History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 325: The Death of Guo Chongtao 4: The Castrated Horseman
[The Death of Guo Chongtao 4: Castrated Horseman]

Initially, Guo Chongtao, Meng Zhixiang, and the eunuch Li Shaohong were all "the three great men of the Central Gate Envoys". Among them, Guo Chongtao had the smallest position and power, and was always below Li Shaohong. In terms of seniority, reputation, personal relationship with Li Cunxu, etc., Li Shaohong also completely crushed Guo Chongtao.

When Li Cunxu was planning to establish the Later Tang Dynasty, he wanted both civil officials and eunuchs to serve as Privy Councilors to check and balance each other. At that time, the Privy Councilor had the greatest power. As the "number one civil official", Guo Chongtao was undoubtedly one of the candidates for the Privy Councilor of the Later Tang Dynasty, while the eunuch was naturally Li Shaohong.

Because Li Shaohong was above Guo Chongtao and was his old leader and superior, Guo Chongtao petitioned to let Li Shaohong be appointed as Xuanhui Envoy, and let Zhang Juhan, the eunuch who supervised the Zhaoyi Army, be on the same level as him. A typical promotion in name only, the Xuanhui Envoy can be simply understood as the "Inner Household Department", or the "General Eunuch" as it is often jokingly called. It is a typical "simple job but high position", a position very suitable for retirement.

The eunuch Zhang Juhan's qualifications, reputation and other aspects were all crushed by Guo Chongtao, and he was promoted by Guo Chongtao, so he would not pose a threat to Guo Chongtao's position at all. In fact, the Privy Council was almost controlled by Guo Chongtao alone, and Zhang Juhan could only agree with him and rely on Guo Chongtao, without any power in his hands.

With a trick of promoting someone in public but demoting him secretly, Guo Chongtao seized power alone. However, he also deeply offended Li Shaohong.

In order to appease Li Shaohong, Guo Chongtao appointed an "internal envoy" to be in charge of the finances of the three departments, and gave this lucrative job to Li Shaohong. However, Li Shaohong did not let it go and always hated Guo Chongtao in his heart.

It is worth mentioning that Zhang Juhan, the Privy Councilor who was in name only, had been unknown and transparent due to the strong suppression of Guo Chongtao. It was not until Guo Chongtao was no longer around that he did a big thing: he tampered with the imperial edict, changing "Wang Yan and his party" to "Wang Yan's family", saving thousands of lives.

During the war to destroy Liang, Guo Chongtao's opinions repeatedly conflicted with those of the eunuch Li Shaohong, but in the end practice proved that Guo Chongtao was right. After Li Cunxu entered Bianzhou, he could not hide his inner arrogance and publicly said: "Fortunately, I listened to Guo Chongtao's advice. If I had listened to Li Shaohong, I would have died without a burial place!"

We can try to imagine Li Shaohong’s expression at that time. The conflict between him and Guo Chongtao became increasingly irreconcilable.

After Li Cunxu conquered Liang, he favored eunuchs, and eunuchs, actors and actresses also flattered him, leading Li Cunxu to corruption. Guo Chongtao often gave advice and admonishments, and thus offended all the eunuchs, actors and actresses.

When Guo Chongtao and Li Jiji were on the expedition to attack Shu, he said to Li Jiji: "Your Highness is the Crown Prince. One hundred years from now, you will be the Emperor. By then, you must eradicate the evils of this dynasty, eradicate the cancer of eunuchs, and show respect to civil officials... As the saying goes, a castrated horse cannot be ridden again. A castrated horse cannot be used again, let alone a castrated person!"

Not to mention that his ideas are similar to Cui Yin's, the second half of his sentence is a complete personal attack and a great insult to the eunuchs.

Walls have ears, and these words soon reached the ears of the eunuchs. The eunuchs were so angry that they gnashed their teeth and said to each other: "We must not let Guo Chongtao come back alive!" So the eunuchs worked together and really made Guo Chongtao die in Shu.

During the attack on Shu, Li Jiji became a figurehead. Guo Chongtao had the final say on all military affairs, no matter how big or small, and Li Jiji was only responsible for signing. (The recruitment and appointment of officials, the planning of the division, and the military letters and notices were all from Chongtao, and Jiji was just following orders.)

Since the attack on Shu, Guo Chongtao's emotional intelligence has been off. Although Li Cunxu publicly appointed and promised him to command the entire army, he must not be too arrogant. Don't take bean buns as dry food. Li Jiji is a decoration, but he is also the crown prince. Don't take him too lightly. Around Li Jiji, there are eunuchs Li Congxi, Li Yan'an, Lu Zhirou, etc., as the secretary and deputy of the Grand Marshal. However, the Grand Marshal Li Jiji has nothing to deal with. After taking over Chengdu, Li Jiji's commander-in-chief's office is still deserted, while Guo Chongtao is crowded with people, and bribes, backdoors and connections are endless.

The surrendered generals and ministers of Former Shu first paid homage to Guo Chongtao and then to Li Jiji; even when Wang Zongbi surrendered, he took a large sum of money to bribe Guo Chongtao first.

The gifts given to Guo Chongtao were all piles of gold, silver and treasures, while the gifts given to Li Jiji were just small items like spittoons and whisks. Don't be too insulting!
Li Jiji was relatively calm, at least pretending to be calm on the surface. However, the eunuch Li Congxi and others were so ashamed and angry that they slandered Guo Chongtao in front of Li Jiji more than once, "Does he still have your eyes on him? You are nothing to him! He is going to rebel. If you become the emperor in the future, will he listen to your orders and control you?"

Over time, Li Jiji's opinion of Guo Chongtao began to waver.

After entering Chengdu, Guo Chongtao lived in Wang Zongbi's house. Wang Zongbi selected the best from among Wang Zongyan's concubines, selected a large number of beautiful women, and took out a large number of treasures from the palace, all of which were given to Guo Chongtao, and asked Guo Chongtao to appoint him as the governor of Xichuan. However, Guo Chongtao did not even discuss it with Li Jiji, and he decided to appoint Wang Zongbi as the governor of Xichuan.

Immediately afterwards, Wang Zongbi and Guo Chongtao's son Guo Yanhui worked together to make the surrendered generals and ministers of Former Shu collectively petition and jointly submit a memorial, requesting that Comrade Guo Chongtao must be allowed to remain in Shu and be the highest official in Shu, because we Shu people only trust Guo Chongtao.

Li Jiji was shocked by Guo Chongtao's decision to appoint Wang Zongbi as the governor of Xichuan without authorization, and he questioned Guo Chongtao's loyalty. However, Guo Chongtao's move not only broke Li Jiji's psychological bottom line, but also broke Li Cunxu's bottom line.

The mainstream view is that Guo Chongtao's intention to stay in Shu was the fundamental reason why his clan was exterminated.

What Li Cunxu was most worried about happened. The commander-in-chief of the expedition against Shu, Guo Chongtao, really wanted to carve out his own territory in Shu and become the king.

Before this, eunuch Li Congxi and others spoke ill of Guo Chongtao in front of Li Jiji, but Li Jiji could still keep a clear mind and defend Guo Chongtao. Guo Chongtao accepted bribes on a large scale, which had precedents, just like when Liang was just conquered, in order to appease the surrendered generals and ministers, dispel their doubts, and protect the country's wealth; Guo Chongtao's frequent visits were also inevitable, after all, he was the actual commander-in-chief of the attack on Shu, and he must have a lot of official duties... In short, Guo Chongtao was a good comrade worthy of trust.

But when Li Jiji received the joint letter from the former generals in Shu, his opinion of Guo Chongtao was seriously shaken. Li Jiji said to Guo Chongtao: "The current emperor relies on you like the majestic Hengshan Mountain and Huashan Mountain. How can he be willing to abandon you in this barren and desolate place? I can't make this decision."

The Shu people tried to retain Guo Chongtao but were flatly rejected by Li Jiji. This incident became a landmark event in the break between Li Jiji and Guo Chongtao.

(End of this chapter)