History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 403 Game of Thrones 2
Li Cunxu initially sent an "edict" to Southern Wu, informing them of the news that Later Tang would replace Later Liang. However, Southern Wu refused to accept it and forced Li Cunxu to use a letter of equal status, with the heading "The Emperor of the Great Tang writes to the King of Wu". Only then did Southern Wu accept it and reply with the same wording and etiquette, saying "The King of the Great Wu writes to the Emperor of the Great Tang".

He did not give in or pretend to be a grandson. He only recognized equal diplomatic relations and refused to submit to Li Cunxu.

If you make trouble, you have to take responsibility. Yan Keqiu was so angry that he fell ill. In addition to feeling guilty, Yan Keqiu had to take active measures to remedy the situation. He wrote a set of answers overnight, predicting what Li Cunxu might ask, and then listed the standard answers that would not only maintain the dignity of the country but also shock Li Cunxu.

Lu Ping recited it by heart, and then followed Yan Keqiu's advice, took generous gifts, bribed the dignitaries of the Later Tang Dynasty, and then calmly responded to Li Cunxu's questioning.

As a result, all the questions asked by Li Cunxu were as Yan Keqiu expected. Lu Ping's calmness and fluent answers made Li Cunxu look at the Southern Wu regime with new eyes, and he told his subordinates that Huainan seemed to be full of talents and it was not easy to take advantage of them.

Therefore, Li Cunxu postponed the expedition to Huai River. The events such as Li Yan's mission to Former Shu also contributed to Li Cunxu's idea of ​​attacking Shu first.

In this year, Xu Zhigao quietly challenged Xu Wen's authority for the third time:
The incident started when someone reported that Zhong Taizhang, the commander of the Shouzhou militia, had appropriated and stolen public horses. Xu Zhigao then sent Wang Ren, the governor of Chuzhou, to lead troops to inspect Huoqiu (now Huoqiu County, Anhui Province). When Wang Ren passed by Shouzhou, he suddenly rushed into the city, announced that he was taking over Shouzhou, and appointed Zhong Taizhang as the governor of Raozhou.

When Xu Wen heard about it, he immediately summoned Zhong Taizhang to Shengzhou and sent his confidant Chen Yanqian to ask him what was going on.

As a result, no matter how Chen Yanqian questioned him, Zhong Taizhang remained silent.

Xu Wen was even more confused, so he sent someone to ask him why he didn't explain himself.

Zhong Taizhang snorted coldly and said, "In terms of single combat, I am also known as a warrior among the 100,000-man army. I am in Shouzhou, with more than 5,000 infantry and cavalry under my command. If I have second thoughts, how can Wang Ren, who is riding alone, capture me? Do you still need to ask whether I have failed my lord? My lord can even demote me to a county magistrate, not to mention that I am a governor now, and I am already satisfied. If I defend myself, won't it be equivalent to announcing my lord's mistake to the world?"

After hearing this, Xu Wen sighed and said, "If it weren't for Zhong Taizhang, I would have died at Zhang Hao's hands. Now that I'm rich and powerful, how can I forget the kindness of the past?" So he ordered that he would not be held accountable for the crime of stealing and selling official horses.

When Xu Wen planned to assassinate Zhang Hao, he found Zhong Taizhang, who then found 30 warriors to swear an oath of blood. Xu Wen also tested him, and Zhong Taizhang successfully passed the test and led his men to successfully assassinate Zhang Hao. Afterwards, someone suggested that Xu Wen kill and silence Zhong Taizhang because he knew too much. Xu Wen did not do so, but continued to promote him to repay his kindness.

Xu Zhigao argued strongly and suggested that Zhong Taizhang should be punished as a warning to other civil and military officials.

Xu Wen's final ruling was to let Xu Zhigao and Zhong Taizhang marry their children, with Xu Zhigao's eldest son marrying Zhong Taizhang's second daughter.

It is worth mentioning that the newlyweds later gave birth to a son, who was later known as Li Yu, the last ruler of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Zhong Taizhang was Li Yu's grandfather.

If Xu Zhigao wanted to protect someone, such as Cui Taichu of Shouzhou, Xu Wen would severely punish him; if Xu Zhigao wanted to punish someone, Xu Wen would firmly protect him. This was the power game between Xu Zhigao and his son.

This game of thrones will continue.

In the second year of Tongguang (924), Yang Pu went to Baisha Town to see the tower ships, and then changed the name of Baisha Town to Yingluan Town as usual. Xu Wen came from Shengzhou to meet him. The wise monarch and loyal minister had a very pleasant conversation.

During the chat, Yang Pu deliberately pronounced "rain" as "water", "Oh, I heard that there was a heavy flood in Henan, the people of Henan, hold on!"

Xu Wen expressed his doubts and asked the reason.

Yang Pu said: "Zhai Qian's father's name is Zhai Yu. I have been avoiding this name for a long time."

"Ah?!" From ancient times to the present, ministers have always avoided the taboos of their kings. How can it be reasonable for kings to avoid the taboos of their ministers?
Who is this Zhai Qian? He is actually a trusted lackey of Xu Wen. Zhai Qian's positions are Cabinet Gate Envoy, Palace City Envoy, Military Preparation Envoy, etc. These positions have a common feature, that is, the level is very low, but the job responsibilities are very important, respectively managing the palace gate, palace security, armory, etc., usually appointed by trusted people. As early as the time of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, Zhai Qian joined the army under Yang Xingmi, and later belonged to Xu Wen's troops. From then on, Zhai Qian was Xu Wen's close subordinate and was deeply trusted by Xu Wen.

When assassinating Zhang Hao, Zhai Qian was Xu Wen's "messenger", responsible for secretly communicating with Yan Keqiu, Zhong Taizhang and others. It was such a serious matter that he was the one to pass the message, which showed that Xu Wen had full trust in him. And Zhai Qian lived up to the trust, completed the task brilliantly, and successfully won over Zhong Taizhang.

"When Hao was executed, Qian was instrumental in this." - Records of the Nine Kingdoms

The "assassination of Zhang Hao" incident was an important milestone of the Xu Wen Group and an important reference for studying the character lineage of Xu Wen's team. Anyone who participated in it at that time can be said to be 100% pure direct lineage. It's like participating in Li Shimin's "Xuanwu Gate Incident".

When Zhu Jin killed Xu Zhixun and broke into the palace with his head in his hand, the guards on duty did not dare to stop him. Zhai Qian brought his men to the rescue and ordered them to close all the palace gates, "Close the gates and release the dogs!"

So Zhu Jin panicked and climbed over the wall to escape, but he broke his ankle and then committed suicide.

Mi Zhicheng led his subordinates to inquire about Zhu Jin's whereabouts, and announced to the outside world that they were going to attack Zhu Jin and save the king.

However, Zhai Qian had seen through everything. He knew that Mi Zhicheng wanted to help Zhu Jin, so he lied to test Mi Zhicheng. He called Mi Zhicheng aside and watched privately. After making sure that no one was listening, he lowered his voice and said to Mi Zhicheng mysteriously and nervously: "Zhu Jin has been killed. This plan has failed. Why don't you go back quickly? Go quickly, I will pretend that I didn't see you."

In his words, he hinted that he already knew that Mi Zhicheng and Zhu Jin were in cahoots, and pretended that he was secretly helping him.

Mi Zhicheng was shocked and quickly expressed his gratitude to Zhai Qian, "I will never forget your great kindness! Okay, you go ahead and do your work. I'm leaving now."

After Xu Wen arrived in Yangzhou, Zhai Qian reported to Zhu Wen about Mi Zhicheng's suspicious behavior at the time of the incident, which led to Xu Wen and Yan Keqiu planning to kill Mi Zhicheng.

Xu Wen was very happy and praised Zhai Qian for his loyalty, intelligence, and ability to adapt to changing circumstances. He trusted him even more and gave Zhu Jin's luxury villa to Zhai Qian as a reward.

After the establishment of Southern Wu, Xu Wen gave the cabinet, palace, military equipment, etc. to the wise and reliable Zhai Qian, allowing him to control the palace and monitor Yang Pu's every move.

Zhai Qian also accomplished this task very well, keeping the palace under tight control. Yang Pu seemed to be surrounded by an invisible high wall, which made him feel suffocated.

Zhai Qian was Xu Wen's eyes and ears, and a shackle to Yang Pu's court. If Yang Pu wanted to get rid of his puppet role, he had to get rid of Zhai Qian first.

Yang Pu was no ordinary person. He used the method of "avoiding taboos" to tactfully complain to Xu Wen, and then complained to Xu Wen, saying that Zhai Qian was relying on his power, being arrogant and deceiving the emperor...

Xu Wen quickly knelt down and kowtowed to Yang Pu, begging for leniency, saying that he had no idea Zhai Qian would be so excessive. This was definitely not his intention, and he would behead this guy right away.

Yang Pu said magnanimously: "Heaven has a benevolent heart. The death penalty is too severe. Exile to another place will do."

So Xu Wen exiled Zhai Qian to Fuzhou.

Those who want to achieve great things must cherish their feathers. Yang Pu cleverly used this to get rid of Xu Wen's spy Zhai Qian, but can Yang Pu turn the tide?
(End of this chapter)