History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 769 Jiang Wenwei's Struggle
【Jiang Wenwei's Struggle】

In the court, Jiang Wenwei pointed his finger at the "four evil men" who were so powerful that they could cover the sky with one hand, shocking everyone. In the astonishment of all the officials, Jiang Wenwei opened fire and spilled the beans:
"Since your majesty ascended the throne, the four people you trust and value are Feng Yansi, Yanlu, Wei Cen, and Chen Jue. They were all promoted from lower-level officials and quickly rose to high positions. You have never promoted a virtuous minister to benefit the country. You have secretly sought power and recruited a group of villains."

——Since your majesty ascended the throne, you have trusted the "Four Evils" the most. They are all your direct minions in the Qi Palace. When one of them succeeds, the whole family will rise to heaven. They were transferred from the street office to the State Council, but they did not find a virtuous person for the country! They only know how to fight for power and gain and expand their cliques.

"When your majesty first came to power, Chang Mengxi was in a position to criticize and criticize. He spoke out and made frank comments, but was first expelled. He rejected loyal people and refused to give advice. This was the beginning of his behavior."

——Chang Mengxi, what a good child, what an upright censor, but he was the first to be excluded and the first to start evil.

"The treacherous ministers devised a plan to seize power, so on the eighth day of the first month of the second year of Baoda, they ordered that officials and other ministers not be allowed to see him...

——After mentioning Chang Mengxi's "rebuttal" and being demoted, it was mentioned that in early 944 AD, Li Jing announced that Li Jingsui would enter the palace to participate in state affairs, and that no one except Wei Cen and Zha Wenhui could enter the palace without a special summons. The whole court was shocked, and finally gave up hastily under tremendous pressure.

Afterwards, Jiang Wenwei mentioned the demotion of the censor Zhang Wei, saying that Zhang Wei's comments on matters offended the powerful and offended the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" group, and as a result he was also demoted. In the decree of demotion, His Majesty said that he "did not consider his duties and made other comments". If even the impeachment of the censors was regarded as "overstepping his authority", then who would dare to speak out for justice?

It’s not over yet... Yan Xu, a royal relative, was also excluded because he refused to curry favor with the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" group. Fortunately, Zhang Yifang interceded for him and he was able to save his life.

Zhang Yifang, whose original name was Zhang Yuanda, was appointed Imperial Censor when Xu Zhigao proclaimed himself emperor. Because of his loyalty, integrity and courage to speak out, he was repeatedly commended by Xu Zhigao, who also named him "Yifang" after Wang Yifang, a famous Tang Dynasty official, in the hope that he would be remembered in history for his loyalty and righteousness like Wang Yifang.

"Since then, those who uphold the right path will be offended, and those who associate with evil will be trusted..."

——Law-abiding people are worried every day, while bullies are happy every night.

"… We have executed two criminals, but the public anger has not been appeased. Only when we get rid of the four villains can we dispel the public anger."

——Killing two is not enough to uphold the law of the court, the whole family must be intact, kill them all!
Jiang Wenwei's memorial consisted of more than a thousand words, expressing deep sorrow and indignation, and loudly calling for the four villains to be killed.

However, Jiang Wenwei still violated a little taboo in political struggle. Generally speaking, in party struggles, one should try to narrow the scope of attack and not make too many enemies. Either capture the leader first or make a warning. In short, it is best to defeat them one by one, which will result in relatively less resistance.

However, Jiang Wenwei expanded the scope of the attack to the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" group, claiming that he would kill the "Four Evils" and then liquidate the other gang members one by one.

The "Four Evils" were not united internally. For example, there was a conflict between Wei Cen and Chen Jue. Wei Cen once stabbed Chen Jue in the back in order to fight for power. So Jiang Wenwei could have used Wei Cen's hand to stab Chen Jue, and then turned to Wei Cen. However, Jiang Wenwei's impeachment made the "Four Evils" united again.

What's even more terrible is that Jiang Wenwei even criticized Li Jing, and accused him of being close to treacherous ministers and distant from wise ministers since he ascended the throne, thus pushing Emperor Li Jing to the opposite side.

As expected, Li Jing was furious and demoted Jiang Wenwei to the position of Sishi of Jiangzhou.

Not only did Jiang Wenwei fail to bring down the "Four Evils" at once, but because of his own radical behavior, the death sentences of Chen Jue and Feng Yanlu, who had been sentenced to death, were commuted to exile.

Chen Jue was exiled to Qizhou, and Feng Yanlu was exiled to Shuzhou.

One Jiang Wenwei fell, but millions of Jiang Wenwei stood up. Xu Xuan and Han Xizai submitted a memorial, saying that Song Qiqiu was the core figure of the "Four Evils", and Feng Yansi actually pleaded for the war criminals Chen Jue and Feng Yanlu, which saved the war criminals from death penalty and put us in a passive position in diplomacy. If forging an imperial edict and using troops without permission cannot be severely punished, then how should the civil and military commanders view the court? Your Majesty, please punish severely and thoroughly!
Song Qiuqiu was one step ahead and took the initiative to surrender himself and wrote a letter to apologize, saying that he had recommended Chen Jue to Fuzhou without careful consideration and requested to be punished.

It is obvious that Song Qiuqiu avoided the main issue and replaced the main contradiction of "falsifying the imperial edict and using military force" with the secondary contradiction of improper use of personnel. He avoided talking about the "Battle of Fuzhou" and only admitted that he made a mistake in recommending Chen Jue to go to Fuzhou to lobby Li Renda.

Is it a crime to recommend Chen Jue to lobby Fuzhou? At most, it was a work error, not a crime at all. Song Qiqiu recommended him to lobby, but he did not instruct him to forge an imperial edict to send troops and start a war.

Song Qiqiu is so smart.

Sure enough, Li Jing did not blame Song Qiqiu and simply did not pursue the matter. Feng Yansi of course had to plead for Chen Jue and Feng Yanlu, because Feng Yanlu was his half-brother. Is it illegal for an elder brother to plead for his younger brother? It is human nature.

Therefore, Xu Xuan and Han Xizai's finishing moves also did not hit the mark, but were just scratching the surface.

Feng Yansi was stripped of all his real power (Secretary of the Central Secretariat, Co-Prime Minister), and was changed to "Grand Younger Protector" (unique to the Southern Tang Dynasty, the normal court should be "Grand Protector of the Crown Prince"), and was promoted to Jiedushi of Zhaowu Army half a year later;

Wei Cen was demoted to the position of Prince's Groom, but was soon reinstated.

This was not the result that the "Qingliu Party" wanted. Han Xizai kept submitting memorials, demanding that Song Qiuqiu be severely punished according to law and that the "Four Evils" be sentenced to death.

The matching mechanism of Southern Tang was unfair. No matter how hard the "Qingliu Party" tried, they could only make Song Qiuqiu's followers lose their jobs. Moreover, this punishment was just a formality, and they would be able to return to their jobs later. However, Song Qiuqiu's followers only needed to talk to the "Qingliu Party" to bring disaster to the party.

Facing Han Xizai's relentless pursuit, Song Qiqiu only said one sentence, "He (Han Xizai) is drunk and acting crazy." Subsequently, Han Xizai was demoted from the court and sent to serve as a military officer in Hezhou.

Fan Zhongmin, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Revenue, instigated Wang Jianfeng to submit a petition to impeach Wei Cen. After the defeat in Fuzhou, in order to appease the generals, Li Jing transferred Wang Jianfeng to the imperial guards and let him lead the imperial army. Wang Jianfeng then thought that he had a lot of face in front of Li Jing, and became arrogant and unruly. Fan Zhongmin also thought that Wang Jianfeng's words should be very important, so he instigated him to finish off Wei Cen.

When the memorial was submitted, Li Jing was furious and asked Wang Jianfeng if he was crazy. How could he, with just a little military power in his hands, want to interfere in the government?

Wei Cen remained calm and composed like a mountain in the face of wind and rain, while Wang Jianfeng and Fan Zhongmin were sentenced to death.

At that time, the "Princeling Party", with Song Qiqiu as the core figure and the "Five Demons and Four Evils" as the mainstay, was still active in the political arena of Southern Tang. It was so powerful that it had no rivals. Its main members included Song Qiqiu, Chen Jue, Feng Yansi, Feng Yanlu, Wei Cen, Zha Wenhui, and Li Zhenggu.

The only ones who dared to challenge and contend with it were the "Qingliu Party" with Sun Sheng, Chang Mengxi, Xiao Yan, Han Xizai, Jiang Wenwei, and Li Deming as its backbone.

Li Jing actually hated Song Qiqiu very much, because in the struggle for the throne, Song Qiqiu clearly opposed Li Jing's accession to the throne, and Li Jing also vaguely realized that Song Qiqiu had a strong political influence, and even if he was deprived of all real power, he could still call the shots. Li Jing hated and feared Song Qiqiu.

Although Jiang Wenwei, Han Xizai and others became cannon fodder in the political struggle, their political sacrifice was meaningful. At least it sounded a wake-up call for Li Jing.

Not long after, Song Qiuqiu was once again exiled to Hongzhou.

It should be emphasized that although Song Qiqiu was the revolutionary mentor and godfather of the "Five Demons and Four Evils", Li Jing's attitude towards Song Qiqiu and the "Five Demons and Four Evils" was different. He trusted the "Five Demons and Four Evils" but hated Song Qiqiu. Understanding Li Jing's political situation is the golden key to unlocking this contradiction.

Simply put, Song Qiuqiu had been clearly opposed to Li Jing in his early years and had serious problems with his political stance, so he could never gain Li Jing's trust; while the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" were regarded by Li Jing as his direct confidants, whom he trusted and even relied on from the bottom of his heart.

When it comes to protecting the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils", Li Jing is the undisputed leader.

The emperor's younger brother Li Jingda could not stand the evil deeds of the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" and repeatedly advised and requested that they be executed. However, the more Li Jingda advised, the more Li Jing trusted them, which made Li Jingda very depressed.

Li Jingda did not have this golden key. Others' advice might work, but not his younger brothers Li Jingsui and Li Jingda. Their advice could only have a counter-effect. Because in Li Jing's mind, these two brothers were potential competitors for the throne and political enemies. Only a fool would persuade a political enemy to kill his direct descendants.

Later, someone tactfully awakened Li Jingda. Li Jingda was filled with grief and anger but helpless. Finally, he could only claim to be ill, refuse guests, and no longer participate in any social events in the palace.

"There are always villains who want to harm me." In the treacherous power struggle, dangers are everywhere, and only the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" are the most loyal to me. - Li Jing

(End of this chapter)