History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 469: Should I Go With the Flow?
【Should be smooth or not】

After Li Conghou ascended the throne, the Uighur Khan sent envoys to offer tribute. What was even more exciting was that "Khitan sent envoys to pay tribute", which was proudly recorded in the history books by historians.

However, what is embarrassing is that there is also a related record in the History of Liao: "Tang sent envoys to express condolences, and sent envoys to offer sacrifices and condolences on the same day."

The historians in the Central Plains worked hard to create a beautiful and prosperous era in which all nations came to pay tribute, and often recorded normal diplomatic activities as "such and such country sent envoys to pay tribute" in order to demonstrate the power of our great Celestial Empire.

Those who made contributions in the process of Li Conghou's ascension to the throne were naturally rewarded accordingly, such as Kang Yicheng, Zhu Hongzhao, Feng Yun, Meng Hanqiong, etc. In addition, as a means of appeasement and united front, powerful vassals in the country were also rewarded one by one, such as Shi Jingtang and Li Congke. In addition, the heads of the special administrative regions were also rewarded, such as Gao Conghui of Jingnan who was named King of Nanping, Ma Xifan of Tanzhou who was named King of Chu, Qian Yuanguan of Liangzhe who was named King of Wuyue, and Meng Zhixiang, the King of Shu, who was given the title of Inspector Tai Shi.

When the imperial edict arrived in Chengdu, Meng Zhixiang was full of confidence and said proudly to his attendants: "Li Conghou is young and has little foundation, and those who hold real power are all political upstarts who also have no foundation. How can a truly strong person be under someone else's rule for long? Haha, just wait and see, the Central Plains will be in chaos sooner or later!" So he refused to accept Li Conghou's reward.

After refusing Li Conghou's reward, Meng Zhixiang announced his independence from the Later Tang Dynasty and established an independent country, the "Later Shu". The story of how Meng Zhixiang established the Later Shu will be described in detail later.

Meng Zhixiang was a shrewd politician. He pointed out the deformed political structure of Li Conghou's court and accurately predicted a great chaos.

The "Rocket Faction"'s means of attack are cunning, sophisticated and diverse. For example, against the "Dragon Faction", they use both kindness and force. In addition to exclusion and suppression, they also promote them. The specific operation is to suppress those with real power, and promote those without real power to become political vases.

For example, Tang Li, the Imperial Counselor, was a typical nerd, pedantic and upright, with a single-minded mind, which was why he was appointed to the position of Imperial Counselor. Like Song Lingxun, Tang Li had always been an aide to Li Conghou, and had served in three prefectures with Li Conghou. The "Rocket Faction" promoted Tang Li to be a direct scholar of the Privy Council, a close minister of the emperor, responsible for translating the ministers' memorials for the emperor, the same job as Feng Dao and Zhao Feng before.

At the same time, Chen Yi, a member of the "Rocket Faction", was also appointed as a direct scholar of the Privy Council to secretly monitor Tang Li.

Tang Li has low emotional intelligence, does not know how to deal with people in a tactful way, and is very sharp in his actions. This kind of person is easy to deal with and easy to be framed with charges. Placing him next to Li Conghou can not only appease Li Conghou's emotions, but also use him as a spy, killing two birds with one stone.

In just two months, the "rocket faction" moved smoothly, eliminated their open or potential political enemies one by one, and consolidated their power to a certain extent. Compared with these soft persimmons, the real challenge was the "powerful faction" such as Shi Jingtang and Li Congke.

Perhaps it was the mysterious confidence brought about by the bullying in the early stages that the "Rockets" seemed particularly relaxed and comfortable when facing a "powerful" team. They despised the enemy strategically and even more tactically.

First, it was a serious strategic mistake. They did not understand who the real "enemy" was. On the surface, it was Li Congke, Shi Jingtang and other living individuals, but in reality it was a vigorous "cutting down the feudal lords" movement.

In other words, their enemy is the abstract system, not the concrete individual. This is also the real reason for Li Conghou's tragic end. He was trying to challenge the two hundred years of stubborn illness with extremely weak power.

Secondly, on the tactical level, they did not conserve their energy, skipped the stage of slow development, and went straight into a team fight.

Finally, on the tactical level, when facing multiple enemies, they did not choose to defeat them one by one, but chose to ridicule them indiscriminately, making the storm even more violent.

The "rocket faction" suppressed the "dragon faction", which made Li Conghou very unhappy, while attacking the "harem faction" and "Qin Wang faction" would win Li Conghou's favor and support, especially the action of reducing the power of the "power faction". With the support of the emperor, this was also an important reason that enabled the "rocket faction" to quickly form a group.

The emperor supported the court officials to reduce the power of the vassal states. Does this sound like what Emperor Zhaozong of Tang did? Li Conghou failed to learn a lesson from Emperor Zhaozong of Tang. The only lesson people learn from history is that humans cannot learn any lessons from history.

Since Li Siyuan became seriously ill, Li Congke had sent his wife to the palace many times to serve him and to inquire about the news in the palace. After Li Siyuan passed away, Li Congke claimed that he was ill and did not come to the capital to attend the funeral. It was obvious that Li Congke did not trust the central government and did not dare to rashly go to this troubled place. Li Congke's son Li Chongji was in the imperial army, the commander-in-chief of the Control Crane Army, and held military power. He also made great contributions in the "Li Congrong Rebellion Case".

Therefore, the "Rocket Faction" used Li Chongji as a breakthrough point. First, Li Chongji was sent out as a training envoy in Bozhou, expelled from the central court, and deprived of his military power; Li Youcheng, a daughter of Li Congke, shaved her head and became a nun (Master Huiming) in Luoyang. The "Rocket Faction" invited her into the palace, placed her under house arrest, and held her hostage.

His son was not rewarded for his meritorious service and was instead exiled, his daughter who had become a nun was held hostage... Li Congke understood that he was about to be tricked, and the next step would be either to move to another town or to be summoned to the palace.

Just as the "Rocket Faction" and Li Conghou were about to proceed according to the routine, they encountered two anomalies in succession within one day:
First, when Li Conghou was passing by Xingjiao Gate, suddenly an eagle fell from the sky. The black eagle fell and died in front of Li Conghou; then a strong wind blew, dark clouds gathered, and the day became as dark as night.

Li Conghou ascended the throne in December 933 AD. He did not change the reign title that year and continued to use "the fourth year of Changxing". After the Spring Festival, on the seventh day of the first lunar month, he changed the reign title and issued a general amnesty, changing "the fifth year of Changxing" to "the first year of Yingshun" (12). This reign title was very realistic, and should have been very smooth.

Therefore, Black Hawk Down and "The Wind and the Clouds" don't matter, the reduction of the power of the feudal lords should be smooth.

On February 934, the first year of Yingshun (2), the Central Government of the Later Tang Dynasty issued a series of major personnel transfer orders:

Li Congzhang was transferred to be the Jiedushi of Fengxiang; Li Congke, the Jiedushi of Fengxiang, was transferred to be the Jiedushi of Hedong; Shi Jingtang, the Jiedushi of Hedong, was transferred to be the Jiedushi of Zhenzhou; Fan Yanguang, the Jiedushi of Zhenzhou, was transferred to be the Jiedushi of Weizhou; Meng Hanqiong, the Jiedushi of Weizhou, was transferred back to the central government.

Li Congzhang - Li Congke - Shi Jingtang - Fan Yanguang - Meng Hanqiong, turn right and march in unison.

Among these people, Li Congzhang was the crowbar, Fan Yanguang was the tool, and Li Congke, Shi Jingtang, and Meng Hanqiong were the real intentions of the "rocket faction". They were asked to move to different places and leave their old nests, especially the eunuch Meng Hanqiong, who was directly recalled to the palace for house arrest.

What a beautiful thought.

Such a major personnel transfer was made without the emperor's official edict, but was only carried out in the name of the Privy Council. In other words, Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun bypassed the emperor and issued orders to the military garrisons on their own, which was illegal.

As expected, Li Congke was the first to disobey orders. This seemed to be within the expectations of the "Rocket Faction", and they immediately performed the second act according to the script: armed conquest.

(End of this chapter)