Li Min

Li Min

Li Min (January 7, 889 - March 30, 943) was born in Pengcheng County, Xuzhou (now Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province), and was the founding emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Li Minyuan's surname is Li. His father Li Rong disappeared in the war. Later, he changed his name to Xu Zhigao with his adoptive father Xu Wen. He was a powerful minister of Southern Wu during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He once served as the governor of Shengzhou and the regiment training envoy of Runzhou. Later, he took charge of the government of Southern Wu Dynasty, accumulated to the grand master and Grand Marshal, and became the king of Qi. In the third year of Tianzuo (937), Li Min was called emperor, and his name was Qi. In the third year of Shengyuan (939), the name of the state was changed to Tang Dynasty, which was called the Southern Tang Dynasty in history. During his reign, he was diligent in political affairs, changed the old laws, and reconciled with Wu and Yue, protecting the territory and the people, and resting with the people.

In the seventh year of Shengyuan (943), Li Min died of sores on his back due to erysipelas poisoning. He was the first leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the temple name was liezu, posthumous title was Guangwen suwu, Emperor Xiaogao, and was buried in Yongling.

Life of the characters

Early experience

Li Min was born in a humble family. He had been wandering around Haozhou (now Fengyang, Anhui Province) and Sizhou (now Sixian, Anhui Province) since he was a child. When he was six years old, his father Li Rong disappeared in the chaos of war. He was killed by his uncle

Plum ball

Take it to Haozhou. Soon his mother Liu died and wandered to Kaiyuan Temple in Haozhou.

In 895 (the second year of qianning), Wu Taizu Yang xingmi attacked Haozhou, got Peng Nu and took him as his adopted son. However, Yang xingmi's sons could not accommodate Peng nu. Yang xingmi had to give Peng Nu to Xu Wen, the Ministry of education, and named him Xu Zhigao.

Xu Zhigao was talented and served Xu Wenru's father. Because of the same surname, Xu's wife Li took good care of Xu Zhigao. Xu Zhigao once went out with Xu Wen. Xu Wen was in a bad mood and drove him away. When he got home, Xu Zhigao welcomed him at the door. Xu Wen was surprised and said, "Why are you in this place?" Xu Zhigao replied: "as a son, how can you abandon your parents and return to your mother when your father is angry? It's common sense to be a son." Therefore, Xu Wen liked Xu Zhigao more.

When Xu Zhigao grew up, he was seven feet long, with a square forehead and a straight forehead. His voice was as loud as a bell. He liked reading and was good at riding and shooting. Yang xingmi often praised him: "Xu Zhigao is a hero. No one among the sons of the generals can match him."

Governing Shengzhou

In 909 (the third year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty), Xu Wenyao led the governor of Shengzhou (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province), appointed Xu Zhigao as the governor of Shengzhou and vice envoy of louchuan, and managed the warships in Shengzhou. In 910 (the fourth year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty), he served as the Vice Minister of Shengzhou and the governor.

In 912 (the second year of Qianhua), Xu Zhigao followed Chai to attack Li Yu in Xuanzhou (now Xuancheng, Anhui Province), and was promoted to governor of Xuanzhou. At that time, the Jianghuai region had just been pacified. Most of the local officials were military men, and they only knew how to collect people's money to support the army. Xu Zhigao was different. He was diligent and thrifty, attached importance to Confucianism, and was benevolent in politics, so he was praised by the public.

In 914 (the fourth year of Qianhua period), Jiajian was appointed as the school commander. In 915 (the first year of Zhenming Dynasty), Xu Wen, who was then the governor of Zhenhai, was appointed as the recruiting envoy of the two Zhejiang capitals. He went out of Runzhou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province) to govern Shengzhou, Runzhou, Changzhou, Xuanzhou, Shezhou and Chizhou (now Guichi, Anhui Province). His son Xu Zhixun stayed in Guangling (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province) to assist the government.

In 917 (the third year of Zhenming Dynasty), Xu Wen saw that Shengzhou was rich and well-off, so he moved the naval headquarters of Zhenzhou to Shengzhou and renamed Xu Zhigao as the regiment training envoy of Jianxiao Taibao and Runzhou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu). Xu Zhigao asked to be an official in Xuanzhou, but Xu Wen refused. He was very unhappy. Later, he came to Runzhou under the persuasion of song Qiqiu.

Master the government

In 918 (the fourth year of Zhenming), Xu Zhixun was killed by General Zhu Jin. Xu Zhigao got the news in Runzhou and rushed to Guangling to pacify the chaos. He served as the Deputy envoy of Huainan Jiedu March army and the Deputy envoy of mabudu army, thus controlling the politics of the Southern Wu Dynasty.

After Xu Zhigao came to power, in order to win the hearts of the people, ease the criminal law, and promote good faith, he also built Yanbin pavilion to receive the people from all over the world. Song Qiqiu, Luo Zhixiang, Wang Lingmou and others became his important counselors. He appointed all the other people who were exiled in his territory. He often sent people to the people to understand the sufferings. When there was a lack of weddings and funerals, he tried to help them, so he won people's favor. Although Xu Wen lived far away in Jinling and held great political power, most of his people had turned to Xu Zhigao.

In 919 (the first year of Wuyi in Southern Wu), Yang Longyan called King Wu, appointed Xu Wen as the prime minister, and Xu Zhigao as Zuo pushe, who participated in politics and military affairs.

In 921 (the first year of Shunyi), Xu Zhigao was appointed as Zhang Shi of Tongping by Yang Pu, the king of Wu. He led Jiangzhou (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi) to observe. Soon after, Southern Wu rose to Jiangzhou and appointed Xu Zhigao as the commander of Fenghua army.

In 927 (the seventh year of Shunyi), Xu Wen, under the persuasion of the marching commander, sent his second son Xu Zhi to Guangling to take charge of the government instead of Xu Zhigao. When Xu Zhigao heard the news, he was very afraid and begged to get out of Jiangxi. Soon after Xu Wen died, Xu Zhixun took over the post of Jinling Jiedushi and Zhudao deputy Dutong, and competed with Xu Zhigao for power several times. Xu Zhigao tricked Xu Zhixun into entering the court, stayed in the left United Army, and deprived him of military power. In November of the same year, Yang Pu, the king of Wu, proclaimed himself Emperor and changed his name to Qian Zhen of Yuan Dynasty. He appointed Xu Zhigao as Taiwei, zhongshuling, and commander of Chinese and foreign military affairs. He was granted Xunyang Duke and Yuzhang Duke.

Out of town Jinling

In 932 (the third year of Dahe), Xu Zhigao served as the governor of Zhenhai and Ningguo, and went out of Jinling. Following the practice of Xu Wen, he appointed his son Xu Jingtong (Li Jing) as situ, Zhang Shi of Tongping, and all the military affairs at home and abroad. He stayed in Guangling to assist in the administration of the imperial court.

In 933 (the fourth year of Dahe), Xu Zhigao was granted the title of Donghai Prefecture.

In 935 (the first year of Tianzuo), the Southern Wu Dynasty granted Xu Zhigao the title of Shangfu, Taishi, prime minister, Grand Marshal and king of Qi, and designated Shengzhou and Runzhou as the state of Qi. Xu Zhigao dismissed Shangfu and prime minister, and set up the office of commander-in-chief of Dayuan in the following year. At this time, Fujian, Southern Han and other countries sent envoys to persuade Xu Zhigao to be emperor.

The establishment of the Southern Tang Dynasty

In 937 (the third year of Tianzuo), Xu Zhigao established the state of Qi, and appointed song Qiqiu and Xu Xun as prime ministers. In October of the same year, Xu Zhigao was called emperor by Zen, and his national name was Daqi. He changed yuan to Shengyuan. He respected Yang Pu as emperor gaoshangsi xuanhonggurang, and Xu Wen as emperor Taizu and Emperor Zhongwu. Jiankang (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province) is the western capital and Guangling is the eastern capital.

In 939 (the third year of Shengyuan), Xu Zhigao restored the surname of Li and changed it to min. he claimed to be the fourth grandson of Li Ke, the son of emperor Xianzong of Tang Dynasty. He also changed the name of the state to Tang, which is called Southern Tang in history. He established temples for emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, worshipped his father and ancestor for four generations, changed Xu Wen's name to Yizu, and awarded a great reward to Xu's children.

After Li Min became emperor, he was determined to stick to the old land of Wu state and had no intention of opening up. He was ridiculed as a "farmhouse man" by the Minister FENG Yansi. In 942 (the sixth year of Shengyuan), the state of Wu and Yue suffered from natural disasters. The officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty urged Li Min to take the opportunity to attack and destroy Wu and Yue. However, Li Min firmly refused, believing that the domestic people needed to recuperate and should not go to war. He sent envoys to visit Wu Yue and sent many gifts.

He died of illness

In his later years, Li Min advocated Taoism and became irritable due to taking pills. In February of 943 (the seventh year of Shengyuan), Li Min developed sores on his back. Soon his condition deteriorated. He died on the 22nd of that month at the palace of Shengyuan. At the age of 56, he ordered Li Jing, king of Qi, to supervise the state. In March of the same year, Li Jing succeeded to the throne as emperor Yuanzong of the Southern Tang Dynasty. In November, Li Min was buried in Yongling. His last posthumous title was Emperor Guangwen suwu Xiaogao, and his temple name was liezu.

Political initiatives

Politics

During Li Min's reign, he insisted on a truce to protect the territory and the people, while at home he promoted advantages and eliminated disadvantages. He was courteous and able to accept remonstrations with an open mind. As a result of years of war, there were many refugees from the Central Plains to the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers. Li Min actively and properly resettled them and implemented the policy of light corvee and meager taxes, which greatly developed the social economy of the Southern Tang Dynasty and made him a strong one among the "Ten States".

Culture and education

In his youth, Li Min was "self-improvement in literature and art" and attached great importance to Literature and education. He will collect more than 3000 volumes of books from all over the country, and collect the "Jianye study" set up when he was in charge of Shengzhou, which opened a precedent for the Southern Tang Dynasty to become a "place of literature" in the future.

In addition, Li Min's emphasis on education is also praised by later generations. In addition to setting up the Imperial College on the banks of the Qinhuai River, establishing Taixue and primary schools, and training Guozi doctors and four doctors, he also built a school in Bailudong, under the Wulao peak of Lushan Mountain, which is called Lushan Guoxue. Famous poets Jiang Wei, Wu Qiao and Liu Dong all studied here.

Anecdotes and allusions

birth

It is said that there is a pear tree in front of Li Min's house, which bears a fruit as big as Sheng. So they cut it open with their neighbors. There is a red snake in the fruit. People were shocked. The snake left Li Min's mother's bed. Li Min's mother soon became pregnant and gave birth to Li min.

Actor Savior

Li Min once invited Xu Zhixun (Minister Zhou Ben, for one thing) to have a banquet. He served wine with gold bell and asked Xu Zhixun to drink. He said, "I hope you can live a thousand years, younger brother." Xu Zhixun suspected that the wine was poisonous, so he poured out half of it to Li Min and said, "I'd like to share 500 years old with my brother." Li Min immediately changed his color and refused to drink, while Xu Zhixun also held the wine and was at a loss. At this time, actor Shen Jiangao grabs two glasses of wine, drinks them and leaves with them. Li Min secretly ordered people to send the antidote to Shen Jiangao, but it was too late.

Character evaluation

Lu You: the emperor grew up in the army and knew that the people were tired of chaos. During his seven years in office, the soldiers did not act rashly, and the territory depended on rest. Thrifty, often creeping Pu Lu, with iron basin ang. In the summer months, green Ge curtains were used in the bedroom hall, and several maidservants were cut from the left and right palaces. At the beginning of the founding of the people's Republic of China, that is, Jinling Yi's palace, only added a tail and set up an appendix sill, but did not change it into a palace. Benevolent, courteous and thrifty, the task is to support the people, there is the wind of ancient wise master Yan.

Wu Renchen: liezu was alone. He didn't step into the earth. He took the name of Xu, so he dominated the river

Chinese PinYin : Li Bian