History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 323: Death of Guo Chongtao 2 Highlight Moment
[Highlights of Guo Chongtao's Death 2]

Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared. Meng Zhixiang's retreat to Taiyuan made room for Guo Chongtao, giving him more opportunities to get close to Li Cunxu and participate in more and more confidential military and political meetings. Guo Chongtao lived up to expectations, repeatedly offered good advice, and gave correct suggestions on many key issues, which won Li Cunxu's respect.

1. Knowing oneself and the enemy, we defeated the Khitan and took back Zhenzhou with clean hands.
Zhang Wenli rebelled in Zhenzhou and colluded with Khitan to march south. The army was terrified and all were afraid to move forward. All the generals requested to temporarily retreat to Weizhou to avoid the Khitan's attack and retreat to Weizhou to make plans later. Li Cunxu was hesitant, but Guo Chongtao firmly advocated to fight against the Khitan. He pointed out that the Khitan was only lured by Wang Du and others and came with bluffing. Their strategic goal was only to plunder money and property. They would not shed blood and sacrifice for Zhang Wenli and Wang Du. Once they encountered setbacks, they would definitely retreat. Once our army retreated, Heshuo would not be ours!
Li Cunxu never expected that the one who shouted "Don't be a coward, do it" and "Let's go and start a fight" was actually a weak civil servant, who was looking at the problem from a higher dimension and had a gap in realm compared to those warriors.

Li Cunxu listened to Guo Chongtao's advice and headed north at full speed to fight against the Khitan. Everything happened as Guo Chongtao expected, and the Khitan turned around and left.

After Zhenzhou was recovered, Guo Chongtao was ordered to enter the city to take over, reorganize, and appease the people. This was a lucrative job with a lot of benefits. For example, public funds could be embezzled, and the inspection of the treasury could be underreported or concealed; for example, bribes could be accepted, bribes could be demanded, and extortion could be carried out. Out of fear, the surrendered generals would inevitably bribe on a large scale. In short, this work must be handed over to a comrade who can be trusted. Li Cunxu handed the task of taking over Zhenzhou to Guo Chongtao.

After entering the city, Guo Chongtao was incorruptible, neither embezzling public funds nor accepting bribes. After work, he only went to the market to buy books. Guo Chongtao's noble character once again moved Li Cunxu. While Li Cunxu appreciated Guo Chongtao, he also praised his mentor Meng Zhixiang.

2. Brave and resourceful, rescue Yang and Liu
The Later Liang Dynasty launched a surprise attack on Weizhou and extended its tentacles to the north of the Yellow River, plundering the southern part of Weizhou day and night, resulting in a serious lack of productivity and a serious shortage of Li Cunxu's military supplies. The morale of the Hedong army was low and pessimism spread. They all believed that Li Cunxu would be defeated by Zhu Youzhen sooner or later.

At that time, Guo Chongtao devoted himself to his work and could not sleep. Li Cunxu was even more so, never taking off his armor, ready to fight at any moment. However, things did not develop in a good direction because of their efforts. Wang Yanzhang conquered Deshengjiacheng in three days, and the Later Liang took advantage of the victory to approach Yangliucheng. Li Siyuan was trapped in Yunzhou and there was no news at all...

The Hedong army was in a panic, and there was a danger of mutiny. Li Cunxu climbed the city wall and looked around, but he was at a loss and almost fell into despair.

At this critical moment, Guo Chongtao offered a strategy, which was to continue to detour eastward, go deep into the Shandong Peninsula, find a place where the Later Liang's defense was weak, cross the river, and rescue Li Siyuan in Yunzhou.

Afterwards, Guo Chongtao was ordered to lead his general Mao Zhang and others to rush at night, finally crossing the river from Bozhou and rushing to build a new city on the south bank, working day and night, 24 hours a day, racing against time. According to the war game simulation of Guo Chongtao and Li Cunxu, Wang Yanzhang would have 10 days to rush to support, so Li Cunxu was responsible for delaying Wang Yanzhang, the longer the better, while Guo Chongtao had to rush to build a new city with military defense functions within 10 days.

As a result, Guo Chongtao completed the project in just 6 days, while Wang Yanzhang arrived on the 9th day. A fierce exchange of fire ensued between the two sides.

Guo Chongtao worked day and night, racing against time, and was so exhausted that he would sit on a small stool and take a nap. After a short rest, he would return to the busy construction site. Once, Guo Chongtao was sitting on a small stool in the reeds and taking a nap (he was sleeping on a bed in the reeds), when he suddenly felt something cold in his trouser legs... If he had urinated, it should be warm, so why was it cold? People around him helped him check and found that it was actually a snake. Guo Chongtao was so tired.

In the subsequent fierce battle, Guo Chongtao was fully armed and commanded to fight against the Later Liang army which was several times larger than his own. He was ready to die without fear and finally held out until the reinforcements from Li Cunxu arrived.

Li Cunxu then used the city as a springboard to lift the siege of Yang Liu and rescue Li Siyuan who was trapped in Yunzhou. Soon after, Li Siyuan led his army to launch a surprise attack on Bianzhou and destroyed the country in eight days.

Guo Chongtao’s contribution to the construction of the new city is indispensable.

3. Push for surprise attack despite opposition
After Duan Ning took command, he planned a four-pronged counterattack, aiming to wipe out Hedong with great momentum. Li Cunxu was filled with worry and summoned all the generals to discuss. The popular eunuch Li Shaohong proposed to use the river as the boundary with the Later Liang Dynasty, which was widely recognized and supported.

Only Guo Chongtao insisted on fighting to the end and suggested the "left hook" to launch a surprise attack on Bianzhou.

Li Cunxu followed Guo Chongtao's advice and finally destroyed Liang in eight days and unified the Central Plains. Historical records evaluated Guo Chongtao's contribution in the war to destroy Liang, "capturing Wang Yanzhang, killing Liang's family, and subduing Duan Ning, all because of Chongtao's support for his plan." Guo Chongtao played a great role in Li Cunxu's entry into Luoyang.

4. Appease the surrendered generals and protect the country's wealth
After the destruction of Liang, Guo Chongtao was at the height of his power in the Later Tang Dynasty and was highly valued. As a result, he became the target of bribes from the surrendered generals of the Later Liang Dynasty. When Guo Chongtao took over Zhenzhou before, he refused bribes, but after entering Bianzhou and Luoyang, he accepted all bribes.

Even his relatives and friends could not understand why Guo Chongtao suddenly became corrupt, so they could not help but question him in person. Guo Chongtao said that the officialdom of the Later Liang Dynasty was corrupt and the bribery was difficult to eradicate. Now most of the princes in the four directions were surrendered generals of the Later Liang Dynasty. They have been our enemies for a long time and have just expressed their allegiance recently. In fact, they are fearful and uneasy in their hearts. If we firmly refuse their bribes at this time, it will make them more uneasy and cause big problems. I am temporarily keeping them for the country.

(But during the days of the Pseudo-Liang, bribery became a common practice. Now, many of the vassal states are former generals of Liang, all of whom were killed by our king. If they change their ways and become our people, and we firmly reject their requests, how can we not be afraid? If we keep my private room, it will be no different from public funds.)
Just a few months later, Li Cunxu "had something to do in the southern suburbs", and the court's finances were in serious deficit, and they could not even afford the expenses for the suburban sacrifice. At this time, Guo Chongtao fulfilled his promise of "hiding the remaining money in private rooms as if it were public funds" and took out all the "bribes" to fund Li Cunxu's suburban sacrifice ceremony. Not only did he not keep a penny of the "stolen money", but he also put more money into his own pocket.

Guo Chongtao is a man with ideals and ambitions, a man who is free from vulgar tastes, and a man who is against vulgarity. Let's learn from Comrade Guo Chongtao!

5. Repeatedly admonishing the king

In addition to offering advice and suggestions, Guo Chongtao also repeatedly advised Li Cunxu, and almost lost his life for it.

Li Cunxu could not be considered a pure incompetent ruler or tyrant. He was also an aspiring young man with ideals and ambitions, and a young hero. He also dreamed of becoming Emperor Taizong of Tang, and hoped to have Wei Zheng by his side.

Many times, the powerful Li Cunxu would feel ashamed and speechless in front of the upright Guo Chongtao. Sometimes he would even show awe and avoid Guo Chongtao like Emperor Taizong of Tang was afraid of Wei Zheng.

Li Cunxu wanted to build large-scale buildings in the palace on the pretext of avoiding the summer heat, including high towers and pavilions. He was not afraid of anything else but Guo Chongtao's dissuasion, so he took the initiative to send a clever eunuch to "say hello" to Guo Chongtao in private, intending to ask him to be flexible and save face and convenience for the emperor.

The eunuch conveyed Li Cunxu's meaning, which was that this year was hotter than last year, and he could not stand the heat any more, so he built a summer house. His words were almost like a plea.

However, Guo Chongtao did not give him the slightest face, saying that last year, because of the fierce battle with Later Liang, Your Majesty was wholeheartedly focused on defeating the bandits and had no time to think about other things. Now that the powerful enemy has been defeated, Your Majesty "indulges in the fun of the ears and eyes, and does not worry about the battle. Although there are hundreds of floors and nine banquet halls in the spacious palace, you cannot forget the excitement of today." In a word, Your Majesty has fallen!
Other imperial censors would only make memorials to the emperor to advise him after he had made a mistake, but Li Cunxu approached Guo Chongtao to say hello before he made a mistake. Li Cunxu gave Guo Chongtao enough face, which in return earned Guo Chongtao's iron-faced and impartial attitude.

After the project started, Guo Chongtao again submitted a petition to advise Li Cunxu. Li Cunxu was speechless and felt guilty, so he finally avoided Guo Chongtao all day long and did not respond to his petitions. He only ordered the eunuchs to speed up the construction schedule and make the matter a fait accompli.

Through this story, we can see Guo Chongtao's integrity and Li Cunxu's loveliness. He is like a primary school student who has not done his homework facing his class teacher.

Guo Chongtao was promoted through meritorious service and became the highest official in the country. He had great power in the court and the country, truly achieving the goal of "from a general to a prime minister". In the central government, he was the prime minister and privy councilor, and in the local area, he was the governor. He was granted the title of Duke of Zhao and was awarded a red-lettered iron certificate and a golden medal of immunity from death.

So far, what we have seen is basically the great, glorious and correct side of Comrade Guo Chongtao, and the reason why he fell to the bottom at the peak of his life is closely related to his character weaknesses.

(End of this chapter)