Background

Qian Hongzong was probably born in 928. His father was Qian Chuanguan (later known as Qian Yuanguan, King Wenmu), who, as of 928, had been designated the heir to his father (Qian Hongzong's grandfather) Qian Liu (King Wusu), the founding king of Wuyue. His mother was Qian Chuanguan's concubine Lady Fu, who had previously given birth to Qian Chuanguan's oldest biological son (fifth son overall) Qian Hongzun. Qian Hongzong was Qian Chuanguan's seventh son (third biological). When Qian Hongzong was born, Qian Chuanguan dreamed of a man presenting him with a box of gold, and therefore nicknamed Qian Hongzong Wanjin ("10,000 catties of gold").

Early in his career, Qian Hongzong served as an officer of the Wuyue royal guard corps, and carried the honorary title of acting Sikong (司空, one of the Three Excellencies). In 944, during the reign of his older brother Qian Hongzuo (King Zhongxian), who had succeeded Qian Yuanguan, he was sent to Yue Prefecture (越州, in modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang) to serve as the comforter of the eastern headquarters (i.e., Yue), and was given the honorary title of acting Taiwei (太尉, also one of the Three Excellencies). In 947, Qian Hongzuo recalled him to Wuyue's capital Qiantang to serve as chancellor. Later in the year, Qian Hongzuo died, and, in his will, named Qian Hongzong the military governor (Jiedushi) of Wuyue's two main circuits, Zhenhai (鎮海, headquartered at Qiantang) and Zhendong (鎮東, headquartered at Yue), as well as the honorary chancellor title of Shizhong (侍中). Shortly after, Qian Hongzong took the throne. For the time being, he used the Huitong era name of the Khitan Liao dynasty, as Qian Hongzuo had previously submitted to Liao as a vassal.

Reign

After Qian Hongzong took the throne, he recalled his younger brother Qian Hongchu, who was then serving as the prefect of Tai Prefecture (台州, in modern Taizhou, Zhejiang), to Qiantang, to serve as acting chancellor. Shortly after, the warlord Li Da, who controlled Weiwu Circuit (威武, headquartered in modern Fuzhou, Fujian), arrived from Weiwu to pay homage to him. Qian Hongzong granted Li Da an honorary chancellor title, and gave him a new name, Li Ruyun. Li, fearing that Qian Hongzong would detain him at Qiantang, bribed the powerful royal guard general Hu Jinsi, and Hu spoke on his behalf, asking Qian Hongzong to return Li to Weiwu. Qian Hongzong agreed. Shortly after, Li, who was beginning to have conflicts with the Wuyue general Bao Xiurang (鮑修讓), whose army was stationed at Fu to both help him defend the city and watch his moves, and was plotting to assassinate Bao and surrender the city to Wuyue's neighbor Southern Tang. When Bao realized this, he ambushed Li and slaughtered Li's family.

In winter 947, Later Han's emperor Liu Zhiyuan, who had taken over the Central Plains after the Liao state's withdrawal, bestowed on Qian Hongzong the titles of Generalissimo of the Southeast Armies (東南兵馬都元帥, Dongnan Bingma Du Yuanshuai), military governor of Zhendong and Zhenhai, Zhongshu Ling (中書令), and Prince of Wuyue. It was only at this point that Qian Hongzong accepted Liu as his lord and started to use Later Han's era name. At a later point, Later Han bestowed the greater title of king (Guowang, compared to simply Wang (王, "prince")) on Qian Hongzong, although it was not clear when. As king, Qian Hongzong was said to be strict, as he believed that Qian Hongzuo was overly lenient such that the generals had too much power, effectively depriving the king of ability to make decisions. After he became king, he executed three administrators of Zhenhai and Zhendong that he considered to be abusing power.

Hu continued to have substantial power in the governance of the state, drawing Qian Hongzong's displeasure, and the king considered sending him out to be a prefect of a prefecture, but Hu declined. Nevertheless, from this point on, Hu's suggestions were often met with rebuke, such that Hu built a small shrine to Qian Hongzuo in his home, offering sacrifices there and shedding bitter tears. There was one occasion when Qian Hongzong was reviewing the troops and announced an award for them. Hu thought that the award was excessive and argued against it, but the young king angrily threw his pen in to the water and stated, "My wealth is to be shared with the soldiers. How is it that there can be a limit to that?" There was also once an incident where a civilian was accused of slaughtering a cow privately (i.e., without paying the taxes for doing so). The investigating officer claimed that the civilian had 1,000 illegitimate catties of meat from the incident. Qian Hongzong turned to Hu and asked, "What much does the largest cow weigh?" Hu responded, "No more than 300 catties." Qian Hongzong then responded, "Then, the only conclusion is that the investigating officer's accusations were false." He ordered the investigating officer punished. When Hu congratulated him on his intelligent ruling, he responded, "How did you know about this, Lord?" Hu, stuttering, responded, "Before your subject joined the army, I used to do this." However, Hu believed that Qian already knew of his past and was merely intending to embarrass him publicly (as being a butcher was not considered an honorable profession), and therefore was even more unhappy about the king, particularly because the king also repeatedly rebuked him over the situation with Li Ruyun.

Around new year 948, Qian Hongzong began to discuss with two officials whom he felt he could trust, He Chengxun (何承訓) and Shuiqiu Zhaoquan (水丘昭券), possibly expelling Hu from the headquarters. Shuiqiu thought it might be dangerous to do so due to Hu's hold on the army, and therefore Qian hesitated. He Chengxun, fearful that the news might leak, instead decided to leak it to Hu himself. One night, when Qian was holding a feast, Hu thought that Qian was intending to act against him then, and therefore gathered his soldiers and headed for the king's mansion. He surrounded the mansion and put the king under house arrest, and the issued an order in the king's name, claiming that the king had suffered a stroke and was therefore passing the throne to his younger brother Qian Hongchu. When he went to offer the throne to Qian Hongchu, Qian Hongchu agreed, on the condition that Qian Hongzong's life be spared. When Hu agreed, Qian Hongchu took the throne (as King Zhongyi). As part of the coup, Hu killed Shuiqiu and Qian Hongzong's uncle (Lady Fu's brother) Fu Guangxuan (鄜光鉉).

After reign

Qian Hongchu moved Qian Hongzong to their grandfather Qian Liu's old mansion at Yijin Base (衣錦軍, in modern Hangzhou), effectively under house arrest, and sent his trusted officer Xue Wen (薛溫) to guard the mansion. He secretly instructed Xue, "If there were to be unusual orders an order to kill Qian Hongzong), it would not be out of my will. You should resist to the death."

Hu, meanwhile, was repeatedly trying to persuade Qian Hongchu to put Qian Hongzong to death, and Qian Hongchu resisted. Hu falsified a secret order to Xue, ordering Xue to kill Qian Hongzong, but Xue responded, "When your servant received his orders, he did not receive any such instructions, and he dares not to carry this out." Hu instead sent two assassins against Qian Hongzong, but Qian Hongzong discovered this and yelled for help; Xue then arrived with his soldiers and killed the assassins, and then reported this to Qian Hongchu, who was shocked but who responded, "That my brother remains alive is your accomplishment." Despite this, Qian Hongchu feared but remained cordial in his attitude toward Hu, who in turn became increasingly worried. Not long after, he suffered from a tumor on his back and died from it, and Qian Hongzong was able to escape further disaster.

In 951, Qian Hongchu moved Qian Hongzong to Yue Prefecture. Qian Hongchu further built a palace, along with gardens, for Qian Hongzong, hoping to please him, and supplied him with everything. Soon after arriving at Yue, Qian Hongzong had his first son, whom Qian Hongchu favored greatly, and therefore adopted as a son and named (in consistency with his own sons, who all had the character of Wei (惟) in their names) Qian Weizhi (錢惟治). (He would later have at least two more sons, Qian Kun (錢昆) and Qian Yi (錢易).) On holidays, Qian Hongzong would often put on the robe of a Taoist priest (Taoist monk) and take concubines and musicians to go up the mountain; he would also often beat drums loudly. When the guards reported this to Qian Hongchu, Qian Hongchu did not mind, stating, "My brother is troubled by his lack of duties. He will not be happy unless he can beat drums." Qian Hongzong (who, in his last years, would have his name changed to Qian Zong to observe naming taboo with Song's Emperor Taizu's father Zhao Hongyin) would die 20 years after being moved to Yue.

Personal information

• Father

　• Qian Liu

• Mother

　• Lady Fu, the Lady of Lu

• Children

　• Qian Weizhi (錢惟治), later adopted by Qian Chu, posthumously created the Prince of Pengcheng by Emperor Zhenzong of Song

　• Qian Kun (錢昆)

　• Qian Yi (錢易)

Notes and references

生平

錢弘倧為文穆王錢元瓘第七子，母魯國夫人鄜氏，忠獻王錢弘佐之弟，同母兄孝獻世子錢弘僔。誕生時，其父夢人獻黃金一篋，故幼名萬金。

起家內衙指揮使、檢校司空。後晉開運元年（944年）冬十一月，出為東府安撫使，累授檢校太尉，尋拜丞相。後漢天福十二年（遼國會同十年，947年），錢弘佐去世，子尚年幼，因此在遺詔中命弟錢弘倧繼立。天福十二年六月丙寅，即王位于杭州吳越王宮天冊堂。當時遼太宗耶律德光滅後晉，佔據中原，於是錢弘倧向其稱臣；不久遼軍退去，復對後漢稱臣，奉其正朔。

先前忠獻王錢弘佐在位時，諸將驕橫，雖然擅權者旋遭誅殺，然而對下屬還是頗為寬大；而錢弘倧個性嚴厲堅定，等到繼位後，急欲改變這種情形，因此極力抑制將領。即位後不久在碧波亭檢閱水師，內牙統軍使胡進思進諫說頒賞太厚，錢弘倧怒，擲筆于水中。胡進思因害怕被剷除，遂先發制人。

後漢天福十二年（947年）十二月三十日（陽曆為948年2月12日），錢弘倧在王宮中夜宴諸將。胡進思懷疑王將圖己，于是率內牙親兵戎服入宮，發動政變。錢弘倧被軟禁于義和院，胡進思假傳錢弘倧命令，稱錢弘倧中風，並迎錢弘倧之異母弟錢弘俶于私第，將其策立為王。錢弘俶曾說：「若全吾兄，乃敢承命，不然當避賢路。」胡進思同意了，但水丘昭券和其舅、進侍鹿光鉉一同被殺。

其弟錢弘俶即位後，遷錢弘倧于太祖錢鏐故里衣錦軍，派匡武都頭薛溫保護，並囑咐薛溫：「自己沒有殺兄的意思，一旦傳來類似的命令，必須拚死拒絕。」胡進思屢次請求錢弘俶殺錢弘倧，錢弘俶都拒絕，胡進思又假傳王命要薛溫殺錢弘倧，薛溫也拒絕；胡進思自己派刺客方安等二人持兵器翻牆去殺錢弘倧，錢弘倧發現後閉門呼救，薛溫率軍趕來在庭院擊殺方安二人。雖然胡進思不久後即病逝，但錢弘倧還是繼續被軟禁。

後周廣順元年（951年），錢弘俶把錢弘倧遷至東府越州（今浙江紹興），並為其興築宮室，以東府官物為供給。在西寢殿後的臥龍山為錢弘倧開闢花園，遍植花木。遇良辰美景，錢弘倧穿道士服，擁妓樂，旦暮登山賞景。每年元夜張燈于山谷，用油數千斤；七夕在山頂以綾羅結為彩樓，錢弘倧登山擊鼓，聲達于外，官吏報之，錢弘俶都不追究。以後每年逢年過節時的贈禮都非常豐厚。

北宋建立後，吳越國臣服北宋，為宋之先祖趙弘殷避諱，錢弘倧改名錢倧。宋太祖開寶年間，錢倧因病去世，享年四十四歲。贈諡忠遜王（一作諡讓王），「以王禮葬會稽秦望山之原」。

家庭

子女

子

• 錢昆

• 錢易

• 錢惟治，被錢弘俶養為子

備註