History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 986: Hu Jinsi, the Pig Who Eats the Tiger (Part )
【Hu Jinsi, pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger】

Did those ten years really disappear? Why is it said that the internal strife of Wuyue reached its peak during the reign of Qian Hongzuo? From a certain perspective, Hu Jinsi can also be regarded as a living fossil of Wuyue history. Through his deeds, it seems that the shy ten years can be quietly opened.

Hu Jinsi's first appearance in this book is in the role of a silly and simple-minded man in the struggle of the red-top businessman Cheng Zhaoyue to overthrow Du Zhaoda's party. It seems that he survived the turbulent power game of the "post-Qian Yuanguan era" by relying on the luck of "fools have good luck". In fact, Hu Jinsi is not stupid at all. He is very good, even outstanding. He is almost like a "child prodigy". He is also proficient in both civil and military affairs. He is simply a rare talent.

Such an outstanding person would certainly not be a passerby in the game of thrones. He played a vital role in the historical process of Wuyue Kingdom and rewrote the history of Wuyue Kingdom to a certain extent.

Hu Jinsi, a native of Huzhou, was born into a family that slaughtered cattle. As the child of a butcher, he could read at the age of 4 and write at the age of 7. He was a well-known elementary school bully. At the age of 17, he confidently took the imperial examination, but failed. In a fit of anger, he gave up literature and took up martial arts, and instead of slaughtering cattle, he became a human being.

After a short time in society, the well-known academic bully became a famous village bully. Whether it was a one-on-one fight or a group fight, Hu Jinsi was an expert and soon won the hearts of all kinds of local people. They elected him as the leader. Hu Jinsi, who had been tortured by the imperial examination, was able to draw inferences from other cases and clearly realized that it was difficult for him to establish himself in that era with his own abilities. He was born in 858 and was 17 years old in 875. Wang Ying in western Zhejiang launched a rebellion, Nanzhao violated the border, and the biggest unrest was the uprising of the two salt gang leaders in Henan and Shandong - Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao. Compared with these big guys, Hu Jinsi can be regarded as an honest man who abides by the law and keeps to himself.

Hu Jinsi finally chose to join a famous local boss, using the platform advantage to avoid industry risks, fully explore customer resources in the segmented field, and concentrate on reviewing successful cases and applying successful paths to achieve overtaking. If you want to see farther, you must stand on the shoulders of giants, and the giant he chose was Qian Liu.

The only thing to fear is a gangster with culture. Hu Jinsi, who is both civil and martial, won Qian Liu's favor and was arranged to be his advisor. Hu Jinsi worked well and made many contributions in the process of suppressing the big bandit Liu Hanhong.

Soon after, the Qian family group faced a big test, namely the "Xu-Xu Rebellion". Qian Yuanguan bravely raised Tian Yu's daughter, and the best men who accompanied Qian Yuanguan into the tiger's den were Hu Jinsi and Dai Yun. After the incident was settled, Qian Liu rewarded people according to their merits and built a meritorious official hall in imitation of the old practice of painting portraits in the Lingyan Pavilion of the Tang Dynasty. The first batch of people who received the honor of "painting the meritorious official hall" had more than 50 people, and Hu Jinsi ranked second.

After Qian Yuanguan succeeded to the throne, Hu Jinsi, Dai Yun and others were given important positions as direct descendants of the emperor and entered the core power circle. On the day Qian Yuanguan died, Zhang De'an, a senior official entrusted with the care of the emperor, forged an imperial edict to trick Dai Yun into the palace and killed him with an ambush. Note that Zhang De'an only killed Dai Yun, and there is no record of Hu Jinsi.

Let's take a look at the "Four Heavenly Kings" when Qian Hongzuo first came to power: Zhang De'an and Li Wenqing were respectively the left and right supervisors of the inner court; Kan Fan and Hu Jinsi were respectively the left and right generals of the inner court. These four controlled the imperial guards of Wuyue, enough to protect or threaten Qian's rule. They were equivalent to the left and right lieutenants of the Shen Ce Army in the late Tang Dynasty, the chief inspectors of the front of the palace in the late Zhou Dynasty, and the commanders of the imperial guards and horse and infantry troops. They were the kind of people who could depose and enthrone emperors and wear yellow robes.

It is obvious that with four men making one drama, the Four Heavenly Kings will not coexist in a harmonious society.

First, it was Zhang De'an vs. Kan Fan, because Kan Fan was the Left General of the Inner Court, and Zhang De'an was the Left Chief Supervisor of the Inner Court. The two belonged to the Left Army of the Inner Court, so they had more overlaps in their work and more conflicts of interest. Soon, Zhang De'an brought in the Right Chief Supervisor Li Wenqing, and the two political commissars fought side by side to oppose Kan Fan. Note that at this time, Hu Jinsi's movements were still hidden and not recorded.

The result of this struggle was that Kan Fan won, Zhang De'an and Li Wenqing were demoted and sent out of the game of power. The "Four Heavenly Kings" became two tigers in one mountain, and Kan Fan and Hu Jinsi controlled the core power of the Wuyue Kingdom.

In order to expand his own power, Kan Fan won over the "royal relative" Du Zhaoda, and later absorbed the red-top businessman Cheng Zhaoyue. Unexpectedly, raising a tiger would become a disaster, Cheng Zhaoyue had wolfish ambitions, and sent Kan Fan and Du Zhaoda away at the same time.

During this process, Hu Jinsi still escaped unscathed, and later saw off the red-topped businessman Cheng Zhaoyue. Some historical materials say that in this struggle, Hu Jinsi conspired with Cheng Zhaoyue, and the two worked together to play a double act. Hu Jinsi was not stupid, and he did not blindly show weakness to Cheng Zhaoyue. In fact, he was deeply involved in the conspiracy to kill Kan Fan and Du Zhaoda's party.

There is no doubt that whether it was Kan Fan squeezing out Zhang De'an or Cheng Zhaoyue killing Kan Fan, it was Qian Hongzuo's way of driving away the wolf. If the young ruler wanted to secure the foundation of the country, he had to divide and disintegrate the important officials of the previous dynasty and defeat them one by one.

Today, Hu Jinsi is the only one left among the "Four Heavenly Kings", but Qian Hongzuo left us at the age of 20 before he could take any action against him. Then Qian Hongzong succeeded to the throne - note that historical records say that Hu Jinsi had the merit of welcoming Qian Hongzong to the throne... The merit of welcoming Qian Hongzong to the throne is terrifying when you think about it carefully.

When Qian Hongzong succeeded to the throne, Hu Jinsi had already been a veteran of four dynasties and had eliminated all political opponents who could rival him. It is hard to say whether Qian Hongzuo's head can be recorded in his record. Hu Jinsi quietly became a big boss who controlled the Wuyue regime.

On one side is the veteran of four dynasties who is proud of his contribution to the enthronement, and on the other side is the ambitious young new monarch. There will definitely be passionate sparks between the two of them.

Thanks to my old friend "Yang Kui" for the monthly ticket support!

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(End of this chapter)