1. Behead “connected households”
Queen Mother Li had an old friend who wanted to arrange for her son to join the Forbidden Army. Of course, this was also Queen Mother Li's own wish. At that time, it was Shi Hongzhao who was in charge of the imperial army. What Shi Hongzhao did was shocking: he directly beheaded this "connected household".
2. Suppress the "uncle clan"
Empress Dowager Li's brother Li Ye, Liu Zhiyuan arranged for him to work in the palace, and Liu Chengyou also trusted his uncle very much. By chance, there was a vacancy in the position of Xuanhui Envoy, and Li Ye wanted to get this position.
Xuanhui envoy, this official position has a very high appearance rate. It was established in the mid-Tang Dynasty (Tang Xianzong). It was initially held by eunuchs, who were responsible for the personnel scheduling of palace staff and preparations for court meetings, sacrifices, and state banquets. In addition, they were responsible for inspecting the tributes paid by princes, vassal towns, and foreign countries.
It may be similar to the "Eunuch Chief Manager" we often joke about. In short, it is a typical job of "keeping things simple and respecting the official". It is also a fat job. Because he is in charge of personnel affairs, he bribes constantly; he is also responsible for inspecting tributes, so he can Yan Guo's feathers are plucked; his rank is high, and he is on an equal footing with the prime minister and privy envoys; he is also in a position where he can get close to the emperor and gain the emperor's trust.
Therefore, since the end of the Tang Dynasty, Xuanhui envoys have often appeared together with privy envoys in the lists of masterminds of major palace coups.
Starting from the Later Liang Dynasty, the privy envoys and Xuanhui envoys were no longer the exclusive domain of eunuchs, but were instead held by the emperor's direct relatives.
Li Ye wanted to be the envoy of Xuanhui, and received strong support from Emperor Liu Chengyou and Empress Dowager Li. Liu Chengyou and Empress Dowager Li hinted to the prime minister that Su Fengji was extremely smart, and they said that you don't need to hint, I want to recommend it, we are comrades in the same boat. Therefore, Su Fengji and other civil servant groups also unanimously recommended Comrade Li Ye.
However, Shi Hongzhao and Yang Bin strongly opposed it, saying that the promotion of officials should strictly follow the relevant systems and be gradual and orderly. Even relatives of the emperor could not be promoted by leaps and bounds. After the "Li Tao Case", Yang Bin was above the prime minister and had veto power over the appointment and removal of officials, so Li Ye failed to get what he wanted.
Li Yehen gritted his teeth, but the emperor and Queen Mother Li could only hide behind the scenes at this time, and it was inconvenient to come forward directly, so they could only sulk.
3. Suppress the "little people"
As Shi Hongzhao and Yang Bin said, according to the rules and regulations, the person who should be promoted to Xuanhui Envoy should be Yan Jinqing, the Hakka Envoy, but he was suppressed by Shi Hongzhao and Yang Bin and was promoted for a long time;
Privy Councilor Nie Wenjin, Feilong Envoy Houzan, Hanlin Tea and Wine Envoy Guo Yunming, etc. were also deeply trusted by Liu Chengyou. Without exception, they were artificially suppressed and were not promoted for a long time;
Liu Zhu, the former governor of Qingzhou, was corrupt and violent during his tenure. Taking advantage of the "Great Shift of the World" after the three towns were pacified, the imperial court wanted to transfer him to the central government, but it was also afraid that he would refuse the imperial edict and not be replaced. This coincided with the Southern Tang Dynasty's rebellion on the southeastern border. When the incident happened, the imperial court sent Guo Qiong to lead the imperial army to Qingzhou, claiming to support the front lines of Yizhou and Mizhou. Liu Zhu was very frightened, and then set off for Bianzhou.
After Liu Zhu entered Beijing, he should have been assigned a position in the Forbidden Army, but Shi Hongzhao and Yang Bin selectively forgot about it and never assigned him a position. Liu Zhu was reduced from a deputy provincial cadre to a jobless vagrant in the north.
These people were full of complaints against Shi Hongzhao, Yang Bin and other people in power, especially Liu Biao, who often cursed them behind their backs.
4. Rewards are prohibited
In the third year of Qianyou (950), Liu Chengyou ended his three-year mourning period and began to listen to music and watch singing and dancing. The Royal Performing Arts Troupe, which had been sealed for three years, finally opened its doors and performed particularly hard. Liu Chengyou was very happy and rewarded the actors and actresses with many brocade robes and jade belts on the spot.
The actors and actresses were very sensible. After thanking Liu Chengyou, they also went to thank Shi Hongzhao.
Unexpectedly, Shi Hongzhao became furious and cursed: "Soldiers fought bloody battles on the border and almost died without any reward. What merits did you have to deserve these rewards?" Then he took away all the rewards and returned them to the treasury.
Shi Hongzhao's approach was a blatant provocation to the imperial power, which was tantamount to announcing to people: The emperor's words do not apply to me! In other words, the emperor's order is useless paper to me.
The actors and actresses were disappointed, and Liu Chengyou was very angry.
5. Anger turns beauty into beauty
Liu Chengyou had his favorite concubine, Geng, who planned to make her queen. Yang Bin refused, saying that it would be inappropriate to make you queen just after you took off your mourning clothes. Aren't you afraid that the world will laugh at you and scold you?
As a result, I don’t know whether it was related to being rejected immediately. Within a few days, Geng died of illness. Liu Chengyou was very sad, so he wanted to bury her like a queen.
Yang Bin once again jumped out to object and argued hard, saying that since she was not a queen, she could not be buried with queen rites, otherwise it would be trespassing!
Liu Chengyou was angry again.
6. “Shut up”
One day, Shi Hongzhao and Yang Bin discussed national affairs in front of Liu Chengyou.
Mainly Shi Hongzhao and Yang Bin were discussing, Liu Chengyou only acted as a background, and he had no say. Shi Hongzhao and Yang Bin talked so much that they finally said they were tired. They took a sip of tea and took a breath. At this time, Liu Chengyou forced the microphone to turn on, brushed his presence, cleared his throat, and said a leadership-like all-purpose statement: "Ahem...I think this matter should be taken seriously..."
Yang Bin immediately shouted loudly, interrupted rudely, with a fierce look in his eyes, and scolded Liu Chengyou: "When adults are talking, why do children get in the way? As long as we are here, just shut up and listen."
Afterwards, Shi Hongzhao and Yang Fan continued to discuss, and Liu Chengyou never dared to say a word again. I don’t know whether he was angry or scared, but Liu Chengyou was shaking all the time in the second half of the process.
Liu Chengyou was very angry again.
7. The sound of hammers in the middle of the night
Under the strong suppression of Shi Hongzhao and Yang Bin, Liu Chengyou, who was regarded as the emperor, did not dare to show his dignity. Suddenly one night, there was a "ding-ding-ding-ding" sound coming from the arsenal in the palace, which was obviously making iron tools.
Liu Chengyou was so frightened that he couldn't sleep all night, worried that some people were plotting a coup. This sound kept ringing for several days in a row, and Liu Chengyou stayed up all night, exhausted both physically and mentally.
Liu Chengyou was not only angry, but scared. Anger and fear can make people lose their minds, and of course, love.
When Liu Chengyou suffered from insomnia for several days and was dominated by the fear of a "coup", Su Fengji realized that the opportunity had come.
After the "Li Tao case", Su Fengji became much smarter. He did not dare to show his face, but continued to hide behind the scenes. "Uncle's clan is small" became his pawn. This trick is very clever, because the real backers of "Uncle's Small Clans" are Empress Dowager Li and Liu Chengyou. Even if they find trouble, Empress Dowager Li and Liu Chengyou will not deal with them like they did Li Tao. They will be fine, secretly Su Fengji, who instigated them, will be fine.
