History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 950: Helpless and Unrestrained (Part )
【Helpless and unrestrained】

If Feng Dao is a living fossil of the Five Dynasties, then the Southern Tang also has a living fossil, he is Han Xizai, one of the backbone forces of the "Qingliu Party" that appeared many times in the previous article.

Han Xizai and Han Yu, a well-known great Tang Dynasty writer and one of the "Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties", are fellow villagers (Changli, Hebei). Many people believe that the two should have a certain blood relationship.

Even if he didn't ride on Han Yu's popularity, Han Xizai was still a real official family: his great-grandfather Han Jun was the Minister of Rites; his grandfather Han Yin was the Imperial Censor; his father Han Guangsi was the Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel and the Deputy Envoy of the Qingzhou Pinglu Army. In short, they were all high-ranking officials.

Han Xizai had good educational resources and was very hardworking. He passed the imperial examination during the reign of Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty. At this time, Han Xizai should have had a bright future. He passed the imperial examination in his 20s and had a father who was a provincial-level official. He was a winner in life. However, the accident came so suddenly that Han Xizai fell from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the valley in an instant.

It was the time when "Emperor Mingzong entered Wei" and people were in confusion and had their own ulterior motives. Among them, Qingzhou Jiedushi Fu Xi was ordered by Li Cunxu to suppress Li Siyuan's rebellion, but Fu Xi contacted Li Siyuan privately. Qingzhou Military Supervisor Yang Xiwang was certain that Fu Xi had defected, so they surrounded Fu Xi's house. Qingzhou Commander Wang Gongyan tricked Yang Xiwang into death, and then Wang Gongyan claimed that the Qingzhou military and civilians elected him as the Jiedushi and refused Fu Xi's return to the town.

After Li Siyuan ascended the throne, he immediately appointed Wang Gongyan as the governor of Dengzhou, and sent his trusted general Huo Yanwei to Qingzhou to take over by force. Wang Gongyan knew that he was no match for Huo Yanwei, so he admitted his weakness and chose to go to Dengzhou to take up his post. How could Huo Yanwei let him go to Dengzhou alive? He chased him all the way and killed Wang Gongyan halfway, and then cut off the roots, captured and killed Wang Gongyan's generals and staff, and wiped out the "Wang Gongyan Group".

At that time, the deputy governor of Qingzhou was Han Xizai's father, Comrade Han Guangsi, who was also executed without a doubt. Upon hearing the news, Han Xizai decisively fled abroad and escaped to Huainan, a hotbed of international anti-Central Plains forces.

Han Xizai crossed the Huai River from Yingzhou, where he secretly visited a close friend, Li Gu (also known as Li Gu). The two old friends drank and sang, and talked about the eternity of life.

After drinking, Han Xizai's face turned red, his neck thick, his eyes filled with tears, and he said seriously: "If Huainan is willing to use me as prime minister, I will march straight in and conquer the Central Plains in the north!"

Li Gu was also drunk, and said with a smile: "If the Central Plains can use me as prime minister, it will be as easy as taking something out of a bag for me to conquer Huainan."

The two old friends looked at each other affectionately, raised their glasses and laughed heartily, then burst into tears while laughing, and finally, the two were reluctant to part and shed tears. Han Xizai successfully smuggled to Huainan.

Later, the life trajectories of the two friends were sad:

Li Gu became prime minister during the Later Zhou Dynasty. He was an important official in the reigns of Guo Wei and Chai Rong. He was as famous as Wang Pu. People said that "Pu can recommend talents, and Gu can know people." He actually participated in the planning and implementation of the "Three Expeditions to Huainan". He himself was the vanguard commander-in-chief during the first expedition to Huainan.

What about Han Xizai? Some people say that his life was a life of giving up and depravity. In fact, this reveals the sadness of that era. Han Xizai's life is a history of the rise and fall of the Southern Tang Empire and an elegy for individualism.

It is said that Han Xizai fled to Huainan and came to Yangzhou, the political and economic center of Huainan. Here, Han Xizai submitted his resume to the Huainan authorities. This is the "Xingzhi Zhuang" included in "Jiang Biao Zhi" and "Quan Tang Wen". The excerpt is as follows:
"It is said that those who fish for giant turtles do not use bait to catch fish, and those who kill whales do not use a knife to kill chickens. Therefore, those who have the talent to govern the country and bring order to chaos can take on the position of a loyal and supportive minister."

——Don’t take on a job that’s too expensive if you don’t have the right tools. For a talent like me, it would be a waste of talent if I weren’t made a prime minister or something.

"…I thought that I was different from other children…"

——I have been a child prodigy since I was young.

Next, Han Xizai turned into a live broadcaster, and blew up the cow X in a fresh and refined yet elegant way. Then, he changed the subject and began to flatter the Huainan authorities:

"I have heard that you have established a great foundation, and have promoted culture and education. You are different from the Central Plains, and you have shown your wisdom to the foreigners..."

Han Xizai gave us an interview template. He first boasted that he was the hope of the whole village and the most handsome guy in the alley. He said, "I am so outstanding and handsome, why do I still come to your company for an interview? Because I can see at a glance that your company is a potential Fortune 500 company and a business miracle that is about to take off. Good birds look for trees."

At the end of the article, Han Xizai added: "In the past, Lou Jing was a commoner, but he made suggestions to Emperor Han. Cao Gui was a resident of the marshes, but he made plans to the Duke of Lu. Without Fan Zeng, the Xiang family did not prosper, but with Lü Wang, the Zhou Dynasty became the hegemon."

——Think about Lou Jing, Cao Gui, and Jiang Ziya (Lü Wang), especially Xiang Yu who did not listen to Fan Zeng’s advice. Do you want to lose me?

This letter of self-recommendation was arrogant and domineering, which attracted a lot of attention but also easily led to criticism, laying the groundwork for his later bumpy career.

At that time, the actual controller of the Huainan power was the powerful official Xu Zhigao. As mentioned in the previous article, Xu Zhigao recruited talents from all over the world, especially paying attention to absorbing frustrated scholars from the Central Plains. For this purpose, he specially set up a special immigration agency on the south bank of the Huai River and opened a green channel for rapid docking. In terms of diploma, Han Xizai was a successful Jinshi, a real academic bully; in terms of political outlook, he was a Class A wanted criminal of the Central Plains Dynasty, and had a grudge against the Central Plains for killing his father. Therefore, Xu Zhigao, who was eager to seek talents, and Han Xizai, who was eager to enter the system, hit it off.

It was understandable that Han Xizai was ostracized by his colleagues when he first entered the Southern Tang system.

First, both Yang's puppet faction and Xu Zhigao's real power faction were vested interest groups in Huainan. After years of running-in, they had reached a tacit understanding and balance in the distribution of interests. However, after Han Xizai and other "Northern factions" were parachuted into the group, the original power system was broken, and the vested interest groups needed to give up some of their interests. Therefore, there were sharp contradictions and conflicts between the two sides on the issue of interest distribution.

Secondly, Han Xizai did not understand the ways of the world, or he had a stubborn, upright, aloof and arrogant personality, which was revealed in his "Behavior Statement".

Han Xizai came from a prominent family, was the son of a high-ranking official, and was also a top student. How could he look down on those "heroes who followed the emperor" around Xu Zhigao who came from humble backgrounds?

Song Qiqiu's father was also a deputy governor, but strictly speaking, the governors were divided into different levels and could not be generalized, such as the mayor of a third- or fourth-tier city and the mayors of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Song Qiqiu's father died early, so he was half an orphan and lived under someone else's roof. More importantly, Han Xizai despised Song Qiqiu's character.

Well, we don’t need to discuss other reasons. Just the fact that he disliked Song Qiuqiu is enough to tell you about Han Xizai’s situation in Southern Tang.

Therefore, history books say that he was "dissolute and unruly when young, and had no sense of propriety", and had a heroic spirit of not bowing to the temptation of money. The price of his youthful arrogance was that almost everyone in the "Northern faction" except him was given important positions.

Han Xizai was exiled and sent to local areas to work in various states, as a secretary of the municipal party committee. It was not until Xu Zhigao officially proclaimed himself emperor and established the Southern Tang that Han Xizai was recalled to the central government. However, he was still in an unimportant and sinecure position - Secretary Lang, similar to the National Library, responsible for the management and proofreading of documents and archives.

Strictly speaking, the post of secretary is not a sinecure, but Han Xizai was so sinecure that there was an additional suffix after "secretary" - the post of the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince's Eastern Palace sounds like a low-value position, but in fact it is a political good guy card, meaning retreating to the second line.

Xu Zhigao once privately hinted to Han Xizai earnestly: "Although you passed the imperial examination at an early age, you have not experienced the world. Your uncle Xu advises you: the water here is too deep and you can't handle it at all. I am not rejecting you, but I want you to gain experience at the grassroots level so that you can better assist my son in the future!"

Obviously, this is Xu Zhigao's heartfelt words. On the surface, Han Xizai was excluded and not valued, but in reality, Xu Zhigao gave Han Xizai a novice protection. As the saying goes, a new emperor has new ministers, and a new generation of patchwork has new gods. Han Xizai is the trump card that Xu Zhigao left for his successor, and the secret weapon to overthrow Song Qiuqiu.

Han Xizai stayed in the Prince's Palace for 7 years, and had a long conversation with the Prince, developing a deep relationship with him. The Prince was impressed by Han Xizai's knowledge and soon became his little fan. The two became a pair of good friends. This laid a good foundation for Han Xizai in the next version update, because the Prince was Li Jing.

After Li Jing ascended the throne, he promoted Han Xizai, a member of the "Eastern Palace direct lineage", as expected, and appointed him as the Yubu Yuanwailang and the History Museum editor. Although he was only a sixth-rank official, he was affiliated with the Shangshu Province and had a promising future. Li Jing put Han Xizai on the fast track of promotion and made gradual progress with special care.

At the same time, Li Jing also granted Han Xizai the scarlet official uniform. Scarlet official uniforms were exclusive to officials of the fifth rank and above. Han Xizai was only a sixth rank official, but he was granted the scarlet uniform as an exception. This shows that Li Jing's care for Han Xizai was undisguised. Li Jing also gave Han Xizai the title of Taichang Doctor, who was responsible for the funeral arrangements of the late emperor and drafted the posthumous title for the late emperor. It can be said that Li Jing recognized Han Xizai as an academic authority on the ritual system of the Southern Tang Empire.

Han Xizai finally had a favorable wind in Li Jing's reign, but he ruined a good hand.

Thanks to my old friend "Yang Kui" for his generous 6 monthly tickets. I would be sorry if I didn't update.

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(End of this chapter)