrong (the son of Zhang Guibian and cousin of Concubine De).

In view of Zhu Youzhen's strange succession model, the "foreign relatives gang" headed by Zhao and Zhang gradually gained control of the real power of the empire. They abused their power, sold official positions and titles, and alienated the emperor and his ministers. Internally, they excluded Jing Xiang, Li Zhen and others; externally, they alienated Yang Shihou, Liu Xun and others.

Since Zhu Youzhen succeeded to the throne, in addition to Zhu Youzi who was suspected of assassinating the king, there was another person in the royal family who really intended to rebel, and that was Prince Hui Zhu Youneng.

Zhu Youneng, son of Zhu Quanyu, was the governor of Chenzhou. Unlike his father who followed the law, Zhu Youneng did many illegal things and gathered a group of evil villains around him. After two palace coups, Zhu Youneng also felt that he could compete for the throne, and his subordinates also catered to his wishes and actively encouraged him to make trouble.

Chenzhou was full of all kinds of unorthodox practices, and superstition was enduring. During the "Three Hundred Days of Chenzhou", the Zhao brothers took advantage of people's superstition and directed "the help of the gods" to strengthen the will of the army and the people to resist. Now, Zhu Youneng also uses superstition to deceive people.

Under the secret instructions of Zhu Youneng, a group of people, led by their leaders Mu Yi and Dong Yi, put on the cloak of Buddhism and created their own sect, which they named "Shangcheng Sect". In fact, looking at their name, I feel that they are more like Taoism.

With the secret support of the government, the "Shangcheng Sect" grew rapidly and proclaimed the establishment of a country and the emperor. Mu Yi and Dong Yi called themselves the emperor, set up civil and military officials, and then expanded militarily and plundered the surrounding counties. But they were soon suppressed by Zhu Youzhen.

After the puppet was eliminated, Zhu Youneng simply stepped out from behind the scenes, launched a rebellion, and led the rebels to attack Bianzhou. Zhu Youzhen sent Huo Yanwei, Wang Yanzhang, and Zhang Hanjie to lead the army to suppress the rebellion.

Zhu Youneng surrendered after his defeat. Zhu Youzhen pardoned his death sentence but placed him under house arrest in Bianzhou. Zhu Youneng's two brothers, Zhu Youliang and Zhu Youhui, were implicated and also placed under house arrest.

In fact, the ones who actually led the troops to quell the rebellion were Huo Yanwei and Wang Yanzhang. Zhang Hanjie of the "foreign relatives gang" was only responsible for supervising the two and reaping the credit.

Zhu Youzi's assassination attempt and Zhu Youneng's rebellion made Zhu Youzhen further alienated from the Zhu royal family and more trusting of the "foreign relatives gang".

Just like Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, in order to strengthen the imperial power, Zhu Youzhen also needed to cultivate a political force among the civil servants that was loyal to the emperor. The selection criteria were naturally similar, which can be summarized in two points: shallow foundation; high reputation.

Then, a man named Li Yu came into Zhu Youzhen's sight.

Li Yu was born in an ordinary family. His father Li Zhanye failed in the imperial examinations many times. He was so discouraged that he placed all his hopes on the next generation and devoted himself to teaching Li Yu. Li Yu showed extraordinary intelligence at a very young age. Under his father's strict teaching, Li Yu read a lot of poetry and books, and had a noble character, and got rid of vulgar tastes (not saying anything inappropriate and not doing anything impolite).

In his early years, he was forced to work as a clerk in Anling County to make a living, responsible for helping the county magistrate to organize documents and archives. This was something that the aloof and arrogant talent Li Yu was unwilling to accept. So, after leaving his job in mourning, Li Yu resolutely embarked on the road to the capital Chang'an to become a "Beijing drifter".

As fate would have it, due to the war, the Tang Dynasty did not hold imperial examinations for many years. The hero had no place to use his talents, and the great talent Li Yu cried out to heaven and earth for help, but no one answered. The housing prices in the capital were too high, and the consumption was too high. Li Yu could not afford it, so he had to move to the suburbs, then to the suburbs, and then to the suburbs... and finally lived in Hezhong and Huazhou. "Beijing Drift" finally became "Hebei Drift".

He only hoped that the war would be settled soon and the imperial court would hold imperial examinations soon, so that he could change his destiny with knowledge.

Soon after, the eunuch Liu Jishu launched the "Shaoyangyuan Coup" and imprisoned Emperor Zhaozong. When the righteous, upright and cynical Li Yu heard about it, he was deeply saddened. Regardless of the hierarchy, he wrote a letter directly to Han Jian, the highest military and political chief in the region, the governor of Huazhou Zhenguo Army, to persuade Han Jian to raise troops to defend the king and capture and kill the eunuch. Li Yu's persuasion of Han Jian to send troops has been mentioned in the previous article. Han Jian has a close connection with the Guanxi Group and the eunuch Liu Jishu, which is something that Li Yu, a scholar, cannot see and understand. Li Yu is indeed a talented and knowledgeable senior intellectual, but he does not understand politics.

Although Han Jian did not adopt Li Yu's suggestion, he admired this intellectual very much, so he gave Li Yu very generous treatment, hoping that he could become his adviser.

Although Li Yu was poor, he was a scholar and was unwilling to bow down for a few pieces of silver. He flatly rejected Han Jian's high-paying job and left Huazhou angrily.

Later, there was the "Siege of Fengxiang", when Zhu Wen and Li Maozhen fought for the throne of Emperor Zhaozong in Fengxiang. At that time, Li Yu fled to Luoyang, the eastern capital, to avoid the war, and then went to the home of Li Yangu (grandson of Li Deyu). A lean camel is bigger than a horse. After all, Li Yangu is the grandson of Li Deyu. Although he had long been excluded from the political arena, Li Yangu still guarded a luxurious villa of Li Deyu in Pingquan. This villa will have another controversial and controversial event in the future, which will be mentioned later.

Li Yu was a scholar with integrity. He was unwilling to eat and drink for free, and was unwilling to accept charity. He brought his children to work hard for Li Yangu's family every day, acting as coolies (the children themselves picked wood and carried firewood to support themselves morning and night, and never worked for others).

Not long after, the imperial court finally held an imperial examination in Luoyang, the eastern capital, and Li Yu happily went there. His hard work paid off, and Li Yu passed the examination and was promoted to join the army in Henan Prefecture. Li Yu finally got rid of his wandering and became a formal civil servant envied by everyone.

A bright future ahead!
Good luck tricks people.

Zhu Wen won the "Siege of Fengxiang", successfully captured Emperor Zhaozong, and quickly moved the capital to force Tang to abdicate. During this period, Liu Can and others actively catered to Zhu Wen and carried out political purges, which led to Li Yangu being demoted. Li Yu lost his official position due to Li Yangu's involvement and was forced to move to the Heshuo area, where he lived with his fellow clan member Li Yanguang. The cruel and dark reality caused great trauma to Li Yu's pure and innocent heart.

After Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne, Li Yanguang was recommended to the palace to give lectures (Shijiang Jinzhong) for his outstanding talent, and came into contact with Zhu Youzhen. Afterwards, Li Yanguang praised Li Yu's talent in front of Zhu Youzhen, and emphasized that Li Yu was not only outstanding in talent, but also had a noble character, and was deeply like Shi Yu and Qu Yuan (pronounced the same as "Quyuan").

Shi Yu, a senior official of the Wei State during the Spring and Autumn Period, was upright and just. He left behind the story of "corpse admonition". Confucius praised him and reposted the comment: "Shi Yu is so straight!" The ancestor of the steely straight man world;

Qu Yuan was a minister of the Wei State during the Spring and Autumn Period. He was a moral model and a friend of Confucius. He was seated at the head of the east wing of the Confucius Temple.

Comparing him to Shi Yu and Qu Yuan shows Li Yu's character.

With Li Yanguang's best efforts, Zhu Youzhen finally summoned Li Yu, the legendary moral role model, a pure and anti-vulgar talent who was free from vulgarity.

Zhu Youzhen was very satisfied with the result of the interview and immediately promoted Li Yu to Zuo Shiyi, which was not a high position, but it was also a direct entry into the central government. Soon after, Li Yu was promoted rapidly and eventually entered Chongzhengyuan (formerly Privy Council) and became the deputy of Li Zhen and others.

At this point, we can easily see that Li Yu meets Zhu Youzhen's employment standards in all aspects: he was born in a humble family, not from a prominent family, without the blessing of a noble family name, and had no roots, no background, and no backing in the court, a "three-no" product with a clean background; he was also a "four-have" youth who was knowledgeable, moral, idealistic, and ambitious, and who wanted to build a harmonious society.

Li Yu is the political vase Zhu Youzhen is looking for.

However, even such a harmless Li Yu was ostracized and dismissed from the court because of a trivial matter.

The story goes like this: One day, Prince Heng Zhu Youliang came to the court. Li Zhen and others hurriedly stood up and knelt to pay their respects, but Li Yu alone stood upright and just made a long bow.

Zhu Youzhen blamed Li Yu for being impolite.

Li Yu was neither humble nor arrogant, and asked, "Excuse me, Your Majesty, what impoliteness did I violate?"

Zhu Youzhen was very upset that the emperor was contradicted in person. He said, "Prince Heng is my elder brother, and even I have to pay homage to him. Li Zhen, your immediate superior, also has to kneel down respectfully. Why are you so arrogant and rude?"

Li Yu's integrity was fully demonstrated. He was not afraid of power and argued with the emperor: "Your Majesty, you bow to the King of Heng as a family member. Li Zhen and others are your Majesty's private ministers. I am a public official in the court, and I have no private relationship with the King of Heng. I have no right to kneel and bow in public or in private. I am not a flatterer!"

"Be bold!"

Zhu Youzhen tore off the hypocritical mask of respecting the wise and humble. Just because Li Yu refused to kneel down to Zhu Youliang, Zhu Youzhen demoted him to Dengzhou.

(End of this chapter)