History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 471 Taking Office 2
Although Li Congke was weak, he had followed Li Siyuan in battle for many years and had a very high reputation in the army. Many generals in the siege troops were his subordinates, such as Yang Siquan and Yin Hui.

On the other hand, Li Conghou's situation was quite similar to that of Li Cunxu when he succeeded to the throne. However, the reason why Li Conghou failed to become Li Cunxu was that he did not have Zhou Dewei by his side, but had the "Rocket Faction".

If a young ruler wants to consolidate his power when he ascends the throne, he must have the support and endorsement of important officials of the previous dynasty, such as Zhou Dewei, or even if they only support the young ruler in name, such as Yang Shihou during Zhu Youzhen's period.

Even without Zhou Dewei and Yang Shihou, the weak young ruler could stabilize the emotions of the old ministers by compromising and giving in. In this way, the worst result would be to become a puppet and be sidelined by the old ministers, such as Yang Xingmi's sons.

However, under the control of the "rocket faction", Li Conghou took the most dangerous and wrong path: he openly turned against the old officials and forcibly seized their vested interests. This was courting death.

In order to consolidate their own interests, the "Rocket Faction" excluded dissidents, formed factions to attack dissidents, and made countless enemies during the three months after Li Conghou ascended the throne. Both civil and military officials and soldiers were full of complaints, but they still tried to use such a force to confront the "power faction".

The "rocket faction" did not receive the true support of the army, and no one was willing to fight for them. So when he sent the imperial guard general Hou Yi to the front line, Hou Yi resolutely refused, because Hou Yi knew that the "rocket faction" would not succeed. Yang Siquan and Yin Hui did come, but they defected.

Li Yanqi, a general under Li Congke, sold his family property to help the army. Under his leadership, Li Congke's direct generals generously paid out of their own pockets to reward the soldiers, but this bottomless pit could not be filled, so Li Congke collected a "city defense tax" from the people of the city, extorted the people, and rewarded the troops who had just joined him.

According to historical records, Li Congke almost completely looted Fengxiang, even the pots and pans of the common people were confiscated and converted into cash rewards for the soldiers.

It is an old custom for the army to ask for rewards. As the saying goes, the emperor will not send hungry soldiers. They should be rewarded before departure, during the march, during the battle, and after the battle...War means death. Without money, who will fight for you?

Another reason why Li Conghou lost the support of the army was because he lacked money. Without sufficient rewards, the soldiers were unwilling to work for him.

Li Congke had fought for many years and knew that justice and emotion alone could not control the army. Under the high-sounding rhetoric, there must be real money to attract people. He could not wait, and on that day (March 3), Li Congke urged the army to march eastward to attack Chang'an.

"When the cannon fires, there will be a fortune! Brothers, follow me, our slogan is——"

"Rob money, rob food, rob women!"

Li Congke's plunder of Fengxiang made the people of Fengxiang miss the old leader who was kind and generous and loved the people like his own children - Li Jizhu, the son of Li Maozhen. So they knelt outside the city, stopped Li Congke's horse, and begged him to let Li Jizhu return to Fengxiang after he succeeded. Li Congke agreed hastily, "Okay, okay, get out of the way quickly."

When Li Congke entered Luoyang, he fulfilled his promise today and appointed Li Jihe as the governor of Fengxiang.

Previously, Wang Sitong, Yao Yanchou and others had fled back from the front line, but the deputy governor Liu Suiyong closed the city gates and refused to accept them. Wang Sitong and Yao Yanchou had no choice but to continue retreating eastward to the next stronghold: Tongguan.

On his way to the east, Li Congke was very worried that Wang Sitong and others would occupy Chang'an. When he heard that Liu Suiyong refused to accept Wang Sitong, he was very happy and immediately sent his confidant to appease and communicate. Liu Suiyong took out gold and silver treasures to reward Li Congke's vanguard and let them go east first to continue chasing Wang Sitong and other defeated troops.

Liu Suiyong spent money to avoid disaster, the Fengxiang vanguard army did not enter the city, and the people of Chang'an were spared from the suffering of war.

On the 20th, after Li Congke arrived in Chang'an, Liu Suiyong surrendered the city. At this time, the gold and silver treasures in the treasury had been distributed, and there was no choice but to plunder the people and reward the army. Speaking of Liu Suiyong's father, Liu Xun, a famous general of the Later Liang Dynasty, was very famous at that time.

On the day Li Congke entered Chang'an, Wang Jingcong, the general commander of the Western Expedition infantry, fled back to Luoyang and reported the collapse of the front line. The court officials were horrified and Li Conghou was at a loss.

Li Conghou said to Kang Yicheng: "When the late emperor passed away, I was stationed outside the capital. I didn't want to compete with others for the throne, but you, the civil and military officials, ministers and nobles, discussed and insisted on nominating me to succeed. Because I am young, I have handed over the military and political power to you present here, and you will decide everything. I have always been very harmonious with my brother (Li Congke), but look at what you have done to me! Now, what do you think we should do?"

Everyone lowered their heads and listened to Li Conghou's blame-shifting and complaints.

"Why not? I will go west to welcome my brother in person and give the throne to him," said Li Conghou.

Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun were terrified and said nothing. They had already understood the emperor's intention, which was to shift the blame to the "rocket faction" and use their heads as sincerity for peace talks.

Kang Yicheng's performance is more intriguing. At the last meeting, he tried his best to retreat and was unwilling to go to the front line. Instead, he recommended Wang Sitong. Now, his attitude has turned 180 degrees. He took the initiative to volunteer and asked to lead the main force of the imperial guards to the front line.

Kang Yicheng's real plan was to lead the intact imperial guards and surrender to Li Congke in an organized manner in order to obtain greater rewards.

Zhu Hongshi's suggestion was the most correct. He advocated that the imperial guards should defend Luoyang to the death rather than take the initiative to attack.

At this last moment, Li Conghou made a series of stupid moves. First, he sent people to kill Li Congke's son Li Chongji, and then killed his daughter Li Youcheng (Master Huiming), who had become a nun.

At that time, Zhu Hongshi and Kang Yicheng argued about the military plan, pointing out that Li Congke's army was at its peak and that they should not confront him head-on, but should close the city and hold out until the situation changed. Obviously, Li Congke, who had no military pay and was immoral, was eager to fight a decisive battle and achieve success in one battle. As long as Luoyang held out, the situation would definitely tilt in favor of Li Conghou.

Zhu Hongshi attached himself to Zhu Hongzhao, and during the "Tianjin Bridge Incident", he was the first to lead the cavalry to attack Li Congrong, ruining Kang Yicheng's "good deed". Since then, Kang Yicheng has hated Zhu Hongshi. Now, Zhu Hongshi is going to ruin Kang Yicheng's "good deed" again.

Kang Yicheng was furious and said to Zhu Hongshi, "Are you planning to rebel?"

Zhu Hongshi retorted: "It was you who wanted to betray, how dare you frame me?"

So Li Conghou killed Zhu Hongshi, and Zhu Hongshi's subordinates were filled with resentment.

Li Conghou was desperate and tried every possible means to find a cure. He sent someone to summon Shi Jingtang and asked Shi Jingtang to lead his army to attack Li Congke.

(End of this chapter)