【The former Shu established the country】
In the same year that Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, Wang Jian separated the Shu territory and proclaimed himself emperor. The country's name was "Great Shu", which was later changed to "Han", but then it was restored to "Great Shu" and was known as the former Shu in history. In the first year after proclaiming himself emperor, Wang Jian continued to use the "Tianfu" reign title of the Tang Dynasty.
On the first day of the first lunar month of the following year, a monk dug out his own eyes and presented them to Wang Jian, expressing his admiration and submission to Wang Jian in an extreme way of self-mutilation.
Wang Jian was overjoyed and immediately ordered a "Ten Thousand Monk Banquet" to be held in Chengdu, the capital, for 10,000 monks. Zhang Jun's son Zhang Ge dissuaded him, saying that the little guy hurt his body for no reason and should be severely punished! Not only did you not punish him, but you also rewarded him. Then everyone in the world would rush to imitate him. What has become of our great Shu country?
In future generations, don’t call us Qian Shu, let’s call us residual Shu.
Wang Jian then stopped the "Ten Thousand Monk Banquet".
Many short stories tell us that people in ancient times seemed to lack the correct way to express extreme emotions. For example, after the death of a parent, they would "cut off their fingers and legs" to express grief; when a new king ascended the throne, he would gouge out his eyes to express piety; for example, when he was angry, he would "cut off his fingers and legs" The head grabs the ground and the ears”…
For this kind of self-destructive show, the rulers should give correct public opinion guidance, at least not promote it. Therefore, Zhu Wen and Wang Jian's approach is the same. They will no longer give any form of rewards and love the disabled.
On the tenth day of the first lunar month, Wang Jian issued an edict to change the Yuan Dynasty to a general amnesty. Another eight years will be the first year of Wucheng. According to the historical view of this book, the later chapters are all dedicated to Zhengshuo of the Central Plains Dynasty, and the Later Liang era name is also used when describing events in the former Shu.
This year, Wang Jian is 62 years old. He is also facing the same dilemma as Huainan Yang Xingmi, that is, choosing a successor. Wang Jian had 11 biological sons, and his adopted children were extremely large, as many as 120, of which 42 were the most famous.
In the process of Wang Jian's campaign, one of the biggest tasks was to "adopt as adopted sons". Meritorious generals should be adopted as adopted sons, and enemy generals who had surrendered should also be adopted as adopted sons. This is often seen in the previous article.
These adopted sons made great contributions to Wang Jian's expansion of territory, laid the foundation for the former Shu, and also laid the seeds of disaster. Among them, Wang Zongji, the eldest adopted son, was Wang Jian's major concern.
Wang Zongji was the first adopted son of Wang Jian. At that time, Wang Jian was just a junior officer in the Zhongwu Army. He kidnapped a little boy named Gan. He adopted him as his adopted son, took him with him, and renamed him Wang Zongji.
Wang Zongji served Wang Jian in front of and behind his horse, and as he grew older, he followed Wang Jian in the battle. He was first in the Zhongwu Army, then incorporated into the "Eight Zhongwu Capitals", and later into the "Five Capitals with Jiajia". He entered the Forbidden Army, left Shannan, and occupied Lili. Prefecture, fell into Langzhou, entered Xichuan, leveled Pengzhou, swallowed Dongchuan...
The undisputed "eldest brother" and the elder brother of the clan.
After Wang Jian gradually occupied Xichuan, the "Founding Father" and "His Royal Highness Yuerqian" became more and more arrogant, arrogant and lawless. Within the Xichuan Group, apart from Wang Jian himself, no one Wang Zongji dared to insult, "I conquered half of Wang Jian's world!" Wang Zongji said this publicly more than once.
Once, Wang Jian hosted a banquet for all ministers. During the dinner, Wang Jian suddenly sighed and said to the ministers, if there are one or two Han Xin-like figures among you, I can pacify the Central Plains. Before he finished speaking, Wang Zongji left the table and bowed down, knelt down and said: "Although I am not talented, I can help your majesty to win the Central Plains!"
Everyone knew that he was bragging and flattering, but they were afraid of his power and remained silent. Only Zhang Fu, a doctor in the Ministry of War, had a different voice. Zhang Fu was "erudite and good at eloquence". He said: "Your Majesty is so talented and powerful that he cannot capture a land the size of Qilong, let alone the entire Central Plains! Zong Ji, this boy, is arrogant and ignorant, and he speaks without shame. Your Majesty must not listen to his nonsense and do not covet the land of the Central Plains."
Wang Zongji was so angry that he sent someone to instruct the chef to poison the food and kill Zhang Fu.
Zhang Fu, a doctor in the Ministry of War, was only an insignificant role, but the arrogant and arrogant Wang Zongji provoked a person who shouldn't be provoked - Tang Daoxi.
Daoxi of the Tang Dynasty, with beautiful features and pretty eyes, was a young dancer. Wang Jian loved him very much and promoted him from the men's troupe to the central government. After the establishment of the Shu Kingdom, Wang Jian promoted him to the rank of privy envoy with great power. His status was almost equivalent to that of a prime minister, and his hometown was later renamed "Martyr Township".
However, Wang Zongji was very rude to Tang Daoxi. He never refused to call him by his official title, but directly called him by his name and treated him like a slave. This made Tang Daoxi very angry.
According to records, this little fresh meat Tang Daoxi was not only good-looking, but also very scheming and cunning. Although he hated Wang Zongji in his heart, he became more and more submissive to Wang Zongji on the surface. He was always careful to smile and be respectful.
When Wang Jian heard that Wang Zongji called Tang Daoxi by his first name, he was very unhappy and said that he dared to be rude to my Privy Councilor, which was a sign of rebellion.
Wang Zongji was not only proud of himself, but also cultivated many party members and formed cliques, which made Wang Jian deeply uneasy.
Therefore, Wang Jian used the old trick of promotion and surrender on Wang Zongji, promoting Wang Zongji to Grand Master but depriving him of his military power.
Wang Zongji was so angry that he sent a memorial to Wang Jian without hesitation. The main idea was to ask Wang Jian to quickly identify his successor, and strongly hinted that he wanted to be the successor. He also strongly called on Wang Jian to hand over all military power to him... …
After reading the memorial, Wang Jian was furious. This guy really wanted to rebel!
At this time, Wang Jian was no longer the "bastard of thieves" in Xuzhou. The 62-year-old Wang Jian, who had spent his life in the military, had a deeper understanding of the city. He suppressed his anger, pretended to be calm on the surface, and sought the advice of Privy Councilor Tang Daoxi.
Scheming Boy Tang Daoxi had a serious face and said seriously: "Your Majesty, Comrade Wang Zongji is not only your eldest son, but also a veteran general who has worked hard and made great achievements. He also has high prestige in the hearts of the soldiers and civilians. The masses have a high voice. I think , he must be competent enough!”
People who scold you may not be hurting you, and people who praise you may be hurting you to death. Tang Daoxi killed Wang Zongji with just one sentence.
Tang Daoxi's words finally made Wang Jian determined to eradicate the traitor.
A few days later, Wang Zongji went to the palace to pay an audience. The conversation between father and son was very unpleasant. Wang Jian patiently advised, but Wang Zongji was arrogant and rude, and his words were even more fierce and rebellious. At this time, deep in Wang Jian's heart, he felt sad more than angry. He waved his hand and asked Wang Zongji to step back first and wait for another day when he could calm down, and then slowly calm down.
Their conversation was "unhappy" but did not "break up". Wang Zongji actually disobeyed orders and refused to retreat. He stayed in the main hall and forced Wang Jian to declare his position on the spot, making him the crown prince or handing over the country's military power to him...
Wang Jian suddenly became furious and trembled with anger, "Good boy, you really want to rebel!" Then he shouted angrily and ordered the guards to kill Wang Zongji in front of the court. Later, Wang Zongji's followers were captured and killed.
From this description in the history books, it is not difficult to see that Wang Zongji seemed to have come specifically to seek death, and was extremely mentally retarded. The description of Wang Zongji in historical records is very short, which can be summarized as his origin of life, being proud of his achievements, and committing suicide everywhere. However, I believe Wang Zongji is not that simple, but his opponent is more powerful.
Wang Zongji's arrogance has not lasted for a day or two. Wang Jian has long expected it. As for his private raising of dead soldiers, we have every reason to believe that Wang Jian will not be kept in the dark. Thinking about Wang Jian's method of dealing with Chen Jingxuan back then, Wang Jian's spies were so pervasive that even the poisons hidden by Chen Jingxuan could be quietly transferred. So could Wang Zongji's every move escape Wang Jian's eyes and ears?
And Wang Zongji presented three memorials in a row to force Wang Jian to "give in". Can Wang Jian still remain indifferent? Wang Jian was not Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty or Emperor Ai of the Tang Dynasty, so he must have been prepared. Wang Zongji went to the palace to force the palace and resisted the order face to face, indicating that he must have made some preparations, which meant that if Wang Jian did not know how to praise him, he would assassinate the king and kill Wang Jian in court.
But what he didn't know was that Wang Jian had already set up a dragnet. The reason why he hadn't taken action was because of the decades-long relationship between father and son, and wanted to give him another chance. As long as he found out he was lost, he would at least leave him a note. Stay alive.
As the saying goes, good words can never bring back a damned person. Wang Zongji finally paid the price with his life for his rebellious behavior.
After Wang Zongji was executed, Wang Jian made his second son Wang Zongyi the crown prince (the eldest son Wang Zongren died early). As the successor of the former Shu regime, he made his wife Zhou the queen and the palace maid Zhang (Wang Zongyi's biological mother) the queen. Royal concubine.
Subsequently, Wang Jian held the founding military parade in Xingxiu Mountain north of Chengdu. According to records, as many as 300,000 troops participated in the review.
After establishing the crown prince, Wang Jian set out to pave the way for Wang Zongyi internally. Needless to say, giving him more power and prestige. Another key task is to use the "Wang Zongji Incident" to carry out systematic purges. Some old officials or veterans have actively or been forced to hand over their real power, such as the adopted son. Wang Zongbian et al.
The external strategy is as clear as ever, which is to encourage Fengxiang and Li Maozhen to oppose the Central Plains Dynasty. Wang Jian had a thorough understanding of Qishu relations from beginning to end, and that was to let Fengxiang and Li Maozhen serve as the barrier of Shu. Although Wang Jian has been encroaching on Li Maozhen's territory in Shannan for a long time, he has never thought of completely annexing it, and will provide assistance to Li Maozhen when he is threatened by Guandong.
Although Wang Jian and Li Maozhen also have a story of being enemies and friends, falling in love and killing each other. At first glance, they are quite similar to Yang Xingmi in Huainan and Qian Liu in Hangzhou. However, the relationship between Qishu is even more sordid. To put it simply, it is Wang Jian is raising pigs, and when they are fattened, they will be killed.
Sooner or later, a life-and-death war will break out between Li Maozhen and Wang Jian, and the trigger of this war turns out to be a household matter - a conflict between the couple. This war also made the Central Plains Dynasty (Latter Liang) recognize the legitimacy of the former Shu regime, turning it from an illegal local separatist regime into a legal regime on an equal footing with the Central Plains Dynasty.
This interesting war will be presented one by one in the following article.
