History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 350 Li Siyuan Becomes Emperor 3
2. Kill Yuan Xingqin

Under Li Qi's guidance, Li Siyuan realized a problem, that is, he could not demonize Li Cunxu, and he could not discredit Li Keyong's family and Shatuo Hedong Group, which were the political foundation for him to become emperor. Therefore, although he overthrew Li Cunxu by force, he could not completely deny him.

But if we don't deny Li Cunxu, how can we confirm Li Siyuan who overthrew Li Cunxu? In other words, who is responsible for this civil war? Who will take the blame?

Answer: Yuan Xingqin.

Therefore, all the clues and evidence in the existing historical materials point to Yuan Xingqin. Yuan Xingqin forced Li Siyuan to rebel, which became the mainstream view in history and the only view.

In addition, Yuan Xingqin killed Li Siyuan's eldest son Li Congshen. Whether from the overall situation or from personal grudges, Li Siyuan had to use Yuan Xingqin as a shield.

3. Kill Guo Congqian

In February of the second year of Tiancheng (927), Li Siyuan appointed Guo Congqian, the commander of the Congmazhi Army, as the governor of Jingzhou, and secretly ordered assassins to follow him. After arriving in Jingzhou, they killed Guo Congqian and his entire family, accusing him of "plotting treason and murdering the former emperor."

4. Kill Duan Ning and Wen Tao

After taking over Luoyang, Huo Yanwei privately arrested the extremely evil Duan Ning and Wen Tao and prepared to execute them. An Zhonghui hurriedly stopped them.

"Killing people is a matter of etiquette," An Zhonghui said earnestly, "This is different from killing Li Cunji and Li Cunque."

Sometimes the lord needs to kill good people, and sometimes he needs to kill bad people. Killing good people, such as Li Cunji and Li Cunque, is a dirty and disgusting thing that cannot dirty the lord's hands. The subordinates must bravely take the blame, stand up, kill first and report later, and keep the bad reputation to themselves; when killing bad people, it must be open and aboveboard, and must be reported to the lord in advance, and the lord must order the execution, leaving the good reputation to the lord.

The massacre of Li Cunxu's clan was an injustice to the whole world, and we must execute them first and report later; killing Duan Ning and Wen Tao, who were condemned by thousands of people, will please the people, and we must leave it to our lord.

"Old Huo, don't act rashly. Use your brain."

Huo Yanwei sighed, "You are still so cunning!"

So he submitted a memorial to impeach Duan Ning, who had brought harm to the country and the people and betrayed their former master, and Wen Tao, the "number one tomb robber". The crimes of these two people were innumerable and they had long been guilty of evil. They were only able to survive because of bribery of the authorities. Now that the new emperor was getting rid of the old and welcoming the new, the two of them had fallen into the crossfire.

Li Siyuan issued an imperial edict to deprive the two of their official positions and order them to return to their hometowns. As for their property, needless to say, it was confiscated.

Two years later, in September of the third year of Tiancheng (928), Duan Ning and Wen Tao were executed by imperial decree.

5. Killing Empress Liu

After the "Xingjiaomen Rebellion", Empress Liu and Li Cunwo fled to Taiyuan with gold, silver and jewelry. After arriving in Taiyuan, Empress Liu shaved her head and became a nun, from then on she saw through the world and entered the Buddhist world, just to save her life.

As mentioned above, this "Daddy Scheming Liu" was rich enough to rival a country. At that time, the tributes paid to the central government by various places had to be divided into two parts, one for the national treasury and one for Empress Liu's personal pocket. And unlike the extravagant Li Cunxu, Empress Liu was a miser, who only took in and never spent, and never spent money. Her only expenses were copying Buddhist scriptures and giving alms to monks. She was also very stingy in giving alms, so after a few years, she had accumulated countless savings.

After arriving in Taiyuan, Empress Liu deposited the money in a nunnery for her retirement.

Power and money have always been the source of disasters. Empress Liu was no threat to Li Siyuan politically, but the money in her hands was a fatal temptation to the cash-strapped Li Siyuan.

But she was the queen, a weak woman with no army, no power, and the mother of the country. What crime should be fabricated? Treason? It didn't sound true. A shrewd subordinate came up with a crime that was fatal to all women in the feudal era: not observing the chastity of a wife.

Falsely accusing a man of treason and falsely accusing a woman of infidelity are two magic weapons for killing people that have always worked.

Then, someone revealed a shocking palace scandal: Empress Liu and Li Cunwo slept in the same bed on the way to Taiyuan, which was unspeakable!

She had committed adultery with her brother-in-law. This was the crime that Empress Liu was accused of. Li Siyuan sent people to Taiyuan to sentence Empress Liu to death. Of course, her money was confiscated.

The final verdict on Empress Liu is also the most vicious evaluation of women in Chinese culture, "she is no different from her husband Bao Si and Daji", and it is said that she should bear the main responsibility for "the destruction of the country and the extinction of the clan".

In traditional culture, the highest praise for a king is to compare him to Yao and Shun, and vice versa to Jie and Zhou; the highest evaluation of a woman is to compare her to Meng's mother or Yue's mother, and vice versa to Bao Si and Daji.

Just like the reason for killing Yuan Xingqin, Li Siyuan could never portray Li Cunxu as Jie or Zhou. Then who was responsible for the dark and corrupt politics? Of course, it was the woman behind the man, the beauty who brought disaster, and the treacherous and powerful officials and eunuchs.

In short, your Majesty is wise and we deserve to die.

The blame for the Li Cunxu era was not something that a weak woman like Empress Liu could bear alone. The prime ministers and eunuchs of the Li Cunxu era could not get away with it either!
6. Kill the eunuchs
On April 4, the same day that Li Siyuan issued an edict to kill Kong Qian, he announced the abolition of the "Neigousi" (also known as "Neijusi"), an official position originally set up by Guo Chongtao to please the eunuchs. The official was mainly responsible for the national finances, food and fodder, etc. It was a lucrative job in charge of money.

money!
Li Siyuan was too sensitive about this. How could such an important job be in the hands of eunuchs? He immediately abolished it and restored the "Three Departments" (Salt and Iron, Ministry of Revenue, and Ministry of Finance), and appointed a prime minister to be in charge, so that there would be no middlemen to make a profit from the price difference.

As for eunuchs, one word: kill!

Not only the eunuchs in the central government should be killed, but also the eunuchs supervising the army in various places. Li Siyuan issued an edict to all the prefectures and military governors in the country: No need to interrogate or send them away, just behead the eunuchs supervising the army on the spot.

Of course, the various vassal states responded positively. Hundreds of eunuchs in Luoyang fled during the "Xingjiaomen Rebellion", some hid in the mountains and forests, and more than 70 eunuchs shaved their heads and became monks and hid in Taiyuan.

Li Congwen (Li Siyuan's nephew), commander of the Taiyuan cavalry and infantry army, arrested these eunuchs and monks and killed them all at Duting Posthouse.

Killing the eunuchs achieved multiple goals at one stroke: regaining power; gaining unanimous praise from the people of the world; and saving government expenses. (So Li Siyuan did not need to kill all the eunuchs, but only the majority.)
Like Zhu Wen, Li Siyuan once again eradicated the cancer of eunuchs through physical elimination.

There are two eunuchs worth mentioning:

One was the eunuch Xiang Yansi, who falsely accused Guo Chongtao of murdering his main force. Later, he went to Chang'an in the name of Li Cunxu to massacre Wang Zongyan's family. After killing Wang Zongyan's family, he heard the news of the change in Luoyang and fled immediately. His whereabouts have been unknown since then.

Another one is Zhang Juhan, who "saved thousands of people with one word". Zhang Juhan was a privy councilor during the reign of Li Cunxu, but at that time Guo Chongtao was very powerful and Zhang Juhan was just a puppet of Guo Chongtao. After Li Siyuan entered Luoyang, Zhang Juhan took the initiative to pay a visit, crying and begging to return to the fields. Li Siyuan comforted him with kind words and agreed to his request.

Having been in the power arena for a long time, although he did not personally participate, as a front-row spectator, Zhang Juhan was like the white-haired fisherman and woodcutter on the river bank, accustomed to watching the autumn moon and spring breeze. He saw him build a high building, saw him entertain guests and friends, and saw his building collapse. Zhang Juhan was well aware of the principle that a new emperor has his own ministers. When Mingzong came, could the old ministers of Zhuangzong have a good ending?
After leaving office and returning to Chang'an, Zhang Juhan enjoyed two full years of happy and healthy life in his later years. In April of the third year of Tiancheng (928), he died of illness in Chang'an at the age of 4.

Zhang Juhan, who "has a benevolent heart", is also the only eunuch who has served as Privy Councilor and had a good end since the end of the Tang Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)