Wang Jipeng

Wang Jipeng (died August 29, 939 but the tombstone of Wang Yanjun's first wife, Liu Hua, indicated that he was Wang Yanjun's second son, with one older brother Wang Jiyan and two younger brothers (at the time of Lady Liu's death in 930), Wang Jitao , and Wang Jigong . (The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms listed another younger brother, Wang Jirong , who might have been born after Lady Liu's death.) At some point (may be before or during Wang Yanjun's reign), Wang Jipeng married his cousin Lady Li, the daughter of a sister of his father's and her husband, the official Li Min .

During Wang Yanjun/Wang Lin's reign As of 926, the Min state was ruled by Wang Jipeng's uncle Wang Yanhan. Around the new year 927, Wang Jipeng's father Wang Yanjun, and an adoptive brother of his (Wang Jipeng's uncle), Wang Yanbing, jointly overthrew Wang Yanhan, and Wang Yanbing then supported Wang Yanjun in taking over the Min realm, although he took no princely or higher title at the time, instead formally submitting to Later Tang as a vassal, using the title of acting military governor of Weiwu Circuit (威武, headquartered at Min's capital Fuzhou). Wang Yanjun later was created the Prince of Min by Later Tang's emperor Li Siyuan in 928,

As of 931, Wang Jipeng carried the title of deputy military governor of Weiwu. Around the new year 932, Wang Yanjun was persuaded by the sorcerer Chen Shouyuan that if he temporarily yielded his throne, he could rule as an emperor for 60 years. He therefore commissioned Wang Jipeng to temporarily oversee the matters of the state, while he himself formally became a Taoist monk. Two months later, Wang Yanjun resumed his reign.

In 933, Wang Yanjun claimed the title of Emperor of Min and changed his name to Wang Lin. He commissioned Li Min and Wang Jipeng to be his chancellors, each carrying the designation of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi . Wang Jipeng was additionally given the titles of You Pushe (右僕射, one of the heads of the executive bureau of government (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng), with Li Min serving as the other Pushe), and Zhongshu Shilang (中書侍郎, the deputy head of the legislative bureau (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng)). Later in the year, Wang Lin created Wang Jipeng the Prince of Fu and also gave him the title of director of Baohuang Palace . Later in the year, when an earthquake struck Min, Wang Lin against yielded the throne briefly to study Taoism and had Wang Jipeng oversee the affairs of state, taking back the throne not long after.

Sometime after Wang Jipeng was created the Prince of Fu, Wang Lin commissioned the official Ye Qiao as his advisor. As Ye was learned and honest, Wang Jipeng honored Ye as if Ye were his teacher.

In 937, Wang built a Ziwei Palace and adorned it with crystals. It was said that its construction efforts were several times that of his father's already opulent Baohuang Palace. He also sent many secret agents to the prefectures throughout the Min realm to spy on people. Later, after sorcerers informed him that there was a white dragon scene at Mount Luo (螺峰, north of Fuzhou), so he bought a White Dragon Temple there. With all the constructions going on, the treasury was exhausted, so he coerced his deputy minister of civil service affairs, Cai Shoumeng , who was otherwise honest, into selling offices for money. He further issued edicts ordering that those who falsified their ages (to avoid labor) be caned on their back, and those who hid family members from censuses (to avoid taxes or conscription) be put to death. Those who tried to escape these penalties would have their families slaughtered. He also imposed heavy taxes on vegetables, chicken, and pigs.

Later in 937, Wang ordered his younger brother Wang Jigong, whom he had given the title of military governor of Weiwu, to submit a petition to Shi Jingtang, the emperor of Later Jin (which had overthrown and replaced Later Tang), reporting his own succession to the throne, and requesting that a liaison office be established at the Later Jin capital Kaifeng. (In other words, Wang Chang himself did not want to show personal subordination to Shi, but did want to show submission on a state-to-state basis.) Shi reacted by issuing an edict in 938, creating Wang Chang to be the King of Min (i.e., not emperor) and Wang Jigong the Prince of Linhai, sending his official Lu Sun to deliver the edict. When Wang Chang heard this, he had his emissary Lin En explain to the Later Jin chancellors that, because Wang Chang had claimed imperial title, he did not want to be created a king and did not want Later Jin's imperial emissary to come to his realm. When Lu nevertheless arrived in his realm in 939, Wang Chang refused to meet him and claimed to be ill, and instead had Wang Jigong serve as Lu's host. He nevertheless sent his official Zheng Yuanbi to accompany Lu back to Later Jin and to offer tributes to Shi.

Wang Chang had long been jealous of the good reputations that his uncles Wang Yanwu and Wang Yanwang had. In 939, the sorcerer Lin Xing , who had previous grudges with Wang Yanwu, falsely reported to Wang Chang that a god had reported that Wang Yanwu and Wang Yanwang were about to rebel. Without further investigation, Wang Chang had Wang Yanwu, Wang Yanwang, and their five sons killed. Believing in Chen Shouyuan's words, he built a temple dedicated to the Three Pure Ones inside the palace. He had the affairs of state decided by whatever Lin indicated that the gods decreed. Fearing the fact that Wang Jiyan was much supported by the soldiers, he relieved Wang Jiyan of his command and ordered him to change his name to Wang Jiyu , replacing him with Wang Jirong. Not long after, realizing that Lin had been deluding him, he exiled Lin.

Later in the year, a fire destroyed the northern palace.

Meanwhile, two elite palace guard corps, the Gongchen and the Anhe , had been much favored by Wang Lin. However, after Wang Chang became emperor, he established another elite corps, then Chenwei , giving them far greater rewards than the Gongchen and Anhe. This led to rumors that the Gongchen and Anhe soldiers were angry and wanted to rebel, causing him to consider sending them away to be stationed at Zhang (漳州, in modern Zhangzhou, Fujian) and Quan (泉州, in modern Quanzhou, Fujian) Prefectures, leading them to be fearful and resentful. He also repeatedly insulted their commanders, Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu. Wang Chang was also causing his imperial clan members to be angry and fearful based on his killings within the clan, including his cousin Wang Jilong , after Wang Jilong was invited to his feast and offended him after becoming drunk. His uncle Wang Yanxi pretended to be insane in order to avoid disaster, and while he initially sent Wang Yanxi away to be a Taoist monk, he later recalled Wang Yanxi and put him under house arrest. After the northern palace was burned, and the arsonist could not be found, Wang Chang had Lian command the imperial guards in cleaning up the site — heavy labor that they were displeased about doing. He came to suspect Lian of being complicit in the arson and contemplated killing Lian; his imperial scholar Chen Tan , however, informed Lian.

Upon being informed by Chen, Lian led the two corps to attack Changchun Palace , where Wang Chang was at the time, while welcoming Wang Yanxi and declaring him emperor. The other imperial guard corps joined Lian's attack against the emperor, except for the Chenwei, which resisted. Wang Chang and Empress Li fled to the Chenwei Corps, but the Chenwei Corps was defeated in a battle. They escorted Wang Chang and Empress Li to flee north. However, when they reached Mount Wutong (梧桐嶺, north of Fuzhou), the corps scattered. Meanwhile, Wang Yanxi had sent his nephew (Wang Chang's cousin) Wang Jiye , to chase Wang Chang down. Wang Chang first repelled the soldiers chasing him by killing them with arrows (as he was a good marksman), but eventually, with more soldiers arriving, he realized he could not escape, so he dropped his bow. He stated to Wang Jiye, "Where is your faithfulness as a subject, sir?" Wang Jiye responded, "If the ruler did not have the virtues of a ruler, how would a subject have the faithfulness of a subject? The new ruler is my uncle. The old ruler is my cousin? Who is closer, and who is farther?" Wang Chang spoke no more, and Wang Jiye took him back toward Changle (i.e., Fu Prefecture). However, on the way, he got Wang Chang drunk, and then killed him by strangulation. Empress Li, Wang Chang's sons, and Wang Jigong were also executed.

Notes and references

History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 134. New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 68. Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, vol. 91. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282.