History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 329 Guo Chongtao's Death

【Death of Guo Chongtao】

After Meng Zhixiang left, Li Cunxu still felt uneasy. Perhaps he just remembered that Meng Zhixiang and Guo Chongtao had a close personal relationship. Meng Zhixiang recommended Guo Chongtao to the central government, and Guo Chongtao recently recommended Meng Zhixiang to govern Xichuan... Now I want to kill Guo Chongtao, Meng Zhixiang pleads for him, and I give the task of investigating Guo Chongtao to Meng Zhixiang...

After thinking it over, Li Cunxu felt that he had done something foolish. What if the two of them joined forces to establish a separatist regime in Shu? "It's bad!" Li Cunxu slapped his forehead and hurriedly found the people he trusted most - eunuchs, to carry out this task.

Li Cunxu found the eunuch Ma Yangui and ordered him to ride into Chengdu to monitor Guo Chongtao's movements. Note that this was not to investigate his "rebellion" charges, but to see how he performed. If Guo Chongtao obeyed the imperial edict and returned to the capital, it would be fine; if Guo Chongtao dared to delay, he would be killed without mercy, no matter what the reason!

Obviously, Li Cunxu still had some illusions about Guo Chongtao and left him some living space.

This was different from the eunuchs' declaration. The eunuchs said that Guo Chongtao must not be allowed to leave Shu alive and should not be given any chance.

Eunuch Ma Yangui hurried to Empress Liu, with a look of despair on his face, and said anxiously: "Xiang Yansi has made it very clear how dangerous Shu is. Sooner or later, there will be chaos. But the emperor is indecisive and will inevitably suffer the consequences! Shu is in danger, and disaster is imminent. There is no time to spare. If something changes, how can you have time to ask for instructions from Luoyang, three thousand miles away?"

Empress Liu quickly found Li Cunxu and asked him to act decisively and get rid of Guo Chongtao.

Li Cunxu said that those were all hearsay, and that he had not yet obtained sufficient evidence, so how could he kill the minister without authorization?

"By the time you investigate thoroughly, it will be too late!"

Empress Liu was unable to convince Li Cunxu, so she simply bypassed Li Cunxu and directly ordered Li Jiji to take the initiative and kill Guo Chongtao. In the Later Tang Dynasty, "three orders were carried out together", that is, the emperor's edict, the empress's decree, and the empress dowager's edict, which had the same legal effect. So Empress Liu directly issued the decree to Li Jiji.

Meng Zhixiang was walking to Shihao and had just settled down when he was reminded of Du Fu's "The Stone-Hao Officer" by the scene. He was filled with emotion and prayed silently in his heart, hoping that the world would be peaceful, that a holy emperor would sit on the throne, that officials would be honest and upright, and that the people would live and work in peace and contentment... In short, he hoped that the story in "The Stone-Hao Officer" would never happen.

"I arrived at Shihao Village at dusk, and an official was arresting people at night..."

Suddenly, there was a rapid knock on the door.

"How strange! It's the middle of the night. Is it really the case that 'officers are arresting people'?" Meng Zhixiang muttered to himself. He opened the door and saw that the visitor was out of breath, sweating profusely, and gasping for breath. He could no longer speak.

With the help of the dim candlelight, Meng Zhixiang was able to see the visitor clearly: it was the eunuch Ma Yangui.

Ma Yangui conveyed the Queen's order to Meng Zhixiang, "No need to investigate, just kill him!" Without further delay, Meng Zhixiang was asked to rush to Chengdu immediately without any delay!

Meng Zhixiang could only pack his luggage and set off overnight. Before leaving, Meng Zhixiang was extremely melancholy. He looked up at the moon in the stone ditch and sighed: "The world is about to be in chaos!"

At the same time, Guo Chongtao was already preparing for the return to the capital with Li Jiji. After research and discussion, it was decided to let Ren Huan stay in Chengdu temporarily as the acting governor of Xichuan, and wait for Meng Zhixiang to arrive and complete the work handover before returning to Luoyang. The rest of the people (especially Guo Chongtao) had to set off immediately.

On the day the army set out, the eunuch Ma Yangui rushed into Chengdu and showed Li Jiji the order from Empress Liu, "Your mother told you to kill someone."

Li Jiji hurriedly hid the order. "The army has already set off, and Guo Chongtao has not done anything unusual. How can this happen? Don't say anything more. Without my father's official order, I will not kill the general without authorization!"

Eunuch Li Congxi and others knelt down and cried bitterly, "The news of the decree has already leaked out. If we are too soft-hearted, the consequences will be disastrous!" The so-called leak mainly refers to the fact that Ma Yangui has told Meng Zhixiang about the content of the decree, and Meng Zhixiang's close relationship with Guo Chongtao is well known. If Meng Zhixiang can't bear to do it, the news may leak out from Meng Zhixiang again, or from here... In short, if you don't want others to know, you must not do it yourself. This decree is the arrow that has left the string.

"What if Guo Chongtao gets wind of this and something changes along the way..."

"Yes, we must do it and never stop..."

"Will your own mother harm you? Listen to her."

The eunuchs cried and some spoke from the bottom of their hearts, and finally they persuaded Li Jiji.

The next morning, the eunuch Li Congxi conveyed Li Jiji's order to summon Guo Chongtao, saying that there were military matters to discuss. Guo Chongtao had no doubts and went without armor or weapons, only with his sons Guo Tinghui and Guo Tingxin and a few followers.

Li Jiji and the eunuchs set up an ambush, waiting for Guo Chongtao to fall into the trap. While waiting, Li Jiji felt very uncomfortable, unable to bear the condemnation of his conscience, and his face looked very ugly.

Eunuchs such as Li Congxi reminded him to be more restrained so as not to arouse Guo Chongtao's suspicion and ruin everything!

Li Jiji sighed, "I'll go upstairs first, you guys... do it." After that, he went upstairs alone in great pain. Li Congxi and others exchanged glances.

After a while, Guo Chongtao arrived at the scene, and Li Congxi and others pretended to report to him and give him instructions, leading him upstairs.

But just as Guo Chongtao stepped onto the steps, Li Jiji's personal guard Li Huan launched a surprise attack from behind Guo Chongtao, using a hammer hidden in his sleeve to blow Guo Chongtao's head off. Guo Tingxin and Guo Tinghui were also killed by the warriors in an instant.

Li Huan and his companions were the personal guards of the crown prince, masters of the imperial court, and well-trained top assassins. They killed Guo Chongtao and his son in an instant without making any sound. The three died before they could even call for help or scream. People outside did not know that such a tragedy had happened in the yard.

Li Jiji's aide, Li Song, the chief prosecutor, was unaware of the situation, so he went upstairs to ask Li Jiji for an explanation.

Li Jiji was seen sitting alone in a high building, covering his face and crying.

"The army is three thousand miles away. How can you kill the general without the emperor's edict? Your Majesty (Li Jiji's current title is King of Wei) do such a dangerous thing? Even if you want to kill him, can't you wait until you return to Luoyang to kill him?"

Li Song thought that Guo Chongtao's lack of respect for Li Jiji during the invasion of Shu angered Li Jiji and brought about his death. He was unaware of the decree.

Li Jiji was not in a position to say more, so he just said, "Sir, you are right. But the incident has already happened, how can we remedy it? Please give me some advice, sir."

Li Song sighed and said there was only one way. He summoned several officials who were responsible for drafting documents to go upstairs, and then "remove the stairs". No one was allowed downstairs, and only a few trusted people were allowed to stand guard in the yard. Only Li Jiji, Li Song and a few clerks were upstairs.

Several people drafted a fake imperial edict to kill Guo Chongtao, and then stamped it with a wax imitation of the Secretariat seal, and then showed it to the whole army, which temporarily stabilized the army's morale. Li Jiji appointed Ren Yuan to replace Guo Chongtao and take charge of military and political affairs.

All the fawning staff and officials who surrounded Guo Chongtao in the past scattered like monkeys when the tree fell and fled when disaster struck. Only his secretary Zhang Li went to the Prince of Wei's mansion where Guo Chongtao was killed to cry and pay tribute.

(End of this chapter)