History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 456: The surname Meng in Shu

[Shu people surname Meng]

There is a slight controversy in historical records about the time when Li Cunhuan came to Chengdu, but it does not matter. The final conclusion is consistent, that is, Li Siyuan used Li Cunhuan to ease the relationship between the central government and Xichuan. Meng Zhixiang responded positively, but his words were quite arrogant. He took the opportunity of reporting the war to show off his muscles to the court.

Li Siyuan's court was well aware that Meng Zhixiang was determined to seize control of Shu.

Just one month after Meng Zhixiang expressed his loyalty to Li Siyuan, on the Mid-Autumn Festival of the third year of Changxing (932), Meng Zhixiang ordered Li Hao to draft a memorial, using the names of generals Zhao Jiliang, Li Renhan, Zhao Tingyin and others, requesting the court to enthrone Meng Zhixiang as the King of Shu, and at the same time each of them requested the court to formally appoint themselves as Jiedushi.

Meng Zhixiang wanted to follow the mass line and move step by step towards the ultimate goal of establishing a country and becoming emperor.

Li Hao's words enlightened him. "The generals themselves requested the imperial court to issue seals and tokens, so they became the court's people. Even your title was fought for by them, so even you were 'appointed' by them. In Shu, do you have the final say, or do they have the final say?"

Meng Zhixiang suddenly realized that he had only thought about staying behind the scenes, but had ignored the most important issue - the legal system!
So, at Li Hao's reminder, Meng Zhixiang used his own name to submit a memorial to the court, requesting permission to exercise the power of "Mo system", that is, to issue "edicts" on behalf of the court and appoint officials in the two Sichuan provinces on his own. At the same time, he recommended Zhao Jiliang as the governor of Wutai Army in Qianzhou, Li Renhan as the governor of Wuxin Army in Suizhou, Zhao Tingyin as the governor of Baoning Army in Langzhou, Zhang Ye as the governor of Ningjiang Army in Kuizhou, and Li Zhao as the governor of Zhaowu Army in Lizhou.

Li Siyuan agreed to everything.

In this way, Meng Zhixiang gained actual control over Shu. Then, Meng Zhixiang encountered a new problem:
Previously, the imperial court, under the planning of An Zhonghui, had plotted against the two Sichuan provinces. Whenever a provincial governor or military governor appointed by the imperial court took office (such as Wu Qianyu, Li Renju, and Xia Luqi), the imperial court would send a large force of armed escort, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand people, and then stay in the name of the Ya army. Today, there are still more than 30,000 central task forces stranded in the two Sichuan provinces. After the war and the civil war in the two Sichuan provinces, these more than 30,000 troops were incorporated by Meng Zhixiang.

The problem is that the wives, children and elders of these more than 30,000 people are all in the territory of Later Tang, and they are at risk of returning home and defecting at any time.

So Meng Zhixiang once again submitted a petition to the court, requesting that their wives, children and the elderly be sent to Xichuan so that the family could be reunited.

This was exactly the effect Li Siyuan wanted, so of course he rejected the request and did not call them back. 30,000 time bombs, you, Meng Zhixiang, help me keep them.

In February of the fourth year of Changxing (933), Li Siyuan appointed Meng Zhixiang as the acting Taiwei, concurrently the Minister of the Central Secretariat, the acting prefect of Chengdu, the governor of the East and West Sichuan, the governor of the border barbarians, and the governor of the Eight Kingdoms of the Western Mountains and Yunnan. He was also given the title of King of Shu, an additional 2 households of food and households of actual fiefdom, and the honorary title of "Loyal and Contributory Minister of the State", which officially recognized Meng Zhixiang's absolute ruling position in Shu.

Meng Zhixiang was not shy and made a "nine-tassel crown" by himself. According to the feudal etiquette, "the emperor's crown has twelve tassels, and the princes' nine tassels." He also made dragon robes and other utensils, and his carriages, horses and clothes were the same as those of the emperor.

Meng Zhixiang ordered the renovation of Wang Jian's tomb and prohibited the felling of trees near the tomb. Afterwards, he hosted a banquet for all the officials in Xuanhua Garden. Seeing the objects and reminiscing about the past, Meng Zhixiang could not help but sigh: If Wang Zongyan had not been so licentious and immoral, and the officials had assisted him wholeheartedly, how could Li Jiji have conquered Chengdu?
Zhao Jiliang flattered, "It's not because of the harmony of people, but because of the timing of the time! If he didn't leave, how could you come?"

Meng Zhixiang laughed proudly. God's will, isn't it?

According to records, when playing ball, the Shu people who hit the ball into the hole with one shot were called "Meng Ru" or "Meng Ru"; the name of the chief engineer was engraved on the palaces of the Former Shu Dynasty, "Meng De", which is homophonic to "Meng De"; Xu Yanqiong, the uncle of the Former Shu Dynasty, built a magnificent and extremely luxurious villa in Chengdu. After seeing it, Wang Zongyan wrote a word "Meng" on the wall, which means "rubbish" or "SB". Xu Yanqiong carefully framed it and worshipped it. After Li Jiji entered Chengdu, he lived in Wang Zongyan's palace, while Meng Zhixiang, who came with the army, lived in Xu Yanqiong's villa. When he saw the carefully framed "Meng" word, he joked to his followers: "How did this kid foresee that I would take over?"

And so on and so forth. In short, the Meng Zhixiang Group found thousands of reasons to prove that it was God's will that Meng Zhixiang be the ruler of Shu.

Meng Zhixiang accepted the title conferred by the Later Tang Dynasty and governed Shu as the "King of Shu", possessing the power to issue decrees according to the "Mo System". Shu was only one step away from formally establishing an independent country.

Meng Zhixiang only needs to wait quietly for the Later Tang court to confer the title of "King of Shu" and establish a state in a reasonable and legal manner. This is the safest way.

If he couldn't wait, he could still "establish himself", but the disadvantages of establishing himself far outweighed the time advantage. This was because establishing himself meant that Meng Zhixiang was "not in the right name and not in the right words", and had lost his legal foundation. Denying the Later Tang was equivalent to denying himself, and his generals could then raise the banner of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism to oppose him.

Qian Shu, Huainan, etc. are all "independent", the premise is that their founding monarchs have been working hard on this land for many years, have a solid ruling foundation, and can withstand ordinary storms. Meng Zhixiang has only been here for a few years, and except for Xichuan, Dongchuan and other territories have just been acquired recently, and the foundation is unstable. "Independence" is not Meng Zhixiang's best choice.

Meng Zhixiang’s wait was not endless, as the Later Tang Dynasty was currently in a turbulent period.

At this point, we have to re-examine this brief revival during the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" period - the "Mingzong Prosperous Era". During this period, the entrepreneurial generation that dominated the four directions passed away one after another, and the overall situation entered the "second generation governing the country" stage. For example, the two most powerful enemies of the Central Plains dynasty were Huainan within and Khitan outside.

All major political forces were faced with the issue of the transfer of supreme power and were busy with internal strife, and were no longer able to form an effective force against the Central Plains dynasty. This was especially true in Huainan, where Xu Wen first sidelined the Yang family, and then was replaced by the Li family (Xu Zhigao); the Khitan were first busy annexing the Bohai Kingdom, and after destroying the Bohai Kingdom, they were about to take advantage of the victory and march south, but Liao Taizu Yelü Abaoji suddenly died of illness, and then Empress Dowager Shulü deposed the eldest son and enthroned the youngest son, which led to internal strife in the Khitan.

In short, no one came to grab the troops and the jungle, so Li Siyuan was able to develop quietly. He tried his hand twice, fighting in Jingnan and Shu, but was defeated both times, exposing the weakness of the Later Tang central government to the world.

Now, the forces of Huainan, Khitan and other parties have successfully completed the redistribution of resources, overcome the civil strife, and begun to seek external expansion. Li Siyuan's days are becoming difficult.

Therefore, during the war between Sichuan and Sichuan and the civil war between Sichuan and Sichuan, Li Siyuan compromised and gave in. As long as there was a greater threat, Li Siyuan had to continue to pursue a policy of appeasement, and this was the opportunity that Meng Zhixiang was waiting for to become the "King of Shu".

His chance soon came.

(End of this chapter)