History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 985 Fuzhou Incident
【Fuzhou Incident】

In June 947, Qian Hongzuo died suddenly and left his younger brother Qian Hongzong to succeed him.

Qian Hongzong, the seventh son of Qian Yuanguan, was the same-mother brother of Qian Hongzun. It is said that on the night of Qian Hongzong's birth, his father Qian Yuanguan had a strange dream in which someone gave him a basket of gold. When he opened his eyes happily, Qian Hongzong was born, so Qian Yuanguan gave him the nickname "Wanjinku".

When Qian Yuanguan came to his father Qian Liu with his son to announce the good news, Qian Liu was already seriously ill and could not see. Qian Liu endured the pain, gently stroked his grandson's head, and asked his attendants: "Are the child's eyes big?" The attendants answered truthfully: "The eyes are small." Qian Liu's face flashed with a trace of disappointment.

It seems that the Chinese aesthetic has not changed since ancient times. They always like big eyes, even nomadic people like it. The Khitan people therefore nominated Shi Chonggui as the emperor. But babies' eyes are always squinting, so what is there for Qian Liu to be disappointed about? Do all his other children and grandchildren have anime eyes?

Qian Hongzong was first appointed as the commander of the inner court, and then appointed as the pacification envoy of the East Palace, which was Yuezhou, one of the "two capitals" of Wuyue. According to Qian Hongzuo's will, he was supported as the new king of Wuyue.

As mentioned above, Qian Hongzuo summoned Li Renda from Fuzhou to the emperor. Li Renda was in a dilemma and had a fierce ideological struggle. At this time, Qian Hongzuo suddenly passed away and the 18-year-old Qian Hongzong succeeded to the throne. This was undoubtedly great news for Li Renda, so he happily came to Hangzhou to meet the newly succeeded Qian Hongzong.

In order to stabilize the situation, Qian Hongzong would certainly show his favor to Li Renda. As expected, Qian Hongzong gave Li Renda the title of Minister of the Interior, appointed his brother Li Rentong as the governor of Fuzhou, and gave Li Renda the name Li Ruyun and his brother Li Rentong the name Li Rubin.

Li Renda's visit to the court was a preview of Qian Hongchu's visit to the Song Dynasty in the future, and the plot was almost exactly the same. Most of the court officials in Wuyue advocated that Li Renda be detained and kept in Hangzhou with high positions and generous salaries so that they could truly control Fuzhou. This was also what Li Renda feared the most, so he bribed the military commander Hu Jinsi with a large sum of money. Hu Jinsi was the "silly fool" among the four kings mentioned above. Please pay attention to this name, he will do great things later.

With the help of his money power, Hu Jinsi analyzed the pros and cons for Qian Hongzong and finally persuaded Qian Hongzong to let the tiger go back to the mountains. Li Renda returned to the Fuzhou base safely.

Less than half a year after Li Renda returned, an unexpected incident occurred in Fuzhou. After the victory of the Fuzhou Campaign, Qian Hongzuo ordered Zhang Yun and others to return to the capital, and ordered Bao Xiurang, a legitimate general, to lead his troops to station in Fuzhou, ostensibly to defend against the Southern Tang, but in fact to monitor Li Renda. Obviously, there must be an irreconcilable contradiction between Li Renda and Bao Xiurang. When Li Renda returned to Fuzhou from Hangzhou, the suspicion and rift between the two became increasingly prominent.

According to official reports, Li Renda plotted to assassinate Bao Xiurang, then defected to Southern Tang, but the plot was leaked and he was killed by Bao Xiurang. The record in Wuyue Beishi is more detailed, saying that Li Renda "turned against us again", so Qian Hongzong ordered Bao Xiurang to attack him, successfully annihilated him (killed him and exterminated his family), and then "sent his head to the capital" and sent to Hangzhou for exhibition.

In short, Wu Yue State official V: You may not believe it, but it was Li Renda who started it first... Believe it or not.

We can't help but have a small question: Why did Li Renda "turn his back on me" and betray Wuyue to join Southern Tang? The reason why he asked for military aid from Wuyue was because Southern Tang wanted to control Fuzhou and wanted Li Renda to come to the court. Now Wuyue has also exposed its scumbag nature and wants to control Fuzhou. It is understandable that Li Renda is unwilling, but his reason for joining Southern Tang again is incomprehensible. Even if he successfully expelled Bao Xiurang, the result would not be to go to Shengzhou to sleep with Li Jing?

If it is said that Li Renda intends to submit to the Central Plains dynasty, it would be more believable.

Looking at the causes of the "Fuzhou Incident", it is not difficult to deduce a reasonable explanation: the officials of Wuyue State advocated detaining Li Renda, and Hu Jinsi advocated releasing Li Renda because he accepted bribes from Li Renda. Hu Jinsi might have advised Qian Hongzong that "detaining him would be a loss of trust and would harm international reputation. It is better to let him return to Fuzhou and then falsely accuse him of treason and execute him." Qian Hongzong agreed with this, and thus the "Fuzhou Incident" occurred, in which Bao Xiurang "saw through" Li Renda's conspiracy to rebel and successfully massacred his entire family.

After eliminating Li Renda, Qian Hongzong ordered Prime Minister Wu Cheng to govern Fuzhou, and Fuzhou officially became the territory of Wuyue. Note that Hu Jinsi made a plan, Bao Xiurang took action, but the fruits of victory were enjoyed by Wu Cheng alone. There is no doubt that this must be a small foreshadowing in the following text, which will trigger a big melon.

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

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(End of this chapter)