History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 322: Death of Guo Chongtao 1: Noble Meng Zhixiang

【Death of Guo Chongtao 1】

There is a curse on Shu due to its unique geographical factors. Anyone who enters or attacks Shu will either rise to great heights or be doomed.

Those who rose to prominence after entering Shu included Liu Bang and Liu Bei, while those who died after conquering Shu included Deng Ai and Zhong Hui.

From the moment the Later Tang Dynasty launched its campaign against Shu, people have been using history to satirize the present, comparing Li Cunxu to Sima Zhao, Wang Zongyan to Liu Chan, and Li Jiji and Guo Chongtao to Deng Ai and Zhong Hui. The "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" commented that Li Cunxu was far inferior to Sima Zhao, and Li Jiji and Guo Chongtao were also inferior to Deng Ai and Zhong Hui, but Wang Zongyan was even less than Liu Chan, so the Later Tang Dynasty's conquest of the Former Shu was a low-profile version of Sima Zhao's conquest of Shu Han.

Although Guo Chongtao's military and literary skills were not as good as Deng Ai and Zhong Hui, he still could not escape the curse of conquering Shu. Dasan Pass, Lutou Pass, Jianmen Pass... every pass was a gate of hell.

As mentioned above, when Li Cunxu was selecting a general to attack Shu, he was very conflicted. If he sent someone with poor ability like Duan Ning, he might not be able to do the job; the only ones who were qualified were one civil official and one military official. He recommended Guo Chongtao for civil affairs and Li Siyuan for military affairs. After repeated consideration, Li Cunxu preferred the civil official Guo Chongtao.

At the imperial meeting, Li Cunxu first decided that the crown prince Li Jiji would be the commander-in-chief, and then appointed Guo Chongtao as his deputy to help the crown prince achieve success. This was just a superficial act, and on the surface it looked like Guo Chongtao was assisting Li Jiji. In fact, Li Cunxu's inner thoughts were that Guo Chongtao would be the commander-in-chief first, and then Li Jiji would be the military supervisor.

According to the old system of the Tang Dynasty, the title of "Grand Marshal of the Army of the World" was usually held by the Crown Prince, while meritorious officials could only serve as deputies. The order of announcing the letters of appointment was also marshal first, then deputy. Furthermore, if Guo Chongtao was confirmed as the commander-in-chief first, and then the Crown Prince was appointed to accompany him, the emperor's suspicion would be too obvious.

After comprehensive consideration, Li Cunxu could only cleverly change the order of appointment, first Li Jiji and then Guo Chongtao, in order to dispel Guo Chongtao's concerns and build a harmonious relationship between the monarch and his subjects.

A few more lines of explanation are used to emphasize that Li Cunxu's attitude towards Guo Chongtao, or his trust in Guo Chongtao, was not as solid as imagined. Li Cunxu actually did not trust Guo Chongtao very much. The reason why he allowed him to enter Shu was because he did not trust Li Siyuan too much. It was just a helpless choice between "not trusting" and "too much trusting".

This was also the foreshadowing of Guo Chongtao's tragic end. Whether it was to attack Shu or to suppress a rebellion, anyone who led troops abroad and was suspected by his lord would surely die.

In addition to his lord's suspicion, Guo Chongtao's tragic ending was also the result of his own efforts.

People often regard Guo Chongtao as Zhang Chengye's successor due to inertia. Indeed, they have many common advantages, such as advising Li Cunxu and being loyal to the Hedong Group. But Guo Chongtao also has many shortcomings, so he has too many enemies. Once he left the central government and went to Bashu, Li Cunxu would be filled with all kinds of slander and frame-ups, which further intensified Li Cunxu's suspicion and eventually led to the tragedy.

In troubled times, if you want to survive, there are only two ways: to have or to have nothing.

If you have it, you will actively participate in the world, pursue power, chase after interests, contain enormous energy, and intimidate all those who dare to compete with you; if you don’t have it, you will passively withdraw from the world, be indifferent to fame and fortune, protect yourself, and live in harmony with the world.

Two completely opposite paths can have the same effect. No one dares to take the former, and no one is willing to take the latter.

Throughout the ages, anyone who chooses the first path will not go too far, even if he has been smooth sailing before. For example, Zhu Wen. Because the power in their hands is both feared and coveted.

The latter seems weak, but it can last for a long time. Lao Tzu has already used the "Tao Te Ching" to elaborate on the debate between "existence" and "non-existence". Guo Chongtao's choice is not much different from that of ordinary people. He also chose the first path.

Guo Chongtao was originally a civil servant under Li Kexiu. When Li Kexiu was in charge of Luzhou, Guo Chongtao was known for his competence and integrity. After Li Kexiu's death, Li Keyong appointed him as a junior protocol officer (Dianye), responsible for welcoming and seeing off guests. He was alert and responded well. After Li Cunxu succeeded to the throne, he valued him very much, promoted him repeatedly, and began to approach the core power circle.

Later, Guo Chongtao, Meng Zhixiang, and the eunuch Li Shaohong entered the decision-making level (Zhongmenshi) together, and officially entered the core power circle of the Hedong Group. This promotion made Guo Chongtao taste the sweetness of power, and from then on he gradually became addicted to power and became more and more dependent on power. It was also this promotion that made him meet the noble man in his life-Meng Zhixiang.

Among the three "big brothers of the Central Gate Envoy", Meng Zhixiang has the deepest background and the strongest connections. His father is called Meng Dao. When it comes to Meng Dao, perhaps no one knows him, but when it comes to Meng Dao's two brothers, they have a great background. Meng Dao is a family of three brothers: Meng Fangli, Meng Dao, and Meng Qian.

During the Huang Chao Rebellion, Meng Fangli became the military governor of Zhaoyi Army through military transformation and occupied Zhaoyi area for nearly 10 years. When Li Keyong started the expansion, he first attacked Zhaoyi area, and Meng Fangli committed suicide out of fear.

After Meng Fangli died, the three armies elected his third brother Meng Qian as the successor of Zhaoyi Army. Meng Qian sought help from Zhu Wen to resist Li Keyong. At that time, Zhu Wen was also expanding eastward and was fighting with Xuzhou Shi Pu. Moreover, Wei Bo Luo Hongxin refused to provide Zhu Wen with transit services. Bianzhou only sent 300 soldiers led by Wang Qianyu. Meng Qian knew that he could not win, so he arrested Wang Qianyu and paid money to Li Keyong as a token of surrender.

Later, when Shi Shucong, a general of Bianzhou, besieged Taiyuan, Meng Qian rebelled against Jin and surrendered to Bianzhou, following Shi Shucong's army back to Bianzhou. Zhu Wen hated his fickleness and had Meng Qian executed.

This Meng Zhixiang is the nephew of Meng Fangli and Meng Qian.

Meng Zhixiang's sister married Li Keyong's younger brother Li Kening and gave birth to a son named Li Cungui; Meng Zhixiang's wife was Li Keyong's niece (daughter of Li Kerang), and some historical records say she was Li Keyong's daughter. In short, the generations are mixed up. From the Meng family's perspective, Meng Zhixiang and Li Keyong are of the same generation (sister married Kening), and from the Li family's perspective, Meng Zhixiang is one generation younger than Li Keyong (married Keyong's daughter). Anyway, it's a close relationship.

Let's look at the eunuch Li Shaohong, who was Li Cunxu's trusted henchman. His original name was Ma Shaohong, and Li Cunxu gave him the surname of the emperor. Li Shaohong's name also appeared in various conspiracies and struggles. All you need to know is that he was one of Li Cunxu's most trusted eunuchs.

It can be seen that among these "Big Three", only Guo Chongtao is a "three-no" product with no background and no connections, and therefore he is also the one with the lowest position and the least power among the three.

In the "Battle of Huliupi", Zhou Dewei, the governor of Youzhou Lulong Army, was killed. Li Cunxu sent his trusted eunuch Li Shaohong to Youzhou to preside over the work. The work of the "Big Three" basically fell on Meng Zhixiang. Power is the original sin. Anyone who holds power will become prey in the eyes of some people. The greater the power, the more attractive it is to the hunter. The previous Zhongmen Envoy Wu Gong and Zhang Qianhou were killed innocently due to slander. After Li Shaohong was transferred, Meng Zhixiang gained more power, but he was not happy, fearing that he would repeat the mistakes of Wu and Zhang.

Because Meng Zhixiang's sister married Li Kening, Meng Zhixiang became a frightened bird in the "Li Kening's rebellion case" and could only keep his tail between his legs and keep a low profile in the Hedong political arena.

Meng Zhixiang was so upright that he asked to resign and be transferred to a distant post. His wife also cried in front of Empress Dowager Cao. Li Cunxu approved Meng Zhixiang's resignation request, but with an additional condition that he should recommend a suitable person to replace him.

Without hesitation, Meng Zhixiang solemnly recommended Comrade Guo Chongtao to the organization, opening a door for Guo Chongtao to display his talents and ambitions.

(End of this chapter)