Wang Yanxi

Wang Yanxi (died April 8, 944 At one point, Wang Yanxi apparently received the titles of Zuo Pushe and chancellor (同中書門下平章事, Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi), but fearing that Wang Jipeng would suspect him, he pretended to be crazy and dumb. Wang Jipeng thereafter gave him Taoist monk's robes, and placed him in the Wuyi Mountains, but later recalled him to the capital Changle (長樂, in modern Fuzhou, Fujian) and put him under house arrest. —empress. It was said that she liked drinking and had a strong personality, such that Wang Xi both favored and feared her. Shortly after, he created Wang Yacheng the Prince of Min.

Meanwhile, the battles with Wang Yanzheng continued. In fall 942, Wang Xi sent emissaries carrying his personally written edicts, gold, money, and official commissions (to allow Wang Yanzheng to commission his subordinates as officials) to Wang Yanzheng, seeking peace, but Wang Yanzheng rejected the overture. Meanwhile, when another nephew, Wang Jirou , was unable to drink at a feast and secretly reduced the wine served him, Wang Xi became angry and put him to death, as well as the officer serving the wine to him.

In 942, there was a time when Wang Xi commissioned the chancellor Yu Tingying to be the prefect of Quan. Yu engaged in corruption upon arriving there, including taking women for himself while claiming that he was doing so under Wang Xi's orders, for the women to serve as consorts in Wang Xi's palace. When Wang Xi received reports of this, he sent imperial censors to investigate. In fear, Yu returned to Changle, trying to defend himself. Wang Xi was set to have him arrested, when Yu offered a large tribute of money. Wang Xi was pleased, and, after extracting a second tribute (on Empress Li's behalf), allowed Yu to return to Quan. Indeed, after this incident, the officials began to directly offer tributes to the empress. Subsequently, he even recalled Yu and made Yu a chancellor again. Around the same time, he also made his nephew Li Renyu (the son of one of his sisters and the chancellor Li Min , and brother to Wang Jipeng's first wife) and Li Guangzhun chancellors—in Li Renyu's case, because Li Renyu, who was described to be young and handsome, gained his favor by apparently having sexual relations with him.

In spring 943, Wang Yanzheng formally declared himself emperor of a breakaway state of Yin. Meanwhile, Wang Xi took the daughter of the general Shang Baoyin and became infatuated with her due to her beauty. It was said that if he were drunk, he would do whatever Consort Shang asked him to do, whether it comes to killing people or sparing people. Around the same time, there was a time when someone offered a sword to him. This caused him to remember the incident involving Wang Tan during Wang Jipeng's reign, and he opened up Wang Tan's grave and cut Wang Tan's body into pieces.

In winter 943, there was a time when Wang Xi was giving one of his daughters away in marriage. When he realized that 12 of his imperial officials did not congratulate her, he had them caned. As the deputy chief imperial censor Liu Zan did not, until that occurred, indict them, he wanted to cane Liu as well. The official Zheng Yuanbi tried to intercede on Liu's behalf, and when Wang Xi stated, "Are you, lord, trying to be Wei Zheng?" Zheng responded, "I, your subject, treat Your Imperial Majesty as Emperor Taizong of Tang, and that is why I am trying to be Wei Zheng." Only then was Wang's anger soothed somewhat, and he released Liu, but Liu later died due to anxiety from this incident.

Early in 944, Li Bian's son and successor Li Jing wrote to both Wang Xi and Wang Yanzheng to rebuke them for their intrafamily family war. Wang Xi's return letter to Li Jing cited the examples of the Duke of Zhou's executions of his brothers the Lords of Guan and Cai and Emperor Taizong's killing of his brothers Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji. Wang Yanzheng's return letter to Li Jing, however, was more confrontational, rebuking Li Jing's father Li Bian for usurping the throne of Southern Tang's predecessor state Wu. In anger, Li Jing cut off relations with Yin.

Meanwhile, over the years, Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu had continued to be concerned that they would be killed on account of having killed Wang Jipeng. They became increasingly fearful after Wang Xi, while drunk, killed their associate Wei Conglang , and after Wang Xi recited in their presence, in one occasion, Bai Juyi's poem, which stated, "When it comes to matching people's hearts, one cannot have any expectations even when they were physically close." Meanwhile, Empress Li was jealous of the favor that Consort Shang had gained, and wanted to have Wang Xi killed so that her son Wang Yacheng could become emperor. She therefore sent information to Zhu and Lian that Wang Xi was suspicious of them. In spring 944, there was a time when Empress Li's father Li Zhen had fallen ill, and Wang Xi went to visit him. As Wang Xi rode a horse to Li Zhen's mansion, Zhu and Lian had the officer Qian Da assassinate Wang Xi even as he was on the horse. They publicly declared that, given the cruel reigns that several straight Wang emperors had demonstrated, it was time for someone else—and Lian then declared Zhu the new emperor. They slaughtered the members of the Wang clan at Changle, including Empress Li and Wang Yacheng, although they still buried Wang Xi with ceremony due an emperor.

Notes and references

Old History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 134. New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 68. Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, vol. 92. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 282, 283, 284.