Wang Yanzheng
However, Wang Xi, once his power was affirmed, turned out to be arrogant, licentious, and cruel, and he was suspicious of other members of the Wang imperial clan. His younger brother Wang Yanzheng the prefect of Jian Prefecture (建州, in modern Nanping, Fujian) often wrote him to try to correct his behavior, but that led him to be angry. He sent his close associates Ye Qiao () to serve as monitor of Wang Yanzheng's army, and Du Hanchong () to serve as monitor of the army at Nanzhen Base (南鎮軍, near Jian). Both Ye and Du frequently submitted reports of their suspicions about Wang Yanzheng, adding to the friction. In 940, after an argument between Wang Yanzheng and Ye, Wang Yanzheng tried to arrest Ye, but Ye was able to flee. Wang Yanzheng then rose in full rebellion against Wang Xi's administration, and he quickly defeated the imperial generals in Jian's vicinity. When Wang Xi then sent the generals Pan Shikui () and Wu Xingzhen () to attack Jian, Wang Yanzheng sought aid from Min's northern neighbor Wuyue. Wuyue's king Qian Yuanguan sent a detachment commanded by Yang Renquan and Xue Wanzhong () to aid Wang Yanzheng, but Wang Yanzheng defeated Pan and Wu before the Wuyue army's arrival. He then tried to send the Wuyue army away, but Yang and Xue refused to leave Jian's vicinity. Wang Yanzheng then turned around and sought aid from Wang Xi, who sent their nephew Wang Jiye () to head toward Jian and cut off the supply routes of Yang and Xue's army. Wang Yanzheng then defeated them, forcing them to retreat. Subsequently, Min's northwestern neighbor Southern Tang's emperor Li Bian sent emissaries to Wang Xi and Wang Yanzheng, trying to quell their dispute. Under Li Bian's moderation, Wang Yanzheng sent servants to Changle, and his servants subsequently swore an oath, on his behalf, with Wang Xi, at their father Wang Shenzhi's tomb, formally entering a peace between the brothers, but privately, they remained suspicious of each other. Wang Xi subsequently build up Changle's defenses to defend a possible attack, and the conscription, as well as Wang Xi's encouragement for people to become Buddhist monks, led to some 11,000 men becoming monks. Meanwhile, Shi, who had previously cut off relations with Min due to the arrogance of Wang Jipeng (who wanted the two states to be treated equally, angering Shi), received Wang Xi's petition, and thereafter created him the King of Min and gave him the titles of military governor ("Jiedushi") of Weiwu Circuit (威武, headquartered at Changle)—a tradition title held by Min's rulers when in subordination to the central Chinese regimes—and honorary chancellor title of "Zhongshu Ling" (). In 941, when Wang Yanzheng requested the title of military governor of Weiwu, Wang Xi declined to give him the title (citing the longstanding tradition of Weiwu being seated at Changle), but commissioned him as the military governor of a new Zhen'an Circuit (), to be headquartered at Jian. (Wang Yanzheng, though, did not like the name of Zhen'an, and therefore referred to himself as military governor of Zhenwu () Also in 941, Wang Xi commissioned his son Wang Yacheng as chancellor and the commander of the imperial guards. Later that year, suspecting an alliance between Wang Yanzheng and Wang Jiye (who was then serving as the prefect of Quan Prefecture (泉州, in modern Quanzhou, Fujian)), he summoned Wang Jiye back from Quan and forced Wang Jiye to commit suicide.