Zhang Ge

Zhang Ge( trương cách ),courtesy nameChengzhi( thừa chi ), nicknameYishi( nghĩa quân ), was a politician of theChineseFive Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms periodstateFormer Shu,serving two stints aschancellor.Zhang was instrumental in persuading Former Shu's founding emperorWang Jianinto designating his youngest sonWang Zongyanas his heir.

During Tang Dynasty

It is not known when Zhang Ge was born. His fatherZhang Junwas achancellorduring the reigns ofEmperor Xizong of Tangand Emperor Xizong's brother and successorEmperor Zhaozong.He was Zhang Jun's second son, and was said to be intelligent and handsome in his youth, and wily as his father was regarded to be.

By the time of around the new year 904, Emperor Zhaozong had been assassinated, and his son and successorEmperor Aiwas under the physical control of the powerful warlordZhu Quanzhongthe military governor of Xuanwu Circuit ( tuyên võ, headquartered in modernKaifeng,Henan), and Zhang Jun had retired to his vacation estate at Changshui ( trường thủy, in modernLuoyang,Henan). Zhu was preparing to seize the throne and was apprehensive that Zhang Jun might encourage the other warlords into a coordinated resistance movement against him. He ordered his allyZhang Quanyi,who controlled the Luoyang region, to act against Zhang Jun. Zhang Quanyi sent his officer Yang Lin ( dương lân ) to Changshui dressed as bandits, ready to slaughter Zhang Jun and his household and blame the incident on banditry. A deputy sheriff at Yongning County ( Vĩnh Ninh, in modern Luoyang as well), Ye Yan ( diệp ngạn ), whom Zhang Jun had treated well before, found out about this, and went to meet Zhang Ge, stating, "The Lord Chancellor cannot escape this disaster, but you, master, should make a different plan!" Zhang Jun then stated to Zhang Ge, "If you remain here, you will just die with us. If you flee, the family seeds can continue." Zhang Ge, after a tearful farewell, left with Ye, who took 30 men sworn to protect Zhang Ge, and escorted him as far as theHan River,and Zhang Ge subsequently fled to Xichuan Circuit ( Tây Xuyên, headquartered in modernChengdu,Sichuan). Meanwhile, Yang's men arrived, surrounded Zhang Jun's vacation estate, and slaughtered the entire household.(Zhang Ge's younger brotherZhang Bo,whom Emperor Zhaozong had earlier granted the imperial family name ofLiand given a new name of Yan, was serving as Emperor Zhaozong's emissary toYang Xingmithe military governor of Huainan Circuit ( Hoài Nam, headquartered in modernYangzhou,Jiangsu), and therefore also escaped this fate.)

During Former Shu

During Wang Jian's reign

In 907, Zhu Quanzhong had Emperor Ai yield the throne to him, ending Tang Dynasty and starting a newLater Liangwith him as its Emperor Taizu.Wang Jianthe military governor of Xichuan, along with several other regional governors, refused to recognize the new Later Liang emperor, but after a joint declaration by Wang andYang Wothe military governor of Huainan Circuit ( Hoài Nam, headquartered in modernYangzhou,Jiangsu) failed to caused a mass uprising by Later Liang subjects, Wang decided to declare himself emperor of a new state of Shu (known in history asFormer Shu).He respected the Tang officials who fled to his realm, and Zhang Ge was among those people that he treated well.As of 908, Zhang was serving as an imperial scholar ( hàn lâm học sĩ,Hanlin Xueshi) when there was aBuddhist monkwho gauged one eyeball out and offered to Wang as a sign of his devotion. Wang was initially touched and was ready to award food enough to feed 10,000 monks. Zhang urged against it, pointing out that mutilating oneself was not something that should be rewarded for. Wang agreed. Shortly after, Zhang, who was also by that point referred to as the deputy minister of census ( Hộ Bộ thị lang,Hubu Shilang), was madeZhongshu Shilang( trung thư thị lang, deputy head of the legislative bureau of government ( Trung Thư Tỉnh,Zhongshu Sheng)) and a chancellor with the designationTong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi( cùng trung thư môn hạ bình chương sự ). It was said that while Zhang served as chancellor, he flattered and agreed with Wang, and found ways to eliminate people who were more talented than he was.

In 912, when Former Shu was engaged in a war with its northern neighborQi,Later Liang's Emperor Taizu, hoping to exploit the situation, sent a group of emissaries, headed by the official Lu Ci ( Lư tần ), to Former Shu, hoping to establish friendly relations, and his letter to Wang went as far as addressing Wang as "older brother."However, one of the seals on the letter bore the text, "From the Great Liang to Shu," and Zhang pointed out that this was a form of address that treated Shu as a vassal. Wang, in reaction, wanted to kill the emissaries, but Zhang persuaded him not to, pointing out that this was the fault of the Later Liang officials who drafted the text, and should not be blamed against the emissaries or cause disruption of the relationship. Thereafter, Wang treated Zhang with even greater respect.

In 913, Former Shu's then-crown princeWang Yuanying,who was locked in a power struggle against the director of palace communicationsTang Daoxi,killed Tang in an armed confrontation, but shortly after was himself killed by his own soldiers. Wang Jian initially mourned Wang Yuanying deeply and suspected his adoptive son, the general Wang Zonghan ( vương tông hàn ), of killing Wang Yuanying without first receiving his approval, and there were fears that Wang Jian would carry out wide-scale reprisals. However, at that time, Zhang, who was drafting Wang Jian's declaration to the people regarding the incident, submitted his draft, and the draft contained language that read, "Without carrying out the execution by the axe, the imperial shrine would be severely harmed." Wang Jian realized that despite his love for Wang Yuanying, he could not let it damage the state's foundations, and therefore ordered that Wang Yuanying be posthumously demoted to commoner rank; no reprisals occurred for Wang Yuanying's death besides the execution of the actual killer and some executions or exiles of Wang Yuanying's staff members.

Shortly after Wang Yuanying's death, the officialPan Kangurged Wang Jian to create a new crown prince. Wang Jian initially considered Wang Zonglu ( vương tông lộ ) the Prince of Ya, whom he considered to most like himself, and Wang Zongjie ( vương tông kiệt ) the Prince of Xin, whom he considered to be most talented. However, Wang Jian's favorite concubineConsort Xuwanted to have her sonWang Zongyanthe Prince of Zheng, who was Wang Jian's youngest son, become crown prince, and she had Tang Wenyi ( đường văn ỷ ) the overseer of imperial stables persuade Zhang to support Wang Zongyan. Zhang drafted a petition supporting Wang Zongyan, and then met with a number of generals with great accomplishments, falsely informing them that it was Wang Jian's wishes that they publicly support Wang Zongyan; those generals, believing Zhang, signed the petition. After Wang Jian received the petition, he, despite his doubts about Wang Zongyan's youth and lack of ability, believed that this was actually the wishes of the officials and created Wang Zongyan crown prince.Later, after Wang Jian realized Zhang's role in Wang Zongyan's becoming crown prince and saw that Wang Zongyan was wasting time incockfightingand polo with the other princes, became angry at Zhang. However, with Consort Xu protecting Zhang, Wang Jian never removed Zhang from his post.

In 918, Wang Jian grew deathly ill, and he entrusted Wang Zongyan to a group of officials led by his adoptive son, the generalWang Zongbi.However, Tang Wenyi wanted to hold onto power, and therefore, when Wang Jian grew even sicker, used the imperial guard soldiers he commanded to prevent the officials from entering the palace to see Wang Jian. However, his associate Pang Zaiying ( Phan ở nghênh ) betrayed him and allowed Wang Zongbi and the other officials inside the palace to take charge. Tang was exiled and, as soon as Wang Jian died, executed. Wang Zongyan took the throne.(Shortly after, Wang Zongyan changed his name to Wang Yan.)

During Wang Yan's reign

Zhang Ge remained chancellor in the immediate aftermaths of Wang Yan's ascension to the throne, but was fearful of what would happen to him due to his long-term association with Tang Wenyi. He considered resigning his post first himself, but was dissuaded from doing so by his associate Yang Fen ( dương phân ) the minister of rites. However, shortly after, both Zhang and Yang were demoted, and Zhang was initially made the prefect of Mao Prefecture ( Mậu Châu, in modernNgawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture,Sichuan), then further demoted to be the census officer at Wei Prefecture ( duy châu, in modern Ngawa as well). Upon further accusations by the director of palace communications,Yu Ningji,Zhang was then further removed from all offices and exiled to Heshui Base ( hợp thủy trấn, in Mao Prefecture). Yu further directed the prefect of Mao, Gu Chengyan ( cố thành yển ) to guard Zhang carefully and submit further accusations against him. The wife of the prominent general Wang Zongkan ( vương tông khản, also adoptive son of Wang Jian's), however, was also named Zhang and wanted to protect him, and therefore persuaded Gu, through Gu's mother, not to do so, leading to Yu later finding excuses to punish Gu, but allowing Zhang's life to be saved.

By 924, however, Zhang had returned to the Former Shu imperial government to serve asYou Pushe( hữu bộc dạ, one of the heads of the executive bureau ( thượng thư tỉnh,Shangshu Sheng)). That year, he was again madeZhongshu Shilangand chancellor. He took vengeance on an administrator at the legislative bureau, Wang Lurou ( vương lỗ nhu ), who had joined in the accusations against him in 918, and had Wang caned to death. (This led his associate Xu Ji ( hứa tịch ) to comment, "Lord Zhang is talented but unwise. His killing of Wang Lurou will cause other people to feel insecure. This is a way to bring disaster." However, no actual repercussions of Wang Lurou's death appeared to have occurred.)

During Later Tang

In 925, Former Shu fell to an invasion byLater Tang(whose emperor,Emperor Zhuangzong,had earlier destroyed Later Liang and taken over its territory), commanded by Emperor Zhuangzong's sonLi Jijithe Prince of Wei and his chief of staffGuo Chongtao.A number of Former Shu officials were forcibly moved to the Later Tang capitalLuoyang— although, by the time they reached Luoyang in 926, Emperor Zhuangzong himself had been killed in a mutiny and was succeeded by his adoptive brotherEmperor Mingzong.Zhang Ge was among the officials moved to Luoyang. Remembering how Ye Yan had saved his life, he tried to find Ye to show gratitude. Ye had died by that point, so he gave a large gift to Ye's family.

Emperor Mingzong initially gave Zhang the honorary title of advisor to the Crown Prince — even though there was no crown prince at that time. The chancellorRen Huanwas impressed by Zhang's abilities, and therefore had Zhang made his deputy in his role as the director of the three financial agencies (i.e., the directorate of taxation, the directorate of budget, and the director of salt and iron monopolies). However, Zhang died shortly after.

Notes and references

• History of the Five Dynasties,vol. 71.
• Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms( mười quốc xuân thu ),vol. 41.
• Zizhi Tong gian,vols.264,266,268,270,273.