History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 982 Four Heavenly Kings
【“Four Heavenly Kings”】

After eliminating Dai Yun and Qian Hongyou's party, Qian Hongzuo succeeded to the throne and issued amnesty and rewards as usual. However, the army almost mutinied, and some people took the lead in threatening that the rewards were not equal and "would not accept them." Qian Hongzuo faced the second test: the army was dissatisfied.

The one who helped him solve this problem was the "regent" - Prime Minister Cao Zhongda. Cao Zhongda persuaded the soldiers with reason and moved them with emotion, and finally suppressed the matter.

In July 942, Zhang De'an and Li Wenqing were appointed as the left and right supervisors of the inner court. Some sources record them as "Shang Dujian", but in fact, "Zuo" was changed to "Shang" because "Zuo" was used to avoid the taboo of Qian Hongzuo. In October, Kan Fan and Hu Jinsi were appointed as the left and right generals of the inner court. These were the "Four Heavenly Kings" who held real power in the Wuyue Kingdom.

In July 943, Zhang De'an and Li Wenqing were both demoted and exiled.

Zhang De'an, the regent, acted decisively and immediately eliminated the faction of Dai Yun and Qian Hongyou, paving the way for Qian Hongzuo. However, within less than two years, his power was divided and he was demoted and sent out. Historical records say that it was because Qian Hongzuo was young that the generals did not obey him and he was arrogant and difficult to control; some say that Zhang De'an was proud of his achievements and angered the public; some say that it was Kan Fan who excluded dissidents...

In short, for Qian Hongzuo, a 943-2 year old junior high school student, this question was indeed a bit beyond the scope. Who could Qian Hongzuo rely on? The intangible cultural heritage of the previous dynasty - Prime Minister Cao Zhongda, Pi Guangye, and Lin Ding? Coincidentally, Pi Guangye died of illness in February 943, Cao Zhongda died of illness in November 11, and Lin Ding died of illness in the first month of 944. Within a year, all of them were reimbursed.

With the death of a handful of senior officials, it is conceivable that Wuyue will fall into greater disputes, and Qian Hongzuo will certainly not be able to properly resolve them. So, there will be another good show at the center of power.

In November 945, Du Zhaoda, the Chief Supervisor of the Imperial Household, and Kan Fan, the Left Commander of the Imperial Household, were executed, Sun Ben (Qian Hongyou) was given the death penalty, and the Commander-in-Chief Qian Renjun was demoted.

Pay attention to Du Zhaoda's official position, which obviously replaced Zhang Dean, while Kan Fan was the first person to exclude Zhang Dean, and Qian Hongyou was the first person sacrificed by Zhang Dean. Everything seems to be inextricably linked to Zhang Dean. Is Zhang Dean making a comeback?

No, the waters of Wu Yue Kingdom are very deep. This is the 2.0 expansion pack of Game of Thrones during Qian Hongzuo's period - "The Red-topped Merchant".

The reason why Du Zhaoda rose to prominence was because he was a "royal relative". His aunt was Qian Yuanguan's wife, and his other aunt married Qian Yuanqu (with a "king" character next to her), Qian Renjun's biological mother. In other words, the two sisters of the Du family married the brothers Qian Yuanguan and Qian Yuanqu respectively. Why was the Du family able to get close to the Qian family? Because Du Zhaoda's grandfather was Du Jianhui, and his great-grandfather was Du Ling, a veteran of the Qian family group. This is the origin of Du Zhaoda's life experience.

Du Zhaoda and Kan Fan were both greedy for money. Cheng Zhaoyue, the richest man in Hangzhou, bribed them heavily. The officials and businessmen colluded to get what they wanted. Soon, with the blessing of money, Cheng Zhaoyue had approached Qian Hongzuo. This made Kan Fan realize that raising a tiger would cause trouble, so he deliberately weakened Cheng Zhaoyue.

Cheng Zhaoyue has the flexibility of a businessman, in other words, he is shameless and rude. On the one hand, he visited Kan Fan and kowtowed to him in person to apologize and ask for forgiveness; on the other hand, he used his connections to find a way to get rid of Kan Fan.

Kan Fan was the left commander of the inner court at that time, and the right commander of the inner court was named Hu Jinsi. Cheng Zhaoyue used Hu Jinsi as a breakthrough point.

Cheng Zhaoyue secretly found Hu Jinsi and said that he could demote him in public but promote him in private, transferring him from the central imperial army to the local area and making him a powerful local governor. Hu Jinsi readily agreed.

Therefore, under Cheng Zhaoyue's arrangement, Kan Fan and Hu Jinsi were appointed as the governors of Mingzhou and Huzhou respectively. Kan Fan was shocked and hurried to find Hu Jinsi, "This is terrible. They sent us out. They are trying to kill us! Who is behind this?"

Unexpectedly, Hu Jinsi was still immersed in joy, and said to Kan Fan with a smile: "It's a good thing for an old soldier to get a big state, and smoke is coming out of the ancestral graves! This is the good deeds of our ancestors, so you can just be happy secretly."

Kan Fan was so angry that his nose almost got crooked. "I sold you, and you're still helping others count the money, you pig!"

Before the two men set off, their superiors retained Hu Jinsi on the grounds of work handover and continued him as the commander-in-chief. At the same time, the newspaper headline was: "Qian Renjun plotting rebellion."

Qian Renjun is Qian Hongzuo's cousin, and his father is Qian Yuanqu (with a "王" character on the side), the eighth son of Qian Liu. When Qian Yuanguan first ascended the throne, the generals forced the emperor to abdicate, demanding the execution of Lu Renzhang and Liu Renqi, the important ministers entrusted to him by the emperor. Qian Yuanguan ordered Qian Renjun to announce the decree, and Qian Renjun successfully persuaded the generals to retreat. In the "Qian Yuan Rebellion Case", when Qian Yuanguan wanted to wipe out the counter-revolutionary group, it was Qian Renjun who dissuaded him, and finally made Qian Yuanguan pay tribute to Cao Cao and burn all the letters he had seized.

In terms of bloodline, Qian Renjun is also a descendant of Qian Liu and theoretically has the right of inheritance; in terms of age, he is older than Qian Hongzuo; in terms of seniority, he made his mark twice during the reign of Qian Yuanguan and enjoyed a certain reputation among the civil and military officials; in terms of power, Qian Renjun was the commander-in-chief of the internal and external cavalry and infantry and had certain military power; in terms of connections, his biological mother was the aunt of Du Zhaoda, the chief eunuch of the inner court... Even if such a person does not rebel, he needs to be plotted against.

Therefore, Cheng Zhaoyue used Qian Renjun as the starting point and family ties as the bond to falsely accuse Du Zhaoda and Kan Fan of plotting to establish Qian Renjun.

The Nei Ya Du Jian and Nei Ya Commander colluded with the Inner and Outer Cavalry Commander… It was equivalent to the Imperial Guard Cavalry Commander and the Palace Guard Commander jointly recommending the Palace Guard Commander. Isn’t this the Zhejiang version of the Chenqiao Mutiny? Moreover, the Chenqiao Mutiny was a usurpation of power by a general of a different surname. If Zhao Kuangyin was Chai Rong’s son or nephew, wouldn’t it be smoother?
So there was the verdict mentioned above. The case of "plotting to establish Qian Renjun" was nipped in the bud, Du Zhaoda and Kan Fan were killed, Qian Renjun was placed under house arrest, and even Qian Hongyou, who was involved in the case of "plotting to establish Qian Hongyou", was sentenced to death to prevent future troubles.

Qian Renjun was convicted and placed under house arrest, but Cheng Zhaoyue was still not satisfied, so he secretly arrested Qian Renjun's aide Shen Wenqi and used both soft and hard tactics to force him to testify against Qian Renjun for treason. Cheng Zhaoyue tortured Shen Wenqi severely, using all the tortures he could think of, but Shen Wenqi refused to give in and insisted that Qian Renjun was innocent.

After removing Du Zhaoda and Kan Fan, Cheng Zhaoyue, as expected, expanded the struggle and launched a purge without restraint. Anyone he disliked was falsely accused of being "Qian Renjun's followers" and was either killed or exiled. A total of more than a hundred people were implicated, making everyone feel insecure. Civil and military officials did not dare to look Cheng Zhaoyue in the eye, for fear of bringing about their own death.

Only the silly Hu Jinsi, who was "serious and taciturn, was spared because Zhaoyue thought he was stupid." Hu Jinsi was silly, and Cheng Zhaoyue thought that this silly man would not pose a threat to her, so she let him go. Now looking back, is Hu Jinsi really stupid? He is really smart!
The Wu Yue Kingdom was a deep-rooted country. Like Du Zhaoda who was just killed, there were many third and fourth generation revolutionary people with good family backgrounds. Their grandfathers had followed Qian Liu to conquer the world, and through means such as marriage, they were deeply bound to the core power circle of the group, and their relationship with the Qian family was intricate and complicated.

Cheng Zhaoyue is a typical political upstart, but he launched a bloody purge against the deeply rooted interest groups. A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger, not because it is not afraid of a tiger, but because it does not know what a tiger is. If nothing unexpected happens, he will soon have an accident.

Less than a year later, in October 946, an accident occurred.

(End of this chapter)