History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 921 Chapter 920 Going to the next level (Part )

【Go to the next level】

Without comparison, there is no harm. Liu Hongxi's successor took the blame for him, telling people a simple truth: there is no worst, only worse. Liu's father and son refreshed people's understanding of "debauchery and immorality" and broke through the bottom line of human ethics.

Liu Yan staggered his talent trees, while Liu Hongxi and Liu Xiong maxed out all their skill points.

In August 958, Liu Hongxi died of illness, and his eldest son Liu Jixing, who was only 8 years old, inherited the throne. After ascending the throne, he changed his name to Liu Xiong (pronounced the same as "chang") and changed the era name to "Dabao". Liu Xiong did not get rid of path dependence, and he reached a new height.

1. Inheriting the extravagance of ancestors
It is said that before Liu Xuan ascended the throne, he dreamed of a god showing him the way, saying that there was a Yingxiang Temple to the west of Luofu Mountain, and a natural cave with two overlapping banks to the northwest of the temple, which could be developed into a palace. After Liu Xuan ascended the throne, the first thing he did was to follow the guidance of the god, and he found the place, so he built the "Tianhua Palace" here and named the cave "Jinsha Cave". Not long after, he dreamed of a golden dragon flying out of the cave, so he changed the name to "Huanglong Cave".

There are not many records of the decoration of Tianhua Palace, but we can refer to other real estate projects of Liu Xiong, such as Wanzheng Hall. According to records, one pillar of Wanzheng Hall required 3,000 ingots of platinum, and the palace clothes used for decoration were made of silver and decorated with mica. The daily construction cost was tens of millions.

2. Civil and Military Officials

After Liu Yan ascended the throne, he immediately promoted Zhong Yunzhang to be prime minister.

Zhong Yunzhang was a man of great learning and talent, upright and fearless of power. During the reign of Liu Yan, the imperial examination was opened. Zhong Yunzhang passed the examination and was promoted to the position of Zhongshu Sheren. Liu Hongxi also particularly appreciated his talent. All edicts, imperial decrees, and inscriptions were written by Zhong Yunzhang. He once accompanied Liu Hongxi to visit Luofu Mountain and improvised poems for him. His poems were rich in rhetoric and brilliant in writing, which won Liu Hongxi's praise. He was promoted to the position of Langzhong Zhizhigao in the Ministry of Works. Later, he was ordered to go to Nanchu to seek a marriage alliance between Chu and Han. After being rejected, Liu Hongxi asked him about the recent situation of Nanchu. Zhong Yunzhang asserted that Nanchu was in a state of competition for power and that time was running out. So Liu Hongxi resolutely sent troops and indeed conquered a large country. Liu Hongxi appreciated Zhong Yunzhang even more.

The emperor was close to upright civil officials, which was something the eunuchs and female attendants did not want to see, so they "praised" Zhong Yunzhang to death and told Liu Hongxi that Comrade Zhong Yunzhang was a famous scholar of the time, so he should be arranged to be the crown prince's tutor. As a result, Zhong Yunzhang was arranged by Liu Hongxi to be the teacher of his eldest son Liu Xuan (then called Liu Jixing), which actually squeezed Zhong Yunzhang out of the core power circle and made him stand aside.

However, what the eunuchs did not expect was that Liu Hongxi, who was in his prime, left them too early (at the age of 39), and Liu Cong ascended the throne. Liu Cong also admired his teacher very much, so after ascending the throne, he promoted Zhong Yunzhang to prime minister (959), only 6 years after Zhong Yunzhang was squeezed out of the court.

The 16-year-old child was obviously unable to shake the powerful vested interest groups - the eunuchs and female attendants. All state affairs were in the hands of the eunuchs Gong Chengshu, Chen Yanshou and the female attendants Lu Qiongxian, Huang Qiongzhi and others.

Zhong Yunzhang then advised Liu Cong to punish those who violated the law to rectify the government. However, Liu Cong not only did not listen to his teacher's advice, but also betrayed Zhong Yunzhang to these eunuchs.

In November 959, the eunuch Xu Yanzhen accused Zhong Yunzhang of treason, and then the eunuchs Gong Chengshu and Li Tuo jumped out to testify. Zhong Yunzhang was immediately thrown into prison and handed over to the officials for trial. The eunuchs and the Minister of Rites Xue Yongpi participated in the interrogation. Xue Yongpi had a good personal relationship with Zhong Yunzhang, so he secretly told Zhong Yunzhang that the eunuchs had united to frame him, and it seemed that there was no hope. Sorry, I really can't do anything, so please tell me what you have to say.

Zhong Yunzhang tightly grasped Xue Yongpi's hands and cried, "What a great injustice! I know that I am the fish and the eunuchs are the knives. I can't escape this disaster. It's a pity that my sons Zhong Yong and Zhong Chang are still ignorant and don't know my injustice. Good brother, please wait until they grow up and tell them about my injustice."

Unexpectedly, this sentence reached the ears of the eunuch Xu Yanzhen. Xu Yanzhen smiled coldly and said, "What, you still want your son to avenge him?" Then he went to Liu Xiong to make up rumors, saying that after trial, Zhong Yunzhang's two sons were also accomplices.

Since three eunuchs swore that this happened, the facts were clear, the evidence was conclusive, and the proof was irrefutable. Liu Xiong then executed Zhong Yunzhang together with his two sons.

Three eunuchs, a veteran minister of three dynasties, a famous scholar, a pioneer of Southern Han, an old minister of the emperor's mansion, and the emperor's teacher... The three eunuchs lip-serviced and the father and son died unjustly. It was just over a year since Liu Yan ascended the throne. It was hard to imagine what kind of hell the people of Southern Han would encounter in the next period of time. Under the instigation of the eunuchs, Liu Yan felt that only eunuchs were the cutest, so he issued an unprecedented order:

"If any minister is to be promoted, he must castrate himself and then be employed."

"All officials who have talent and are qualified as Jinshi, or who can talk with monks and Taoists, must first be sent to the silkworm room before they can be promoted; some castrate themselves to seek employment; and some castrate themselves to avoid death."

The first page of the Southern Han Civil Servant Handbook reads, "If you want to be a public servant, you must first castrate yourself."

Liu Hongxi’s attitude was: You are a eunuch, so I trust you.

Liu Xiong’s state of mind is: I trust you, so please become a eunuch.

At first glance, they seem similar, but upon closer inspection, Liu Xiong has completely opened up the pattern.

The mainstream view is that Liu Xun set the fifth or sixth rank in the court as the "eunuch line", and officials above the fifth or sixth rank had to castrate themselves, but officials of the seventh or eighth rank were exempted. Therefore, local county magistrates were not necessarily all eunuchs.

During the reign of Liu Yan, the total number of eunuchs in the country was only about 0; during the reign of Liu Hongxi, he simply added a small "0" at the end, and the number of eunuchs reached about ; and during the reign of Liu Xiong, he added another "" with tears, and the number of eunuchs exceeded .

When the Southern Han Dynasty fell, historical records show that it had 17 households, which means that the ratio of eunuchs in the Southern Han Dynasty was about one eunuch for every eight households. Some people say that eight households are already a lot, and this ratio of eunuchs does not seem high. But you have to know that in that era, the national conscription ratio - even in wartime - was usually one soldier for every five households. If you look at it from this perspective, the number of eunuchs in the Southern Han Dynasty was about one-third of the number of troops!

From then on, the name of "the country of eunuchs" resounded throughout the country and went down in history.

As the eunuchs grew in size and gained more and more power, a new problem began to emerge: the establishment of eunuchs. Liu Xuan was ingenious and solved the problem perfectly with just one word, which was to copy the existing civil and military official titles and add the word "nei" before the names to distinguish them, such as Nei Shumishi, Nei Taiwei, Nei Taishi. As a result, many eunuchs were ranked among the three dukes and three teachers, and the same was true for female attendants.

The eunuchs controlled the government, and Liu Cong was happy with it. From then on, he ignored state affairs and focused on eating, drinking and having fun, leaving the military and political power to the eunuchs and female attendants.

Liu Xiong had a palace maid whom he particularly favored. She was an imported breed (a Persian woman). Liu Xiong "performed sexual activities in the harem every day" with her and gave her a special nickname - Meizhu.

This Persian woman was only 16 years old when she entered the palace. She was "dark-skinned, intelligent, and lustful," and a veteran black car driver, which suited Liu Xiong's taste very well. Liu Xiong carefully selected some "evil young men" and asked them to run naked with the palace maids, chase and play in the palace, while Liu Xiong hugged Meizhu and watched, and even gave this game a name - Da Tu Shuang.

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(End of this chapter)