History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 444: An Zhonghui Steps Down from the Altar 4
Is Wang Jianli, the man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, really going to join forces with Wang Du to rebel?

The truth is that Wang Jianli pretended to agree in order to stabilize Wang Du and gain his trust. He privately reported to Li Siyuan the important information that Wang Du was forming cliques and intending to rebel.

So Li Siyuan knew that Wang Jianli was innocent, but he didn't want to reveal to An Zhonghui the important secret that Comrade Wang Jianli was our undercover agent.

An Zhonghui refused to give in, and the argument became more and more fierce, insisting on killing Wang Jianli's entire family; Wang Jianli also wrote a memorial to accuse An Zhonghui of being arrogant and domineering, and alienating the emperor from his ministers. The two men confronted each other from a distance, and greeted each other's ancestors for eighteen generations.

Wang Jianli submitted a petition to come to the capital to confront An Zhonghui in person and report all of An Zhonghui's illegal acts under his real name. Li Siyuan issued an imperial edict to summon him to the capital.

Wang Jianli was no pushover. After arriving in Beijing, he exposed An Zhonghui for forming a clique, marrying his children to Zhang Yanlang, and undermining the imperial court...

Zhang Yanlang's position was Xuanhuishi and Judge of the Three Departments, which meant he was in charge of palace affairs and also served as Minister of Finance. His political marriage with An Zhonghui was a strong alliance, combining military power, financial power, personnel appointment and dismissal power, and palace affairs.

Wang Jianli accused An Zhonghui of being domineering and disloyal. It happened that An Zhonghui was flirting with Li Siyuan about the placement of Hua Wenqi. Li Siyuan also felt that An Zhonghui was indeed a bit too much, so he summoned An Zhonghui in anger and said to him angrily: "Didn't you say you didn't want to do it a few days ago? It's just right that Wang Jianli is here. You two can swap positions. He will replace you as the Privy Councilor, and you can go to Zhenzhou to rest. By the way, that Zhang Yanlang should also be sent out."

An Zhonghui refused to accept the decision. Like an abandoned wife, she argued with the scumbag Li Siyuan, "I have worked hard and served Your Majesty for decades. Your Majesty has ascended the throne, and I have been in charge of state secrets and worked hard for several years. Fortunately, the world is peaceful... Now, you actually want to abandon me and exile me? Okay, then give me a reason. What crime have I committed that you have the right to exile me?"

Li Siyuan's face turned red and his neck became thick. He threw his sleeves and left.

The relationship between the emperor and his minister, Li Siyuan and An Zhonghui, sometimes really resembled a couple quarreling.

After the unpleasant parting, Li Siyuan was still angry and complained to Zhu Hongzhao, another person in charge of palace affairs, "Why is An Zhonghui like this? He is so annoying."

Zhu Hongzhao appeared in the previous article when talking about the two Sichuans. He was also a direct descendant of Li Siyuan and had long been suppressed by An Zhonghui. He was recently sent to Dongchuan to serve as the deputy envoy of Dongchuan Jiedushi to supervise Dong Zhang. Because he said that Meng Zhixiang of Xichuan killed the military supervisor Li Yan and escaped back to the central government, he was now appointed as the envoy of the Southern Court of Xuanhui.

Zhu Hongzhao had been suppressed by An Zhonghui before. He was an unknown but insignificant person. However, he was very cunning and even more treacherous. He had been bullied by An Zhonghui, and now An Zhonghui angered Li Siyuan. When Li Siyuan complained to him about An Zhonghui, Zhu Hongzhao's behavior was a textbook example of a workplace leader:

"Your Majesty usually treats Lord An as your right-hand man. If you exile him today for such a small matter, it will inevitably cause unrest in the court. Your Majesty, I dare to ask you to calm down and think twice after you calm down!"

Zhu Hongzhao's wise words helped Li Siyuan regain his sanity. He then summoned An Zhonghui again and explained and comforted him in a friendly manner.

"I was wrong."

"Where did you go wrong?"

"Oh, it's wrong anyway."

Thus, the king and his minister reconciled.

Please remember Zhu Hongzhao. He is definitely not a gentleman who puts the public interest above his own and the overall situation first. Although he is helping An Zhonghui to speak well of him at this moment, he is the one who will kick An Zhonghui into the coffin in the future.

He was the one who saved An Zhonghui, and he was also the one who harmed An Zhonghui. We will expand on the political logic behind this later.

After pacifying An Zhonghui, Wang Jianli also wanted to leave and return to Zhenzhou. Li Siyuan was worried that An Zhonghui, who stayed in the central government, would continue to frame him after he returned, so he tried to keep him, "Haven't you been submitting petitions recently to request to return to the central government and help me eliminate the traitors in the court? Why do you want to go back again?" Stay, there is always someone to bury in the earth.

It so happened that Zheng Jue, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and Minister of Punishments, the Co-Prime Minister, and the "professional idiot", requested to retire and return to his hometown. He submitted four petitions in a row to "beg for retirement". Li Siyuan graciously allowed him to retire as the Left Prime Minister, and appointed Wang Jianli as the Right Prime Minister and concurrently the Minister of the Secretariat, the Prime Minister, the Grand Secretary of the Jixian Hall, and the Judge of the Ministry of Salt, Iron and Revenue.

The quarrel between An Zhonghui and Wang Jianli came to a temporary end.

From this process, if An Zhonghui was sharp enough, he should be able to capture two important details: Li Siyuan summoned Wang Jianli to Beijing; and left Wang Jianli in the central government.

At first glance, it seems that Li Siyuan asked the two parties to confront each other and the leader mediated. But the political signal is already very obvious, indicating that Li Siyuan has been on guard against An Zhonghui.

The reason why Wang Jianli was sent to Beijing was because he wanted to report the dirty laundry of An Zhonghui under his real name; and keeping Wang Jianli in the central government was a means for Li Siyuan to restrain and balance An Zhonghui. This method was very low-level, common, and clear, but it did not attract enough attention from An Zhonghui, who ignored this serious warning.

9. Li Congcan
There is a little controversy about Li Congcan's identity in authoritative history books. The Old History of the Five Dynasties says that he is Li Siyuan's son, while the New History of the Five Dynasties says that he is Li Siyuan's nephew. It doesn't matter whether he is a son or a nephew.

An Zhonghui was so authoritarian and powerful that even the princes did not dare to challenge him and were extremely wary of him. The princes Li Congrong and Li Conghou even had to fawn over him wholeheartedly.

In fact, the fact that the princes were afraid did not prove that An Zhonghui was arrogant and domineering, because for a prince who might inherit the throne, it was a taboo in the palace to make friends with ministers or criticize court officials privately, which was a sign of regicide and usurpation of power. Therefore, the princes had to be low-key and restrained, especially to stay away from powerful ministers.

However, Li Congcan refused to submit to An Zhonghui. According to historical records, Li Congcan was a tough, generous, and high-profile person who liked to make friends with civil and military officials and had great ambitions. He especially disliked An Zhonghui.

An Zhonghui disliked him even more.

In the second year of Tiancheng (927), Li Siyuan went to Bianzhou to eat for free, and stayed there for a year and a half. He did not return to Luoyang until February of the fourth year of Tiancheng (929). As soon as he returned home, An Zhonghui reported a shocking news: Li Congcan was usurping the throne and plotting treason.

It turned out that when Li Siyuan left for Bianzhou, he appointed Li Congcan as the imperial envoy. One day, Li Congcan hosted a banquet for his guests and drank a lot. During the banquet, a guest urged Li Congcan to sit on the dragon throne. Li Congcan, under the influence of alcohol, sat on the dragon throne that only the emperor could sit on. A group of people cheered and had a great time.

Dare to sit on the throne, tired of living. An Zhonghui petitioned to execute him.

Li Siyuan then issued an imperial decree to demote Li Congcan to the position of assistant military officer of the Household Department of Fangzhou, and soon ordered him to commit suicide.

Did Li Congcan really take the throne after drinking? Or who instigated him? Was there any manipulation by An Zhonghui? These questions have become mysteries for ages.

As a prince or nephew of the emperor, he was killed by An Zhonghui just because he was not respectful enough to An Zhonghui and refused to submit to him.

The death of Li Congcan marked the peak of An Zhonghui's power.

Everything has its limits. Perhaps it was because he killed Li Congcan, who refused to obey him, too easily that An Zhonghui became inflated, arrogant, and lost his mind.

Next, An Zhonghui put another prince on the death list and vowed not to stop until he killed this person. This person was Li Siyuan's adopted son, Li Congke.

(End of this chapter)