History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 635: Basement Opening
Liu Zhiyuan was most criticized for his ruthlessness and dishonesty, the most convincing example of which was his suppression of Du Chongwei in Weizhou. First, he massacred 1,500 Youzhou soldiers who had surrendered in Bianzhou, and then, despite promising to pardon Zhang Lian in a red-headed document, he still killed all of Zhang Lian and his subordinates who had surrendered, while the real culprit, the rebel Du Chongwei, was pardoned.

Sima Guang commented on this matter in "Zizhi Tongjian", saying that his execution of Fan Tai was inhumane; his killing of Zhang Lian was dishonest; and his pardon of Du Chongwei was "not a punishment."

"Benevolence unites the people, trustworthiness enforces orders, and punishments punish evil. Without these three, how can one protect the country? Its prosperity is not prolonged, how deserved!" The most hateful part is the second half of the sentence. The Later Han Dynasty did not last long and perished quickly. It deserved it!

The Old History of the Five Dynasties is relatively more subtle and euphemistic, and its final verdict on Liu Zhiyuan is: "Although he has the reputation of responding to the times, he has not been able to be a virtuous ruler."

The translation is even more infuriating than Sima Guang's "You deserve it": I gave you a chance, but you were useless!

Whether it is the Old History of the Five Dynasties, the New History of the Five Dynasties or the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, they were all written in the Northern Song Dynasty. Emperor Taizu Zhao Kuangyin of the Song Dynasty seized the throne of the Chai family of the Later Zhou Dynasty through the "Chenqiao Mutiny". Out of guilt for the Chai family, Emperor Taizu left a will: to treat the descendants of the Chai family well. Therefore, in the Water Margin, which describes the peasant uprising in the late Northern Song Dynasty, "Little Tornado" Chai Jin could become a national shelter for problem children.

Therefore, although the Song Dynasty seized the Chai family's foundation, unlike most dynasty changes, the Northern Song Dynasty not only did not discredit or deny the Later Zhou Dynasty, but was full of gratitude and guilt towards it.

The Chai family inherited the throne from the founding emperor Guo Wei, who was Liu Zhiyuan's trusted confidant. However, Guo Wei did not take over the throne directly from Liu Zhiyuan, but with Liu Chengyou in between. Let me make this clear: Liu Chengyou killed Guo Wei's entire family.

There was a deep hatred between Guo Wei and Liu Chengyou and the Later Han regime he represented, which was enough to kill the entire family.

The relationship is clear: the Song Dynasty was grateful to the Later Zhou Dynasty, and the Later Zhou Dynasty had a deep hatred for the Later Han Dynasty. Therefore, the Song Dynasty's attitude towards the Later Han Dynasty could not be said to be hatred, but at least it was definitely not admiration. This attitude determined that the historians of the Song Dynasty could write truthfully when dealing with Liu Zhiyuan's flaws.

Liu Zhiyuan passed away, leaving a mess for his successor Liu Chengyou. In fact, it can no longer be called a mess. It should be said that there is no mess at all, just rotten. If Liu Zhiyuan started in hell mode, then Liu Chengyou started in the basement of hell.

The difficult situation of the Later Han Dynasty was manifested externally by internal and external troubles. The fundamental reason for this situation was its rapid growth. As a typical political upstart, the Liu family group of the Later Han Dynasty was extremely inexperienced and rose to high positions suddenly. Neither the emperor nor the ministers were able to accurately adapt to their new roles for a while.

The king is not like a king, and the minister is not like a minister.

It was precisely because of this sudden change of roles that serious internal friction over power and profit emerged in the process of redistribution of benefits. Although the Later Han Dynasty faced many internal and external troubles, it was the internal strife within the group that ultimately led to its demise, which is the most regrettable. The fortress was eventually breached from within.

Below, we will take a look at the entire process of the collapse of the Later Han Dynasty. First, welcome to Liu Chengyou's hell basement:
The Liu family group of the Later Han Dynasty came to power too easily. After Shi Hongzhao led the vanguard troops to fight in Luzhou and Zezhou, Liu Zhiyuan successfully entered Bianzhou. In the subsequent battle of Weizhou, the Khitan took the initiative to retreat due to internal problems. The process of Liu Zhiyuan's gaining the world was basically similar to that of Li Congke.

But Li Congke was at least the adopted son of the previous emperor, while Liu Zhiyuan had no blood relationship with the previous emperor. In other words, the problems faced by the Liu family group in the Later Han Dynasty should be more difficult than those faced by Li Congke in the Later Tang Dynasty. However, Liu Zhiyuan died in a hurry and the 18-year-old Liu Chengyou ascended the throne. All parties were even more unwilling to accept Liu Chengyou's account. So Liu Chengyou's predicament was made worse.

In order to help Liu Chengyou maintain his position, Su Fengji, Yang Bin and others kept the death of Liu Zhiyuan a secret. Instead, they first forged an imperial edict to kill Du Chongwei and eliminate the greatest threat to the empire. Then they forged an imperial edict to appoint Liu Chengyou as King of Zhou. Only then did they announce the news of the previous emperor's death and let Liu Chengyou ascend the throne in front of the coffin.

According to them, at the end of last year, the late emperor planned to change the reign title, so he asked for the opinions of the ministers. The Secretariat finally drafted a reign title of "Qianhe", which means harmony between heaven, earth and people. As a result, the late emperor picked up the imperial pen and changed it to "Qianyou". So it is obvious that the world belongs to my son Liu Chengyou.

Because the son had to observe mourning when his father died, the new emperor usually only ascended the throne but could not rule the country immediately. However, the new emperor could not really observe mourning for two or three years like ordinary officials, so people invented a rule: the emperor observes mourning for one day for one year, and some say one day for one month. In other words, the new emperor could take up his post after two or three days at the least and a month at the most.

A few days later, the ministers submitted a petition, begging Liu Chengyou to take charge of government affairs. As usual, the emperor refused. Then the ministers submitted four petitions in total, and Liu Chengyou finally agreed.

Liu Chengyou met with all the ministers, then honored his mother as the empress dowager, and then began to handle the affairs of state.

In order to win support and recognition, Liu Zhiyuan and Liu Chengyou both adhered to a universal policy and benefited all people equally. A large part of the "Benji" of the two emperors was devoted to recording the rewards bestowed on various vassal states throughout the world.

Liu Chengyou had just ascended the throne. He promoted all the royal relatives such as Liu Xin, Liu Chong, Murong Yanchao, etc.; the founding heroes such as Shi Hongzhao, Guo Congyi, Dou Zhengu, etc.; the meritorious officials of the previous dynasty such as Gao Xingzhou, An Shenqi, Fu Yanqing, etc.; and even the "dangerous elements" of the previous dynasty such as Li Shouzhen, Li Yiyin, etc.; and the "outstanding people" such as Wu Xingde, Xue Huairang, etc....

When the new emperor ascended the throne, civil and military officials at all levels and provincial governors were generally promoted, which was a normal operation and understandable. However, not long after, because of one person's meritorious service, the whole country was rewarded indiscriminately, which was really jaw-dropping. This bizarre and incredible operation will be detailed in the following article.

Internal rebellion and external invasion were not fatal threats to the Later Han Dynasty. The core problem was that Liu Chengyou lacked direct confidants.

Su Fengji, Su Yugui, Yang Bin, Shi Hongzhao, and Guo Wei, all of them were Liu Zhiyuan's direct descendants from Hedong. The 18-year-old Liu Chengyou had neither military combat experience nor work experience as a local official. He was extremely lacking in both experience and personal connections, which were the most important foundations for a team leader.

A new emperor appoints his own ministers. The above-mentioned people are Liu Zhiyuan's direct descendants, but not Liu Chengyou's direct descendants.

(End of this chapter)