[Zhuangzong enters Luo]
The next month after the Later Tang Dynasty destroyed Liang Dynasty, Fengxiang Li Maozhen sent an envoy to the court to express his congratulations to Li Cunxu. In the letter, Li Maozhen refers to himself as "uncle", and his words are like an elder instructing a younger generation, "Don't blame Uncle Zhen for speaking more straightforwardly, because you are young, and the water here is very deep. I'm afraid you won't be able to grasp it... "
That month, Li Cunxu ordered the capital to be moved to Luoyang.
The main reasons for moving the capital to Luoyang are as follows:
1. Politics
Chang'an and Luoyang have always been the capitals of the Tang Empire. At first, Chang'an was the capital and Luoyang was the eastern capital. During the Zhaozong Dynasty, Zhu Wen forced Zhaozong to move the capital to Luoyang. Chang'an and Luoyang have special political status and are representatives of the orthodoxy of Chinese civilization. Only the regime with this as its capital is the orthodox dynasty of the Central Plains in people's minds. And if other places such as Youzhou, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Chengdu are The political power that serves as the capital is a local separatist force.
Bianzhou is the place where Zhu and Wen Group flourished, and it also has special political significance. Li Cunxu regarded himself as the reviver of the Tang Dynasty and claimed that he inherited the mantle of the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, he had to choose between Chang'an and Luoyang as the capital, and he was determined not to follow the Zhuthi's Bianzhou.
2. Military
Although Chang'an and Luoyang were once the political, economic and cultural centers of the empire, as time passed, the center had already shifted eastward, and almost all important military towns were located east of Tongguan. Luoyang is located east of Chang'an. Comparatively speaking, Luoyang is more suitable as the command center of the empire than Chang'an.
3. Infrastructure construction
Since the "Huangchao Rebellion", Chang'an has been repeatedly ravaged by wars, vandalized several times, and almost razed to the ground. Although it has been repaired, due to the serious decline in its political status, Chang'an can no longer regain the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. .
Luoyang is the opposite. During the "Huangchao Rebellion", under the leadership of Liu Yunzhang who stayed in the eastern capital, Luoyang took the initiative to open the city and surrender, and was not attacked by the war. Although it was later artificially destroyed by Sun Ru during Qin Zongquan's rebellion, under the dedicated care of "Healing Master" Zhang Quanyi, it was fully restored and soon reached or even surpassed the pre-war level.
Later, the treacherous minister Cui Yin instructed Zhu Wen to vigorously repair Luoyang in preparation for moving the capital. Zhu Wen suddenly became enlightened and increased investment in infrastructure in Luoyang, making it meet the standards of the capital of a large empire. After Zhaozong moved eastward, Luoyang officially became the capital of the Tang Dynasty. After Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, the Later Liang Empire also used it in the early stage until Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne in Bianzhou.
Luoyang's infrastructure was sufficient to support its role as the capital of a large empire.
Taken together, Luoyang was Li Cunxu's first choice as the capital.
After receiving the news that the capital of the Later Tang Dynasty had been moved to Luoyang, Fengxiang and Li Maozhen were frightened. In his opinion, this was Li Cunxu's move of the command center to the west, which was obviously a signal to conquer Fengxiang.
Li Maozhen immediately sent his son Li Jisuo to pay tribute to the capital in person to find out Li Cunxu's true intentions. This time, Li Maozhen finally called him "Chen", and the document he handed over did not dare to be called a letter of credence, but a memorial. The words are quite modest. In less than two months, Li Maozhen's attitude changed a lot.
We already know Li Cunxu's true intention. His move to move the capital was mainly due to political considerations. He was not interested in Fengxiang and really had no intention of attacking Fengxiang. Faced with Li Maozhen's cowardly show of flattery, Li Cunxu tried his best to appease him and issued an edict. Li Maozhen was granted the title of King of Qin (originally King of Qi), and was granted the privilege of not worshiping or naming. He also conferred the title of Zhongshu Ling on his son Li Jiyu, and sent him back to the town with courtesy.
After Li Jizuo returned to Fengxiang, Li Maozhen couldn't wait to ask him what he had learned during his trip. Li Jizuo witnessed the power of the army of the Later Tang Dynasty with his own eyes, and described the power of the Later Tang Dynasty to his father with embarrassment, "How do we compare with the Back Liang? We are the king of the Back Liang, and we are bronze; compared with the Back Liang, we are the king of the Later Tang, and we are the bronze of the Back Liang. If we directly After Tang Bi... you can figure it out for yourself."
Old Li was so frightened that he hurriedly went to court again, with even more humble and humble words, asking for the restoration of the courtesy that a subject should have. The honor given by His Majesty was too hot to bear and he could not bear it.
Li Cunxu replied: You are a veteran of this dynasty, you have made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty, and you are a close comrade-in-arms with my father of the same generation. Why are you so modest? Just do it, don't be polite.
Li Maozhen's "contributions" to the Tang Dynasty are obvious to all, including the three-town invasion, the second invasion, the burning of Chang'an, and the kidnapping of Zhaozong...
As for his comradeship with Li Keyong... The Kansai Group led by Li Maozhen and the Kanto Military Alliance led by Li Keyong have been in tit-for-tat for a long time. Li Keyong went to Zhaozong many times to demand the death of Li Maozhen.
I don’t know if Li Cunxu really wants to get close to Li Maozhen, or if he is deliberately joking and sarcastic. In short, after Li Maozhen received these "kind words to comfort" from Li Cunxu, he was frightened to death and died at the age of 69.
Li Maozhen left the court and asked for his son Li Jiyu to succeed to the throne. Li Cunxu accurately played.
Li Maozhen debuted in the Xizong Dynasty. In the third year of Guangqi (887), he led the town of Fengxiang due to his meritorious service. Until his death of illness in the second year of Tongguang (924), he stayed in charge of Fengxiang for 37 years. In the Zhaozong Dynasty, he was granted the title of King Qi, and in the early Tang Dynasty, he was granted the title of King of Qin. During the Zhaozong Dynasty, Li Maozhen's power reached its peak. The Kansai Group led by him firmly controlled the Kansai and Guanzhong regions, and tried to penetrate into the Sichuan and Sichuan regions. It even once brought the capital Chang'an into its sphere of influence. "It was good at spying on soldiers." , was quite involved in government affairs, and began to aspire to aspire to the throne." He also made efforts to dethrone and establish the king more than once.
It is precisely because of his arrogance and domineering that he has been surrounded by public opinion and has become the target of public criticism. To the south, he was constantly encroached and harassed by Wang Jian of Xichuan; to the east, he was extremely weird and offended the two most powerful vassals in Kanto - Li Keyong of Hedong and Zhu Wen of Bianzhou.
Afterwards, he was taught by three bosses in turn to teach him a new life. The Kansai Group collapsed, and Fengxiang's power declined day by day. So much so that after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, he never dared to publicly proclaim himself emperor.
In the end, this once-powerful figure, the leading brother in the Kansai region, and the first brother of Qilong was reduced to a soy sauce man and a passerby who was fighting for hegemony in Shanxi and Bianer. After sitting in Fengxiang for 37 years, he was finally frightened to death by a few polite words from his junior Li Cunxu. It was pitiful, sad and deplorable.
When Li Maozhen was at his peak, he owned twenty states, but by the end of his life, only seven states remained. The land is small, the people are small, and the economy is difficult. In order to increase fiscal revenue, Li Maozhen ordered the "oil ban", that is, oil was listed as a government monopoly, and lamp oil was also included in the government monopoly. In order to save money, people had no choice but to burn pine trees (dead and aged pine wood, which contains trace amounts of pine oil and is now often made into bracelets and handles). So Li Maozhen ordered a ban on the use of Songmingzi to force the people to buy the high-priced oil sold by the government.
An acting official said to him: "Please ban the bright moon as well (I ask you to ban the bright moon)." Li Maozhen smiled awkwardly but politely and expressed his gratitude to the acting officer for his advice. Later, "forbidden moonlight" became an idiom allusion to describe excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes.
But generally speaking, Li Maozhen was very gentle during the 37 years he guarded Fengxiang. Historical records record that he was "tolerant and loving, and the people were quite peaceful."
The eldest son Li Jiyu succeeded to the throne of Fengxiang Jiedushi. He is smart and alert, has a gentle temperament, is good at calligraphy and painting, and is polite and tolerant in dealing with others. He once interceded for his enemies and was praised by the world; he owned thousands of hectares of fertile fields and bamboo forests in Fengxiang, but he voluntarily gave it up because he was unwilling to compete with the people for profit, and was praised by the people of Fengxiang; his servants and subordinates made mistakes and never punished them. Responsibility and punishment... In short, he was modest and loyal, lenient in administration and caring for the people, continuing Li Maozhen's governance style.
During the Ming Dynasty, it moved to Bianzhou and later to Yunzhou. When Li Congke, then the military governor of Fengxiang, launched a rebellion and went to Beijing to seize power, the people of Fengxiang spontaneously stopped Li Congke's horse and begged for Li Jizuo to come back and take charge of Fengxiang. After the last emperor Li Congke ascended the throne, he complied with public opinion and appointed Li Jifu as Fengxiang's military envoy and granted him the title of Duke of Qin.
Shi Jingtang, the founder of the Later Jin Dynasty, was granted the title of King of Qin and King of Qi. The emperor of the Later Jin Dynasty, Shi Chonggui, served as a Taibao for Li Jizuo. In the third year of Kaiyun of the Later Jin Dynasty (946), Li Jiyu died of illness in Fengxiang at the age of 49.
Li Jichang, the second son of Li Maozhen, served as a governor and commander of the imperial army in the Later Tang and Later Jin dynasties. His presence was even lower, and he had "no special government to praise and no harsh laws to demote." Tianfu died of illness in the third year of Tianfu (938) at the age of 40.
The third son, Li Jizhao, has the lowest sense of existence. In the "Old History of the Five Dynasties", his biography only has one sentence: "Li Jizhao, governor of Longzhou, general of Zhuwei, died." In the more concise "New History of the Five Dynasties", , just eliminate the pen and ink, there is not a single word. I don’t know the dates of his birth and death.
After Li Siyuan came to the throne, he ordered the names of the three brothers to be changed, changing the word "ji" to the word "cong". Therefore, some historical materials record Li Maozhen's three sons as Li Congyu, Li Congchang, and Li Congzhao.
