History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 27: One Emperor and One Courtier
【A new emperor chooses his own ministers】

The 12-year-old Prince Pu, Li Yan, ascended the throne and inherited the throne.

At the funeral of Emperor Yizong of Tang, the one who cried the most was not his own son Li Yan, but his own son-in-law Wei Baoheng. Wei Baoheng cried for the late emperor, but in his heart he was crying for himself.

As the saying goes, when a son cries for his father, the earth shakes; when a son-in-law cries for his father-in-law, it's like a wild donkey farting.

The days when he could make things happen with a wave of his hand will be gone forever, even though he only enjoyed them for less than three years.

The new emperor, Li Yan, was supported by eunuchs and was actually a puppet of the eunuch group.

During the late Tang Dynasty, there were not only factional struggles among court officials (such as the "Niu-Li Factional Struggle"), but also struggles between the civil service group and the eunuch group (such as the "Southern Ya and Northern Si Dispute"), which became the two major chronic diseases within the court.

The eunuch group in particular had a natural advantage in supporting a new emperor, as they were close to the emperor and had the upper hand. For example, Li Yan was supported by the eunuchs through a forged imperial edict.

Wei Baoheng gradually unified the civil service group through a series of political struggles, and then he would inevitably clash with the eunuchs. However, he greatly underestimated the power of the eunuchs.

A new emperor chooses new officials. It is time to settle accounts with the "research guarantee party".

Two months after the new emperor ascended the throne (September), he demoted Prime Minister Wei Baoheng to the position of governor of Hezhou (now He County, Guangxi).

In October, Wei Baoheng was demoted to the position of magistrate of Chengmai County in Yazhou (now Qiongshan City, Hainan Province). Guangxi was still too close, and you had to cross the Qiongzhou Strait to go to Hainan Island, and you were not the mayor of a prefecture-level city (provincial governor), but the magistrate of a remote county.

When Wei Baoheng demoted his political enemies, he liked to demote them again and again, and he did it repeatedly. Now, the eunuch group is using their own methods to retaliate against him, and they are giving him a comeback.

Moreover, the eunuch group was even more powerful than the original one. Not long after, they ordered Wei Baoheng to commit suicide.

At the same time, Wei Baoheng's younger brother Wei Baoyi was demoted to the position of Sihu of Binzhou (now Binyang County, Guangxi); another confidant Liu Chengyong was demoted to the position of Sima of Fuzhou (now Fuling District, Chongqing).

You may not be familiar with Liu Chengyong, but everyone knows his father, Liu Yuxi.

In November, Lu Yan, a former core member of the "Graduate School Guarantee Party", was transferred from Xichuan to Jingnan.

In December, Lu Yan, the governor of Jingnan, was demoted to the governor of Xinzhou (now Xinxing County, Guangdong Province). Your journey will not be complete until you visit Guangdong and Guangxi.

A month later, an imperial decree was issued to deprive Lu Yan of all his official titles and exile him indefinitely to Danzhou (now Danzhou City, Hainan Province). Go, across the Qiongzhou Strait.

Please note that this is exile, not demotion. Demotion is still an official position, although it is from the State Council to the Street Office, it can be regarded as "taking office immediately". Exile is a punishment, a prisoner.

Lu Yan was halfway through his journey when he was imprisoned in Jiangling. In just two days, his hair and beard turned completely white (at the age of 45). The once handsome man turned into an old man overnight. Life's ups and downs.

The eunuchs manipulated these literati and scholars at their will, and their skills were mature and perfect.

Soon, a new imperial edict was issued: Lu Yan was ordered to commit suicide. All his property was confiscated, and his wife and children were taken as slaves.

Lu Yan's cronies, such as the wealthy Bian Xian, were also arrested and executed.

I saw him build a tall building, and I saw it collapse.

The once invincible "Graduate School Guarantee Party" was completely eradicated.

Officials who were previously demoted due to being framed by the "Research Protection Party" have also been rehabilitated and have been reinstated, for example:

Yu Cong was promoted to the post of Jiedushi of Shannan East Road, and concurrently the prime minister;

Promoted Liu Zhan to be the Minister of Punishment;

Xiao Ke, Zheng Ting, Wang Duo and others were also cleared of charges and recalled to the central government.

[Good people don’t live long, but evil people live for thousands of years]

Three years ago, Liu Zhan was implicated for speaking up for the imperial physician and was banished from the capital. The people at that time were all heartbroken and regretful.

Now, he was finally vindicated and reinstated. The people of Chang'an spontaneously organized themselves, donated money and crowdfunded a warm welcome ceremony with drama and acrobatics, which was more lively than the New Year's Eve. When Liu Zhan, who was on his way back, heard about it, he changed the date of his return to Beijing and took another route to return to Beijing secretly.

At the beginning, when everyone was silent, he dared to speak out, not because he did not understand the hidden rules in the officialdom, nor because he did not know the despicable methods of treacherous officials, but because he did not want to follow the trend and go along with the crowd. He understood that although the people were "spontaneous", if he was too high-profile and accepted them readily, or even dared to wave his hands and say "Hello, comrades, you have worked hard" when accepting the cheers of the masses, then his political career would end here, and if he was not careful, the lives of his entire family would also end here.

Keeping a low profile and avoiding them is not only to protect yourself, but also to protect these innocent and kind people.

In February of the 874th year of Xiantong (2), Liu Zhan returned to Beijing, and in May a good day came: Prime Minister Pei Tan passed away.

Therefore, the court continued to promote Liu Zhan as prime minister.

Another prime minister in the court, Liu Ye, was trembling with fear because when Liu Zhan was demoted, Liu Ye was worried that he would become the target of attack by the "Provisional Research Party" and took the initiative to move closer to the "Provisional Research Party" and joined forces to frame Liu Zhan.

Liu Zhan became Liu Ye's token of surrender to the "Baoyan Party". As a result, Liu Ye gained the trust of the "Baoyan Party" and was soon promoted from the Minister of War (rank 4, lower) to the Minister of Rites (rank 3, lower) and Prime Minister.

Liu Ye, a remnant of the "Research Protection Party", was worried that Liu Zhan would counterattack and was in constant fear.

In early August, Liu Ye invited Liu Zhan to a banquet to reminisce about the past and communicate with him. After the banquet, Liu Zhan suddenly fell ill when he returned home and died on August 8.

Everyone said that Liu Ye poisoned the food and wine.

Liu Ye had the motive and time to commit the crime, but this cannot be used as evidence. The chain of evidence is incomplete and not conclusive.

Liu Zhan's death has become an eternal mystery.

In October, the court demoted Liu Ye to the post of Jiedushi of Huainan and banished him from the court.

Liu Ye was the nephew of the great poet Liu Yuxi.

Liu Ye's father was Liu Sanfu, also a child prodigy who was highly appreciated by Li Deyu (the leader of the "Li Party" in the "Niu-Li Party Dispute") and was promoted to a high position. Liu Yuxi, then the governor of Ruzhou, took the initiative to claim to be of the same clan as Liu Sanfu, and wrote a poem for Liu Sanfu as a gift, calling him "cousin", so Liu Yuxi was Liu Ye's uncle.

Liu Ye was also a child prodigy who could write poems at the age of six or seven. He was also loved by Li Deyu, who asked him to be a companion to his son. Later, when Li Deyu lost power, Liu Ye became a lonely ghost without support.

At this time, Liu Zhan promoted him to be Zuo Shiyi and later became a Hanlin scholar. Liu Zhan was another nobleman of Liu Ye.

After Li Deyu's death, no one in the court dared to speak up for the "Niu Party" and "Li Party", except Liu Ye, who, during a general amnesty by Emperor Yizong of Tang, wrote a petition on behalf of Li Deyu, asking the emperor to show mercy. He was like a righteous man who was grateful and repaying his kindness.

Why did he repay kindness with enmity and frame Liu Zhan, who promoted him? We still need to brush off the dust on the surface and peek into the inner truth.

Li Deyu was already dead, and the "Li Party" had disappeared, so it would not cause any disturbance. Showing favor to his descendants at this time would not only demonstrate the emperor's great grace, tolerance and kindness, but would also not trigger political risks. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?
When the new emperor ascended the throne, he needed to show the world the image of a benevolent monarch and show sympathy and care for the remnants of the "Li Party". This was a perfect opportunity to show off.

The then Prime Minister Linghu Tao was a remnant of the "Niu Party" and was often regarded as the later leader of the "Niu Party". When he was the Prime Minister, he granted amnesty to the whole country many times, but the "Li Party" was not among them.

That year, Linghu Tao had just resigned as prime minister and left the central government to go to the local area to serve as the governor of Huainan. Liu Ye took advantage of this opportunity to speak out for the "Li Party".

For example, nowadays, we often see some descendants and apprentices crying loudly at the funerals of their fathers, grandfathers, and masters. Don't think that they are really filial sons and grandsons. Filial piety in daily life is filial piety. Filial piety at funerals is just a show for others to see.

It is not difficult for us to understand why Liu Ye repaid Liu Zhan's kindness with enmity.

Liu Ye’s story is not over yet, his fate will be mentioned later.

The new emperor Li Yan ascended the throne and eradicated treacherous officials and rebels. The wronged people were finally vindicated and the whole country rejoiced.

In November, the reign title was changed to "Qianfu", so "the fifteenth year of Xiantong" was changed to "the first year of Qianfu".

The reign was changed and a general amnesty was declared, and all the officials celebrated.

An old friend of the Tang people also extended his highest greetings to the new emperor in a special way: Nanzhao has invaded our border again!

(End of this chapter)