History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 378: The Founding Hero

Under Wang Shenzhi's rule, the people of Fujian enjoyed more than 30 years of peace and stability during the war-torn period of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, turning Fujian into a paradise on earth! It is better to be a dog in peacetime than a man in troubled times. It is not difficult to understand why the people of Fujian are grateful to Wang Shenzhi and sing his praises.

Wang Shenzhi's fifth-generation ancestor was the county magistrate of Gushi County, who had a good reputation among the people for his benevolent policies. However, by the time of Wang Shenzhi's grandfather and father, they were already ordinary farmers, and relatively poor farmers. Therefore, most historical records would simply say that Wang Shenzhi was born in poverty.

There are also records that Wang Shenzhi is actually a descendant of a famous family, and is the 34th generation grandson of Wang Jian, a famous general of the Qin Dynasty. This is engraved on the stone tablet of Wang Shenzhi's ancestral temple, and is a descendant of "Liu Sheng, King Jing of Zhongshan". There is no need to verify it, it is fake at first glance.

After taking power, Wang Shenzhi did not show the mentality of a nouveau riche. Instead, he became more cautious and paid great attention to frugality. When his clothes were torn, he would use wine bags to patch them.

Once, the envoy brought him a rare toy - a glass bottle. Wang Shenzhi was amazed and couldn't let it go. After looking at it from left to right, up and down, he suddenly threw it to the ground and broke it into pieces. The envoy and his friends were all stunned. Wang Shenzhi explained: "Toys will ruin one's ambition! Loving rare treasures is the first step towards extravagance, debauchery, corruption and depravity. I want to set an example for future generations."

During the 30 years that he was in charge of Fujian, people constantly urged him to proclaim himself emperor and establish a country, but he sternly refused. He said to his subordinates, "I would rather be a governor of an open country than a closed-door emperor." This sentence is very familiar. When Dong Chang proclaimed himself emperor, his old subordinate Qian Liu once advised Dong Chang, "It is better to be a governor of an open country than a closed-door emperor."

There is a poem saying:

"The brothers from Fujian and Xinjiang are called the Three Dragons, and the White Horse Sanlang is the only one who likes it.

I do not want to be the emperor behind closed doors, the prophecy of Hesha has already indicated that I will be promoted."

Under Wang Shenzhi's rule, Fujian's most notable achievement was in shipbuilding. In the late Tang Dynasty and early Five Dynasties, Fujian was already able to build large sea vessels up to 20 meters long and capable of carrying 600 to 700 people. In addition to Wang Shenzhi's desire to pay tribute to the central government by sea, the development of Fujian's shipbuilding industry was mainly for foreign trade.

Live by the mountain, live by the mountain; live by the sea, live by the sea. In order to develop foreign trade, Wang Shenzhi not only increased support for the shipbuilding industry, but also started the infrastructure construction of ports. Legend has it that in the northeast of Fujian, there is a particularly dangerous sea area with reefs and waves, which is a nightmare for passing ships. Merchant shipping teams have to take a big detour, which is very inconvenient.

One day, Wang Shenzhi had a dream in which he saw a warrior in golden armor who called himself King Wu'an and said he would help him dig a port. When Wang Shenzhi woke up, he felt it was very strange and mentioned it to his staff.

His staff asked him to go to the beach to pay his respects, just in case it was true?

Wang Shenzhi sent his secretary to offer sacrifices and recount his dream. Suddenly, dark clouds rolled over the sea, the wind was surging, thunder and lightning struck, and a huge monster with yellow scales and red hair appeared, which was neither a fish nor a dragon. It rolled in the sea and attracted thunder for three days. After three days, the sea returned to calm, and people were surprised to find that this place had become a harbor for ships to dock.

Wang Shenzhi reported the incident to the central government, and Emperor Zhaozong of Tang named it "Gantang Port".
Gantang Port became the starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road.

Excluding human factors, Gantang Port should be a major infrastructure project built under the leadership of Wang Shenzhi, which will benefit the present and future generations.

Wang Shenzhi once organized relevant professionals to carry out an operation to collect and rescue ancient books. Thanks to his careful search and protection, a large number of ancient books have been passed down.

In the Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties, there are a large number of verses and prophecies about Wang Shenzhi's reign in Fujian. They are varied, but the main point remains the same, that is, Wang Shenzhi's reign in Fujian is God's will. There is no need to copy them one by one.

One of the stories is quite interesting. A man named Xu Yin, who was passing through Bianzhou, wrote an article "Guo Daliang Fu" in order to curry favor with Zhu Wen. The article praised Zhu Wen and ridiculed Zhu Wen's rival at the time, Li Keyong of Hedong. Don't expose someone's shortcomings when scolding him. Li Keyong was born with different-sized eyes, which was his most taboo physical defect. In addition, he was born in Shatuo, a barbarian, which was also a taboo for him. As a result, in this article, Xu Yin summarized Li Keyong's two major defects in four words, which read: "A thousand-year-old Han general, relying on auspicious dreams and divine talismans; one look at the Xiongnu, and his courage is lost at the sight of the heroic power."

The one-eyed bearded man was so frightened at the sight of you (Zhu Wen).

Zhu Wen was delighted when he read the poem, because he had just dreamed of the "Millennium Han General" - Han Xin, Marquis of Huaiyin. In the dream, Han Xin taught Zhu Wen the art of war. And Xu Yin's poem was a perfect match for Zhu Wen's dream! So he immediately rewarded him with 500 pieces of silk.

Someone secretly forwarded this article to Li Keyong. The four words "one glance at the Huns" made Li Keyong furious.

When Wang Shenzhi submitted his loyalty to Li Cunxu, Li Cunxu asked the envoy from Fujian, "Is the man called Xu Yin with you?"

The messenger did not dare to hide anything and told the truth.

Li Cunxu was heartbroken, recalling his father, and said in sorrow and anger: "Go back and tell Wang Shenzhi that the hatred for my parents is irreconcilable! That Xu Yin insulted my father, how can I forgive him!"

Wang Shenzhi knew that Li Cunxu wanted to kill Xu Yin himself, but after weighing the pros and cons, he still did not kill Xu Yin, but simply put him in the dark and did not promote him.

Xu Yin also left in anger, leaving behind a sentence: "How can a ten-foot-wide water with a dam in front and a weir behind support a boat with a capacity of ten thousand hu?"

After Wang Shengui's death, he was buried in Huangji Mountain in Jinjiang. The inscription on his epitaph was written by Xu Yin. One of the sentences in the epitaph, "Huang means Emperor of Heaven, Ji means accumulation of merits," was considered by people to be a flattering remark.

Xu Yin was a famous writer in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. "Xu Zhengzi's Poems and Fu" recorded eight of his fu and 368 poems.

In the first year of Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty (894), he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. The examination topic at that time was "To stop the war is to be a military", and Xu Yin's essay "To stop the war is to be a military" was the only one in that provincial examination that has been passed down to later generations.

At that time, Li Maozhen was in full swing and had launched an attack on the imperial palace. Xu Yin keenly grasped the good intentions of the imperial court, and expressed in his article the main idea that stopping the war and recuperating is the highest military virtue of the monarch, which was equivalent to helping the defeated Emperor Zhaozong to excuse himself: It's not that I can't beat you, Li Maozhen, it's just that God has a benevolent virtue...

With his keen political insight and outstanding literary talent, Xu Yin stood out from a crowd of candidates.

Objectively speaking, we cannot say that Xu Yin was servile and spineless just because he once flattered Zhu Wen. It is a daily task for literati and scholars to sing praises to those in power. Of course, there have been many noble and arrogant people from ancient times to the present. Not only did they refuse to flatter the powerful, but they also laughed, scolded, and made sarcastic remarks. For example, Ni Heng, who "scolded Cao while naked" during the Three Kingdoms period, but their fate is obvious to all.

If you flatter your leader appropriately and stick to the bottom line of morality, ethics, and right and wrong, you are not spineless. If you confuse right and wrong for the sake of fame and fortune, and whitewash the evildoers, it is shameful, such as Li Juchuan who whitewashed Han Jian who created the "Sixteen Houses Massacre", or helped the invaders to shout, "Fellow villagers, come out, the imperial army will not steal food! Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere..." That is damn shameless.

In general, Wang Shenzhi ruled Fujian for 30 years and the whole region was peaceful. The final verdict of the "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" on him was "a hero who founded a country."

(End of this chapter)