History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 345 Endgame
[Endgame]

Before the Xingjiao Gate Rebellion, Li Cunxu had already been deserted by his friends and relatives. After the Xingjiao Gate Rebellion, Li Cunxu's followers were even more scattered and fled. Under the great shock, we can see the various aspects of life, loyalty, treachery, virtue and foolishness, and let future generations judge them.

1. Yuan Xingqin
As described in detail in the previous article, the process is confusing, the ending is regrettable, and the death is even more cowardly.

2. Western Ye
When Li Siyuan crossed the river and headed south, Kong Xun, the governor of Bianzhou, made two preparations. Xifang Ye angrily denounced Kong Xun's double-dealing and demanded that he be loyal to the emperor and oppose the rebel Li Siyuan. He even wanted to kill Li Siyuan's daughter who was left in Bianzhou to strengthen everyone's will.

There are also slight discrepancies in authoritative historical records regarding Xifang Ye's subsequent movements:
One story says that after his attempts to persuade Kong Xun to no avail and his attempt to kill Li Siyuan's daughter failed, he led his troops westward to Sishui to meet Li Cunxu and inform him of the situation in Bianzhou; another story says that he continued to stay in Bianzhou, and after Shi Jingtang entered Bianzhou, he saw that the situation was hopeless, so Xifang Ye broke out from the west gate, arrived at Sishui, and brought the news of the fall of Bianzhou to Li Cunxu.

There is no need to worry about it. In short, Xifang Ye was recorded in history as a loyal minister.

Soon, Li Cunxu returned to Luoyang and was killed in the "Xingjiaomen Mutiny". Li Siyuan entered Luoyang to take over. Xifang Ye took the initiative to surrender, and on charges of being "Li Cunxu's follower" and attempting to murder Li Siyuan's daughter, he "asked to die in front of the horse".

What does it mean to be aboveboard? This is it. Be honest and responsible for what you have said and done, and let your decision be made based on your own will.

Li Siyuan not only did not blame him, but expressed his sincere admiration for him, "praising him for a long time". Xifang Ye was still valued by Li Siyuan.

Not long after, in the war against Jingnan, Xifang Ye was entrusted with the high position of commander-in-chief of the front army and fought in Jingxiang, which will be described in detail later.

3. Li Cunba
Previously, Li Cunxu had appointed his brothers as princes and made them governors of various vassal states, but they were just nominal positions. How could the emperor allow the princes to command a large army and sit in an important town? They only enjoyed a title and received corresponding salaries. It was not until the Beizhou mutiny that the Central Plains gradually lost control and Li Cunxu had no comrades he could trust, that he allowed the princes to go to various armies in order to unite and defend the emperor.

After Zhu Youqian, the former governor of Hezhong, was killed, Li Cunxu appointed his half-brother Li Cunba as governor of Hezhong. It was not until Zhao Zaili occupied Weizhou that Li Cunxu allowed Li Cunba to go to Hedong.

Soon after, Li Siyuan was kidnapped by Zhao Zaili, who then openly rebelled. The situation in Hebei suddenly got out of control. Li Cunxu realized the seriousness of the matter, so he urgently summoned Li Cunba to go to Taiyuan to be the governor of Taiyuan; and asked his other half brother Li Cunwu to go to Hezhong to be the governor.

I don't understand why Li Cunxu was so hasty to make such a personnel transfer. Why not just let Li Cunwu go to Taiyuan? How urgent was the matter? After the edict to move the garrison was drafted, it didn't even have time to be read out before the "Xingjiaomen Mutiny" broke out.

So an interesting scene happened: Li Cunba and Li Cunwo both ran to Taiyuan.

Li Cunba had only been in Hezhong for a few days, so he had no mass support. Moreover, the soldiers in Hezhong were still resentful of the "Zhu Youqian's family extermination case". Now that Li Cunxu was dead, how could Li Cunba dare to stay in Hezhong? So he fled to Taiyuan as soon as possible.

After arriving in Taiyuan, Li Cunba shaved his head, put on a monk's robe, and paid a visit to Taiyuan Inspector Li Yanchao (the eldest son of Li Cunshen). With tears and snot, he said that he had no other intentions and only wanted to escape from the Three Realms and not be within the Five Elements, to live out his life with morning bells and evening drums, and to live out his life with green lamps and ancient Buddhas. He would never contend with the world from then on and only wish for a good end.

In terms of seniority, Li Cunba was Li Yanchao's uncle. Li Yanchao tried to protect him, but his soldiers rushed to kill him.

Tip: The death of Li Cunba and Li Cunwo is not as simple as it seems. It will be described in detail later. Here we will only talk about the simple process and results.
He was also Li Cunxu's brother from the same mother. After Li Cunxu's death, he and Empress Liu packed up their gold and silver and fled to Taiyuan. After arriving in Taiyuan, Empress Liu shaved her head and became a nun, but Li Yanchao refused to accept Li Cunwo. So Li Cunwo continued to flee northward, probably to escape to Khitan, but was killed by his men on the way.

Li Cunba and Li Cunwo were both brothers of Li Cunxu from the same mother. They were exactly the same as Li Yanchao in terms of blood relationship. So why did Li Yanchao accept Li Cunba and reject Li Cunwo? How did Li Cunwo and Li Cunba die? He accepted Empress Liu. What was her fate?

To solve these mysteries of Taiyuan, we have to start from Luoyang.

[Endgame 2 Li Siyuan's Dilemma]

After Li Cunxu's death, Li Siyuan inherited a mess, which was politically precarious and economically devastated. The difficulty of the transfer of supreme power that Li Siyuan faced was unprecedented (since the Five Dynasties).

Let’s first look at the political dilemma:

In the past, power transfers were either direct succession between blood relatives or absolute strength to get rid of the old and usher in the new, changing dynasties. However, Li Siyuan and Li Cunxu had no blood relationship. Li Siyuan was Li Keyong's adopted son, and Li Keyong had many biological sons in stock: Li Cunmei, Li Cunba, Li Cunwo, Li Cunji, Li Cunli, Li Cunque... There were both brothers of Li Cunxu from the same mother and brothers from different mothers. In short, they were all Li Keyong's biological sons.

More importantly, Li Cunxu had already designated the successor to the throne - Crown Prince Li Jiji. The crown prince had just recovered Former Shu and suppressed Kang Yanxiao's rebellion. His achievements were outstanding and his power was feared by all.

After Li Cunxu's death, theoretically Crown Prince Li Jiji should have ascended the throne in front of the coffin and inherited the throne.

Even if Li Jiji had an accident or was forced to have an accident, and could not succeed his father, then the younger brother should choose one of the princes Li Cunmei, Li Cunba, Li Cunwo, etc. Strictly speaking, there was no need to "pick", and they would sit in a row and eat fruit in order of seniority. The only possible dispute was the issue of legitimate and illegitimate children.

In a nutshell, it is not your turn, Li Siyuan!

Li Siyuan has always been actively maintaining the image of a loyal minister. Even when he was issuing proclamations to the whole country, taking the lead, and leading troops to the court, he could not shout slogans such as "Kill the emperor". He also had to emphasize that the emperor was blocked from seeing and hearing by the treacherous villain (Yuan Xingqin), and I went to the emperor to explain in person. In short, whenever the vassal states started an uprising, they basically had to raise the banner of "clearing the emperor's side" in order to gain a foothold in politics.

Under the constraints of his loyal character, Li Siyuan issued the highest instruction after entering Luoyang: wait for Crown Prince Li Jiji to return to the court and inherit the throne, and then I will return to my town and continue to serve as the governor of Zhenzhou to defend the empire against the threat of Khitan in the north.

Soon after, an order was issued: search for the escaped princes and their families, and after finding them, send them to Luoyang with courtesy so as not to frighten them; if they unfortunately died, they should be properly buried and reported in a timely manner.

He said this, but did he really mean it?

Ha ha.

(End of this chapter)