History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 113 The King of Strong Mouth

【The King of Lip-service】

However, Tang Zhaozong's goal was not to eliminate Li Keyong, but to consolidate the imperial power. Weakening the feudal lords is the surface, consolidating the imperial power is the inner, and we should not put the cart before the horse. This is the overall thinking.

What Zhaozong needed to consider was how to disintegrate the power of the vassal states while taking advantage of their annexation and attack, so as to reap the benefits of their annexation rather than taking advantage of them.

Therefore, in this chaotic war between the feudal states, the central court must have a military presence, allowing the imperial guards to intervene in order to reap the benefits of war. However, the imperial guards are tools of the eunuchs, and the intervention of the imperial guards will inevitably allow the eunuchs to steal the fruits of victory.

So how to use the imperial guards to weaken the power of the vassal states while not encouraging the power of the eunuchs behind the imperial guards and allowing the fruits of victory to flow back to the court was the real problem facing Zhaozong.

Any problem that seems like a dilemma must have a solution that satisfies both sides, that is, civil officials commanding the army.

Zhaozong only needed to find a person in the civil service group who had no backing, lacked foundation, and was not tolerated by the vassal states and the eunuch Yang Fugong, and let him lead the imperial guards.

The best candidate is undoubtedly Zhang Jun.

This man has appeared in the previous article, and his image is not very glorious. In fact, the image of his generation is not very glorious. The evaluation of him in history is that he is "knowledgeable about books and history, and likes to make lofty remarks", and all the real literati and scholars "reject him".

When he followed Emperor Xizong into Sichuan, he wanted to flatter Tian Lingzi, but did not want to bear the stigma of fawning on the eunuchs. So he used a clever trick and arrived at the banquet early. When he and Tian Lingzi were the only ones in the room, he knelt down and kowtowed to Tian Lingzi. However, he was exposed in public by Tian Lingzi and was humiliated.

Zhang Jun was first appreciated by the eunuch Yang Fugong and was recommended by Yang Fugong to the central court. As Yang Fugong lost power in the "Tian Yang Struggle", Zhang Jun turned to flatter Tian Lingzi. Therefore, Yang Fugong hated Zhang Jun, a snobbish villain, very much. When Yang Fugong regained power, Zhang Jun was retaliated by Yang Fugong.

If we lose our horses, we can't know what a blessing is.

Zhang Jun, who was oppressed by Yang Fugong, was immediately promoted by Emperor Zhaozong and rose all the way to become the prime minister of the empire. He was asked to lead the civil service group to balance the eunuch group represented by Yang Fugong.

Zhang Jun often talked about reviving the Tang Dynasty and compared himself to Xie An (a famous official in the Eastern Jin Dynasty) and Pei Du (a famous official in the mid-Tang Dynasty). He believed that he had the talent to govern the world and the ambition to stabilize the country, and that reviving the Tang Dynasty was an unshirkable responsibility given to him by God.

He and Li Keyong also had some interactions. When Li Keyong was fighting against Huang Chao and stationed his troops in Hezhong, the two worked together for a short time. At that time, Li Keyong looked down on Zhang Jun very much.

After Zhang Jun became prime minister, Li Keyong publicly insulted him, saying that he had gained the title in vain and would only lead the empire into an abyss. Zhang Jun was so angry that he gnashed his teeth.

He was not tolerated by the eunuchs (Yang Fugong) and was incompatible with the vassal forces (Li Keyong). At the same time, he lacked any foundation and could only cling to the emperor.

Therefore, it was most appropriate to let Zhang Jun act as the spokesperson for Emperor Zhaozong in this melee. If successful, Emperor Zhaozong would reap the benefits alone; if unsuccessful, Zhang Jun could be used as a pawn to take the blame for Emperor Zhaozong.

Emperor Zhaozong summoned Zhang Jun and asked him about the strategy for reviving the Tang Dynasty.

Zhang Jun spoke eloquently, saying that Your Majesty is wise and brave, but is controlled by eunuchs and local governors. Whenever I think of this, I feel heartbroken and hate myself for not being able to do anything to help my master.

"Then according to your opinion, what should I do?"

"Truth is only within the range of the cannon, and caliber is justice. There must be a strong army loyal to His Majesty."

As a result, Emperor Zhaozong recruited soldiers on a large scale in the capital to expand the military, and soon he had an army of more than 100,000 people.

After receiving the memorial from Zhu Wen and others requesting to attack Li Keyong, Emperor Zhaozong convened a meeting of officials above the fourth rank to discuss the matter. To his surprise, more than half (six or seven out of ten) of the officials clearly expressed their opposition, and Yang Fugong also expressed his opposition.

Zhang Jun had a secret talk with Emperor Zhaozong beforehand and knew what the emperor was thinking. He rejected all the opinions and said, "It was the Shatuo people who forced the late emperor to flee for the second time! They are not of our race, so their hearts must be different. What can't these Shatuo people do? Once they unite with the various towns in Hebei, the consequences will be disastrous."

After the "Anshi Rebellion", the towns in Hebei Province were basically out of the jurisdiction of the central court, and have always been a concern for the Tang Empire. However, it is not difficult to find that the relationship between Li Keyong and the towns in Hebei Province is not harmonious. Except for Wang Chucun of the Dingzhou Yiwu Army, the towns in Hebei Province are very wary of Li Keyong, and there seems to be no sign of them uniting to fight against the central government. Zhang Jun's remarks can be said to be alarmist, creating panic, and forcibly inciting public opinion. "Now, the two major vassal states in Henan and Hebei (Zhu Wen and Li Kuangwei) are simultaneously requesting to attack Li Keyong. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! What are you waiting for? I hope that Your Majesty will give me the military power. It will take at least ten days and at most one month to suppress Shatuo Li Keyong."

The tone is really big. Zhu Wen was not so sure, even if he united the seven vassal states, he would not dare to make such a boast.

Yang Fugong argued, "The late emperor's departure was certainly related to the tyranny of the feudal lords, but..." He glanced at Zhang Jun, "it was also closely related to the improper handling of the situation by some civil servants in the court. Now that the world has just stabilized, we should not start a war again. We should try to resolve it peacefully so that the empire can recuperate and recover its vitality."

The two factions were evenly matched in their fight, and Yang Fugong's words were already suspected of personal attacks. If the situation developed further, it would most likely be that the eunuchs and civil servants would accuse and throw dirty water at each other.

Emperor Zhaozong said, "Li Keyong has made great contributions to the revival of the empire (defeating Huang Chao and recovering the capital), but now he is in a critical situation (the Luzhou crisis). If the court takes advantage of his situation, how will people in the world talk about me?"

Listen to the sound of gongs and drums; listen to the tone of words.

Everyone immediately heard the hidden meaning of Zhaozong: she is a whore and still wants to establish a chastity arch.

Another prime minister, Kong Wei, gave a rather far-fetched excuse, which in fact was not really an excuse:
"Your Majesty's words are only for temporary respect, while Zhang Jun's words are for eternal benefit. And after yesterday's war game simulation, once the war starts, our logistics can sustain two years of losses. I hope Your Majesty will not be soft-hearted and make a decisive decision!"

The winner takes all. That's the reason.

Zhaozong then looked at Zhang Jun and Kong Wei with hope, "I'll leave the matter to you two, my dear ministers. Please don't bring shame to me!"

The half-puppet emperor without real power and the pedantic scholar who is a big-talker want to be a trend-setter in the dangerous and dark political and military whirlpool, and the bronze player borrows an account to enter the king's game.

Emperor Zhaozong should not have used the fate of the empire as a bargaining chip, going all in and taking the whole gamble.

The imperial court issued an edict to strip Li Keyong of all his official posts and titles, and to revoke his given surname, restoring his original surname, Zhuxie;
He appointed Prime Minister Zhang Jun as the commander-in-chief of the "killing the Hu" campaign in Hedong (the commander-in-chief of the Hedong camp), the mayor of the capital (Jingzhao Yin) Sun Kui as the deputy commander-in-chief, and the governor of the Zhenguo Army Han Jian as the logistics commander;
Zhu Wen, the military governor of Xuanwu Army, and the commander of the Zhengnan Front Army (the Southern Recruiting Envoy);
Wang Rong, Jiedushi of Chengde Army, Commander of the Zhengdong Front Army (Eastern Recruiting Envoy);
Li Kuangwei, the governor of Lulong Army, was the commander of the Northern Front Army (the Northern Recruiting Envoy), and Helian Duo, the defense envoy of Datong, was his deputy.

Zhang Jun also requested Niu Hui to be the judge of the camp. Niu Hui was the grandson of Niu Sengru, the leader of the "Niu Party".

Niu Hui, who had rich experience in political struggles, predicted that Zhang Jun would lose. He said: "The empire has just suffered a severe blow. Instead of resting and recuperating, it is fighting fiercely and challenging powerful vassals. I have already seen Zhang Jun's miserable end!" So he claimed that he was old and frail and resolutely resigned.

Zhang Jun: Gather and prepare for a team battle.

Zhaozong: Just develop slowly and don’t waste time.

Zhang Jun: Go up and start the fight.

Zhaozong: The economy is backward, so we should form a new group.

Zhang Jun: Go up and start a fight!
Kong Wei: Let’s go up and start a team fight!
Emperor Zhaozong: Separate group, wait until everyone is gathered.

Zhang Jun, Kong Wei: Go up and start a fight!
Zhaozong: ...

Thanks to my old friend "Feitian Shenlongzhan" for his recommendation votes and support

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(End of this chapter)