History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 301 Wang Jian's Chess Game
【Wang Jian's chess game】

In the same year that Zhu Wen established the Later Liang Dynasty, "the eighth thief" Wang Jian proclaimed himself emperor in Shu and established "Former Shu". Since his eldest son Wang Zongren died early, he made his second son Wang Zongyi the crown prince. After the "Crown Prince's Rebellion Case", Concubine Xu (Wang Zongyan's mother) colluded with Prime Minister Zhang Ge and eunuch Tang Wenjian, and made efforts to make Wang Jian's youngest son Wang Zongyan the crown prince.

Wang Zongyan is the eleventh child, the youngest son of Wang Jian, and also the most useless son. When Wang Jian appointed him as the crown prince, he said to himself more than once, "All the civil and military officials said that this child would become a great man in the future, but how could you see that he could keep the family?"

At that time, the political contradictions within Former Shu were very sharp, with various forces intertwined and difficult to eliminate, which even threatened Wang Jian's imperial power.

For example, Wang Jian has 120 adopted sons, each of whom is armed with heavy troops and as fierce as wolves and tigers. We can generally divide them into the "adopted son gang". According to the development path of Wang Jian's group, they are also divided into the "Xuzhou direct line" and the "Xichuan line". The relationships between them are complicated, and they are both enemies and friends in the political arena.

In order to pave the way for his successor, Wang Jian started to make plans many years ago. His methods were almost the same as those of Yang Xingmi, Li Cunxu and others. To sum it up, it was nothing more than "getting rid of the old and welcoming the new", disintegrating the old forces and cultivating new forces.

In terms of cultivating new forces, Emperor Zhaozong of Tang was a textbook example, a bloody lesson. Unfortunately, neither Li Cunxu nor Wang Jian could avoid the pitfalls that Emperor Zhaozong had fallen into.

Let’s take a look at Wang Jian’s efforts:

At the beginning of the founding of the country, political vases were needed. Shu had a unique advantage in this regard, because Shu was a popular check-in place for people from the Central Plains to escape the war. Even Emperor Xuanzong and Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty visited here, not to mention the gentry. Therefore, many well-known public intellectuals and downtrodden nobles lived in Shu at that time, providing raw materials for Wang Jian.

After careful selection, the organization selected Wei Zhuang, Zhang Ge, Mao Wenxi, Liu Zuan, Wei Xun, Du He, Wen Yi, Fang Yan, etc. Let's take a brief look at them:
1. Wei Zhuang

Representative work: Song of a Qin Woman

Family background: Jingzhao Wei family, Xiaoyao Gong family
Family background: There were 14 prime ministers during the Tang Dynasty.

Education: Jinshi in the reign of Emperor Zhaozong
Social status: Poet, lyricist, and representative of the "Huajian School" together with Wen Tingyun

Group Contribution: Proposed that Wang Jian first lead the army and the people to cry for three days before declaring himself emperor, and continued to use the reign title of Tang Zhaozong instead of Tang Aidi; at the beginning of the founding of the country, all systems, orders, criminal policies, rituals and music were from Wei Zhuang
Historical evaluation: clever; loyal minister
2. Zhang Ge

I won't introduce him in detail. He is the son of Zhang Jun, the prime minister during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong. He has talent but no moral integrity, is insidious and cunning, and has a narrow mind.

3. Mao Wenxi
Representative works: the ci poem "Yingtianchang", the historical book "Chronicles of the Former Shu Dynasty", the professional book "Tea Book"

Family background: His father was the Minister of the Imperial Household in the Tang Dynasty

Education: Child prodigy, became a Jinshi at the age of 14

Social status: Poet

Group Contribution: Someone advised Wang Jian to open the Yangtze River, flooding Gao Jichang in Jiangling. Mao Wenxi strongly advised him to stop, saving countless people in Jiangling

The three above are barely passable. Regardless of their backgrounds, at least their abilities are obvious to all. As for the following ones...

4. Liu Zan

Family background: His father, Liu Tui, was a Tang Dynasty official who was the source of the phrase "unprecedented". He was demoted because he offended the then prime minister Linghu Tao.
5. Wei Xun

Family background: Jingzhao Wei family

Family background: Father: Wei Zhaodu, Prime Minister of Emperor Zhaozong

Historical evaluation: Unintelligent and dull
Wang Jian's capture of Xichuan was inextricably linked to Wei Zhaodu. At that time, Wei Zhaodu led the expedition against Chen Jingxuan and Tian Lingzi in Xichuan, and Wang Jian was under Wei Zhaodu's command. Later, through conspiracy and hard and soft tactics, Wang Jian forced Wei Zhaodu to leave and established his own regime in Xichuan. Wei Zhaodu was impeached, dismissed and demoted.

Wang Jian wanted to take advantage of Wei Zhaodu's reputation in Xichuan, but he also felt guilty about him, so he treated Wei Zhaodu's stupid son with high positions and generous salaries.

Funny story: Wei Xun was stupid and foolish, but he was in a high position because he was the son of Wei Zhaodu. His colleagues teased him and gave him a very targeted and insulting couplet: A dead dog came out of the gate of a high official. Wei Xun thought for a long time and replied: A dead dog came out of the gate of a high official. His colleagues laughed and Wei Xun smiled foolishly.

6. Du He

Family background: Jingzhao Du family background: 8 prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty, "Poet Saint" Du Fu, great poet Du Mu, "Twenty-four Meritorious Officials of Lingyan Pavilion" Du Ruhui, "Tongdian" compiler Du You. His father was the prime minister and son-in-law Du Chong during the reigns of Wuzong and Yizong, his uncle was "Heroic Governor of Sizhou" Du Yan, his cousin Du Mu, and his cousin Li Shangyin.

Historical evaluation: "He has no other talents, but he was appointed as a doctor by his noble father." He is a waste that disgraces his ancestors.

Interesting story: He thought his position was too low and was very dissatisfied, so he went to the organization to argue, telling the organization about his noble and prominent family background, "Du Mu is my uncle, Du Fu is my ancestor, and Du, the prime minister of a certain dynasty, is my ancestor for several generations... In the previous dynasty, Wei Zhuang had to stand behind me in meetings, but now, everyone is in front of me! Is there any justice? You must respect me!" The person in charge of receiving him expressed sympathy for him and tried to persuade him. He was laughed at.

7. Wen Yi

Family background: Taiyuan Wen family

Family background: Descendant of Wen Yanbo, prime minister in the early Tang Dynasty; grandfather was the great poet Wen Tingyun.

8. Fang E

Family background: Qinghe Fang family

Family background: Ninth-generation grandson of Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling does not need much introduction. Fang E also does not need much introduction, because there is no need to introduce him.

It has to be said that Wang Jian's political vase is very impressive. The descendants of Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, the "Fang's Strategy and Du's Judgment", are all in Former Shu, and the descendants of the great poets Du Mu and Wen Tingyun are among them. It's a pity that these people did not inherit the excellent genes of their ancestors, and they are either stupid or dull.

The only ones who deserve praise are Wei Zhuang, Mao Wenxi and Liu Zan.

Wang Jian's civil service route was obvious, which was to search for old officials of the Tang Dynasty and talented cultural celebrities. At the beginning of the founding of the country, a total of 32 old officials of the Tang Dynasty were promoted. There was also an interesting incident during this period: the promotion of Lu Yanrang.

Lu Yanrang's experience is very inspiring. He was born in an ordinary family and failed the imperial examination for 25 consecutive years. So he created some easy-to-understand poems, taking the popular route to cultivate fame. Over time, he actually became a unique style. We can excerpt some of his poems:

"Two or three streaks of lightning are about to cause rain, and seven or eight stars are still in the sky."

"The fox rushed across the official road, and the dog touched the shop door open."

"A hungry cat comes to a rat's den, and a slanderous dog licks the anvil of a fish."

"Chestnuts explode and burn the felt, and a cat jumps and knocks over the cauldron."...

And so on, all of them depict life scenes, with simple and easy-to-understand artistic conception, so they are widely circulated. In fact, at that time, Lu Yanrang's poems should be regarded as "slobbery songs" and were ridiculed by literati, but no matter how good they were, they were the most popular and had a strong mass base. Lu Yanrang also attracted the attention of Wu Rong, the imperial censor. With Wu Rong's help, Lu Yanrang finally passed the imperial examination in the reign of Emperor Zhaozong and was appointed as a staff member by Lei Man of Langzhou.

Lu Yanrang laughed at himself and said, "I have studied for decades and visited many ministers, but I never thought that I would become a Jinshi because of cats and dogs."

After the fall of Leiman in Langzhou, Lu Yanrang came to Shu. He was already very old (after all, he had failed his major for thirty years), and he had never been taken seriously in Shu.

Once, Wang Jian and Pan Qiao (Pan Kangdi) were discussing state affairs. During the discussion, Wang Jian ordered people to roast chestnuts. As a result, the chestnuts burst due to the heat and splashed onto the embroidered mattress, burning it. The sound of the chestnuts bursting startled the imperial cat, which jumped up in fright and knocked over the tripod next to it...

Wang Jian was surprised for a long time, saying that this was not the line from Lu Yanrang's poem "Chestnuts explode and burn the felt, cats jump and knock over the cauldron"! Today I saw it with my own eyes, it was indeed not an illusion!

Afterwards, Lu Yanrang was promoted as an exception to the position of Minister of Works.

There is a poem saying:

"The emperor issued an edict to promote and appoint all the ministers together, and to list their meritorious service in the Futian Pavilion.

The cat leaps and the chestnuts burst, and the good verses are passed down, and the white-haired poets are also promoted. "

(End of this chapter)