History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 461: The Confusing Ending 2
At the end of Li Siyuan's reign, undercurrents were surging in the palace. Looking at this political change, it is really difficult to clearly find a clue that can directly point to the boss behind the scenes.

Zhu Wen was assassinated, Zhu Yougui came to power briefly, and then Zhu Youzhen restored order. After analysis, we can confirm that the "foreign relatives gang" is the biggest suspect. Even if it is a coincidence, it is logically feasible; Li Cunxu's "Xingjiaomen Incident" can also lead to the hidden big boss Li Siyuan.

Only at the end of Li Siyuan's reign, Li Congrong was killed in a coup, and Li Conghou was quickly overthrown by Li Congke after he ascended the throne... Even if we stand from a God's perspective and work backwards to deduce the causes based on known results, we find it difficult to do so. It seems that everything is just a coincidence, and "conspiracy theories" are rarely useful. The invisible big hand remains confusing.

Is the big boss behind the scenes hiding too deeply, or does this black hand not exist at all? Or is there more than one boss who is equally powerful, and they fought several times, and finally both were injured?
I personally support the last point of view, that is, multiple forces competed secretly and finally reached a fragile compromise. This fragile relationship was also extremely unstable, so Li Congke was only a flash in the pan.

The internal forces could not decide the winner. They had been competing secretly for several years, and the internal circulation was serious. The struggle was deadlocked, so the effective intervention of external forces was necessary to break the deadlock and make a breakthrough. This external force was the old friend of the Later Tang people - Khitan.

After annexing the Bohai Kingdom, the Khitan solved its worries and completed the transition of supreme power. After several years of digestion and absorption, the Khitan, under the leadership of its second-generation leader, Emperor Taizong of Liao, Yelü Deguang, interfered in the internal affairs of the Central Plains dynasty, intervened forcefully, and supported the most famous puppet emperor and child emperor in Chinese history, Shi Jingtang.

The above is the logical key to the chaos of this historical period (Li Siyuan's critical illness - Li Congrong's coup - Li Conghou's accession to the throne - Li Congke's rebellion - Shi Jingtang's rebellion). It also serves as an outline for the following long section and is also the selling point of this book.

Now, although Mingzong Li Siyuan is still in power, the "Mingzong's prosperous era" can be logically put to an imperfect end. From the moment Li Congrong stepped onto the historical stage, Chinese history entered a new chapter, which we can call "Who rules the Central Plains".

Next, we will review this great shock at the end of the Tang Dynasty from a God's perspective:

Focusing on the core issue of Li Siyuan's successor, we have simply sorted out the information of several of the most capable candidates in order of age:
1. Li Congke
Campaign advantages: Older; great achievements
Disadvantages: Adopted son, not Li Siyuan's biological son

2. Li Congrong
Election advantage: First heir under the "primogeniture system"

Disadvantages in the election: bad reputation, lack of support from officials
3. Li Conghou
Election advantage: He looks most like Li Siyuan, "he looks like Mingzong, so he loves him especially", "Mingzong loves him especially because he looks like himself"; supported by all the ministers
Disadvantages in the election: Second in line to succession under the system of primogeniture

4. Li Congyi
Advantages of the election: "This child was born in the palace, so he is especially favored"; his adoptive mother, Concubine Wang De, is the most favored
Disadvantages in election: illegitimate, young
Li Siyuan had not yet determined who would be the crown prince. When he first ascended the throne, he ordered Li Congrong to go to Weizhou and serve as co-prime minister. At the same time, he also ordered Li Conghou to serve as mayor of the capital, co-prime minister, and judge of the six armies and guards. In other words, Li Conghou was in the capital and also controlled the central imperial guards.

Li Congrong was very dissatisfied with this. Generally speaking, living in the capital and holding military power is the general routine for inheriting the throne, while being sent to the local area is a very dangerous political signal.

For example, the Khitan Crown Prince Yelu Bei was placed in the Dongdan Kingdom, while his younger brother Yelu Deguang remained in the central government and still held military power. Therefore, after Yelu Abaoji's death, it was no surprise that the eldest son was deposed and the youngest son was enthroned. The second son Yelu Deguang ascended the throne, while Yelu Bei was forced to abandon his country and flee to the Later Tang Dynasty.

Li Congrong was filled with doubts and resentment, so he became even more arrogant and irritable, and even stopped doing official business out of spite. Li Siyuan was very worried about this, so he selected the person who had the closest relationship with Li Congrong from among his left and right attendants and sent him to Taiyuan Prefecture (Li Congrong had moved to Hedong at this time) to live with Li Congrong so that he could always give him advice.

Li Congrong was even more suspicious, because the so-called persuasion and service were actually surveillance? Sending me a military supervisor and spies? Did my father not trust me so much? Was he going to take action against me?

The attendant who was sent here naively believed that friendship could continue in the political arena, so he said to Li Congrong: "Li Conghou is respectful, cautious, courteous, and popular. His words and deeds are very mature for a young man. As an elder brother, you should work harder and not let your reputation be surpassed by your younger brother."

This was a sincere and unpleasant word. Li Congrong was very unhappy to hear this, but he tried hard not to get angry with him. After sending him away, Li Congrong called his confidant, the Infantry Commander-in-Chief Yang Siquan, and said to him: "Everyone in the central government is praising Li Conghou and trying to belittle me. Does this mean that I will be dismissed? What should I do?"

Yang Siquan's thoughts were simpler. He first advised Li Congrong: "You have a powerful army, occupy the most important vassal state in the empire (Hedong), and have a brave general like me serving you. What else do you have to worry about?" He then suggested that Li Congrong speed up the manufacture of weapons and armor, recruit soldiers, and train soldiers.

After retreating, Yang Siquan found the follower again and warned him: "You always praise Li Conghou and suppress Li Congrong. What do you want to do? Why can't we think and work together to support Li Congrong?"

When the man heard this, he was horrified and thought to himself, "Why are you asking me what I want to do? I want to ask you what you want to do." So he hurriedly reported this to the deputy governor Feng Yun.

When Li Siyuan appointed Li Congrong to be in charge of Hedong, he appointed Feng Yun as the deputy governor and Yang Siquan as the commander-in-chief of the infantry to assist Li Congrong. In other words, Feng Yun and Yang Siquan were also Li Siyuan's eyes and ears. The difference was that Yang Siquan was very stupid and naive, so stupid that he forgot his duties.

Feng Yun immediately reported these matters to Li Siyuan.

Li Siyuan immediately summoned Yang Siquan to Beijing and changed his position to a general of the imperial guards, which is often referred to as a promotion in name only and a demotion in reality. In short, he could not stay with Li Congrong. However, for fear of further provoking Li Congrong, Li Siyuan did not punish Yang Siquan too much, nor did he mention his advice to Li Congrong to prepare for war.

This incident reflects the fierce competition between Li Congrong and Li Conghou, indicating that there was a huge force in the court at that time to promote Li Conghou to inherit the throne, or, more accurately, to prevent Li Congrong from succeeding to the throne. From the subsequent development of the story, we can see that few of the so-called civil and military officials or local vassal states really supported Li Conghou.

Li Congrong vaguely sensed this crisis, so he was eager to establish himself as the crown prince, but his frivolous and violent character became the biggest stumbling block on his way to the throne.

(End of this chapter)