History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 346 Li Siyuan’s Dilemma
Li Cunxu's full brother Li Cunji and half brother Li Cunque fled to the mountains south of Luoyang and hid in farmers' homes. After receiving Li Siyuan's missing person notice, they reported it to Huo Yanwei and An Zhonghui.

The two men discussed privately, saying that of course the lord must create an image of a loyal and wise ruler, and must always say some high-sounding words. Those of us who work under him must not be stubborn, we must listen to the tone of the words and the sound of the gongs and drums, and we must be able to listen to the subtext.

"Please let me know, sir."

"What did the master say? To gather all the princes..."

"Yes, send it to Luoyang."

"Yes, if he is alive, he will be sent back to comfort him, but if he is dead... he will be buried. You should think carefully about it. Gather all the princes... let's say, gather all those who have the right to inherit the throne... If he is dead, he will be buried."

Huo Yanwei suddenly realized, "But the lord is kind-hearted. We must do this cleanly and not report it in advance."

“You figured it out so quickly!”

So, An Zhonghui sent assassins to secretly assassinate Li Cunji and Li Cunque.

Now we can elaborate on a question in the previous article: Li Cunba and Li Cunwo.

Li Cunba was ordered to take charge of Hezhong in times of crisis. Within a month, news came from Luoyang that Li Cunxu had been assassinated. This was a good opportunity for the soldiers and civilians in Hezhong to avenge their former master Zhu Youqian. Li Cunba was terrified and quickly fled to Taiyuan with a thousand personal guards.

By the time he fled to Taiyuan, almost all of his followers had run away. Only one subordinate named Kang Congbian was left by his side, who remained loyal and never left him.

Li Cunba knew that the situation was hopeless, so he shaved his head, changed into monk's robes, and asked to see Taiyuan Inspector Li Yanchao, just to beg for his life.

Li Yanchao then took him in.

Li Yanchao was the eldest son of Li Cunshen. After Li Cunshen's death, Li Cunxu remembered his merits and promoted Li Yanchao to be the governor of Fenzhou. When Weizhou rebelled, Li Yanchao was sent to Taiyuan as an inspector. In other words, Li Yanchao of Taiyuan, like Li Cunba of Hezhong, was appointed to a critical position just a month ago and airborne to a key town.

There were two eunuchs who held real power in Taiyuan. The historical records did not record their names. It was only said that one was surnamed Lu and the other was surnamed Zheng. One held military power in Taiyuan, and the other held warehouses in Taiyuan. After Li Cunba arrived in Taiyuan, he conspired with the two to assassinate Li Yanchao, the inspector of Taiyuan, and Zhang Xian, the governor of Taiyuan, and then to establish his own rule in Taiyuan and then in Hedong.

Unexpectedly, the news leaked out and was known by Li Yanchao, who then discussed with Zhang Xian and planned to take the initiative to eliminate the three people.

Zhang Xian said that he was just a weak scholar and did not want to get involved in the muddy water of political struggles. He only needed to do his job well and be loyal to the emperor, and he dared not get involved in other matters.

"Which emperor? Which emperor do you want to be loyal to now? Li Cunxu is dead. Although Li Siyuan has not yet become emperor, he is supported by everyone. Now Li Cunba wants to steal the land and split the land to become king. As the governor of Taiyuan, guarding the best area, are you indifferent?"

Zhang Xian was pedantic and insisted that he could survive in troubled times as long as he kept to himself and protected himself. "If you don't kill them, won't they kill you?"

"That's your business, I'm just a scholar, don't mention it to me again!"

Seeing Zhang Xian so stubborn, Li Yanchao had to take action on his own. That night, Li Yanchao led his troops to take the initiative and beheaded Li Cunba and the two eunuchs Lu and Zheng.

Li Yanchao's subordinates believed that Zhang Xian was indifferent because he was colluding with Li Cunba and others, so they planned to kill him together with Zhang Xian. Upon hearing the news, Zhang Xian fled overnight and fled to Yizhou. Later, he was sentenced to death by Li Siyuan for abandoning the city.

Before Li Yanchao started the rebellion, Zhang Xian's secretary Zhang Zhao advised him to follow the trend of the times, present a letter of persuasion, and express his allegiance to the future emperor Li Siyuan. Zhang Xian also refused. After Zhang Xian escaped, the soldiers caught Zhang Zhao and pushed him in front of Li Yanchao, asking him to kill this traitor and accomplice.

Li Yanchao said that Comrade Zhang Zhao was an upright and good man, ordered his release, and asked him to issue a notice to reassure the people and help maintain order in Taiyuan.

Zhang Xian was sentenced to death, and his youngest son Zhang Ning was also killed.

Zhang Xian was miserable and pitiful. According to historical records, he was pure-hearted and aloof, and he only read books of sages and saints, and he didn't care about anything outside. His only hobby was collecting and reading books, and he had a collection of 5,000 volumes of books at home. In addition, he also liked to play the zither to cultivate his sentiments. He didn't drink and didn't form gangs. When he was feasting with guests, he didn't talk about politics, but only about poetry and songs, which was quite elegant.

However, the old saying still applies: once you are in the arena, you have no choice. In troubled times, no one can stay out of trouble. Of course, there were also political evergreens like Feng Dao who could have a good ending, but there was an important premise, that is, they did not hold real power. Only those who do not hold real power can truly live in peace with the world.

Zhang Xian was the governor of Taiyuan, sitting in the most important city of the empire with extremely important political and military significance, so it was impossible for him to stay out of the political whirlpool. He held the chips in his hand, but did not want to participate in the gambling. This was the tragedy of Zhang Xian.

The pedantic Zhang Xian was repeatedly used as a pawn in political struggles. He always resigned himself to fate and believed that as long as he did his job well, he would be safe. He really did not understand the essence of political struggles.

Afterwards, Li Siyuan cleared his name and his eldest son Zhang Shousu later served as an official in the Later Jin Dynasty and was promoted to the position of Shangshu.

Some historical books also say that it was Li Cunwo who joined forces with the two eunuchs Lu and Zheng to plot a rebellion. It is also said that after Li Cunwo arrived in Taiyuan, he falsely claimed that he was taking over Taiyuan under the imperial edict of the emperor (Li Cunxu). Everyone asked to see the imperial edict, but Li Cunwo only took out an arrow and said that the emperor only gave him this arrow as a token of trust, and time was tight, so he did not have time to write an imperial edict.

Everyone was very suspicious, and when they saw that the horse Li Cunwo was riding had even its accessories removed, which showed that he was walking in a hurry and in a mess, they became even more suspicious. Li Cunwo also secretly contacted Lu and Zheng, so he was killed by Li Yanchao.

The Zizhi Tongjian says that a man named Li Cunzhao came to Taiyuan from Luoyang and plotted a rebellion with Lu and Zheng, but was killed after the plot was exposed. This "Li Cunzhao" is not found in the "Family Biography" or any other historical materials. It only appears once. I personally guess that "Zhao" is probably a typo for "Wo", and he came from Luoyang, which is consistent with Li Cunwo's itinerary.

In short, we don't have to worry about whether it was Li Cunba, Li Cunwo, or Li Cunzhao. The fact is that one of Li Cunxu's prince brothers fled to the old place of Longxing, attempting to control Taiyuan, and then control Hedong, and then make a comeback, retrace the Long March, and restore his father and brother's foundation, but was strangled in the cradle by Li Yanchao in time.

Thanks to my old friend "M83 South Pinwheel Galaxy" for the monthly ticket support! Thank you for the encouragement!


(End of this chapter)