History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 427: Tigers Enter Sichuan
8. Two Rivers

Through the review of several forces in the previous article, the passionate image of An Zhonghui, the "hawkish" minister of Ming Dynasty, comes to life on paper. He regards the great cause of unification and the restoration of the glory of the empire as his own responsibility. He is paranoid and radical, disregarding facts and going all the way to the end.

An Zhonghui devoted himself to the country, solving problems when there were any, and creating difficulties for the country when there were no difficulties. His willful behavior was fully demonstrated in the affairs of the two Sichuan provinces.

Eliminating the Former Shu and conquering Bashu was the greatest political legacy that Li Cunxu left to Li Siyuan, and it was a good start for the "unification of the motherland". An Zhonghui's clever plan to bring peace to the world finally removed Bashu from the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty. On the corpse of the "Former Shu", a young separatist regime - the "Later Shu" was rising.

Meng Zhixiang, this low-key but profound man, this man who turned a disaster into a blessing, has truly demonstrated what it means to be blessed by luck and what it means to be born out of necessity.

Meng Zhixiang's uncle was Meng Fangli, the former governor of Zhaoyi Army in Luzhou, and his uncle was Meng Qian. At that time, Li Keyong was still the governor of Hedong in Taiyuan Prefecture, and he was developing with Zhu Wen in Bianzhou. At that time, Meng Fangli was also a hero who was on par with Li Keyong and Zhu Wen, and was equally powerful.

However, Meng Fangli unfortunately slept next to a tiger. Due to geopolitical and military requirements, Luzhou Zhaoyi Army was the first target of Li Keyong's expansion on the road to Hedong.

When Li Keyong's army was approaching, Meng Fangli committed suicide by taking poison in anger, and the three armies supported his brother Meng Qian to succeed him. Meng Qian was also defeated, so he surrendered the city to Li Keyong.

Li Keyong was very friendly to the Meng family. Zhaoyijun was the first vassal state he annexed, and the Meng family was the first batch of high-level political prisoners he took in. Li Keyong married his daughter (some say it was the daughter of Li Keyong's brother, Li Kerang) to Meng Zhixiang, and also married his brother Li Kening to Meng Zhixiang's sister.

The order of generations is a little confusing. It doesn't matter, it's a common bug in political marriages.

However, for a long time, Meng Zhixiang was unknown and kept a low profile. He was indifferent to fame and wealth and kept himself safe, which also became the secret that enabled him to escape unscathed in countless treacherous political struggles.

At the beginning of Li Cunxu's succession to the throne, he was almost involved in a fatal incident, the "Li Kening Rebellion Case". Fortunately, he had not been involved in the political circle for a long time, so he was not implicated in the end. But it also gave Meng Zhixiang a big scare, making him even more afraid to get close to power.

Li Cunxu believed that Meng Zhixiang was honest and loyal, and was also his brother-in-law. Because of his "virtuous relationship", he intended to promote him, and he gradually approached the core power circle.

While others were envious, jealous and resentful, Meng Zhixiang was terrified. Every promotion and every appointment brought him one step closer to the gates of hell, making him live in constant fear.

As his colleagues were killed one by one innocently and died in the ruthless political struggle, Meng Zhixiang could no longer sit still, so he bravely asked Li Cunxu to retreat to the second line and be transferred to the local area and leave the central government.

Fortunately, because of his "closeness to the wise", Li Cunxu did not overly suspect or embarrass Meng Zhixiang. He only made a reasonable request to him: you can resign, but you must recommend me a comrade who is capable of replacing your job.

Meng Zhixiang recommended Guo Chongtao to Li Cunxu.

Recommending Guo Chongtao was originally just a way for Meng Zhixiang to escape. To put it bluntly, it was to let Guo Chongtao take the blame for him. Unintentionally planting a willow tree, it has grown into a shade. Guo Chongtao has since reached the pinnacle of his life, and he is very grateful to Meng Zhixiang for recommending him, and vows to repay him for this great favor.

It was not until Guo Chongtao led the army to attack Shu that he finally got this opportunity. Guo Chongtao recommended Meng Zhixiang to Li Cunxu as the governor of Xichuan. After the fall of Former Shu, Li Cunxu fulfilled his promise and appointed Meng Zhixiang as the co-prime minister, the prefect of Chengdu, and the deputy governor of Xichuan.

Before Meng Zhixiang took office, Li Cunxu had tactfully explained to Meng Zhixiang the real mission of his trip to Xichuan, in one sentence: to make money. To this end, Li Cunxu staged a clumsy drinking party.

Li Cunxu asked the relevant departments to use up all the rare treasures in the treasury to build an extremely luxurious small room, and then he drank and chatted with Meng Zhixiang.

First reminisce about the past and then talk about the children.

Li Cunxu said with great emotion that this Li Jiji was still a child a few days ago, but today he can pacify Bashu for me. He is truly a teachable child.

Meng Zhixiang quickly complimented him, saying that a tiger father would have a dog son, let alone a real dragon.

Following the topic of pacifying Bashu, Li Cunxu expressed his emotion again, saying that when the late emperor passed away, our Hedong Group was on the verge of bankruptcy and had only managed to save a corner of Taiyuan. Now we have such a vast territory that allows rare treasures from all over the world to gather in our capital.

Before Meng Zhixiang could praise his leadership, Li Cunxu followed the extravagance and said, "Look, this is a room full of rare treasures. But I heard that Shu is rich and full of gold and silver treasures, which is even richer than here."

Meng Zhixiang heard something wrong in the tone of the voice and held his breath, sensing that something bad was about to happen.

As expected, Li Cunxu spoke out the central idea of ​​this dinner: "After you go to Xichuan, you have to transport those gold and silver treasures back to me. I don't feel at ease if someone else goes. After all, no one can resist the temptation of sugar-coated bullets. I trust you in our relationship."

As soon as Meng Zhixiang arrived in Luoyang, his superiors confronted him with a target. Li Cunxu took the hearsay as fact and asked Meng Zhixiang to return the legendary wealth. If the money sent did not satisfy Li Cunxu, it would be obvious that Meng Zhixiang had embezzled; and if he forcibly extorted the people's wealth from Shu, which had just been ravaged by war, it would arouse civil unrest, and Meng Zhixiang would be accused of exploiting the people and failing to defend the land.

This is the most embarrassing situation for people in the workplace: a pile of shit is frozen into ice, but the boss thinks it is ice cream wrapped in chocolate ice skin. While putting it into your mouth, he says that it is a very expensive high-end ice cream airlifted back from abroad by the business department. No one in the company is willing to eat it, so they only give it to you who are the best... You must be grateful to your boss.

Meng Zhixiang stayed in Luoyang for several days. "Can you ask your own son Li Jiji to bring him back to you when he returns from the war?" This was Meng Zhixiang's heartfelt words, but he couldn't say them out loud, otherwise they would become his last words.

Meng Zhixiang sighed to the sky. He had been a coward all his life, and even in the end, he still couldn't escape this. If you walk by the river often, you will get your feet wet. "Hey, Guo Chongtao, this is not repaying a favor, it's clearly revenge!"

Just as he was packing his bags and preparing to set off west, he heard a piece of news about Guo Chongtao. Someone accused Guo Chongtao of treason, and the matter had already caused a stir in the court.

Li Cunxu temporarily gave Meng Zhixiang a new task: Go to Xichuan as soon as possible and kill Guo Chongtao!
(End of this chapter)