History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 253 Guangzhou Liu Yin
【Guangzhou Liu Yin】

That year, Liu Chonggui promoted Liu Yin and was angered to death by his brother Liu Chonglu's "dismissal from office for looting hemp". Hedong Li Keyong defeated the "three towns attacking the palace" of the Guanxi group, and Zhaozong, with the support of Hedong Li Keyong, implemented his "prince in charge of the army" policy of governing the country.

Therefore, Zhaozong ordered Prince Xue Li Zhirou to go to Guangzhou to serve as the military governor of the Qinghai Army (formerly the military governor of Lingnan East Road) to replace Liu Chonggui who had died of illness.

However, when Li Zhirou arrived in Hunan, Qing naval generals Lu Ju and Tan Hongqi took advantage of the power vacuum to launch a mutiny, set up defenses on the border, and refused Li Zhirou's entry, intending to seize Lingnan while the court was weak. Among them, Tan Hongqi took the initiative to win over Liu Yin, promising to marry his daughter to him, so that they could unite to fight against the court and seize Lingnan.

Liu Yin agreed on the surface, but took advantage of the opportunity of welcoming the bride to ambush and kill Tan Hongqi and Lu Ju, and then sent troops to meet Li Zhirou, welcoming the new leader with a grand welcome ceremony.

Li Zhirou immediately reported Liu Yin's deeds to the court and recommended Liu Yin as his chief of staff (military Sima).

This was Liu Yin's cleverness. Although the Tang Dynasty was in decline, it was the legitimate central government that lasted for more than 200 years. Tan Hongqi and Lu Ju were just junior officers. Following them in launching a rebellion would not be justified and would not have a good result.

Furthermore, although Li Zhirou was a prince and prime minister, he was a commander without troops. If he wanted to maintain his control over Guangzhou, he would need the full support of a powerful local figure with military power and prestige. This person would definitely be given an important position, and the candidate would be none other than Liu Yin.

Killing Tan Hongqi and Lu Ju and welcoming Li Zhirou was the most crucial political speculation in Liu Yin's life. He won.

While assisting Li Zhirou, Liu Yin led his troops to repel the invasion of neighboring vassal states, suppressed bandits in the country, gained Li Zhirou's trust and reliance, and at the same time strengthened his own power.

In the political struggle of the central court, Prime Minister Cui Yin relied on Zhu Wen's support and won the struggle and killed Prime Minister Wang Tuan. Prime Minister Xu Yanruo knew that he could not win, so he took the initiative to ask to be sent out to escape Cui Yin's clutches, and asked to be the governor of Guangzhou Qinghai Army to replace Prince Xue Li Zhirou.

In September 900, Emperor Zhaozong issued an edict to appoint Xu Yanruo as prime minister to Guangzhou. Just one year later, in December 9, Xu Yanruo died of illness in Guangzhou. Before his death, he left a will to the court, recommending Liu Yin to succeed him.

In fact, there is a small question here: Was the memorial recommending Liu Yin as the governor of Guangzhou really written by Xu Yanruo? Or was it Liu Yin who "forged the imperial edict" to usurp the throne?
At that time, the country was divided into many parts, especially in the south where the emperor was far away. According to records, only the Qing navy in Guangzhou, led by Prince Xue Li Zhirou, obeyed the imperial court. In other regions, there were many vassal states, which attacked and annexed each other, and were actually out of the control of the central government.

Whether it was Prince Xue Li Zhirou or Prime Minister Xu Yanruo, they lacked the powerful tool to stabilize the local area - the army. Their only advantage was their own reputation. One was a prince of the empire and a member of the royal family, and the other was a prime minister from a famous family. In other words, the basis of their existence was the piety of others. Obviously, they all relied on Liu Yin to achieve control over Lingnan.

It was no longer important whether the memorial came from Xu Yanruo, because Liu Yin was the only one who could control the Qing navy in Guangzhou.

However, Emperor Zhaozong decisively rejected Xu Yanruo's will and appointed Cui Yuan, the Minister of War, as his successor. The princes were appointed as military commanders and civil officials were appointed as military governors. Emperor Zhaozong's attitude to eradicate eunuchs and suppress the feudal lords was very clear.

On Cui Yuan's way to take up his post, the local separatist forces in Jiangxi, Lu Guangchou of Qianzhou, attacked the Qing navy in Guangzhou. Liu Yin won at first but then lost, losing the city and territory. Cui Yuan heard that there was a turmoil in Lingnan and did not dare to take up his post.

Liu Yin had a keen political sense, and he sent envoys with generous gifts and a large sum of money to bribe Zhu Wen to show his allegiance. Zhu Wen then recommended Liu Yin as the governor of the Qing navy in Guangzhou.

After that, Guangzhou Liu Yin became a new "pro-Zhu faction". Zhu Wen also continued to promote Liu Yin, and the two sides maintained a good alliance.

After Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, Liu Yin of Guangzhou was one of the first vassal states to express his recognition of the Later Liang Dynasty. In return, Zhu Wen issued an edict to confer the title of "Prince of Nanping" on Liu Yin.

In March of the fifth year of Kaiping (911), Liu Yin was seriously ill and wrote a memorial to Zhu Wen, requesting that his younger brother Liu Yan take over his official title.

Zhu Wen approved. Liu Yin and Liu Yan were brothers from the same mother, and their mother was Wei. Although their origins were not noble, they had a cultured and well-educated mother, who was from a scholarly family and a descendant of an official family. Meng Mu moved three times, and the mother-in-law tattooed her words. Mrs. Wei was indispensable in cultivating her children. I believe that the reason why Liu Yin had a high level of political awareness, could keep a clear mind in the temptation of troubled times, and could make huge profits in political speculation was inseparable from the influence of Mrs. Wei.

From Liu Yin to Liu Yan, the brothers attached great importance to cultural education, actively recruited intellectuals, hired them as staff with high salaries, and vigorously opened schools in the country to educate the people. At that time, the Central Plains was in constant war, so many scholars fled to Lingnan, were highly valued, and made contributions to local development.

At that time, Liu Yin not only controlled Guangdong and Guangxi, but also Annan, firmly occupying the southernmost tip of the empire. Thanks to the unremitting efforts of the two brothers, Guangdong and Guangxi were no longer the barren land where prisoners were exiled and filled with smog, but a prosperous and stable paradise.

During this period, Liu Yin detained the senior officials sent by Zhu Wen, Zhao Guangyi (brother of Zhao Guangfeng, one of the "Six Ministers Carrying the Coffin" and "Jade Ruler"), and Li Yinheng (grandson of Li Deyu). Liu Yin was gentle in detaining them, "deeply treating them with courtesy", and treating them well, because the two were both talented and virtuous, and came from famous families, and were highly respected. They could not only contribute to the cause of Lingnan, but also serve as political vases.

After Liu Yan succeeded to the throne, Ma Yin of Tanzhou continued to expand his sphere of influence southwards. The two regions finally bordered each other, resulting in a conflict of interests, which then escalated into a military conflict.

After Liu Yan won the battle, he immediately showed his good will to Ma Yin, expressing his willingness to form a marriage alliance. It seems that Liu Yan's political acumen is no worse than that of his brother Liu Yin.

So, Ma Yin agreed to marry his daughter to Liu Yan.

In the fifth year of Qianhua (915), Liu Yan sent his senior staff to Tanzhou to welcome the bride, and Ma Yin sent his younger brother Ma Cun to escort the bride. The two sides put aside their hostility and made peace.

With the support of the regional overlord (Ma Yin of Tanzhou), Liu Yan became even more fearless. Taking advantage of the decline of the Later Liang Dynasty (Luzhou and Baixiang), he directly petitioned Zhu Youzhen, asking for the title of "King of Nanyue" and the title of commander-in-chief (Dutong).

Zhu Youzhen refused.

Liu Yan was furious, so he stopped paying tribute and announced his independence from the Later Liang. Liu Yan's reason for "Ling Independence" certainly could not be that he failed to get the title of king. He found a reason that was the most fatal to Zhu Youzhen: the throne was not obtained legitimately. He directly called the Later Liang regime a "fake court."

After another year of preparation, in August 917 AD, Liu Yan ascended the throne in Guangzhou and proclaimed himself emperor. He changed the country's name to "Dai Viet", established the reign title "Qianheng", issued a general amnesty, appointed Zhao Guangyi as Minister of War, Li Yinheng as Vice Minister of Rites, and Yang Dongqian, formerly the Deputy Jiedushi, as Vice Minister of War. The three of them were given the title of Prime Minister (Tong Pingzhangshi); he built a royal ancestral temple, posthumously honored his grandfather Liu Anren, his father Liu Qian, and his brother Liu Yin as emperors; and upgraded Guangzhou to Xingwang Palace.

The following year, Liu Yan tried to curry favor with the powerful and insisted that he was a relative of the Han royal family and a descendant of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang. Therefore, he changed the country's name to "Han", which was known in history as "Southern Han" and was one of the "Ten Kingdoms".

Liu Yan was well aware of the art of diplomacy. While he was proclaiming himself emperor, he sent envoys to Huainan to announce the news of Lingnan's independence and the establishment of an independent country, and at the same time persuaded Yang Wei of Huainan to ascend the throne and become emperor.

After Liu Yan became emperor, he appointed Ma Yin's daughter as queen.

In this way, Ma Yin of Tanzhou and Yang Wei of Huainan became the natural barriers of Southern Han, and the Later Liang regime was unable to reach out to Liu Yan, the "Ling independence" element.

As for Liu Yan's independent declaration of emperorship, there was indeed very little the central government of the Later Liang Dynasty could do. It simply issued an edict to deprive Liu Yan of all his official positions and titles, and then ordered Qian Liu of Hangzhou to lead the expedition.

Qian Liu of Hangzhou gladly accepted the imperial edict, expressing his active support for the territorial integrity of the Later Liang Empire and strongly condemning the separatists of the country... He just talked but did not take action.

From then on, the Later Liang government completely lost the Lingnan region.

(End of this chapter)