Chapter 14 7. The Emperor's Basket

The chaos in the world has entered an intense period.At this time, a large group of emperors appeared.This is an era of devaluation of the emperor.Although imperial power was not a good thing, under the social environment at that time, the sharp depreciation of the gold content of imperial power was indeed a very bad thing, which directly accelerated the further chaos of social order and social structure.Under the dominance of military groups, social conflicts keep coming and going, making it even more difficult to calm down. Zhu Quanzhong destroyed the Li Tang dynasty, replaced it, and became the emperor directly, dominating both sides of the Yellow River, and watching the world.Among the heroes of the world, others have neither his courage to risk the world's disgrace nor his strength.So those pretentious heroes had no choice but to endure, deliberately keeping a low profile.Many people endured until their own death, even Zhu Quanzhong's death, and no one dared to sit on an equal footing with Zhu Quanzhong and call him emperor.

After Zhu Quanzhong proclaimed himself emperor, Wang Jian was the first among the princes to follow Zhu Quanzhong's idea of ​​becoming emperor. Wang Jian endured it for a few months, and a group of civil and military forces urged Wang Jian to proclaim himself emperor in order to gain greater benefits, among which Wei Zhuang was the most active.Those of us who have studied "Chinese" for several years are familiar with this guy. This guy can write a poem and fill in lyrics or something.Wang Jian finally couldn't hold back and jumped out again, proclaiming himself emperor in September 907 AD.It is reasonable to say that Wang Jian is of the same generation as Zhu Quanzhong, and he came out to walk the rivers and lakes at about the same time.

It is a pity that Zhu Quanzhong died unexpectedly after many unrighteous actions. Zhu Youzhen took over the Zhuliang Empire.Compared with his father Zhu Quanzhong's influence, Zhu Youzhen is far behind, and he is not considered a descendant of a dragon, and he has not had time to nourish the royal blood that has been the foundation of the empire for hundreds of years.Therefore, the princes gradually became more and more dissatisfied with Zhu Youzhen.Even Zhu Youzhen, a hairless guy, can be the emperor. I have a separate regime, and no one is a bird. Of course, I can also be the emperor!

The first person to take action was Liu Rengong's son Liu Shouguang, who arrogantly became the Emperor of Yan. In fact, strictly speaking, Zhu Youzhen is not a complete emperor.There are many messy rules and forms in the feudal society. After Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, these so-called etiquettes with various names have become more and more complicated, and most people can't remember or play well.Most of these etiquettes are used to rectify one's name.Without these imaginary programs, one would not get the status it deserves, and it would not be widely recognized. "Old History of the Five Dynasties" called Zhu Youzhen the last emperor of the Liang Empire, and "New History of the Five Dynasties" also called him the last emperor.However, Zhu Youzhen, who is regarded as one of the authorities of official history, has always called Zhu Youzhen King Jun.

Why is it said that Zhu Youzhen is not an emperor in the strict and complete sense? Because he has not performed the ceremony of the southern suburbs. What is the gift of the southern suburbs? Southern Suburbs is the country's top ceremonial event that only the emperor is qualified to host.Its purpose is to worship heaven and earth and entrust very important wishes.Generally speaking, there are mainly two kinds of wishes. One is that the emperor ascends the throne and becomes the king facing the south;After the new emperor came to the throne, he had to go through the Southern Suburb Grand Ceremony before he was recognized and blessed by the heavens and became a veritable son of heaven.Without going through the southern suburb ceremony, the emperor is still temporary, at best a acting emperor.Even sitting on a dragon chair and issuing orders will be questioned by people.There are a few examples that are enough to prove the importance of the Southern Suburb Ritual.

Zhu Youzhen's wife is the daughter of Zhang Guiba, a veteran general of the Bian Army. She can be said to be a noble general.Zhu Youzhen likes this concubine Zhang very much.After Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne and became emperor, she planned to enshrine Concubine Zhang as Empress Zhang.But I didn't expect that Concubine Zhang would reject the emperor's promotion again and again.What is the reason?The reason given by Concubine Zhang is that although Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne, but the Southern Suburb Ceremony has not yet been held, and your status as the emperor has not been confirmed, how can you promote me as a concubine to be a queen?

The second example is that a few years ago, the Emperor of Yan, Liu Shouguang, was beaten to pieces by the Jin army after a short period of showing off his might, and he fell into a dead end.In desperation, Liu Shouguang pretended to be pitiful, and asked Zhou Dewei, commander of the Jin army, to let him go.But Zhou Dewei laughed at him and said: "Emperor Dayan, you haven't sacrificed to heaven in the southern suburbs yet, why have you become like this?" Zhou Dewei's words meant that you were subdued before you became a real emperor, isn't it too early!This week, Dulwich's scolding is not enough.

Since the Southern Suburb Ceremony is so important, why hasn't Zhu Youzhen held it for a long time? I don't know if it's true or not, Zhu Youzhen showed great sorrow, love, remembrance and reverence to his late father Zhu Quanzhong.When he first succeeded to the throne, in order to commemorate Zhu Quanzhong's death, he proposed to take a holiday of more than a month.Later, after a lot of persuasion by civil and military officials citing the scriptures and citing the classics, emphasizing them with emotion and combining them with the current reality, Zhu Youzhen finally reduced the holiday to ten days.

In order to express his loyalty to Zhu Quanzhong, Zhu Youzhen neither changed the yuan nor established the name after he came to the throne, and still used Zhu Quanzhong's Qianhua year name.Later, maybe Zhu Youzhen didn’t realize this problem, or maybe it was because of years of wars and military affairs, or maybe he really lacked the courage, confidence and arrogance to be an emperor. In short, three or four years passed, and Zhu Youzhen did not hold the southern suburb ceremony. In the blink of an eye, in 917 A.D., at the instigation of his brother-in-law Zhao Yan, Zhu Youzhen suddenly became impulsive about the ceremony in the southern suburbs, and insisted on taking action.

It is not a trivial matter that the gift of the southern suburbs affects the government and the public. Many Zhu Liang heavyweights disapproved of Zhu Youzhen's ceremony in the southern suburbs. why?Not the time. Why do you say it's not the time?Because at this time the country is in crisis. What kind of national disaster has such a big influence?The difficulty of breaking the country. Liang and Jin have been at war for many years, and they are stalemate north of the Yellow River.The two sides are fiercely attacking and defending. Although there are victories and losses, Zhu Liang is generally on the defensive, and the days are getting sadder every day.In September 917 AD, the veteran Liu Wei was dismissed by Zhu Youzhen and transferred to Bozhou as a regiment training envoy.Zhu Liang's court replaced him with He Gui as envoy to camp in the north.He Gui used to be Zhu Xuan's general. After Zhu Xuan's defeat in the "Three Zhus War", He Gui was recruited by Zhu Quanzhong.So far, all the veterans of the Zhu and Wen era have left the stage, and the new generation of soldiers has taken charge of Zhu Liang's military forces.However, He Gui is far behind Yang Shihou and Liu Wei in ability, although this is not entirely due to the personal reasons of He Gui and others.

In October, the main defense force of Zhuliang had retreated to Yangliu, the fortress of the Yellow River (now sixty miles north of Dong'e County, Shandong Province), defending the natural danger to resist the Jin army.Li Cunxu intends to mobilize elite troops to attack Yang and Liu, which is very important for the Jin army's next offensive strategy.The Jin army was staring at it, and the situation of Yang and Liu was very serious. When the country is in crisis and the enemy is overwhelming, Jing Xiang is the representative of those who strongly oppose Zhu Youzhen in the southern suburbs.Everyone is familiar with Jingxiang, he assisted Zhu Quanzhong to achieve hegemony, and was the number one minister of the Zhuliang Empire.But Jingxiang now is not the Jingxiang five years ago, and his status has been greatly weakened.Zhu Youzhen likes Zhao Yan and Zhang Fei's brothers, but doesn't like and doesn't value the opinions of Jing Xiang, Li Zhen and other elders.In the second year of Zhenming, Zhu Youzhen adjusted Jingxiang's position and sent him to study national history, which was actually transferred from the core position.Jingxiang's original positions of the household department, the official department, and the punishment department were stripped out and assigned to other people.Jing Xiang lost the cadre management power, financial management power and law enforcement power.In its place was Zhao Yan, who took charge of the financial power of Zuyong. Although he has lost power, Jing Xiang, relying on a sincere heart and a clear mind to judge the current situation, advised Zhu Youzhen not to rush to hold the Southern Suburb Ceremony for the time being. Supporting his old and weak body, Jing Xiang came to the court and said to Zhu Youzhen: "Since Liu Po's defeat in the war, both the treasury and the people's financial resources have been exhausted, people are panicked, and the people are in dire straits. They are no longer able to support a huge war. Now Your Majesty If you want to hold a grand ceremony in the southern suburbs, you must amnesty the world and grant it widely. Where do these expenses come from? This is actually to gain a formal reputation, and you are self-depleted, and you are deeply hurt. At present, the main force of the Jin army is gathering in the Yellow River. North, get ready to go. When the two armies are in a decisive battle, Your Majesty, you are the backbone of the government and the opposition, so don't act rashly! When Hebei is pacified, it will not be too late for you to hold a grand ceremony." Jing Xiang panted weakly, and after finishing his sentence with reasonable words, he was so tired that sweat oozed from his forehead.Zhu Youzhen looked at Jing Xiang, feeling very unhappy.If it weren't for Jing Xiang's grand qualifications, he would have kicked Jing Xiang out of the hall long ago.Zhu Youzhen didn't say a word about Jing Xiang's opinion, and directly announced his resignation. Jingxiang's dissuasion was ineffective, and Zhu Youzhen continued to stubbornly organize the grand ceremony in the southern suburbs. The ceremony in the southern suburbs is indeed a big deal, very troublesome and extravagant.At this time, Zhang Quanyi, another good friend of Zhu Quanzhong's, stood up. The old man Zhang Quanyi said to Zhu Youzhen, "Your Majesty, I have everything here in Luoyang. I have already prepared the ceremonial utensils needed for the grand ceremony in the southern suburbs." After Zhang Quanyi took refuge in Zhu Quanzhong, he has always been popular and hot. He has been in charge of property supply and Luoyang affairs for many years, and he does not take any administrative responsibilities. Preferential treatment for Associate Officers.This old man is the heavyweight who has benefited the most from Zhu Quanzhong's group and has the most comfortable life without desires or demands.He is also a political tumbler, no matter who is the master, he has no problem.Therefore, his treatment has been repeatedly improved. As expected, what Jingxiang said was true, and the war on the Yellow River was not good. In the battle against Yang and Liu, the young monarch Li Cunxu once again showed his true qualities of being brave and good at fighting.Li Cunxu likes to take the lead in battle. He often leads the army to charge with his shirtless arms and wields his blades, or he personally carries firewood, grass, sand bags, door panels, etc. to join the ranks of siege.Li Cunxu's leadership and spirit greatly encouraged and boosted the morale of the Jin army, which is also an important reason for the Jin army to maintain a strong combat effectiveness.This attack on Yang Liu is no exception. In December, it was icy and snowy, and the Yellow River was frozen. Li Cunxu leaped his horse and raised his gun to cross the river first on the ice. When he arrived at Zhongliu City, he personally filled the ravine with firewood and reeds.For a while, the Jin army launched a powerful offensive against the Liang army, and the two sides fought fiercely.After a day of fierce fighting, Yang Liu fell.The Jin army captured the Yellow River Fortress. Yang and Liu fell, and rumors spread everywhere. It was said that the Jin army came to Kaifeng, and it was hard to tell whether it was true or not. Zhu Youzhen, who was in high spirits on Nanjiao Road, received the battle reports and rumors, her face turned pale with fright, she immediately gave up the Nanjiao Grand Ceremony, and ran back to Kaifeng in a panic. A farce eager to obtain the official title and name of the emperor ended hastily. However, there is someone more anxious than Zhu Youzhen in the southern suburbs——Wang Jian. Wang Jian has been the king of Shu for ten years, his position is very firm, and his domestic governance is considered stable and orderly.Especially after the fall of the Li and Tang courts, many old and young figures retreated to avoid chaos and retreat to Sichuan. These "heritages" played an important role in promoting the cultural prosperity of the Shu Kingdom and the establishment of a political structure.Don't look at Wang Jian as an old man who doesn't know a lot of big characters, but he likes to communicate with cultural people, lectures on scriptures and talks all over the world, all over the world, and he is more like a big country in his routines.This makes the Shu Kingdom appear to have much "connotation", "taste" and "quality" compared with other regimes.It seems that Lao Dier is still very important. Wang Jian, who had been emperor for ten years, suddenly remembered one day that he hadn't held the Southern Suburbs Grand Ceremony.This is a big matter, and it must be done.The time for Wang Jian to hold the Southern Suburb Ceremony was about the same as Zhu Youzhen's for the Southern Suburb Ceremony, both around November.I don't know if the two of them coincide with each other?Or do they influence each other?It's interesting anyway. November 917, almost at the same time as Zhu Youzhen.Wang Jian held a grand ceremony in the southern suburbs.After the grand ceremony, Wang Jian felt much more at ease. This is the feeling of a real emperor!Perhaps it was planned long ago. One year after Wang Jian held the grand ceremony in the southern suburbs, he came to the end of his life, and the life of a generation of heroes came to an end. It may also be stimulated by Zhu Youzhen and Wang Jian Nanjiao, and the separatist regimes in the world are ready to become emperors for a while. In November 918 A.D., Liu Yan, the lord of Yue, who lived in the southeast, proclaimed himself emperor. How come there is another country of Yue? Liu Yan was originally Zhu Liang's Qinghai Jiedu envoy and Jianwu Jiedu envoy, ruling the current Fujian and Guangdong areas.Liu Yan is a bold guy. Since he arrived at the government office, his ambitions have been exposed. He thinks that the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and no one can control him. So he reformed the shogunate by himself, replaced all the cronies he brought from the Central Plains, and then started a war against the neighboring vassals. Expansion of territory. Later, the court of Zhu Liang added Qian Liu as the king of Wuyue, and recognized that Wuyue was no longer a vassal town but a vassal state.After Liu Yan heard the news, he suffered from pink eye disease.In 915 AD, Liu Yan asked Zhu Youzhen to also improve his status, upgrade his feudal town to Nanyue Kingdom, and promote him to be the king of Nanyue.Liu Yan's request was sternly and contemptuously rejected by Zhu Youzhen. Liu Yan felt ashamed and didn't give up.He cursed and said at home: "Grandma, now the Central Plains is in a mess, who is the emperor? Zhu Youzhen is just self-righteous. Should we travel thousands of miles across the ocean to worship him? He doesn't take care of me, and we don't care about him." He is gone." From then on, Liu Yan interrupted the tribute and various pilgrimage to the Zhuliang Empire. In 917 A.D., Liu Yan couldn't bear the rapid expansion of his ambitions. He proclaimed himself emperor in Fanyu, Guangdong. This kid Liu Yan is uneducated, and he hastily became the emperor. In fact, he doesn't know how the emperor behaves. Most of the people around him are petty officials. No one can figure out how many procedures are required to become emperor.It was not until the second year, 918 AD, that Liu Yan realized that the true man still needed the gift of the southern suburbs to be recognized by the whole world.In November, Liu Yan held a grand ceremony in the southern suburbs, offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, proclaiming to the world that he was officially the emperor.He pulls the tiger's skin to pull the banner, and he is a descendant of the Liu family, so he hastily changed the name of the country of Dayue to Han, which seems to have found the right root. November seems to be a regular time in the southern suburbs. Wang Jian, Zhu Youzhen, and Liu Yan all choose this day to do business. Liu Yan's earthworm ascended to the sky and became a real dragon, but he still felt a little guilty.When he was in the southern suburbs, he even had an accomplice to feel at ease.Liu Yan urged Qian Liu, the king of Wuyue, to also proclaim himself emperor.But after all, Lao Qian has gone through vicissitudes and is very knowledgeable about current affairs. He only wants to be on the sidelines, and does not do anything that goes beyond the rules and offends the strong.Lao Qian politely declined Liu Yan's invitation. Even a third-rate guy like Liu Yan has become the emperor! Some people are even more anxious, and pink eye disease spreads quickly. The king of Wu also wanted to be called emperor. To be precise, Xu Wen, the leader of the state of Wu, wanted the king of Wu to be called emperor. Who is the king of Wu at this time?How did Xu Wen become the person who holds the power of Wu State? The State of Wu was Yang Xingmi's Huainan vassal town in those days, and was later upgraded to the State of Wu by the emperor of the late Tang Dynasty, and Yang Xingmi was conferred the title of King Wu.After Yang Xingmi's death, his subordinates hijacked the imperial envoy who came to express their condolences, and appointed Yang Xingmi's son Yang Wo as the queen of Huainan and the king of Hongnong County, inheriting Yang Xingmi's foundation. This kid Yang Wo is really not good, he is far behind his father Yang Xingmi.Yang Wo was narrow-minded, and many meritorious civil and military officials were persecuted by him.He is also licentious, arrogant and willful, and ignores political affairs.The entire Huainan shogunate was filled with smoky atmosphere tossed by Yang Wo. Zhang Hao and Xu Wen, commanders of the left and right teeth in Huainan, advised Yang Wo to work hard, study hard and make progress every day.But Yang Wo was furious, thinking that Zhang and Xu looked down on him.The more Zhang and Xu thought about it, the more frightened they became. Instead of being tortured by such a man who killed at will, they might as well subdue him first, in order to protect themselves. On a windy and foggy afternoon, Zhang and Xu led their troops into the palace, chirping and beheading Yang Wo's cronies.Yang Wo was so frightened that his face was ashen and he pulled his pants. He thought that Zhang and Xu were going to kill him.After all, killing Yang Wo is a crime of treason, and Zhang and Xu dare not take this risk.Zhang and Xu cut off Yang Wo's wings, took control of the military and political power through the so-called "military remonstrance", and emptied Yang Wo.From then on, Yang Wo was nothing more than a puppet. Later, Yang Wo couldn't forget to avenge his shame, and looked for opportunities to get rid of Zhang Hao and Xu Wen.After Zhang and Xu learned about Yang Wo's details, they were even more frightened, so they decided to kill.After some conspiracy and planning, Zhang Hao led people to assassinate Yang Wo, and announced to the public that Yang Wo had a sudden illness and died. Zhang Hao originally wanted to take this opportunity to do nothing, and to replace him himself as the lord of Wu.However, many people in the state of Wu were dissatisfied. Under repeated obstruction by the civil official Yan Keqiu, Zhang Hao had no choice but to agree to be succeeded by Yang Wo's younger brother Yang Longyan. Yan Keqiu was also one of the Minister Gu Ming when Yang Xingmi was dying. He had a noble status and great influence.For Yan Keqiu's courage to risk his life to obstruct Zhang Hao, Zhu Jin, a general on both sides of the Huaihe River in the famous town, was deeply impressed, and even paid a special visit to Yan Keqiu to pay his respects. After Zhang Hao came to power, he became wary of Xu Wen, so he sent Xu Wen's faction out of Yangzhou to serve as an official in Runzhou.At this time, Yan Keqiu displayed his superb political wisdom and tactics.After Yan Keqiu worked hard to preserve the Yang family's suzerainty over the Huainan Foundation, he has been closely and nervously observing the development and changes of the political situation, and is seizing any possible opportunity to fight back.What capital and opportunity does Yan Keqiu have for a civil servant facing a military leader with a knife in his hand? Yan Keqiu took the first step to divide and disintegrate the Zhang Hao Group.For a long time, Zhang Hao and Xu Wen seemed to be together, whether they themselves or outsiders thought so, but Yan Keqiu judged otherwise.Just when Xu Wen was about to leave for Runzhou, Yan Keqiu persuaded Xu Wen not to go to other places to be an official. He thought that once Xu Wen went out, Zhang Hao would definitely take over the government and would blame Xu Wen for murdering Yang Wo. temperature.Xu Wen couldn't help being surprised when he heard Yan Keqiu's analysis.Xu Wen was terrified and didn't know what to do.So Xu Wen fell into Yan Keqiu's trap.Yan Keqiu said, "As long as you do what I say, you will be safe." After stabilizing Xu Wen, Yan Keqiu lobbied other senior generals in military positions to keep a distance from Zhang Hao.Finally, Yan Keqiu lobbied Zhang Hao.Yan Keqiu said that in the current political chaos and crisis, Zhang Hao's decision to leave Xu Wen was his own choice.Zhang Hao thought it was reasonable, he hesitated, and no longer insisted on letting Xu Wen go out to be an official.But Zhang Hao's order has already been issued, how can it be taken back?At this time, Yan Keqiu offered to help. Yan Keqiu came to Xu Wen's mansion with a group of civil and military officials, and said to Xu Wen: "Now the young master has just ascended the throne, and you are also one of the former king's ministers, how can you leave such a heavy burden of military affairs and go to other places to enjoy the blessings?" Woolen cloth?" When Xu Wen heard this, he fell in love with the donkey and said, "Oh, well, as long as you believe in me, I will stay and do more work." So far, the separation between Zhang Hao and Xu Wen has been basically successful.But after a long time, Yan Keqiu's intention to collude with Xu Wen was exposed, and Zhang Hao knew he was fooled.Furious, Zhang Hao decided to assassinate Yan Keqiu to get rid of the old fox.Unexpectedly, the assassin sent by Zhang Hao was moved by Yan Keqiu's loyal and upright character, and gave up the assassination on the spot.Yan Ke's life is hanging by a thread. At a critical juncture, there is no way to retreat, and if he retreats, he will pay the price of his life.He decided to take the second step to launch a jedi counterattack against Zhang Hao. How can Yan Keqiu fight back when he is unarmed? Why do you need to do the killing yourself? I don't have a knife, you can borrow it. Yan Keqiu is a master at leveraging strength. The interests of life and death can change one's position at any time.After killing Yang Wo, especially after Zhang Hao deliberately alienated Xu Wen, Xu Wen's hostility towards Zhang Hao increased day by day, which made him and Yan Keqiu stand in the same trench.Yan Keqiu started planning with Xu Wen to get rid of Zhang Hao. Assassinating Zhang Hao is easier said than done, all the soldiers and garrison forces in the capital are under his control, and the guards are tight and impeccable.But Xu Wen still found a gap to attack.Xu Wen gathered Zhong Taizhang, General Zhong Taizhang, the guard of the left prison.Xu Wen bought Zhong Taizhang through an acquaintance, and Zhong Taizhang joined Xu Wen's camp very happily.On a dark and stormy night, Zhong Taizhang took advantage of the opportunity of being on duty to rush into Zhang Hao's mansion with a death squad of 30 people, killed him with a knife, and chopped off his head.Without doing anything, Zhong Taizhang killed Zhang Hao's family and cronies along the way. After Zhang Hao died, Xu Wen was safe. Xu Wen took advantage of the great opportunity that Zhang Hao was dead and could not justify, and planted all the plots to kill Yang Wo on Zhang Hao's head.Apart from Zhang Hao, no third person knew the details of this big conspiracy.Zhang Hao had no choice but to scold Xu Wen for being betrayed and framed in the underworld.Xu Wen replaced Zhang Hao as the commander of the left and right teeth, and actually became the boss of the Huainan army.Xu Wen has a serious personality, is good at making decisions, and is relatively self-disciplined, so he gets along well with Yan Keqiu.The two, one Wu and one Wen, jointly took charge of the military and political power in Huainan, which is equivalent to a joint ruling system under the name of the monarch. As time passed, Xu Wen's power increased day by day, and he began to feel that his seat was not grand enough.However, the size of the official rank is determined by the specifications of the military government system. With Yang Long acting as the king of Wu, it is impossible for Xu Wen's position to rise further. Xu Wen had to use his brains a lot in order to promote himself. He deeply understood the truth that a rising tide raises all boats.Therefore, Xu Wen persuaded Yang Longyan to sit side by side with the princes as emperor.However, Yang Longyan was not too impressed with the sitting emperor, and repeatedly rejected Xu Wen's suggestion with prevarications.Later, Yang Longyan couldn't resist Xu Wen's hard and soft tactics, and finally held the Southern Suburb Ceremony in 921 AD, proclaiming himself emperor in the south. In such an environment where princes are sitting on the throne one after another, there is still one person who can't hold back his throbbing heart, and he is Li Cunxu. After Zhu Quanzhong replaced Li Tang, Li Keyong, Li Cunxu and his sons in Hedong never recognized Zhu Liang's regime, and they still continued to use Li Tang Zhaozong's Tianyou reign name. In the eighteenth year of Tianyou, that is, in 921 AD, Li Cunxu had fought Zhu Youzhen for six years. In order to facilitate the command of this protracted, massive and laborious war, Li Cunxu moved his actual political center from Jinyang to Weizhou. In the environment where the princes proclaimed themselves emperors one after another, Li Cunxu also had this idea.However, Li Cunxu's journey to become emperor was not smooth, because of disagreements within the Hedong Group. The process of being an emperor is very troublesome. Although the Tang people lost their deer, the army was in chaos, and the princes were separated, it was still a disgraceful thing for the military leaders of the separatist side to claim the emperor, and it was always sneaky and suspected of committing a violation.In order to strengthen their courage, these princes contacted each other and fooled each other, as if they all proclaimed the emperor together, and it would be fair and aboveboard.Li Cunxu was also among the fooled. Shu and Wu wrote letters to Li Cunxu many times, urging him to join the ranks of proclaiming emperor.Li Cunxu couldn't make up his mind, so he circulated these letters to civil and military officials, and said falsely: "In the early years, Wang Taishi (Wang Jian) ​​also wrote to the late king (Li Keyong), advising him that the Tang Dynasty has perished, and they should call each other On the side of the emperor. The former king once said to me: "Thinking that the emperor was in trouble to escape from the capital, I called on the world to send troops to fight against the thieves. At that time, I was so powerful in the east of the river. If I wanted to take the emperor to occupy Guanzhong and make my own Jiuxi document, force the emperor Who can stop me from abdicating power? But I think that my family has been loyal and filial for generations and should serve the royal family, so I swear to the death that I will not do such unconscionable things. You must also make the revival of Li Tang Sheji your top priority in the future. You must not follow the behavior of those bastards!' The words of the former king are still in my ears, and I really dare not accept this kind of proposal to persuade me to become emperor." Speaking of the excitement, Li Cunxu even shed a few tears. Most of what Li Cunxu said is true, but the taste of it needs to be figured out.Li Ke used the hero to conquer the world for a time, and he did have the strength to usurp the throne.However, Li Keyong's failure to usurp the throne is not necessarily because of his loyalty to Li Tang's royal family.If Li Keyong's family had been loyal and good for generations, he and his father would not have confronted the imperial court.There is no usurpation of the throne, it is likely that Li Keyong thinks the time is not ripe, and it is more likely that he is not as courageous as Zhu Quanzhong to risk the world's disgrace.He warned Li Cunxu not to seek to become emperor, mostly out of safety considerations, not out of nostalgia for the dead Li Tang.Because, when Li Keyong was dying, Hedong had already lost its former style, and the small fighting power in the territory was beaten everywhere. It is best to keep a low profile and protect yourself at this time. The purpose of Li Cunxu throwing out these words at this time is not to review Li Keyong's teachings, but just a gesture of playing hard to get.This is a common method used by powerful politicians in Chinese history. As soon as Li Cunxu's words came out, one stone stirred up a thousand waves. Originally, there have been two generations of Wen and Wu in Hedong, who raised their heads to conquer the world, in order to get rich, get promoted and get rich.Seeing that the classmates of the same generation and fellow countrymen who came out together, they all became prime ministers, generals, three princes and nine ministers in Zhuliang, Wu and Shu. He is just a low-level official in the kingdom.These civil and military ministers are anxious in their hearts, and they all hope that Li Cunxu will make further progress.He became the emperor, and his subordinates would naturally follow suit. With a huge temptation in front of him, Wen and Wu from Hedong clamored together to encourage Li Cunxu to proclaim himself emperor.But Li Cunxu still hesitated.Because he does have another problem.Over the years, Hedong and Zhu Liang fought under the banner of begging for thieves. They kept saying that Zhu Liang was Li Tang's rebel. Now if Li Cunxu became the emperor, wouldn't he become a thief himself? There is another reason why Li Cunxu was not eager to proclaim himself emperor, and it is the most important reason, that is, there are factions within the Hedong Group that oppose proclaiming emperor.This faction is headed by Zhang Chengye. Isn't Zhang Chengye Li Cunxu's die-hard son?Why did he oppose Li Cunxu's proclaiming emperor? Most of the things that Zhang Chengye wanted to object to could not be done. Within the Hedong Group, Zhang Chengye certainly stood by Li Cunxu's side and helped Li Cunxu successfully solve many turbulent and thrilling problems, but Zhang Chengye had even greater ideals.Zhang Chengye has always regarded himself as the old man of Li Tang in the previous dynasty, shouldering the important task of restoring the Tang Dynasty, and he is unswerving in his determination.The reason why he is willing to stand with Li Keyong and Li Cunxu's father and son is because he feels that Li Keyong and his son are capable of recovering Li Tang sincerely. Hearing that Li Cunxu had plans to proclaim himself emperor, Zhang Chengye immediately expressed his opposition, and regardless of his old age and infirmity, he rushed from Jinyang to Weizhou to dissuade Li Cunxu. Zhang Chengye said to Li Cunxu with affection and reason, "Your Majesty, you have been loyal to the Tang Dynasty for generations and have rescued the court from danger several times. Therefore, for more than 30 years, this old slave has worked hard for you to manage finances and taxes, and recruit soldiers and horses." The purpose of accumulating grass and storing food is to swear to destroy the thieves and restore the land of the Tang Dynasty! Now Hebei has just been recovered, Zhu Liang is still endangering one side in Henan, and the business has just progressed halfway, but you suddenly want to ascend the throne and proclaim yourself emperor. This is not in line with us The original intention of going out to conquer crimes. Without the banner of recovery, wouldn’t the various forces we gathered disintegrate? Why don’t the king destroy the Zhu family first, avenge the ancestors of the previous dynasty, and then visit the descendants of Li and Tang to support him as the leader. Go south to pacify Wuyue, go west to pacify Sichuan, sweep away Huanyu, and rule the world? At that time, even if Gaozu and Taizong are resurrected, who will dare to be above you? The longer you vacate the throne, the longer you will get Afterwards, its authority will become more and more solid. The ambition of this old slave is nothing but entrusted by the great kindness of the former king, to create a foundation for ten thousand years for you." Zhang Chengye's words can be said to be of a very high level.First affirm the historical achievements of Li Keyong's family in Hedong for their loyalty to Li Tang, and then express the purpose of his hard work, and unify the two into the political mission of restoring Datang.Then the conversation changed and pointed out the harm of Li Cunxu's hasty proclaiming emperor.Zhang Chengye did not simply block Li Cunxu's way to become emperor, and then prescribed a prescription in the name of a long-term plan.He asked Li Cunxu to pacify the world first and accumulate meritorious service. After the unification of the world, it will not be too late for Li Cunxu to own the world again. Zhang Chengye was smart enough and put in all of his thought, not only wanted to stop Li Cunxu, but he didn't dare to offend Li Cunxu because of it. Li Cunxu knew in his heart that the Restoration faction headed by Zhang Chengye would not give in easily, so he had no choice but to say: "It's not my original intention to be called the emperor, but the public opinion is like this, what should I do?" Li Cunxu is really a master at fishing.Li Cunxu kicked the ball back, and Zhang Chengye hit a soft nail.Zhang Chengye knew that Li Cunxu couldn't resist the temptation, and even more civil and military officials couldn't resist the temptation, and the matter of proclaiming himself emperor was irreversible.In desperation, Zhang Chengye burst into tears, and cried out: "The princes rose up to fight bloody battles together, originally for the Li and Tang royal family, and now you are replacing them, my lord, you are really trapping the old slaves into injustice!" After bitter remonstrance failed, Zhang Chengye couldn't stay in Weizhou any longer, so he had to return to Jinyang.After returning to Jinyang, Zhang Chengye fell ill and died of depression soon after. Although Li Cunxu hesitated, Hedong's civil and military enthusiasm remained undiminished. Suddenly one day, a monk from Kaiyuan Temple in Weizhou wanted to visit Li Cunxu and said that he had something important to report. Li Cunxu was so troubled by the war all day long, how could he have the time to meet monks and priests.But the monk insisted on seeing Li Cunxu, and kept saying that he had something important to do.Li Cunxu also felt strange, so he had to meet this unexpected guest in his busy schedule. After seeing Li Cunxu, the monk took out something from his arms and showed it to Li Cunxu.It didn't matter to Li Cunxu that it didn't matter, he was taken aback on the spot. Li Cunxu has experienced many battles and has seen all kinds of risky scenes. How could he be startled by a monk? The monk is not scary, nor is he just one nose and two eyes.But what the monk presented is not ordinary, there is only one in the whole world.Chuan Guo Yuxi. To put it bluntly, since Qin Shihuang came into existence, in order to create an atmosphere of divine destiny, he created the jade seal, which is actually a big seal.The uniqueness of this big seal and the authority it has repeatedly given by the imperial power have pushed its value to the point where it cannot be added.To be an emperor, one must have the so-called Jade Seal of the Nation, which is considered the divine destiny.You said that being an emperor is troublesome or not. First, you have to sweat and blood to seize power, and you have to sacrifice to the heavens in the southern suburbs. Not only that, but you have to get this big seal to complete the procedures. But then again, with the rise and fall of dynasties, the rise and fall of dynasties, the frequent chaos of wars and chaos, how could this handed down jade seal be intact, and it has been handed down consistently for hundreds of thousands of years.Besides, there are not many people who have actually seen this thing.How to identify authenticity?Maybe most Caotou kings carved a number in the bed by themselves after they became emperors. Even if you have the Jade Seal of Chuanguo, you may not be able to become the emperor.Sun Jian in the Three Kingdoms period is a typical case.Not only did he fail to become an emperor, but he lost his life because of this big seal. When Li Cunxu saw this imperial seal, several thoughts quickly flashed through his mind, how did this monk get the national treasure?Is this jade seal real or fake?What is the use?Will it bring good or bad luck? Li Cunxu invited senior civil and military officials to test the authenticity of this big seal. After some intense treasure appraisal activities, he found that it was engraved with the eight characters "Ordered by Heaven, the treasure of descendants". Everyone agreed that this is the seal. The legendary Jade Seal of Chuanguo.Are these eight characters true?In fact, among the people present, none of them had ever seen the real Chuan Guo Yuxi, and they were not qualified to see it at all.However, these people are well aware of the principle of making money out of one voice and taking advantage of the problem. Now that there is such a legal treasure, the civil and military officials of Hedong naturally know the master's thoughts, so everyone shouted "Long live" in unison, congratulated Li Cunxu, and interpreted that God specially sent an order to Li Cunxu to make Li Cunxu the emperor. Although with this big seal, the Hedong regime group began to create a political atmosphere and prepare public opinion for Li Cunxu's enthronement as emperor.But Li Cunxu still maintained his due calmness. He knew that being an emperor was no joke, otherwise his reputation would be ruined.He decided to carry out the enthronement process methodically.In the initial support activity, Li Cunxu "politely refused" everyone's request.Compared with those guys who are panic-stricken and call themselves emperors, Li Cunxu is indeed much smarter. Refuting everyone's face, isn't Li Cunxu afraid of everyone's chilling?Who would take the risk to persuade him to be the emperor again? Li Cunxu is not worried, because he is the biggest trader. On the surface, Li Cunxu refused to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, but in fact he did not relax for a moment in his secret preparations.Arrange people to go to the market to purchase all kinds of jade to make ritual objects and ritual vessels.He also arranged for people to visit the elders and children of Li and Tang in the previous dynasty, and invited those who could be officials to be officials in Weizhou, and those who could not be officials were invited to give advice.In fact, these survivors, old and young, basically survived under Zhu Wen's butcher's knife, and few of them have integrity and ability.To be an emperor, the various procedures and etiquette should not be silly, so I stepped up to organize learning and training for various laws and regulations during the Li and Tang Dynasties, and conducted rehearsal drills. 经过近一年明里暗里的准备和预热，里里外外营造了大势所趋的气氛之后，公元923年四月，李存勖终于在一群旧人新人的“拥戴”下登基称帝了。 李存勖不出手则已，出手就是大手笔。 登基大典十分隆重，各种程序十分齐备。在魏州牙城之南，举行南郊大礼，祭告上天，李存勖正式称帝，建国号大唐。以魏州为兴唐府，建东京。又于太原府建西京，以镇州为真定府，建北都。李存勖之所以将国号定为唐，自然是兼顾了多种考虑，首先接续李克用的遗志，以证明他们的事业是为了光复大唐王朝。第二是进一步用唐来凝聚一切反对朱梁的力量。第三自然是狗尾续貂或者偷梁换柱了，用李存勖这个“李”顶替李世民的“李”。 晋王变成大唐皇帝了，一个顺理成章的结果就是文武群臣鸡犬升天，什么宰相、枢密使、六军卫、节度使、大学士一大堆，人人升官，个个升级，披红挂绿，穿金戴银。河东果然人物丰富，各个官职都有重量级人物把持，不像其他几个小国的皇帝，连政治机器的架子都搭不起来。 李存勖也终于可以昂首挺立，环顾四周大大小小的各色皇帝了。 至此，天下皇帝荟萃，遍地各呼万岁。