History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 753 Four Brothers (Part )

【Four Brothers】

Xu Zhigao had five sons, all with the character "Jing" in their first names and the third character "辶". They were Xu Jingtong, Xu Jingqian, Xu Jingsui, Xu Jingda and Xu Jingdun. As Xu Zhigao restored his original surname "Li", his five sons also changed their surnames to Li. Among them, Xu Jingtong later changed his name to "Li Jing" and inherited the throne. We will call him "Li Jing" in the following text.

According to the traditional patriarchal system, that is, the eldest son inheritance system, it should be no surprise that the eldest son Li Jing will inherit the throne. However, due to Xu Zhigao's preference, Li Jing became the least competitive prince. It seemed that anyone except him could inherit the throne, so Li Jing's road to succession was full of twists and turns and dangers.

Every king will face a thorny issue, which is to choose a successor. Because there are too many interest groups involved in this matter, there will always be people who will try every means to interfere for their own benefit, and the struggle for succession is not uncommon. Xu Zhigao certainly could not escape.

Li Jing's first rival was his second brother Li Jingqian.

1. Li Jingqian
According to records, Li Jingqian was extremely intelligent since childhood and possessed a photographic memory. He was also handsome and elegant, so he was very much loved by Xu Zhigao. He was married to Princess Shangrao, the daughter of Yang Pu, the last emperor of Southern Wu.

Li Jingqian advocated frugality and did not pursue luxury, which made Xu Zhigao like him even more. Historical records show that Xu Zhigao "loved him very much" and loved his second son Li Jingqian so much that he had come up with the idea of ​​deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest son a long time ago.

These thoughts of his were keenly noticed by Song Qiuqiu. At that time, Song Qiuqiu and Xu Zhigao had just "broken up" for the first time. Xu Zhigao hinted that they should persuade him to ascend the throne and force him to abdicate, but Song Qiuqiu clearly expressed his opposition and was thus ostracized by Xu Zhigao.

In order to reverse the defeat, Song Qiqiu began to frantically form cliques and factions. According to historical records, he "built up cliques and secretly established his own fiefdom." At that time, Xu Zhigao was hiding in Shengzhou and controlling the situation remotely, while Song Qiqiu and Wang Lingmou assisted Li Jing in Yangzhou.

Song Qiuqiu, who stood on the wrong side of the abdication issue, took another wrong step. He firmly believed in the eternal truth that "a new emperor has his own ministers". If the eldest son Li Jing succeeded to the throne smoothly, then the "merit of supporting the throne" would be a traditional patriarchal etiquette, which is natural and reasonable. In other words, Song Qiuqiu would not change his political status because of this; but if he could stir up trouble and support other "princes", then for the young lord who was supported, Song Qiuqiu would be a hero who made meritorious contributions to the throne.

The battle for the throne would be a do-or-die battle in Song Qiuqiu's political career. Therefore, Song Qiuqiu set his sights on Xu Zhigao's beloved second son, Li Jingqian, the son-in-law of the emperor.

Song Qiuqiu first recommended his own party member Chen Jue to be Li Jingqian's teacher, and then began to manipulate public opinion, letting his party members praise Li Jingqian's talent and character, portraying Li Jingqian as the immortal Yao, Shun and Yu, and the rebirth of Tang, Wen and Wu; while he himself took advantage of the convenience of assisting Li Jing to deliberately make mistakes in his work, and then blamed Li Jing to prove that Li Jing was incompetent.

Soon, Xu Zhigao became dissatisfied with Li Jing and summoned Li Jing to Shengzhou, and asked his second son Li Jingqian to replace Li Jing as the regent.

However, Xu Zhigao soon became suspicious of Song Qiqiu's motives and summoned him to Shengzhou to continue marginalizing him. Li Jing also resented Song Qiqiu for this.

It's a mess! Song Qiuqiu took the initiative to get involved in the fight for the throne and dug his own grave.

It seemed that Li Jingqian had already secured his status as the "crown prince", but unfortunately he was unlucky and died young, just one year after arriving in Yangzhou, at the age of 19. He left us prematurely.

At that time, under the instigation of Song Qiqiu, the sorcerers said that Li Jingqian had amazing bones and would be extremely valuable in the future, and his life span would definitely be the longest among all the brothers. He was talented, had good character, lived a long life, and was destined to be extremely valuable, so he must be the successor. Unexpectedly, he passed away at the age of 19. Xu Zhigao was shocked and angry. Is this what you call extremely valuable? Is this the longest life span? From then on, Xu Zhigao never listened to any "expert" who told him to count with his fingers.

Li Jingqian was the strongest opponent on Li Jing's way to the throne, without a doubt. Li Jing was low-key and tolerant on the surface, but he hated his second brother with a vengeance in his heart, and this hatred continued to his son, Li Yu, the last ruler of the Southern Tang Dynasty. After the fall of his country, Li Yu wrote a poem about the fall of his country, saying "Four brothers and three hundred people, can't bear to sit idle and think carefully", and the "four brothers" here refers to the four brothers of his father.

Li Jing clearly had five brothers, but the poem says there were only four, which excludes Li Jingqian.

The "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" says: "So the line 'four brothers and three hundred people' in the poem of the later lord on the fall of the country refers to Yuanzong (Li Jing), Jingsui, Jingda and Jingdun, but Jingqian is not included."

Of course, there is another more far-fetched explanation, that is, Li Jingqian had no descendants, so the "three hundred people" were all descendants of the other four brothers.

In short, due to the danger of fighting for the throne, Li Jing and his son were very hostile to Li Jingqian.

After Li Jingqian's death, Xu Zhigao still did not plan to list Li Jing as the first heir, but let his third son Li Jingsui act as regent.

2. Li Jingsui
Li Jingsui was honest, quiet and elegant by nature, and had the demeanor of a gentleman. When Yang Pu was killed, Li Jingsui was ordered to preside over Yang Pu's funeral. At the funeral, Li Jingsui burst into tears when he saw Yang Pu's coffin from a distance. His tears were heartbreaking and earth-shattering, and he was extremely sad. Others at the funeral were moved to tears and praised Li Jingsui for his loyalty.

Although Li Jingsui replaced Li Jingqian as the assistant minister and was only one step away from the position of crown prince, he had no ambition and did not want to get involved in the struggle for the throne. When Li Jing ascended the throne, he immediately expressed his intention to give up the throne to him, but he firmly refused. So Li Jing gave him the title of "Marshal of the Armies of All Provinces" and issued an edict the following year to let him take charge of the government, which was equivalent to a central government official document to let him supervise the country and act as regent. However, he firmly refused to accept it, forcing Li Jing to withdraw the edict.

A few years later, Li Jing named him "Crown Prince", making him the heir to the throne. Li Jingsui once again resolutely declined and changed his name to "Tuishen", which means "retire after success" in Laozi's saying, to show that he really had no desire for power.

Li Jingsui was the candidate closest to the throne after Li Jingqian, but he was indifferent to fame and fortune, and did not want to quarrel with his brothers, so he took the initiative to retire.

Li Jing gave him the titles of Marshal of the Armies, Chief of State Affairs, and Crown Prince, which also reflected Li Jingsui's high reputation in the court. If Li Jingsui had intended to fight for it, then it would have been hard to say who would be the winner of the second monarch of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

It was precisely because Li Jingsui's reputation was so high that he was involved in the struggle for the throne fifteen years later and was eventually poisoned to death by his nephew.

Li Jingsui really didn't want to fight for the throne, but he was like a tree trying to be quiet but the wind didn't stop, and he eventually died in the fight for the crown prince.

(End of this chapter)