History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 445: Suspicion in the River
【Mystery in the River】

If Li Siyuan's biological son Li Congcan was killed for refusing to bow down to An Zhonghui, then Li Congke, Li Siyuan's godson, really deserved to die.

As to why An Zhonghui tried every possible means to kill Li Congke, there are two mainstream views in authoritative historical books, one private and one public, and they are not contradictory:
Private: Because Li Congke once beat An Zhonghui.

That was when Li Siyuan was in charge of Chengde Army in Zhenzhou. At a banquet, Li Congke and An Zhonghui had a fierce argument after drinking. Then Li Congke punched An Zhonghui on the head and knocked off An Zhonghui's hat hairpin. An Zhonghui fled in embarrassment with his hair loose.

When Li Congke sobered up, he felt very regretful, so he went to An Zhonghui to apologize. An Zhonghui also expressed his understanding, and the two shook hands and made peace, returning to their old ways.

Is An Zhonghui the kind of person who lets bygones be bygones? He is narrow-minded and vindictive. On the surface, he seems calm and indifferent, but deep down in his heart, he has buried his hatred for Li Congke deep in his heart, waiting for revenge.

Public: Li Siyuan faced a similar problem as Li Keyong - choosing a crown prince.

Li Siyuan was getting older and older, and was exhausted by the complicated and difficult state affairs. It was time to consider the issue of succession.

Li Siyuan devoted a lot of effort to his eldest son, Li Congshen, and cultivated him carefully. He also kept him with Li Cunxu to train him, but unfortunately he was killed by Yuan Xingqin. The remaining sons were all young and had pig and dog ears. We will appreciate their style later.

However, Li Siyuan's adopted son Li Congke was the oldest and had followed Li Siyuan in battle since he was young. He had made countless contributions and enjoyed a high prestige in the army. He was in an important town and commanded a large number of troops...

Is Li Congke today to Li Siyuan like Li Siyuan to Li Keyong back then? This is a comparison that makes one's spine shudder. Today's Li Siyuan is not as good as Li Keyong back then, but today's Li Congke is no less than Li Siyuan back then. More importantly, Li Siyuan's sons Li Congrong and Li Conghou are far inferior to Li Cunxu!
There is a possibility that the "Xingjiaomen Incident" will be replayed.

These two reasons may exist at the same time. In short, An Zhonghui must find an opportunity to kill Li Congke. Now that Li Congke has gone to Zhenhezhong, far away from the central government, An Zhonghui thinks the opportunity has come.

An Zhonghui never tires of warning Li Siyuan that his godson is unreliable, that Li Congke will rebel sooner or later, and that he must be killed sooner rather than later...

At first, Li Siyuan tried to excuse Li Congke by saying things like "the circumstances of the rebellion are not clear yet", but An Zhonghui kept trying to persuade him and he refused to give up.

An Zhonghui was so busy talking that he didn't notice that Li Siyuan's expression had changed.

Is the godson unreliable? Will the godson force his biological son to death and then seize his godfather's kingdom? An Zhonghui, you are making indirect accusations, can't I hear it?
This could not be said openly, so Li Siyuan could only stare blankly and sulk, completely unmoved.

After An Zhonghui stepped down, he carefully summarized and concluded that the reason why Li Siyuan protected Li Congke was simply because "the situation of rebellion was not clear" and he did not dare to kill the meritorious old general without real evidence.

There is evidence.

There is really no evidence.

There must be evidence.

In order to put Li Congke to death, An Zhonghui was so desperate that he did not hesitate to frame and conspire to frame Li Congke.

An Zhonghui secretly contacted Hezhong Yajiang Yang Yanwen and forged an imperial edict ordering him to wait for Li Congke to leave the city, close the city walls and refuse to let him in. If he asked any questions, he should let Li Congke come to the court.

On April 930, 4, the first year of Changxing, this opportunity finally came. Li Congke went out of the city to inspect the war horses at Huanglongzhuang. Yang Yanwen, the general, followed the instructions of the "secret decree" and closed the city gates, refusing to accept Li Congke, and launched the "Hezhong Mutiny". Li Congke was shocked when he heard the news, and hurried to the city, questioning Yang Yanwen, "I have treated you well on weekdays, why are you plotting a rebellion today?"

Yang Yanwen bowed his hands on the city wall and replied, "It's not that I don't appreciate the Marshal's kindness, but I just received a secret decree from the Privy Council, asking the Marshal to come to the capital to pay homage."

Li Congke walked about 60 miles east, settled down, and sent envoys to report to the court. He felt that something was fishy and that someone must be trying to harm him.

An Zhonghui's move was extremely vicious, and was similar to the "burning of the hay barn" in "Water Margin". He first helped Li Congke to "rebel", and then openly sent troops to suppress him, causing him to die in the chaos; if Li Congke really came to Beijing to pay homage, he could also make a big fuss about the mutiny, at least to punish him for negligence and dereliction of duty.

On April 4, Li Congke's envoy arrived in the capital and reported to Li Siyuan why Yang Yanwen closed the city and refused to receive the emperor. Li Siyuan immediately became suspicious and called An Zhonghui to ask, "Yang Yanwen said that he was following the order of the Privy Council? What's going on? Please explain it to me."

An Zhonghui certainly couldn't admit that he had forged the imperial edict. "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, a thief's bite goes deep into your bones! This is of course a slander by a traitor. Your Majesty, please be careful!"

Li Siyuan was confused. What happened in the river? To solve the mystery, it was simple. He just had to ask Yang Yanwen in person.

Therefore, Li Siyuan ordered Li Congke to come to the capital, and promoted Yang Yanwen to the post of governor of Jiangzhou. According to the regulations, Yang Yanwen had to come to the capital to thank the emperor, and Li Siyuan could use this opportunity to get to the bottom of the matter.

An Zhonghui's strategy was to fish in troubled waters, so how could he allow Li Siyuan to find out the truth! So he jumped up and down, and tried his best to advocate the use of force to suppress the "rebels" in the river.

At this time, An Zhonghui was at the peak of his life and was able to forcibly push forward the "suppression of rebellion", and even Emperor Li Siyuan could not stop him.

An Zhonghui ordered Suo Zitong, the governor of Chang'an, and Yao Yanchou, the infantry commander, to lead the army to attack Hezhong.

Li Siyuan secretly instructed Yao Yanchou not to kill Yang Yanwen, but to capture him alive, and that he would interrogate him personally.

Coincidentally, Suo Zitong and Yao Yanchou also received secret instructions from An Zhonghui: Yang Yanwen must be killed to silence him!
On one side was the emperor, and on the other side was a minister who was more powerful than the emperor. Suo Zitong and Yao Yanchou were thus drawn into the darkest political conspiracy during Li Siyuan's period.

Generally speaking, any small person who gets involved in the fight between the gods will not have a good result no matter what, and will sooner or later become a political victim. From the moment the big person comes to the door, the tragic life of the small person begins.

After receiving the imperial edict, Li Congke immediately rode at full speed to the capital to explain his innocence to Li Siyuan.

Li Siyuan blamed him for his negligence and ordered him to go home and reflect on his mistakes. This was equivalent to bail pending trial, which was actually a form of protection for Li Congke by Li Siyuan.

In just a few days, Suo Zitong and Yao Yanchou put down the "rebellion" in Hezhong, and along with the report of victory was the head of Yang Yanwen.

An Zhonghui breathed a sigh of relief and smiled widely. He then led all the civil and military officials to the court to congratulate the emperor on suppressing the rebellion in Hezhong.

This was An Zhonghui's provocation to Li Siyuan and to the supreme imperial power. He was madly testing the brink of death.

(End of this chapter)