【Unity and division】
Zhu Wen established himself on behalf of the Tang Dynasty and urgently needed the recognition and support of various political forces. Therefore, after proclaiming the emperor, Zhu Wen first greatly rewarded meritorious ministers, not only to take care of his direct lineage Conglong Yuanxun, but also to the old ministers of the former Tang Dynasty and the middle forces.
At the beginning of the founding of the country, united front work was particularly important.
Zhang Quanyi of Heyang was made King of Wei; Liu Yin of Lingnan was made King of Nanping; Ma Yin of Tanzhou was made King of Chu; Wang Shenzhi of Fujian was made King of Fujian; Qian Liu of Hangzhou was made King of Wuyue; Wang Rong of Zhenzhou was made King of Zhao; and Ding was made The king of the state, Chuzhi, was the king of Beiping. Wei Boluo Shaowei had been named King of Ye by the Tang Dynasty before, so he could only add the title of Taifu.
Among them, Liu Yin from Lingnan and Wang Shenzhi from Fujian had nothing to do with Zhu Wen, and Liu Yin had bribed Zhu Wen heavily before in order to get his hands on him. After the Liang Dynasty promoted him to a prince, he was naturally more willing to support him. Zhu Wen;
Ma Yin and others in Tanzhou had many interactions with Zhu Wen. Ma Yin's strategic thinking was to support the central government and Zhu Wen, who represented the Tang Dynasty at that time, and was an enemy of the "Huaiyi" Yang Xingmi. After the Later Liang Dynasty replaced the Tang Dynasty, Ma Yin He immediately recognized the legitimacy of Hou Liang and was willing to support Zhu Wen;
Hangzhou Qian Liu also favored Zhu Wen because of the presence of Yang Xingmi in Huainan. He had previously petitioned the imperial court to request the title of "King of Wuyue", but the Tang Dynasty under the control of Zhu Wen flatly refused, which made Qian Liu very unhappy. Waiting for Zhu Wen After ascending the throne, he immediately named him King of Wuyue, which gained Qian Liu's favor. This was Zhu Wen's little conspiracy during the Tang Dynasty. Zhu Wen succeeded, and Qian Liu also recognized the legitimacy of the Later Liang Dynasty;
Needless to say, Wei Boluo Shaowei, Zhenzhou Wang Rong, and Dingzhou Wang Chuzhi in the Heshuo area were also loyal supporters of Zhu Wen;
In addition, Liu Rengong in Youzhou encountered civil strife, and his son Liu Shouguang imprisoned him. Then he claimed that the Lulong army in Youzhou had stayed, and sent an envoy to express his allegiance to Zhu Wen and request for appointment. Zhu Wen was overjoyed and immediately appointed Liu Shouguang as the military governor of Youzhou Lulong Army and the title of prime minister. The fight between father and son in Youzhou will be discussed in detail later.
What surprised Zhu Wen the most was the recognition and support from the Khitan people outside the Great Wall. In the same year that Houliang was established, Khitan leader Yelu Abaoji ascended the throne of Khan, sent envoys to visit Houliang, established diplomatic relations, and paid tribute to Houliang with good horses.
So far, the legitimacy of Houliang has been generally recognized. The territory of Houliang is roughly equivalent to today's Hebei, Shandong, Henan, northern Jiangsu, western Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hainan Island, and northern Vietnam. , Shaanxi, Ningxia and other vast areas. In these areas, they all regarded Hou Liang as Zhengshuo, switched to the "Kaiping" era, recognized Hou Liang as the only legitimate central government in China, and recognized Zhu Wen as the legitimate emperor.
【Opposition】
Those who refused to recognize the Later Liang Dynasty were, of course, Hedong Li Keyong, Fengxiang Li Maozhen, and Huainan Yang Wo (son of Yang Xingmi). These three were Zhu Wen's old enemies. They refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Later Liang Dynasty and insisted on using the "Four Years of God's Blessing" Tang Dynasty era name. Out of considerations of his own interests, Nishikawa Wang Jian also chose to side with the opposition.
Wang Jian of Xichuan and Yang Wo of Huainan jointly announced to the world that they would form an alliance with Li Keyong of Hedong and Li Maozhen of Fengxiang to rebel against Liang and restore the Tang Dynasty. They called on all the feudal lords and towns in the world to unite and raise troops to respond.
What's embarrassing is that no one in the world responded.
Since you Zhu Wen learned from Cao Wei, then I, Wang Jian, learned from Shu Han. Wang Jian of Xichuan followed Liu Bei's example and intended to ascend the throne in Shu and proclaimed himself emperor. He wrote to Li Keyong of Hedong, urging him to also ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor. After all, Wang Jian could not bear the eternal infamy of "splitting China", so he had to recruit a few more Get into the water.
In a letter to Li Keyong, Wang Jian explained: We will ascend the throne and proclaim ourselves emperors, and each will dominate his own side. After Zhu Wen is eliminated, we will then search for the descendants of the Tang Dynasty named Li and support him in reviving the Tang Dynasty. Then we will cancel the emperor's title and install the throne. Keep your duty as a Tang official...
Do you believe it yourself?
Li Keyong sneered at this and replied flatly refusing, claiming that he would not dare to rebel as long as he lived!
In his reply, Li Keyong said that he was shocked to hear Wang Jian's words of proclaiming himself emperor. "The tears dripping down his cheeks are as if he had heard the words of Jiang Ji."
Shen Xu, also known as Wu Zixu, King Ping of Chu believed the slander and had his father and brother killed. Wu Zixu fled to the state of Wu and vowed to destroy the state of Chu. Finally, he helped King Helu of Wu to defeat the state of Chu. King Chu Ping was dead at that time, and Wu Zixu dug his grave. Digging graves and whipping corpses to vent their anger;
Jiang Ji, a minister of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, served in the four dynasties of Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Rui, and Cao Fang. He participated in the "Gaoping Ling Incident" and helped Sima Yi usurp the Cao family. It is said that Jiang Ji was just stupid and naive. He believed Sima Yi's lies and personally lobbied Cao Shuang, saying that Sima Yi only wanted to seize power and did not want to kill people. Unexpectedly, Sima Yi went on a killing spree after Cao Shuang handed over power. Cao Shuang and others were executed by the three tribes. Later, Sima Yi promoted Jiang Ji to an official position as a reward for his outstanding performance in the "Gaoping Ling Incident". Jiang Ji refused to accept it because he was ashamed of Cao Shuang. Soon after, he died of depression amid endless self-blame.
Li Keyong compared Wang Jian to Wu Zixu and Jiang Ji.
In his reply, Li Keyong scolded Zhu Wen as Wang Mang and Chi You. Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty and was the enemy of Han culture; and Chi You, not to mention, was the number one public enemy of Chinese civilization and the descendants of Yan and Huang.
Li Keyong said in his letter that he had "served in two dynasties and received favors from three generations", had reached the rank of general and minister, and was a relative of the Li family. That's right, his father Zhu Xie Chixin had contributed greatly to the "Pang Xun Rebellion". At that time, he was given the national surname Li and was included in the royal family's clan, under the family line of Prince Zheng. Therefore, Li Keyong can proudly claim that he is also a descendant of Taizong Li Shimin.
In this case, can I, Li Keyong, become emperor and stand on my own feet? Definitely not. Because you are either Sun Quan who "does not show any gratitude to Han", or Liu Bei who "promotes slightly in Zhuo County". You are a bunch of nouveau riche who "don't thank you for your family background when you gain it, and don't lose your reputation for what you lose". How can you follow me? Compare?
Li Ke showed his loyalty to the Tang Dynasty with a sarcastic meal.
Regarding the matter of proclaiming himself emperor and establishing a country, Wang Jian was like a bastard - he was determined. Even if no one responded, Wang Jian still established the kingdom of Shu and proclaimed himself emperor without hesitation.
In September of the same year after Zhu Wen established the Houliang Dynasty, Wang Jian, the king of Shu (canonized by the Tang Dynasty), officially proclaimed himself the emperor. The country was named Dashu (historically known as the former Shu), and his capital was Chengdu. The territory was roughly equivalent to most of today's Sichuan and southern Shaanxi. , southeastern Gansu, and western Hubei.
Before ascending the throne, Wang Jian led hundreds of officials and all the people to cry for three days to express condolences for the Tang Dynasty and to demonstrate the legal necessity and legality of the founding of the country. Just like Liu Bei cried to offer sacrifices to the Han Emperor.
Later, there were large rewards for meritorious ministers, general amnesty, etc. It is not necessary to elaborate.
Interestingly, at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Wang Jian followed the Tang era name, but the one he used was not "Tian Bless for four years" but "Tian Fu seven years".
Tianyou was the reign name of Emperor Ai, but Wang Jian used "Tianfu" instead of "Tianyou", indicating that he believed that Emperor Ai was Zhu Wen's puppet and refused to acknowledge it. This was also due to political correctness considerations and the refusal to recognize Zhu Wen as the political basis for Wang Jian to proclaim himself emperor.
Fengxiang Li Maozhen has suffered heavy losses one after another in recent years, and his strength has been seriously damaged. Especially after the "Siege of Fengxiang", historical records record that Li Maozhen "exhausted all his troops, was paralyzed" and "emptied his treasury". One of his adopted sons, Li Yanqi, helped him out of his predicament. Li Yanqi used Ganzhou to visit the Uighurs and trade with them. Two years later, "beautiful jade and famous horses arrived one after another, and he gained tens of thousands of dollars."
Li Maozhen did not dare to follow Wang Jian's example. Externally, he still retained the title of Tang Dynasty - King Qi. Although he did not have the name of emperor internally, he actually did so. Li Maozhen set up a palace and appointed hundreds of civil and military officials. The place where he lived was called "palace", his wife was called "queen", the reports submitted by officials were called "tables", and the emperor's guard of honor was used when traveling.
In 907 AD, there were three era names in China: the fourth year of Tianyou, the seventh year of Tianfu, and the first year of Kaiping. In this year, the land of China officially entered the "Five Generations" period, and chaos and division continued unabated.
