History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 976 Qian Yuanguan’s Struggle
【Qian Yuanguan’s Struggle】

Historical records say that after Qian Yuanguan succeeded to the throne, Lu Renzhang and Liu Renqi "took charge of state affairs."

The old king passed away, the new king ascended the throne, but the important minister who was entrusted with the care of the young emperor held the power. According to the traditional script, if nothing unexpected happened, something unexpected would definitely happen.

Liu Renqi was also one of the important ministers entrusted with the care of the young emperor. He and Lu Renzhang were the two major protectors of the new regime. However, it is strange that such an important person was rarely mentioned in history books, and only sporadic records of him existed.

It was said that Liu Renqi liked to tell tales and "slander others", which aroused public anger. All the generals went to Qian Yuanguan to defend their rights and unanimously demanded that Qian Yuanguan execute Lu Renzhang and Liu Renqi.

This was a very serious political issue. On the surface, it was a conflict between colleagues and they sought justice from their leaders, but in reality it was a "abdication". It was a direct questioning and blatant provocation of Qian Yuanguan's authority, and an even more naked threat to Qian Yuanguan.

Qian Yuanguan was very angry and immediately asked his nephew Qian Renjun to convey a message to the ministers who were forcing the emperor to abdicate:
"These two have served the king for a long time. I was just about to reward them for their contributions, but you forced me to kill them because of personal grudges. What exactly do you want to do? I am your king now, and you must listen to me. If you don't agree with me, then nominate someone you agree with, and I will immediately give up my position and return to my hometown to retire!"

The officials retreated in fear, "Leader, please don't misunderstand us, we didn't mean that..."

In the character entry of "Qian Yuanguan" on a certain website, this story is included in the anecdotes of Comrade Qian Yuanguan, with the title "Pacifying the Generals and Officials". The general idea is that Qian Yuanguan pacified the officials who collectively petitioned, and from then on the generals and commanders lived in harmony...

It is strongly recommended that friends who edit this entry refer to the entry "Buying the Casket and Returning the Pearl".

This "forced abdication" was not as easy as Baidu said. After scolding all the ministers, Lu Renzhang was sent out as the governor of Quzhou and Liu Renqi was sent out as the governor of Huzhou. Although they saved their lives, they were still losers in the political struggle, and Qian Yuanguan also lost his right-hand man.

In other words, what really appeased the ministers was not Qian Yuanguan's rebuke, but Qian Yuanguan's compromise and concession of cutting off his own arms.

These two were carefully selected by Qian Liu as important ministers to take care of his heir, but they were killed just when they began to shine, and Qian Yuanguan was unable to protect them. His situation was obviously much worse than we imagined - no - it was much worse and more dangerous than what was recorded in history books.

How could Qian Yuanguan just go with the flow in such a dangerous situation? He wanted to be a trend-setter of the times, just like his father. Qian Yuanguan actively planned and created his own era.

In July 936, the veteran general Bao Junfu was awarded the title of Acting Grand Marshal and Co-Prime Minister.

Bao Junfu was born in a humble family, the son of a wealthy family and a noble family of mules and horses (he was poor when he was young). Although he was brave and courageous, he was also kind and honest... I always feel that these two comments in the history books are quite split personality.

Strictly speaking, Bao Junfu was not a real lower-class citizen. His ancestors were also rich. He was a descendant of the Tang Dynasty poet Bao Fang. Bao Fang was appointed as the Minister of Rites by Emperor Dezong of Tang and was granted the title of Duke of Donghai County. After his death, he was posthumously awarded the title of Prince's Guardian. He was included in the "Biographies of Talented Scholars in the Tang Dynasty" and his eight poems were included in the "Complete Tang Poems". However, just like Liu Sheng, the King of Zhongshan, who would later become a mobile vendor weaving mats and selling shoes and was chased away by the city management so that the swallows could not lay eggs, the Bao family had long lost the glory of the Tang Dynasty.

When he was young, Bao Junfu was an Internet celebrity in his hometown, just because there was a big well in the local area, with a diameter of more than ten feet, and Bao Junfu often slept by the well mouth. The onlookers were terrified and said that this kid was either mentally ill or his brain was not working well. He was a talent. Since he dared to play with his life like this, why not do something meaningful? Waiting to die, dying for the country is better! So Bao Junfu finally got on the right track - he joined the army, and the bandit army he joined was the giant bandit Liu Hanhong mentioned in the previous document.

Liu Hanhong was originally a minor official in Yanzhou. He was ordered to fight against the "Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao's bandits". During the march, Liu Hanhong robbed the government army's supplies and defected to Wang Huang's bandits. He then betrayed Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao and led the people to accept the court's amnesty. The biggest crime he committed was that when he was arranged by Prime Minister Wang Duo to guard Jiangling, he fell into his old habits again, looted Jiangling City, and then became a bandit again. Afterwards, he accepted the amnesty again and was appointed as the Inspector of Zhejiang East.

East Zhejiang, and our Qian's Group intersected. However, at that time, Qian Liu was just a henchman under Dong Chang. The most important counterpart of the early days of Dong Chang Group or Qian's Group was Liu Hanhong's "giant bandit ambition". Qian Liu became Dong Chang's confidant and beloved general by beating Liu Hanhong in various ways, and accumulated a high enough reputation within the group.

During the battle, Qian Liu killed Liu Hanhong's brother Liu Hanrong, beheaded his mother and wife, and finally captured Liu Hanhong alive. Before his death, Liu Hanhong made a small request, saying that he had a very auspicious dream - "the one who kills me with gold must be Qian Liu", so he asked Qian Liu to be the executioner.

Dong Chang fulfilled his wish and had Qian Liu kill him with his own hands, and Qian Liu thus achieved the achievement of "annihilating Liu Hanhong's entire clan". Liu Hanhong became Qian Liu's newbie gift pack.

During the period when Qian Liu was beating Liu Hanhong, Bao Junfu led his troops to surrender to Qian Liu, and was reorganized by Qian Liu into "Xiang Mingdu". From then on, he followed Qian Liu in his battles.

Bao Junfu could use a double-edged sword in one hand, carry a strong bow on his back, and hide arrows. He could gallop freely on the battlefield and was invincible (he could enter the battle with two swords on horseback, looking like a flash of lightning). He was a quiet and introverted person in the army. Because he was quiet and serious, he was nicknamed "Bao Nao" (silent and few words, the army called him Bao Nao). In fact, the "Nao" here is not the noisy Nao, but the Nao in "Zhang Fei's big fight at Changbanpo", which means that he is highly skilled in martial arts and brave and fierce.

He was promoted to the commander of the Quzhou support because of his merits, but his superior, Chen Zhang, the governor of Quzhou, suddenly colluded with Huainan to rebel and appointed Bao Junfu to an official position in the name of Huainan Yang Xingmi, but Bao Junfu flatly refused. In life, he is Qian Liu's man, and in death, he is Qian Liu's ghost. Do you think all of Liu Hanhong's subordinates are Liu Hanhong?

After hearing this, Qian Liu was worried that Comrade Bao Junfu would leave us too early, so he wrote him a secret letter, "telling him to surrender, I don't blame you."

Bao Junfu, who "surrendered under orders", showed the secret letter to the traitor Li Yuansi and gained Li Yuansi's trust. The two of them drank and dreamed of the beautiful Huainan dream, and then got drunk - Li Yuansi got drunk. Bao Junfu took the opportunity to escape from Quzhou and return to Qian Liu's arms.

Bao Junfu truly loved Qian Liu, and Qian Liu was deeply moved. He appointed him as the "Governor of Quzhou" and said, "If you can take it, it's yours."

After that, Bao Junfu repeatedly fought against the invading army of Huainan and confronted the Huainan general Zhou Ben. In each battle, Bao Junfu would lead only a few close cavalrymen to cut through the rear row and attack Zhou Ben directly, intending to take the general's head among the millions of soldiers, while Zhou Ben fled in embarrassment.

In October 920, the Later Liang court appointed Qian Yuanguan as Jiedushi of the Qing Navy. Qian Yuanguan appointed Bao Junfu as the deputy Jiedushi of the Qing Navy. From then on, Bao Junfu became Qian Yuanguan's old minister and close confidant.

Among the Liangshan heroes in the Water Margin, there is a "God of Death" named Bao Xu, who was good at using a sword of death and died in Hangzhou during the expedition against Fang La. Some people speculate that Bao Junfu is the prototype of "God of Death" Bao Xu.

Thanks to my old friend “江湖刘白” for the monthly ticket support!

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(End of this chapter)