History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 984: Meteor in the Sky Qian Hongzuo

【Meteor in the sky Qian Hongzuo】

After winning the war against Tang and aiding Fujian, Qian Hongzuo sent his confidant, Bao Xiurang, to lead the army into Fuzhou as the Southeast Recruiting Envoy, claiming to help Li Renda defend the city, but in fact he was taking control of Fuzhou. Bao Xiurang's father was Qian Yuanguan's confidant, Bao Junfu.

Li Renda felt the danger, but he still wanted to save Qian Hongzuo, so he sent his brother Li Rentong to Hangzhou to pay a visit and express his willingness to meet Qian Hongzuo in Hangzhou to test Qian Hongzuo's attitude.

Qian Hongzuo agreed very readily. Li Renda was pushed to the edge of the cliff. Should he go to Hangzhou to gamble or declare rebellion?

First of all, it couldn't be the latter, because Bao Xiurang had already taken control of Fuzhou, and his butcher's knife had already been sharpened and sharpened, and all he needed was an excuse to kill him. Refusing to come to the court or declaring rebellion would be like walking into a trap; the former might still save his life, but he would most likely be detained...

Just when Li Renda was in a dilemma, a great piece of news came to Fuzhou: Comrade Qian Hongzuo left us prematurely.

In June 947, Qian Hongzuo died without any warning at the age of 6.

The 20-year-old young man had just won a foreign war, defeating his old rival, the Southern Tang—and the Southern Tang at its peak, achieving an achievement that even Qian Yuanguan had not achieved—expanding territory, and internally overthrowing the Cheng Zhaoyue counter-revolutionary group...

Just last month, the soldiers from the front line in Fuzhou returned triumphantly. The high-spirited Qian Hongzuo personally presented them with rewards. The soldiers cheered and Qian Hongzuo was full of confidence, looking forward to his dream of building a great country.

There was no "unwell", no "great shame", no "unhealthy", no sign of anything, only a very abrupt sentence "On June, Yimao, the king died in the west hall of Xianning Courtyard."

Could it be that Comrade Qian Hongzuo worked very hard to govern the country, was a workaholic working 996 hours a day, and died suddenly from overwork? Haha.

If you turn two pages of the history book, you will understand - all the mysteries can be attributed to the "post-Qian Yuanguan era". In fact, from the end of Qian Liu's reign until the Wuyue Kingdom finally returned to the Song Dynasty, internal disputes have never ceased. Some things can be said, some things can be hinted at, and some things must be completely sealed, such as Qian Yuanguan's "disappearing ten years."

History's evaluation of Qian Hongzuo is almost unanimous five-star praise, and deep regrets are expressed for his untimely death.

Among the many compliments for Qian Hongzuo, one is particularly worth pondering: "He uncovered the treacherous and hidden, and no one dared to deceive him." This kind of comment is also often seen in the final judgment of an emperor, which means that the monarch is very observant and can always nip all kinds of conspiracies in the bud. However, when this cliché is applied to the monarch of Wuyue in the "post-Qian Yuanguan era", it seems to have a different taste.

During Qian Hongzuo's reign, Qian Chengde's house caught fire due to military registration, and the fire spread to the inner city. Qian Hongzuo personally climbed up to the high building to command the guards of the imperial army to participate in the firefighting. Unexpectedly, some guards took advantage of the fire to rob Qian Chengde's property. Qian Hongzuo decisively ordered them to be beheaded. Only then did everyone put their hearts into the firefighting, and from then on, they looked at this teenage boy differently. Later, in the Battle of Fuzhou, although Qian Hongzuo failed to personally lead the expedition, he took the lead in supervising the logistics work in the rear and ensured the supply of the front line. Qian Hongzuo recruited a large number of grain transporters from the army and the people, but when the agreed gathering time came, no one came to report. This was embarrassing. Qian Hongzuo was angry and sent out a picket team (Dajiu), and ordered: Those who came to report voluntarily, the reward would remain the same; those who were caught by the picket team would be rewarded by half. I believe there should be a second half of the sentence, "Those who fail to correct will be killed." With the fire in Qian Chengde's house, people have had enough understanding of Qian Hongzuo's courage. Sure enough, at dawn the next day, everyone rushed to report. It was because of the outstanding performance of this transport team that sufficient material support was provided for the great victory of the Fuzhou Campaign.

Someone presented a gift of good crops, indicating that under Qian Hongzuo's great, glorious and correct leadership, the weather had been good and the harvests were plentiful. Qian Hongzuo was naturally very happy, and asked the warehouse manager, "How much do we have in the treasury?" The answer was: Ten years of reserves. Qian Hongzuo was very happy and said, "The army has enough food, so we can relieve our people." He then ordered the people across the country to be exempted from taxes for three years.

Qian Hongzuo is most praised for the Battle of Fuzhou. Knowing the principle of "lips and teeth are cold", he resolutely sent troops to Fuzhou despite pressure from all sides, expanded the territory for the Wuyue Kingdom, and captured Fuzhou.

During the Battle of Fuzhou, the economy of Wuyue State was in a certain predicament, or rather, the previous predicament was made more prominent by the sudden war. Qian Hongzuo wanted to alleviate the economic problems through traditional skills - casting iron coins.

His younger brother Qian Hongyi wrote a petition to oppose it, pointing out that cast iron coins had eight disadvantages: 1. After the new coins were issued, the old coins would flow out of the country; 2. The new coins could only be used domestically and could not be used internationally, which was not conducive to the development of commerce; 3. Once the copper ban was implemented, counterfeiting among the people would inevitably be rampant and difficult to stop; 4. Not long ago, the Min Kingdom was destroyed because of cast iron coins, and the bloody lesson was right in front of us; 5. It would shake people's confidence in the country's economic strength; 6. The officials, the military and the people would develop the bad habit of making excessive demands if the officials and the people were given salary increases without reason; 7. The benefits of cast iron coins might not be immediate, but the disadvantages would ensue; 8. "Qian" was the surname of the country, and it was unlucky to change it at will.

We have mentioned the pros and cons of cast iron coins many times. Cast iron coins can be regarded as the ancient version of quantitative easing policy. Its advantages and disadvantages do not exist alone. Depending on the external environment, they may have completely opposite effects. For example, the second point proposed by Qian Hongyi said that the new currency can only be circulated domestically and not recognized internationally, so it will affect the economy. The Gao Yu reform during the Ma Yin period of Southern Chu was precisely through this point that the commodity circulation in Southern Chu achieved a blowout development. The fundamental reason is that the monetary policy implemented by Southern Chu after it had enough hard currency - tea. The "tea standard" is the basis, and cast iron coins are the surface.

Without the "tea standard" of Southern Chu, and without a hard currency that the international community could rely on deeply, any form of quantitative easing (cast iron coins, cast lead coins, cast large coins) would be a slow suicide. Wuyue's neighbors, such as Southern Tang and Min, have already proved this with blood.

The Wu Yue Kingdom did not have any hard currency to restrict the international community at that time, so the disadvantages of excessive currency issuance could not be passed on and could only be absorbed by itself, poisoning itself.

Qian Hongyi and Qian Hongzuo, both teenagers at the time, found it difficult to comprehend the truth behind this.

The mainstream view is that Qian Hongzuo was a rare wise ruler with the ability to rewrite the history of the Wu Yue Kingdom. He was placed with high hopes and was considered a rising red sun. However, he turned out to be a meteor in the sky, disappearing in an instant.

The internal troubles of the Wuyue Kingdom did not subside with Qian Hongzuo's sudden death, and the "post-Qian Yuanguan era" reached another climax.

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

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(End of this chapter)