History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 310: Ten Ministers Present

【Ten Ministers Present】

An Zhongba was a treacherous and cunning person, good at guessing other people's minds. He took the initiative to curry favor with the eunuch Wang Chengxiu, actively giving Wang Chengxiu advice and teaching him to deceive the emperor. It was under his guidance that Wang Chengxiu got the appointment of Qinzhou Tianxiong Army Jiedushi, and then appointed An Zhongba as his deputy Jiedushi, bringing him by his side and continuing to collude with him.

After the two of them arrived at Qinzhou, they started a large-scale construction to build a temporary palace in preparation for welcoming the emperor. In Qinzhou, they collected a lot of rare flowers and plants, painted "Flower and Tree Picture" and presented it to Chengdu, boasting about the beautiful mountains and rivers of Qinzhou; they also robbed women from the people, taught them to sing and dance, and dressed them up carefully, and then asked painters to paint their faces and sent them to Chengdu.

The scenery is picturesque and there are many beautiful women... Your Majesty, would you like to come to Qinzhou for some fun?

In the court, the eunuch Wang Chengxiu colluded with Chengdu prefect Han Zhao (a flatterer favored by Wang Zongyan) both internally and externally. Han Zhao helped Wang Chengxiu to spread rumors in the court and tried his best to persuade Wang Zongyan to inspect Qinzhou.

Wang Zongyan then gave orders to go to Qinzhou and be the Wang next door again.

The straight-line distance between Qinzhou and Chengdu is one thousand miles, separated by thousands of mountains, with dangerous and rugged roads.

This time, the silent civil and military officials finally couldn't sit still anymore. The country was in crisis, but they still refused to change their ways. "Many officials advised against it", and Wang Zongbi also submitted a memorial to persuade the emperor.

Wang Zongyan was very angry and threw Wang Zongyan's memorial directly to the ground.

Even the elder and younger concubines opposed Wang Zongyan's trip. Seeing Wang Zongyan's insistence on his own way, they were sad and angry, and helpless. The elder concubine cried and went on a hunger strike in protest.

The Queen Mother went on a hunger strike, and even the most wicked emperor should obey his mother's wishes. After all, he should rule the country with filial piety and set an example. But Wang Zongyan was so wicked that he was immune to all poisons.

The ministers' persuasion and the queen mother's hunger strike could not stop Wang Zongyan from going to Qinzhou. Nothing could stop his yearning for beautiful women.

Pu Yuqing, who had denounced the court during the interview in the Wenming Palace, was now serving as the judge of Qinzhou. Of course, he also submitted a memorial with extreme remonstrance. The memorial was 2,000 words long, and the words used this time were even more intense. Here is an excerpt:

"The late emperor created the business with great difficulty, wishing to pass it down to future generations. Your Majesty grew up rich and noble, indulged in lust and wine... The Emperor of Qin went hunting in the east, but his carriage never returned; Emperor Yang of the Southern Dynasties, but his dragon boat never returned... In the past, Li Shi was succumbed to Huan Wen, and Liu Shan surrendered to Deng Ai..."

Han Zhao was furious when he received the memorial, and sent someone to tell Pu Yuqing, "I will accept your memorial first, and when the emperor comes back, I will ask you to explain it word for word to the jailer in prison!"

In April of the third year of Tongguang (925), Wang Zongyan hosted a banquet for his ministers. During the banquet, Wang Zongyan suddenly regained some of his sanity, became melancholy and confused, and "raised his cup in displeasure," saying, "Now, there are the mixed barbarians of the Later Tang in the north and the barbarians of Nanzhao in the south, and I am powerless to conquer them. Alas - the motherland has not yet been unified, and I feel depressed!"

Gu Zaixun (son of Gu Yanlang) flattered him and said, "There are ten more ministers in the court, so Your Majesty has nothing to worry about."

In order to flatter the emperor thoroughly, after retiring, Gu Zaixun found Lin Han, the Prince's Groom (an official title), and asked him to help him write a Shu version of "The Ten Ministers".

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a book called "Ten Ministers in the State of Tang", which collected beautiful stories from ancient times to the present, showing the strength of the monarch and his ministers, and the prosperity of the country. So Gu Zaixun wanted to present the Shu version of "Ten Ministers in the State of Tang" to Wang Zongyan to please him. He really found the right person.

Lin Han was well-versed in classics and history. But he was a typical angry young man, "his writings were full of sarcasm", and he was best at criticizing current politics. So he wrote this essay with great enthusiasm, and we excerpted some of its contents:

"He started construction projects in the Forbidden City... He went out to guard the frontiers... He ordered the emperor to travel far away in a carriage, which was the beginning of the conflict and the source of the disaster. Wang Chengxiu was here;
He killed people in the midst of playing, and killed his enemies in the hands of the cardinals. He abandoned all his meritorious services and would not do anything without bribes. There is Song Guangsi.
He was entrusted by the previous emperor to be the pillar of the great country, but he was actually a greedy person and not a tool for the country. If Wang Zongbi were here,
To stir up rebellion, one must show off the ingenuity of the rules; to indulge in treacherous plots, one must use the power of the tongue; his heart and mouth are dangerous, and Han Zhao is still on his side;

Burning down the military camp and rebuilding the private residence, Ouyang Huang was there;
He is cruel and cruel to the people, and collects goods in the market. He is a county governor, but he is really ungrateful to the grace of heaven. There is Tian Lu Chou here;
As the uncle of the king, he only cares about luxury and does not think about assisting others. His house is very similar to the Shangyuan Garden. He is greedy for gold and pearls. There is Xu Yanqiong.
He was sent out to stay behind, and then he took charge of the key affairs. He had no upright words to assist the emperor, but he was obedient and followed the emperor's orders. Jing Runcheng was there.
I have been seeking women to please the emperor, and have always been favored by him. I have never been loyal and diligent, but I have been ashamed of myself. Yan Ningyue is here.
Singing the tune of the country's destruction, making the king as stupid as Jie and Zhou, making the emperor lack the enlightenment of Tang and Yu, as long as I, the minister (I, Gu Zaixun) am here.

Your Majesty, if you appoint such a minister, why should you worry about the unrest of the country?"

Gu Zaixun was illiterate and had no idea that the poem was not just a subtle innuendo but also a sarcasm and ridicule. He thought it was a song of praise, so he happily took it to present it to Wang Zongyan.

Surprisingly, after reading it, Wang Zongyan actually laughed out loud, and ordered to reward Gu Zaixun with 500 pieces of silk, and conferred the titles of General of the Right Jinwu Guard, Kaifu Yitong Sansi, and Inspector Taiwei, and ordered the historian to record the incident in the national history.

Not a surprise, not an accident.

Perhaps it was because Wang Zongyan was surrounded by treacherous villains, who sang praises of his achievements every day, and he felt relieved to hear honest advice, and felt refreshed when being scolded; secondly, perhaps he wanted to create a character who was open-minded and receptive to advice, so he ordered historians to compile it into the national history and record it forever, and the Shu version of "Ten Ministers" was thus passed down.

Wang Zongyan's performance of "open-mindedness and accepting advice" is also a tribute to his father Wang Jian.

During the reign of Wang Jian, there was a Suzhou native named Jiang Zhaogong who lived in Shu. He was upright and talented, and he often wrote some scathing poems, satirizing the authorities and mocking current affairs. One day, Wang Jian had the honor to read his poems, and was "very happy to see the poems". He liked and commented on the poem and forwarded it, saying, "He is a man of bold words!" He ordered to promote Jiang Zhaogong to the position of magistrate of Mingshan County, and later awarded him silver and purple for his outstanding achievements.

Another commoner named Li Jing dared to submit a memorial to Wang Jian, which was several thousand words long and pointed directly at the key points of the court. He was also promoted to the position of Meishan Chief Clerk. Wang Jian issued an imperial decree to commend him, saying: "Reward his loyalty and entrust him with the post of a beard."

Therefore, Wang Zongyan promoted Gu Zaixun, who presented "Ten Ministers in the Present", to a higher position and gave him generous rewards, which was also an example of the previous emperor.

Wang Zongyan was humorous and witty, but Gu Zaixun's behavior was even more hilarious. Gu Zaixun gave half of the 500 rolls of silk he received to Lin Han (and left the other half to Han) as royalties, and both of them got exactly 250.

Lin Han was particularly good at the study of the Six Classics, and he annotated 20 chapters of Shuowen Jiezi, and his novels Lin's Novels were passed down to later generations. However, Ten Ministers Only earned him 250 pieces of silk and the people's admiration, and Lin Han was not promoted because of it. In the end, he ended his ordinary but extraordinary life in obscurity.

Lin Han’s Shu version of “Ten Ministers in the Palace” is a realistic painting, like “The Last Supper”, a sketch of Wang Zongyan’s court. It is a text-based documentary and can also be used as a guideline for us to start studying Wang Zongyan’s court.

(End of this chapter)