[Four Evils and Five Ghosts]
Due to Xu Zhigao's preference, Li Jing has not enjoyed the treatment of "Crown Prince" for a long time. First of all, he did not receive good pre-job training and did not obtain the "Emperor's Employment License", which made his personal abilities not up to standard; secondly, he did not truly organize A direct line force with both ability and political integrity and trustworthiness.
This destined Li Jing to be an extremely weak new king, which also determined that in the early stage, he must be a good gentleman and good old man who compromised at every turn, with a weak and cowardly image.
For example, after the promulgation of the posthumous edict, Li Jing, who had become the emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, did not dare to sit in the Jinluan Palace to show his humility, so much so that his chief aide Feng Yansi had to persuade him to start working as soon as possible four times a day; at the same time, Li Jing also had many For the first time, he publicly stated that he would give up the throne to his younger brother Li Jingsui, and even issued an edict to call him the "Emperor's Crown Prince";
For another example, Li Jing did not dare to call officials at all levels by their first names.
And the people Li Jing deeply believed to rely on were those who had worked around him (Prince Qi's Mansion). These were also Li Jing's few "direct relatives", and Li Jing appeased and indulged them without any bottom line.
Take Chen Jue for example. After Li Jingqian's death, the cunning Chen Jue believed that the situation in the battle for the inheritance was unclear. He did not dare to take risks like Song Qiqiu did, so he chose to protect himself wisely. He claimed to be ill at home for a long time and stayed at home for several months. He left home and avoided the troubled waters of establishing a prince. He did not go out to take care of matters until Xu Zhigao's posthumous edict was issued. Therefore, he was impeached by Xiao Yan Shangshu, who accused him of ulterior motives. He requested to be punished, but Li Jing vetoed it.
Another example is that Feng Yansi and Feng Yanlu secretly tampered with the imperial edict and added the clause "allowing people to freely buy and sell their children." They were also caught by Xiao Yan and took away the stolen goods. The evidence is irrefutable. However, Li Jing not only refused to take back the imperial edict on the grounds that it had been issued, but also He turned a blind eye to the Feng brothers' tampering with the imperial edict.
At that time, the civil service group of the Southern Tang Dynasty was divided into two camps, namely the "Princeling Party" represented by Song Qiqiu, Chen Jue, Wei Cen, Feng Yansi, Feng Yanlu, Li Zhenggu, and Zha Wenhui, and the "Princeling Party" represented by Xiao Yan , Sun Sheng, Chang Mengxi, Han Xizai, Jiang Wenwei, and Li Deming led the "Qingliu Party".
The most ironic thing is that Song Qiqiu, who tried his best to oppose Li Jing at the beginning, actually became the soul of the "princeling". The two factions fought openly and secretly throughout Li Jing's reign.
Here, we take a brief look at the “Princeling Party”.
According to legend, Emperor Shun exiled four evil gods to the four directions. They were Chaos, Qiongqi, Taotie, and Taotie. They were called the "Four Evils" among the people, and were often used to describe notorious bad guys; and the "Five Ghosts" were also called "Four Evils". They are called the "Five Plague Messengers" and are the five plague gods in folklore. In Huainan at that time, people used the "four evils" and "five ghosts" to describe several key members of the "princeling party".
Among them, Chen Jue, Wei Cen, Feng Yansi, and Feng Yanlu are collectively known as the "Four Evils", and together with Zha Wenhui, they are collectively known as the "Five Ghosts".
Chen Jue, needless to say;
Wei Cen
His ancestral home is Yunzhou (now Yuncheng County, Heze City, Shandong Province). He is a famous traveler. When he was young, he visited the great rivers and mountains of the motherland at his own expense. Later, he came to Huainan to escape the war and found a small temporary job in the local government. position. Wei Cen has an excellent memory, is very good at observing people's words, and is proficient in flattery. He took the initiative to please the political leader Song Qiqiu, and was eventually promoted by Song Qiqiu and became a member of Song Qiqiu's party. His ability to flatter people is unparalleled, as will be discussed in detail later.
Feng Yansi, Feng Yanlu
The two are half-brothers. After Jiangmen, his father Feng Lingkai was an officer in Yangzhou. Mr. Feng was strict in running the army and loved the soldiers as his sons. He was very popular among the soldiers. That year, the deputy general launched a mutiny and set fire to the military camp. When the fire was about to spread to Feng Lingkai's military tent, the rebel soldiers spontaneously threw away their weapons and turned to help. Mr. Feng's ability to put out fires shows his sacred and inviolable status in the hearts of soldiers.
At that time, Feng Yansi, who was only 14 years old, bravely braved the Longtan Tiger's Den alone, went to the fallen city to communicate, and finally stabilized the morale of the army and quelled the rebellion. Since ancient times, heroes have emerged from youth, and Feng Yansi was highly praised by Xu Zhigao for this. After Feng Yansi grew up, he was known for his elegance and had a finger on Xu Zhigao's pulse. He was promoted one after another and was eventually assigned to the Prince of Qi's Palace as Li Jing's chief staff officer (Secretary-in-Chief).
The two Feng brothers both entered the Prince Qi's palace and became Li Jing's right-hand man, winning Li Jing's trust. However, the two brothers secretly befriended Chen Jue and clung to Song Qiqiu.
Cha Wenhui said, "Hello everyone, I am Zha Zha Hui."
Zha Wenhui was originally a rich second generation, and his family was very prosperous. However, Zha Wenhui was like a boy who spread his wealth. He often helped the poor and spent generously. After doing this for several years, he finally became a poor household. It is precisely because of this that Zha Wenhui's name is known far and near.
After learning that Xu Zhigao was recruiting talented people, Zha Wenhui took the initiative to join him. Xu Zhigao interviewed him in person. Zha Wenhui lived up to expectations and spoke astonishingly, and was deeply loved by Xu Zhigao. Song Qiqiu, who was as witty as a dog, took the opportunity to assist Zha Wenhui and praised Zha Wenhui for his ability and political integrity. As a result, Zha Wenhui was promoted and re-employed. And he happily joined Song Qiqiu's small group.
The "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" are arrogant and arrogant, relying on Li Jing's favor to run rampant. Without exception, they are all talented but unethical and educated hooligans.
The "Qingliu Party" despised their behavior. For example, Sun Sheng publicly insulted Feng Yansi and others, saying that they were like gold cups and jade plates holding shit.
Special note: I previously called Sun Sheng the "First Emperor Party" in order to distinguish him from the "Princeling Party" in terms of time and development process, but now I classify him as the "Qingliu Party" just to emphasize that they are different from the "Princeling Party". The conflict between the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" (the core of the "Princeling Party"), because strictly speaking, some people in the "Qingliu Party" are not very "Qingliu" (for example, Sun Sheng also had the idea of tampering with the imperial edict), and they Not very "party" either. The division of political factions in the Southern Tang Dynasty must be based on different periods and different main contradictions. Therefore, it used to be the "First Emperor Party" vs. the "Princeling Party", but from now on, it has become the "Qingliu Party" vs. the "Five Ghosts and Four Four" fierce". The time point is when Li Jing officially ascends the throne.
One person attained the Tao, chickens and dogs ascended to heaven, and after Li Jing ascended the throne, the "five ghosts and four evil spirits" were promoted rapidly. Taking Feng Yanlu as an example, he was promoted from a minor official of Yuanwailang in the Ministry of Rites to a member of Zhongshu Sheren, and then also a bachelor of Qinzheng Palace.
In the Five Dynasties, the official of the Ministry of Rites, Wai Lang, was a minor official "from the sixth rank", while the scholar in Zhongshu was only a "full fifth rank". If you only look at the official rank, it does not seem to be a rocket promotion. If you want to understand Feng Yanlu's "Rocket promotion" also requires a certain understanding of the official system at that time:
From the Western Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, the ancient central official system gradually formed the "three provinces and six ministries system". It was perfected in the Tang Dynasty and has been used since the late Qing Dynasty, which shows the rationality of this organizational structure.
Simply put, the Shangshu Province is the executive agency and consists of "six ministries" (officials, households, rituals, soldiers, punishments, and workers); the Menxia Province is mainly responsible for review; while the Zhongshu Province is responsible for issuing edicts.
Therefore, Zhongshu Province has become the highest power center. If ranked according to strength, the ranking of the three provinces should be Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province, and Shangshu Province. In the Tang Dynasty, if the emperor wanted someone other than the prime minister to participate in the prime minister's work, he would give that person the title of "Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi", which meant that he could participate like the officials of Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province. Discussion of political affairs.
Wai Lang, a member of the Ministry of Rites, was affiliated with the Ministry of Officials of Shangshu Province, while Sheren of Zhongshu Province was obviously affiliated with Zhongshu Province. Therefore, moving Feng Yanlu from Shangshu Province to Zhongshu Province is equivalent to moving him from the fringe to a powerful department, which is obviously an improvement.
Furthermore, although Zhongshu Sheren was not of high rank, his main job was to help the emperor draft edicts. The requirements for the job were to have excellent writing skills and to be a trustworthy comrade.
In addition, the title "Bachelor of Qinzhengdian" is also very clever. During the reign of Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty, Li Siyuan, the powerful minister An Chongjiao established the "Bachelor of Duanming Palace". Although his rank was very low, his job was to translate edicts and memorials for the emperor, and he could directly communicate with the emperor in private. The original intention of its establishment was to check and balance Hundreds of civil and military officials, a typical example of "inferior position and power". Different courts have different names, such as "Bachelor of Duanming Palace", "Bachelor of Zizheng Palace", and "Bachelor of Qinzheng Palace". The names are different, but the nature of the work is exactly the same.
In other words, Feng Yanlu's promotion was a secret promotion. He was promoted from a marginal position to the emperor's side, directly entering the core position of the highest power. He was deeply trusted by the emperor, became the emperor's "one of his own", and was even used to check and balance the prime minister. tool.
When the news of Feng Yanlu's promotion came, Du Changye, who was the observer of Jiangzhou at the time, couldn't help but sigh, saying that Feng Yanlu was promoted suddenly just by flattering the emperor and making the emperor happy with one sentence. So how should the emperor reward those who have made meritorious service to the country? Where are people?
