History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 281 Zhu Youzhen's End
【The End of Zhu Youzhen】

In the first year of Longde (921), a mutiny broke out in Zhenzhou. Zhang Wenli massacred Wang Rong's family and used Princess Puning as a communication channel to contact the Later Liang Dynasty. He said that he had already contacted the Khitan and requested the Later Liang Dynasty to send elite troops to cooperate and cross the Yellow River from Dezhou and Dizhou to the north. By then, the Later Liang army and the Khitan army would respond from the north and south, and I would cooperate inside and outside in Zhenzhou, and Li Cunxu in Hedong would surely die without a burial place!
Zhu Youzhen summoned his ministers to discuss the matter.

Jing Xiang advocated sending troops to respond immediately, pointing out that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity given by God and that the opportunity must not be missed and the time would not come again, so there was no need to hesitate and troops must be sent quickly!

The "foreign relatives" strongly opposed it, saying that we were fighting Li Cunxu and how could we spare 10,000 elite troops? Besides, Zhang Wenli was insidious and cunning, and he was capricious. He was just using us to get chestnuts out of the fire for him. We would not gain any benefit from it, so we should let him fend for himself.

Different positions lead to different propositions. Jing Xiang takes national interests as his starting point, while the "foreign relatives gang" is guided by their group interests.

At this stage, the "foreign relatives gang" has eliminated a group of veteran nobles such as Liu Xun, and infiltrated the military system, but they have not completely controlled the army, and there are still a group of meritorious generals such as "Wang Tieqiang" and Wang Yanzhang who are unwilling to obey the "foreign relatives gang". If Hebei is supported and brilliant achievements are achieved as Jing Xiang said, then the power of the "old school of veteran nobles" such as Jing Xiang and Wang Yanzhang will be greatly enhanced, thereby dividing the interests of the "foreign relatives gang" and squeezing the living space of the "foreign relatives gang".

During the period when the "foreign relatives gang" was in power, all national policies were the result of the "foreign relatives gang"'s struggle for power and reflected the small group interests of the "foreign relatives gang".

Jing Xiang beat his chest and stamped his feet, watching Zhu Youzhen lose the golden opportunity of regaining Hebei.

Although the "foreign relatives gang" obstructed the plan to rescue Zhang Wenli of Zhenzhou, they ordered Duan Ning to attack Weizhou and then recover the Heshuo land west of Chanzhou and south of Xiangzhou. This is the best reflection of the true intention of the "foreign relatives gang": I don't oppose sending troops, but I want to see who leads the troops and who reaps the dividends of the war. It must be my "foreign relatives gang", not Jing Xiang and Wang Yanzhang.

In the third year of Longde (923), Li Siyuan launched a surprise attack on Yunzhou. Zhu Youzhen beheaded the defeated generals of Yunzhou and dismissed Dai Siyuan from his post as commander-in-chief. The Later Liang Empire reached a critical moment of life and death.

Jing Xiang could not bear to sit by and watch the empire fall, so he decided to die as a warning. He found a rope in advance, hid it in his boots, and went to the palace to meet Zhu Youzhen. He said, "To be honest, the late emperor never thought I was incompetent when he conquered the world, and none of my suggestions were ignored. Now, the enemy's power is growing stronger, and Your Majesty still refuses to listen to me. What's the point of me living? I might as well die in front of Your Majesty!"

After saying this, he took out a rope and prepared to hang himself. Zhu Youzhen hurriedly stopped him and asked him what plan he had to repel the enemy.

Jing Xiang said: "Wang Yanzhang must replace Dai Siyuan as the commander-in-chief, otherwise I will die in front of you now."

Therefore, Wang Yanzhang, the "Wang Tieqiang", was ordered to lead the army to the battle. Under the operation of the "foreign relatives gang", Duan Ning accompanied the army as the deputy commander to supervise Wang Yanzhang.

Jing Xiang and Li Zhen teamed up to approach Zhu Youzhen many times, asking him to replace Duan Ning.

Zhu Youzhen was very unhappy and said casually: "Duan Ning didn't make any mistakes, why should he be replaced?"

Jing Xiang and Li Zhen stamped their feet anxiously, "When he makes a mistake, it will be too late!"

Jing Xiang and Li Zhen regarded the command of the army as the decisive factor in the survival of the empire, while the "foreign relatives gang" limited it to political struggle.

After Wang Yanzhang took command, he lived up to everyone's expectations and defeated the enemy in three days, capturing Desheng and Jiacheng.

Under the manipulation of the "foreign relatives gang", Zhu Youzhen not only did not replace Duan Ning, but instead ordered Duan Ning to take charge and replace Wang Yanzhang. After the order was issued, the veterans were indignant, and even the soldiers in the army gnashed their teeth.

The good old man and "healing master" Zhang Quanyi couldn't help but step forward and report to Zhu Youzhen, saying that although I am old and weak, I still have enough ability to defend the northern border for Your Majesty. Duan Ning is just an incompetent young man who has never made any achievements and his reputation is not enough to command a large army. Now everyone in the court and the army is talking about it, and I am afraid it will bring disaster to the country!

Jing Xiang, Li Zhen, Zhang Quanyi and others spoke out loudly and firmly opposed Duan Ning's appointment as commander, but Zhu Youzhen refused to listen.

Sure enough, just over a month later, "Wang Tieqiang" Wang Yanzhang was defeated and captured. Li Siyuan, the vanguard of the Later Tang Dynasty, arrived in Caozhou on October 10, and the garrison commander surrendered the city.

The remnants of Wang Yanzhang fled back to Bianzhou and reported the news of Wang Yanzhang's capture to Zhu Youzhen, saying that the Later Tang army was advancing straight and would soon be at the gates of the city.

Zhu Youzhen hurriedly gathered his family and burst into tears.

After crying for a long time, Zhu Youzhen urgently summoned all civil and military officials to ask for countermeasures.

All civil and military officials remained silent.

Zhu Youzhen said to Jing Xiang with tears of regret in his eyes, "I always refused to listen to you in the past, which is why I ended up like this. Today, things are urgent, so I beg you to forgive me and not bear grudges against me. Let me tell you, what should we do now? I will listen to you."

Jing Xiang also shed tears, but unlike Zhu Youzhen, Zhu Youzhen's tears were filled with regret and fear, while Jing Xiang's tears were filled with calmness and composure.

"I have received great favors from the late emperor for more than 30 years. In name, I am the prime minister of the empire, but in reality, I am an old slave of the Zhu family. It is my duty to serve Your Majesty. I have offered suggestions many times before, all of which are full of my loyalty. When Your Majesty used Duan Ning, I firmly opposed it, but the treacherous villains supported it unanimously, leading to what happened today. Now, not to mention me, even if Zhang Liang and Chen Ping were reborn, they would not be able to save Your Majesty. I only ask Your Majesty to grant me death first. I can't bear to watch the empire perish!"

After saying this, Zhu Youzhen and Jing Xiang cried bitterly to each other.

Subsequently, Zhu Youzhen did the following:
1. Send Zhang Hanlun, a member of the "foreign relatives gang", to rush to the north bank of the Yellow River and summon Duan Ning to return to rescue him.

However, Zhang Hanlun fell off his horse and injured his foot just after arriving in Huazhou, so he could not move forward. It was strange that Zhang Hanlun fell off his horse and could not move forward. Looking back at what the "foreign relatives gang" did later, we can boldly suspect that Zhang Hanlun had his own little plans, in short, he was an actor.

2. He selected a few of his most trusted people, gave them generous rewards, asked them to change into civilian clothes, carry wax balls containing secret imperial edicts, and cross the river separately to summon Duan Ning.

These confidants took the huge reward and immediately fled far away as soon as they left the capital.

3. Order Wang Zan to force the civilians of the capital to climb onto the city walls to stand guard.

4. Destroy the entire family. Kill all of his cousins ​​Zhu Youliang, Zhu Youneng, Zhu Youhui (all sons of Zhu Quanyu), who were under house arrest, as well as his brothers Zhu Youyong and Zhu Youhui.

Previously, Zhu Youneng had rebelled and was placed under house arrest after his failure. His brother Zhu Youhui was the governor of the Shanzhou Zhenguo Army. Zhu Youzhen was afraid that he would also rebel, so he transferred him back to the central government and placed the three brothers under house arrest. Zhu Yougui's patricide and Zhu Youzhen's killing of Zhu Yougui are two major mysteries in Chinese history. As we have said before, there are many doubts. Zhu Youzhen was extremely cautious about his brothers. When the Later Tang army was about to arrive at the city, Zhu Youzhen was worried that they would take the opportunity to seize power, so he killed all his brothers.

Before his death, Zhu Wen predicted that all of Zhu's descendants would be executed by Li Cunxu. He was only half right, that is, they would all die, but Li Cunxu would not be bothered, and his own son Zhu Youzhen would do the job.

To put it simply, Zhu Youzhen's final struggle was to call on Duan Ning, mobilize all the people, and eliminate internal hidden dangers.

Afterwards, Zhu Youzhen summoned his ministers again to discuss solutions.

Some people suggested that Zhu Youzhen flee to Luoyang and then gather troops from all over the country to rise up and defend the king; others suggested that Zhu Youzhen flee to the north of the Yellow River and join Duan Ning's main force.

Huangfu Lin, the commander of the imperial army (the commander of the Control Crane Command), opposed joining Duan Ning, saying that Duan Ning was a good-for-nothing who became the commander because of the royal family's favor. At this critical moment of life and death, it was a joke to expect him to remain calm, adapt to circumstances, and turn defeat into victory! Moreover, Duan Ning was terrified when he heard that Wang Yanzhang had failed. Now, who can guarantee that he is still loyal to His Majesty?
Huangfu Lin hit the nail on the head. When the emperor was in trouble, he turned to the general who held a large army, but ended up being betrayed by the general. This kind of story will be repeated in the near future.

Prime Minister Zheng Jue suddenly came up with an idea and offered a plan: "We should send someone with the imperial seal to the Later Tang army camp to pretend to surrender."

"And then? What are we going to cheat him of?"

Zheng Jue lowered his head and pondered for a long time, then raised his head and said firmly and sincerely: "I don't know either."

In the court, the terrifying and depressing atmosphere was finally broken by a burst of irresistible laughter.

"You really are your grandfather's grandson!"

Zheng Jue was also born into a prominent family, the Zheng family of Xingyang. There were 13 prime ministers with the surname Zheng in the Tang Dynasty, 12 of whom were from the Zheng family of Xingyang. For example, Zheng Congdang, Zheng Changtu, Zheng Ting, Zheng Yanchang, and Zheng Heng, the "Xie Hou Zheng Wu" mentioned above. Zheng Jue was the great-nephew of Zheng Heng.

The Zheng family of Xingyang was one of the top families among the aristocratic families, one of the "Five Surnames and Seven Clans". The others were the Longxi Li family (Li Shangyin, Li Juchuan), the Zhaojun Li family (Li Deyu), the Qinghe Cui family (Cui Yin), the Boling Cui family (Cui Yuan, Cui Hang), the Fanyang Lu family (Lu Xie), and the Taiyuan Wang family (Wang Pu).

The ones in brackets are only those who have appeared in the previous chapters of this book or are well-known historical figures. There are more prominent people in their clans than just these. There are many who are ranked as the Three Dukes, generals, prime ministers, and become the emperor's wife or the queen. They are serious and noble families, so arrogant that they even disdain to intermarry with the royal family. Compared with these families, the Li Tang royal family is scum.

Since Emperor Taizong of Tang, in order to strengthen central power, he began to try every possible means to weaken the political influence of the aristocratic families, and even used administrative power to interfere in their marriages, so they were also called "forbidden marriage families."

The more severely they were suppressed, the stronger the backlash would be. The emperor's edict banning marriage further raised their social influence, making them more unique, more arrogant and noble. Until the end of the Tang Dynasty, after more than 200 years of suppression from the royal family, the concept of family power not only did not disappear, but became more serious than in the early Tang Dynasty.

The concept of family background was often interspersed in the political struggles at the end of the Tang Dynasty. For example, Cui Yuan, who was born in the Bo Ling Cui family, looked down on Liu Can, the grandson of Liu Gongchuo.

During the reign of Emperor Zhaozong, in order to eradicate the power of eunuchs, Emperor Zhaozong formulated the "civilian route" and began to tend to seek descendants of prominent families to serve as prime minister and other high-ranking central positions; after Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, he was in urgent need of prominent families to stand up for him and endorse him, acting as political vases.

For example, Zheng Jue, although he was born into a prominent family, was mediocre in his own qualifications and failed the exams for 19 consecutive years. Later, thanks to the relationship between "healing master" Zhang Quanyi, he managed to obtain a part-time correspondence degree and became a Jinshi. From then on, he entered the political arena and thrived under the cultivation of Zhang Quanyi. Zhu Youzhen, who had an illegitimate throne, needed a political vase even more urgently, so Zheng Jue, a grandson of Zheng Heng, the prime minister of the Zheng family of Xingyang and the prime minister of the Zhaozong Dynasty, was promoted to the position of prime minister.

By the way, Zheng Jue has an inextricable relationship with the number "19". It took him 19 years to pass the imperial examination (because of connections), and he was ranked 19th. Later, he served as prime minister for 19 years, and his family ranking was also 19th. It is a very interesting coincidence.

Zheng Jue was a prime minister in the Later Liang Dynasty, but he was ineffective and did not make any plans. However, he proposed the strategy of "false surrender" on the eve of the demise of the Later Liang Dynasty, which successfully livened up the atmosphere and eased the terrifying and sad atmosphere when the country was destroyed and the family was ruined. He was even funnier than his great-uncle Zheng Heng.

All the civil and military officials in the court were helpless. Even Jing Xiang said that even if Zhang Liang and Chen Ping were reborn, it would be of no help. All Zhu Youzhen could do was cry.

After crying for a long time, Zhu Youzhen returned to his bedroom, wanting to take one last look at the imperial seal and bid farewell to it. He opened the wooden box and found it empty. His confidant had already stolen the imperial seal and presented it to the Later Tang army camp to report his merit and receive a reward.

Zhu Youzhen closed her eyes in pain and despair.

Someone urgently reported an extremely urgent military intelligence, saying that the Later Tang army had already crossed Caozhou, and the dust was flying, covering the sky and the sun, and it was unknown how many troops there were!
Zhu Youzhen slowly opened his eyes and nodded, "I understand."

At this moment, the Later Tang army was about to approach the city, and the civil and military officials were making their own plans. Zhu Youzhen, the king of a fallen country, was facing the dilemma of being deserted by his friends and relatives, and only had one trusted confidant left by his side - the commander of the imperial army, Huangfu Lin.

Zhu Youzhen said to Huangfu Lin: "Our Zhu family has a feud with the Shatuo people. I absolutely cannot be captured by them. And I don't have the courage to commit suicide. Please help me chop off my head."

Huangfu Lin burst into tears, "I am willing to wield the sword to kill the enemy for your majesty, and I am not afraid of dying in battle, but I dare not accept this order."

Zhu Youzhen said angrily, "Are you going to sell me out and take me for the reward?"

Huangfu Lin fell to the ground and cried, "I am willing to die to prove my innocence!" Then he was about to commit suicide by slitting his throat.

Zhu Youzhen quickly held his hand and said, "Let us die together." The king and his minister cried facing each other. The scene was too romantic.

In the end, Huangfu Lin killed Zhu Youzhen in tears, and then committed suicide by cutting his own throat in front of Zhu Youzhen's body.

A few hours later, Li Siyuan led his troops into Bianzhou to take over and appease the people. A few hours later, Li Cunxu entered Bianzhou.

Li Siyuan led the surrendered officials and generals of the Later Liang Dynasty to line up at the city gate to welcome him. Li Cunxu excitedly grabbed Li Siyuan's clothes and said, "I was able to conquer the world because of you and your father. I should share the world with you and your son!"

History is really good at playing jokes. The joke under the city of Bianzhou was indeed fulfilled in the future. Li Siyuan and his adopted son Li Congke really sat on the throne of the Later Tang Empire.

(End of this chapter)