【Domineering Exposed】
Li Congrong came to Li Siyuan and said to Li Siyuan with anger and grievance: "I heard that some evil people have been talking nonsense recently and want to make me the prince. I am still young. I am studying hard, making progress every day, and working hard to improve myself. Learn how to train the army and govern the people, and don’t want to occupy this position!”
Li Siyuan said helplessly that this was the opinion of the ministers and the voice of the masses.
After Li Congrong retired, he happened to bump into prime ministers Fan Yanguang and Zhao Yanshou. Li Congrong was furious and shouted at them: "You plan to make me the prince, but you just want to seize my military power and imprison me in the East Palace. How can you hide this little idea from me?"
The two men were trembling and extremely frightened, so they immediately reported to Li Siyuan, saying that Comrade Li Congrong was upright and upright, and he wanted to serve the people wholeheartedly and had no other ideas.
Later, Li Siyuan appointed Li Congrong as the Grand Marshal of the World's Military and Horses, and granted 10,000 households in the city and 3,000 households in real terms. Then he issued an edict: the rank of the Grand Marshal was above that of the Prime Minister, which stipulated in the name of the law that Li Congrong had the supreme power. status.
"Prince" is just a title. If you can establish a prince, you can depose the prince. The "Crown Prince" is the legal successor in theory, but there are often discrepancies between theory and practice.
The "emperor" is like a legally registered couple, while the "prince" is a couple. Couples may not be able to get married. If Li Congrong wants to be the emperor, he does not necessarily have to be the prince.
According to convention, the crown prince must live in the East Palace, hand over military power, and stay away from civil and military officials to avoid suspicion. His only job is to quietly wait for the death of the old emperor.
In peaceful and prosperous times, this procedure was no problem, but in the troubled times of the Five Dynasties, handing over military power was equivalent to handing over one's life. Li Congrong did not want to place his fate on the mercy and loyalty of his ministers.
In contrast, the synonym for the prince, "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses", is more practical.
After receiving this title, Li Congrong became even more arrogant.
He first held a grand banquet and rewarded the generals heavily: each of the three commanders of the Forbidden Army, Kuanghe, Pengsheng and Yanwei, were given a horse and ten pieces of silk; the other commanders of the Forbidden Army were each given ten pieces of silk; , depending on the size of the official position, each person has three to seven pieces of silk.
Allocate a thousand men from the Peng Sheng and Yan Wei battalions as his personal bodyguards.
After that, whenever he went out, he would be accompanied by a large number of troops. Even when he entered the palace to see Li Siyuan, it was the same. There were hundreds of personal cavalry alone. The escort's bows were strung, their swords were unsheathed, and their horses were galloping. Everyone, whether officials or civilians, had to get out of the way. "Everyone who saw it was shocked."
"Literati" Li Congrong gathered his staff and guests again and wrote a composition, "Conquest of Huainan", which elaborated on his ambition to eliminate Huainan and unify the world.
After gaining the title of Grand Marshal, he opened the Grand Marshal's Mansion. Li Congrong asked Cui Tie, a Hanlin scholar, to be the judge of the Marshal's Mansion and serve as his adviser. Li Siyuan dismissed it, saying that I still had to use it myself.
Li Congrong was very angry. After leaving the hall, he complained publicly, saying that he had appointed me as the general marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, but he was not allowed to hire any staff. Why should he be on guard against me?
The words are true, but they cannot be spoken. Just like the son of a feudal official serving in the imperial army, how can you say that the favor shown to you by the court at that time was a hostage? Can this kind of truth be spoken openly?
After the civil and military officials heard Li Congrong's complaints, they believed that he had no authority and would not be successful. Sooner or later, he would be defeated in the cruel political struggle. "Everyone knows the disaster but no one dares to speak out."
Li Congrong spoke freely. Not only did he publicly complain about the current emperor, he also privately told his cronies about his horrific and bloody political purge plan: "When I take the throne, I will kill all the treacherous officials in the court!"
Who is the traitor in his mouth? Answer: Everyone.
Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not targeting anyone. What I mean is that everyone here is rubbish.
Because the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty did not support him, but supported Li Conghou. They often praised Li Conghou and belittled Li Congrong in front of Li Siyuan, which became a roadblock for Li Congrong on his way to the throne. So they all died, the whole family died.
The higher the official position and the closer he is to the emperor, the higher he will be ranked on Li Congrong's death list. For example, prime ministers Fan Yanguang, Zhao Yanshou, Shi Jingtang and so on.
These people were very self-aware, so they tried every means to escape. They resigned from their central government positions and asked to be transferred to local governments.
For example, Shi Jingtang failed to achieve success in the two Sichuan campaigns. After returning to the court, he served as the commander-in-chief of the Forbidden Army and the governor of Heyang. At a time when the Khitans were repeatedly attacking the northern border, Li Siyuan discussed with his ministers who could lead troops north to defend the enemy. Fan Yanguang and Zhao Yanshou unanimously said: "The only ones who can resist the Khitans are Shi Jingtang and Kang Yicheng."
Shi Jingtang was eager to leave the central government as soon as possible, so he happily accepted the order and moved the military envoy to Hedong Province out of Taiyuan Prefecture. When he received the edict, he found that he still retained the title of "Deputy Envoy of the Guards of the Sixth Army" to the central imperial army, so he resolutely resigned and dismissed all central government positions.
Fan Yanguang and Zhao Yanshou also tried their best to request that they be transferred to local posts.
Li Siyuan was both angry and sad about this, because he was seriously ill and saw that his end was approaching. There were undercurrents and crises in the government, but these his most trusted confidants and veterans who accompanied him to conquer the world were all at this time. Choose to leave and abandon him.
With tears in his eyes, Li Siyuan roared at Fan Yanguang and Zhao Yanshou: "Why are you abandoning me? Well, you can leave if you want. You don't have to submit a resignation letter. You can leave as long as you want!"
Zhao Yanshou's wife is Li Siyuan's thirteenth daughter, Princess Xingping. Princess Xingping excused Zhao Yanshou, saying that Zhao Yanshou was seriously ill and could not hold an important position in the court. He just did not dare to eat a vegetarian meal without his body, which would harm the interests of the empire. Furthermore, he just wanted to find a quiet place to live out his remaining days.
Fan Yanguang teamed up with Zhao Yanshou to find Li Siyuan to explain, and put on a high-spirited and upright attitude, saying that we did not dare to live up to the cultivation of the empire, but our abilities were limited and we did not dare to occupy the high position of prime minister for a long time. We hoped that we could take turns with other meritorious veterans, and share the rain and dew with other comrades. An opportunity to serve our country and our people.
He also emphasized: We dare not leave together. Please let one of us go first, and the other will stay temporarily, "the old will lead the new", and the transition will be slow. If the new successor is not capable enough, call us back, and we promise to come back immediately. Report back!
No matter how politely it is said, the real reason is tacitly understood.
"Okay, okay..." Li Siyuan appointed Zhao Yanshou as the military envoy of the Xuanwu Army in Bianzhou, and Zhu Hongzhao as the privy envoy and prime minister.
The current position of prime minister and privy envoy is a high-risk profession, so Zhu Hongzhao hurriedly resigned.
Li Siyuan couldn't bear it anymore and shouted angrily: "You all don't want to stay with me, why should I support you?"
Zhu Hongzhao did not dare to speak and accepted the appointment with tears.
Fan Yanguang also requested to be released through the relationship between the eunuch Meng Hanqiong and Wang Defei. Li Siyuan appointed Fan Yanguang as the military envoy of Chengde Army in Zhenzhou and Feng Yun as the privy envoy.
Shi Jingtang, Fan Yanguang, and Zhu Yanshou, who have the background, connections, and connections, successfully escaped the golden cicada. Where should the rest of Kang Yicheng go?
