History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 339 "Healing Master" Zhang Quanyi 2
【“Healing Master” Zhang Quanyi2】

The previous article detailed the story of how Zhang Quanyi restored the vitality of Luoyang, which gave him the nickname "Healing Master". Zhang Quanyi's work ability is obvious to all. In fact, even earlier, when he was working with Li Hanzhi, Zhang Quanyi intended to create his own "farmer" persona.

In the following thirty or forty years, Zhang Quanyi remained silent. Although he held a high position, he remained low-profile and almost forgotten. During these years, he only did two things: farming and persuading others to farm. He has been a professional farmer for thirty years.

When Li Cunxu first destroyed the Liang Dynasty, he planned to dig up Zhu Wen's grave, open the coffin and mutilate the corpse. At that time, no one dared to dissuade him, only Zhang Quanyi stepped forward and dissuaded Li Cunxu from this idea in time; in order to cater to Li Cunxu, the surrendered officials of the Later Liang Dynasty scolded the Later Liang Dynasty and Zhu Wen, insulted the old master, and tried to please the new master, but Zhang Quanyi adhered to the moral bottom line, just did his job well, fulfilled his duties, and never took advantage of the old master. These two things made Zhang Quanyi gain countless fans in the Later Tang Dynasty and won people's respect.

Later, Empress Liu of Li Cunxu begged Zhang Quanyi to be her godfather, and Zhang Quanyi had no choice but to accept it under Li Cunxu's mediation. With Empress Liu's support, no one in the Later Tang Dynasty could touch this over 70-year-old farmer.

Interestingly, before the demise of Later Liang, Zhang Quanyi, who had been lurking for a long time, resurfaced and suggested to Zhu Youzhen to replace Duan Ning. Zhu Youzhen did not listen, and his country was destroyed and he died. Before the defeat of Li Cunxu of Later Tang, Zhang Quanyi, who had been lurking for a long time, resurfaced and suggested that Li Siyuan take charge. Li Siyuan listened, and his country was destroyed and he died.

This can only be a historical coincidence, a joke of fate.

However, Zhang Quanyi also has some lingering stains:

1. Judicial chaos

Zhang Quanyi was not well educated and was a soldier. When dealing with civil lawsuits, he often lacked patience and ability. He always believed that whoever filed the lawsuit first would win. In other words, all plaintiffs won. This led to countless unjust, false and wrong cases under his jurisdiction, causing great suffering to the people. This was a point that Zhang Quanyi was criticized for.

2. Kill Luo Guan
Luo Guan, the county magistrate of Henan County, was Zhang Quanyi's subordinate. He was upright and unsympathetic, which offended Zhang Quanyi and made him hate him. Later, when Empress Dowager Cao died, Li Cunxu inspected the construction of Empress Dowager Cao's mausoleum. The road was muddy due to heavy rains for several days, and this road was in Luo Guan's jurisdiction. So Zhang Quanyi joined forces with Empress Liu and the eunuchs to fan the flames, which eventually made Li Cunxu furious. He executed Luo Guan and exposed his body to the public.

Luo Guan's death was an injustice to the world. This is what Zhang Quanyi called "a small flaw in a good jade".

3. The Sobering Stone Murder Case
Zhang Quanyi's military supervisor (whose name is unknown) once got a sobering stone from the Pingquan villa of Li Deyu, a famous prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. This is the famous "Pingquan Sobering Stone" in Chinese history.

Li Deyu does not need much introduction. He was the leader of the "Li Party" in the "Niu-Li Party Dispute". He was very elegant and especially loved all kinds of strange stones. He collected many rare stones, but his favorite was this sobering stone. Whenever he got drunk, he would lie on this sobering stone to sober up. He once wrote a poem specifically for this stone:
"The jade embraces the clear light, and the garden is leisurely and carefree.

I am alone in this world, and I am alone.”

You can imagine Li Deyu's Pingquan Villa as the Grand View Garden in "Dream of Red Mansions", which is full of various exotic flowers, rare trees and stones carefully cultivated by Li Deyu, and this sobering stone is the treasure of the garden. The great poet Bai Juyi was very envious of Li Deyu's stone and often made a special trip to Pingquan Villa to appreciate it.

Li Deyu once wrote a book of family precepts, one of which was about the Pingquan Villa: "If you move a piece of my stone or break a branch of my tree, it is not my descendants!"

During the Huang Chao Rebellion, Pingquan Villa was severely damaged and all valuables were looted. Even Zhang Quanyi, who was responsible for repairing the Luoyang Palace afterwards, transplanted many flowers and plants in Pingquan Villa. As for this sobering stone that Li Deyu cherished the most, it was also taken by Zhang Quanyi's military supervisor.

Li Yangu, the grandson of Li Deyu, was implicated in political struggles and had no intention of entering the world, so he lived in seclusion in his ancestral home in Pingquan. Zhang Quanyi, the local military and political leader, came to him and wanted to invite him to be his aide, but Li Yangu always declined. Zhang Quanyi always brought generous gifts to visit the grandson of Li Deyu during the holidays, and the two had a good personal relationship.

When Li Yangu learned the whereabouts of the sobering stone, he went to Zhang Quanyi and cried, saying that my grandfather left a family motto that anyone who dared to touch any plant or tree in the garden was an unfilial descendant. Now, his most precious sobering stone was occupied by the military supervisor. I really feel ashamed of him, wow wow wow wow...

This sobering stone has a soul and sentiment. Returning it to its original owner has extraordinary historical significance.

So Zhang Quanyi prepared a banquet to entertain the military supervisor. After three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, Zhang Quanyi said to the military supervisor, "You should have heard of Li Deyu, right? He has a grandson who lives in our area, at the former site of the Li family's Pingquan Villa. He came to me a few days ago, crying and very sad. He said that his grandfather's favorite sobering stone is in your house, and he feels sorry for his ancestors. Can you please give the stone back to him for the sake of Li Deyu and me?"

The military supervisor was also very anxious. He said angrily, "The Huang Chao gang has spread their evil throughout the world. Not to mention other places, even in the area around Luoyang, is there any garden that has not been destroyed? Is it just a broken stone in Pingquan?"

Trouble comes from the mouth. Don't call a monk a thief. Comrade Zhang Quanyi was a real "grass thief" and the "Nest Party" who deserved to die in the eyes of the military supervisor. The military supervisor not only rejected Zhang Quanyi's face, but also insulted Zhang Quanyi in a roundabout way.

Zhang Quanyi was furious and immediately beat him to death (flogging him to death). After this happened, "the whole world felt wronged". In addition, there are historical records saying that Zhu Wen had treated all the women in Zhang Quanyi's family indescribably, and was almost killed by Zhang Quanyi's son Zhang Jizuo because of this. As analyzed in the previous article, it was a rumor and smear; others also listed Zhang Quanyi's acceptance of Empress Liu as his goddaughter as a stain on Zhang Quanyi, saying that Zhang Quanyi bribed and climbed up to Empress Liu in order to protect himself in the Later Tang Dynasty. As we have analyzed in the previous article, it was not that Zhang Quanyi took the initiative to get close to Empress Liu's power, but Empress Liu begged him to be her godfather to prove that she was not the daughter of Liu Sou who sold fake medicine. At that time, Zhang Quanyi refused again and again, and it was Li Cunxu who came forward, "Zhuangzong Dun forced him again and again, and he had no choice but to accept Empress Liu's worship", so the "Old Five Dynasties History" said "Since it was not what he wanted, the gentleman did not think it was wrong".

In general, Zhang Quanyi's historical evaluation is quite high, fully affirming his construction of the Heyang area and his remarkable political achievements. However, history is written by the victors. Who is the victor? Li Siyuan. Who helped Li Siyuan a lot? Zhang Quanyi.

The Missing Texts in the History of the Five Dynasties presents a different view on Zhang Quanyi:

First, he believed that Zhang Quanyi was an erratic villain. He was a "bandit of the Benchu ​​Chao" who attached himself to Zhuge Shuang after Huang Chao's defeat. After Zhuge Shuang's death, he and Li Hanzhi assisted the young lord Zhuge Zhongfang. Soon after, he conspired with Li Hanzhi to expel the young lord and establish himself. Later, he expelled Li Hanzhi and occupied Heyang alone.

The reason why he left people with the impression of being "loyal to his master" was because he finally recognized the talent and joined Zhu Wen. He was loyal to his master. Was Zhuge Zhongfang his master? What about Li Hanzhi?
Secondly, they completely denied Zhang Quanyi's behavior of encouraging people to engage in agriculture and sericulture and develop the economy, believing that this was his way of "collecting people to join the enemy in order to consolidate his favor."

Since joining Zhu Wen, Zhang Quanyi has devoted all his resources to supplying the forces in Bianzhou, providing a solid material foundation for Zhu Wen's campaigns. Therefore, the "Five Dynasties History Missing Text" says that he assisted Zhou in his tyranny and helped Zhu Wen usurp the Tang Dynasty.

It is also said that Zhang Quanyi should have been exterminated with Jing Xiang, Li Zhen and others, but the reason why he was not killed but was treated with courtesy was that he bribed the person in power (Empress Liu) with a large sum of money and took the initiative to offer the expenses for the suburbs. Where did such countless money come from? Wasn't it the blood and sweat of the people?

Therefore, "The Missing Text of the History of Five Dynasties" said that he "peeled it off and presented it to the emperor."

Third, Zhang Quanyi was accused of being unable to control his family. When Zhang Quanyi was still alive, his sons had a quarrel among themselves, and his son Zhang Jiye exposed and reported his adopted son Zhang Jisun.

In June of the second year of the Tongguang reign (924), Zhang Jiye submitted a memorial stating: "My brother Zhang Jisun, whose original surname was Guo, has a mother who is still alive and is my father's adopted son. It has now been discovered that he has secretly stored weapons and armor, recruited warriors, and is plotting against the law. Moreover, he is privately promiscuous and immoral... I have sacrificed my own relatives for the sake of justice, so as not to bring trouble to my family."

Therefore, Li Cunxu issued an edict, praising Zhang Jiye for his righteousness and severely criticizing Zhang Jisun, and demoted him from the Defense Commissioner of Ruzhou to the Assistant Military Officer of Fangzhou, ordering him to return to his original surname, and ordering him to commit suicide, and confiscating all his property. The most favorite thing for the impoverished Li Cunxu was to "confiscate all his property."

His own son Zhang Jizuo was also killed for treason during the Later Jin Dynasty. The "Miscellaneous Texts of the History of the Five Dynasties" commented that this was a typical case of the ancestors committing evil and the descendants suffering retribution.

I really cannot agree with the viewpoint of "Missing Texts in the History of Five Dynasties".

First of all, it is a bit far-fetched to say that Zhang Quanyi is "capricious".

In that era, how many people were loyal to one person? Once you are in the underworld, you have no choice. This book takes a pragmatic attitude and uses whether it treats people well and whether it has a positive role in promoting the historical process as the judging criteria. Therefore, this book believes that "healing master" Zhang Quanyi should be considered a positive character.

Luoyang was ravaged by war in the late Huang Chao Rebellion, especially the bandit Sun Ru, who carried out organized and systematic destruction of Luoyang, such as arson and massacre, in the spirit of "what I can't get, the enemy can't get" during his retreat. Under Zhang Quanyi's governance, Luoyang had the conditions to become the capital of the empire in just a few years. Compared with the warlords of the same period, Zhang Quanyi was really a breath of fresh air.

Secondly, saying that Zhang Quanyi developed the economy in order to exploit and amass wealth and bribe the powerful... This is simply a fabricated accusation, a fallacy, and I am too lazy to refute it.

Finally, it is said that Zhang Quanyi was unable to control his family. Maybe it was true. The internal strife between biological sons and adopted sons for the inheritance was a unique product of that era. It was not just Zhang Quanyi. Zhu Wen, Wang Chongying, Li Siyuan... Emperors and generals who encountered this were everywhere.

However, if we insist on saying that Zhang Jizuo's rebellion and execution were the "remaining disaster" of Zhang Quanyi, then that would be a bit of a sarcastic remark.

Zhang Quanyi strongly supported Li Siyuan to take command, which enabled Li Siyuan to finally escape from the clutches of Luoyang and soon ascend to the throne. For Li Siyuan, Zhang Quanyi was definitely a "founding hero". If there is some whitewashing and beautification, it is understandable.

The book "Missing Texts in the History of the Five Dynasties" believes that the historians deliberately concealed some historical facts for some "you know" reasons. For example, Zhang Quanyi was obviously beautified, "especially false praise", and it is determined that Zhang Quanyi cannot be called a "famous minister" at all. It also accuses those who praise Zhang Quanyi as a famous minister of being "ignorant and ignorant". There were also trolls among the ancient historians.

There are a hundred schools of thought contending with each other, and no one school of thought is confined to one opinion. This is the charm of history. As the saying goes, there are a thousand Hamlets in the hearts of a thousand readers.

(End of this chapter)