History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 25 A New Struggle
New Struggle

Two months passed in a blink of an eye, and another spring arrived. On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month in the twelfth year of Xiantong (871), the day before the Lantern Festival, Princess Tongchang's body was buried.

According to custom, paper people and horses were burned. Although the people and horses were made of paper, their clothes and accessories were real, including silks, satins, jewels, and jades, each of which filled 120 carriages.

There is no need to describe the specific scene in detail, but just one small detail will give rise to your imagination: after the court sacrifice, people scrambled for the cremated ashes to pick out gold and silver from them. The gold, silver and jewelry they snatched out had to be shipped in large baskets.

Princess Tongchang was officially buried.

Wei Baoheng stared at the magnificent tomb with tears in his eyes. After burying the princess, he, the prince consort, was also half buried in the ground. Today I cry for her, who will cry for me tomorrow?

We can no longer fight a war of attrition at a leisurely pace. Speed ​​is of the essence in war, we must move fast!
"A real man should make decisions when necessary. If he does not make decisions when necessary, there will be trouble in the future!"

This time the opponent is extremely strong. If you want to win, you must take him by surprise, attack him when he is unprepared, and catch him off guard. You must be quick, accurate, and ruthless, and make sure to kill the enemy with one move, without giving him any breathing space. Be quick, be quick, be quick! Wei Baoheng, no more hesitation!

Wei Baoheng has never been an indecisive person. He is like a turtle waiting for fish to approach. Once the small fish enters the attack range of his neck, he can always seize the opportunity and catch it in one bite. Of course, he is not a person who values ​​friendship and loyalty.

Because the target of this attack was his former close comrade-in-arms - Prime Minister Lu Yan.

The two have a lot in common: both are handsome; both are badass.

Before the establishment of the "Baoyan Party", Lu Yan was already able to call the shots in the court. He had a confidant named Bian Xian. When the magistrate of Zhide County met Emperor Yizong of Tang for some reason, he said, "If we only need to confiscate the property of Bian Xian's family, it will be enough to pay the national army for two years." Emperor Yizong was very puzzled and asked, "Who is Bian Xian?" The answer was, "Lu Yan's confidant." Emperor Yizong was furious. How dare you alienate the friendship between me and Lu Aiqing? He exiled the county magistrate to Aizhou (now Thanh Hoa City, Vietnam).

This small matter is enough to illustrate Lu Yan's status in the court, and also indirectly reflects the extent of Lu Yan's corruption. Just one of his subordinates was almost as corrupt as the later corrupt official Heshen.

Lu Yan and Wei Baoheng colluded to form the "Baoyan Party" to get what they wanted. One was the prime minister who dominated the court, and the other was a popular man around the emperor and the newly promoted son-in-law. The two people were completely friends for profit, power, and authority.

If you make friends based on money, you will forget them when the money is gone; if you make friends based on benefits, you will disperse when the benefits are gone; if you make friends based on power, you will fall when the power is gone; if you make friends based on authority, you will abandon them when the authority is lost.

Through the first wave of struggle, the power of the "Research Protection Party" began to show, and everyone inside and outside the court was terrified. It seemed that the "Research Protection Party" was about to cover the sky with one hand and have power over the world.

Just when the struggle situation was going well, internal strife suddenly broke out within the "Baoyan Party", and the "Bao Party" suddenly launched a fatal attack on the "Yan Party".

Lu Yan never expected that Wei Baoheng, a young man, would be so ruthless, so cruel, and so despicable! On the eve of a great victory, he actually rolled a pancake with a fried meatball and fired a cannon. He claimed to be an old man, but he was killed by a cheap young man who sold his body.

The boat of friendship can capsize at any time.

Lu Yan was remorseful and unwilling to accept this. He firmly believed that he had a chance to turn defeat into victory and avenge his previous humiliation. Because Emperor Yizong of Tang's health was not very optimistic, his body was not in good condition, and his days were numbered.

"Hmph, when the emperor dies, will you still have a good life? You wait, little bastard, let's see who can outlast the other! Just wait if you have the guts!"

In April, Lu Yan was demoted to the post of Jiedushi of Xichuan. Not bad, you haven't been to Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiangxi, or Chengdu. The war just ended there, and they need talents like you.

When Lu Yan was leaving the city, the citizens of Chang'an threw broken bricks, rotten tiles and small stones at him (it seems that fruits, vegetables, eggs and other things are not enough to relieve their anger). Because he had hope for the future, Lu Yan was able to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor and humor. When he was hit on the head by a brick, he said to the temporary mayor (Quan Jingzhao Yin) Xue Neng beside him: "Before I leave, please give me a farewell with bricks! (Before I leave, please give me a farewell with rubble)"

Xue Neng was an official promoted by Lu Yan. At this time, Xue Neng showed Lu Yan what it meant to lose power and abandon authority: Xue Neng slowly raised his tablet and said respectfully: "According to relevant laws and regulations and current rules and regulations, the prime minister is not protected by the armed police when he travels."

Lu Yan smiled bitterly and cursed in his heart, "Villain, villain, a complete villain! Okay, okay, okay. Xue Neng, you just wait for me. I can lift you up, or I can throw you to death. You all just wait for me!"

Lu Yan went to Xichuan with hatred, waiting to see the light of day again and take revenge.

By getting rid of Lu Yan, Wei Baoheng achieved a phased victory and eliminated the biggest hidden danger in the revolutionary team, and he did it perfectly. To be honest, to overthrow Lu Yan, who once had great power, Wei Baoheng was not 100% sure. 30% depended on strength and 70% depended on luck.

This gamble in the political struggle fueled Wei Baoheng's arrogance. No one in the court could restrain his evil clutches, and he began to carry out the purge more recklessly, and soon created two major unjust cases in the late Tang Dynasty - the Yu Cong case and the Wei Yinyu case.

[Yu Cong Case]

In February of the second year after Lu Yan was removed (the 872th year of Xiantong, 2), Yu Cong, the Deputy Minister of National Defense (Vice Minister of the Ministry of War) and Prime Minister, was demoted to the Jiedushi of Shannan East Road.

In May, Yu Cong was demoted to be the teacher of Prince Pu, and his office was in Luoyang, the Eastern Capital. At this point, Yu Cong went from being relegated to the second line to being sidelined, and lost all real power.

Do you remember Wei Baoheng's worries when Princess Tongchang first died? He was worried that he would lose power because of the princess's death. The Yu Cong he framed now was a prince consort who had lost power.

Yu Cong married Princess Guangde, the fourth daughter of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and the sister of the current emperor, Emperor Yizong of Tang. In other words, Yu Cong was the brother-in-law of Emperor Yizong of Tang, the uncle of Princess Tongchang, the aunt-in-law of Wei Baoheng, and Wei Baoheng was the nephew-in-law of Yu Cong's wife.

The essence of the "Yu Cong case" is that the wife's nephew and son-in-law framed their aunt and father-in-law... simple, right?

Although they are both prince consorts, there is still a huge difference in their character.

Yu Cong was appointed prime minister in the eighth year of Xiantong (867). He was a man of great integrity and integrity. However, because he despised Wei Baoheng for abusing his power and was unwilling to curry favor with him, or to go along with him, he was ostracized, deprived of all real power, and banished from the capital.

Demoting Yu Cong out of the capital was only the beginning of the "Yu Cong case", and the climax was to come:
On May 5, Li Dang, Wang Xun, Li Du, Zhang Fei, Feng Yanqing, and Yang Ju were demoted;
On May 5, Yan Qi, Li Quan, Zhang Duo, Li Jingzhong, Xiao Ke, Li Du, Zheng Yante, and Li Zao were demoted. Officials from the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel, and the generals of the Guards... all the fourth-rank officials were exiled, and the two groups of people were all placed in Dongting Lake and Lingnan. They had a common crime - close contact with Yu Cong.

There are more people who were convicted of being "Yu Cong's followers" and were implicated:
On May 5, Yu Qian, the Jiedushi of Pinglu, was demoted to the Chief Clerk of the Palace of Prince of Liang; and Yu Gui, the Surveillance Envoy of Hunan, was demoted to the Governor of Yuanzhou (now Yichun City, Jiangxi Province).

Yu Qin and Yu Gui are both Yu Cong's brothers, so of course they should be considered "Yu Cong's followers."

After eliminating "Yu Cong's followers", Wei Baoheng made another move on Yu Cong, who was still weak, and demoted him to the post of governor of Shaozhou (now Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province). Another official was removed from Guangdong and Guangxi.

While ostracizing and suppressing Yu Cong, Wei Baoheng also cleverly seized another opportunity and used it as a breakthrough to launch another political conspiracy, creating the "Wei Yinyu case."

(End of this chapter)