History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 987: Hu Jinsi, the Pig Who Eats the Tiger (Part )
Since Qian Hongzuo was only 13 years old when he succeeded to the throne, and the "Four Heavenly Kings" were still above him, Qian Hongzuo could only adopt a relatively gentle attitude towards the arrogant and difficult-to-control veterans, and could only tolerate their mistakes and endure them. It was not until the victory of the Battle of Fuzhou that he had the opportunity to be proud of himself, but suddenly and strangely fell before dawn; Qian Hongzong was 18 years old when he succeeded to the throne. He was hot-blooded and sad that the power of the Qian family had fallen into someone else's hands. He was worried about the military group (Hu Jinsi) that was too powerful to be eliminated. Unlike Qian Hongzuo's long-term plan, Qian Hongzong chose to confront head-on and cut the Gordian knot.

There is nothing wrong with a head-on confrontation, but Qian Hongzong made a serious mistake. Hu Jinsi is a powerful figure with a huge influence and military power in his hands. To deal with such a person, one must follow one word: fast! Just like Zhang De'an eliminated Dai Yun, take him down by surprise and strike him down in one blow. Otherwise, please learn from Qian Hongzuo, admit defeat, secretly accumulate strength, and make plans later.

Qian Hongzong's approach was to constantly hit Hu Jinsi and constantly remind him, "I want to kill you, just wait, I will kill you sooner or later."

Whenever Hu Jinsi interfered in state affairs or acted presumptuously, Qian Hongzong would insult and reprimand him on the spot, making the conflict between the emperor and his ministers public and forcing the ministers to take sides.

At the beginning, he would wait until Hu Jinsi "overstepped his authority" before scolding him. For example, once, Qian Hongzong wanted to execute three corrupt officials who had violated the law according to the law, but Hu Jinsi interfered.

Soon, Hu Jinsi would also be scolded for some trivial matters. For example, after the Battle of Fuzhou, Qian Hongzong held a victory parade to reward the three armies. The amount of rewards was several times higher than usual. Hu Jinsi advised not to give so many rewards, otherwise it would breed greed among the soldiers. If the rewards in the future were less than this time, they would complain. As a result, Qian Hongzong turned hostile on the spot, threw his pen into the water, and roared: "Who has the final say in Wuyue? I am the king, and I can give as much as I want to my soldiers. What do you think is your business?" Hu Jinsi was so scared that he retreated in panic, sweating through his clothes, and could not calm down for a long time.

Later, no matter what Hu Jinsi said, he would be scolded. "He often made plans, and the King Zhongxun (Qian Hongzong) refuted him several times."

Hu Jinsi might as well shut his mouth and pretend to be dumb. That should be fine, right?

Qian Hongzong took the initiative to question him, humiliating and scolding him whenever he could. For example, once someone violated the ban and sold beef. The urban management reported that this person illegally sold 1,000 kilograms of beef. Qian Hongzong turned around and asked Hu Jinsi, "How many kilograms of meat can a big cow have at most?" Hu Jinsi replied that the largest one would only weigh about 300 kilograms. Qian Hongzong nodded and said, "In that case, the urban management must have made up a story and framed someone. Oh, by the way, how do you know how many kilograms of meat a cow has?" Hu Jinsi felt uneasy and replied in an awkward voice, "I used to be a butcher..."

"Oh——" Qian Hongzong said in a long voice, loud and long. The attendants on both sides couldn't help but laugh and turned into emoticons.

Hu Jinsi then realized that Qian Hongzong was deliberately digging up his past and embarrassing him, so he became extremely angry.

Qian Hongzong wanted to demote Hu Jinsi again, but his approach was too frank. Qian Hongzong asked Hu Jinsi directly, "How about I give you a state to live in in your old age? I heard that you were open to the idea of ​​"old soldiers getting a big state" before, so I will help you."

Of course Hu Jinsi refused, saying that he did not dare to covet wealth and comfort, so he asked him to stay with him and serve the people for a few more years.

Hu Jinsi had had enough of Qian Hongzong's grievances, so he set up a tablet for Qian Hongzuo at home, and stood in front of the tablet with disheveled hair, crying and wailing, reminiscing about the past days. Alas, the ex was infinitely good, but the current one is a scumbag.

The last straw that broke the camel's back was a painting.

In December 947, Qian Hongzong gave Hu Jinsi a small New Year gift, which was a painting with the theme of "Zhong Kui Beating Ghosts". Qian Hongzong also specially inscribed a poem on it, comparing himself to Zhong Kui and Hu Jinsi to a little ghost.

Hu Jinsi looked at the painting and felt dizzy and almost emotionally collapsed. "It's all over. The king is really going to kill me!"

That’s right, Qian Hongzong had already been conspiring with his confidants - Prime Minister Shuiqiu Zhaoquan and Neiya Commander He Chengxun - to kill Hu Jinsi.

It is said that Qian Hongzong first found He Chengxun and asked him to think of a way to get rid of him. He Chengxun readily agreed because once Hu Jinsi was eliminated, he would become a hot figure as the "Commander of the Inner Court".

To be on the safe side, Qian Hongzong sought the opinion of Shuiqiu Zhaoquan. As a result, Shuiqiu Zhaoquan poured cold water on him, saying that Hu Jinsi must be eradicated, but not now, because he had many followers and huge power. If there was any mistake in the process, the consequences would be disastrous!
Qian Hongzong hesitated. Shuiqiu Zhaoquan's opinion was not wrong. For example, Liu Chengyou of the Later Han Dynasty made a small mistake when he was eliminating the military generals group, and was killed by Guo Wei, and his country was destroyed. Whether it is a mutiny or eliminating powerful officials, the most taboo is to be full of doubts. As the saying goes, either learn from Goujian to sleep on firewood and taste gall; or cut the Gordian knot like Zhang De'an eliminated Dai Yun. Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Qian Hongzong wanted to step on the brakes, which scared He Chengxun.

How long will you wait, a day, a month, or a year? When will the time be right? Will the news leak out during this time?

The more He Chengxun thought about it, the more frightened he became. Under great fear, he made a major decision: to turn against the government! He surrendered to Hu Jinsi and sold out Qian Hongzong.

He Chengxun told Hu Jinsi all of Qian Hongzong's conspiracy.

Stimulated by the painting, Hu Jinsi was already planning a counterattack. After hearing He Chengxun's denunciation, Hu Jinsi made up his mind to strike first. It happened that Qian Hongzong was hosting a banquet for the generals. Hu Jinsi thought they must be plotting an assassination, so he quickly gathered his trusted henchmen, Zhu Wen and Yan Tao, and led 300 of his men to rush into the banquet hall fully armed to strike first.

Qian Hongzong angrily ordered them to retreat.

At this point, how could Hu Jinsi back down? He immediately kidnapped Qian Hongzong and placed him under house arrest in the backyard. He also announced in Qian Hongzong's name: "Comrade Qian Hongzong is old and frail... After all, he is already 18 years old. He suddenly had a stroke today and is unable to perform his current duties, so he has to give way to his younger brother, Comrade Qian Hongchu."

In this way, Qian Hongzong retired gloriously at the age of 18.

Afterwards, Hu Jinsi brought people to welcome Qian Hongchu into the palace and informed him to take up his post immediately. After Qian Hongchu arrived, Hu Jinsi summoned Prime Minister Yuan Dezhao to the palace to let him pay homage to the new emperor.

Qian Hongzong succeeded to the throne in March and was deposed in December, having reigned for less than a year.

After seeing Hu Jinsi, Yuan Dezhao stood up but did not bow, saying that he had to see the new emperor with his own eyes. Because Yuan Dezhao naively thought that Hu Jinsi wanted to kill the emperor, seize power, and change the dynasty. As prime minister, he must first confirm the personal safety of the Qian family's bloodline.

Hu Jinsi smiled slightly and nodded to those around him. The people around him opened the door curtain and saw Qian Hongchu, who was also frightened and helpless, standing in the room.

Yuan Dezhao had no choice but to pay homage to Qian Hongchu, who was still a hostage.

Qian Hongchu made a final struggle and put forward the conditions for joining the job, "You must guarantee my brother's life safety, otherwise I would rather die than obey." Only after Hu Jinsi guaranteed that Qian Hongzong would not leave us too early did Qian Hongchu agree to take up the job.

Now let us think back to the story of Comrade Qian Hongzuo who died suddenly without any warning at the age of 20. Who would still believe that it was a natural death?
Afterwards, Hu Jinsi killed Prime Minister Shuiqiu Zhaoquan and his brother-in-law Fu Guangxuan who were involved in the conspiracy to murder him.

In historical records, Fu Guangxuan is also written as "Lu Guangxuan", and it is noted that he is the uncle of Qian Hongzong. Qian Yuanguan had a wife named Fu from the State of Lu, who gave birth to the crown princes Qian Hongzong and Qian Hongzong, but there is no "Lu Shi", so it can be inferred that "Lu Guangxuan" should be a typo of "Fu Guangxuan". This person was mediocre, and the only historical record is that he was killed by Hu Jinsi.

Hu Jinsi finally had the last laugh... right?

(End of this chapter)