History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 588: Old Gang

The prefect of Kaifeng, the mayor of the capital, seems to be a "big official" in theory, but his actual job is basically that of a neighborhood committee lady or the chief judge of the Intermediate People's Court. His daily work is to mediate neighborhood disputes, and his highlight moment is nothing more than killing a few Chen Shimei. In short, he is basically isolated from national affairs.

Sandvihan's political career was sentenced to death.

Sang Weihan was disheartened. He understood that it was not that the "old and old gang" was so powerful, but that Shi Chonggui was too suspicious of the old ministers. What he had to face was not the frame-up of one or two treacherous ministers, but a dangerous political struggle. It was very lucky to just lose his job. He should go home and burn incense to thank his ancestors for their kindness.

So, Sang Weihan used the recurrence of his old illness (athlete's foot) as an excuse to close his door to visitors and no longer attend official events or private banquets of the upper class.

Sang Weihan surrendered completely.

Liu Xu, Li Song and others spoke up for Sang Weihan. They found Feng Yu and said that Sang Weihan was a veteran of two dynasties. Now that he had been stripped of his military power and dismissed from his position as prime minister, he should at least be given a military town. Why should he be demoted to a street office director to take care of trivial matters?

Feng Yu said coldly: "If we don't give him a military garrison, we are afraid that he will become independent and start a rebellion!"

Liu Xu and Li Song were at a loss for words. "How could he, an unarmed scholar, betray the country?"

Feng Yu said something outrageous: "Even if he himself will not rebel, he will incite others to rebel!"

The reason why it is considered treason is that the "others" mentioned by Feng Yu are the late emperor Shi Jingtang. In the "Hedong War", the designer and promoter of Shi Jingtang's plan to collude with the Khitan and overthrow the Later Tang Dynasty was Sang Weihan.

During the Later Jin Dynasty, Feng Yu and his party sold official positions and titles, which made the politics of the Later Jin Dynasty a mess, breeding many parasites like Du Chongwei, greedily sucking the blood and sweat of the people. However, if we were to select the "most corrupt person in the world", Du Chongwei would have to give up the top spot. The richest man in the country during the Later Jin Dynasty, Shi Chonggui, was named Zhao Zaili.

Zhao Zaili can be said to be the ancestor of the Later Jin regime. In the last years of Li Cunxu (926), the Beizhou mutiny occurred. The soldier Huangfu Hui put a knife to his neck and forced the officer Zhao Zaili to become the leader of the rebels. The rebels set out from Beizhou and occupied Weizhou. Li Cunxu sent Li Siyuan to suppress the rebellion, and thus there was "Mingzong entered Wei", and then "Mingzong entered Luoyang".

Without Zhao Zaili, there would be no Li Siyuan; without Li Siyuan, there would be no Shi Jingtang. Therefore, Zhao Zaili is the ancestor of the Later Jin Dynasty.

Since Li Siyuan, Zhao Zaili has received a lot of rewards. In the past 20 years, he has served in more than a dozen vassal states, including Cangzhou, Xuzhou, and Chang'an. He is shrewd and calculating. On the one hand, he plunders the wealth of the people through heavy taxes and levies, and on the other hand, he invests in business and uses his official background to make huge profits. He also constantly bribes those in power. This is his magic weapon for 20 years.

Now, in the period of Shi Chonggui, Zhao Zaili's wealth was already the richest man in the country. Even Shi Chonggui coveted his wealth. Shi Chonggui and Zhao Zaili's children became in-laws, and the prince Shi Yanxu married Zhao Zaili's daughter. Shi Yanxu and Shi Yanbao were actually grandsons of Shi Jingtang and nephews of Shi Chonggui, but Shi Chonggui followed Shi Jingtang's example and recognized these nephews as his own sons.

Zhao Zaili was famous for his tyranny and extortion, and he also left an idiom in Chinese culture - "a thorn in the eye". According to records, when Zhao Zaili was in charge of Songzhou, he levied tyranny and extortion, which caused public resentment. Later, the court moved him to another place. When the people of Songzhou heard about it, they were overjoyed and said that this man was finally gone, just like pulling out a thorn in their eye, how refreshing. When Zhao Zaili heard about it, he immediately petitioned the court and asked to stay in Songzhou for another year. Then he imposed a "nail-pulling tax" in Songzhou, which was imposed on a per capita basis, and those who could not pay were severely punished.

His own uncle Du Chongwei was corrupt and exploited the people, but Shi Chonggui turned a blind eye and condoned it; the richest man in the country and a veteran of the Later Tang Dynasty, Zhao Zaili, exploited the people, but Shi Chonggui formed an ally with him and both got what they wanted.

Wasn't it illegal to embezzle and accept bribes during the reign of Shi Chonggui in the Later Jin Dynasty? Sense of justice, arrangement:
From the end of the second year of Kaiyun (945) to the beginning of the third year of Kaiyun (946), Shi Chonggui launched a series of crackdowns on corruption among officials:
In November of the second year of Kaiyun, Li Jun, the governor of Shangzhou, was dismissed on the charge of taking bribes, "taking bribes and perverting the law";
In the first month of the third year of Kaiyun,
Wang Wei, a deputy minister of the Ministry of Justice, committed suicide on the charge of embezzling public funds, "because he used palace money for private business and profit";
Li Zhisun, the Right Secretary, was demoted from the court and exiled (sent away on a post) for eating and drinking at public expense and traveling at public expense;
The "Second Queen" and Duke of Feng, Yang Yanshou, were sentenced to death in the first instance simply because they accepted bribes of more than 200 pieces of silk. Later, the authorities pleaded for mercy, saying that for the sake of the "Second Queen", the death penalty should not be used, so the second instance was changed to exile. "Two Queens and Three Kes" was one of the measures taken by Shi Jingtang at the beginning of the founding of the country, as mentioned in the previous article.

Some people commented on Shi Chonggui, saying that he hated evil, hated corrupt officials, and cracked down on official corruption...

Shi Chonggui's crackdown on corruption was a case of swatting flies but not hitting tigers. Small civil servants who ate and drank with public funds were severely punished, while high-ranking officials exploited and embezzled the money and food of millions of disaster victims without any investigation.

Feng Yu and other "old-timers" began to gain power in the second year of Kaiyun (945), Sang Weihan was squeezed out of the court in this year, and the pretentious "crackdown" was also launched in this year... In other words, Shi Chonggui degenerated in this year. On the timeline, this year was a dividing line. From this year on, Shi Chonggui exuded an increasingly strong aura of a king who had lost his country.

Why this year?

Because in this year, the Later Jin Dynasty had just won two battles, breaking the myth that the Khitan cavalry was invincible. You should know that the troops Yelu Deguang invested in these two major battles were almost all the elite troops of the Khitan, and he mobilized the entire country's troops to march south, which was a treatment that even Li Cunxu and Li Siyuan did not enjoy.

Victory made Shi Chonggui's head go crazy, giving him an illusion that the Khitans were nothing special and all reactionaries were paper tigers.

As a result, Shi Chonggui began to become self-willed, doing whatever he wanted, and letting himself go. He had gone from the state of "conquering the world" to the state of "sitting on the throne".

When fighting for the country, you need to listen to honest advice that may be unpleasant to hear, and unite all forces that can be united. Everything is oriented towards the final result. Regardless of political factions and forces, as long as you can make a contribution to the country, you are a good comrade. When sitting on the throne, you must be oriented towards the process. Patriotism is not important, but loyalty to the emperor is very important. You can choose not to contribute to the country, and you can even harm the interests of the country and the people, but - you must be loyal to me.

(End of this chapter)