History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 679 Zhou Ge Han Ming 5
Liu Zhiyuan had no choice but to go to the front line in person to mediate the personal conflicts between the chief and deputy marshals. The subsequent battles also proved that Gao Xingzhou's strategy was correct.

After pacifying Du Chongwei, Liu Zhiyuan appointed Gao Xingzhou as Jiedushi of Weizhou. As Weizhou was adjacent to Chanzhou, Gao Xingzhou refused to be a neighbor of Murong Yanchao and refused the appointment. Eventually, Liu Zhiyuan moved Murong Yanchao to Taining Army of Yanzhou, and Gao Xingzhou finally accepted the appointment as Jiedushi of Weizhou.

From then on, Murong Yanchao stayed in Yanzhou.

It was not until the Xiaoqiang Incident, when Liu Chengyou assassinated Shi Hongzhao and others, that he urgently summoned Murong Yanchao to the capital to protect him. When Murong Yanchao received the order, he was having a meal. He threw away his chopsticks, mounted his horse and ran all the way to Bianzhou.

Murong Yanchao was indeed incompetent in military affairs, but he was the best at long-distance running.

Others understood Murong Yanchao, but Liu Chengyou might not. In front of this 20-year-old nephew, Murong Yanchao was eloquent and endless, boasting about how brave he was and how bad Guo Wei was. He patted his chest and promised Liu Chengyou that as long as he stood in front of the two armies and shouted loudly, Guo Wei's rebels would collapse, and the surrendered soldiers would tie Guo Wei up and present him to His Majesty.

Liu Chengyou was so excited. In times of national crisis, loyal people are shown. Look at my uncle Liu, how awesome he is!

The mayor of the capital, veteran general Hou Yi, gave a very reasonable suggestion, which was to close the city and hold out, while sending the rebels' family members to take turns to go up to the city walls and make announcements, so as to undermine the rebels' morale and use static tactics to achieve dynamic control.

As expected, the king of big talk Murong Yanchao once again insulted Hou Yi for being cowardly and afraid of fighting.

The young and energetic Liu Chengyou finally agreed to Murong Yanchao's radical approach and accepted Murong Yanchao's enthusiastic invitation to go to the front line to watch the battle in person.

Then, Murong Yanchao began his performance, leading more than a hundred people to launch a heroic charge towards the enemy camp, but then his horse stumbled and he was almost captured. More than a hundred people were killed in the battle. Murong Yanchao then performed his specialty - running! He ran back to Yanzhou from Bianzhou in one breath, leaving Liu Chengyou alone in the wind.

After Guo Wei's mutiny in Chanzhou, Murong Yanchao was extremely worried in Yanzhou. After a not-too-intense ideological struggle, he finally sent envoys to pay tribute to Guo Wei and acknowledge his defeat.

Guo Wei tried to comfort him kindly, saying that now that things had come to this, they should still look forward, let bygones be bygones, and serve the people together.

When Liu Chong proclaimed himself emperor in Hedong, Murong Yanchao readily responded and started a rebellion, but that is a story for later.

Externally, the southern countries were preoccupied with their own affairs, and the Khitans in the north were acting in unison; internally, Liu Yun and Liu Xin on the candidate list were killed, Liu Chong was deceived, Liu Chengxun was eliminated because he was a vegetable, and the biggest political enemy outside the list, Murong Yanchao, also took the initiative to admit defeat.

At this point, Guo Wei's overthrow of the Later Han Dynasty was finally a natural outcome.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month in 951 AD, Empress Dowager Li solemnly handed the imperial seal to Guo Wei, the regent, and issued an imperial decree:

"Since ancient times, the world has not been ruled by one family or one surname, and there have been hundreds of emperors. It is true that when people’s hearts are satisfied, the world prospers, and when the Mandate of Heaven is gone, the world falls. This is clearly recorded in the classics." - Set the tone at the beginning: since ancient times, the world has not been ruled by one family or one surname, and there have been hundreds of emperors... If you don’t believe me, look through the classics and see what is written in history books. In the distant past, we saw Cao Pi and Sima Zhao, and in the recent past, we saw Zhu Wen, right?

"…Evil men are stirring up chaos, cliques are rampant, ministers are wrongly executed, the young master is caught in the crossfire, people are responsible for their own sins, God will not judge."

——Our Han Dynasty is in a terrible state. The whole court is full of treacherous villains, forming cliques and factions, and the atmosphere is chaotic. Loyal ministers have been killed unjustly, and even the emperor was murdered by villains. It's all our own fault. Don't blame Guo Wei.

"I supervise the prestige of the state, and I deeply remember the kindness of the Han Dynasty... I choose to inherit from the royal family. All the lawsuits are attributed to Xibo, and the praises are not attributed to Danzhu. The six armies support him with all their sincerity, and all nations admire his virtue. I consider it a blessing that the dynasty has changed...

——Comrade Guo Wei was deeply grateful for the Han Dynasty’s kindness and was always loyal to the Liu family. He assisted with all his loyalty and wisdom and was a veteran of two dynasties of the Han Dynasty. After the young lord was assassinated, he took the initiative to select a suitable successor for the Han Dynasty. His loyalty to the Han Dynasty is obvious to all.

Here, an allusion is used. "Xi Bo" refers to King Wen of Zhou, Ji Chang, and "Dan Zhu" is the son of Yao. "Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of the Five Emperors" records that "the princes who came to pay homage did not go to Dan Zhu but to Shun, those who had lawsuits did not go to Dan Zhu but to Shun, and those who sang songs did not sing songs about Dan Zhu but to Shun." This means that at the end of Yao's reign, when the local princes came to pay homage, they did not go to see Yao's son Dan Zhu, but to see Shun; those who wanted to sue did not go to Dan Zhu for judgment, but to see Shun; and literary and artistic workers did not promote Dan Zhu but to promote Shun.

The meaning is very clear. It echoes the words at the beginning. The sacred artifact does not have to be passed down from father to son, but should be passed down to the virtuous. Now Guo Wei is like Emperor Shun and King Wen of Zhou in the past. He has been widely supported by the world. So no matter whether Liu still has descendants or not, please stand aside and let Comrade Guo Wei inherit the throne. This is the voice of the people and the trend of history.

"Now I am granted the title of Regent by the Imperial Seal, and you may ascend the throne of Emperor."

——Today, I handed the imperial seal to Guo Wei, allowing him to ascend the throne and become emperor. In imperial edicts, decrees, imperial edicts, and teachings, the word "可" is often used before official positions, titles, and titles. It is also often misunderstood and hastily translated as "可以". In fact, this word "可" has many interpretations in classical Chinese. Here, the word "可" does not need to be translated. It is just a particle indicating passiveness.

If it must be translated, it definitely does not mean simply to express consent or permission, but should go a step further, similar to an order, not "you can be the emperor", but "you must be the emperor". This may be an overreaction, but what I want to express is that it is a step further than "can" and a step back from "must".

On the day the edict was announced, Guo Wei ascended the throne in Chongyuan Hall and proclaimed himself emperor. He changed the country's name to "Zhou", known in history as "Later Zhou", changed the year name to "The First Year of Guangshun", and issued a general amnesty.

When Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, he still followed the basic process of "abdication", such as reports of auspicious signs from all over the country, the previous dynasty's conferring of royal titles, the addition of the nine gifts, the advice of ministers, and the abdication, which he himself had to refuse again and again... Although Zhu Wen played it at double speed and cut corners on the procedures, the general framework was complete.

Precisely because the usurpation of the throne takes a long time, one would enjoy the title of king in the previous dynasty. After usurping power, one could use the title to establish a country. For example, Zhu Wen's title in the Tang Dynasty was "King of Liang", so the country's name was changed to "Liang".

Starting from the Later Tang Dynasty, the change of dynasties changed from abdication to revolution, thus abandoning the long and cumbersome abdication procedures. Moreover, the usurpers became more and more impatient, fearing that the night would be too long and they only wanted a quick victory.

(End of this chapter)