History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 416 Forced to Become a Hero
Forced to Become a Hero

6. Northwest

At the end of the Tongzhi and Guangxu periods, Li Cunxu sent Li Siyuan to suppress the Weizhou rebels, but Li Siyuan was dragged into the city by the rebels, creating an irreparable "misunderstanding". Li Siyuan led his troops south to "explain" to Li Cunxu.

At that time, Li Siyuan had few soldiers and generals and was weak. He did not have the strength to overthrow Li Cunxu's regime by force. Li Siyuan was very uneasy, hesitant and indecisive.

When he passed by Xiangzhou, a man named Kangfu provided him with thousands of war horses, which greatly increased the combat effectiveness of Li Siyuan's army. This gave Li Siyuan the confidence to challenge Li Cunxu with force.

Kang Fu played an indispensable role in Li Siyuan's ascension to the throne.

Kang Fu was also a Shatuo, and three generations of his family had served as military officers in Weizhou. Kang Fu had been proficient in riding and shooting since he was young, and was highly trusted by Li Keyong.

After Li Cunxu succeeded to the throne, he let him manage the war horses (Mafangshi). Although he was in charge of the imperial horses, he was no small Bimawen. He was in charge of the maintenance and dispatch of military war horses across the country, and also managed part of the animal husbandry. In theory, the land designated as pastoral area by the state was also managed by him.

The importance of war horses in the era of cold weapons is self-evident, so this job must be done by a trustworthy comrade.

Li Cunxu and Later Liang had been confronting each other on Jiahe River for many years. In order to facilitate war replenishment, he set up a "small horse ranch" in Xiangzhou, which was managed by Kang Fu. The old horse ranches in Daizhou and other places were called "big horse ranches".

What Li Cunxu didn't expect was that it was this trustworthy comrade who handed the sharp knife that would kill him to his enemy.

After Li Siyuan ascended the throne, he rewarded Kang Fu a lot. He was first appointed as the Flying Dragon Envoy (also a horse breeder, working in the imperial palace), then the governor of Cizhou, and then the political commissar of Xiangzhou (the military commander). When the three armies conquered Jingnan, Kang Fu was the general political commissar of the expeditionary army (the military commander of the Jingnan Road camp).

The reason why Li Siyuan made Kang Fu his confidant was not only because he sponsored thousands of war horses in the early stage of his business, but also because Kang Fu possessed another special skill - speaking foreign languages.

Li Siyuan often consulted Kangfu about things. The two communicated in Tibetan, which no one around them could understand. Even An Zhonghui didn't know what they were talking about.

Kang Fu became Li Siyuan's most trusted spy, and he didn't have to worry about eavesdropping.

Li Siyuan valued An Zhonghui very much, but he would not be stupid enough to hang himself on a tree. In addition to An Zhonghui, Li Siyuan must have other channels and confidants to avoid being sidelined by powerful officials.

This is also what An Zhonghui is most worried about.

This is a secret struggle between the king and the powerful ministers over the core power, and Kangfu is the key chess piece in this game. No matter whether Kangfu is willing or not, he cannot escape this fate and is involuntarily involved in a political storm.

One day, Li Siyuan summoned Kang Fu again. The two communicated in Tibetan and it took a long time for them to leave.

As soon as Kang Fu stepped out, he saw the Privy Councilor An Zhonghui standing outside, waiting for him for a long time. An Zhonghui's face was gloomy and full of anger. Kang Fu was shocked and hurriedly greeted him.

An Zhonghui took a step closer, lowered his voice, and said viciously: "If you dare to talk nonsense in front of the emperor, I will chop off your head!" Kang Fu was terrified and had to nod his head. An Zhonghui's sharp and vicious eyes left Kang Fu with an unpredictable psychological shadow. He didn't want to be caught between Li Siyuan and An Zhonghui. Since ancient times, chess pieces caught between the emperor and powerful ministers would not have a good end.

After much deliberation, Kang Fu decided to protect himself and voluntarily withdraw from this political game. He took the initiative to find Li Siyuan and asked to be transferred to a local position and leave the central government.

As it happened, the northwest of the empire was in turmoil at the time. As mentioned earlier, the political situation in the northwest was very complicated, and the central dynasty had almost no control over it. It was basically governed by the leaders of ethnic minority tribes and was only nominally affiliated with the Central Plains dynasty.

Therefore, the situation in the northwest region has been like this for a long time: various forces fought and killed each other for the actual control of the region. After the victory, the imperial court would appoint the winner as the legal ruler of the region in accordance with the policy of "using barbarians to control barbarians", and then the region would return to a short period of peace;
The reason why things calm down is that challenging the authority of the winner is a sure-win business. Even if you win by chance, it is still considered "rebellion" in legal terms, and the court will intervene, including by sending troops directly. Therefore, the winner who is appointed by the court has the central court behind him, which is his amulet;
Once he dies, there will be a brief state of anarchy here before a new appointment letter arrives from the court. This will be an opportunity for the various forces to reshuffle. They will use this precious time to engage in a new round of fighting. The final winner will rebuild a new regional order and then be appointed by the court.

This is the basic logic behind the unrest in the Northwest.

Now, Han Zhu, the governor of Lingzhou Shuofang Army, has passed away, and his younger brother Han Cheng claims to be the successor. A power vacuum has emerged, and heroes from all walks of life have begun to appear.

For example, Li Kuangbin, a general of the Dingyuan Army in Xiazhou, launched a mutiny, captured cities and territories, and plunged the northwest region into chaos. Han Cheng urgently reported to the court, requesting that the court quickly give him a formal appointment and recognize his legitimate rule over the Shuofang Army.

An Zhonghui was overjoyed when he received the report. This was really a good strategy that killed two birds with one stone! So he sent Kang Fu to the northwest.

Kangfu was promoted to Guanglu Dafu and Jianxiu Sikong, and served as the Governor of Liangzhou, the Jiedushi of Shuofang and Hexi, and the Inspector of Ling, Wei, Xiong, Jing, Gan, Su and other states, and the Envoy for the supervision of military farms, the supervision of tribes, and the collection of taxes in Wenchi.

A long list of titles, in simple terms, is the general manager of Northwest affairs. The actual official rank is very low, still a governor, but he exercises the military and political power of Lingzhou Shuofang Army, and also handles taxation, ethnic united front and other work; the most important thing is that he also handles these affairs of Hexi Army, and the control of Hexi at that time was not in the hands of the Later Tang Dynasty.

In other words, An Zhonghui portrayed Kang Fu as the "public enemy" of the Northwest region, whom all the Hu people and foreign invaders wanted to kill.

An Zhonghui wanted to kill him by borrowing his knife and torture him to death.

After receiving the appointment, Kang Fu was terrified and immediately ran to Li Siyuan, crying bitterly and asking to resign.

Li Siyuan also felt that An Zhonghui was a little immoral, so he asked An Zhonghui to place Kangfu somewhere else.

An Zhonghui was furious and said, "What merits did Kangfu have? He has not made any achievements, but he was promoted directly from a small governor to a military governor. What else is he not satisfied with? He dares to be picky in the face of the emperor's grace. Should other vassal states in the world follow suit? Besides, the appointment decree has been issued. The emperor's words are golden. Do you think he will not keep his word?"

Li Siyuan had no choice but to find Kang Fu in private and comfort him: "It's not that I don't want to help you, it's that An Zhonghui insisted on doing so, and I can't do anything about it. Just bear with it for now, and take care of yourself!"

When Kang Fu left Beijing for his new post, he cried like a tearful man.

An Zhonghui was thinking of killing someone with a borrowed knife. Li Siyuan did not want to kill Kang Fu, but he also knew that the northwest was extremely dangerous, so he sent General Niu Zhirou and others to lead an army of 10,000 to escort Kang Fu to his post.

(End of this chapter)