In the era of frequent wars and life and death in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, there were many famous generals who were brave and good at fighting and did not die well. Among them, Yuan Xingqin, the "king iron spear" under the command of Li Cunqing, the king of Jin, was the most tragic. This military general, who was trained since childhood, had infinite glory in the past, but was finally executed by his adoptive father Li Siyuan. What caused Yuan Xingqin to come to the end of his life?
Yuan Xingqin was born in a family of military generals in Youzhou, and he lived with his grandfather after his parents died when he was a child. Yuan Xingqin's grandfather was a well-known local general, with hundreds of elites under his command. Yuan Xingqin followed his grandfather to practice martial arts since he was a child.
He possessed great strength and studied hard, so he soon became extremely brave on horseback, familiar with the bow horse, and able to move left and right, and was invincible. According to normal logic, Yuan Xingqin can inherit the ancestral business in peace, however, when Yuan Xingqin was 15 years old, there was a big ** in Youzhou, his grandfather was unfortunately killed, and Yuan Xingqin was also homeless.
As a result, Yuan Xingqin, who had no choice but to defect to the local famous general Liu Shouguang, was the primary school under his account. During his expeditions with the army, he fought hard and soon made a name for himself with his martial arts. At the age of 20, Liu Shouguang ordered Yuan Xingqin to be the vanguard to attack the enemy fortress in Da'an Mountain.
After dozens of rounds of fighting, Yuan Xingqin finally split the head of the enemy general, defeated the enemy army in one fell swoop, and captured the important land. This victory suddenly made Yuan Xingqin, who was still very young, famous, and was promoted to the right and left hand by Liu Shouguang. Two years later, Liu Shouwen was jealous of his brother Liu Shouguang's status, so he launched a rebellion with the intention of seeking military power.
At the critical moment, Yuan Xingqin rushed into Liu Shouwen's camp with a gun, fought for several hours, and finally pierced the throat of Liu Shouwen's ace general with a sword, and captured Liu Shouwen himself. The battle turned the tide of the war in one fell swoop and allowed Liu Shouguang to regain his rule. In the following years, with the assistance of Yuan Xingqin, Liu Shouguang basically unified Youzhou, and Yuan Xingqin also became a famous young general.
In 913, Li Cunxuan, the prime minister of the Later Tang Dynasty, was named the king of Jin and led the main army to besiege Youzhou under the rule of Liu Shouguang. At this time, the Later Tang Dynasty army was strong, and a large number of fierce generals who were good at martial arts had gathered under their command.
Among them, the most famous is Xia Luqi, known as "Little Xiahou Yuan" - a young man who was born in the market and sold charcoal, and was appreciated by Li Cunqiao for accidentally rescuing the trapped Li Cunqing. Through several years of military exploits, this reckless hero has become one of the leading figures of the entire post-Tang army.
In the siege battle, Liu Shouguang was repeatedly defeated, and in order to revive his morale, Yuan Xingqin waved his army to take the Houtang camp and personally led the team to kill the battle. When the two men met, they immediately fought.
The two of them are very strong in equestrianism and martial arts, and you have competed back and forth for dozens of rounds, and the soldiers around have stopped to watch the battle. The two of them have their own pride, but they didn't seize the opportunity, and the fight was inseparable. This competition undoubtedly increased the prestige of Yuan Xingqin and Xia Ruqi.
At this time, Li Siyuan, another fierce general under Li Cunqing, was also famous all over the world. He was born in an ordinary peasant family in the northwest, and his family was extremely poor since he was a child. His parents died when he was a child, and he could only survive on the way to escape the famine.
During the years of displacement, Li Siyuan lived in the mountains and forests, and finally practiced an outstanding martial arts. Later, he was also outstandingly capable, and was appreciated by Li Cunqiao and became an elite general. In this siege, Li Siyuan fought with Yuan Xingqin many times, and the two came and went, and it was difficult to distinguish the winner from the loser.
Li Siyuan admired Yuan Xingqin, a young man who was also from a humble background, but relied on his own hard work and finally became a general. So after capturing Youzhou, Li Siyuan personally embraced Yuan Xingqin in his arms, patted him on the back and said, "Okay, I will be your adoptive father from now on." Since then, Li Siyuan accepted Yuan Xingqin as his adopted son, and the two have a good relationship, they are very close to each other, often talking and laughing, and talking intimately.
After joining the Later Tang Army, Yuan Xingqin relied on his extraordinary courage and courage to quickly make military exploits. He and his adoptive father Li Siyuan conquered the Quartet side by side, and his prestige spread far and wide. His vigorous skills and flying posture often led to the defeat of the enemy and the capture of the enemy commander for the Later Tang Army.
Li Cunmiao heard about Yuan Xingqin's brave name and loved him very much, a young talent. During an expedition in 922, Li Cunmiao's large army fell into a heavy siege during the breakout. Hearing the news, Yuan Xingqin quickly led his own soldiers to the rescue, and finally rescued Li Cunmiao in the siege in a desperate struggle, relieving him of a life-threatening danger.
After that, Li Cunqiao relied more on Yuan Xingqin, and transferred him from Li Siyuan to enlist in the army, and let him be the commander of the Praetorian Guard, protecting him day and night. Li Cunmiao often communicated with Yuan Xingqin and inquired about military affairs.
In 925, Li Cunqiao even said to Yuan Xingqin in public at a banquet: "In the future, we will be rich and prosperous together." It can be seen that Li Cunqiao has a lot of trust in Yuan Xingqin, which flatters Yuan Xingqin, who has a low status. In the following years, Li Cunqiao promoted Yuan Xingqin to Zuo Situ and became a prominent minister who assisted in handling the government.
However, the good times were short-lived. In 934, Li Cunqiao fell ill and died during an expedition, and was killed by Li Conghou, who was deposed by himself, before his death. Li Conghou was hated by the forbidden army because of this, and he had to set up Li Conggong, the son of Li Cunqiao, to consolidate himself. After Li Conggong ascended the throne, he appointed his uncle Li Siyuan as the guard of Xijing.
Li Siyuan was dissatisfied and supported him with arms. In the end, he ascended the throne as the emperor under the recommendation of the ministers and the support of the forbidden army, and was the emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty. When Li Siyuan eliminated his political enemies, Yuan Xingqin, who had become Zuo Situ, was reluctant to come forward to help, so the relationship between the two sides gradually drifted apart.
In 937, Yuan Xingqin was appointed as the Taifu of the inspection school and stayed in the northern capital. At this time, he was tired of court politics and just wanted to return to his old business. However, Li Siyuan was even more wary of this adopted son. In 939, during a border conflict with the Khitan, Yuan Xingqin was accidentally captured.
After Li Siyuan welcomed him back, after a fierce quarrel, he officially pronounced a sentence on the grounds of collaborating with the enemy, and sentenced Yuan Xingqin to death. So, the young military general with infinite scenery ended his short and glorious life under the hands of his adoptive father. All kinds of indications show that Li Siyuan's killing of Yuan Xingqin was actually out of consideration for power struggle, not simply a matter of collaborating with the enemy.
Yuan Xingqin, a brave young general, finally ended up being killed by his biological father, which is really suffocating. I have seen him go from practicing martial arts desperately when he was a teenager and making meritorious contributions on the battlefield, to being trusted by Li Cunqiao and becoming the core of power, it seems that he has a bright future. But the good times didn't last long, and his fragile relationships finally ruined what could have been a more brilliant life.
Yuan Xingqin and Li Siyuan can be said to be tragicomic adoptive father and son, the two married Jin Lan at first, but later the power struggle ruined this relationship cleanly. This also reflects from the side how rare and precious a truly strong relationship is in that ruthless and troubled era.
Looking back at the heroes and heroes of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms today, some of them founded the country and became emperors, and some retired after success; But many more have a bad fate, and they have not escaped the tragic fate of being killed or deposed. Yuan Xingqin is just one of the epitomes. The lesson left to us by this history is that an era of peace and stability is more precious than anything else.