To say that the positive example of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Yang Xingmi, the founding emperor of Southern Wu, is a figure that has to be mentioned. He is definitely an inspirational positive image. In addition, from the perspective of his development trajectory, there are too many similarities with Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.
In the last years of the Tang Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and there were wars everywhere, and it was an era when emperors were almost everywhere. In the chaotic world, the people had no place to live and no food to eat, so they revolted one after another.
Yang Xingmi is also one of them. Yang Xingmi (852~905), formerly known as Xingxuan (行愍), was a native of Hefei, Luzhou (present-day Changfeng County, Hefei, Anhui Province), the founder of the Wu state during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and known as southern Wu Taizu.
Yang Xingmi was a farmer, this person died when he was very young, his father died, the family has been very poor, did not eat a full meal, but he survived.
After growing up, Yang Xingmi was tall and powerful, and his strength was different from ordinary people, according to historical records, Yang Xingmi ran particularly fast, and his endurance was enough, and he could run more than three hundred miles a day. Such a speed is equivalent to the marching speed of the ancient cavalry for a day. Therefore, some people call Yang Xingmi the "Shenxing Taibao" in reality, the first cattle man in history, etc., such praise is definitely not excessive, nor is it exaggerated at all.
It is said that once, Yang Xingmi was arrested for participating in the rebellion, but fortunately, there was an assassin who saw that he looked strange, so he let Yang Xingmi go.
However, on the day when Yang Xingmi returned home at the end of his term, a manager did not like him and did not want to let him go, so he continued to work, and Yu Yang Xingmi was angry with him, so he killed this difficult and unreasonable official.
Yang Xingmi then occupied Luzhou (庐州, in modern Hefei). During the period when Xingmi occupied Luzhou, not only did there not occur any chaos, but agriculture, economy and other aspects also developed greatly. In particular, the Luzhou soldiers, under his leadership, became a disciplined and strong state soldier.
In 883, the Tang Dynasty court saw that Luzhou had undergone earth-shaking changes, and the whole appearance was renewed, and it also saw Yang Xingmi's ability. Therefore, an edict was issued, granting Yang Xing the post of Assassin of Milu Prefecture.
This formal appointment from the Tang Dynasty court completely changed Yang Xingmi's shotgun for cannon, changed his life against the sky, and changed his identity from a rebel who occupied Luzhou to a formal official.
After that, Yang Xingmi was ordered to lead his troops to fight in various parts of Jianghuai, and after more than ten years of arduous and unremitting efforts, he finally occupied the entire Jianghuai region in 898 AD, laying a solid foundation for the Southern Wu regime.
In 902, Emperor Zhaozong of Tang personally issued an edict and crowned Yang Xingmi as "King of Wu".
It should be noted here that Yang Xingmi was only the monarch of Southern Wu at this time, and did not ascend the throne until 905, when Yang Xingmi died of illness at the age of fifty-four.
So, how did Yang Xingmi's emperor come about?
In 927, after Yang Pu, the fourth monarch of Southern Wu, ascended the throne as emperor, he posthumously honored Yang Xingmi as Emperor Wu. That is to say, Yang Xingmi only had the title of emperor 22 years after his death.
Regarding Yang Xingmi's deeds, everyone is most familiar with the allusion that he "pretended to be blind and adulterous" in his later years.
Yang Xingmi's brother-in-law Zhu Yanshou was proud of his merits and had the intention of plotting against the usurpation of the throne in the later stages. In order to verify the authenticity and take the opportunity to get rid of this tumor, Yang Xingmi pretended to be blind for three years. In order to convince everyone, he deliberately knocked himself unconscious.
The most helpless thing is that once, Yang Xingmi's concubine made love to the servant, and Yang Xingmi had to pretend not to see in order not to show the filling. Yang Xingmi finally deceived everyone and got rid of Zhu Yanshou and the concubine without bloodshed. Through this allusion, many people have commented that Yang Xingmi is a rare acting genius.
However, compared with Yang Xingmi's "pretending to be blind and adulterous," the set of concepts and policies implemented by Yang Xingmi when he was alive is the most commendable.
In 905, Yang Xingmi died at the age of fifty-four. The Tang Dynasty posthumously honored him as King Wuzhong of Wu, and during the Wuyi period of the State of Wu, he was renamed King Xiaowu of Wu, and his son Yang Pu posthumously honored him as Emperor Wu when he took the throne, with the temple name Taizu. The Quan Tang Wen recorded one of its articles.