History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 867 All Good Things Must Come to an End 3
Let’s take a look at the fate of the characters in the second “giving up military power over a cup of wine” incident in 969:

1. Wang Yanchao
It is said that Wang Yanchao's origin is very ancient and refreshing - "Chao Dang" or "Cao Dang". His father Wang Zhongba was originally a general under Huang Chao. He was defeated by Zhang Lin, a fierce general under Gao Pian, on the battlefield in eastern Zhejiang and then surrendered.

Wang Yanchao was only 12 years old when he married the crown prince, Li Jiji, and followed Li Jiji to participate in the war against Shu, destroying the Former Shu in one fell swoop. But just when they were triumphant, the "Xingjiao Gate Incident" occurred, Zhuangzong was assassinated, Mingzong Li Siyuan ascended the throne, and then Li Jiji was forced to commit suicide. As a result, the "prince party" fled and went their separate ways.

There is a small controversy here. The authoritative history books do not systematically sort out "Wang Chongba". There are only scattered records of words and phrases, and there are also small suspected typos. For example, the "Old Five Dynasties History·Biography of Wang Gong" records that "Gong... replaced his uncle Chongba as the governor of Shanzhou". In the previous "Hezhong Heritage Case", after Wang Chongrong died, his brother Wang Chongying's sons Wang Gong and Wang Yao and his adopted son (also his brother Wang Chongjian's son) Wang Ke competed for Hezhong. Later, Wang Gong and Wang Yao colluded with the Guanxi Group, and Wang Ke sought help from Li Keyong, turning the family inheritance dispute into a contest between the Guanxi Group and the Hedong Group. In this record, "Chongba" is obviously a typo for "Chongying".

Gao Pian conquered Wang Zhongba in the first year of Guangming in the Tang Dynasty (880). Gao Pian compressed Huang Chao's forces to the Guangdong, Guangxi and Jiangxi areas in one go, which has been described in detail at the beginning of this book. At that time, Wang Zhongba was already a senior general in the Cao army, a "thief leader". According to the "History of the Song Dynasty", Wang Zhongba died in the third year of Qiande in the Song Dynasty (965), 85 years after he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Even if he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty at the age of 15, he would have been a hundred years old when he died. Moreover, it seems unlikely that a 15-year-old boy could become a "thief leader" in the Cao army who commanded tens of thousands of people.

According to "Zizhi Tongjian" and "New History of the Five Dynasties", Han Lingkun's father, Han Lun, was sentenced to death by Emperor Shizong Chai Rong for breaking the law. Han Lingkun begged Emperor Shizong in tears and finally saved his life. Later, he was pardoned and returned to Luoyang. Then this old comrade Han Lun hung out with several old men all day long, acted arrogantly and bullied people in Luoyang, and was collectively called "Ten Fathers" by the people of Luoyang.

"Afu" at that time meant godfather or old father, which translated to "ten uncles you can't afford to offend". These uncles were Han Lun, the father of Han Lingkun, Chai Shouli, the father of Chai Rong, the father of Prime Minister Wang Pu, the father of General Wang Yan, and the father of General Wang Yanchao, Wang Chongba...

This group of old men are not doing their jobs properly, and they are taking advantage of their power to bully others. That happened during the reign of Chai Rong of the Later Zhou Dynasty, which is more than 880 years ago in 90. In other words, Mr. Wang Zhongba must have been at least years old at that time. At this age, why is he still acting like an old gun?

In short, I personally think that Wang Yanchao's father Wang Chongba should be the same name as the surrendered general Wang Chongba of Cao army, but they are not the same person.

Wang Yanchao experienced great ups and downs in life at a young age. He almost became a direct descendant of a noble family from the crown prince. After Li Jiji committed suicide, Wang Yanchao hid in Chongyun Mountain in Fengxiang and retreated to a temple to avoid the limelight.

The senior monk in the temple looked at him for a long time, and then said that he looked rich and powerful, how could he stay here for long? Then he gave him some money for the journey and sent him to seek wealth and power. Maybe the old monk was really good at fortune-telling, or maybe he didn't want to cause trouble, after all, this was a wanted criminal involved in political struggles.

Wang Yanchao fled from Fengxiang to Shanzhou, where Shi Jingtang was stationed at the time, so Wang Yanchao became Shi Jingtang's subordinate. When Shi Jingtang, Zhao Dejun and Zhao Yanshou competed to sell their country and seek help from Khitan, Wang Yanchao was responsible for escorting Sang Weihan to the Khitan. Sang Weihan was the first to make the first contribution, but Wang Yanchao also made an indispensable contribution. Therefore, in the Later Jin Dynasty, Wang Yanchao was promoted to a senior general of the imperial guards - the commander of the palace guards and the governor of Mengzhou.

During the Later Han Dynasty, Wang Yanchao followed Guo Wei to attack Li Shouzhen in Hezhong and became Guo Wei's confidant. He "followed Zhou Zu to enter Bian" and became a founding hero of the two dynasties. After Guo Wei tricked and killed Liu Yun of Xuzhou, he appointed Wang Yanchao to sit in Xuzhou.

After Chai Rong ascended the throne, he was promoted to Tongpingzhangshi. He first made merit in the "Battle of Gaoping", and then dredged the Hulu River and built the city of Liyankou. He participated in the "Water Great Wall" project and the "Three Expeditions to Huainan". He made merit wherever he went. He was promoted to Jingzhao Prefecture Governor and Chang'an Yongxing Army Jiedushi for his merits. Before Chai Rong's death, he was transferred to Fengxiang. After Chai Zongxun ascended the throne, he was promoted to Jianxiu Taishi and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Western Army Group (Deputy Commander of the Western Border).

In the early Song Dynasty, he was also the Minister of the Central Secretariat.

Wang Yanchao and Zhao Kuangyin were also close friends and old acquaintances. After Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, he had a banquet with his ministers one day. During the banquet, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly said to Wang Yanchao in a drunken state: "When you were a high official in Fuzhou, I was nothing. I went to you for help, but you rejected me. Now tell me, why?"

Wang Yanchao served as the Defense Commissioner of Fuzhou during the Later Jin Dynasty. At that time, Zhao Kuangyin was indeed just an unknown and insignificant figure.

Hearing this, Wang Yanchao was so scared that he quickly left the table, went down the steps and kowtowed, with his emotional intelligence bursting out: "How can a spoonful of water stop a dragon? The reason why Your Majesty did not stay in this small county that day was probably because of God." Then, "the emperor laughed loudly."

The next day, Wang Yanchao still wanted to submit a petition to wait for punishment. Zhao Kuangyin sent an envoy to appease him, saying that it was just a joke at the wine table and not to be taken seriously. He also said to the attendants around him with guilt, "I said something wrong after drinking last night, and I regretted it all night after I sobered up!" After that, Wang Yanchao was still appointed as the governor of Yongxing Army, and later he was transferred to Fengxiang.

In the second year of Kaibao (969), in the 2.0 version of "Releasing Military Power with a Cup of Wine", Wang Yanchao was very sensible of the current situation and took the lead in expressing his intention to retreat to the second line. He was then granted the title of "General of the Right Jinwu Guard, in charge of street security affairs", which can be understood as the captain of the urban management team.

Afterwards, he was granted the title of Duke of Bing.

Through a simple review of Wang Yanchao's life trajectory, it is not difficult to see that he has a very high emotional intelligence. Li Jiji, Shi Jingtang, Guo Wei, Zhao Kuangyin, during the changing times of the Five Dynasties, he was always able to win the favor of big figures and become a founding hero, especially his on-the-spot performance of "how can a spoonful of water stop a dragon", which is simply the ceiling of workplace emotional intelligence.

Eight years after witnessing Zhao Kuangyin "releasing military power over a cup of wine", when Zhao Kuangyin made another hint at the dinner table, the highly emotionally intelligent Wang Yanchao immediately understood what he meant and was the first to say that he had long wanted to retreat to the second line and enjoy his life, which won him high praise from Zhao Kuangyin.

By the seventh year of Taipingxingguo (982), Wang Yanchao was already 69 years old. A wise man knows when to stop. Wang Yanchao certainly knows when to advance and when to retreat, or more precisely, when to retreat. He publicly announced that retiring at the age of 70 was a common sense in ancient times, and that he himself would soon be 70, so he would be no exception.

The following year, Wang Yanchao, 70 years old, formally submitted a petition to retire, even giving up his post as the "General of the Imperial Guards". The court highly praised Wang Yanchao's noble character and valuable spirit, approved his retirement application, and added the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, and paid him an extra pension as a token of preferential treatment.

After retirement, Wang Yanchao became more low-key and cautious. Instead of enjoying a life of debauchery, he dismissed all his servants and singers, and lived a simple life in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation. He advocated simplicity and was approachable, just like his neighbor Uncle Wang.

In the third year of Yongxi (986), Wang Yanchao died of illness at the age of 73. He was posthumously awarded the title of Shangshu Ling.

As the most obedient baby in the 2.0 version of "releasing military power with a cup of wine", Wang Yanchao had a good end, but his descendants were far inferior to those in version 1.0.

The History of Song Dynasty shamelessly gave an explanation for this, saying that before Wang Yanchao retired, he had repeatedly warned his sons that he had been a soldier all his life and had killed too many people. He was lucky to die naturally, and he should not expect any good deeds to bless his descendants. He said that they must do more good deeds to settle down! As a result, none of his descendants were prominent.

Wang Yanchao had a luxurious villa in the capital, which was equipped with gardens and ponds. It was sold by his descendants ten years after his death.

Later, Wang Kexong, a grandson of Wang Yanchao, passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the first year of Xianping (998), but his official position was only at the prefecture and county level.

The decline of Wang Yanchao's family was actually attributed to killing too many people... Wang Yanchao was a professional soldier. As long as he was not charged with anti-human and anti-social war crimes such as killing prisoners and massacring civilians, would it be a fault if he killed the enemy on the battlefield in a reasonable manner?
The sophistry of "History of Song Dynasty" is really shameless, just to prove that our founding emperor is not a person who will destroy the bridge after crossing the river...

(End of this chapter)