History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 407 Or leaping into the abyss
【Or leap into the abyss】

The mysterious murder of Xu Zhixun was inextricably linked to Xu Zhigao. When Xu Wen learned of Xu Zhixun's death, he first suspected Xu Zhigao.

Helplessly, Xu Zhigao, under the guidance of his adviser Song Qiuqiu, took control of Yangzhou first. Xu Wen was not sure of removing Xu Zhigao by force, so he could only go with the flow and recognize Xu Zhigao's control over Yangzhou.

This is also a very strange political structure. In Huainan, there are two "centers". One is Yangzhou, where Xu Zhigao respects Yang Pu and uses the emperor to command the princes; the other is Shengzhou, where Xu Wen is powerful and Huainan's navy.

After Xu Zhixun's death, Xu Wen's staff Yan Keqiu, Xu Jie, Chen Yanqian and others kept persuading Xu Wen to hand over the military and political power to his own son Xu Zhixun. Xu Zhixun also repeatedly proposed to replace Xu Zhigao. Xu Wen refused all of them and said to Xu Zhixun, "He is much more capable than you. Don't you have any idea?"

In the third year of Tongguang (925), Chen Yanqian was seriously ill. Xu Zhigao was opposed to the question of succession, so he seized the last opportunity and tried his best to win over Chen Yanqian.

Xu Zhigao hired the most famous doctors for Chen Yanqian. Every day, envoys came to deliver medicine, gold, silver, and silk to express their condolences. They visited Chen Yanqian on all sides of the road, hoping to influence Chen Yanqian and get him to say a few good words for him.

However, Chen Yanqian still left a secret suicide note. When a man is about to die, his words are good. At the last moment of his life, Chen Yanqian still advised Xu Wen to make his own son Xu Zhixun the heir.

Facing the constant persuasion of his staff, Xu Wen was also shaken and asked his wife's opinion. Xu Wen's wife, Li, took extra care of him because she had the same surname as Xu Zhigao. She had brought him with her since he was five or six years old and treated him as her own son. They had a deep emotional foundation. Because Xu Zhigao was particularly filial and obedient, she loved him even more.

Li said to Xu Wen, "This child was adopted by our family when we were poor. He has been with us through thick and thin. Now that you have become rich, are you going to abandon him?"

Xu Wen felt ashamed. After a man becomes successful, he should not abandon his wife, nor his son.

Yan Keqiu also persuaded Xu Wen several times to make his own son the heir. Xu Zhigao used "military force first and courtesy later" to deal with Yan Keqiu, plotting to send Yan Keqiu away, but Yan Keqiu was also a master of political tactics and easily resolved the situation with persuasion. After realizing how powerful Yan Keqiu was, Xu Zhigao immediately changed his mind and formed a political alliance with Yan Keqiu by marrying his sons to his daughters.

Finally, Xu Jie persuaded Xu Wen to replace Xu Zhigao with Xu Zhixun to govern Yangzhou.

Therefore, Xu Wen planned to summon all the generals to go to Yangzhou to meet Yang Pu together. In name, he wanted to persuade Yang Pu to ascend the throne and become emperor, but in reality, he wanted to deprive Xu Zhigao of his power and replace him with Xu Zhixun.

This plan was perfect. If Xu Wen rashly mobilized a large army to march into Yangzhou, it would be neither right nor justifiable. Firstly, he would be easily branded as "forcing the emperor to abdicate and plotting rebellion", and secondly, he would be accused of "being forced to rebel". If he did not mobilize a large army, he would not be able to intimidate Xu Zhigao. If Xu Zhigao refused to accept the order and turned against him, then Xu Wen would lose more than he gained.

In the name of persuading the emperor to ascend the throne, Xu Wen could openly mobilize the army in the country and gather all the veterans and field army commanders. These people were all Xu Wen's subordinates. Once they entered Yangzhou, Xu Zhigao would have no more curses and could only accept his fate.

However, just as Xu Wen was about to leave, he suddenly fell ill and could not go in person, so he asked Xu Zhixun to take the memorial to Yangzhou to present it. According to the latest plan, Xu Zhixun would represent Xu Wen with full authority, submit the memorial to persuade him to ascend the throne, and then replace Xu Zhigao to stay in Yangzhou and control the government.

When the news came, Xu Zhigao was terrified. The singer should not hide the truth from the gong player. In terms of political tactics, the Xu father and son were equally matched. Xu Zhigao certainly knew how sharp and vicious Xu Wen's move was. "What should I do?" Then he had to retreat in order to advance.

Xu Zhigao drafted a memorial overnight, which was to voluntarily give up the power of regent, request to be sent out, and request to retire in Hongzhou. After the memorial was drafted, he and his staff Song Qiuqiu and others repeatedly polished it, carefully considering every word and sentence, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, preparing to present it to the court the next day, so that he could slip away before Xu Zhixun arrived, escape, wait for the opportunity, and make a comeback.

However, a dramatic scene happened that night. The latest news came from the scouts of Shengzhou: Xu Wen passed away!
Xu Zhigao was so happy that he almost jumped up, "That's great! God helps me!" The death of Xu Wen completely stripped off Xu Zhigao's mask of "filial piety". The filial son Xu Zhigao and his aide Song Qiuqiu celebrated with great joy.

Xu Zhixun, who was halfway through his journey, hurried back to Shengzhou to stabilize the revolutionary base in Shengzhou and deal with the issue of power transfer.

The "Yangzhou Succession Struggle" was aborted. With the death of Xu Wen, Huainan no longer had the power to stop Xu Zhigao's steps of "planning for his family and the country".

When the opponent in this power game changed from Xu Wen to Xu Zhixun, Xu Zhigao had already secured victory.

The next day, Xu Zhigao came to the court early, and together with Yang Pu, he mourned the unfortunate death of Comrade Xu Wen, an important minister of the country. Xu Wen was posthumously named King of Qi and given the posthumous title of Zhongwu.

Then, Xu Zhigao forced Yang Pu to proclaim himself emperor, and Southern Wu officially changed from a kingdom to an empire. Xu Zhixun and others should not even think about coming to Yangzhou in the name of "persuading the emperor to ascend the throne", because he had already ascended the throne.

Southern Wu changed the reign title and issued a general amnesty, changing the "seventh year of Shunyi" to the "first year of Qianzhen", recognizing Xu Zhixun's succession to Xu Wen's power, but the central government was still controlled by Xu Zhigao.

An Zhonghui, a powerful official of the Later Tang Dynasty, was furious at Yang Pu's brazen declaration of emperorship. He asked Li Siyuan to attack Huai River, but was rejected by Li Siyuan.

At that time, the war of "Three Armies to Attack Jingnan" had just ended. Li Siyuan's elite troops of the Later Tang Dynasty were strong on the outside but weak on the inside. They could not even deal with the tiny place of Jingnan, so how could they shake the huge Huainan?
Moreover, just a month ago, Li Siyuan had just suppressed the rebellion of Zhu Shouyin in Bianzhou. Although the central army won in the end, Zhu Shouyin's rebellion showed one thing, that is, the vassal states in the Later Tang Dynasty were not really loyal to Li Siyuan. Li Siyuan just wanted to go to Bianzhou for a meal, but the governor of Bianzhou rebelled. If he went to war with the powerful Huainan, who knows what kind of changes would happen?

Li Siyuan really had no confidence that he could gain an advantage in the Huaihe River Campaign. Just look at what happened to Li Cunxu when he attacked Shu.

What's more, Huainan has been an enemy of the Central Plains for a long time. Whether it is called Huainan Jiedushi, the Kingdom of Great Wu, or the Empire of Great Wu, the power comparison and delicate relationship between the two countries have not changed.

Therefore, there was no need for Li Siyuan to take such a huge risk just to win a verbal battle.

However, An Zhonghui did not give up. Three months later, in February of the third year of Tiancheng (928), envoys from Southern Wu went to Later Tang to wish the Later Tang a happy new year and congratulate them on the execution of the rebel general Zhu Shouyin.

An Zhonghui refused to receive the envoy and sent him back to his country because he had colluded with Jingnan first and usurped the throne later.

Li Siyuan and the high-ranking officials of Huainan agreed to the political status of the Huainan forces and benefited from it. However, An Zhonghui, the "vanguard of reducing the vassal states", was a bit paranoid. He hated the "Huaiyi" so much that he wanted to break off diplomatic relations with them even if he could not go to war with them.

Ironically, An Zhonghui, who had always hated Huainan, eventually died because of his advocacy of peace with Huainan.

(End of this chapter)