History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 916: Society, You Brother

【Defeat also Xiao Yi】

Liu Yan had 19 sons, of whom the eldest and second sons died young. According to the traditional principle of primogeniture, Liu Yan's throne should be inherited by his third son, Liu Hongdu. However, Liu Yan was not satisfied with him. When he was ill, he discussed with the prime minister Wang Hui (pronounced the same as "Lin", some historical materials write "Fan") and planned to appoint the virtuous instead of the eldest, and abolish the eldest and appoint the youngest, and designated the fifth son Liu Hongchang as the heir.

Wang Xu agreed and advocated first sending the third son Liu Hongdu as the governor of Yongzhou and the fourth son Liu Hongxi as the governor of Rongzhou, exiling these two from the central government, and then announcing the fifth son Liu Hongchang as the crown prince to avoid complications.

Just as Liu Yan was about to follow the plan, Chongwen envoy Xiao Yi came to the palace to pay his respects. Xiao Yi expressed his firm opposition to the so-called appointment of the virtuous instead of the eldest, saying that deposing the eldest and enthroning the youngest was the beginning of chaos.

Before the Battle of Bach Dang River, Liu Yan did not follow Xiao Yi's advice, and ended up in a disastrous defeat, with one of his sons dead. Now, Liu Yan attached great importance to Xiao Yi's advice, and after much thought, he finally followed Xiao Yi's advice and passed the throne to his third son Liu Hongdu.

In March 942 AD, Liu Yan died of illness at the age of 3, leaving the Lingnan people too late.

Liu Yan's tomb is located in Daxiangshan, 20 miles east of Guangzhou City. It is named "Kangling". I hope he lies here in good health. It is located in Kangling Road, University Town, Panyu District, Guangzhou City today.

This "Kangling" is worth a few words because it is the only imperial tomb with cemetery regulations discovered in China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It is well preserved and has important archaeological significance. It was selected as one of the "Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2004".

Liu Yan advocated luxury, and the gold, silver and jewelry used as burial objects were countless, but why was his tomb preserved? This is because Liu Yan knew that he would definitely be remembered by Hu Bayi, Wang Pangzi and others after his death, so he reinforced the mausoleum, using iron juice instead of the commonly used glutinous rice juice, white lime and loess. The whole tomb can be said to be a big iron lump. Let alone Luoyang shovels and detonators, unless tactical nuclear weapons are used, tomb robbers can only sigh in despair, and they really can't dig! It is said that it is precisely because it is a big iron lump that it was struck by lightning in recent years and was able to see the light of day again. It was discovered and protected in time by our country's archaeological staff.

After Liu Yan's death, his third son Liu Hongdu succeeded him and announced the change of the reign title to "Guangtian" and changed his name to "Liu Yin". However, Liu Hongdu was assassinated after only one year in office.

【Social Youdu Brother】

After Liu Yan became emperor, he gave his sons titles of kings. Liu Hongdu was first named Bin Wang and later Qin Wang. In 934, Liu Yan's empress Ma (daughter of Ma Yin) died of illness, and his favorite Zhaoyi Zhao became his special favorite. This Zhao was Liu Hongdu's biological mother. As the son is honored by the mother, Liu Yan asked Liu Hongdu to "judge the six armies and various guards" and recruit a guard of people.

Unexpectedly, Liu Hongdu recruited only hooligans and street rogues, and Liu Hongdu got along well with this kind of people. The guards of the Central Imperial Army were actually gangsters involved in gangs. Liu Hongdu acted like a big brother leading the society, walking around the streets with this gang of hooligans all day, asking people whether their melons were ripe or not.

Prime Minister Yang Dongqian could not stand it any longer and tried to persuade Liu Yan, but Liu Yan refused to listen. Yang Dongqian was so angry that he resigned directly due to illness. Liu Yan was also angry and refused to summon him. Not long after, Prime Minister Yang Dongqian died of illness at home, and was so angry that he died.

However, Liu Hongdu not only did not restrain himself, but became more and more presumptuous, to the point that even Liu Yan could not stand it anymore. He realized that Liu Hongdu was arrogant and willful and did not seem like someone who could inherit the family business, so he discussed with Prime Minister Wang Hui the matter of deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest.

【Disco on the grave】

Under the doting of his father the Emperor, Liu Hongdu's bad habits became more and more serious, and his political wisdom became closer to zero.

Compared with other regimes of the same period, usually, after a young ruler ascends the throne, he will continue to use the reign title of the previous emperor, firstly to show that his legal lineage is pure, and secondly to show respect for the previous emperor. For example, Liu Chengjun of the Northern Han Dynasty changed the reign title three years after he ascended the throne. However, Liu Hongdu announced the change of the reign title as soon as he ascended the throne.

His father Liu Yan had just died, and the funeral had not yet taken place. Liu Hongdu could not stand the loneliness of the vigil, so he called in actors and musicians, and the mourning hall became a disco. A song of black people carrying coffins was played, and everyone got excited! This was a great filial piety. It was similar to Yang Wei in Huainan, and of course the two had very similar endings.

Although Liu Yan advocated luxury and loved torture, he was not too lustful. After all, no matter how broad the interests and hobbies are, there are certain limitations. However, Liu Hongdu helped him to complete this lesson. Liu Hongdu especially liked group sports and often held nude parties in the palace. Handsome men and beautiful women were naked, chasing and playing in the palace, which was disgusting.

Sometimes, Liu Hongdu would go on private visits in disguise to understand the people's sentiments, but the locations were hair salons, bath centers, nightclubs and other places of entertainment, where he would critically experience the folk culture of vulgarity.

Liu Hongdu worked day and night in his fight against the three vulgarities, forgetting to eat and sleep. He was so busy that he didn't even have time to change into mourning clothes, and he "went out at night with prostitutes, going in and out of people's homes."

【Rebellion of the Eight Kings of Zhongtian】

Liu Hongdu had a wide range of interests and hobbies, but he disliked governing state affairs. After ascending the throne, he handed over all state affairs to his half-brother Liu Hongxi, and concentrated on his private visits.

Whether advocating luxury or opposing vulgarity, a lot of money is needed. Although the Southern Han Dynasty seemed glorious and economically prosperous on the surface, the lives of the lower-class people were actually quite difficult.

Since the end of Liu Yan's reign, numerous bandits have emerged in the territory of Southern Han, but most of them fought on their own and did not make any noise beyond the prefectures and counties. After Liu Hongdu ascended the throne, the situation finally changed, and a man named Zhang Yuxian appeared in Boluo County, Xunzhou.

At that time, there were many rebel forces in Xunzhou, lacking a unified organization and leadership. Suddenly one day, a god descended to the earth. It was said that he was in a household in Boluo County. This god was like a transparent person. People could not see him, but they could talk to him. When the news came, the people nearby rushed to this household to make a pilgrimage and ask for divination. It was said that the god's predictions were particularly accurate, so people believed in him even more.

This is of course a deceptive trick that confuses the public and is deliberately mysterious. The police station and the urban management brigade should jointly enforce the law and ban it according to the law. However, the law enforcement officer (county official) Zhang Yuxian not only did not ban it, but served the immortal respectfully, and finally moved the immortal.

The local bandits also came to ask the gods for advice, and the gods told them, "Zhang Yuxian is your boss!"

As a result, Zhang Yuxian transformed himself into the gangster boss of Xunzhou, and consolidated the originally loose bandit forces. Everyone recommended Zhang Yuxian as the "King of the Eight Kingdoms of Zhongtian" (don't think of it as "Eight Kingdoms of Zhongtian" like I did at first glance), and changed the reign to "Yongle". Zhang Yuxian rewarded hundreds of officials, appointed civil and military officials, and all the soldiers wore red clothes, so they were called "Chijunzi".

The local prefectures and counties were unable to suppress the rebellion, so they appealed to the imperial court for help.

The court appointed the emperor's younger brother Liu Hongchang as the commander and Liu Honggao as the deputy. The two princes led the army to fight against the bandits, but they lost the first battle and were surrounded by the bandits. Fortunately, the generals Wan Jingxin and Chen Daoxiang risked their lives to break through and rescued the two princes. Zhang Yuxian's bandit army became more powerful, sweeping across the eastern prefectures and counties, capturing Xunzhou, and killing the governor Liu Chuan.

Emergency documents from all over the country flew into the court like snowflakes, but Liu Hongdu didn't care. The emperor was not anxious, but the eunuchs were, and the ministers were remonstrating. In the face of the ministers' advice, Liu Hongdu treated them all equally: kill them.

If they can't kill Zhang Yuxian, can they kill you for being too talkative? "If you disobey my will, you will be killed", so no one dared to speak anymore.

Under the calm, there were storms brewing. Someone was planning a rebellion.

Thanks to my new friends "Sakura&绘梨衣の" and "大地龙腾" for their monthly ticket support! The last chapter was banned for 5 times in a row. After a lot of deletions, it finally met with everyone. It was deleted from the original 3 words to less than words. It is really not easy to write a historical article. I am sorry to have kept everyone waiting for so long.

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(End of this chapter)