During the Later Han Dynasty, although three towns rebelled in succession, and Hou Shu, Khitan, and Huainan were also gearing up, all of them only injured the skin of the Later Han Dynasty, not the muscles and bones. Later Han's fatal injury was internal injury.
Liu Zhiyuan established the Later Han Dynasty in a hurry and died in a hurry, leaving his son Liu Chengyou with a mess waiting for improvement, and also left him with a leadership team that was beginning to take shape.
The reason why we say it is beginning to take shape is because this leadership team has the following characteristics:
1. The structure is relatively complete. As the saying goes, a sparrow is small but has all the internal organs. The organizational structure is there, but whether it is competent or not is another matter;
2. They are a vested interest group of the Later Han regime, so they are infinitely loyal to the Later Han court and try their best to maintain the current power system and interest distribution model;
3. Almost all members of the organization are "crash courses" with shallow foundations and weak foundations. They have a strong inferiority complex in their bones, and the extreme inferiority complex leads to stubbornness and extreme behavior styles;
4. Generally speaking, anyone who has the above three problems at the same time will inevitably have this problem: internal fighting.
As mentioned in the previous article, there are deep conflicts between Liu Zhiyuan's trusted ministers, and they do not hide it at all, so it cannot be called "intrigue". Comparing the political struggle in the late Tang Dynasty, even the eunuch Tian Lingzi understands Using some conspiracies and tricks, setting up traps, and playing games with the top academics and prime ministers, although it is a mess, objectively speaking, it is still worth pondering.
The battle that took place within the core power circle of the Later Han Dynasty was already an insult to the word "intrigue". There was no disguise or filter. Both parties were honest with each other and had a clear attitude, "CNM, I will kill you."
In addition, there is also a sharp and irreconcilable conflict between the old minister Tuogu and the young master Liu Chengyou. This is also a common problem that all the "second generation of founding emperors" need to face.
Discord between generals and ministers, and rifts between emperors and ministers, were the reasons that led to the rapid demise of the Later Han Dynasty.
The Later Han Dynasty was built on the ruins of the Jin-Liao War. History did not give it time to simmer on a low fire and could only be stir-fried on a high fire. In order to quickly stabilize the situation and restore order, the Later Han Dynasty left people with the impression of "harsh Han law".
It goes without saying that the impact of war on people's production and life has not been reduced. Natural disasters in the Central Plains have not decreased. During Liu Chengyou's period, the Yellow River burst again. Locust plagues, floods, and droughts did not choose new ones due to the change of dynasties. They still remain I will never leave the suffering land of the Central Plains.
The common people had no means of livelihood, so they chose to leave their homes or gather together to become thieves. Groups of thieves robbed homes, looted counties and counties, and moved to fight in various places. For example, Li Jing of the Southern Tang Dynasty mentioned above took the opportunity to recruit surrenders and rebels along the border, and lured the Huaibei area controlled by the Later Han Dynasty to convert.
In order to resist the Khitan and appease the vassal towns that surrendered to him, Liu Zhiyuan had to destroy his family to provide relief and gave generous rewards to the soldiers. This resulted in an empty treasury and a serious deficit. He had to sell off the harem treasures and even the queen's jewelry.
Suppressing the civil uprising and pacifying the fiscal deficit became internal affairs problems that the Later Han regime urgently needed to solve. The leadership team of the Later Han Dynasty adopted simple and crude methods.
For example, the later Han Dynasty introduced the most stringent laws, which stipulated that anyone involved in theft or robbery, regardless of the amount, would be sentenced to death.
Prime Minister Su Fengji personally drafted the law and made further corrections, making it the most severe law in history: the thief himself and his neighbors, including the residents within the "Yibao", will be executed!
If someone steals something, not only will the thief himself be killed and his entire family killed, but his neighbors will also kill their entire family.
This is based on the "Guarantee and Continuous Sitting" system. In ancient China, the definition of "protection" was slightly different. In the late Tang Dynasty, four households were called "neighbors" and five households were called "protectors". In short, as long as one person breaks the law, the government's starting price is to kill five households.
After the draft was drawn up, there was a flurry of opposition. Su Fengji had no choice but to hatefully erase the word "whole clan" so that the neighbors would not have to kill the whole family, but the parents would still have to be killed.
Under the guidance of this law, two shocking cases occurred in Shandong, Hebei and other areas most severely affected by banditry:
"Pingyin County Massacre Case"
Zhang Lingrou, captain of the Yunzhou Criminal Police Brigade (thief catcher), uncovered an illegal criminal gang and traced it to Pingyin County (today's Pingyin County, Jinan City, Shandong Province), where he ruthlessly massacred hundreds of villagers in 17 villages.
"Weizhou Unjust Case"
In Weizhou, bandits were discovered. The people spontaneously organized resistance and drove away the bandits. More than a dozen enthusiastic citizens went to chase them. As a result, the bandits fled into the mountains and forests and disappeared. At this time, the governor Ye Renlu arrived with his troops. , insisting that these dozen people were accomplices of the bandits, refused to listen to excuses or investigate, directly cut off their hamstrings, and then abandoned them in the deep mountains and forests. More than a dozen people wailed and screamed. After several days, they finally die.
After the Weizhou injustice case, Prime Minister Su Fengji not only did not blame Ye Renlu, the governor of Weizhou, but instead established Comrade Ye Renlu as an outstanding model, publicly praised him by name, and called on officials across the country to learn from Comrade Ye Renlu.
The dignified imperial prime minister, who most people think of as a pedantic scholar who is weak in language, generous and tolerant, is so cruel and ruthless, let alone an illiterate general who holds a sword and a gun!
Under the call to "learn from Comrade Ye Renlu", local officials at all levels, in line with the purpose of "would rather kill three thousand by mistake than let one person slip through the net", created uncountable unjust, false and wrongful cases.
Although Su Fengji was a civil servant, his murderous character was exposed long ago. Before Liu Zhiyuan became emperor, Su Fengji would be put in "quiet jail" every time he celebrated his birthday or had an occasional minor illness. It was similar to a general amnesty, except that the cases backlogged by the government would be cleared within one-third of an acre of land under his jurisdiction. Deal with it. If the case can be closed, it must be closed on the spot. If the case cannot be closed, it must be dealt with simply, quickly and leniently. Release all the prisoners in the prison as a release and pray for blessings.
Su Fengji came to the prison and ordered that all prisoners be killed, no matter what crime they committed, no matter how serious they were, and no matter whether they were innocent or not. In short, kill them all and physically cleanse them from prison.
Su Fengji is a "black whirlwind" Li Kui who has the skin of the "wisdom star" Wu Yong. However, he has outstanding literary talent, quick thinking, and is good at observing people's words and emotions. He is very good at catering to Liu Zhiyuan, so he is deeply trusted by Liu Zhiyuan. Relying on Liu Zhiyuan's favor and his ruthless acting style, no official in Hedong dared to offend his majesty. As a result, his work efficiency was surprisingly high, and he gained Liu Zhiyuan's trust.
Another character trait of Su Fengji is greed and treating wealth as life. When he was in power, he openly accepted bribes and sold his official positions, which made the officialdom of the Later Han Dynasty a mess.
