【Prince's Rebellion Case】
Wang Jian was old and had many adopted sons, as many as 120. All of them held heavy troops and held high positions, and they all coveted the position of successor, such as Wang Zongji.
Forced by reality, Wang Jianfeng made his second son Wang Zongyi the crown prince, and gave him the command of the Central Forbidden Army. He established the Yonghe Mansion and selected outstanding people from among the civil and military officials to serve as the crown prince's staff. The "Prince Gang" is growing in power and is ready to take over. They are just waiting for the death of the old emperor.
Prince Wang Zongyi was well aware of the principle of "one emperor, one courtier" and rejected Wang Jian's meritorious old ministers. As the leader of the "old ministers gang", Tang Daoxi became Wang Zongyi's number one target of suppression.
The last person to fight with Tang Daoxi was Wang Zongji. It seems that Wang Zongyi did not learn enough lessons from his brother.
Wang Zongyi publicly humiliated Tang Daoxi many times and made no secret of his contempt and rejection of him. The two accused each other and threw dirty water on each other in front of Wang Jian.
On one side is his biological son, on the other side is his close confidant and old minister. Wang Jian had no choice but to let Tang Dao attack outside and let him go to Xingyuan Mansion to serve as the governor of Shannan West Road. The distance brings beauty.
At this point, it should be said that Wang Zongyi has achieved a staged victory. But things went against expectations. At this time, the relationship between Qishu and Qishu broke down, and Xingyuan Mansion became the front line of the war. Tang Daoxi once again made extraordinary achievements on the Xingyuan front line, so he was transferred back to the central government and served as Privy Council envoy again.
Wang Zongyi continued to attack. So Tang Daoxi was promoted openly and secretly, and was granted the crown prince Taibao, losing all his real power. The "Prince Gang" wins again.
Nowadays, the meritorious old ministers are suppressed to the point where they can’t hold their heads high, and the “adopted son gang” even bothers Wang Zongyi to take action himself. Wang Jian started to suppress them a long time ago. Prince Wang Zongyi has a bright future.
In order to provide Qianshu with a qualified successor, Wang Jian ordered people to select educated people with simple temperaments and noble morals to serve as Wang Zongyi's tutors and teach him the art of emperorship. However, Wang Zongyi was very rude to the emperor's teachers, and did not even say a word to them. He played games with actors, actors, and actors all day long without any restraint. Moreover, Wang Zongyi had a violent temper, cruelty, and cruelty. No one among the officials dared to dissuade them. admonish.
Wang Zongyi has not yet formally assumed the position of emperor, but he has already shown signs of being a coward.
In early July of the third year of Qianhua (913), Wang Jian planned to go out to the palace on the Qixi Festival (July 7). Just the day before (July 6), Wang Zongyi convened all the princes and senior central officials for a banquet. Everyone gathered together, drank and talked, "and discussed the etiquette of the Chinese Valentine's Day."
Wang Zongyi, who was thoughtful but narrow-minded and suspicious, calmly counted the number of people attending the banquet and found that Wang Zonghan (Wang Jian's adopted son), Pan Qiao, and Mao Wenxi were absent.
Wang Zongyi was furious and said that if Wang Zonghan didn't come to the banquet, it must be Pan Qiao and Mao Wenxi who were causing discord! Elevate absence from dinner to the level of political alignment.
During the banquet, Wang Zongyi's two cronies, Xu Yao and Chang Qian, kept looking at Tang Daoxi, whispering to each other secretly, and exchanging glances. Tang Daoxi was so frightened that he fled the banquet in advance on the excuse of going to the toilet.
Early in the morning of the next day (July 7), Wang Zongyi went to the palace to complain. He made no excuses and said that Pan Qiao and Mao Wenxi were inciting feelings between our brothers.
Wang Jian did not investigate and immediately demoted the two men from the court.
It is better to know your father than your son. Wang Zongyi knew that instigating the relationship between his adopted son and the prince was the most untouchable red line in Wang Jian's heart. "Adopted son" was his most sensitive nerve and his biggest taboo.
Wang Zongyi walked out of the palace triumphantly.
At this time, a figure flashed into the palace. This person was Tang Daoxi.
Seeing Tang Daoxi, Wang Jian didn't take any exception and told him exactly what happened. His original intention was to complain to Tang Daoxi, complaining that the Confucian scholars were hateful and alienated father, son, monarch and ministers.
What Tang Daoxi said made Wang Jianru thunder: "The prince is treason!"
"ah?"
"The prince is plotting a coup and wants to take the opportunity to imprison the princes. Your Majesty is going out to the palace today, but he has to summon all the officials and princes the day before, and there are all the prince's troops outside..."
The most lethal effect is to leave half of a sentence on your lips. Let the listener use their imagination and scare themselves.
Wang Jian broke into a cold sweat after hearing this, and immediately announced that he had canceled his Valentine's Day travel plans.
In fact, Wang Jian has always been wary of the "Prince Gang". During the previous Wenqishu War, as long as the frontline situation stabilized, Wang Jian would not wait to return to Chengdu to prevent the "Prince Gang" from plotting a coup.
The "Prince Gang" controls the Central Forbidden Army and has a complete and independent set of civil and military officials. Even if the Crown Prince does not want to help the old emperor die, it is inevitable that his officials will be eager to help him become a regular official.
Tang Daoxian added another fierce plan and suggested that the field troops should be ordered to guard the capital. The intention of harming others should not be there, but the intention of guarding against others should be indispensable. Wang Jianzhun announced, so field armies from all over the country suddenly mobilized towards Chengdu, and the city of Chengdu declared martial law.
Wang Zongyi really had no intention of rebelling at that time. When he heard that Tang Dao had attacked and mobilized field troops to Beijing, he quickly mobilized the imperial army to defend himself. At the same time, he arrested Pan Qiao and Mao Wenxi and tortured them. These two people were unjustly accused and almost tortured to death. Wang Zongyi was not asked for the confession he wanted, so he was temporarily imprisoned.
The next day (July 8), Wang Zongyi decided to take a preemptive strike and led the imperial army to attack Tang Dao. Tang Daoxi was shot by a stray arrow, and then captured alive and beheaded by Wang Zongyi. The field troops who entered Beijing were also killed in large numbers. For a time, rumors spread all over the territory of Qianshu, some said that the prince Wang Zongyi was going to rebel, and some said that Tang Daoxi was going to rebel... China and foreign countries were shocked.
At this time, some understanding people in the court pointed out that this was just a power struggle between Prince Wang Zongyi and Tang Daoxi. No one had any intention of rebellion. Your Majesty should meet with senior officials to mediate and comfort.
So Wang Jian summoned Wang Zongkan, Wang Zonghe, and Wang Zonglu and ordered them to attack the rebels Xu Yao and Chang Qian.
After a small-scale conflict, Xu Yao was shot dead. Chang Qian protected Wang Zongyi and escaped, hiding at the bottom of a cabin. The Forbidden Army, which lost its command, was immediately suppressed by Wang Zongkan and others.
At midnight, Wang Zongyi was hungry, so he begged for food from the people on the boat. His identity was exposed and he was accused. Wang Jian sent his adopted son and nephew Wang Zonghan to comfort him.
But when Wang Zonghan arrived, Wang Zongyi was already a dead body.
When the news came, Wang Jian burst into tears and concluded that Wang Zonghan had deliberately killed the prince. The servants on the left and right were worried that Wang Jian would launch a purge because of this, and people were panicked.
At this time, Prime Minister Zhang Ge had just drafted an edict to appease the people and sent it to Wang Jian for review. The purpose of the draft edict was to confirm that Wang Zongyi had committed rebellion. Now that the rebellion has been confirmed, the people should not panic.
Wang Jian suddenly regained his senses. After all, people cannot be resurrected after death, so he announced that Wang Zongyi's title as crown prince would be abolished and he would be deposed as a commoner. Wang Zonghan also found out the murderer of Wang Zongyi, and dozens of people including Wang Zongyi's left and right attendants were executed according to law.
Prince Wang Zongyi died, and Wang Jian needed to appoint a new successor.
On the issue of choosing the new crown prince, Wang Jian was hesitant. He had two candidates in mind: Wang Zongren and Wang Zongjie. Wang Zongren has the charm of Wang Jian when he was young, and Wang Zongjie has outstanding talent.
Wang Jian's favorite concubine, Wang Zongyan, the son of Concubine Xu Xian, is just 15 years old this year, and is fatuous and incompetent. He is not among the candidates for the crown prince at all. Concubine Xu Xian worked actively and bought Prime Minister Zhang Ge with a hundred gold ingots.
Zhang Ge was the son of Zhang Jun, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. When Zhang Jun was exterminated, his friends took risks and helped Zhang Ge escape into Shu. After the former Shu was established, the officials paid homage to the prime minister.
As mentioned above, Zhang Jun's life was disgraceful, ridiculous and funny, and his son Zhang Ge will continue to carry forward the disgrace. Historical records record that Zhang Ge was "junior and smart, with a fatherly style". It means that Zhang Ge is knowledgeable and educated, but he is just immoral, just like his father.
Zhang Ge is petty, narrow-minded, and jealous of talents. Anyone who is more talented than him will be ruthlessly excluded and suppressed. His story will appear later.
According to historical records, when he appointed Zhang Ge as prime minister, Wang Jian told him with great expectations: "Don't rely on power, don't act selfishly, and only serve the public. This is the duty of the prime minister." However, Zhang Ge's actual performance was to "cater to him." The idea is that those who can defeat themselves will be defeated by tactics."
The reason why Wang Jian appointed Zhang Ge as prime minister was, firstly, to use his origin as "the son of the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty" to decorate his appearance, and secondly, to use his jealousy and ability to complete political purges and pave the way for the prince.
After all, Wang Jian never expected that he would suffer the consequences.
Zhang Ge and Concubine Xu Xian hit it off right away. Even without a hundred ingots of gold, Zhang Ge was happy to embrace the "Prince" and enjoy the merit of supporting him. So that night, he drafted a memorial requesting the appointment of Wang Zongyan as the crown prince, and secretly showed it to Wang Zongkan and other veteran heroes, deceiving them that it was a secret edict from Wang Jian and was Wang Jian's wish.
Everyone believed it to be true, and the "Prince's Rebellion Case" broke out inexplicably and then subsided inexplicably. There were many doubts and everyone was in danger. At this time, who dares to argue with Wang Jian on the issue of establishing a prince? Since it was Wang Jian's intention, all civil and military officials signed their names on the memorial to express their support.
Zhang Ge secretly colluded with several well-known fortune tellers trusted by Wang Jian and revealed to them Wang Jian's intention to favor Wang Zongyan.
The next day, Wang Jian received a memorial signed by hundreds of civil and military officials supporting Wang Zongyan. Sure enough, Wang Jian secretly summoned these "masters" and asked them to tell the faces and bones of these princes. Several "masters" who received "inside information" deliberately catered to Wang Jian's "intentions" and unanimously determined that Wang Zongyan was extremely rich and noble.
Wang Jian then issued an edict to confer Wang Zongyan as the crown prince.
Until the moment when the edict was announced, Wang Jian couldn't help but mutter to himself: "This guy is young, ignorant, stupid and cowardly... How do you know that he can take on such a big job?"
After Wang Zongyan's status as prince was established, the political situation in former Shu was stabilized. Another unstable element - Wang Zongxun (Wang Jian's adopted son) was killed, and the "Old Minister Gang" was frightened again; the Qishu War reignited, the former Shu won consecutive battles, and good news came frequently; Nanzhao invaded again, and was defeated by Wang Zongfan, Wang Zongbo, Wang Zongshou was defeated, and Wang Jian took advantage of the situation to suppress the "traitor" group. From then on, Nanzhao never dared to invade again.
Wang Jian's intuition was correct. Wang Zongyan was not the head of the family at all. The foundation he had worked so hard to build was destroyed by Wang Zongyan.
The story of the death of the Second Emperor of Shu will be presented in detail later.
In short, Liu Shouguang of Youzhou proclaimed himself emperor, which restrained Li Cunxu's main energy in Hedong; the dispute between Qishu and Qishu also helped the Later Liang Dynasty stabilize the western territory. Houliang finally ushered in the best opportunity for a Northern Expedition. Can Zhu Wen seize this opportunity?
