History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 324: Death of Guo Chongtao 3: Flaws in the Beautiful Jade
[The Death of Guo Chongtao 3: The Flaw of the Jade]

Since Guo Chongtao became one of the "Three Giants of the Central Gate Envoy" and experienced the pleasure of being in a high position, he could not stop and became obsessed with the pursuit of power. After all, only with a higher position and greater power can one better serve the people.

In the process of Guo Chongtao's efforts to climb up, there will inevitably be some intrigues, open and covert struggles, and political struggles that may be mild or brutal. He will step on some people and offend a considerable number of people.

In order to protect his own rights and interests from being attacked, Guo Chongtao excluded and suppressed potential threats one by one, including his "old superior" Li Shaohong (described in detail later), as well as generals Li Cunshen and Li Siyuan. In short, anyone who could threaten Guo Chongtao's position would be attacked indiscriminately by him.

1. Li Cunshen
Li Cunshen was originally a general under Li Hanzhi. In the second year of Guangqi (886), he was adopted by Li Keyong and led the "Yi Er Army". He fought with the army for nearly forty years and served two generations of lords, Li Keyong and Li Cunxu. He was a member of the first echelon of the Hedong Group's military sequence, and was as famous as Zhou Dewei, Li Cunxiao, Li Cunjin, Li Sizhao, and Li Siyuan.

Liu Xun, who had “a hundred strategies in one step”, was beaten by Li Cunshen, “like a baby in the palm of someone’s hand”.

The above article has already introduced this in detail, so I will not expand on it. I will only mention one small thing, which is enough to prove Li Cunshen’s qualifications and military achievements: the warnings he left to his sons.

Li Cunshen collected more than one hundred arrowheads, which he often took out to show his children and grandchildren, telling them that he was born in a humble family, joined the army and fought in battles since he was young, was injured countless times, and had a close brush with death many times, which is why he has the glory he has today. These arrowheads were taken out of his body. You must not covet comfort and enjoyment, and always remember that your family business is hard-earned!
After Zhou Dewei, Li Sizhao and others passed away one after another, the only veteran generals who could stand on their own in the Hedong Group were Li Siyuan and Li Cunshen.

In other words, the two meritorious veteran generals Li Cunshen and Li Siyuan posed the greatest threat to Guo Chongtao.

In March of the third year of Longde (923), Li Jitao rebelled in Luzhou, and the Khitans moved south to respond. At this critical moment, Guo Chongtao recommended Li Cunshen to lead the army to resist the Khitans, saying, "The Bian invaders have not been pacified, and Jitao has rebelled. Cunshen is indispensable for defending the north."

In the ranking of military commanders given in the New History of the Five Dynasties, Li Cunshen is as famous as Zhou Dewei, and slightly higher than Li Siyuan. Letting Li Cunshen lead the northern defense against the Khitan seems to be the best option.

However, Li Cunshen was already ill and bedridden at the time. After receiving the appointment, he wrote a letter to explain his resignation, saying that of course he dared not refuse the appointment and would go through fire and water for the Hedong Group. However, he was really seriously ill and could not take on the heavy responsibility. He asked for another good general to avoid delaying important matters!

Under Guo Chongtao's manipulation, Li Cunxu insisted on appointing Li Cunshen as Jiedushi of Youzhou Lulong Army to garrison northern Xinjiang, "forcing him to go". Li Cunshen had no choice but to take up the post despite his illness.

In October of that year, the Later Tang Dynasty destroyed the Liang Dynasty, and Zhuangzong entered Bian. Li Cunshen fought for the Hedong Group for 10 years and made countless contributions, but he lost the battle to destroy the Liang Dynasty and missed the most important and historic battle of the Hedong Group. This was a great regret, and this blow was beyond the understanding of ordinary people. Li Cunshen's old illness relapsed and his life was in danger.

When Li Cunshen was dying, he petitioned to go to the capital to see the emperor, hoping to see Li Cunxu again before his death. However, Guo Chongtao secretly obstructed Li Cunshen's visit, so that he could not see the emperor.

Later, Li Cunshen's wife, Guo, went to Guo Chongtao and cried, saying, "My husband has worked hard for the country all his life and has made some contributions. We are from the same hometown and we are more or less relatives. How can you bear to let my husband's old bones be thrown into the barren wilderness? You are too heartless!"
Guo Chongtao was filled with shame and embarrassment, but he still refused to let Li Cunshen return to Beijing.

A few months later, in March of the second year of Tongguang (924), Li Cunshen's condition worsened and he was about to die. He once again petitioned for an audience with the emperor. His words were sincere and tear-jerking. He only wanted to see the emperor one last time before he died.

Guo Chongtao still refused.

Li Cunshen sighed and said, "I have served two emperors for forty years and finally saw the unification of the Central Plains. However, those barbarians from far away and former mortal enemies can also see the emperor, but I am blocked from seeing them. Is this fate?" After saying this, he burst into tears and was overwhelmed with sorrow. His condition worsened and he was already dying.

Perhaps Guo Chongtao could not bear the condemnation of his conscience and the inner torment, or perhaps he really believed that Li Cunshen was about to die, so he finally agreed to Li Cunshen's request to go to Beijing.

In April, Li Cunxu issued an imperial decree to transfer Li Cunshen from Youzhou back to Bianzhou.

However, Li Cunshen never waited for that day. Before the imperial edict was delivered to Youzhou, he closed his eyes forever. He died without fulfilling his wish to meet Li Cunxu. He died with hatred at the age of 63. Before his death, Li Cunshen dictated a letter to express his regret for not being able to meet the emperor. The words were sincere and desolate, which made people cry when reading it.

After reading the will, Li Cunxu was deeply moved and "shocked and mourned for a long time". He ordered the posthumous title of Shangshu Ling and suspended court for three days.

In addition, the "New History of the Five Dynasties" and other historical books recorded him as "Fu Cunshen" and restored his original surname. Although he was Li Keyong's most proud adopted son, he was not included in the "Biography of Adopted Sons" because his descendants later became extremely prosperous and noble. At that time, changing one's name or surname was a shame (unless the emperor granted the national surname), so adopted sons would choose to restore their original surnames after they became successful, such as Gao Jichang. A man should not change his name or surname, and he should be upright and aboveboard, so Lu Bu was furious when he heard "a slave with three surnames".

So how prosperous were Li Cunshen’s descendants?

According to records, Li Cunshen had nine sons, the lowest official position of whom was also a Jiedushi. The fourth son, Li Yanqing (Fu Yanqing), became the most prominent in the future because he had three daughters, two of whom married Chai Rong, Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, namely Empress Xuanyi and Empress Xuanci (Empress Dowager Zhou), and the other daughter married Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, namely Empress Yide.

With three queens in one family, Li Cunshen’s sons and grandchildren enjoyed an unparalleled high status in the Northern Song Dynasty.

2. Li Siyuan
Guo Chongtao was relatively polite to Li Cunshen, only physically isolating him from meeting Li Cunxu. But for Li Siyuan, Guo Chongtao's methods were even more vicious.

The first step is to create public opinion and spread rumors.

Guo Chongtao once said to his attendants that Li Siyuan was ambitious, courageous and knowledgeable, and was not someone who would stay under someone else's rule for long. The other princes were all incompetent, and Li Siyuan would definitely threaten the country in the future.

At first glance, it seems to make sense. However, if this sentence was not imposed on Guo Chongtao by later generations from a God's perspective, then it was Guo Chongtao's malicious slander of Li Siyuan.

Because Li Siyuan was more than 20 years older than Li Cunxu, he was Li Cunxu's elder brother in terms of seniority, but in terms of actual age, the two were almost a generation apart, and Li Siyuan was completely his uncle.

When Guo Chongtao said this, Li Cunxu was just over 30 years old, young and strong, while Li Siyuan was already in his 60s. Guo Chongtao meant that after the death of this strong man in his 30s, this man in his 60s would rebel... It was totally unreasonable.

Li Cunxu was young and strong, loved sports, had a healthy body and enjoyed everything he ate. How did you know that he would die a violent death? If he lived to be in his 50s or 60s and died, then Li Siyuan would have been in his 70s or 80s...

I personally think that Guo Chongtao never really said that. It was just that later generations used Guo Chongtao’s words to prove that Li Siyuan was the true emperor, just like many inspirational quotes now use Lu Xun’s words. Lu Xun said, I never really said that.

Whether Guo Chongtao said it or not is no longer important. What is important is that Guo Chongtao did take action against Li Siyuan, and he used both soft and hard tactics to persecute him in various ways.

For example, he first instigated Li Cunxu to kill Li Siyuan. He almost succeeded, and Li Cunxu was almost persuaded by him, but because Li Siyuan's rebellion was not clear, it was a taboo in the army to kill a general who had worked hard and made great contributions without sufficient evidence. Think about the consequences of Zhu Wen's killing of Wang Zhongshi.

When discussing the candidate for the commander-in-chief to attack Shu, Li Siyuan, the only remaining first-tier veteran of the Hedong Group, received unanimous support. However, Guo Chongtao did not want Li Siyuan to make another contribution, so he "praised him to death", saying that only Li Siyuan could resist the Khitan, and therefore Li Siyuan could not leave Hebei.

Perhaps when Guo Chongtao obstructed Li Siyuan from taking command, he did not expect that the important task of conquering Shu would fall on his shoulders.

Blocking Li Cunshen, excluding Li Siyuan... How can the world turn around? Guo Chongtao thought he was proficient in political tactics, an unshakable figure in the political arena, and a man who rode the waves in the storm. However, he made things worse and replaced Li Siyuan to attack Shu, which quickly led to the extermination of his clan.

(End of this chapter)