History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 989 Qian Hongchu (Part )
Is there a possibility that Hu Jinsi's "three evils" were directed and acted by Qian Hongchu himself? The only evidence for the slander was Qian Hongchu; the only evidence for the forgery of official documents was also Qian Hongchu; the two assassins were shot dead on the spot and there was no evidence, but the official report (Qian Hongchu) said that it was Hu Jinsi who ordered it...

If we analyze it from the perspective of who benefits and who is the most suspicious, Qian Hongchu's suspicion increases. Qian Hongzong only temporarily left his job due to "health reasons" and did not leave us prematurely. In theory, as long as his health improves, he should return to his job and continue to shine and serve the people. Once Qian Hongzong encounters an accident, the biggest suspect is undoubtedly Qian Hongchu. People will think that Qian Hongchu killed his brother in order to consolidate the throne. So is there a way to effectively solve the above problem? Of course there is, that is - designate the murderer first, and then create the case. It's similar to shooting an arrow first and then drawing the target.

Although the "victim" Qian Hongzong had not yet been killed, Hu Jinsi had already been declared the "murderer."

In this case, if Qian Hongzong really met with an accident, the murderer would naturally be Hu Jinsi, and had nothing to do with Qian Hongchu.

Qian Hongzong did not encounter any unexpected events, and Qian Hongchu still reaped a lot of rewards.

Since someone was trying their best to murder Qian Hongzong, Qian Hongchu had a legitimate reason to keep Qian Hongzong under house arrest indefinitely. Moreover, the prevention work was done very strictly. No one was allowed to approach the detention place, and Qian Hongzong was not allowed to have any contact with the outside world. After all, he had to protect his brother's life.

However, if Hu Jinsi died earlier, wouldn't the security alert be lifted naturally, and the power would be returned to Qian Hongzong? This assumption has become a reality.

Qian Hongchu certainly had a way. Although Qian Hongzong had luckily escaped Hu Jinsi's murderous clutches time and time again, the physical pain combined with the mental torture made Qian Hongzong crazy and mentally ill. He was the kind of person who could kill people without being held legally responsible. He was not suitable to return to work, and he could not even contact the outside world, so they had no choice but to keep him under house arrest with tears.

This is history. Qian Hongchu, who was officially promoted by the Song Dynasty as a model of brotherly love and respect, and a good brother who risked his life to fight against powerful officials to save his brother's life, put his brother under house arrest for 28 years. Qian Hongzong was under house arrest from the age of 18 until he died of illness at the age of 46, a total of 28 years!
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the two high-level agents were able to quietly evade the layers of defense, successfully sneak into Qian Hongzong's detention center, and had already touched the bedroom door, but Qian Hongzong closed the door and shouted for help, and the two agents were at a loss. They did not kick the door open to complete the assassination mission, nor did they escape in time, and were killed on the spot. If the screenwriter dared to write this, he would probably be scolded to death, but this is written in black and white in history books.

Qian Hongchu had a clever plan and set a trap for Hu Jinsi. Of course, Hu Jinsi was afraid. He was 90 years old and could not stand the torture. He finally died of a generals' occupational disease - carbuncle on his back.

After Hu Jinsi's death, the task of cleaning up the remnants of the party became much easier.

When the Wuyue Kingdom was shaken, the Central Plains also underwent earth-shaking changes. In 947, the Khitans entered the Central Plains and ended the Later Jin Dynasty. They were then forced to withdraw from the Central Plains. Liu Zhiyuan proclaimed himself emperor and founded the Han Dynasty. He died six months later and Liu Chengyou succeeded him.

Qian Hongzong was roughly in sync with Liu Zhiyuan, while Qian Hongchu was in sync with Liu Chengyou. Obviously, Liu Chengyou needed the support of Wuyue State, while Qian Hongchu also needed the recognition of the central government (Liu Chengyou).

In March 949, Liu Chengyou granted Qian Hongchu the titles of Marshal of the Southeastern Army, Jiedushi of Zhenhai and Zhendong, Observer of the East-West Circuit of Zhejiang and Envoy of the Salt and Iron Administration and Shipping of Liangzhe, Grand Commander of the Three Departments of Kaifu, Inspector of the Imperial Preceptor, and Minister of the Central Secretariat, Grand Commander of Hangzhou and Yuezhou, King of Wuyue, with a fief of 3 households and a real fief of households, and the honorary title of "Kuangsheng Guangyun Tongde Baoding Meritorious Official". In short, the central court recognized Qian Hongchu's absolute control over Liangzhe and the highly autonomous political status of Wuyue.

With the approval of the central government, Qian Hongchu was confident enough. So in May, he demoted Hu Jinsi's loyal lackey, Zhu Tao, to become the governor of Chuzhou; in October, another lackey, Zhu Wen, was demoted to Wenzhou. Behind this seemingly light-hearted action to eliminate the "remnants of Hu Jinsi", there was a huge conspiracy: Zhu Tao was convicted for "rebellion", and it was said that he intended to pay tribute to Hu Jinsi, depose Qian Hongchu and establish Qian Hongyi.

Qian Hongyi, the tenth son of Qian Yuanguan, was indeed ranked after the ninth son, Qian Hongchu. He was first the Du Yuhou of the Nei Ya, and was appointed as the prime minister after Qian Hongchu succeeded him. When Qian Hongzuo was discussing the casting of iron coins, Qian Hongyi submitted a memorial stating the "eight harms", and the discussion of casting iron coins was stopped.

It is said that the plot of Bi Tao to establish Qian Hongyi was exposed. So the ministers advised Qian Hongchu to pursue the case to the end and completely crush the "Bi Tao and Qian Hongyi counter-revolutionary group". However, Qian Hongchu said that it was better to make a big thing small and a small thing nothing, and not to dig deeper, so Bi Tao was demoted to the governor of Chuzhou and Qian Hongyi was demoted to the governor of Mingzhou.

Did Yu Tao really want to support Qian Hongyi as the second Hu Jinsi? Why did someone in the court strongly encourage Qian Hongchu to expand the scope of the attack and increase the intensity of the attack, and why did Qian Hongchu turn a blind eye to the rioters?
Needless to say, the sequelae of the "post-Qian Yuanguan era". After Hu Jinsi's death, political opponents were eager to counterattack, and there were also certain conflicts of interest within the group. At this time, slandering someone for treason was the most economical and effective way. The "Yun Tao plotted to establish Qian Hongyi" case was probably such a conspiracy.

Qian Hongchu had three options before him: best, medium and worst.

The worst option is to obey the will of the emerging group and wipe out the "counter-revolutionary group of Yan Tao and Qian Hongyi" in one fell swoop; the middle option is to ignore it and deny the accusations against Yan Tao; the best option is to give Yan Tao and Qian Hongyi lenient sentences and ignore their "accomplices".

The reason is simple. If the scope of the attack is expanded, it is equivalent to quickly cultivating Hu Jinsi 2.0 after eliminating Hu Tao, the "remnant of Hu Jinsi", and power will fall into the hands of other powerful officials. Therefore, it is a bad strategy.
If he ignores it, Qian Hongchu will be interpreted as cowardly and weak by the ministers, and his reputation will plummet, making it difficult for him to win the support of the people. This is the middle strategy;
Giving symbolic punishment to the "rebels" would neither make other forces stronger nor preserve some checks and balances. Once other forces threatened Qian Hongchu, Qian Hongchu could re-employ Qian Tao and Qian Hongyi. This was the best policy.

This was just Qian Hongchu's political tactic of balancing the forces of various parties in the "post-Qian Yuanguan era" and a means of survival in the cracks.

The history of the Song Dynasty highly praised Qian Hongchu, praising his brotherly love and respect for his brother. He was concerned about his brother's safety even when he was in danger. For example, he first made Hu Jinsi swear not to kill Qian Hongzong, and then fought with him and defeated Hu Jinsi's three conspiracies. When his brother Qian Hongyi was suspected of "rebellion", he was only sent to a local governor...

In the Song Dynasty, especially the Northern Song Dynasty, the political correctness of brotherly love and respect for younger brothers was well-known, you know.

Is Qian Hongchu very gentle? As long as the conditions allow, Qian Hongchu is not so gentle. For example, before dealing with Zhu Tao and Zhu Wen, the Kuang Wu in the imperial guards made a collective riot, demanding promotion and salary increase. Qian Hongchu took over the promotion list they prepared, "The two leaders will be beheaded; the more than 20 people behind will be expelled and punished; those who followed suit will be verbally criticized and educated."

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

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(End of this chapter)