History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 652 Disharmony between Generals and Ministers
During the Later Han Dynasty, although the three towns rebelled one after another, and the Later Shu, Khitan, and Huainan were also ready to fight, they only hurt the Later Han Dynasty superficially, not deeply. The fatal injury to the Later Han Dynasty was internal injury.

Liu Zhiyuan hastily established the Later Han Dynasty and died in a hurry, leaving his son Liu Chengyou with a mess that needed to be rebuilt, but also a leadership team that was beginning to take shape.

The reason why it is said to be taking shape is that this leadership team has the following characteristics:

1. The structure is relatively complete. As the saying goes, a small sparrow has all the organs. The necessary organizational structure is there, but whether it is competent or not is another matter;
2. They are the vested interest groups of the Later Han regime, and therefore they are infinitely loyal to the Later Han court and do their utmost to maintain the current power system and interest distribution model;
3. Almost all members of the organization are "crash trainees" with shallow foundations and weak basics. They have a strong inferiority complex in their bones, which leads to stubbornness and a more extreme style of behavior.

4. Generally speaking, any country that has the above three problems at the same time will inevitably have this problem: internal strife.

As mentioned in the previous article, there were deep contradictions among Liu Zhiyuan's trusted ministers, and they did not conceal them at all. Therefore, it cannot be called "intrigue." Compared with the political struggles in the late Tang Dynasty, even the eunuch Tian Lingzi knew how to use some conspiracies and tricks, set traps, and play games with the academic prime ministers. Although it was a mess, objectively speaking, it was still worth pondering.

The struggles that took place within the core power circle of the Later Han court were already somewhat insulting to the word "intrigue". There was no disguise or filter, and both sides were frank and honest with each other. Their attitude was clear: "CNM, I will kill you."

In addition, there was a sharp and irreconcilable contradiction between the old ministers and the young emperor Liu Chengyou. This was also a common problem that all the "second generation of founding emperors" had to face.

The discord between generals and ministers, and the rift between the emperor and his subjects, were the reasons that led to the rapid demise of the Later Han Dynasty.

The Later Han Dynasty was built on the ruins of the war between Jin and Liao. History did not give it time to simmer slowly, so it could only stir-fry on high heat. In order to quickly stabilize the situation and restore order, the Later Han Dynasty left people with the impression that "Han law is harsh."

There is no need to elaborate on the impact of war on people's production and life. Natural disasters in the Central Plains have not decreased. During Liu Chengyou's period, the Yellow River burst its banks again. Locust plagues, floods, and droughts did not choose new favorites due to changes of dynasties. They still stick to this suffering land of the Central Plains.

The common people were living in dire straits, so they chose to leave their homes or gather together to become bandits. The bandits robbed houses, plundered counties, and fought in various places. For example, Li Jing of the Southern Tang mentioned above took the opportunity to recruit surrenders and rebels in the border area, and lured the people in the Huaibei area controlled by the Later Han Dynasty to revolt.

In order to resist the Khitan and appease the vassal states that surrendered to him, Liu Zhiyuan had to sell his property to help the country and give generous rewards to his soldiers, which led to an empty treasury and a serious deficit. He had to sell off the treasures in his harem and even the queen's jewelry.

Suppressing the civil uprising and smoothing the fiscal deficit became the internal problems that the Later Han regime urgently needed to solve. The leadership of the Later Han Dynasty therefore adopted a simple and crude method.

For example, the Later Han Dynasty introduced the most stringent laws, stipulating that anyone involved in theft or robbery would be sentenced to death, regardless of the amount.

Prime Minister Su Fengji personally drafted the law and made further corrections to make it the most severe law in history: the thief himself, his neighbors in front, behind, and on both sides, including the residents within the "one guard", and his entire family would be beheaded!
If someone stole something, not only would the thief himself and his entire family be killed, but his neighbors would also have to be killed. This was inspired by the "baojia joint responsibility" system. In ancient China, the definition of "bao" was slightly different. In the late Tang Dynasty, four households were "neighbors" and five households were "bao". In short, as long as one person broke the law, the government's starting price was to kill five households.

After the draft was drawn up, it attracted a lot of opposition. Su Fengji had no choice but to delete the word "whole family" in anger. The neighbors didn't have to kill the whole family, but the head of the family still had to be killed.

Under the guidance of this law, two appalling cases occurred in Shandong and Hebei, the areas with the most serious banditry:
"Pingyin County Village Massacre"

Zhang Lingrou, captain of the Yunzhou Criminal Police (thief-catching officer), uncovered a criminal gang, traced them to Pingyin County (now Pingyin County, Jinan City, Shandong Province), and then ruthlessly massacred hundreds of villagers from 17 villages.

"Weizhou Injustice Case"

In Weizhou, bandits were discovered. The people spontaneously organized a resistance and drove the bandits away. More than a dozen enthusiastic citizens went to chase them, but the bandits fled into the mountains and forests and disappeared. At this time, the governor Ye Renlu arrived with his troops and insisted that these dozen people were accomplices of the bandits. He did not listen to any explanations or conduct any investigations. He simply cut their tendons and then abandoned them in the deep mountains and forests. More than a dozen people wailed and screamed, and died after several days.

After the Weizhou unjust case occurred, Prime Minister Su Fengji not only did not blame the Weizhou Governor Ye Renlu, but instead set up Comrade Ye Renlu as an excellent example, publicly praised him by name, and called on officials across the country to learn from Comrade Ye Renlu.

The prime minister of the empire, who was generally regarded as a pedantic scholar who was weak, generous and tolerant, could be so harsh and ruthless, let alone the illiterate military generals who handled swords and guns!

Under the call to "learn from Comrade Ye Renlu", local officials at all levels, in line with the principle of "rather kill three thousand people by mistake than let a single person escape", created countless unjust, false and wrong cases.

Although Su Fengji was a civil servant, his bloodthirsty character was exposed long ago. Before Liu Zhiyuan became emperor, whenever it was his birthday or he had a minor illness, he would ask Su Fengji to "quiet the prison", which was similar to a general amnesty, except that he would deal with the backlog of cases in the small area under his jurisdiction. Those that could be closed had to be closed on the spot, and those that could not be closed had to be dealt with simply, quickly and leniently. He would release all the prisoners in the prison, just as if he was releasing them to pray for blessings.

Su Fengji came to the prison and ordered all the prisoners to be killed, regardless of their crimes, severity, or whether they were wrongly convicted. In short, they were to be killed cleanly and the prison to be physically clean.

Su Fengji is a "Black Whirlwind" Li Kui with the skin of "Zhi Duo Xing" Wu Yong. However, he is outstanding in literary talent, quick in thinking, and good at observing words and expressions. He is very good at catering to Liu Zhiyuan, so he is deeply trusted by Liu Zhiyuan. Relying on Liu Zhiyuan's favor and his ruthless style of doing things, no official in Hedong dared to offend his majesty, and his work efficiency was surprisingly high, so he was trusted by Liu Zhiyuan even more.

Another characteristic of Su Fengji is greed and his love for money. When he was in power, he openly accepted bribes and sold official positions, making the officialdom of the Later Han Dynasty a mess.

(End of this chapter)