History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 284 The End of Later Liang 2
【The End of the Later Liang Dynasty 2】

Under the unremitting efforts of the Later Tang Dynasty, the Later Liang Dynasty gave people the intuitive impression of becoming a regime that was politically dark, corrupt, stinking, and unbearable to look at.

We adhere to the principle of seeking truth from facts, do not seek to be different, and do not follow the crowd. Let us look at the objective facts that slap us in the face:

The Later Liang Dynasty was the longest-lived of the Five Dynasties, lasting 16 years, followed by the Later Tang Dynasty, which lasted 13 years.
The last emperor Zhu Youzhen was the longest-reigning emperor among the "Five Dynasties", with 11 years. The second was the Mingzong of Later Tang Li Siyuan, with 7 years.

Obviously, whether in terms of the duration of the regime or the length of time the emperor was in power, Later Liang was undisputedly ranked first, far ahead of the second place.

The policies of the Later Liang Dynasty were relatively relaxed, and compared with the past, they could be considered as lenient and people-loving. Even during the confrontation with Li Cunxu along the river, they issued more than one decree to reduce taxes and levies, trying to reduce the burden on the people as much as possible. In contrast, Li Cunxu was politically dark and extremely corrupt, and he plundered the people without mercy, which was one of the reasons for his rapid defeat.

In May of the seventh year of Zhenming (921), Zhu Youzhen issued an edict to change the reign title and issue a general amnesty, changing the seventh year of Zhenming to the first year of Longde. This edict is quite touching and can almost be regarded as Zhu Youzhen's "edict of repentance":
"...If you are good, Heaven will bless you; if you are not good, Heaven will bless you with disasters...I am a small and insignificant person...I cannot bear the hardship of the previous emperor, so I have caused the people to suffer. Wars are coming and disasters are coming. I reflect on the blame and think that it is all my own fault. Therefore, there are cunning troops from the border in the north and rebellious troops from Pu and Tong in the west...The army has no food to eat, and the family has no storage of stones. In addition, there are floods and locusts...I only blame myself and blame myself, and dare not blame Heaven or blame others. It is because I have no virtue to serve the heaven, and no merit to benefit the people..."

The Khitan invasion to the south was my fault; Li Maozhen's harassment of the western border was my fault; the floods were my fault; the locust plagues were my fault... In short, all the natural and man-made disasters were my fault, Zhu Youzhen. People of the world, please don't blame others, don't blame God, blame me, Zhu Youzhen.

Of course, the imperial edicts were not written by the emperor himself, but were drafted by relevant departments (Hanlin Academy) and relevant staff (Hanlin scholars, Zhizhigao), but they had to be reviewed by the emperor himself and approved before they could be promulgated and implemented. In history, many emperors took their anger out on Hanlin scholars because their "self-criticism edicts" criticized them too much, but this edict was sincere and sincere, putting all the blame on the emperor. Zhu Youzhen was able to have it promulgated and implemented and recorded in history, which also shows that he was at least not a tyrant.

The final word of the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" about Zhu Youzhen is "a pity". Because he was "kind but not martial, wise but not treacherous, without a foundation of accumulated virtue, and assisted by powerful officials." What a pity, what a pity.

These two sentences summarize Zhu Youzhen's embarrassing situation. In fact, he still stood on the opposite side of Zhu Wen. "There is no foundation for accumulating virtue from above." Your father is immoral, and your ancestors committed sins. The retribution is on their descendants. You deserve to have a bastard father.

The biggest accusation against Zhu Youzhen is that he favored villains and kept away from virtuous officials, favored the treacherous "foreign relatives", and alienated "old veterans" such as Jing Xiang and Li Zhen. No one wants to favor villains. Any emperor with ideals and ambitions hopes to promote virtuous people and dismiss unworthy people. Zhu Youzhen did this for his own reasons.

The first is the mystery of his ascension to the throne. Zhu Yougui's death and Zhu Youzhen's ascension to the throne are still a historical mystery, but one thing is obvious, that is, Zhu Youzhen was able to ascend the throne with the help of the "foreign relatives gang", so the influence of the "foreign relatives gang" on the government in the future is also self-evident. Even if Zhu Youzhen wanted to resist, he was powerless.

Not to mention resistance, after Zhu Yougui was killed, Zhu Youzhen did not dare to go to the capital Luoyang to ascend the throne, and did not dare to leave his old nest Bianzhou. He found a reason to ascend the throne in Bianzhou. The emperor's life was still in the hands of the "foreign relatives gang", so how could interfering in government affairs be a big deal?
Secondly, Zhu Youzhen’s reputation was too low and his experience was too shallow, so few people from the “old veterans gang” believed him.

Zhu Wen had high hopes for his eldest son Zhu Youyu, his nephew Zhu Youning, and Zhu Youlun. In the long-term wars, these three people were often seen in history books. They followed Zhu Wen through life and death, gained experience on the battlefield, and established prestige in the army. Qualifications and prestige are essential elements for a team successor, and this is exactly what Zhu Youzhen lacked the most. None of the veterans and old men obeyed him from the bottom of their hearts.

Yang Shihou, with his army, was disloyal and separatist; Zhang Yan, the leader of the Wei Bo rebels, openly called Zhu Youzhen a "servant"; even Liu Xun pointed at the ground with his tablet in front of Zhu Youzhen...

In Zhu Youzhen's heart, these so-called veterans and old men all harbored rebellious hearts. They despised the imperial power, the central government, and me! Therefore, they could not be trusted.

Based on these two main reasons, it is not difficult to understand why Zhu Youzhen wanted to be close to the "foreign relatives gang" and exclude the "veterans gang".

Of course, Li Cunxu faced the same problems as Zhu Youzhen when he first ascended the throne. They were both in their 20s when they took the top leadership position and faced a group of veterans with heavy military power and active ideas. The biggest difference between the two was that Li Cunxu was armed and led the troops, shared hardships with the soldiers, accumulated experience in the army, cultivated feelings with the soldiers, and established prestige; while Zhu Youzhen was "calm and taciturn, and liked Confucian scholars."

Apart from being close to villains and distant from wise officials, there is really nothing else to criticize about Zhu Youzhen. He was not addicted to wine and sex, did not like singing and dancing, did not like hunting, did not favor actors and musicians, did not fight geese... He did not have any bad habits, which was much better than Emperor Yizong and Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty. Even Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty later developed the bad habit of alcoholism.

Zhu Youzhen finally achieved the goal of dying for his country, and died a heroic death on the eve of the fall of the capital. He was also a man of his time.

In addition, Later Liang made certain contributions to the inheritance of Chinese civilization.

In February of the seventh year of Zhenming (921), Zhu Youzhen issued an edict to collect and organize "oral history". After years of war at the end of the Tang Dynasty, many official historical materials were destroyed in the war, and the history of the late Tang Dynasty was interrupted. Zhu Youzhen ordered the social elite to contribute family histories, "describe the origins of their fathers and ancestors' deeds and their talents, skills and virtues that can be clearly verified, and compile them and send them to the History Bureau". In particular, historical materials after Emperor Wuzong of Tang, whether public or private, must be sent to the History Bureau for copying, and it is emphasized that "all must be written directly, without literary flowers."

The scope of this collection is unprecedented. Even official documents, literary works, and so on, all the texts produced after the reign of Emperor Wuzong, had to be sent to the History Museum for copying.

If it were not for the collection and compilation by the Later Liang Dynasty, there would probably be a historical gap of several decades in Chinese history after Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and no one would know how the prosperous Tang Dynasty perished and how the Five Dynasties rose.

The contribution of Later Liang Chinese culture cannot be ignored and has an indelible positive significance for the progress of Chinese civilization.

(End of this chapter)