History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 894: Later Lord Meng Chang (Part )

II. Internal Affairs
1. The Heroic Ruler of Shu

Meng Chang ascended the throne at the age of 16, and the government was controlled by veteran generals of the previous dynasty. For example, Li Renhan, when Meng Chang first ascended the throne, took the initiative to ask to lead the imperial guards. How did he "propose" it? He first sent his confidant to the Privy Council and verbally stated Li Renhan's intention, and then went to the Hanlin Academy and ordered the Hanlin scholars to draft the appointment letter. Strictly speaking, Li Renhan did not "request" but ordered.

Another example is the veteran general Li Zhao, who refused to kneel down during the pilgrimage...

Meng Chang's response was comparable to that of Emperor Kangxi in later generations. He cleverly solved Li Renhan's request to lead the imperial guards with one move of "receiving, transforming, and launching". He then used the five-whip trick of Lightning to use the opponent's force to defeat the opponent, and took advantage of the contradictions between the veteran generals of the previous dynasty to drive away the wolves and finally cleared the obstacles after ten years. During this period, he also pre-staged the "releasing military power with a cup of wine" for Zhao Kuangyin.

In addition, there were many local rebellions in Shu, but they were all suppressed quickly and did not cause any bigger disturbances.

Meng Chang was very skilled in political tactics. From this aspect alone, he could be called an outstanding ruler.

2. Open up channels for communication

Someone wrote a memorial to Meng Chang criticizing the current political situation. The court officials believed that this was slandering the government and should be severely punished. Meng Chang, however, cited the example of Emperor Taizong of Tang, saying that Emperor Taizong was open to all opinions and would humbly accept any opinions that were beneficial to the country, regardless of the background and qualifications of the person writing the memorial. Why did you advise me not to listen to the bitter and honest advice?
3. Printing the Nine Classics

Prime Minister Wu Zhaoyi proofread the old version of the "Nine Classics", and then ordered Pingquan County Magistrate Zhang Dezhao to carve it on stone and keep it in Chengdu, which became the standard answer for the college entrance examination in Shu.

Later, Wu Zhaoyi spent millions of his own money to donate to support education, and he also engraved and printed the Nine Classics and distributed them throughout the country.

Wu Zhaoyi greatly promoted the cultural development of Shu and made outstanding contributions to the inheritance and development of my country's traditional culture.

4. Economic prosperity

Throughout the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the economy of Hou Shu was always among the best. For example, as mentioned earlier, people in the city over 30 years old have never seen what crops look like.

In August 949, Meng Chang took a dragon boat to travel on Huanhua Creek, watching people playing in the water and observing the living conditions of the people along the river. He found that the houses on both sides of the river were all water-view villas with pavilions and terraces, and the men and women who were shopping were all wearing silk and satin, gold and silver, and embellished with pearls, jade and gems. The fragrance of various exotic flowers and plants spread for more than ten miles, and it looked like a fairyland.

Meng Chang was in high spirits and said, "The Golden Palace in Qujiang has thousands of locked doors, but it is not as good as this."

The Minister of War Wang Yangui immediately composed a poem: "An island is divided by a cross in the water, and towers can be seen beyond the layers of flowers." This was well received and praised by Meng Chang.

The following year, Meng Chang planted a large number of hibiscus flowers on the city wall and ordered people to use curtains to protect the seedlings and take good care of them. When the hibiscus flowers were in full bloom, Meng Chang came to appreciate the flowers. He saw that the flowers were blooming like brocade, so he was very happy and said to his ministers: "Since ancient times, Shu has been called a brocade city. Today, it is really a brocade city!"

3. The King of Lost Nation
As a king of a fallen country, Meng Chang inevitably has some of the temperament of a king of a fallen country.

1. Erhuan Shisanlang
When Meng Chang was young, he loved to race. Once, his horse suddenly lost its temper and almost injured Meng Chang. Empress Dowager Li taught him a lesson, saying, "You are the emperor, why do you enjoy racing? Is this what an emperor should do?"

Meng Chang felt very ashamed after hearing this, so he slightly changed this bad habit.

Becoming emperor at the age of 16, which was during the turbulent adolescence, Meng Chang was very studious in matters of love and romance. He often held auditions among the people and recruited "Miss Sichuan" to enrich his harem.

This time it was Han Baozhen who advised Meng Chang, and Meng Chang was also very ashamed, so he let the girl go home and gave Han Baozhen several kilograms of gold.

However, Meng Chang did not completely correct this. In 942, Hou Shu held a nationwide audition, stipulating that "men must be aged and above and below years old" and that they must first be selected by Meng Chang. Only those who were eliminated could marry freely. As a result, Shu was in turmoil, and flash marriages were held across the country (many people married their daughters immediately, which was called "shock marriage").

Xinjin County Magistrate Chen Jizhi submitted a memorial to advise Meng Chang, who highly praised Chen Jizhi's outspokenness and rewarded him with 100 taels of platinum. However, as for the auditions...don't stop.

In the Tang Dynasty, the harem had four concubines (noble concubine, virtuous concubine, virtuous concubine, and virtuous concubine) and nine concubines below the empress. People often say that there are three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines, which is mostly a folk interpretation. In fact, usually these harems are not fully staffed, and are just fictitious titles. For example, the two emperors of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Guo Wei and Chai Rong, had no more than two hands of concubines. After all, the emperor is to govern the country, and he cannot be treated as a stud.

However, the young and vigorous comrade Meng Chang worked tirelessly to fill up the harem, so much so that he had to increase the ranks and titles. Meng Chang's harem had a total of fourteen ranks: Zhaoyi, Zhaorong, Zhaohua, Baofang, Baoxiang, Baoyi...

3. Advocacy of luxury

When Meng Chang first ascended the throne, he also advocated simplicity, but with the development of the economy of Hou Shu and the consolidation of the throne, he finally let himself go. In fact, lust and extravagance are twin brothers.

To show how extravagant he was, we can give an example. His toilet and urinal were decorated with seven treasures. It is said that after conquering Shu, Zhao Kuangyin saw a urinal decorated with seven treasures among the spoils of war, and he immediately smashed it and said angrily: "Meng Chang, Meng Chang, you are so extravagant and corrupt, it would be strange if you don't perish!"

In his later years, Meng Chang was like many other kings who lost their country. He was extravagant, ambitious and wasteful, which is why a seemingly contradictory record appeared in historical books. While describing how prosperous and wealthy the Jincheng Chengdu was, he also said in the "Battle of Qin and Feng" that the military expenditure of the Later Shu was insufficient, so it had to issue more currency (cast iron coins).

4. Improper use of personnel

A new emperor has his own ministers. The old ministers of the previous dynasty are proud of their achievements, and the new ruler can only rely on the power of his own lineage to secure his throne, such as Liu Chengyou of the Later Han Dynasty who valued his "small uncle's clan", and Meng Chang of the Later Shu.

The person Meng Chang trusted most was Wang Zhaoyuan, who has been described in detail in the previous article. The other person was Yi Shenzheng (also known as Yi Shenzheng).

Yi Shenzheng's father, Yi Yanhuan, was a direct general of Meng Zhixiang. He was brave and good at fighting. He followed Meng Zhixiang into Shu and made many meritorious deeds. After Meng Zhixiang became emperor, he married his daughter Princess Chonghua to him and gave birth to Yi Shenzheng. So Meng Chang was Yi Shenzheng's uncle. Because of this relationship, Yi Shenzheng was promoted rapidly from governor to salt commissioner, and then promoted to the Privy Council step by step, and was given the title of prime minister, and was in collusion with Wang Zhaoyuan.

According to historical records, Yi Shenzheng was greedy and extravagant, cunning and treacherous, and "he and Wang Zhaoyuan were in cahoots, and the state affairs gradually declined as a result."

How should we evaluate Meng Chang? This question should be answered by the people of Shu, and they did give an answer. According to records, when Meng Chang was captured and moved eastward, "the people crowded the roads, and hundreds of people cried bitterly." Tens of thousands of people of Shu spontaneously sent him off for the last time, and hundreds cried until they fainted. Therefore, the history books marveled, "If it weren't for his kindness and benevolence, how could he be so deeply rooted in people's hearts?"
Therefore, the history books gave the final verdict, "He encouraged agriculture and sympathized with the criminals, promoted culture and education, worked hard to govern, and gave the people a rest...but he only used the wrong people..."

(End of this chapter)