History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 432: Do it or not
【If you don’t do it, don’t stop】

Meng Zhixiang's rebellion was long-planned, planned, and premeditated. From the moment he set foot in Chengdu, he launched his plan to establish his own regime. If there was a booster, it was the death of Guo Chongtao.

For example, after entering Chengdu, he began to expand his army frantically and deliberately intercepted tribute from Xichuan to accumulate money and grain.

Of course, it can also be explained that he was forced to maintain stability in Xichuan, such as the requirement to suppress rebellions in various places. But the subsequent actions confirmed his intention to split the country.

Before Li Yan arrived in Xichuan, Li Shaowen, the governor of Wuxin Army in Suizhou, died. Meng Zhixiang immediately sent General Li Jingzhou to take over the area, claiming that he had received a secret decree from Li Cunxu, allowing him to act at his own discretion.

Li Shaowen, whose original name was Zhang Congchu, was originally a general under Zhu Xuan of Yunzhou. When Zhu Wen "looked eastward" and annexed the two Zhus of Yan and Yun, Zhang Congchu surrendered to Zhu Wen; when "Zhuangzong entered Wei", he surrendered to Li Cunxu and was given the name "Li Shaowen". He followed Zhou Dewei to fight against Liu Shouguang of Youzhou, and was promoted for merit. Later, he was affiliated with Li Siyuan's account. He helped to defeat Wang Yanzhang, the "Wang Tieqiang", and was promoted to deputy envoy of Jiedushi and acting Jiedushi for merit. He followed Guo Chongtao to attack Shu, and was awarded the title of Yangzhou Jiedushi and Kuizhou Jiedushi for merit. After the old leader Li Siyuan became emperor, he believed that Li Shaowen was half of his direct line and a comrade worthy of trust, so he moved to Wuxin Army in Suizhou.

The Wuxin Army spans the Yangtze River from north to south, with its jurisdiction located in the southeastern part of Xichuan and Dongchuan. Its western border adjoins the southeastern border of the two Sichuans, forming a three-legged tripod with the two Sichuans and supporting each other. It is a strategic town that restricts the two Sichuans, and it firmly controls the Yangtze River waterway, serving as a waterway checkpoint in and out of the two Sichuans.

The strategic position of Wuxin Army is self-evident. That is why Li Siyuan placed Li Shaowen here.

Suizhou was the headquarters of Wuxin Army, located at the northernmost end of Wuxin Army's jurisdiction, almost close to the border line of Dongchuan, while Puzhou under Dongchuan extended southward, separating Suizhou from Xichuan.

In other words, with the sudden death of Li Shaowen, the leaderless Wuxin Army became the fat meat in the mouth of Dong Zhang of Dongchuan, and it was within his reach. If Meng Zhixiang of Xichuan wanted to get his hands on it, he had only two ways: either go south first, bypass Puzhou, and then turn north, take a long "V" shape and enter Suizhou; or he could only cross the jurisdiction of Dongchuan and "invade" Dongchuan's sovereignty.

God bless Meng Zhixiang, Li Yan happened to come to Xichuan at this time under the imperial order.

Therefore, Meng Zhixiang used a trick of "hiding the truth from the world" and sent a grand welcoming team to enter the jurisdiction of Dongchuan in a very high-profile manner to meet Li Yan in Mianzhou and Jianzhou.

Mian and Jian states were located to the north of Zizhou, the headquarters of Dongchuan, while Suizhou was to the south of Zizhou.

Dong Zhang of Dongchuan's attention was all drawn to the north. On the one hand, he had to send people to welcome Zhu Hongzhao, the deputy envoy sent by the court. On the other hand, he was wary of Meng Zhixiang "attacking Guo from a pretext of welcoming Li Yan" and annexing Dongchuan.

Just when Dong Zhang of Dongchuan's attention was attracted to the north, another small team led by Xichuan general Li Jingzhou quickly and secretly separated from the main force, rushed southward at lightning speed, slipped into Suizhou under Dong Zhang's nose, and completed the takeover of Suizhou.

Suizhou to Meng Zhixiang and Dong Zhang is like Huazhou to Zhu Wen and Zhu Xuan, it is first come first served, and those who are slow will miss out.

Meng Zhixiang's decisiveness really left Dong Zhang dumbfounded. When Dong Zhang was still hesitating and considering whether to take action, Meng Zhixiang had already done the job.

After taking Suizhou, Meng Zhixiang immediately recommended Li Jingzhou as the commander of Suizhou Wuxin Army.

Meng Zhixiang brazenly annexed Wuxin Army and killed the military supervisor Li Yan without authorization. The starting price for both crimes of treason was "extermination of three clans", and even his defense testimony was so pale and weak. The reason for annexing the neighboring vassal was the secret decree of Zhuangzong; the reason for killing the military supervisor without authorization was that the military supervisor "plotted treason". However, the two parties involved and important witnesses - Li Cunxu and Li Yan - were both dead and there was no evidence to prove their wrongdoing.

This is not an explanation, but an excuse; this is not a defense, but a sophistry. Meng Zhixiang's contempt for the court is obvious.

Can Li Siyuan endure it?

He had to endure it even if he couldn't. Because at this moment he was facing a more difficult matter. The famous "problem child" Gao Jichang of Jingnan had caused a bigger mess. Li Siyuan issued an edict to conquer him, "three armies to encircle and suppress Jingnan". At this time, he had to unite all the forces that could be united, especially the two Sichuan regions. If the two Sichuan regions responded to Gao Jichang, then the entire Later Tang Empire would be split in two, and the entire Yangtze River Basin would fall into the hands of the enemy.

So no matter what, the two Sichuans cannot collude with Gao Jichang of Jingnan and the Huainan forces behind him.

Therefore, Li Siyuan showed amazing generosity to Meng Zhixiang. Not only did he approve Meng Zhixiang's request and formally appointed Li Jingzhou as the governor of Wuxin Army in Suizhou, he also sent envoy Li Renju to Chengdu to appease Meng Zhixiang and expressed his approval of his killing of Li Yan. Li Yan deserved to die and it was a good killing!

Meng Zhixiang was a veteran in the political arena. He knew that the war in southern Jing was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him, so he quickly sent people to Taiyuan to invite his family.

Welcoming family members privately is also a big taboo.

When Meng Zhixiang's family arrived in Fengxiang, they were detained by Fengxiang Jiedushi Li Jizhe. Li Jizhe heard that Meng Zhixiang had killed the military supervisor Li Yan without authorization, so he detained Meng Zhixiang's family and quickly reported to Luoyang.

Meng Zhixiang's guess was correct. Li Siyuan did not dare to offend him, and the court was appeasing and compromising without any bottom line. Li Siyuan ordered to let him go.

When Meng Zhixiang's wife, children and the elderly all arrived safely in Chengdu, Meng Zhixiang could not hide his joy and his pride was evident on his face. He regarded this political blackmail as a masterpiece and from then on, he had no worries.

After a slap, you must give a sweet date. Meng Zhixiang repeatedly tested Li Siyuan's bottom line and challenged the majesty of the court, but Li Siyuan compromised and gave in. It was impolite not to reciprocate. Meng Zhixiang then sent five Shu monks to present a 1.6-inch long Buddha tooth, which was said to have been brought from Chang'an to Chengdu when Emperor Xizong entered Shu. Meng Zhixiang gave it to Li Siyuan as a birthday gift.

I killed your ministers and took your territory, but I wish you a happy birthday.

Li Siyuan forced himself to smile and showed the Buddha's tooth to his ministers to prove Xichuan's loyalty.

A Buddha tooth was not enough, so Li Siyuan ordered Meng Zhixiang to annex Kuizhou to support the war in southern Jing. Meng Zhixiang sent General Mao Chongwei to lead 3,000 Xichuan soldiers to station in Kuizhou.

Soon after, the Later Tang general Xifang Ye recaptured Kui, Zhong, and Wanzhou. Meng Zhixiang then reported to the court, saying that since the three states had been pacified, he should withdraw the troops from Xichuan to relieve the pressure on logistics supply.

Li Siyuan disagreed.

"I'm giving you face, right?" Meng Zhixiang secretly sent someone to teach Mao Chongwei the strategy of "breaking the whole into pieces", so the Xichuan soldiers in Kuizhou "scattered in an organized manner", broke up on the spot, and sneaked back to Chengdu in batches and separately.

The mutiny and the return without permission once again touched the red line of the court. Li Siyuan issued an edict to arrest Mao Chongwei and other rebel generals and soldiers.

Meng Zhixiang pleaded, "They just want to go home more often. It's my fault for not managing them strictly. I will discipline them strictly in the future."

"Well, for your sake—I won't do it again."

(End of this chapter)