[chess piece Li Conghou]
Chess pieces are also discarded. Li Conghou's tragedy was doomed from the moment he left Weizhou.
After Li Siyuan's death, the palace blocked the news. Three days later, on November 29, Li Conghou rushed from Weizhou to Luoyang. On December 1, the sad news of the emperor's death was officially announced. Li Conghou ascended the throne in front of the coffin. The third emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty - Emperor Min of the Later Tang Dynasty (also known as "Emperor Min").
Li Conghou's accession to the throne was not the end of this big political struggle, just a small comma. After the defeat of the Li Congrong Group, it did not suffer a complete liquidation. This is the result of the game between multiple forces. Immediately afterwards, these interest groups that won in the first round will engage in more brutal competition for interests.
Let’s first briefly review several major interest groups:
1. "Rocket School"
Representative figures: Zhu Hongzhao, Feng Yun, Zhu Hongshi;
Characteristics: Young, inexperienced, low prestige, recently promoted to a high position; dark horse in politics;
2. "Qin Wang Faction"
Representative: Kang Yicheng
Characteristics: He is the king of Song Dynasty but his heart is in Qin Dynasty, cleaning up the fish that slipped through the net among "Li Congrong's gang members"
3. "Harem School"
Representative figures: Concubine Wang De, eunuch Meng Hanqiong
Features: The river is declining, and tomorrow is gone. Because the basis of its power is the emperor's favor and trust, once the emperor and his courtiers were in the same dynasty, the new emperor was only willing to inherit the power of the previous dynasty, not the ministers of the previous dynasty, let alone the favored concubines of the previous emperor.
4. "Conglong Sect"
Representative figure: Song Lingxun
Characteristics: Li Conghou’s guest of staff when he was in Qianlong, a real direct descendant of Conglong, and Li Conghou’s most trusted confidant
5. "Strong faction"
Representative figures: Li Congke, Shi Jingtang, Fan Yanguang, Zhao Dejun, Zhao Yanshou, etc.
Characteristics: A veteran of the former dynasty, a meritorious old general, with a very high reputation in the army, now living in a local feudal town, holding a heavy army, and posing the greatest threat to the central court.
These major interest groups are intertwined, with deep cooperation and conflicts of interest, and are both enemies and friends. Under the deep water, the "Li Congrong rebellion case" is only a small climax of the struggle in terms of the overall process.
The "Rocket Faction" was also initially used as a chess piece, a temporary scapegoat brought in by the "Strong Faction" Jin Chan after she escaped from the shell. Unexpectedly, they became the biggest beneficiaries in the "Li Congrong Rebellion Case". This interest group has the most deformed form. It belongs to the political nouveau riche. It is a "three-no product" with no foundation, no background, and no qualifications. It has the worst strength, but it has the greatest power. It is like a skinny man holding the Qinglong Yanyue Sword. But the burly men around him were holding nail clippers.
Such a social form will inevitably cause more intense shocks.
It is impossible to give up the benefits that have been obtained. The "Rocket Faction" took the initiative to attack and launched indiscriminate attacks on other factions to weaken their opponents and enhance their own strength. This is obviously a huge gamble, and they will all be playing with fire.
They first launched an attack on the "harem faction", and the breakthrough point was the Si Yiwang family.
Si Yi, a female palace official, was made in the sixth grade of the Tang Dynasty. As the name suggests, she was responsible for the management of clothes, jewelry and other matters in the palace. In addition, this Wang has another identity: Li Congyi's wet nurse.
As soon as Li Congyi was born, he was "adopted" to the infertile Concubine Wang De. This Siyi Wang was designated as Li Congyi's wet nurse. Therefore, the Si Yi Wang family and Wang De Fei have a very good relationship.
It is said that according to the "Rocket School":
One day, Zhu Hongshi's wife came into the palace and chatted with Si Yi Wang. During the chat, they talked about the recent big melon - "Li Congrong's rebellion case." Si Yi Wang made the following remarks to Zhu Hongshi's wife:
"Li Congrong is a son. His biological father is seriously ill. Why don't he come and see him? He led the troops into the palace to defend the emperor, but he was falsely accused of rebellion. Do you think he was wronged? Besides, Li Congrong treats you How good your husband Zhu Hongshi is! You usually give him so many rewards, but at the critical moment, your husband Zhu Hongshi doesn't even defend him. Hey, it's so unjust."
Then Zhu Hongshi's wife relayed this to Zhu Hongshi, who in turn relayed it to Kang Yicheng, and then jointly reported it to Li Conghou.
The "Rocket School" also broke out another more shocking palace scandal: Si Yiwang and Li Congrong had an adulterous affair!
It is said that according to the "Rocket School":
Si Yiwang saw that Li Siyuan was old and Li Congrong was very powerful, so she wanted to hug Li Congrong's thigh and take the initiative to seduce him. The two of them hooked up, which was very vulgar. When Li Congyi was just four years old, his nanny, Si Yi Wang, lied to Li Siyuan, saying that little Li Congyi wanted to play with his older brother Li Congrong. Li Siyuan asked Li Congyi, and Li Congyi replied, "I miss my brother" using the words Si Yi Wang had taught him in advance. Li Siyuan was very happy, of course the brothers were in harmony, so he asked his nanny Si Yi Wang to take Li Congyi to Li Congrong's house as a guest. The two threw Li Congyi aside, and then did something indescribable.
Si Yiwang not only sold her body to Li Congrong, but also betrayed palace intelligence to Li Congrong and acted as Li Congrong's spy.
Li Conghou was so angry that he immediately ordered Si Yi Wang to commit suicide, and then ordered Si Yi Kang to die. Si Yi Wang was Li Congyi's wet nurse, and Wang De Fei was Li Congyi's adoptive mother. This matter naturally involved Wang De Concubine, which was also the true intention of the "Rocket Sect".
Li Conghou also wanted to punish Wang Defei, but Empress Dowager Cao intervened to stop her. Wang Defei was safe and sound, but she was alienated and neglected, and her power was greatly damaged.
The death of the Si Yi Wang family occurred on December 9, less than 10 days after Li Conghou ascended the throne.
Next, the "Rocket Faction" wisely focused its attack on the "Conglong Faction".
The only backer of the "Conglong Sect" is Li Conghou. They are also "three-no products", but they are Li Conghou's direct followers and have the greatest potential. If they cannot be nipped in the bud, then over time, Li Conghou will inevitably become "Conglong Sect". The "Rocket Faction" was replaced by the "Rocket Faction", the so-called emperor and his ministers. Therefore, the "Conglong Sect" must be eradicated before they develop.
On December 14, less than half a month after Li Conghou ascended the throne, under the heavy pressure of the "Rocket Faction", Song Lingxun, the top representative of the "Conglong Faction", was appointed as the governor of Cizhou.
There are some fringe figures who have no obvious interest demands and do not belong to any vested interest group. They are former ministers of Zhuangzong and Mingzong. In theory, they are the "first emperor faction". In this turbulent political struggle, they maintain their position. To achieve neutrality, he was only responsible to the court and did not join other factions.
In theory, they are harmless products, but some of them wield coveted power, which is their original sin. The political field is like a primitive hunting ground. The prey is innocent, and the meat on the body is the original sin.
For example, An Yanwei is currently the Commander-in-Chief of the Horse Guards and the Royal Forbidden Army Cavalry; Zhang Congbin is the Commander-in-Chief of the Infantry Guards and the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Forbidden Army Infantry. The "Rocket Faction" does not hate An and Zhang, but they covet the power in their hands.
Therefore, under the heavy pressure of the "Rocket Sect", on the 13th day of the first lunar month in 934, Li Conghou ascended the throne for more than a month and appointed An Yanwei as the military governor of Hezhong, and Zhu Hongshi replaced him as the "commander of the guard and horse army"; Zhang Congbin was appointed as the military commander of Zhangyi Army in Jingzhou, and Huangfu Yu succeeded him as the "commander of the infantry capital".
An Yanwei and Huangfu Yu are now just soy sauce men, pawns in political struggles, at the mercy of others, but they will be famous figures in the future, which will be discussed in detail later.
