[Horses fighting over slots]
A year later, Ma Yin went to the central court, saying that he was seriously ill, and asked that the throne be passed to his son Ma Xisheng.
Soon after, Ma Yin died of illness. His political will is very strange. It is said that he asked his sons to continue to be brothers and brothers, and hung a sword in the ancestral hall, saying that anyone who dared to disobey this order would be killed.
In the later Tang Dynasty, the Central Court appointed Ma Xisheng as the Military Envoy and Minister of Wu'an Army. It did not clarify the inheritance issue of "King of Chu" and issued an edict stating that Comrade Ma Yin's official position and title had reached their peak and could no longer be given posthumous titles. He could only be given the posthumous title " "Wu Mu", I would like to leave the court for three days.
After taking the throne, Ma Xisheng also made a puzzling decision: Shangshu claimed that he was following his father's orders to abolish the "Chu State" and restore it to the old system of vassal towns in the Later Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, the central court of the later Tang Dynasty readily accepted it and appointed Ma Xisheng as military governor of Wu'an, Jingjiang and other armies and as the chief secretary of the army.
Obviously, there is a political game between Ma Xisheng and the Central Committee of the Later Tang Dynasty. We have every reason to believe that the so-called "Ma Yin's will" was completely fabricated by Ma Xisheng.
If it was Ma Yin's intention to abolish the kingdom and restore the vassal status, then he could have stated it directly in the memorial requesting to give up the throne to Ma Xisheng. Why did he have to ask Ma Xisheng to convey it? The time apart is so short, is it necessary to do anything extra?
The later Tang Dynasty court said that Ma Yin's official title was too high and could not be given as a posthumous gift. This reason was really far-fetched. After Ma Yin's death, the imperial court only recognized Ma Xisheng's "Jiedushi" and deliberately ignored the inheritance of the "King of Chu". Could it be an oversight?
By connecting several events before and after, a political game of the post-Tang Dynasty's elimination of vassal states emerges before our eyes:
Because Ma Yin doted on his little wife, he abolished the concubine and abolished the eldest son and established the young, which laid the foundation for his descendants. More than thirty foals were eager to covet the family property. Ma Xisheng also felt threatened by his brothers, so he forced his father to go to the court while he was seriously ill and clarify his legal rule over Southern Chu through the Central Court of the Later Tang Dynasty.
When Gao Yu was killed, Ma Yin's behavior seemed to illustrate the fact that he was sidelined.
After receiving Ma Yin's advice, the later Tang Dynasty saw through Ma Xisheng's little plan at a glance, and even suspected that Ma Yin had been killed by Ma Xisheng.
According to the records in "Zizhi Tongjian", after receiving this memorial letter, the central court of the Later Tang Dynasty actually issued an edict like this: ordering Ma Xisheng to stop mourning and go to work. It seems to be a sincere lie.
In fact, Ma Yin was not dead at that time.
The Later Tang Dynasty appointed Ma Xisheng as the Military Envoy of Wu'an Army, but did not confer him the title of King of Chu. His intention was to leave enough room for imagination to the other thirty or so little horses, and to convey to them a clear signal from the central court: fight!
This is a strategy similar to "two peaches kill three soldiers", and is a common method used by the central government to instigate local strife and strife.
Ma Xisheng said, "If the King of Chu doesn't give it to me, then no one will want it, and no one will want to fight for it." So under the pretense of his father's death, he took the initiative to abolish the "Chu State" and restore the old system of vassal towns. Now that the vassal town has been restored, Ma Xisheng, the military governor of Tanzhou Wu'an Army, is still the legal ruler of Nanchu.
This was Ma Xisheng's strategy of retreating in order to advance, and he successfully resolved the central government's vicious plan of "two peaches kill three people."
And Ma Yin's other puzzling "will" is to order his sons to succeed each other. Isn't this clearly inciting his sons to fight against each other?
The power of Nanchu has been contested and passed down among the sons since Ma Yin's death. This "will" is most likely a fabrication by these sons to prove the rationality of their seizure of power.
Ma Yin's sons killed each other, which lasted for twenty years, until in 951 AD, the Southern Tang Dynasty sent troops to destroy Nanchu, ending Ma's rule over Hunan.
In 928, Xu Dexun, the general of Southern Chu, told Huainan generals Miao Lin and Wang Yanzhang that if you want to conquer Nanchu, you must wait patiently. After our old comrades are all dead, the foals will fight for the manger. It’s time to take action again.
His prediction came true.
Ma Xisheng, who inherited Nanchu, was completely valuing his mother. He was established because his mother, Concubine Yuan De, was favored. He had no outstanding talents or praiseworthy conduct.
Ma Xisheng reigned for three years, leaving only three short stories in history:
chicken master
Ma Xisheng especially admired Zhu Wen, the Taizu of the Later Liang Dynasty. However, what he admired was different. It was neither Zhu Wen's courage in galloping nor his skill in maneuvering, but Zhu Wen's eating habits. It is said that Zhu Wen loved to eat chicken, and Ma Xisheng admired him so much that he was determined to imitate him.
Ma Xisheng eats fifty chickens every day. Apparently, he wasn't eating the whole chicken.
For example, Cai Jing, a famous traitor in the Northern Song Dynasty, lived an extremely luxurious life. He loved to eat crab roe buns. It is said that the crab roe of thirty large crabs could only make four buns. The cost of a meal of crab roe buns for Cai Jing was as much as that of 50 households in the capital of the Song Dynasty at that time. year’s living expenses!
Ma Xisheng's eating method must be very tricky, so he only consumes 50 chickens every day.
During the period of mourning, there was no trace of sadness on Ma Xisheng's face. He indulged in eating chicken every day and could not extricate himself. On the day of Ma Yin's funeral, Ma Xisheng didn't have time to see him off and was too busy enjoying the delicious food - chicken soup. After being persuaded by the civil and military ministers for a long time, Ma Xisheng reluctantly put down his bowls and chopsticks and took a few steps with his father after drinking several bowls of chicken soup in one breath.
A minister named Pan Qi was really angry and sarcastically said: "Ruan Ji in the Jin Dynasty ate steamed pig when he was in mourning. In this dynasty, Ma Xisheng ate chicken in mourning. There are talents in every dynasty and every generation!"
Ruan Ji was one of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove", so Pan Qi said that Ma Xisheng was also a talent.
Killing and stealing goods
A big businessman who traveled across the ocean came to Hunan to sell a stunning treasure - a rhinoceros horn belt. The first thing that makes this rhino horn belt unique is that it can emit light. Like a luminous pearl, the light it emits can illuminate a large room. room. Businessman quotes millions.
As the king of Southern Chu, Ma Xisheng was greedy for money and life. He directly killed the businessman and took the precious rhino horn as his own. It is said that after a month, the rhino horn belt no longer glowed.
Can't pray for rain
Since Mahisheng came to the throne, there has been a severe drought in the territory, and Mahisheng ordered all temples in the territory to be closed. This record is very vague. It is not known whether Mahisheng hated the gods for not giving rain and broke the feudal superstition, or whether he closed the temples of other sects and only used a certain sect. In short, Mahisheng wanted to pray for rain by closing the temple.
In July of the third year of Changxing (932), it never rained. And Ma Xisheng also died of a sudden illness at the age of 34, leaving us prematurely. Ma Xisheng was not crowned king throughout his life, but was granted the title of King of Hengyang after his death.
Of course, we can also speculate that Ma Xisheng may not have died naturally.
After Ma Xisheng's death, generals led by Yuan Quan and others supported Ma Xifan as a new generation leader. Ma Xifan was previously deceived by Li Cunxu, and later framed and killed Gao Yu together with Ma Xisheng.
Ma Xifan was narrow-minded and couldn't wait to squeeze out other brothers when he first came to power. Among all the horses, Ma Xifan reigned the longest, and it was he who exhausted all the national power of Nanchu.
The story of "horses vying for the slot" will be described in detail later. Here we are still focusing on the "cutting down of vassalage" campaign by Li Siyuan's government in the Later Tang Dynasty: Li Siyuan took advantage of the opportunity of Ma Yin's death to provoke a succession struggle within Nan Chu, and achieved certain results. Although Nan Chu was not completely dismembered, Nan Chu Therefore, he has been vassal to the Central Plains Dynasty for a long time.
