History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 762: Clear Stream
【Clear Stream is Not Clear】

The political chaos of the Southern Tang Dynasty was an all-round chaos. For example, the "Princeling Party" with Song Qiuqiu as the core and the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" as the core also had disputes among themselves. Wei Cen excluded Chen Jue and joined forces with Zha Wenhui to form a small gang, which was eventually strangled by Song Qiuqiu. The "Qingliu Party" was not so clean either. For their own interests, they would also do some extraordinary things, such as attempting to tamper with the will.

Xiao Yan is one of the few relatively upright and truly "clean people", so people like him are the easiest to get rid of and the easiest to get the emperor's "good guy card".

Li Jing changed Xu Zhigao's fine style of advocating frugality. He advocated hedonism and pursued a corrupt and extravagant lifestyle.

Once, Li Jing held an "incense banquet" in the palace to show off various precious incense to the ministers and royal family. According to records, "there are 92 kinds of famous incense from China and foreign countries, including those that can be brewed and drunk, and powder capsules that can be worn, all of which are not available in Jiangnan."

Li Jing built a skyscraper in the palace, which was extremely luxurious. After the project was accepted, Li Jing could not hide his joy. He called all the civil and military officials to show off the building. The officials praised its grandeur and magnificence.

Li Jing's vanity was greatly satisfied, but with everyone praising him, it was inevitable that there would be some unsophisticated praises. So Li Jing named them one by one and asked the ministers to give precise praise.

The ministers racked their brains and tried their best to find words that others had not used, trying to please their master. Only when it came to Xiao Yan, Li Jing heard a sentence that was not very sociable, "It's good, but there is a small regret."

"Hmm? What's your regret?"

"There's still one well missing downstairs."

"well?"

Xiao Yan slowly explained: "It is because of the lack of this well that it cannot compare to Jingyang Tower."

The Tang Dynasty poet Xu Hun wrote a poem that goes, "The righteous armies from all over the world return with a righteous way, and the maze tower is no different from the Jingyang Tower." The second half of the sentence has seven words and uses two allusions, the maze tower of Emperor Yang of Sui and the Jingyang Tower of Emperor Houzhu of Chen.

Chen Shubao, the last emperor of the Chen Dynasty, was a famous king who lost his country. He was licentious and immoral, and he especially doted on Zhang Lihua. When the Sui army was approaching the city, Chen Shubao, the last emperor of the Chen Dynasty, in desperation, hid in a dry well next to Jingyang Tower with his favorite concubine Zhang Lihua and his noble concubine Kong.

The following scene has always been talked about with great relish: the Sui soldiers searched the well and shouted into the well, asking Chen Shubao to come out and surrender, but there was complete silence in the well, pretending that no one was there. The Sui soldiers picked up a stone on the ground, gestured, and shouted "If you don't come out, I will throw stones", and Chen Shubao responded and expressed his willingness to come out and surrender. The Sui soldiers put down the rope and the hanging basket, but found it unusually heavy when pulling it. The Sui soldiers teased each other, saying that Chen Shubao was indeed a drunkard, look how fat he is! When they pulled it up, they saw three people in the basket, Chen Shubao, Zhang Lihua, and Concubine Kong. Chen Shubao's embarrassing and gaffe when he was captured was widely publicized by the Sui Dynasty to damage his image in people's minds. It is like the former president of Iraq was dug out from the cellar where he was hiding. He was disheveled, unshaven, and haggard, but he was pinned down by the lighthouse soldiers. This photo is enough to shock and destroy the psychological defenses of Iraqi supporters.

This well is also known as "Jingyang Well" and "Humiliation Well". It was destroyed after the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In order to remember the lesson of the fall of the Chen Dynasty, later generations rebuilt it. It is still one of the attractions of Jiming Temple in Nanjing, named "Ancient Rouge Well".

Almost everything about Chen Houzhu has become synonymous with "a king who lost his country", and he has become a negative example in the writings of later literati and poets: for example, his original song "Yu Shu Hou Ting Hua" has the line "The merchant woman knows not the hatred of losing her country, and still sings Hou Ting Hua across the river";
His favorite concubine Zhang Lihua, "Zhaojun met Mao Yanshou, and Emperor Yangdi could not keep Zhang Lihua";
His Jingyang Well, "When the enemy comes, I have a plan, a golden well and jade hook railing";
There are many who have found all these elements, such as "Sigh, the six dynasties of the Southern Dynasties have fallen, the beautiful flowers have been tied to the spring, but now they have turned to ashes. Only the city of Tai is left, with the setting sun hanging and the water surrounding the mountains. The Rouge Well in Jinling is covered with grass, and the back garden is empty with jade trees and flying flowers, swallows dancing and orioles singing, waiting for the return of spring in front of the Wang and Xie halls."

Ironically, the Sui Dynasty destroyed the Southern Chen Dynasty, unified the world, and died in the second generation. Emperor Yang of Sui also left behind the story of the maze tower.

Here, Xiao Yan said that if another well was added, it would be comparable to Jingyang Tower. This statement was very destructive, because more than 300 years ago, the last emperor of Chen built Jingyang Tower and Jingyang Well here (Shengzhou Jinling), and then his country was destroyed.

Li Jing was furious. Instead of reflecting on his own extravagance and corruption, he banished Xiao Yan from the court and demoted him to Shuzhou. I may not be able to solve the problem, but I can solve you who raised the problem.

What is even more disheartening and lamentable is that Sun Sheng, who belonged to the "Former Emperor's Party" and the "Pure Stream Party", was the Shuzhou Surveillance Commissioner at the time. Not only did he not lend a helping hand to the distressed Xiao Yan, but he added insult to injury and sent troops to closely monitor Xiao Yan in an effort to curry favor with the powerful "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" and Li Jing.

Xiao Yan denounced Sun Sheng on the spot, saying that I was demoted because of my frank advice, and I was not a vicious traitor. Moreover, when the previous emperor passed away, it was you who almost endangered the country! Xiao Yan was referring to the fact that Sun Sheng had tried to tamper with the will and let the empress dowager take over the throne.

Sun Sheng was speechless and withdrew his military and police in disgrace.

This is another microcosm of the factional struggles in Li Jing's court. Everyone adheres to the principle of "there are no eternal friends and enemies, only eternal interests", sometimes forming "small circles" and "group politics", and sometimes fighting internal strife. For any team, this is an extremely dangerous hidden danger, but Li Jing is not only unaware of this, but is immersed in the dream of a great country and cannot extricate himself.

When the next challenge came, Li Jing finally couldn't suppress his restlessness and wanted to appear on the historical stage as a strong man.

(End of this chapter)