History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 476 The Last Emperor Governs the Country
【The Last Emperor’s Rule】

Li Congke sat on the throne of emperor easily, but he did not feel comfortable.

Two major problems faced him: lack of money and weak claims.

All operations during Li Congke's period were carried out around these two core issues.

The money problem is easy to understand. Although there are certain difficulties in solving it, the direction of solution is clear. As the saying goes, the future is bright, but the road is tortuous. It is also easy to start with our analysis, which will be detailed later.

The latter question is the golden key to explore Li Congke's court. Li Congke's path to power is very similar to that of Li Siyuan. In contrast, it is easy for us to understand Li Congke's current situation.

If we enlarge the pattern and broaden our horizons, we will find that Li Congke was not the successor of Li Conghou or Li Siyuan, but Li Cunxu. In other words, the Later Tang Dynasty failed to resolve the most basic contradiction from beginning to end: the power of the feudal lords.

Of course, this statement is a bit of an afterthought, because the problem of separatism was not solved throughout the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. If the emperors of the Five Dynasties were in a strong position and had certain strategies, they would have created a relatively peaceful, stable and prosperous small era in the troubled times. If they were in a weak position, they would have to rely on more powerful strategies to balance the various interest groups and maintain the balance of the political ecology.

What will Li Congke do?
The most urgent task is obviously to solve the money problem.

When Li Congke set out from Fengxiang, he promised his soldiers: as long as they enter Luoyang, each of them will be rewarded with 100 strings of cash!

They say money is a bastard, but it looks really good. Historical records say that Li Congke "was generous and kind", and he was not a boy who gave money away. Who would follow you with the infamy of a traitor? They were all forced to do so.

However, when Li Congke asked Wang Mei, who was in charge of finance (Sansi Shi), he found out that there were less than 30,000 taels of gold and less than 30,000 pieces of silk in the national treasury, which was not enough to fulfill Li Congke's promise.

If there was so much money in the national treasury, Li Conghou would not have been driven away so easily.

Without money, these soldiers would mutiny again! Li Congke was anxious, so he followed the same prescription and treated Luoyang like Fengxiang and Chang'an, extorting money from the people and forcing them to donate "voluntarily" to help the court tide over the difficulties.

After a few days, they collected tens of thousands of strings of cash, but it was still not enough to fill the hole. What to do? Collect taxes!

Li Congke ordered the collection of "property tax" (shuijianjia), a tax item set up during the reign of Emperor Dezong of Tang. All houses owned by the people, whether they were for self-use or rented, whether they were for living or for production and operation, had to be taxed to the government. This time, Li Congke asked the people to prepay taxes for the next five months.

The imperial court used high pressure to collect debts, extorted money, and imprisoned and tortured those who could not pay. Some poor people were forced to jump into wells or hang themselves, and suicides were common. When officers and soldiers walked on the streets, they were often surrounded and cursed by the people.

The national treasury was empty, the people were squeezed dry of their blood, the tributes from various regions were exhausted, and even Empress Dowager Cao and Concubine Wang De had to sell their jewelry and curios... and it was still not enough.

Li Congke was almost in despair.

That night, his confidant Li Zhuanmei was on night shift, and Li Congke had a long talk with him about the most difficult problem at hand.

There are only two ways to solve the problem of money: increase revenue or reduce expenditure.

Now that the first path has come to an end, the only thing left is to think about the second path. So, Li Zhuanmei gave Li Congke an idea, which can be summed up in one word: default on debts. If you are a defaulter, why should you pay back the debts you have borrowed?
Li Zhuanmei suggested that no matter how big the hole is, this is the money you have, so you can take it or not.

On April 4, Li Congke issued an edict: the soldiers who surrendered from Fengxiang, starting from Yang Siquan and Yin Hui, would be rewarded according to their ranks. Yang Siquan and Yin Hui would each be rewarded with two horses, a camel, and 23 strings of cash, and each soldier would be rewarded with strings of cash; those who surrendered in Luoyang would be rewarded with strings of cash each.

As soon as the imperial edict was issued, the soldiers were greatly disappointed and even composed a ballad to express their dissatisfaction: "Drive away the Bodhisattva slave and welcome the stingy man." Li Conghou's nickname was "Bodhisattva slave."

Anyway, the money issue was barely dealt with. Another core issue - politics - was what troubled Li Congke the most.

We can further break this problem down and clarify our thinking:

First, Li Congke needed to legitimize his regime and find a legal basis for ascending the throne.

1.1 It is said that when Li Congke was in charge of Fengxiang, there was a blind man named Zhang Meng in Fengxiang who claimed that he could tell fortunes and knew the destiny of the world. He also said that he was a disciple of the Taibai Mountain God and was very skilled in Taoism. Li Congke's staff member Fang Hao (pronounced the same as "hao") believed what he said. One day, Fang Hao invited Zhang Meng to play in the general's mansion. As soon as Zhang Meng entered the mansion, he heard Li Congke's voice inside. He was immediately shocked and said, "He is not a human minister!"

Fang Hao then asked him why he said that. Zhang Meng deliberately made things mysterious and said a verse: "Three pearls merge into one, the donkey and the horse have no one to drive them. The years are Jia Geng Wu, and the revival is Wu Ji Earth."

"What do you mean?"

"The secret cannot be leaked."

In May of the fourth year of Changxing (933), many doors of the government office opened automatically for no reason, which frightened everyone. Could it be that the government office was haunted? So Li Congke sent Fang Hao to ask the expert Zhang Meng for advice.

Zhang Meng said: "Don't be afraid, good things will happen within three days."

That evening, Luoyang sent an envoy to confer the title of "Prince of Lu" on Li Congke.

Not long after, he ordered Li Congke to move to Hedong. Li Congke was terrified, so he asked the expert Zhang Meng again. Zhang Meng looked relieved and said, "Don't worry, the king promises that everything will be fine."

When Wang Sitong and his army arrived at the city, Li Congke again hurriedly questioned them.

Zhang Meng remained calm and said, "Your Majesty is going to be the emperor, and these imperial soldiers are here to welcome him. If you don't believe me, you can take my only son as a hostage."

Now, Li Congke was really enthroned as the Son of Heaven. The beginning of the enthronement text read: "In the first year of Yingshun, the year of Jiawu, the first day of the fourth month of Gengwu, the sixth month of Yihai..."

Li Congke suddenly realized and looked back at Fang Hao, "Do you still remember Zhang Meng's words? 'Year Jia Geng Wu', isn't this the time when you received the imperial decree?"

"Yes, yes, it's amazing!"

"So...what about the other three sentences?"

Fang Hao asked various experts to help him compile the answer, and finally found the correct answer: "Three pearls represent the three emperors; the donkey and horse have no one to drive them, so they have lost their position."

Li Congke promoted Zhang Meng and gave him generous rewards.

1.2 It is said that when Li Congke was just named Prince of Lu, an expert said: "The word Lu means one foot has already stepped into Luoyang." One foot has already stepped into Luoyang.

1.3 It is said that when Li Congke was in Fengxiang, an old man named He, who was over years old, died suddenly one day. After he went to the underworld, the King of He said to him: "Please go back and tell Prince Lu for me, 'You will be the emperor in March next year, in the rd year.'" Then a miracle happened, and the old man in his s came back to life.

After returning to life, the old man remembered the instructions of the King of Hell, but was afraid to speak. A month later, he died suddenly again. When he came to the underworld again, the King of Hell was anxious and scolded him: "Why didn't you do as I said? I'll give you one more chance, go away-"

The old man is alive again.

After being resurrected again, he bravely went to the government office and reported to Li Congke's confidant Liu Yanlang, who then told Li Congke. The old man swore that he was willing to be a hostage, and if what he said was wrong, he would be killed.

Later, some people analyzed and said that "Twenty-three" was Li Congke's nickname, because Li Congke's birthday was the twenty-third of the first lunar month.

(End of this chapter)