History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 758 Four Evils and Five Ghosts
【Four Evils and Five Ghosts】

Due to Xu Zhigao's preference, Li Jing did not enjoy the treatment of "crown prince" for a long time. First, he did not receive good pre-job training and did not obtain the "emperor's job license", so his personal ability did not meet the standards; secondly, he did not really form a team of trustworthy and virtuous people.

This meant that Li Jing was destined to be an extremely weak new monarch, and thus determined that in the early days he would inevitably be a good man and a good person who compromised and gave in everywhere, with a weak and cowardly image.

For example, after the edict was issued, Li Jing, who had become the emperor of Southern Tang, was reluctant to sit on the throne, expressing his humility. His chief aide Feng Yansi had to persuade him four times a day to take up his post as soon as possible. At the same time, Li Jing also publicly stated many times that he would give the throne to his younger brother Li Jingsui, and even issued an edict to confer him the title of "Crown Prince".
For example, Li Jing did not dare to call officials at all levels by their names.

The people whom Li Jing relied on deeply were those who had worked by his side (in the Prince of Qi's Palace). These were also the few "direct" confidants of Li Jing, and Li Jing appeased and indulged them without any bottom line.

For example, Chen Jue. After Li Jingqian's death, the cunning Chen Jue thought that the situation of the fight for the throne was unclear. He did not dare to take risks like Song Qiuqiu, so he chose to protect himself. He stayed at home on the pretext of illness for a long time and did not leave the house for several months to avoid the muddy water of establishing a crown prince. He did not go out to handle affairs until Xu Zhigao's will was promulgated. As a result, Xiao Yan impeached him and accused him of having ulterior motives. He requested that he be punished, but his request was rejected by Li Jing.

For example, Feng Yansi and Feng Yanlu secretly tampered with the imperial edict and added a clause "allowing private citizens to freely buy and sell their children". They were also caught red-handed by Xiao Yan, and the evidence was overwhelming. However, Li Jing not only refused to revoke the order on the grounds that the edict had already been issued, but also turned a blind eye to the Feng brothers' behavior of tampering with the imperial edict.

At that time, the civil service group of the Southern Tang court was divided into two major camps, namely the "Prince Party" represented by Song Qiuqiu, Chen Jue, Wei Cen, Feng Yansi, Feng Yanlu, Li Zhenggu, and Zha Wenhui, and the "Qingliu Party" headed by Xiao Yan, Sun Sheng, Chang Mengxi, Han Xizai, Jiang Wenwei, and Li Deming.

The most ironic thing is that Song Qiuqiu, who had been strongly against Li Jing, actually became the soul of the "Prince Party". The two factions fought openly and secretly throughout Li Jing's reign.

Here, let us first take a brief look at the style of the “Princelings”.

According to legend, Emperor Shun exiled four evil gods, namely Hun Dun, Qiong Qi, Tao Wu and Tao Tie, who were called the "Four Evils" by the people and were often used to describe notorious villains; while the "Five Ghosts" were also called the "Five Plague Messengers", which were the five plague gods in folk legends. In Huainan at that time, people used the "Four Evils" and "Five Ghosts" to describe several key members of the "Princelings' Party".

Among them, Chen Jue, Wei Cen, Feng Yansi and Feng Yanlu were collectively called the "Four Evils", and together with Cha Wenhui, they were collectively called the "Five Ghosts".

Chen Jue, needless to say;
魏岑
His ancestral home was Yunzhou (now Yuncheng County, Heze City, Shandong Province). He was a famous traveler. When he was young, he traveled around the beautiful mountains and rivers of the motherland at his own expense. Later, he came to Huainan to escape the war and got a small temporary job in the local government. Wei Cen had an excellent memory, was very good at observing people's words and expressions, and was proficient in flattery. He took the initiative to please the political bigwig Song Qiqiu, and was eventually promoted by Song Qiqiu and became a member of Song Qiqiu's party. His ability to flatter was unique, which will be described in detail later.

Feng Yansi and Feng Yanlu
The two were half brothers, and were descendants of a military family. Their father, Feng Lingyi, was an officer in Yangzhou. Old Master Feng was strict in military discipline and loved his soldiers like his own sons, which won him great popularity. That year, the deputy general launched a mutiny and set fire to the barracks. When the fire was about to spread to Feng Lingyi's tent, the soldiers spontaneously threw away their weapons and turned to help Old Master Feng put out the fire, which showed his sacred and inviolable status in the soldiers' minds.

At that time, Feng Yansi, who was only 14 years old, went alone to the lost city to communicate and eventually stabilized the army and quelled the rebellion. Since ancient times, heroes have emerged from youth, and Feng Yansi was deeply appreciated by Xu Zhigao. When Feng Yansi grew up, he was known for his elegance and was able to grasp Xu Zhigao's pulse. He was promoted one after another and was eventually arranged in the Qi Wangfu to become Li Jing's chief of staff (chief secretary).

The two Feng brothers both entered the Prince of Qi's Palace and became Li Jing's right-hand men and were deeply trusted by Li Jing. However, the two of them secretly formed a relationship with Chen Jue and attached themselves to Song Qiuqiu.

Cha Wenhui, "Hello everyone, I am Zha Zha Hui" Cha Wenhui was originally a second-generation rich man, his family was very well-off, but Cha Wenhui was like a boy who gave money away, often helping the poor, and was generous. After doing good deeds for several years, he finally made himself a poor household. It is for this reason that Cha Wenhui's name is known far and wide.

Knowing that Xu Zhigao was recruiting talents, Zha Wenhui took the initiative to join him. Xu Zhigao personally interviewed Zha Wenhui, who lived up to expectations and made surprising remarks, which won Xu Zhigao's favor. The witty Song Qiqiu took the opportunity to assist him and praised Zha Wenhui for his ability and integrity. As a result, Zha Wenhui was promoted and reused, and he happily joined Song Qiqiu's small group.

The "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" were arrogant and domineering because of Li Jing's favor. Without exception, they were all talented but cultured hooligans without morals.

The "Qingliu Party" despised their character very much. For example, Sun Sheng publicly insulted Feng Yansi and others, saying that they were like golden cups and jade plates filled with dog shit.

Special note: I previously called Sun Sheng the "First Emperor Party" in order to distinguish it from the "Prince Party" in terms of time and rise process, and now I classify him as the "Pure Stream Party" only to emphasize their contradictions and conflicts with the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" (the core of the "Prince Party"), because strictly speaking, some people in the "Pure Stream Party" are not very "clean" (for example, Sun Sheng also had the idea of ​​tampering with the will), and they are not very "party". The division of political factions in the Southern Tang Dynasty should be based on different periods and different major contradictions, so before it was the "First Emperor Party" VS "Prince Party", and from now on, it becomes the "Pure Stream Party" VS "Five Ghosts and Four Evils". The time node is Li Jing's official accession to the throne.

When one person succeeds, his whole family will benefit. After Li Jing ascended the throne, the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" were promoted rapidly. Take Feng Yanlu as an example. He was promoted from a minor official of the Ministry of Rites to the Secretary of the Secretariat, and then concurrently served as a scholar of the Qinzheng Palace.

During the Five Dynasties, the Yuanwailang of the Ministry of Rites was a minor official of the "sixth rank and above", and the Zhongshu Sheren was only a "fifth rank". If we only look at the official rank, it does not seem to be a rocket promotion. To understand Feng Yanlu's "rocket promotion", we need to have a certain understanding of the official system at that time:
The ancient central official system began in the Western Han Dynasty and lasted until the Sui Dynasty, gradually forming the "Three Provinces and Six Departments System". It was perfected in the Tang Dynasty and continued to be used until the end of the Qing Dynasty, which shows the rationality of this organizational structure.

Simply put, the Secretariat was the executive body, which was composed of the "Six Ministries" (Personnel, Revenue, Rites, Military, Justice, and Works); the Ministry of Palace Affairs was mainly responsible for review; and the Secretariat was responsible for issuing imperial edicts.

Therefore, the Secretariat became the highest power center. If ranked by strength, the three ministries should be the Secretariat, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of State Affairs. In the Tang Dynasty, if the emperor wanted someone other than the prime minister to participate in the prime minister's work, he would give this person a title of "Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi", which means that he can participate in the discussion of political affairs like the heads of the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel.

The Yuanwailang of the Ministry of Rites was under the Ministry of Personnel of the Shangshu Province, and the Zhongshu Sheren was obviously under the Zhongshu Province. Therefore, transferring Feng Yanlu from the Shangshu Province to the Zhongshu Province was equivalent to transferring him from the marginal area to the powerful department, which was obviously a promotion.

Furthermore, although the rank of Zhongshu Sheren was not high, his main job was to help the emperor draft imperial edicts. The job required both excellent writing skills and being a trustworthy comrade.

In addition, the title of "Qinzheng Palace Scholar" is also very clever. During the reign of Li Siyuan, the Mingzong Emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty, the powerful minister An Zhonghui set up the "Duanming Palace Scholar". Although the rank was very low, his job was to translate imperial edicts and memorials for the emperor, and he could have private talks with the emperor directly. The original intention of its establishment was to check and balance the civil and military officials, a typical "low position but great power". Different courts have different names, such as "Duanming Palace Scholar", "Zizheng Palace Scholar", "Qinzheng Palace Scholar", the names are different, but the nature of the work is exactly the same.

In other words, Feng Yanlu's promotion was a secret promotion. He was promoted from a marginal position to the side of the emperor, directly entering the most core position of the highest power. He was deeply trusted by the emperor and became the emperor's "own man". He was even used as a tool to check and balance the prime minister.

When the news of Feng Yanlu's promotion came, Du Changye, the then Jiangzhou Surveillance Commissioner, could not help but sigh, saying that Feng Yanlu was promoted suddenly to a higher position just by flattering the emperor and making him happy with just one word. So how should the emperor reward those who have made great contributions to the country?
(End of this chapter)