[Jiang Wenwei’s struggle]
In the court hall, Jiang Wenwei pointed the finger at the "four murderers" who covered the sky with one hand, and shocked everyone with his words. In the astonishment of all the officials, Jiang Wenwei opened up his firepower and poured beans out of the bamboo tube:
"Since your Majesty's reign, the four people whom your Majesty has trusted most, Feng Yansi, Yanlu, Wei Cen, and Chen Jue, have all been promoted from subordinates to high positions. They have not yet become a good minister and have become the beauty of the country. They are cunning and seeking power. They quoted a group of petty officials. .”
——Since His Majesty ascended the throne, his closest confidants are the "Four Evils", and they are all direct minions of your Prince Qi's Mansion. One of them was able to ascend to heaven, and "Pia Liu" was transferred from the Street Office to the State Council, but he failed to find a single virtuous person for the country. ! But they only know how to fight for power and create many party members.
"When Your Majesty first came to power, he often held the position of refutation and Mengxi. He spoke righteously and gave correct opinions. He was the first to be banished. He abandoned his loyalty and refused to give advice. This is the beginning of his career."
——Chang Mengxi, what a good boy, what an upright speaker, but he was the first to be rejected and the first to do bad things.
"The female ministers had a plan and wanted to gain authority, so on the eighth day of the first month of the second year of Youbaoda, she ordered the ministers and officials not to enter...
——After mentioning Chang Mengxi’s “feng refutation” and being demoted, he also mentioned that in early 944 AD, Li Jing announced that Li Jingsui would enter the palace to participate in national affairs, and that except for Wei Cen and Zha Wenhui, no one would be allowed to enter the palace without a special summons. Enter the palace. Everyone was shocked, and finally gave up in a hurry under tremendous pressure.
Afterwards, Jiang Wenwei mentioned the demotion of Censor Zhang Wei, saying that Zhang Wei discussed matters, disobeyed powerful officials, and offended the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" group. As a result, he was also demoted, and His Majesty said in the edict that he was demoted. "If you ignore your official duties, you will write a report next to you." If even the impeachment of the imperial censor is regarded as "overstepping his duties," then who will dare to speak out and justly?
It's not over yet... Yan Xu, a relative of the emperor and the country, was ostracized just because he refused to join the "Five Ghosts and Four Fiends" group. Fortunately, Zhang Yifang came to Shu to intercede and saved his life.
Zhang Yifang, whose original name was Zhang Yuanda, was used as a censor when Xu Zhigao became emperor. Because of his loyalty, uprightness and outspokenness, he was repeatedly awarded by Xu Zhigao. He was named "Yifang" after Wang Yifang, a famous official of the Tang Dynasty, hoping that he would be like Wang Yifang. Loyalty, benevolence and righteousness will go down in history.
"Of course, those who keep the righteous will be offended, and those who are friends with the evil will be trusted..."
——The law-abiding people are melancholy in the morning, but the strong beams sing joyfully every night.
"...The two crimes have been punished, but the public sentiment has not been stopped. Only by eliminating the four evils can the anger of the people be dispelled."
——Killing two people is not enough to make the court clear. The whole family must be neat and tidy. Kill them all!
Jiang Wenwei's memorial is filled with thousands of words, heartbreaking and calling out loudly that the four murderers must be killed.
However, Jiang Wenwei still committed a little taboo in political struggle. Generally speaking, when fighting between parties, you should try to reduce the area of attack as much as possible, and don't make too many enemies. Either capture the thief first, capture the king first, or knock the mountain to shock the tiger. In short, it is best to defeat them one by one, as the resistance in doing so will be relatively small.
However, Jiang Wenwei expanded the scope of his attack to the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" group, claiming that he would kill the "Four Evils" and then liquidate other gang members one by one.
The "Four Evils" are not united internally. For example, there is a conflict between Wei Cen and Chen Jue. In order to fight for power and gain, Wei Cen once stabbed Chen Jue in the back. Therefore, Jiang Wenwei can completely use Wei Cen's strength to give Chen Jue a last-ditch blow, and then turn on Wei Cen. However, Jiang Wenwei's impeachment reunited the "four villains".
….
What's even worse is that Jiang Wenwei also criticized Li Jing. He accused him of being close to sycophants and distant ministers since he came to the throne, pushing the emperor Li Jing to the opposite side.
Sure enough, Li Jing was furious and demoted Jiang Wenwei to Jiangzhou Sishi.
Not only did Jiang Wenwei fail to put the "Four Evils" to death, but because of his excessive behavior, Chen Jue and Feng Yanlu, who had already been sentenced to death, also changed their death sentences to exile.
Chen Jue was exiled to Qizhou, and Feng Yanlu was exiled to Shuzhou.
One Jiang Wenwei fell, and millions of Jiang Wenwei stood up. Xu Xuan and Han Xizai wrote in the book that Song Qiqiu was the soul of the "Four Evils", and that Feng Yansi actually interceded on behalf of the war criminals Chen Jue and Feng Yanlu, which saved the war criminals from the death penalty. This also puts us in a passive position in diplomacy. Even good soldiers cannot be severely punished, so how should civil and military generals treat the court? Please, Your Majesty, take strict and thorough rectification!
Song Qiqiu's first year in technical high school
He took the initiative to surrender and asked for punishment, saying that he had neglected to recommend people and mistakenly recommended Chen Jue to Fuzhou, and asked for punishment.
Obviously, Song Qiqiu avoided the important issue and changed the main contradiction of "exerting edicts and being good at the army" into a secondary contradiction of improper employment. He avoided talking about the "Battle of Fuzhou" and only admitted that he had mistakenly recommended Chen Jue to go there. Fuzhou lobbied Li Renda.
Is it a crime to recommend Chen Jue to lobby Fuzhou? At most it was a work error, not a crime at all. Song Qiqiu recommended him to lobby, but he did not give him any instructions to send troops or start a war.
Song Qiqiu is so smart.
Sure enough, Li Jing did not blame Song Qiqiu and directly refused to pursue him.
Of course Feng Yansi had to intercede for Chen Jue and Feng Yanlu, because Feng Yanlu was his half-brother. Is it illegal for an older brother to intercede on behalf of his younger brother? Human nature.
Therefore, Xu Xuan and Han Xizai's last-ditch attacks also did not hit the mark, but only scratched the surface.
Feng Yansi was deprived of all his real power (Zhongshu Minister, Tongping Zhangshi) and was changed to "Tai Di Shaobao" (unique to the Southern Tang Dynasty, the normal court should be "Prince Tai Bao"), and half a year later he was promoted to Zhaowu Junjie envoy;
Wei Cen was demoted to Prince Xi Ma, but was soon reinstated.
This was not the result that the "Qingliu Party" wanted. Han Xizai continued to appeal, demanding that Song Qiqiu be severely punished in accordance with the law and that the "four murderers" be sentenced to death.
The matching mechanism of the Southern Tang Dynasty was unfair. The "Qingliu Party" shouted at the top of their lungs and tried their best to get Song Qiqiu's gang members to be dismissed from office. Moreover, this punishment was just a formality and would be repeated later. Go to work; and Song Qiqiu's party members only need to talk a little bit, and they will bring disaster to the "Qingliu Party".
Faced with Han Xizai's relentless pursuit, Song Qiqiu only said one sentence, "He (Han Xizai) drank too much and was acting like a drunk." Later, Han Xizai was demoted from the court and sent to join the army for Hezhou.
Fan Zhongmin, a member of the Ministry of Revenue, instigated Wang Jianfeng to impeach Wei Cen. After the defeat in Fuzhou, Li Jing transferred Wang Jianfeng to the forbidden army in order to appease the generals and let him command the pro-army. Wang Jianfeng then thought that he had a lot of face in front of Li Jing, and became arrogant and unruly. Fan Zhongmin also felt that Wang Jianfeng's words should have great weight, so he encouraged him to give Wei Cen a last-ditch attack.
When the memorial was handed over, Li Jing was furious and said, "Is Wang Jianfeng going crazy?" What's the matter, you have some military power in your hands and you want to dictate the government?
….
Wei Cen remained calm despite the storm, while Wang Jianfeng and Fan Zhongmin were sentenced to death.
At that time, the "Princeling Party" with Song Qiqiu as the soul and the "Five Ghosts and Four Fierce" as the mainstay was still active in the political arena of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It was so powerful that it had no opponents. Its main members were Song Qiqiu, Chen Jue, and Feng Yansi. , Feng Yanlu, Wei Cen, Zha Wenhui, Li Zhenggu;
Those who dare to challenge it are the "Qingliu Party" with Sun Sheng, Chang Mengxi, Xiao Yan, Han Xizai, Jiang Wenwei, Li Deming and others as the backbone.
Li Jing actually hated Song Qiqiu very much, because during the battle to seize the throne, Song Qiqiu clearly opposed Li Jing's accession to the throne, and Li Jing was also vaguely aware of Song Qiqiu's strong political influence, even if he was deprived of it. All real power can also control the wind and rain. Li Jing was both disgusted and afraid of Song Qiqiu.
Although Jiang Wenwei, Han Xizai and others became cannon fodder in the political struggle, their political sacrifices were meaningful and at least sounded the alarm for Li Jing.
Soon after, Song Qiqiu was sent to Hongzhou again.
It needs to be emphasized that although Song Qiqiu is the revolutionary mentor and godfather of the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils", Li Jing's attitude towards Song Qiqiu and the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" is different. He trusts the "Five Ghosts and the Four Evils". "Ferocious" but hated Song Qiqiu. Understanding Li Jing's political situation is the golden key to unlocking this contradiction.
To put it simply, Qiqiu of the Song Dynasty had clearly opposed Li Jing in the early days, and his political stance had serious problems, so he never gained Li Jing's trust. However, the "Five Ghosts and Four Fierce" were regarded by Li Jing as his direct confidants, and they came from his heart. Inner trust and even dependence.
When it comes to protecting the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils", Li Jing does his part.
The emperor's younger brother Li Jingda couldn't stand the evil behavior of the "Five Ghosts and Four Fierce" women, and repeatedly admonished them and asked them to be killed. However, the more Li Jingda tried to admonish them, the more Li Jing trusted them. This made Li Jingda
Very depressing.
Li Jingda did not grasp this golden key. Others' advice may still be effective, but not the emperor's younger brothers Li Jingsui and Li Jingda. Their advice can only be counterproductive. Because in Li Jing's mind, these two younger brothers were potential contenders for the throne and political enemies. Only a fool would do such a thing if his political opponents persuaded him to kill his direct descendants.
Later, someone tactfully woke up Li Jingda. Li Jingda was filled with grief, anger and helplessness. In the end, he could only claim to be ill, refuse guests, and no longer participate in any entertainment in the palace.
"There are always unscrupulous people who want to harm me." In Yun Jui's turbulent power struggle, dangers are everywhere, and only the "five ghosts and four evils" are the most loyal to me. ——Li Jing
I like the past events of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
Nan Wu Rotten Egg
