Tales of the World: The Record of Yanyun

In the first year of Tongguang under the Later Tang, Zhang Zifan assumed the identity of Li Siyuan and became emperor. The people lived in peace and prosperity, but there were still those with ambitions as vast as a wolf’s. Li CunZhi of Tongwen Hall secretly allied with Shi Jingtang and conspired with the lands beyond the northern frontier, using the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun as a bargaining chip to persuade them to send troops. At court, conspirators urged Li Congrong to launch a coup. Zhang Zifan was attacked from within the court and by hundreds of thousands of troops from the northern frontier. In the end, with the protection of the Bad Men and the Huanyin Workshop, he escaped from Luoyang. Li CunZhi then disguised himself as Li Siyuan and took the throne. He subsequently used the Bad Men’s supposed disruption of the court as a pretext to execute them throughout the realm...