The king of the Fallen Kingdom of the Southern Tang Dynasty, a "Zizong" Li Yu's poem "Yu Meiren", not only left the world with a masterpiece of poetry that has been recited for thousands of years, but also let posterity deeply appreciate the helplessness and bitterness of being the king of the subjugated country in the face of the broken and discolored mountains and rivers.
Stills of Li Yu and Xiao Zhouhou
Compared with the shattering of mountains and rivers, it may be more difficult for Li Yu to be "intolerable", and what is worse than death is that the country that he loved all his life, Xiao Zhou, who was once extremely honorable and motherly, was wantonly ravaged and toyed with by the absurd and shameless Song Taizong. Not only that, when the extremely perverted Song Taizong trampled on Xiao Zhou, he actually let the court painters paint on the spot, and the details that were "inappropriate for children" were meticulously depicted and circulated in the government and the public. It can really be described as the Song Dynasty version of "Chen Guanxi"!
Left: The authenticity of the difficult to distinguish "Xiling Xing Xiao Zhou Hou Tu" Right: "How Many Sorrows Can Ask the Jun" stills
Li Yu's helplessness, humiliation, fear... all kinds of mentalities that are difficult to talk to others jumped out of the paper, causing deep sighs and sympathy from posterity.
However, people who are familiar with the history of Li Tang, in addition to sympathy, may inevitably have "good and evil will eventually be rewarded, and the heavenly path is good for reincarnation." Looking up in disbelief, who has the heavens spared?" deep sigh: Is there really a karmic wheel in the world? However, the sins created by the ancestors must be repaid by the children and grandchildren. Is this the case?
Li Fu (李昪; 7 January 889 – 30 March 943), courtesy name Zhenglun (正倫), courtesy name Pengnu (彭奴), was a native of Pengcheng, Xuzhou (present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu).
When Li Fu was born in a humble background, when he was six years old, his father Li Rong was separated from Li Fu's mother and son due to war and disappeared. His uncle Li Qiu and his mother Liu Shi took Li Fu to HaoZhou (濠州, in modern Fengyang, Anhui). Soon after, my mother also died. Li Fu became an orphan and wandered around Haozhou and Sizhou (present-day Si County, Anhui). If there is no miracle, his life is doomed to be unremarkable, even displaced and impoverished.
The time has come to witness miracles! The god of luck took care of this young wanderer. In 895, Emperor Yang Xingmi of the State of Wu occupied Haozhou and accidentally found a 7-year-old wandering child named Peng Nu at the Kaiyuan Temple in Haozhou. For some reason, Yang Xingmi actually recognized Peng Nu as his adopted son! I have to sigh: for some people, there are really ape dung and luck in this world.
However, for the little wandering child Peng Nu, this pie that suddenly fell from the sky was really too big, and when he was still dizzy from happiness, Peng Nu soon learned an unfortunate news: Yang Xingmi's other sons refused to accept him! (This may also have buried the foreshadowing of Li Fu's claim to be the empress dowager, cruelly abusing the descendants of the Yang clan) Also, the Wu cake is so big, the brothers and sisters of their own families are fighting for me, they are not enough to distribute, and they kill a cheng to bite the gold halfway, what is the matter? And a beggar?
Map of the State of Wu during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
In front of his subordinates, although Yang Xingmi always posed as an emperor who was decisive in his words and killed decisively, he was helpless in the face of his sons' accusations and rejection. Could it be that the fortunes of Li Fu, the future founding emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, "Emperor Li Ofezu Guangwen Su Wu Xiaogao", would be fleeting?
Non-also, non-also. If Peng Nu was still reduced to a wandering beggar, it is estimated that there would be no later Southern Tang, not to mention the later master Li Yu and "just like a river of spring water flowing eastward". Yang Xing's adopted son could not be adopted, and it was estimated that he was also very sorry in his heart, so he transferred Peng Nu to xu Wen and raised him, and named xu Zhihuan.
If Xu Zhihuan had the divine power to predict the future, he would even be grateful for this "transfer" and throw his body to the ground. Because, if he stayed in Yang Xingmi's house, it was estimated that he would be blindsided, humiliated and ostracized; and in the Xu family, although Xu Wen's wife could not say that he regarded him as his own and regarded him as a favorite treasure, she also gave him an unexpected father's and mother's love.
Under the care of Xu Wen and his wife, Xu Zhihuan slowly grew up. According to historical records, he was seven feet long, with a square forehead, a short repair, a voice like a hong bell, a penchant for reading, and good at riding and shooting. Among his brothers in the same generation, Zhuo Was not in the group. Yang Xingmi often praised Xu Wen: Your son will be Junjie in the future, and the future development prospects of the sons of the generals are estimated to be comparable to him. Although Yang Xingmi was said to be a hero with a discerning eye, he would not have thought that Xu Zhichen (Li Fu) and his son Li Jing would do the evil deeds of forcing the Yang clan to commit incest and even exterminating the Yang clan after decades!
With the continuous promotion of Xu Wen's position, Xu Zhihuan has also been promoted step by step. In 912, he was promoted to the post of Assassin of Shengzhou (升州, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu) for his military exploits. Unlike the previous history of tyranny and abuse of the people, Xu Zhihuan was diligent and thrifty, reused Confucianism, and was lenient in government, thus gaining praise and support from the people.
In 918, Xu Zhixun, the son of Xu Wen, who was in charge of the imperial government, was killed by the general Zhu Jin. After Xu Zhihuan received the news, he rushed to Guangling first, quelled the rebellion, and took control of Yang Wu's government.
After Xu Zhihuan came to power, in order to win the hearts and minds of the people, he relaxed the criminal law and widely promoted grace and trust. He also built the Yanbin Pavilion to attract wise men from all over the world, regardless of their origins. He also often sent people to the people to understand the suffering and tried to help the poor as much as possible, thus winning the hearts and minds of the people.
In 919, Yang Long assumed the title of King of Wu and appointed Xu Wen as the Grand Chancellor, and Xu Zhihuan as the Left Servant, Participating in The Governor's Affairs, and Knowing both internal and external military affairs. In 927, Xu Wen sent his second son Xu Zhiqian to Guangling and asked him to take the place of Xu Zhihuan in charge of the imperial government. Soon after, Xu Wen fell ill and died. Xu Zhiqian repeatedly fought with Xu Zhihuan for power. Xu Zhiyan tricked Xu Zhi into entering the dynasty and stripped him of his military power. Yang Pu proclaimed himself emperor and appointed Xu Zhihuan to such prominent positions as a lieutenant, a zhongshu ling, and a military governor of China and abroad. After that, Xu Zhihuan controlled the government and his knighthood became increasingly prominent. In 935, at the behest of Xu Zhiyi, Southern Wu made him Shangfu, Taishi, Daxiang, Grand Marshal, and King of Qi, with ten prefectures, including Shengzhou and Runzhou, as the jurisdiction of the State of Qi. Emperors of Fujian, Southern Han, and other countries sent emissaries to persuade Xu Zhihuan to be proclaimed emperor.
In 937, Xu Zhihuan established the State of Qi. In October of the same year, Xu Zhihuan was proclaimed emperor by Zen and the state name was Daqi. Xu Wen was posthumously honored as Taizu and emperor zhongwu. With Jiankang (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu) as the western capital and Guangling as the eastern capital.
In 939, Xu Zhihuan issued an edict announcing the restoration of the Li surname and the change of name to Li Fu. He claimed to be the fourth grandson of Li Ke, the son of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, and changed the name of the country to Tang, which was known as Southern Tang. He built a temple for Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, and Li Shimin of Tang Taizong, to where the Ming orthodoxy was located. He posthumously honored his grandfather and four generations of ancestors as emperors. Xu Wen was changed to yizu, and the children of xu were rewarded to show the grace of Xu's adoption.
Southern Tang Dynasty style
As emperor, Li Fu treated the advantages and disadvantages of internal prosperity, courtesy corporals, humbly accepted advice, resettled displaced people, lightly dispensed with thin endowments, revered culture and education, was diligent and thrifty, cherished the people's strength, did not lightly start war with neighboring countries, and did not use force in vain. In 942, the state of Wu yue was destroyed. Southern Tang courtiers persuaded Li Fu to take the opportunity to send troops to attack Wu Yue. Li Fu resolutely refused, believing that the people of the country needed to rest and recuperate, and should not start a war with neighboring countries, and he also sent emissaries to carry gifts to comfort the people of Wuyue.com. Therefore, Prime Minister Feng Yan has ridiculed him as a "Tian She-Weng" who only knows how to stick to the existing family property and does not think of making progress. For example, Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty discussed in the Book of Southern Tang: "The emperor grew among the soldiers, and the people were tired of chaos. During his reign of seven years, the soldiers did not move, and the territory relied on rest. Sexual frugality, often creeping, with iron pots. In the summer month, the sleeping hall shi Qingge drapery, the left and right palace maids cut several people, and the costumes were simple and ugly. At the beginning of the founding of the people's republic, that is, the palace of Jinling Yi, only the tail of the iris, the sill of the appendix, and finally did not change it. Be kind and frugal, keep in the care of the people, and have the style of an ancient sage. The Qing Dynasty scholar Wu Renchen also praised him in the book "Spring and Autumn of the Ten Kingdoms": "It is necessary to stop the soldiers to support the people, to get the sages to clear the land, and to cover the truth." ”
On February 22, 943, Li Fu died at the age of fifty-six. In November, Li Fu was buried in Yongling (also known as QinLing), the emperor of Guangwen Suwu Xiaogao, and the temple name Liezu. Since then, Li Fu has completed the gorgeous "counterattack" of life from beggar to emperor, and written a legend of successful entrepreneurship in history.
Zutang Mountain, where the Southern Tang Liezu rested
With opportunities and unremitting efforts and struggles, Li Fu achieved a leap from a beggar to an emperor, practiced the concept of "prince will look like a prince, rather have a kind of hu", and wrote an incredible life legend. As the king of a country, he consistently carried out domestic and foreign policies such as promoting the advantages and eliminating the disadvantages, courtesy to corporals, humbly accepting advice, placing displaced people, giving light to thin endowments, revering culture and emphasizing education, being diligent and thrifty, cherishing the people's strength, and being good-neighborly and friendly, which won him the reputation of a wise emperor. However, out of greed for power, when he was promoted step by step in his official titles, he also designed to eliminate xu Wen, his adoptive father Xu Wen, and his adoptive brother Xu Zhiqian, who although he had the grace of nurturing him, but prevented him from seizing higher power. Folklore has it that he once tried to kill Xu Zhiyuan with poisoned liquor, but Xu Zhiyuan was alert and luckily escaped. What is even more disgraceful is that after Li Fu seized the yang throne through "Zen Rang", in addition to sending assassins to assassinate Yang Pu, the last emperor of Yang Wu, who was revered by him as "Emperor Gao shang Si Xuan Hong Gu Rang", li Fu also built the Yongning Palace in Hailing, and put the Yang clan under house arrest. Over time, men and women have become puppets of their own, and the Wu people have much pity."
Although Li Fu did not wantonly slaughter the former imperial clan like many emperors in the past, his house arrest and persecution of the Yang clan's incest can also be described as malicious intentions: even if the Yang clan was mentally inferior due to the marriage of close relatives, resulting in the mental inferiority of the descendants, he could also use his incestuous "beast" behavior to show that the Yang clan should be destroyed. His heart is damned! Although the Yang clan was well-behaved, they did not dare to cross the thunder pool. However, in 956, after Zhou Shizong heard of what had happened to the Yang clan, he sent people to comfort and comfort them. When the Southern Tang ruler Li Jing (or Zuo Jing, Li Fu's eldest son, Li Yu's father) heard the news, his suspicions suddenly arose, and he immediately sent someone to exterminate the Yang clan. After the Southern Tang Dynasty was destroyed by the Northern Song Dynasty, even if Li Yu endured humiliation and stole his life and his wife was humiliated, it was inevitable that he would eventually be poisoned to death. Could this be what the Warring States Policy Touching the Dragon Says Empress Zhao says, "The near one who is close to him is harmed by the body, and the far away and his descendants" is said?
1. (Northern Song Dynasty) Xue Juzheng et al., History of the Old Five Dynasties, Beijing: Zhonghua Bookstore, 1976.
2. (Northern Song Dynasty) Ouyang Xiu: A History of the New Five Dynasties, Beijing: Zhonghua Bookstore, 1974.
3. (Southern Song Dynasty) Lu You: Book of southern Tang, engraved by Liu Jiayetang, 1915.
4. (Qing) Wu Renchen, Xu Minxia, Zhou Yingdian School: Spring and Autumn of the Ten Kingdoms, Beijing: Zhonghua Bookstore, 2010.
5. Wang Zhongjie: History of the Five Dynasties of Sui and Tang Dynasties, Shanghai, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2003.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Contributor Gao Sheng)
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