History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 402 Game of Thrones 1
This was a secret contest between Xu Wen and Xu Zhigao, and a careful test by Xu Zhigao to challenge Xu Wen's authority.

"If Cui Taichu can't be controlled, what about others?" Xu Wen shouted this angrily, which deserved Xu Zhigao's deep thought. This statement seemed careless, but in fact it was a serious warning to Xu Zhigao.

Xu Zhigao was a smart man. "Father is right." He retreated.

This was the second recorded fight between father and son.

A year and a half earlier (920), Zhang Chong, the military governor of Wuning Army in Luzhou, attacked Anzhou, which belonged to the Later Liang Dynasty, but returned without success. During his tenure in Luzhou, Zhang Chong was also arrogant, corrupt, and lawless. His harsh policies were comparable to those of Zhao Zaili.

Zhao Zaili launched a mutiny in Beizhou, established his own regime in Weizhou, and invited Li Siyuan to Weizhou, which helped him ascend the throne and become emperor. During his tenure, he imposed heavy taxes and levied heavy taxes, and the people suffered from poverty. He was regarded as a "thorn in the eye" by the people. According to historical records, when he left Songzhou, the people were jubilant and celebrated the departure of this plague god as if it were the New Year. The streets were filled with a festive and peaceful atmosphere, and the people talked about it one after another: "If this man leaves, it will be like pulling out a thorn in the eye. How happy, how happy!"

When Zhao Zaili heard about this, he was extremely angry, so he submitted a petition to the court, requesting to stay in office for one year. After being approved, he immediately established a new tax item - "nail removal money", which cost 1,000 coins per person. He also took out the household register and collected it from every household. If anyone disobeyed, he would be whipped. It was simply open robbery. Kong Qian would feel ashamed of himself.

In one year, the "nail-pulling money" alone collected millions of coins, more than any other official court. "Nail-pulling money" has thus become a three-character idiom, specifically used to describe the exorbitant taxes that are made up of various names.

Zhang Chong of Luzhou is even more capable than Zhao Zaili.

When he went on a business trip to Yangzhou, the people of Luzhou thought he was leaving, so they congratulated each other and said, "He will never come back!"

In the spoken language of the time, "Qu Yi" had a derogatory meaning, which meant "This grandson is finally gone."

After Zhang Chong came back, he immediately collected "Qu Yi money".

The next year, Zhang Chong went on a business trip to Yangzhou again. The common people did not dare to speak nonsense, and after meeting each other, they just "stroked their beards to celebrate." Without saying anything, they just nodded and stroked their beards, "You know."

After Zhang Chong came back, he again collected "beard-stroking money".

When Zhang Chong came to Shengzhou, actors choreographed a skit called "Zhang Chong's Reincarnation" to satirize him: After Zhang Chong died, the soul-collector told him that because he had done so many evil things in the world, the King of Hell was going to sentence him to be reincarnated in the water in his next life, as a fish, shrimp, turtle, or something like that. As a result, the King of Hell sentenced him to be an otter in Jiao Lake.

Nowadays, the otter has become a popular online celebrity animal with its cute appearance. In fact, this creature is "cruel and fish-loving". The ancients often used "otter" to describe cruel and greedy people, and often used it to satirize corrupt officials.

When people from Lujiang County, which was under the jurisdiction of Luzhou, petitioned the county magistrate and accused him of corruption and bribery, Xu Zhigao sent Yang Tingshi, a discipline inspection cadre, to deal with the matter.

Yang Tingshi was known for his integrity and fearlessness of power. He was an iron-faced and impartial discipline inspection cadre. Yang Tingshi said to Xu Zhigao: "This matter is of great importance. We cannot make a lot of noise without taking action. We cannot just swat the flies and ignore the tigers. Don't you agree?"

"Of course, we must fight both flies and tigers together!"

So Yang Tingshi said, "With your support, I feel relieved. I plan to arrest Luzhou Jiedushi Zhang Chong, put handcuffs and shackles on him, and take him to Shengzhou. Based on his confession, I will question Xu Wen in person, and I will deal with Xu Wen as well!"

Xu Zhigao was shocked. "I asked you to investigate the corrupt county magistrate, why did you make such a big fuss?" Yang Tingshi smiled and said to Xu Zhigao, "Why did the small county magistrate dare to be so rampant? Everyone knows that he was instructed by the governor Zhang Chong? And do you know how Zhang Chong handled the stolen money? Over the years, he used the money to bribe people, and a large part of it was given to the powerful people of today. Do you still want to investigate it thoroughly?"

Xu Zhigao came to his senses, canceled the anti-corruption campaign, and showed more respect for Yang Tingshi. This incident also shows that although Xu Zhigao had great power, it was still not enough to directly challenge Xu Wen's authority.

Xu Zhigao still needs to wait patiently.

Cao Cao had Sima Yi by his side, and Xu Wen had Xu Zhigao by his side.

In April of the third year of Longde (923), Li Cunxu had already conquered Yunzhou and was about to implement the "Left Hook" operation. He wrote a letter to Huainan, informing them of the great victory in Yunzhou and requesting a joint force to attack Houliang from both sides and deal a fatal blow to it.

Xu Wen planned to send troops northwards, wait and see, and reap the benefits. However, his adviser Yan Keqiu opposed the dispatch of troops, arguing that "if the Later Liang asked us for help, how would our army respond?"

At that time, all the officials unanimously advocated sending troops to help Li Cunxu, but Yan Keqiu firmly opposed it. Xu Wen obeyed Yan Keqiu's every word, so he supported Yan Keqiu against all odds and decided to stand aside and watch.

Within half a year, Li Cunxu overthrew the Later Liang Dynasty and sent envoys to inform Huainan.

Xu Wen smiled bitterly and said to Yan Keqiu, "Look, I told you to send troops to help him, but you refused to agree. What should we do now?"

Preventing Huainan from helping Tang to destroy Liang should be a major strategic mistake of Yan Keqiu. It was not just that the Huainan Group did not gain any advantage, but it also gave Li Cunxu a reason to conquer Huainan, putting Huainan in a very passive position.

Li Cunxu destroyed the Later Liang Dynasty and regarded himself as the orthodox of the Central Plains and the legitimate successor of the Tang Dynasty. In this way, he had sufficient reasons to conquer illegal separatist regimes such as Former Shu, Southern Han, and Southern Wu. However, Southern Han was entrenched in the Lingnan and Guangdong areas, separated from the Central Plains by half of China (Gao Jichang of Jingnan and Ma Yin of Tanzhou), and obviously would not be Li Cunxu's first choice target. In other words, the unstoppable Li Cunxu would have to choose between Former Shu and Southern Wu.

During Li Cunxu's conquest of Liang, the Former Shu repeatedly harassed the northwestern territory of the Later Liang and cooperated with Li Cunxu in the war; although the Southern Wu also responded several times, it was absent in the last and most important military action. It is better for an old prostitute to become a good woman than a chaste woman to lose her chastity. The Huainan forces offended Li Cunxu deeply.

At that time, Li Cunxu did list Huainan as the next target of attack, and the change to Former Shu was a later story. In short, Yan Keqiu's early missteps pushed the Huainan forces to the brink of life and death.

Now that the mistake has been made, the only thing we can do is to actively remedy it.

Yan Keqiu first persuaded Xu Wen, saying that Li Cunxu was a small-minded person, and now he was complacent and arrogant. He had no way of governing the country. I calculated that it would not be long before there would be a big mess in the Later Tang Dynasty. We only need to bribe him with a humble attitude and generous gifts to protect the country and the people.

Did Xu Wen obey?

Hard to say.

(End of this chapter)