History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 831: The Destruction of the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" (Part )

As the negotiating representative of Southern Tang, Chen Jue signed a series of humiliating treaties, including the cession of the entire Jiangbei area. Chen Jue was deeply terrified because Li Deming was the one who advocated the cession of territory and was killed by him for being labeled a "traitor". As fate would have it, he was now the one who signed the traitorous treaty, even more traitorous than Li Deming.

In order to avoid becoming the second Li Deming, Chen Jue came up with a bad idea. He said to Li Jing mysteriously, "The imperial army asked me to bring you a message. Chai Rong said that in addition to the terms that have been signed, he still has something on his mind. He wants to kill the person who proposed to send troops to resist Zhou's army. Chai Rong heard that the person who was in charge was Prime Minister Yan Xu, so... Your Majesty, please put the overall situation first and kill Yan Xu to please Chai Rong."

Yan Xu, whose father is Yan Keqiu, a veteran and meritorious official of the Huainan Group, is a member of the "Pure Stream Party" and has long been against the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts". He was squeezed out of the core power circle and has long been sidelined.

Chen Jue pushed Yan Xu to the forefront. On the one hand, he was avenging his personal grudges and eliminating his political enemies. On the other hand, he was confusing the public and changing the concept. It seemed that Chai Rong's purpose of conquering Huai was to kill Yan Xu, so Yan Xu should bear all the responsibility for the defeat of the Southern Tang Dynasty...

"Oh? Really?" Li Jing continued to practice Tai Chi, "Then please let Comrade Zhong Mo speak."

Zhong Mo was one of the first peace envoys. He visited the Zhou army camp outside Shouzhou with Li Deming. Later, Li Deming and Wang Chongzhi returned to Shengzhou to promote peace talks, while Zhong Mo was detained in the Later Zhou with Sun Sheng. After the war, Zhong Mo returned to Southern Tang.

Zhong Mo and Li Deming were both members of the "Pure Stream Party". Li Deming's death had a great impact on Zhong Mo. If we were both traitors, what about now? Isn't it still necessary to cede the entire Jiangbei area? Wasn't this our original topic? If we had agreed to it at that time, would so many people have died?
So after Zhong Mo came back, he launched a revenge campaign, speaking out for his old comrade and good friend Li Deming, and denounced the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" group for controlling the government and bringing harm to the country and the people.

During the war, Zhong Mo was basically on the side of Later Zhou the whole time, occasionally participating in court meetings and having a drink with Chai Rong. Therefore, Zhong Mo has the most say in the attitude of Later Zhou towards Southern Tang.

Zhong Mo and Chen Jue were at loggerheads, making Chen Jue and others break out in cold sweats.

Li Jing was indifferent, continued to play dumb, and continued to play Tai Chi. "Look, the husband says the husband is right and the wife says the wife is right. What should we do? Oh, by the way, why don't we send someone to the Later Zhou Dynasty to ask Chai Rong?"

Who can say no?

Li Jing sent Comrade Zhong Mo to Later Zhou to inquire about Chai Rong.

Li Jing was a master of tricks and playing dumb. He did not send the "Four Evils and Five Evils" but the "Pure Stream Party" and Zhong Mo, who was diametrically opposed to Chen Jue. His intention was simple: Zhong Mo could even ignore the facts and kill Chen Jue with just one word.

Zhong Mo was relatively honest. He went to Bianzhou very happily and asked Chai Rong in person, "I heard from my master that he heard you heard that he heard Yan Xu say..."

Blah blah, in short, you heard that it was Yan Xu who advocated rising up against Zhou, so you were very angry and insisted that my master kill Yan Xu. Is this true? My master asked me to ask you, and I hope you can give a positive answer.

At the same time, Zhong Mo also presented Li Jing's handwritten apology letter, which said that it was me, not Yan Xu, who had rebelled against the royal army and offended the emperor's majesty. A man should take responsibility for his actions. If you are angry and want to punish someone, please punish me. This matter really has nothing to do with Comrade Yan Xu...

Chai Rong was shocked and refuted the rumor on the spot, saying that if Yan Xu could really advocate resistance against Zhou, then he would be a loyal minister of your master! I am the master of the world, how can I teach people to kill loyal ministers? Don't you know the attitude of my great Zhou towards loyal ministers?

So, Zhong Mo returned to Shengzhou and repeated Chai Rong's words in detail. Taking advantage of the false accusation of Yan Xu, Zhong Mo did not forget to criticize Li Jing, saying that Song Qiqiu and others took advantage of the decline of state affairs to force the emperor to abdicate and preemptively depose the emperor, which was a sinister move!
Li Jing finally put away his playful smile, it was time to close the net.

The five-clawed golden dragon returned to the North Sea, the thousand-year-old turtle returned to the beach, and Song Qiqiu was released back to Jiuhua Mountain in Hongzhou;

Chen Jue was demoted to the position of Imperial College Doctor and settled in Raozhou;

Li Zhenggu was stripped of all his official titles and exiled to Hongzhou.

The three core figures of the "Four Evils and Five Demons" group all got what they deserved. But was Li Jing really so merciful that he would just demote them and send them home to reflect on their mistakes? Of course not, Li Jing would kill them, and each of them died a more miserable death than the other.

Li Zhenggu received an order to be exiled to Hongzhou, and then a secret order to be executed; Chen Jue ran out of Shengzhou with lingering fear, but there were assassins waiting by the roadside, hiding in the bushes, and took him away in one go;
Song Qiqiu had suggested imprisoning the Yang clan members, but the world is full of retribution, and no one can escape from the fate. Li Jing used his own method to punish Song Qiqiu. Song Qiqiu's entire family was imprisoned in their home, all the doors and windows were sealed, and there were heavy guards outside, no one was allowed to enter or leave. A small hole was chiseled in the wall, and scarce food and drink were delivered inside every day.

There are three versions about Song Qiuqiu's death. One is that after Song Qiuqiu arrived at Jiuhua Mountain, he went on a hunger strike for seven days and starved to death; the second is that Song Qiuqiu could not bear the humiliation and hanged himself in the spring of the following year; another record says that because Li Jing maliciously reduced his food intake, his family could not bear the long-term hunger, so they joined forces with his wife to strangle him to death.

According to records, when Song Qiqiu was dying, he sighed: "This is how I harmed Yang Pu's family before. I deserve what I have today!"

Song Qiqiu died at the age of 73, and Li Jing gave him the posthumous title of "Ugly Miao".
Previously, Chang Mengxi of the "Qingliu Party" was defeated in the struggle with the "Four Evils and Five Demons" and was squeezed out of the core power circle. From then on, he was desperate and decadent, drinking all day to relieve his sorrow, and soon died of depression. After Song Qiqiu died, Li Jing sighed to the people around him: "Chang Mengxi's greatest wish in his lifetime was to kill Song Qiqiu's party. It's a pity that he didn't witness the fall of Song Qiqiu's party with his own eyes, alas!" Then, he ordered to posthumously award Chang Mengxi the title of Zuo Pushe to comfort his soul in heaven.

According to some unofficial histories (such as "Jiangnan Unofficial History" and "Jiangbiao Records"), Li Jing often saw the ghosts of Song Qiuqiu, Chen Jue and Li Zhenggu coming to claim his life in his later years. He was so frightened that he left us prematurely at the age of 46.

Putting aside the materialist view of history, even if wronged spirits were seeking revenge, it seemed that it would not be the turn of the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts". Could it be that Li Jing really did something to let them down?

According to these unofficial historical records, the "Fraudulent Accusation of Yan Xu Case" should be more appropriately called the "Fraudulent Accusation of Song Qiqiu Case".

"When Zhong Mo returned from the north, there was a rumor that Emperor Shizong said: '... But if Song Qiqiu is not dead, it is hard to guarantee long-term prosperity.'... Therefore, Jue and others were demoted and killed." - Jiangnan Unofficial History

As mentioned earlier, the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" group was actually a tool used by Li Jing. They were Li Jing's lackeys. The bad things they did were basically hinted or acquiesced by Li Jing. The reason why they were killed was also because of the false accusations of their political enemies Zhong Mo and others... Therefore, it was reasonable for them to turn into evil spirits after their death and come to Li Jing to defend their rights and seek justice.

Another terrifying thing is the way Li Jing executed them.

In the edict demoting Song Qiuqiu, Li Jing said, "There is no greater evil than being without a monarch, and no greater crime than treason." Treason and deceiving the monarch should be subject to death sentence, but Li Jing officially demoted and exiled the three culprits, while secretly plotting behind the scenes, turning a fair and just trial into something vulgar and shameful.

We can't help but wonder, are the three really guilty of crimes that do not warrant death? Perhaps there is something else going on.

It has to be said that Li Jing's handling of the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" group was quite confusing.

Feng Yanji, another core member of the "Four Evils and Five Demons", was also demoted from prime minister to tutor of the crown prince. Feng Yanji was the number one figure of the "war faction" in Southern Tang. He once publicly ridiculed the former emperor Xu Zhigao as a "country bumpkin", denounced Xu Zhigao's recuperation and unity of the neighbors as "dirty", praised Li Jing as a "wise ruler", Yao, and Shun, and actively encouraged Li Jing to expand abroad.

Chang Mengxi of the "Qingliu Party" reminded Li Jing more than once that treacherous words sounded like loyal words, and if Your Majesty could not distinguish them, the country would perish. Li Jing did not listen.

Until the peace agreement was signed, Chang Mengxi teased Feng Yanji with glee: "Didn't you say that our master was Yao and Shun? How come we have to submit to the barbarians?" After saying that, he laughed out loud.

Feng Yanji and others were speechless.

Cha Wenhui had long lost his power, Wei Cen had also died, and Feng Yanlu was captured by the Later Zhou in Yangzhou and had been detained in the Central Plains. At this point, the core members of the "Four Evils and Five Demons" group had fled and died, and they were no longer able to stir up any waves.

However, if the "Four Evils and Five Demons" group is eradicated, will the political outlook of Southern Tang be completely changed?

The answer is obviously no, because the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" are only the manifestation of the deformed political ecology of the Southern Tang Dynasty, not the root cause. The root cause of the dark politics of the Southern Tang Dynasty is Li Jing himself, so eradicating the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" group will not bring about a qualitative change to the Southern Tang Dynasty. This soil will inevitably breed more absurd and bizarre evil fruits, and will eventually backfire on the person at the top of the tower.

(End of this chapter)