History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 347 Li Siyuan's Dilemma 2
Another prince, Li Cunli, and Li Cunxu's four sons - Li Jitong, Li Jisong, Li Jichan and Li Jiyao, are all said in historical records to have "an unknown whereabouts". I guess the truth is that they were killed by unknown person.

The slightly controversial one is Li Cunmei. Both the Old History of the Five Dynasties and the New History of the Five Dynasties say that he "did not know where he ended up", while the Zizhi Tongjian records that he was recuperating in Taiyuan and thus escaped the disaster. Li Cunmei was in poor health and had long suffered from hemiplegia, so he stayed in his hometown of Taiyuan, instead of being placed under house arrest in Luoyang like other princes. This hemiplegic prince posed no threat to Li Siyuan, so it was reasonable that he escaped the murder.

At this point, the historian recorded with great regret: "The descendants of Taizu have ceased." The Taizu here refers to Li Keyong. As of the "Xingjiaomen Mutiny", there were 11 descendants of Li Keyong alive, of whom 4 were clearly recorded to have been killed, and the whereabouts of the rest were unknown.

Zhu Wen massacred the entire family of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, Li Cunxu massacred the entire family of Zhu Wen, and Li Siyuan killed the entire family of Li Keyong and Li Cunxu... This is the cruelty of the political game: the winner takes the world, and the loser kills his entire family.

Li Siyuan did not get the news until a month after Li Cunji and Li Cunque were killed. According to historical records, Li Siyuan was very sad about the death of his two brothers, and was very angry at An Zhonghui's blatant disobedience to orders and killing the princes without authorization. He severely criticized An Zhonghui: "How could you do this? Don't do this again in the future."
What kind of punishment did An Zhonghui receive? He was a general and a minister (Privy Councilor, Minister of War, and Remote Military Governor of Shannan East Road), and was highly respected.

Since Li Siyuan launched the Weizhou uprising, An Zhonghui and Huo Yanwei have always been important figures in Li Siyuan's group and have participated in all major decisions (all major plans were decided by Zhonghui and Huo Yanwei).

We don't need to blame Li Siyuan too much, although he was responsible for the massacre of Li Cunxu's family. In the arena, people are not free to do what they want. This is the rule of the game. No matter whether it is Li Siyuan, Li Sifang or Li Si Sanjie, they will do the same. And Li Siyuan did his best by not killing the paralyzed Li Cunmei.

However, the struggle for the right to inherit the throne is only part of the political dilemma, and it is a relatively easy part to deal with. As long as the subordinates are smart and capable enough, like An Zhonghui and Huo Yanwei, it will be resolved quickly.

The key to a political dilemma is how to gain the support of all political forces. This is a compulsory course for every emperor, whether he is a legitimate successor or an illegal usurper.

The "emperor" is more like the result of the game, compromise and concession between various political forces. It is the fulcrum of the competition among various forces. What the emperor needs to do is to make himself the fulcrum and make the complex political factions maintain a balanced state. To maintain this state, sometimes it is necessary to introduce external forces. This is a double-edged sword. If used properly, it will help the emperor fish in troubled waters, but if it backfires, it will cause the entire system to collapse.

Whether it is legal succession or a change of dynasty, it is all about changing the fulcrum. At the same time, all parties will re-evaluate the weight of their own weights and propose new prices that are more beneficial to them.

In layman's terms, all civil and military officials, eunuchs, local princes and vassal states all hoped to have an agent who could maximize their own interests as emperor. For example, eunuchs arbitrarily deposed and enthroned the emperor, making the new emperor their puppet; or local princes and vassal states simply became emperors themselves.

Even today, some countries that claim to be advanced and civilized use their presidential elections as an example to show their political enlightenment when flaunting their political superiority. In fact, those big financial groups or political investors who sponsor elections are also using simpler, more direct, more transparent and more low-level methods to elect interest agents. The invested new president will definitely formulate corresponding policies to reward his supporters. Vote buying and disguised vote buying are the greatest darkness.

In order to deeply understand Li Siyuan's situation, let's analyze Zhu Youzhen and Li Cunxu first. Zhu Youzhen was a legal successor, although he was also accompanied by a coup, but the "legal" here means that he is qualified to be a legal heir, regardless of whether he is the first heir or not. In short, he has the right of inheritance in legal terms, such as he is the son of the previous emperor, or the brother of the previous emperor, or even the nephew of the previous emperor. Therefore, Zhu Youzhen's succession to the Later Liang Dynasty was a legal succession.

Zhu Youzhen is very representative because he is a typical weak heir. Although he is a legal heir, he does not hold real power. Therefore, as mentioned above, after he came to power, he had to smile everywhere and act like a grandson, and all kinds of gods had to worship him. Unless you are born with a mean bone, no one is willing to act like a grandson. Zhu Youzhen also wanted to make money standing up, but his strength did not allow it.

Li Cunxu is also very representative because he was a strong and illegal usurper. He broke the old order through the most violent means (war), and then forcefully established a new order. Any reactionary who tried to go against the trend would be ruthlessly attacked. The process of usurpation was painful and tormenting, and bloody battles along the river lasted for more than ten years, but the feeling after the successful usurpation was very refreshing, so Li Cunxu would forget everything and lose himself, and then play music and dance.

After comparing the ascension to the throne of Zhu Youzhen and Li Cunxu, we will have a new understanding of Li Siyuan's current situation: he obviously belongs to the latter, illegally usurping the throne, but he did not go through a long and painful usurpation process, did not cultivate his own power in the long-term military struggle, and had a shallow foundation, a thin base, and a weak basis, so Li Siyuan was very weak and passive.

This is Li Siyuan’s embarrassment: a weak and illegal usurper.

Zhu Youzhen was weak, but he was legal; Li Cunxu was illegal, but he was strong. Li Siyuan was both illegal and weak, miraculously killing two birds with one stone.

Among all the political forces, the one Li Siyuan feared the most was the Crown Prince Li Jiji. At this moment, the legitimate heir to the throne of the empire was leading tens of thousands of elite main forces to rush towards Luoyang. Li Jiji and his uncle had a deep hatred for each other, and he was probably hurrying on his way while muttering "fuck you".

In addition to the more abstract political dilemma, Li Siyuan also had to face a visible and tangible economic dilemma - lack of money.

Lack of money and food made the state machinery unable to function. Li Cunxu was deserted by his friends and relatives because of this. Now, this mess was taken over by Li Siyuan. Li Siyuan not only had to face the huge deficit left by his predecessor, but also had to reward his supporters. This was a huge expense, but Li Siyuan had no income so far.

Economically, Li Siyuan's predicament was no less severe than that of Li Cunxu. If he could not reverse the situation in time, Li Siyuan would become the second Li Cunxu at any time.

Political difficulties will aggravate economic difficulties, and economic difficulties will in turn aggravate political difficulties. The two will encourage and promote each other and provide feedback to each other. If they are not curbed or resolved in a timely, correct and effective manner, Li Siyuan will become a flash in the pan.

How should Li Siyuan deal with this daunting challenge?
(End of this chapter)