The greatest hero of the Later Zhou Dynasty behind the history of "The Year of Taiping", he had the merits of admiration, support, administration, and warfare.
Wang Jun is played by actor Sun Bin (the concubine in "The Kite") in the TV series "The Year of Peace". The character is set as a minister of the Later Zhou Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, ranging from official to privy envoy, prime minister and Pinglu Jiedushi. Together with the military attache leader Wang Yin, he is known as "One Guo and Two Kings" and is the core of the Later Zhou Dynasty.
Wang Jun (?-953), whose courtesy name was Xiufeng, was a native of Anyang, Xiangzhou (now southeast of Anyang, Henan). His father, Wang Feng, is an officer in the county's military band.
Influenced by his family, Wang Jun has had profound musical attainments since he was a child, and his singing is extremely beautiful. Zhang Jun, the high official of the Later Liang Dynasty, fell in love with him and kept him by his side, and later gave him to the powerful minister Zhao Yan. After the fall of the Later Liang Dynasty, he lost his support and lived among the people. After some time, he took refuge with Zhang Yanlang, the third minister in charge of finance in the Later Tang Dynasty. However, this financial official did not appreciate his singing voice and only gave him ordinary treatment. After the collapse of the Later Tang Dynasty, Zhang Yanlang was killed, and all the properties of Wang Jun and Zhang Yanlang were given to Liu Zhiyuan by Shi Jingtang.
Wang Jun, who had always been treated as a plaything, changed his humiliating life in the hands of Liu Zhiyuan, embarked on a regular official career, and became a low-level officer. As Liu Zhiyuan became the master of the world, he also obtained a central official position and was promoted from the envoy of Hakka Province to the envoy of Xuanhui Beiyuan who conveyed the emperor's orders.
The official position was getting bigger step by step, but as his official position rose, Wang Jun fell into an increasingly deep political whirlpool. Especially after Emperor Yin of the Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne, the contradiction between the elders and the new rich in the court became increasingly acute. Finally, the tragedy of the elders being executed finally occurred. When this incident occurred, Wang Jun was serving as a supervisor for Guo Wei in Yedu. All their family members in Beijing were killed. At the same time, their lives were threatened by the imperial court's fatwa.
At this time, Wang Jun and Guo Wei became people in the same boat. In order to escape the disaster, he stood up with pride and hatched a strategic plan with Guo Wei to resist the imperial court. After the army entered Kaifeng, he was appointed as the Privy Envoy to assist Guo Wei in presiding over the political situation. Guo Wei led his troops out and wore imperial robes. He stayed behind in the capital and promptly dispatched troops to move to Song and Xu states, successfully controlling the remaining forces of the Later Han royal family.
After the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, Wang Jun took the lead and took over the post of prime minister as a privy envoy. Wang Jun held political power and military power with one hand and helped Zhou Taizu turn the political wheel of the new dynasty. The country was newly built and the world was troubled. Wang Jun worked hard day and night to manage the government and quickly put the government on track. He told everything he knew, gave advice from time to time, and did his best to consolidate the new regime.
accept people
When the Northern Han Dynasty attacked Jinzhou (now northeast of Linfen, Shanxi Province), Wang Jun took command and was given full authority to act on his own initiative. Entering Shaanzhou, he stationed his troops and stopped advancing. When the news reached the capital, Zhou Taizu was afraid that Jinzhou would be lost. He couldn't hold it any longer and sent an envoy to rush away, saying that if he didn't march again, he would lead his army to conquer it himself. Wang Jun separated his left and right sides and secretly said to the envoy: "The city of Jinzhou is difficult to attack and difficult to break. In addition, the enemy's army is unstoppable and cannot be fought hard. The reason why I stayed and did not advance was not to fear the enemy, but to wait for his energy to weaken before proceeding. The emperor's new After ascending the throne, the vassal towns in the four directions have not yet shown their might, so how can we act lightly! Looking at the current situation, the traces of Murong Yanchao's rebellion in Yanzhou have been revealed. If the emperor goes out, Murong Yanchao will take the opportunity to enter the capital. How will the emperor deal with it? "
The envoy reported back, and Zhou Taizu suddenly woke up. He held his ear and said, "I almost failed!"
Preventing the monarch's personal expedition, Wang Jun waited for a few days and suddenly marched towards Jinzhou with his troops. The Northern Han army that besieged the city could not attack the city for a long time, and its morale gradually declined. When they heard that reinforcements were coming again, they withdrew before they saw the shadow. When Wang Jun entered Jinzhou, the generals unanimously requested to pursue the victory. He hesitated and waited until the next day before ordering the pursuit, but the enemy army was far away.
Wang Jun made great achievements in resolving the siege of Jinzhou. Zhou Taizu personally conquered Yanzhou Murong Yanchao. He once again asked for orders to accompany him and led his troops to attack the city first and made the first contribution to the city's destruction.
Kudos to you! The merit of helping one’s fate! Excellent governance! The success of the attack! Wang Jun, who was full of meritorious deeds, forgot about himself and started to compete with the monarch while lying on his merit book. He takes the world as his own responsibility, no matter what, no matter big or small, as long as he wants to do it, the monarch must agree with him to do it. Once he is slightly dissatisfied, he will put an unhappy look on his face and his mouth will be full of disparaging words.
Zhou Taizu endured and gave in, trying his best to satisfy him. He was two years older than Zhou Taizu. In order to respect him, Zhou Taizu often addressed him as "brother", or just called him by his first name, so as not to forget his common acquaintance. Wang Jun didn't know that the monarch had been extremely tolerant to him. He thought that the monarch could not do without him, so he became even more arrogant.
Zhou Taizu had a group of old brothers, such as Zheng Renjie, Li Chongjin, Xiang Xun, etc. He did not reuse them when he came to the throne. After everything settled down, he gradually arranged important positions one by one. The alert Wang Jun thought this was a signal, a signal that the monarch no longer trusted him, and a signal that he wanted to ignore him. He immediately took three measures: to retreat as an advance, he submitted a resignation letter to the monarch to understand the privy envoy to test the monarch's intention; he hid at home and stopped handling official duties; at the same time, he sent a hint to the "princes" everywhere, asking them to write a letter asking the monarch not to dismiss him from his post.
For several days in a row, memorials from the "princes" flew onto the imperial court like snowflakes. Zhou Taizu was shocked. He didn't expect Wang Jun to do so many things to him. After figuring things out, the experienced Zhou Taizu immediately sent someone to the palace, and said with both comfort and threats: "If you don't come out to take charge, I will personally come to pick you up."
Wang Jun even said he didn't dare, but he still stayed at home. Zhou Taizu sent Chen Tong, a minister who was friendly with Wang Jun, to persuade him, and once again emphasized that he would come to pick him up in person. Wang Jun was forced to enter the palace to meet the monarch.
The turmoil finally subsided, and Wang Jun resumed his work. However, his arrogance remained the same and had not changed at all. The monarch built a small palace in the inner garden. When Wang Jun learned about it, he criticized him in a tone of concern for the country and the people: "There are already many palaces, why build this palace again!"
It stands to reason that Wang Jun should be a model of advocating frugality. Otherwise, he also carried out extensive construction projects in the Privy Council and built an extremely luxurious hearing hall. After the project was completed, he even invited the monarch to come and take a look. When Zhou Taizu saw it, he was moved by the scene and retorted about the past: "There are many rooms in the Privy Council, why do you need to build this hall again?"
Wang Jun was speechless.
After this incident, Wang Jun continued to expand his power without limit and squeeze out dissident forces in order to isolate the monarch. In order to strengthen his actual power, he proposed to take over a large town, and Zhou Taizu reluctantly agreed. He and Chai Rong had a long-term feud and prevented the heir to the throne from entering the capital. Zhou Taizu could only let it go. Zhou Taizu was very comfortable in using talented scribes such as Fan Zhi and Li Gu as prime ministers. However, Wang Jun felt that they did not listen to him and could not stand them, so he wanted to replace them with Yan Sui and Chen Tong who belonged to his own power. After he submitted the report, he asked the monarch to approve it immediately. Zhou Taizu suppressed the anger in his heart and said tactfully: "How can we rush to advance or retreat from the prime minister? We should consider it carefully."
Wang Jun refused to comply, insisted on his own opinion, and uttered offensive words. Zhou Taizu was forced to do nothing, so he excused himself that it was the Cold Food Festival and said he would do it after the festival.
Zhou Taizu, who had endured it for a long time, finally couldn't bear it anymore. When he went to court the next day, he arranged for his guards to arrest Wang Jun and imprison him. This monarch, who had always tried to compromise, explained to Feng Dao and other elders with tears: "Wang Jun insulted me too much, was too rude, and wanted to take away my wings. When I was outside, I blocked him, and when I came to the capital, I started complaining. He is both the chief cardinal and the prime minister, and he also wants to command an important town, and I also granted it to him. His desires are hard to satisfy, and he has no king. Who can bear it willingly!"
Things must be reversed at the extreme, and Wang Jun, who came to the end, was demoted to the Sima of Shangzhou, and finally died in the place where he was demoted.
Comment: Wang Jun was an important minister of the Later Zhou Dynasty. He was courageous and knowledgeable, risking his own life and death, and helped Guo Wei overthrow the Later Han Dynasty. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he successively established military achievements. As a result, he became a great hero of this dynasty. But he was too greedy for power, despised Zhou Taizu who was killed together, ignored the authority of the monarch, and wanted to convert the qualifications of a great hero into a powerful minister, and become a powerful minister who made the monarch obedient to him. He manipulated power, insulted the monarch, hated the crown prince, eliminated the influence of his relatives, and finally ended up reaping the consequences.
In the TV series "The Year of Peace", Wang Jun, played by Sun Bin, is a complex and layered character. His performance accurately captured Wang Jun's transformation from a hero to a powerful official:
Sun Bin brought Wang Jun's origin to life. As Guo Wei's commoner friend, he showed the characteristics of speaking out for justice and not sticking to trivial matters, as well as the courage and courage to dare to plan big things in the political whirlpool.
When interpreting Wang Jun's expansion in the later period, Sun Bin showed the character's sense of oppression through details. Lying on his merits, he changed from respecting the monarch to looking down or even looking down on him. Through his rivalry with Zhou Taizu, he portrayed Wang Jun's ignorance of advancement and retreat and his desire for power.
Facing the ending of being demoted, Sun Bin's performance is not blindly facialistic, but has an inevitable desolation. It vividly interprets the historical law of "things must turn to the extreme" and reflects the life principle of a good swimmer who drowns in water.
