History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 272 The Founding of Later Tang 3
【Establishment of Later Tang 3】

In order to make his regime more legitimate, Li Cunxu ordered to search for Tang Dynasty officials to serve as political vases. Zhu Youqian from Hezhong promptly presented a good boy - Su Xun, the former Minister of Rites.

Su Xun, one of the "Six Ministers Carrying the Coffin", and his son Su Kai were once crazy lickers of Zhu Wen's group. They were shameless and their biggest dream was to become prime ministers. However, the father and son were so shameless that they had a very bad reputation. After Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty and established the Liang Dynasty, he not only did not reuse this "founding hero", but forced him to retire and ordered him to return to his hometown to wait for death.

Su Xun and his son were like jackals in the political arena, with a keen sense of smell. Unwilling to withdraw from the historical stage, they fled to Hezhong Prefecture and clung to Zhu Youqian, a two-faced and capricious man who shared the same interests with Su Xun and his son.

Now, hearing that Li Cunxu was planning to become emperor, Su Xun finally got his chance to shine. With Zhu Youqian's introduction, he came to Weizhou Xingtai and became Li Cunxu's crazy bootlicker.

As soon as he entered the inner city of Weizhou, Su Xun's professionalism as the top dog-licker in the country was put to use. When he passed by the house where Li Cunxu once lived, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed. Everyone was puzzled, and this former Minister of Education, who was well-read in poetry and books, popularized cultural knowledge to everyone, saying that this was called "worshiping the temple."

When he saw Li Cunxu in person, Su Xun fell to his knees, performed the great ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows, shouted "Long live the emperor" and shed tears of excitement, saying that he had seen the true dragon emperor and called himself "minister."

The next day, Su Xun presented Li Cunxu with 30 "Painted Sun Pens". According to the old system of the Tang Dynasty, after the draft of the imperial edict was completed, it would be reviewed by the emperor and the emperor would write a "sun" with his own hand before it could be issued. This process was called "painting the sun", which meant that the leader approved it, and the pen used was called "painting the sun pen".

Most people have only heard of the saying "three kneelings and nine kowtows", but do not know its specific and tedious steps; as for "worshiping the temple" and "drawing the sun pen", I am afraid that most people have never heard of it.

The flattery of learned people is full of strong cultural flavor.

Li Cunxu was a man who had seen many people flattering him, but this was the first time he had seen such a high-class flatterer. Li Cunxu enjoyed this kind of high-level flattery with connotation and immediately announced that Su Xun's original official position would be restored and he would be given the title of deputy envoy of Hedong Jiedu.

In fact, most people in Hedong dislike Su Xun, especially Zhang Chengye. Even the evil Zhu Wen refused to use this man, so why should we use him? Is Hedong a garbage recycling station?

It takes a long time to become an emperor, and the shameless Su Xun finally did not live to see that day, and died of illness before Li Cunxu became emperor. He never realized his dream of becoming a prime minister until his death.

In February of the third year of Longde (923), Li Cunxu ordered the establishment of civil and military officials, selecting those who had served as high-ranking officials in the Tang Dynasty within his jurisdiction, and selecting the prestigious ones from among them to serve as his prime minister.

Lu Zhi, who loved drinking, stood out. However, Lu Zhi was "dissolute by nature", unrestrained and loved drinking, and was unwilling to be the prime minister, so he resolutely declined. Lu Zhi recommended two talents to Li Cunxu: Dou Luge, the judge of Dingzhou Yiwu Army, and Lu Cheng, the judge of Hedong Observation. The two served as the left and right prime ministers respectively, and Lu Zhi only served as the Minister of Rites. On April 4, Li Cunxu held a coronation ceremony in Weizhou, officially proclaimed himself emperor, pardoned the world, and changed the "Twentieth Year of Tianyou" to "The First Year of Tongguang".

Li Cunxu named his country "Tang", which is known as "Later Tang" in history. This shows the political wisdom of Li Cunxu's group. According to convention, if Li Cunxu founded a country and became emperor, the country's name should be "Jin" because his title was "King of Jin". However, Li Keyong and Li Cunxu always regarded themselves as members of the Tang royal family, and for many years they claimed to support the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, from a legal point of view, Li Cunxu did not "found a country" but "restored the country".

Zhu Ye Chixin helped the Tang Dynasty to quell the "Pang Xun Rebellion" and was given the name Li Guochang. Here is the key point, pay attention: Li Guochang was included in the royal family and belonged to the Zheng Wang family. Therefore, unlike the general "granted national surname", Li Guochang was included in the royal family and was a member of the royal family recognized by the royal family. Li Cunxu could confidently say, "The Li in me, Li Cunxu, is the Li in Li Shimin, and I am also a descendant of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong."

After Li Cunxu's death, his temple name was "Zhuangzong", which means "Zong" instead of "Zu", indicating that his successors were also maintaining and building the political image of the Hedong Group, emphasizing that they were the legitimate successors of the Tang Dynasty, not the founders of a new dynasty. They inherited the mantle of the Li Tang royal family, not warlords who established their own empire.

It must be emphasized here that maintaining the Tang Dynasty and recognizing this inheritance system is the legal basis and political cornerstone of the Later Tang regime. The Zhu Wen group that usurped the Tang Dynasty must be completely denied. This is the political correctness of the Later Tang regime. We will elaborate on this later.

There is another interesting point here. The "Five Dynasties" are Liang, Tang, Jin, Han and Zhou. However, their actual succession was not seamless. There were overlaps and interruptions. For example, the Later Liang and Later Tang overlapped and coexisted for more than six months. In April 923, Li Cunxu proclaimed himself emperor and established the Later Tang. He changed the reign to Tongguang. In October, he attacked Bianzhou and the Later Liang was destroyed. During this period, this book still used the reign of Zhu Youzhen of the Later Liang as "the third year of Longde". After October, it changed to the reign of Li Cunxu of the Later Tang as "the first year of Tongguang".

Li Cunxu ordered that Weizhou be upgraded to Xingtang Prefecture; Taiyuan Prefecture be renamed Xijing; Zhenzhou be upgraded to Zhending Prefecture, also called Beidu.

The three generations of ancestors were honored as emperors, and a royal ancestral temple was built in Taiyuan Prefecture, where seven emperors were enshrined: Gaozu Li Yuan, Taizong Li Shimin, Yizong Li Yu, Zhaozong Li Ye, Yizu Zhuxie Zhiyi, Xianzu Li Guochang, and Taizu Li Keyong. Mr. Li's father, Mr. Zhuxie... never mind, we have the bloodline of the Li Tang royal family anyway.

According to records, during the reign of Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty, there was a strange star phenomenon on a certain day. The four stars of gold, water, earth and fire gathered in Bi and Mao. Bi and Mao are both part of the 28 constellations. The ancients regarded Bi and Mao as the division of Jizhou. The relevant departments reported to Emperor Yizong that this star phenomenon indicated that a king would appear in the land of Zhao and Wei (in the territory of Chengde Army in Zhenzhou).

Therefore, Emperor Yizong of Tang issued an edict, ordering Wang Jingchong, then the governor of Chengde Army in Zhenzhou, to wear the emperor's formal attire, and the central government sent a full set of equipment required for the emperor to attend the court. Wang Jingchong's officials knelt down three times and kowtowed nine times to him, and Wang Jingchong acted as the emperor for three days in accordance with the edict. This was to resolve the signs of the stars.

49 years later, Li Cunxu ascended the throne in Weizhou and proclaimed himself emperor, confirming the astrological sign that a king would emerge under Bi and Mao.

Of course, this is also a need for political propaganda. In addition, Wang Jingchong died of illness at the age of 37, which may be related to this game of house. He could not bear it and his life was shortened.

(End of this chapter)