Chapter 43 By accident, Li Yu ascended the throne
Li Yu, the empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was born on the seventh day of July in 937 AD. This day is the folk Qixi Festival, also known as the "Qiqiao" festival.And Li Yu's birth really fit the word "coincidence": in October of this year, his grandfather Li Min became emperor and established the Southern Tang Dynasty.He also loves this little grandson who brings good luck to him. He named him "Cong Jia", which means good. He hopes that everything will go well for him in the future and bring good luck to the Li family dynasty.
Twenty-four years later, Li Congjia became the master of Nantang and changed his name to Li Yu.At this time, the national power of the Southern Tang Dynasty was not as good as before.At the beginning of Li Yu's accession to the throne, he invited all the ministers to a banquet, and some ministers wrote a poem: "Upstairs, surrounded by spring and cold mountains, the peaches and plums do not need to be boastful, they have already lost half of the spring breeze." Naturally, it is a metaphor for their Li family, and "losing half of the spring breeze" points out the fact that the Southern Tang Dynasty was unfavorable in combat and the country was shrinking day by day.
Li Yu's grandfather, Li Min, although he named the country as "Tang" to show that he continued the orthodoxy of the Tang Dynasty, but he did not send troops to the Northern Expedition to unify the world. He just wanted to keep this Jiangnan foundation. .Therefore, we put cherishing people's power and developing the economy as the top priority.Jiangnan was originally rich and prosperous, but under Li Min's policy of recuperating, protecting the environment and being a good neighbor, it has become a paradise where one side is far away from war and the people live and work in peace and contentment.However, after Li Jing succeeded to the throne, although he did not have the great talent and strategy of his father, he had great ambitions, so he lightly started the war and sent troops to the civil strife in Chu and Fujian.For a while, it was successful and greatly expanded the territory of the Southern Tang Dynasty, but the aftermath work was not done well, causing civil strife.The Later Zhou Dynasty took this opportunity to send troops to the Southern Tang Dynasty, occupied a large area of Huainan in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and drove to the Yangtze River.He himself was afraid of another war, so he planned to move the capital of the country from Jinling to Nanchang. Unexpectedly, Nanchang was not acclimatized, and he died of illness a year later.
As a result, Li Yu became the new monarch of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It can be said that he was "ordered in times of crisis", but he was actually 100% reluctant to be the emperor.Li Jing originally planned to pass the throne to his younger brother Jing Sui, but his eldest son Hongji was a man of jealous nature. After learning that his father intended to pass the throne to his uncle, he sent someone to poison Jing Sui to death. .So Li Jing had no choice but to make him the crown prince.Unexpectedly, Hongji also died of a sudden illness one month after he was established as the crown prince.And Li Yu's elder brothers all died young, so the heir to the throne fell to Li Yu.
Li Yu was originally weak in nature and had no interest in fighting for power.Knowing that his elder brother Hongji was very suspicious of him, he simply ignored any political affairs and devoted himself to poetry, calligraphy and painting. He chanted scriptures and practiced Zen every day. No.He once wrote two "Fisherman's Speeches", which express his state of mind at this time:
It can be seen from the words how much he yearns for a free life without any fetters, but fate pushed him to the position of the monarch of the Southern Tang Dynasty.After Li Yu succeeded to the throne, he naturally didn't dare to follow his father's example. He wanted to expand the territory, so he respected the Northern Song Dynasty who succeeded the Zhou Dynasty, and planned to focus on sorting out internal affairs in order to keep half of the country.But this is not an easy task. Although Jiangnan is a stable place and gathers a large number of literati, these people may not have the ability to govern the country.For example, Feng Yansi, who is also a well-known poet, his words are not only about the emotions of men and women, but also full of simplicity.Later generations even used the metaphor of a vanilla beauty to compare it to Qu Yuan's "Li Sao" from which we can see the subtle words of loyalty and patriotism.It's a pity that this gentleman is really not a good person. He formed cliques and formed cliques for personal gain. At that time, he was known as one of the "Five Ghosts".The protagonist, Li Jing, loves literature and art, and Feng Yansi just likes him, so he is very fond of him.Once, Li Jing jokingly said: "Qing's good sentence is "blowing a pool of spring water", but I don't know what to do with Qing?" Feng Yansi is very smart, and he can hear Li Jing's sourness He was jealous, so he hurriedly applauded: "The words and sentences of the minister are far worse than your majesty's 'Xiaolou blows through the jade and the cold'." Li Jing was naturally happy.Although this is a good story in the poetry world, it is too ridiculous for a dignified minister to act like a clown.
As a result, many ministers who originally intended to rectify the country's peril, gradually became disheartened under such a situation of extravagance and pleasure, and inevitably became like the light.Han Xizai, a native of Zhongshushe, was very ambitious when he came from the north to the Southern Tang Dynasty. He once said: "If Jiangnan uses me as a chancellor, I will definitely drive to the Central Plains." But when he arrived in the Southern Tang Dynasty, although At one time, he devoted himself to state affairs, reformed the currency system, and rectified the economy. He was very upright and outspoken.But seeing that the state affairs in the Southern Tang Dynasty were changing day by day, and the monarch used inhumane people, and the court was full of treacherous sycophants, he couldn't help but sink down and live a life of recklessness.There are many kabukis in his family, and whenever the salary comes out, he gives it all to these kabukis, so that he has nothing.Then he changed into rags and rags, held a lute, beat on it, and begged for food from the performers room by room.He also likes to have a big banquet for guests, and let the guests and concubines interact casually.Sometimes I saw it with my own eyes, and even smiled and said that I dare not disturb your good interest.Li Yu always valued his talent and wanted to appoint him as prime minister many times, but he was often impeached for his misconduct and lack of dignity as a minister.So, Li Yu sent a painter to his house pretending to be a guest, and drew all the situations in his house. This is the famous "Han Xizai Night Banquet Picture".When Li Yu saw this picture, he was really a beautiful woman, luxurious and romantic. He knew that the rumors were true, but he still didn't let go of the idea of making Han Xizai the prime minister, so he gave this picture to Han Xizai, which also meant for him to reflect on himself.But this Lord Han not only did not repent, but also cried poorly to the emperor because of the lack of salary due to the feast every night.Li Yu had no choice but to reward him with money from the inner treasury. Knowing that he had no intention of being a prime minister, he sent him outside to be an official.So Han Xizai dismissed the kabukis, and went on the road with his bicycle while begging for condolences.Li Yu was very happy, thinking that he had changed his mind, so he kept him.But who would have thought that after he returned to the capital, the kabuki who had been sent before returned one after another, and lived the life of indulgence again.For such a top character, Li Yu had to sigh: "I really don't know what to do."
The reason why Han Xizai did this is said to be that he saw that the Southern Tang Dynasty was already a state of affairs, and he was afraid that he would be ridiculed by future generations if he became a prime minister and the country would be subjugated.He was very lucky. Before the death of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Yu personally took care of the funeral for him, gifted him an official and prime minister, and his posthumous posthumous title was "Wen Jing". He also collected his legacy and compiled it into a book.It can be described as extremely sad and honorable.But for Li Yu himself, there is no such good luck. He didn't escape after all, and the hat of a king of subjugation was firmly on his head.