History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 353 An Zhonghui's Layout
All those in power want is an excuse. It doesn't matter whether it is true or false. A small tube of laundry detergent can be said to be a chemical weapon, and then a war to destroy a country can be launched.

With the accusation of "inciting murder", Li Siyuan, the hunter hiding in the dark and the mastermind behind the "Harvesting Reeds" movement, finally took action.

On July 7, Dou Luge was demoted to the post of governor of Chenzhou and Wei Shuo to the post of governor of Xuzhou. Both prefectures were in Hunan. They were demoted to the two lakes first, and they were “sent away at high speed”. Go away -

After demoting the two, Li Siyuan gave the memorial in which the "young daughter-in-law" accused the two to all officials for circulation, and then gave the "young daughter-in-law" 20 pieces of silk and 50 taels of silver, and later appointed her as the Left Palace Attendant (third rank).

Prime Minister Zheng Jue and Ren Huan repeatedly sought explanations from An Zhonghui and spoke out for the injustice done to Dou Luge and Wei Shuo, but were rejected outright by An Zhonghui. So they submitted three memorials in a row to the emperor directly to plead for mercy, saying that no matter what, please stop here and not continue the old routine of "demoting them again and again and then ordering them to commit suicide."

"What do you say?"

On July 7, Dou Luge was demoted to the post of the Minister of Household of Feizhou and Wei Shuo to the post of the Minister of Household of Yizhou. Both prefectures are in today's Guizhou Province.

On July 7, all their titles were stripped away, and Dou Luge was exiled to Lingzhou (now in Sichuan Province), and Wei Shuo was exiled to Hezhou (now in Chongqing).

You're begging for mercy, right? You're not going to play tricks on me anymore, right? Within 5 days, I was demoted from a prime minister to a commoner. Whose political consciousness has hit the bottom, and still dares to beg for mercy?
This was not enough, Li Siyuan specifically ordered the local officials of Lingzhou and Hezhou to monitor the two men 24 hours a day, keeping track of their movements at all times, so as to "seek permission for them to commit suicide." Dare to let them go, and I will take the blame for you!

A year later, in the summer of the second year of Tiancheng (927), Li Siyuan settled old scores in Jingnan and finally "sought permission to commit suicide". He also ordered the highest local administrative official, the governor, to personally supervise the suicide process and verify his identity.

The "young wife" catered to the wishes of An Zhonghui and Li Siyuan, received a lot of rewards, and was promoted to a third-rank official. However, the "young wife"'s reaction to this was "even more impetuous", and she became even more restless, thinking that she was only a third-rank official, which was not enough.

As the saying goes, the world is full of retribution, and no one can escape the fate of heaven. Dou Luge and Wei Shuo excluded the "young wife" to flatter Zhang Juhan. A few years later, the "young wife" framed Dou Luge and Wei Shuo to flatter An Zhonghui and Li Siyuan. Dou Luge and others did not know how to advance or retreat, and showed a strong desire for power. The "young wife" was even worse than Dou Luge in this regard, so the ending of the "young wife" was not difficult to predict. His tragic end came just a few years later.

The "old accounts of Jingnan" between Dou Luge and Wei Shuo will be elaborated in detail later.

In short, under the charge of the vanguard officer "Little Wife", An Zhonghui and Li Siyuan quietly harvested the "reeds" and removed the two prime ministers of Li Cunxu's period in one fell swoop.

The "harvesting reeds" campaign will not stop with the execution of Douluge and Wei Shuo. It is just the beginning of a political purge.

7.2 Anzhonghui's layout
Ren Yuan was born in Chang'an. His grandfather Ren Qing was the deputy mayor of Chengdu. His father Ren Maohong lived in Taiyuan to avoid the chaos and was the magistrate of Xihe County. Ren Maohong had five sons: Ren Tu, Ren Hui, Ren Yuan, Ren Tuan, and Ren Jiong. The five sons were different and had their own advantages, which were praised by people at that time. Especially Ren Yuan, he became the "other people's child" in the eyes of neighbors.

Li Keyong admired him very much, so he married his niece to him and promoted him in his official career. When Li Sizhao led the army in Taiyuan, he got along well with Ren Yuan. When Li Sizhao led the Zhaoyi Army in Luzhou, he asked Ren Yuan to be his staff and think tank. When Li Keyong died, the Later Liang Dynasty was besieging Luzhou with all its strength. Li Sizhao was trapped in the isolated city, and the only reinforcement Zhou Dewei suddenly retreated to Taiyuan. For details, please refer to the "Battle of Luzhou" in the "Three Major Battles".

At that time, Li Sizhao of Luzhou was in a critical situation, and he did not know that Li Keyong was dead. He only saw that all the reinforcements had abandoned him. Especially since he had a personal grudge with Zhou Dewei, Zhou Dewei's sudden withdrawal of troops intensified Li Sizhao's suspicion, "Could it be that Zhou Dewei wanted to frame me for betrayal and surrender to the enemy?"

Just when Li Sizhao's will began to waver, Ren Yuan actively persuaded him to do ideological work, telling him that a person with a clear conscience should not be afraid of his own shadow, and that he should just do his best to defend the city.

After Luzhou was relieved, Li Cunxu praised Ren Yuan highly.

Later, Li Cunxu became suspicious of Li Sizhao. Ren Yuan took advantage of his business trip to defend Li Sizhao and finally dispelled Li Cunxu's suspicion.

Later, Li Sizhao was ordered to attack Zhang Wenli of Zhenzhou, but unfortunately he was killed in battle. Before his death, Li Sizhao designated Ren Yuan to take over his command. Ren Yuan then strictly blocked the news of Li Sizhao's death and commanded in Li Sizhao's style, which actually deceived Zhang Wenli's rebels (the orders were consistent and the enemy was unaware).

After the rebellion was put down, Ren Huan was appointed as the deputy governor of Zhenzhou, and soon after he entered the central government and became the Minister of Works.

At first, Ren Yuan and Guo Chongtao had a good personal relationship. After pacifying Heshuo, Guo Chongtao was appointed as the governor of Zhenzhou, and Ren Yuan was his military commander. The two worked very well together. After Guo Chongtao entered the central government, he handed over the work of Zhenzhou to Ren Yuan. Then one person intervened, causing a rift in their relationship.

This man was called Zhang Peng, and he was Ren Yuan's aide (the magistrate). He was insidious, cunning, and corrupt, but he was able to conceal his true intentions and successfully deceive Ren Yuan. Ren Yuan even regarded him as a capable assistant and trusted him very much.

Li Cunxu sent eunuchs to the Heshuo region to search for beauties. In Zhenzhou, the eunuchs found more than 100 maids from Wang Rong's mansion. Zhang Peng was so bold that he bribed the guards with a large sum of money and secretly snatched the most beautiful woman named Xu. The fact that he had taken advantage of her was not obvious, but the fact that he had taken advantage of her was too obvious. The matter was soon exposed, so Zhang Peng was invited to the central government for tea.

Zhang Peng was terrified and hurriedly took out all the stolen money he had embezzled over the years and bribed Guo Chongtao heavily, even giving Guo Chongtao the hard evidence of his crime - the account book. Zhang Peng was the equivalent of Zhenzhou's accountant and financial director. He embezzled public funds by tampering with the account book, and his appearance was flawless. Once he committed a crime like today and produced evidence, all clues would point to Zhenzhou's most important administrative chief - Ren Yuan.

Guo Chongtao was very grateful to Zhang Peng, not only because he accepted the bribe, but also because he was grateful to him for voluntarily handing over the small account book and other evidence, allowing him to "see clearly" the ugly face of Ren Yuan.

This was the beginning of the misunderstanding and rift between Guo Chongtao and Ren Yuan.

When Guo Chongtao was attacking Shu, he specifically requested Ren Yuan to join the army. Firstly, Ren Yuan was a man of both civil and military talents, and could contribute to the attack on Shu; secondly, he was worried that Ren Yuan would do something behind his back.

(End of this chapter)