History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 308: Prince Jia's Sadness
【Prince Jia’s Sadness from Drinking Wine】

The last emperor Wang Zongyan was extravagant and indulgent, and the national strength gradually declined. There was no shortage of upright and loyal people in Former Shu who risked their lives to advise him.

After Wang Zongyan ascended the throne, he did something rebellious: "dancing on the grave." At that time, a temple was built for the king, and Wang Zongyan led the harem and officials to dance on the Wansui Bridge, "using drums and music and obscene music to offer sacrifices."

Zhang Shiqiao, the lieutenant of Huayang County, submitted a memorial criticizing Wang Zongyan for being disrespectful.

Wang Zongyan was furious. How can I commemorate my father? Do you still have to tell me what to do? In a rage, Wang Zongyan planned to kill Zhang Shiqiao. At this time, the Queen Mother, Concubine Xu, showed the demeanor of a queen mother. She said that it was the job of a civil servant to give advice and that he should not be killed. He should be demoted and exiled.

As a result, Zhang Shiqiao was stripped of his official position and exiled to Lizhou.

Halfway through the journey, Zhang Shiqiao was so angry and grief-stricken that he drowned himself. It is unclear whether he committed suicide by jumping into the water or was forced to do so.

In the sixth year of Zhenming (920), Wang Zongyan announced to the public that he was on a "northern tour". It was called a personal expedition to inspect the frontier positions of the Qi-Shu war, but in fact it was a public-funded tour. The scene was luxurious and grand. Wang Zongyan wore a golden helmet and armor, holding a bow and arrow, and looked majestic. The people called him "Erlang Shen". At that time, no one in the court dared to dissuade him.

When passing through Hanzhou, Duan Rong, the magistrate of Luo County, submitted a memorial to the emperor, advising him that Your Majesty, as a noble man, should not leave the capital easily, and that the fighting should be left to his ministers.

County Magistrate Duan Rong loved the people like his own children and had many beneficial policies, which were well-known in Hanzhou. He was an excellent cadre ranked first in "people's satisfaction" in Hanzhou and a good public servant of the people (the first in Hanzhou for honest officials).

The historical records only record that Wang Zongyan "disobeyed", but do not record how Wang Zongyan dealt with Duan Rong.

In February of the second year of Longde (922), the Former Shu Dynasty held an imperial examination to recruit scholars. Wang Zongyan personally presided over the interview in the Wenming Hall (the imperial examination policy). He discussed the following topics: "How to ensure that the three rural issues are happy, that the five military issues are not tested, that there is no injustice in the criminal justice system, that there is no increase in taxes, what strategy is used to stabilize the Central Plains, and what method is used to predict the longevity of the world?"

There was an examinee from Chengdu named Pu Yuqing. He was a man of scholarly spirit and eloquent, and he spoke eloquently about current affairs without reservation. Among his remarks, he used fierce words such as "Those dressed in red and purple are all thieves and Zhi, those in counties are all wolves and tigers, the court is full of treacherous flatterers, and greed and debauchery are rampant. To seek order in this way is to go against the grain."

Dao Zhi, according to legend, was a great thief who led 9,000 bandits during the Spring and Autumn Period. He was rampant throughout the country and ravaged the princes. His troops loved to "take women", robbing money, food, and women, so he was revered as the ancestor of the prostitute world. Pu Yuqing said that all the civil and military officials in the court were like Dao Zhi, and this metaphor is worth savoring.

In the end, he even said to the emperor, "You still want to seek capable ministers to govern the country? Ah - bah! What you have done is simply perverse!"

The "gentlemen in red and purple" around him were all sweating and gritting their teeth, "Your Majesty, this unruly person is simply lawless, please execute him to revive the government!"

Unexpectedly, Wang Zongyan was actually pleased with the scolding. He had always been surrounded by people who were fawning and flattering, but when he suddenly saw such an upright person, he felt refreshed and in high spirits. Not only did he not kill him, but he immediately promoted Pu Yuqing to the position of right replacement, and later appointed him as the judge of Qinzhou Jiedushi and secretary of the provincial party committee. Let's go -

This Pu Yuqing will appear again soon.

There were also loyal and courageous eunuchs among the eunuchs. On September 922, the Double Ninth Festival in the second year of Longde (9), Wang Zongyan held a banquet for all his ministers in Xuanhua Garden. In the middle of the night, Wang Zongyan sang the poem "Willow Branches" by the Tang Dynasty poet Han Cong, "The Liang Garden and the Sui Dike are empty, but the willow branches still dance in the old spring breeze. Why think about the thousand-year-old events? Who has seen willow flowers enter the Han Palace?"

"Liangyuan Suidi" refers to the East Garden (Liangyuan) built by Liu Wu, the King of Liang in the Western Han Dynasty, and the embankment built by Emperor Yang of Sui to open the Grand Canal. In ancient poetry, it usually refers to historical places of interest. Wang Zongyan, a travel enthusiast, was moved by the scenery in his own Xuanhua Garden and wrote this poem.

The eunuch Song Guangpu wanted to persuade Wang Zongyan, so he recited the poem "Poems on History - Gusu Terrace" by the Tang Dynasty poet Hu Zeng:
"The King of Wu relied on his hegemony and abandoned his talent, and went to Gusu to get drunk. He didn't notice that the moon on the Qiantang River was sending the Yue soldiers westward overnight."

Wang Zongyan was very unhappy after hearing this, and the banquet ended in a bad mood.

Wang Zongyan should really savor this poem, especially the part "One night, I sent the Yue soldiers westward." Born in adversity, die in comfort. Adversity is often a qualitative change caused by quantitative change. A year later, the Later Tang overthrew the Later Liang, and then listed the Former Shu as the number one imaginary enemy. Then Wang Zongyan faced the Tang soldiers, his country was destroyed, and he died.

Obviously, this poem did not attract enough attention from Wang Zongyan. In the following time, he continued to hang out with eunuchs, actors and other flatterers, "accompanying them at banquets, or singing erotic songs, talking in mocking and vulgar ways and being obscene and rude."

In August of the third year of Longde (923), Liu Zan, the military governor of Jiazhou, presented the "Three Pavilions" as a satire and admonition. The three pavilions refer to the Linchun Pavilion, Jieqi Pavilion, and Wangxian Pavilion built by the famous and incompetent emperor Chen Houzhu. On the surface, it describes Wang Zongyan's Xuanhua Garden with the most famous luxurious pavilions in history, but in fact it compares Wang Zongyan to Chen Houzhu.

Wang Zongyan also did not blame him, nor did he listen to the advice.

On the Double Ninth Festival of that year (923), Wang Zongyan again held a banquet for his ministers in Xuanhua Garden. When the wine was half drunk, Prince Jia Wang Zongshou talked about the country and the people. He was overwhelmed with sorrow and could not help but burst into tears, in great pain.

Wang Zongyan was half sober and asked him why he was crying when everyone was drinking so happily.

Favored eunuchs around him, such as Pan Zaiying (son of Pan Kang) and Han Zhao, all said that Wang Zongshou lost his composure after drinking and loved to cry when he was drunk. "Your Majesty, some people love to laugh when they are drunk, some love to sleep when they are drunk, some love to cry when they are drunk, and some love to act crazy when they are drunk, lying on the road to block cars, and some who are really drunk will even climb under the beam of a flashlight!"

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty, have you never heard of Hou Baolin's "Drunk"?"

Everyone was talking nonsense and mocking him, and the whole place was in an uproar. Afterwards, Wang Zongyan ordered his concubine, the palace maid Li Yuxiao, to sing a palace poem she had written, "Moonlight Like Water," for Wang Zongyan's birthday:
"The bright and glorious jade clouds float above the Xuanhua Pond, and the moon shines brightly.

The moonlight is like water flooding the palace. If you don't get drunk with wine, you are a fool. "

At that time, Wang Zongyan's Zhaoyi Li Shunxian was skilled in rhetoric, and her poems "Poems in Response to the Imperial Order of the Palace of Shu", "Poems Following the Emperor", and "Poems on Fishing" were praised by literati and scholars. The talent of the palace lady Li Yuxiao was second only to Li Shunxian. Both of them were talented and beautiful, and were Wang Zongyan's favorites.

Li Yuxiao's singing voice was beautiful and melodious, and everyone at the scene was captivated by her.

The emperor ordered his favorite concubine to order a song for you alone. What does that mean? Wang Zongshou certainly understood and immediately drank the large glass of wine in front of him (Zongshou was afraid of disaster, so he also drank the whole glass).

The treacherous minister Pan Zaiying wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to kill Wang Zongshou, so he said to Wang Zongyan: "Prince Jia drank heavily when he heard Li Yuxiao singing. It seems that he likes Li Yuxiao very much. Your Majesty should just give Li Yuxiao to him."

It was also a very popular practice for the emperor to give his favorite concubine to a meritorious official. Emperor Zhaozong of Tang and Li Cunxu had both done so, and they were not the only ones who had done so.

Wang Zongyan was a weak ruler, but not a tyrant. He was heartless and debauched, but he did not kill all those who advised him. When Pan Zaiying finished speaking, Wang Zongshou was sweating through his clothes, tears were streaming down his face, and he wanted to shit and piss in his pants. Instead, Wang Zongyan helped him to smooth things over and said, "Forget it, he will definitely not dare to take it. Forget it."

(End of this chapter)