History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 368 Specializes in treating all kinds of dissatisfaction
【Specialized in treating various dissatisfaction】

Li Siyuan claimed to be in charge of Luoyang, and with the help of his confidant An Zhonghui and others, he basically controlled the situation in just two or three years, either by force or kindness, or by conspiracy or overt conspiracy. Especially through the way he dealt with the rebels in Bianzhou, Huazhou, and Lutai, it is not difficult to see that Emperor Mingzong Li Siyuan, a wise and holy ruler, was definitely a wolf in sheep's clothing. Don't think a tiger is a sick cat if it doesn't show its power.

Li Siyuan was a man of great talent and ambition. He was unwilling to be the "Governor of Luoyang" and did not want to see the empire fall apart. His ambition was to complete the great cause of unifying the empire, truly restore the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and put the continuation of the Tang Dynasty into practice, rather than just treating it as a political slogan.

His most important confidant, An Zhonghui, also had the same attitude. He was deeply saddened by the current situation of separatist regimes and numerous small countries, and he took it as his responsibility to unify the country.

It was also because of this that An Zhonghui was deeply favored by Li Siyuan.

While the transfer of supreme power was complete and smooth, An Zhonghui was also busy with an important task - reducing the power of the feudal lords.

Cutting down the power of the feudal lords has always been a difficult and dangerous task, but once successful, the rewards are also very considerable. In order to realize the rejuvenation of the Tang Dynasty, An Zhonghui resolutely devoted himself to this task and embarked on the road of no return to cutting down the power of the feudal lords.

Since Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty and established the Liang Dynasty, starting the "Five Dynasties", this book has always taken the Central Plains dynasties (Later Liang and Later Tang) as the main line, interspersed with brief descriptions of other political forces (such as the "Ten Kingdoms" and Khitan), and the following text will also follow this line.

Li Siyuan's enthronement was an important time point during the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" period, because before that, the separatist forces were in a period of rapid growth, and they made a fortune quietly under the leadership of their regime founders. They were not closely connected with the Central Plains dynasty and were relatively independent. Before and after Li Siyuan's enthronement, the separatist forces basically entered a mature and stable period. Because Li Siyuan was a weak claimant, he questioned the vassal relationship and intended to challenge the central authority. Therefore, this period was the peak period of the formal establishment of the "Ten Kingdoms", including Southern Wu, Southern Chu, Southern Ping, Later Shu, and Wuyue.

It was also during this period that the founders of the separatist forces died one after another, and the "second generation ruling the country" mode began. However, these second-generation sons rarely surpassed their fathers and brothers, and most of them were prodigal sons, such as Wang Zongyan in the previous article.

Therefore, we will take Li Siyuan's court's movement to reduce the power of the feudal lords as an opportunity to trace back each branch line.

1. Jingnan

Before Li Cunxu attacked Shu, Gao Jichang of Jingnan went to Luoyang to pay homage. During the visit, Li Cunxu said that he planned to unify the world, and now only the former Shu and Huainan did not submit to the Central Plains. I plan to destroy Huainan first, and then the former Shu. What do you think?
Gao Jichang urged Li Cunxu to destroy the former Shu first and then attack Huainan. He also vowed to Li Cunxu that if the royal army attacked Shu, Jingnan would be the vanguard to help.

As detailed in the previous article, firstly, Gao Jichang believed that Shu was a land of high mountains and steep cliffs, and had been managed by Wang Jian and Wang Zongyan for more than 30 years, so it would be difficult to conquer. If Li Cunxu attacked Shu, he would inevitably be bogged down in the quagmire of war and seriously deplete the national strength. In this way, he would not be able to pose a threat to Jingnan. Secondly, if Li Cunxu really wanted to attack Shu, Jingnan could take advantage of the power of the former Shu and seize Kui, Zhong, Wan and other former Jingnan territories occupied by the former Shu, which is the so-called vanguard for Li Cunxu.

Afterwards, Li Cunxu promoted Gao Jichang to a higher position and conferred him the title of King of Nanping and concurrently the Minister of the Chancellery.

Gao Jichang smiled coldly and said to his great strategist Liang Zhen: "He is just afraid that I will ally with Former Shu." Not long after, news came that Li Cunxu was going to attack Shu. Gao Jichang could not help laughing and said to his attendants with great pride: "I lied to Li Cunxu, but I didn't expect that he would actually fall for it!"

In the war against Shu, the main force was the Later Tang expeditionary force led by Li Jiji and Guo Chongtao, which went south through Fengxiang to enter Shu; the other force was led by Gao Jichang (the commander of the southeastern camp of Xichuan). Li Cunxu ordered him to attack the five states of Kui, Zhong, Wan, Gui, and Xia, and agreed to allocate these territories to Jingnan (on the premise that you can conquer them and "take them yourself").

This is exactly what Gao Jichang had planned!
Gao Jichang had long wanted to recover Kui, Zhong, Wan and other states, and had once sent troops to conquer them by force. However, he was taught a lesson by Zhang Wu, a general of Former Shu. The "Invincible Fleet" of Jingnan was miserably defeated, and from then on he dared not provoke Former Shu.

Now, Gao Jichang is tricking Li Cunxu into launching a large-scale attack on Shu to attract firepower for himself, so that Jingnan can take back these territories by pretending to be the enemy. Then Li Cunxu's main force will be stuck in the quagmire of the war between the two Sichuans and unable to escape, and Jingnan will become stronger from then on... Gao Jichang would laugh like a pig in his dreams.

However, the reality was completely opposite to Gao Jichang's script, which was beyond his expectations: the army that attacked Shu only fought at Sanquan, and then won the battle by issuing edicts all the way, almost without bloodshed, and Former Shu surrendered directly in less than two months; but his troops were taught a lesson by Zhang Wu and returned in defeat.

In this war of annihilation, the only victory of Former Shu came from the southeastern battlefield, where Zhang Wu almost wiped out Jingnan's "Invincible Fleet", and the commander-in-chief of Jingnan's attacking Shu troops, Gao Conghui (Gao Jichang's eldest son), fled back in embarrassment.

Zhang Wu, a general of Former Shu, had long been prepared for Jingnan and invented the famous "locking gorge" tactic, which was actually a very common tactic, that is, burying a large number of huge iron chains in the Yangtze River, with both ends hidden on both sides, and controlled by a large winch. Once the surface ships entered the ambush area, the soldiers on both sides immediately turned the winch, and the iron chains rose from the bottom of the river, making it impossible for the ships to advance or retreat, and then the ambushers on both sides fired arrows and stones at the same time.

Gao Jichang of Jingnan had suffered a loss from "Lock Gorge" before, but he only remembered the loss and was tricked again.

Only after the former Shu commander-in-chief Wang Zongbi announced his surrender did Zhang Wu propose to surrender to Li Jiji, "I will surrender to the Tang Dynasty but not to Jingnan, otherwise you might as well let me die." As a result, Kui, Zhong, Wan and other states returned to the territory of the Later Tang Dynasty.

When the news of the fall of the Former Shu Kingdom reached southern Jing, Gao Jichang was having a meal. He was struck by lightning and froze in his tracks, not even noticing that the chopsticks in his hand had fallen to the ground.

Gao Jichang was in a trance for most of the day before he gradually came to his senses. He was shocked, regretful, and terrified... Gao Jichang was deeply shocked and sighed, "Oh! This is my fault! I thought I had successfully deceived Li Cunxu, but I never thought that I would actually hand my life over to Li Cunxu!"

The historical records show that Gao Jichang's original words were "This is my fault! I am holding the sword upside down and giving others a handle. What can I do?"

The second half of the sentence is not controversial, it means to leave your fate to others. The key point of controversy is the first half of the sentence, "this is my fault", what does this "fault" mean?

(End of this chapter)