History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 636: The Uncle Clan is Small
These people have followed Liu Zhiyuan for a time that may be even older than Liu Chengyou. "When your father and I were conquering the world, you were still in your mother's womb!" It was basically difficult for these people to conceal their contempt for Liu Chengyou, and sometimes it would reveal it inadvertently, which made Liu Chengyou very uncomfortable.

For example, once, Yang Bin and Shi Hongzhao were discussing state affairs in front of Liu Chengyou. Liu Chengyou didn't get a word in for a long time. He finally waited for the two living ancestors to get tired of talking, and then he interrupted with an irrelevant leadership-style work instruction: "This matter needs to be studied and discussed seriously, and don't be rash and reckless." As a result, Yang Bin glared at him and scolded him: "What do you know, a child? With us brothers here, Your Majesty just shut up."

Is this talking to the emperor? If you don't even have the minimum respect, how can you talk about loyalty?

Liu Chengyou urgently needed to cultivate a loyal force. For an official who was only 18 years old, had never fought in the army, and had never been sent out to serve as a local official, who would be the source of his direct lineage?
Of course there are only three ways: the descendants of the family or the uncle's family; eunuchs, actors, and villains; the new civil service group.

We can make an analogy with Emperor Zhaozong of Tang.

However, the cultivation of a new group of civil servants requires a relatively stable internal environment and relatively ample time. Whether it is the intrigues in the officialdom or the disunity between the local and central governments, in short, do not make too much noise, at least to ensure the normal progress of the imperial examination, so that the emperor can legitimately use a group of upright scholars who are full of vigor, eloquent, and despise the former marquises, give them key positions in key departments (such as Hanlin academicians, Hanlin imperial edicts, and Zhongshu Sheren), give them time to experience, and then step by step to rise, and finally master the core power (such as prime minister, privy envoy).

However, since the Five Dynasties, frequent wars in the Central Plains had severely damaged the imperial examination system, making it a mere formality. On the contrary, the relatively stable "Ten Kingdoms" in the south retained the imperial examination system relatively intact, so that many scholars fled to Hunan, Huainan, Hangzhou and other places, resulting in a large loss of talent from the Central Plains.

Liu Chengyou basically did not have the external conditions for the "civil servant route", and he did not have much time to cultivate, he needed quick success. Therefore, the first two paths became Liu Chengyou's lifeline.

When a young ruler ascends the throne, he often relies on the empress's family and uncle's family, rather than the royal family. In other words, he will promote the brothers of his wife (the queen) or his mother (the queen mother), that is, his uncles. Although these people are from other families, the emperor is their only political resource and the only capital for them to abuse their power. Driven by interests, they are the emperor's most staunch supporters.

On the other hand, the royal family, that is, his brothers, half-brothers, and cousins, are the group that the emperor should be most wary of and fear the most, because each of them has a reason to inherit the throne and therefore has the motive to kill the emperor.

For example, Zhu Youzhen, the last emperor of the Later Liang Dynasty, was a typical example of someone who relied on the "royal family", promoted external relatives, suppressed the royal family, and successfully led to the demise of the country.

As for eunuchs and entertainers, they were also a group of people with a high rate of being in a bad situation during the feudal period, but they often played an ignominious role in the political arena. Many emperors, especially those who were incompetent or lost their country, basically had one common characteristic, which was to favor eunuchs and entertainers, which allowed these people to take advantage of their favor and interfere in state affairs. Why did the emperor allow - or even deliberately indulge them to interfere in state affairs?
From the perspective of personal feelings, it is because these people are the emperor's "childhood friends". They have accompanied the emperor since childhood, cared for him and taken care of him meticulously. It is very easy to understand why the emperor has feelings for them. The most typical example is probably the couple of Emperor Xizong of Tang and Tian Lingzi. Before Tian Lingzi showed his true colors, Emperor Xizong of Tang trusted, respected and was grateful to Tian Lingzi from the bottom of his heart, and took the initiative to recognize this eunuch as his godfather.

From the perspective of political struggle and official game, eunuchs and actors are mad dogs raised by the emperor. The emperor wants to seize power from the civil and military officials. In order to avoid tearing his face and causing a greater backlash in the court, he releases the mad dogs and lets them do those things that the emperor wants to do but is not convenient to do, and bite those ministers who he wants to bite but is not convenient to bite. Afterwards, if a violent backlash is caused, the emperor can use them as pawns and shields.

Villains refer to those who have won the favor and trust of leaders through informal means and obtained a position, but the leader suddenly died and these people were marginalized after the new leader took office. These people are characterized by humble origins, no background, and no resources. They are typical "three-no products" but they were once glorious. They often miss those good days, covet the power they once had, and envy and hate those in power.

In order to quickly cultivate his own direct forces, Liu Chengyou chose the first two routes and promoted Li Hongxin, Li Hongyi, Li Hongjian, and Li Ye (all four were brothers of Empress Dowager Li and Liu Chengyou's uncles); and promoted Yan Jinqing, Nie Wenjin, Hou Zan, Guo Yunming and others from the marginalized "villain" group.

The "Uncles' Gang" and the "Villains' Gang" formed Liu Chengyou's direct lineage, and became Liu Chengyou's weapon to tear apart the "Veterans' Gang" such as Yang Bin and Shi Hongzhao. Of course, there is no need to introduce the uncles' gang, let's first briefly get to know the following pieces of the "Villains' Gang":
Yan Jinqing, a rich second-generation from Xinzhou, Hedong, had a good relationship with Liu Zhiyuan when he was in charge of Hedong, and they used each other. Unlike others, he had really fought on the battlefield and made contributions, but he was treated unfairly when he was promoted, so he had a lot of complaints about the rulers - Yang Bin, Shi Hongzhao, etc. Later, the "Uncle Gang" and the "Villain Gang" conspired to make trouble, kill Yang Bin, Shi Hongzhao, etc., and pull him into the gang, but he was timid and afraid of trouble, and turned around to leak the secret to Shi Hongzhao.

Nie Wenjin, a clerk under Liu Zhiyuan, was a shrewd and capable person, so he was appreciated by Liu Zhiyuan. When he was stationed in Hedong, he promoted him to Bingma Yasiguan, which was a temporary worker in the army responsible for civilian work. Although he was outside the system, he was "sitting in an office" after all. After Liu Zhiyuan entered Bian, he promoted him to the position of Privy Councilor. Although it was still a low-level position, his workplace was the Privy Council. As the saying goes, a third-rank official is in front of the prime minister. However, Liu Zhiyuan died half a year after entering Bian, and Nie Wenjin's promotion stagnated.

Later, praise, this person is also special, because he is the son of a whore. It is not an insult, it is a statement. Even his father thinks he is a bastard - also a statement.

(End of this chapter)