History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 287 Zhuangzong Enters Luoyang
[Zhuangzong enters Luoyang]

The month after the Later Tang conquered the Liang Dynasty, Fengxiang Li Maozhen sent an envoy to the court to express his congratulations to Li Cunxu. In the letter, Li Maozhen referred to himself as "uncle" and his words were like those of an elder teaching a younger generation, "Don't blame me for speaking bluntly, because you are young and there are many things going on here. I am afraid you can't handle it..."

That month, Li Cunxu ordered the capital to be moved to Luoyang.

The reasons for moving the capital to Luoyang are mainly as follows:

1. Politics

Chang'an and Luoyang have always been the capitals of the Tang Empire. At first, Chang'an was the capital and Luoyang was the eastern capital. During the reign of Emperor Zhaozong, Zhu Wen forced Emperor Zhaozong to move the capital to Luoyang. Chang'an and Luoyang have a special political status and are the representatives of the orthodox Chinese civilization. Only the regime with these as the capital is the orthodox dynasty in the Central Plains in people's minds. If the regime uses other places such as Youzhou, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Chengdu, etc. as the capital, it is a local separatist force.

Bianzhou was the birthplace of Zhu Wen's group and also had special political significance. Li Cunxu regarded himself as the restorer of the Tang Dynasty and claimed that he was the successor of the Tang Empire. Naturally, the capital had to be chosen between Chang'an and Luoyang, and he was determined not to follow Zhu's Bianzhou.

2. Military

Although Chang'an and Luoyang were once the political, economic and cultural centers of the empire, the center had already shifted eastwards over time, and important military towns were almost all located east of Tongguan. Luoyang was east of Chang'an, and was more suitable as the command center of the empire than Chang'an.

3. Infrastructure
Since the "Huang Chao Rebellion", Chang'an has been ravaged by wars and man-made destruction several times, and was almost razed to the ground. Although it has been repaired, due to the serious decline of its political status, Chang'an can never regain the prosperity of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty.

Luoyang was the opposite. During the "Huang Chao Rebellion", under the leadership of Liu Yunzhang, the governor of the Eastern Capital, Luoyang took the initiative to open the city and surrender, and was not invaded by the war. Although it was artificially destroyed by Sun Ru during the rebellion of Qin Zongquan, it was fully restored under the dedicated care of "healing master" Zhang Quanyi, and soon reached or even exceeded the pre-war level.

Later, the treacherous minister Cui Yin advised Zhu Wen to vigorously repair Luoyang in preparation for the relocation of the capital. Zhu Wen suddenly realized the truth and increased the investment in Luoyang's infrastructure to make it meet the standards of a capital of a great empire. After Emperor Zhaozong moved east, Luoyang officially became the capital of the Tang Dynasty. After Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, the Later Liang Empire also used it in the early days until Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne in Bianzhou.

Luoyang's infrastructure was sufficient to support it as the capital of a great empire.

All in all, making Luoyang the capital was Li Cunxu's only choice.

After hearing the news that the Later Tang Dynasty moved its capital to Luoyang, Fengxiang Li Maozhen was terrified. In his view, this was Li Cunxu moving the command center westward, which was obviously a signal to attack Fengxiang.

Li Maozhen immediately sent his son Li Jizhen to the capital to pay tribute and find out Li Cunxu's true intentions. This time, Li Maozhen finally called himself "minister" and did not dare to call the document he handed over a state letter, but a memorial. His words were quite humble. In less than two months, Li Maozhen's attitude changed a lot.

We already know Li Cunxu's true intention. His move of the capital was mainly out of political considerations. He was not interested in Fengxiang and really had no intention of attacking Fengxiang. Faced with Li Maozhen's servile flattery, Li Cunxu also tried his best to appease him. He issued an edict to promote Li Maozhen to the King of Qin (originally the King of Qi), granted him the privilege of not having to bow or take a name, and appointed his son Li Jihe as the Minister of the Central Secretariat and sent him back to the town with courtesy.

After Li Jihe returned to Fengxiang, Li Maozhen was eager to ask him about his experience. Li Jihe witnessed the strength of the Later Tang army with his own eyes, and exaggerated the Later Tang's strength to his father, "How do we compare with the Later Liang? The Later Liang is the king, and we are bronze; the Later Liang is compared with the Later Tang, the Later Tang is the king, and the Later Liang is bronze. If we compare directly with the Later Tang... you can figure it out yourself."

Old Li was frightened, and hurriedly submitted another petition, with more humble and courteous words, requesting the restoration of the proper etiquette for a subject, saying that the honor bestowed by His Majesty was too great to bear.

Li Cunxu replied, "You are a veteran of this dynasty, you have made contributions to the Tang Dynasty, and you are a close comrade of the same generation as my father. Why are you so modest? Just do it, don't be polite." Li Maozhen's "contributions" to the Tang Dynasty are obvious to all, including the three towns' invasion of the palace, the second invasion of the palace, the burning of Chang'an, and the kidnapping of Emperor Zhaozong...

As for his comradeship with Li Keyong...the Guanxi Group led by Li Maozhen and the Guandong Military Alliance led by Li Keyong had been in long-term confrontation. Li Keyong repeatedly submitted memorials to Emperor Zhaozong, demanding the execution of Li Maozhen.

It is not known whether Li Cunxu really wanted to get close to Li Maozhen or was deliberately joking or mocking him. In short, after Li Cunxu's "kind words of comfort", Li Maozhen was frightened to death at the age of 69.

Li Maozhen left a memorial to the court, requesting that his son Li Jihe be allowed to succeed him, and Li Cunxu approved the request.

Li Maozhen made his debut during the reign of Emperor Xizong. In the third year of Guangqi (887), he was appointed governor of Fengxiang for his meritorious service. He remained in Fengxiang for 924 years until his death in the second year of Tongguang (37). During the reign of Emperor Zhaozong, he was granted the title of King of Qi, and later the title of King of Qin in the early Later Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Zhaozong, Li Maozhen's power reached its peak. The Guanxi Group led by him firmly controlled the Guanxi and Guanzhong regions, and tried to infiltrate the Sichuan and Shu regions. It even included the capital Chang'an in its sphere of influence. "He was good at using troops to spy on the government, and was quite involved in government affairs, and began to have the ambition to seize the throne." He also tried to depose and enthrone the emperor more than once.

It was precisely because of his arrogance that he was surrounded by public opinion and became the target of public criticism. In the south, he was constantly eroded and harassed by Wang Jian of Xichuan; in the east, he was extremely weird and offended the two most powerful vassals in Guandong at the same time - Li Keyong of Hedong and Zhu Wen of Bianzhou.

Afterwards, he was taught by the three big men to be a good man. The Guanxi Group collapsed, and Fengxiang's power was declining. After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, he never dared to publicly proclaim himself emperor.

Finally, this once powerful figure, the leader of Guanxi region, and the number one in Qilong, became a supporting actor in the Jin-Kaifeng struggle. He had been in charge of Fengxiang for 37 years, but in the end he was frightened to death by a few polite words from his junior Li Cunxu. It was pitiful, sad, and lamentable.

At the peak of his power, Li Maozhen owned 20 states, but only 7 states remained in his last years. The land was small and the population was sparse, and the economy was in trouble. In order to increase fiscal revenue, Li Maozhen ordered the "oil-squeezing", that is, oil was listed as a government monopoly, and lamp oil was also listed as a government monopoly. In order to save money, the people had to burn pine torches (dead and aging pine wood, the wood contains trace amounts of pine oil, and is now often made into bracelets and hand-held items). So Li Maozhen ordered the prohibition of the use of pine torches to force the people to buy the high-priced oil sold by the government.

An actor said to him: "Please ban the bright moon as well (I ask you to ban the bright moon)." Li Maozhen smiled awkwardly but politely, thanking the actor for his advice. Later, "banning the bright moon" became an idiom to describe heavy taxes.

But overall, Li Maozhen was very gentle during the 37 years he guarded Fengxiang. Historical records record that he was "kind and compassionate, and the people were quite content with him."

The eldest son, Li Jizhao, succeeded to the post of Fengxiang Jiedushi. He was smart, gentle, good at calligraphy and painting, polite and tolerant. He once pleaded for his enemies, which was praised by the world; he had thousands of hectares of fertile fields and bamboo forests in Fengxiang, but he gave them up voluntarily because he did not want to compete with the people for profit, which was praised by the people of Fengxiang; he never flogged or punished his servants and subordinates when they made mistakes... In short, he was humble and honest, lenient and loved the people, and continued Li Maozhen's governance style.

During the reign of Emperor Mingzong, Li Jizhen was transferred to Bianzhou, and later to Yunzhou. When Li Congke, then governor of Fengxiang, launched a rebellion and entered Beijing to seize power, the people of Fengxiang spontaneously stopped Li Congke's horse and begged for Li Jizhen to return to Fengxiang. After the last emperor Li Congke ascended the throne, he followed the will of the people and restored Li Jizhen as governor of Fengxiang and conferred him the title of Duke of Qin.

Later Jin Gaozu Shi Jingtang conferred the title of King of Qin and King of Qi on Li Jihe; Later Jin Chudi Shi Chonggui gave Li Jihe the title of Grand Protector. In the third year of Kaiyun of Later Jin (946), Li Jihe died of illness in Fengxiang at the age of 49.

Li Jichang, the second son of Li Maozhen, served as a military governor and commander of the imperial guards during the Later Tang and Later Jin dynasties. He had a lower sense of presence and "had no policies to praise and no harsh laws to criticize." He died of illness in the third year of Tianfu (938) at the age of 40.

The third son, Li Jizhao, has the least presence. In the Old History of the Five Dynasties, there is only one sentence about his biography: "He served as the governor of Longzhou, the general of the various guards, and died." In the more concise New History of the Five Dynasties, there is no mention of him at all. It is also unknown when he was born and died.

After Li Siyuan ascended the throne, he ordered to change the names of the three brothers, changing the word "Ji" to "Cong". Therefore, some historical materials record Li Maozhen's three sons as Li Conghe, Li Congchang, and Li Congzhao.

(End of this chapter)