History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 293: The Emperor in Need of Money
【The Emperor in Need of Money】

Although the wife is rich, she does not give her husband any private money. This is a problem faced by many married men, and Li Cunxu is no exception, even though he has become the emperor.

Of course, as the overbearing president of the Hedong Group, using public funds for personal purposes is a good way to solve the problem. Li Cunxu had thought about this before he became emperor.

As mentioned in the previous article, the person in charge of the group's finances at that time was Zhang Chengye, an old minister and eunuch who supervised the army. Li Cunxu took great pains to set up a trap and set up a trap to trick Zhang Chengye. He deliberately held a banquet in front of the national treasury and asked his son Li Jiji to dance for Zhang Chengye. The father and son said what Zhang Chengye liked to hear and flattered Zhang Chengye. Taking advantage of the moment when Zhang Chengye rewarded Li Jiji, Li Cunxu said casually: "My son, don't be so distant with your uncle Zhang in the future. If you are short of money, just ask him for it. There is -" turning around and pointing to the national treasury, "- there is plenty of money."

I didn't expect Zhang Chengye to not buy into this. He clearly distinguishes between public and private matters. If you really need money, I'll help you out of my own pocket. Don't even think about touching a penny of public money!
Li Cunxu was so angry that he wanted to kill Zhang Chengye on the spot. Later, he brought the incident to his mother Cao, who beat him up. The next day, the mother and son went to Zhang Chengye's house to apologize.

Zhang Chengye was highly respected and selfless, and he would not be persuaded by any persuasion. Li Cunxu had no way to do anything with him and could only stare at the national treasury.

After Zhang Chengye passed away, Li Cunxu put a lot of thought into selecting the candidates for the Rent and Labor Commissioner. He was determined not to let a Zhang Chengye-like person manage the money, who was not smooth and worldly. So, the positions of Rent and Labor Commissioner were passed around by the above-mentioned people.

I have a bold guess: Dou Luge and Lu Zhi embezzled public funds as soon as they took office, and no one knew where the public funds went. Was it because Li Cunxu "borrowed" them? The two were impeached and dismissed for embezzling public funds, but they were only relieved of their duties as rent and labor officials. Other positions were not affected. Not only were they not demoted, but they were promoted in the future.

If Dou Luge was originally a person of bad morals and had traces of corruption, then what about Lu Zhi? Lu Zhi was a person who did not covet fame, wealth and power, but pursued leisure and ease. He was not bound by etiquette and laws, did not care about other people's evaluations, and was detached from the world. Moreover, he was Li Keyong's trusted old minister, and his reputation was comparable to Zhang Chengye. How could such a respected old cadre embezzle public funds just two days after taking office? It was too sudden for him to lose his integrity in his later years.

It is very likely that the two of them took the blame for Emperor Li Cunxu.

The huge fiscal deficit problem could not be solved by secretly using public funds for personal gain. Li Cunxu needed to find another way to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.

Therefore, the group’s president Li Cunxu thought of a brutal way to cut off the source of the problem - layoffs!
Before Li Cunxu entered Luoyang, in November of the first year of Tongguang (923), the Secretariat submitted a memorial saying that government agencies should be streamlined and redundant officials and staff should be cut to save fiscal expenditure. Li Cunxu immediately approved the proposal and handed it over to the Privy Council for execution.

The officials who have been laid off will wait in line, and the existing officials will serve for 25 months each term, and after the term expires, they will be rotated. There are more wolves than meat, so we will take turns to serve as officials and take turns to get salaries. This is not only true for civil officials, but also for military officials.

With the strong support of Emperor Li Cunxu, the Privy Council operated efficiently and the layoffs went extremely smoothly.

The officials of the Later Tang Dynasty complained bitterly.

Even so, the treasury was still in deficit, and the next February, when the ceremony was held, there was still a shortage of funds. In fact, this ceremony was almost like picking up something ready-made, using a full set of equipment and utensils purchased by Zhu Youzhen, so in theory, it should not cost the Later Tang too much.

In order to avoid embarrassing the imperial court, Guo Chongtao took out hundreds of thousands of gold and silk from his own pocket and donated them to the "Jiaotian Committee" for emergency relief. Where did Guo Chongtao get so much money?

Answer: Bribery.

Guo Chongtao made no secret of this and said frankly that this was all the bribes he had received from various parties in the short period of three months since he entered Bianzhou.

Many of his close associates were puzzled by this. "Your Excellency is not that kind of person, right? How could you be so corrupt? Could it be that oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while those grown in the north of the Huai River are bitter oranges?"

Guo Chongtao said: "I am now a general and a prime minister, with a high position and a generous salary. I don't need to be corrupt. But why did I accept all the bribes? Because the politics of the Later Liang Dynasty was corrupt and bribery was prevalent. Now they have all surrendered. They were once enemies of the empire. Although they were pardoned many times, they are still suspicious in their hearts. If I refuse their bribes, they will be more fearful and uneasy, which is not conducive to the political stability of the Later Tang Dynasty. I am just keeping it for the country temporarily. Look, now is the time to help the country share its worries."

After hearing this, his subordinates were deeply impressed and admired Guo Chongtao's far-reaching strategy and noble character.

Under the leadership of Guo Chongtao, civil and military officials at all levels were forced to voluntarily donate varying amounts of money to help with the construction of the suburbs.

The foundation laid by Zhu Youzhen, plus the money contributed by Guo Chongtao and officials, still could not meet the standard of Jiaotian. This was embarrassing. Li Cunxu's Later Tang court was simply a money-eating beast and a bottomless pit.

Guo Chongtao had no other choice but to find Li Cunxu and said that I had spent all my family wealth, and civil and military officials at all levels had also paid out of their own pockets. Your Majesty, shouldn’t you also use some of your own money to help the relevant departments? This was said in a very tactful way. It was obvious that he was helping Li Cunxu "with something in the southern suburbs", but Guo Chongtao deliberately said that he was helping the "relevant departments" to overcome difficulties. This gave Li Cunxu enough room to back out.

Li Cunxu pondered for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "I still have some savings in my hometown in Taiyuan Prefecture. I will send someone to get it."

So Li Cunxu sent people to take the property of Li Jitao that had been confiscated earlier to Luoyang.

This was not just an open embezzlement of public funds, a large part of the money was to be used to reward the soldiers who quelled the rebellion in Luzhou. Li Cunxu's move caused resentment among the troops in the Heshuo and Taihang Mountains, and some even defected, reaching the brink of mutiny.

Although Guo Chongtao was not in charge of finance, he also deeply realized the serious difficulties faced by the government finances, and the emperor's previous layoff order was too rough and unreasonable. Because many officials were not qualified for recruitment, but were hired through impersonation, transfer of quotas, and fraud, if layoffs were to be made, these people should be started first.

Therefore, after the suburban sacrifice, Guo Chongtao submitted a memorial to the emperor proposing to cut down on redundant officials and staff, and pointed out that the civil service system should be strictly enforced to root out those who were incompetent.

During the great upheavals at the end of the Tang Dynasty, many families of the aristocracy and gentry gradually declined. Forced to make a living, they transferred their official titles, and the phenomenon of impersonation and fraud became rampant.

Li Cunxu approved it immediately, with Guo Chongtao taking the lead, and the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Personnel cooperating, "Hurry up and do it! Hurry up!"

This screening process was also very efficient and very cruel. After strict review by the organization, more than 90% of the officials were unqualified! There were more than officials participating in the ceremony that day, and after the review, only a few dozen met the requirements.

The autumn wind swept the fallen leaves, and the political arena of the Later Tang Dynasty ushered in a bitterly cold winter.

Among them, there was a man named Wu Yanhao who impersonated his late uncle to become an official. After being found out, he was sentenced to death according to law. Subsequently, all the central government officials in charge of the appointment and removal of officials were jointly punished, and the severity was quite severe:
Cui Yi, the left chancellor and judge of the Ministry of Personnel, was demoted to the position of Sima of Linzhou;
Cui Yi, the Minister of Personnel, was demoted to Sima of Shuozhou;
Zheng Taoguang, the Imperial Secretary, was demoted to Sima of Ningzhou;
Lu Sun, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was demoted to the position of Sihu of a prefecture or county.

From a second-rank official, a ministerial-level official, to a fifth-rank official, a deputy director, he was demoted all the way to a remote and poor place to become a small section chief with no rank.

Fortunately, the three prime ministers Douluoge, Zhao Guangyun and Wei Shuo pleaded for mercy at the same time, so they were spared, but Wu Yanhao died.

At that time, impersonation was a common occurrence and an unwritten rule in official circles, but the "Wu Yanhao impersonation case" was used as a typical example to serve as a warning to others, and the severity of the punishment was unprecedented.

This is the strong signal sent to the outside world by Guo Chongtao and the big boss behind him, Li Cunxu: I am not joking with you, I am serious this time.

As a result, more than 80% of unqualified officials voluntarily surrendered themselves and resigned.

Those who were dismissed walked in groups on the streets in despair, unable to hold back their tears. They had lost their source of income, and many of them died of hunger and cold.

Reducing government expenditures was only Guo Chongtao's secondary purpose. Guo Chongtao really couldn't stand the chaos left by the Later Liang regime. He wanted to help the Later Tang Dynasty rectify the official system and standardize the government. But his simplicity and kindness were taken advantage of by Li Cunxu. Li Cunxu used Guo Chongtao to deliberately expand the campaign to rectify the official system, just to reduce the expenditure of court salaries as much as possible.

Li Cunxu's actions angered the public, making officials and soldiers dissatisfied. He used Guo Chongtao, who was in charge of the official layoffs, to become the target of public criticism and a shield for Li Cunxu. Officials inside and outside the court, civil and military officials, vented their anger on Guo Chongtao. Guo Chongtao was so exhausted from dealing with the joint frame-up by various forces that he was exterminated just two years later.

The death of Guo Chongtao will be described in detail later.

So the question is, why was Li Cunxu so short of money? This is related to his hobbies.

(End of this chapter)