5th generation The fourth year of Tongguang in the Later Tang Dynasty, in 926 AD, the Later Tang emperor Li Cunxu was killed in the chaos. Previously, some Later Tang troops announced that they would support Li Cunxu's biological father, Li Keyong, the adopted son of Li Siyuan, as the emperor. With Li Cunxu being killed, Li Siyuan became the new emperor with justification.
Although nominally, Li Keyong was the Taizu of the Later Tang Dynasty. But after all, Li Siyuan was Li Keyong's adopted son. If he inherited the throne of the Later Tang Dynasty, there would undoubtedly be a lot of legal shortcomings. However, Li Siyuan, who has a low level of education, doesn't care about these things. He insisted on continuing to use the name of the Later Tang Dynasty and regarded himself as Li Cunxu's successor. From then on, the Later Tang Dynasty ushered in the era of Li Siyuan.
1. Li Siyuan's efforts
If you talk about the first wise ruler of the Five Dynasties, who would you think of? I believe most people will think of Chai Rong in after the week of . But what if we say the second wise ruler of the Five Dynasties? I believe many people are confused.
But I personally think that the second wise ruler of the Five Dynasties should be the Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty - Li Siyuan.
Before Li Siyuan became emperor, the land of China had experienced hundreds of years of war since the middle of the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Li Cunxu of the Later Tang Dynasty, Li Cunxu's series of random operations: including killing heroes and abuse of villains, the administrative management in the Later Tang Dynasty had fallen into serious chaos.
In fact, Li Siyuan's path to ascending the throne is also legendary: at that time, some vassal states were dissatisfied with Li Cunxu's purge, so they rose up to rebel, and Li Siyuan was originally a general sent by Li Cunxu to suppress the rebels. Unexpectedly, the army that suppressed the rebellion also believed that Li Cunxu was indeed not suitable to be an emperor. Therefore, these army that suppressed the rebellion also mutinized and supported Li Siyuan as the new emperor. It is not difficult to see the social environment of the Later Tang Dynasty at that time from Li Siyuan's proclaimed himself emperor.
Therefore, although Li Siyuan proclaimed himself emperor, he did not want the Later Tang Dynasty to continue to be in turmoil. So after Li Siyuan ascended the throne, he began to correct some of the fallacies in Li Cunxu's reign: for example, selecting prestigious and talented talents to participate in the government affairs, and at the same time trying his best to reduce taxes and give the people the motivation to produce. For a time, the environment in the society of Later Tang improved. Many people in the Later Tang Dynasty even felt lucky to be in power.
2, Li Siyuan's limitations
Li Siyuan followed Li Keyong to fight north and south when he was a teenager. Of course, it was the late Tang Dynasty. The long-term military service also means that Li Siyuan has no time to learn culture, so Li Siyuan is actually an illiterate person.
Due to the limitations of cultural level, Li Siyuan could certainly ascend the throne by force in troubled times, and he could certainly rely on his passion to do his best to govern the Later Tang Empire. However, the lack of cultural level undoubtedly greatly limited Li Siyuan's vision and solidified Li Siyuan's cognitive structure. Therefore, Li Siyuan inevitably became unable to do so in the process of governing the country.
For example, Li Siyuan also knew that warlord separatism was the root of the turmoil, but due to limited capabilities, Li Siyuan could not eliminate separatist . In addition, the war-torn times of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms also made Li Siyuan not too suspicious of the vassal states, otherwise it would likely cause backlash.
Li Siyuan also seems clumsy when it comes to power distribution. For example, this is the relationship between Li Siyuan and An Chonghui.
When Li Siyuan was still a general, An Chonghui was a general under Li Siyuan's command, and the relationship between the two was very close. In the fourth year of Tongguang in the Later Tang Dynasty, An Chonghui also played a great role in supporting Li Siyuan as the Emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty. Therefore, based on these factors, Li Siyuan always has to pay attention to An Chonghui.
In fact, whether it is an ancient emperor or a modern entrepreneur, if you want to convey your will to the grassroots level, you always need a certain number of staff to assist you. Logically speaking, the relationship between An Chonghui and Li Siyuan should become a good story. But gradually, the relationship between An Chonghui and Li Siyuan deteriorated.
For example, An Chonghui believed that he had friendship with the emperor and was also a hero, so An Chonghui gradually expanded and even openly forged the emperor's imperial edict and killed the prime minister. For a time, An Chonghui felt like a powerful minister.
In order to prevent An Chonghui from continuing to grow bigger, Li Siyuan killed An Chonghui. In fact, this also reflects Li Siyuan's control over his subordinates.
Li Siyuan also failed relatively in managing his family. In his later years, Li Siyuan's second son, Li Congrong, began to prepare for rebellion, but the matter failed and was killed. After Li Siyuan's death, his son Li Conghou inherited the throne. However, not long after Li Conghou was reigned, he was overthrown by Li Siyuan's adopted son Li Congke . During Li Congke's reign, he forced Li Siyuan's son-in-law to rebel, Shi Jingtang, and led to the collapse of the Later Tang Dynasty.
Judging from the situation of Li Siyuan's sons, it has to be said that Li Siyuan's education also failed.
