History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 289: The Plot Against Liu

【Pull the father to calculate Liu】

Xiao Liu was from Weizhou. Her father's real name was not recorded in history books, but "Liu Sou", which means Old Man Liu. Old Man Liu was a quack doctor who sold fake medicines from street to street. He also did fortune-telling and feng shui on the side, and called himself "Mr. Liu Shan". Old Man Liu had a very distinctive facial feature - a yellow beard.

When the Hedong Army plundered Weizhou, the deputy general Yuan Jianfeng snatched little Liu from the arms of old man Liu. At that time, little Liu was still a little girl of five or six years old.

At that time, children were often plundered as important strategic resources. Boys could be sent to the army, and those with outstanding performance would even be adopted by warlords. Many of Li Keyong's adopted sons were boys who were plundered at that time. Girls were sent to the "Happy Group" in the palace, where they were taught to play various musical instruments and sing, and to serve the powerful. Those with both beauty and talent could also be chosen as concubines.

Little Liu was very artistic and soon became a foreman with outstanding skills. As she grew older, she became more and more beautiful, and was favored by Li Cunxu. "When she came of age, she was very pretty, and Zhuangzong was pleased with her." After Li Cunxu succeeded to the throne, he went to watch Little Liu's performance with his mother. Little Liu was very well-behaved and knew that this was a turning point in her fate, so she personally prepared wine for the mother and son to celebrate their birthdays, and worked hard to show her singing and dancing skills, making the old lady very happy.

If you want to marry off your son, you must first please your mother-in-law. This is an unchanging truth since ancient times.

After the banquet, Li Cunxu's mother really ordered that Xiao Liu be given to Li Cunxu. Xiao Liu was very scheming, and after a period of palace fighting, she became Li Cunxu's "mistress". Li Cunxu's first wife was Han, and the second was Yi.

Xiao Liu was not ranked third at first. Before her, there was another woman named Hou. This woman was originally the wife of Fu Daozhao, a general of the Later Liang Dynasty. In the "Battle of Desheng Jiacheng", Fu Daozhao died in battle, and Hou was taken over by Li Cunxu. Hou was very beautiful and was favored by Li Cunxu. Because she got her in the "Battle of Jiazhai" (Desheng Jiacheng is also known as Desheng Jiazhai), the palace called her "Lady Jiazhai". When Li Cunxu went out to fight, he often brought "Lady Jiazhai" Hou with him.

Liu Shi gave birth to Li Jiji, the eldest son of Li Cunxu. Li Jiji was also very similar to Li Cunxu in appearance. Because of Li Jiji, Liu Shi became Li Cunxu's favorite. After that, whenever Li Cunxu went out to fight, he would only take Liu Shi with him.

Another beautiful concubine gave birth to a clever and well-behaved son for Li Cunxu, who was also loved by Li Cunxu. Xiao Liu's position was threatened, but this did not bother Xiao Liu, the king of palace fighting.

One day, General Yuan Xingqin came to the palace to visit, and Li Cunxu chatted with him. Xiao Liu and the concubine were present to serve him. At that time, Yuan Xingqin's wife had just passed away. During the chat, Li Cunxu asked him: "Your wife just passed away. Do you plan to remarry? Otherwise, I can help you introduce someone to someone?"

Before Yuan Xingqin could speak, Xiao Liu took the lead and pointed at the concubine beside her, "You are talking about this? Good, your Majesty is wise!"

"Ah? Ah..."

Just as Li Cunxu was stunned, Xiao Liu winked at Yuan Xingqin, "Why don't you thank me quickly!"

Yuan Xingqin had no idea what the couple was up to, and he didn't dare to offend anyone, so at Xiao Liu's command, he kowtowed to Li Cunxu.

"Thank you, my Lord..." He looked up, "Huh? Where is she?" He tilted his head again and found that the concubine had been carried into a sedan chair and sent out of the palace.

"Your wife is on the delivery, please keep the communication open."

It was a waste of talent for Xiao Liu not to work as a courier. It was obvious that she had colluded with the eunuchs long ago. The sedan chair, sedan bearers, and navigators had been on standby for an unknown period of time. As long as they caught Li Cunxu's words, they would make him do it.

Giving the concubine to the minister was a tribute to Emperor Zhaozong.

Li Cunxu was so angry that he didn't eat for several days.

Using tricks like this, Xiao Liu eliminated all potential threats around him.

After Li Cunxu favored Xiao Liu, other concubines did not even have the chance to see Li Cunxu again. Xiao Liu was the only one favored in the harem.

Hearing that his long-lost daughter had transformed into the wife of the president of Hedong Group, Old Man Liu was instantly delighted and came to the Weizhou government office, "I'm not pretending anymore. I'm the father-in-law of the King of Jin!"

When Li Cunxu heard that his long-lost father-in-law came to his house to seek recognition as a relative, he did not dare to neglect him. After a brief greeting with Old Man Liu, he asked him to hide behind the screen first, and then urgently summoned Yuan Jianfeng.

"General Yuan, can you still recall what happened back then?"

Yuan Jianfeng hesitated for a moment, "Although it has been many years, and I only met him once, I really remember it very clearly! It's just because that person's appearance is too special and too easy to recognize. At the beginning, I was in the Beiwu of Cheng'an, Weizhou, and I robbed Madam Liu. She was only five or six years old, hiding in the arms of an old man with a yellow beard, and I snatched her away."

Li Cunxu nodded, "Then take a look, do you know this person? Come out."

Old man Liu turned the screen around, revealed his true form, and saluted Yuan Jianfeng, "Thank you, General, for taking my daughter away from me!"

Yuan Jianfeng took one look at him and immediately said with certainty, "It's him!" The father-in-law and son-in-law who had been separated for many years recognized each other and were all very happy. Li Cunxu quickly sent someone to the harem to summon Xiao Liu, "Your father is here!"

Unexpectedly, Xiao Liu was furious. Because in feudal society, especially in the late Tang Dynasty, family background was very important. Unlike the competition in talent shows today, if you wanted to be an official, gain social recognition and respect, you had to rely on your father and ancestors, and flaunt yourself as a descendant of a famous family. Even the competition for favor in the harem had to pay attention to family background.

As Xiao Liu competed for favor with other concubines in the harem, her humble origins were constantly attacked. She also wanted to create a persona of "the descendant of Liu Sheng, King Jing of Zhongshan". At this time, an old man Liu, who sold health products everywhere, came to her house to claim her relationship with him. Isn't this a slap in the face? How can she survive in the harem in the future?
Little Liu was furious and said to Li Cunxu: "I still have some memories of my childhood. My father unfortunately died in the chaos of war. I was lying on his body, crying. Where did this country bumpkin come from, pretending to be my father? Beat him up!"

Under Xiao Liu's order, Old Man Liu was beaten out with sticks.

Wu Zetian killed her daughter, and Xiao Liu beat her father.

In order to consolidate her image as a fatherless person, Xiao Liu did not hesitate to acknowledge a minister as her godfather.

In the twelfth month of the second year of Tongguang (924), Xiao Liu accompanied Li Cunxu to visit the home of "healing master" Zhang Quanyi. After three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, Xiao Liu said to Zhang Quanyi: "I lost my parents when I was young and became an orphan. As the saying goes, a son wants to support his parents but they are no longer there. For a long time, whenever I see an elderly person, I have a strong urge to show my filial piety. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you to be my godfather, so that I can show my filial piety as a child!"

At that time, Xiao Liu was already the queen. The queen wanted to recognize a minister as her godfather, which frightened Zhang Quanyi, who quickly declined, "Absolutely not!"

This is not a question of lack of fatherly love, nor is it a question of fulfilling filial piety, but rather a question of whether Liu Sou is the biological father of little Liu.

Xiao Liu requested again and again very sincerely, but Zhang Quanyi politely declined again and again.

Finally, Li Cunxu came out to mediate, and Zhang Quanyi was forced to accept. In panic, Zhang Quanyi took out a large amount of jewelry to thank the emperor for his grace, and Xiao Liu also gave him generous gifts.

The next day, Xiao Liu ordered Hanlin scholar Zhao Feng to draft a "family letter" to greet her godfather. Zhao Feng immediately reported to Li Cunxu, saying that since Pangu created the world and Nuwa created humans and repaired the sky, how could a queen recognize a minister as her godfather? It was ridiculous! It was absolutely not allowed.

Li Cunxu praised Zhao Feng's integrity, but still ordered him to listen to Xiao Liu.

From then on, Xiao Liu treated Zhang Quanyi as her own child. She sent people to Zhang Quanyi's house every day to pay their respects and give him gifts.

"Chu Die and Plotted against Liu", in addition to Chu Die, little Liu is also very calculating. To put it in a compliment, she has a special business mind.

She has two major hobbies: worshiping Buddha and collecting money.

Although Xiao Liu was born in a humble family, she was favored by Li Cunxu, so she thought she was blessed by the Buddha. Unlike other corrupt officials who worshiped Buddha, Xiao Liu was simply and devoutly grateful to the Buddha, but was unwilling to spend money on the Buddha. She only expressed her respect for the Buddha by copying scriptures and giving small amounts of money to monks and nuns.

Compared to Buddha, her obsession with money reached an outrageous level.

She sent her men to the market to buy up cheap goods, such as vegetables, fruits, firewood, etc., and then brought them back to the market, saying that they were royal items for the palace and sold them at high prices.

After she became Li Cunxu's favorite, she embezzled public funds unscrupulously. At that time, there was an unwritten rule: the tributes from all over the country had to be divided into two parts, one for the national treasury and the other for the harem.

Embezzling half of the country's finances was not enough to satisfy Xiao Liu's appetite. Xiao Liu blatantly accepted bribes, and she had a unique professional ethics. As long as the funds were in place, no matter who the briber was or what the request was, she would accept all requests. As a result, Xiao Liu became the best back door, the strongest relationship, and the most effective link in the Later Tang court.

When Zhuangzong entered Bian, Yuan Xiangxian, a member of the Later Liang "foreign relatives gang", was the first to come to Beijing to meet the emperor. He brought with him cartloads of gold and silver treasures to bribe Xiao Liu, actors, eunuchs, and the dignitaries of the Later Tang Dynasty. In just a few days, Yuan Xiangxian was praised by people inside and outside the palace. Yuan Xiangxian was safe and sound because of this, and was favored by Li Cunxu. He was given the name Li Shaoan and was made the governor of Songzhou Guide Army (formerly Xuanwu Army), and continued to ride on the necks of the people and act tyrannically;

The "healing master" Zhang Quanyi also gained a foothold in the court of the Later Tang Dynasty by means of bribery and was promoted to the title of "King of Qi";
Duan Ning also gained favor by paying a large sum of money as a bribe, and was given the name Li Shaoqin and sent to Yanzhou Taining Army Jiedushi;
The tomb robber Wen Tao dug up all the imperial tombs of the Tang Dynasty. He must have been an enemy of Li Cunxu, who regarded himself as the successor and restorer of the Tang Dynasty. He also bribed others and was not held accountable. He was even given the name Li Shaochong, and "Zhuangzong treated him very well";
Gao Jichang of Jingnan went to Beijing to meet the emperor, but he also escaped unscathed by bribing, which will be described in detail later.
The rebel Li Jitao, who was summoned to the emperor, also bribed Li Cunxu with a huge sum of more than 100,000 taels of silver and was treated well by Li Cunxu. He also often accompanied Li Cunxu on hunting trips. However, he was later executed for plotting another rebellion...

There are countless examples of Xiao Liu accepting bribes and interfering in government affairs. Everyone in the world knows this, and everyone knows that no matter if it is a political prisoner who needs to be whitewashed or a loser who wants to be an official, as long as Xiao Liu is given money, there is nothing she can't do.

As a result, Xiao Liu accumulated a lot of money, and the palace was piled with gold, silver and jewelry.

Little Liu was obsessed with saving money but was very stingy with spending it, so much so that when the country was in crisis, she refused to help. This was the key reason for Li Cunxu's defeat, which will be elaborated later.

In order to please the young Liu family and support Li Cunxu, the Later Tang regime inevitably gave birth to a large number of corrupt officials who were good at plundering the people, such as Kong Qian, who was known as the "empire's ATM."

(End of this chapter)