History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 481 The Correct Way to Peel an Onion 2
2.5 Li Jizhu

The two generations of father and son ruled Fengxiang for decades and were very popular with the people. When Li Congke left Fengxiang, the people spontaneously blocked the road and asked Li Jizhe to come back to be the local official.

After Li Congke ascended the throne, he fulfilled his promise and appointed Li Jihe as the governor of Fengxiang. Fengxiang controlled the Shu area in the south and connected to the northwestern tribes in the west. It was an important town in the western part of the empire. Li Jihe was loyal to the court and was deeply loved by the people, so Li Congke went with the flow and safely placed Li Jihe in Fengxiang.

After Li Jihe was released and allowed to return to Fengxiang, he was named King of Xiping.

2.6 Shi Jingtang

On April 4, Shi Jingtang went to Beijing to pay homage. Shi Jingtang was embarrassed because he originally came to pay homage to Li Conghou. Before Li Conghou fled, he ordered Shi Jingtang to raise an army to defend the king and attack Li Congke. When Shi Jingtang met Li Conghou in Weizhou, he saw that Li Conghou was doomed, so he made a key political speculation, imprisoned Li Conghou, and became a vassal of Li Congke.

Shi Jingtang was the leader among the "powerful faction", the most powerful one. If Shi Jingtang dared to claim to be number one, Li Congke would not dare to claim to be number two, because there were also Zhao Dejun and his son.

Although Li Congke had followed Li Siyuan in battles for many years, he had never played a leading role on his own. In other words, he was just a brave general who charged into battle and an excellent general, but not a commander, and had never been the commander-in-chief of a front.

Shi Jingtang and Zhao Dejun were different. They both served as commanders-in-chief of the front army and fought against the Khitan in the north and fought in the two Sichuan provinces in the west. Although Shi Jingtang did not shine on the battlefield in the two Sichuan provinces, he did gain some experience.

Shi Jingtang's influence in the army was far greater than Li Congke's. So in the last years of Mingzong, when the Khitan harassed the northern border, Mingzong asked his ministers who could resist the Khitan, and all the ministers said that only Shi Jingtang and Kang Yicheng could do it.

Li Congke would not ignore Shi Jingtang's threat to him. This time Shi Jingtang took the initiative to come to Beijing, and Li Congke wanted to take the opportunity to put him under house arrest in Luoyang, unwilling to let the tiger return to the mountains.

Shi Jingtang certainly understood Li Congke's thoughts, so he was worried all day, lost his appetite, and finally became sick due to worry. His wife was Li Siyuan's third daughter, Empress Dowager Cao's biological daughter. She was first named Princess Yongning, then Princess Wei. After Li Congke ascended the throne, she was renamed Princess Jin, and after the establishment of the Later Jin Dynasty, she was named Empress. The title is not important, what is important is that she is Empress Dowager Cao's biological daughter. She went to Empress Dowager Cao and cried, asking her to let her husband return to the town.

Children love candy, and mothers-in-law love their husbands. Seeing her own son-in-law sick and almost dying, Empress Dowager Cao felt very distressed, so she asked her adopted son Li Congke to plead for him.

Listen to your mother. In the feudal period, the words of the empress dowager were very important to the emperor. If the emperor took the lead in not listening to his mother, how could he "rule the world with filial piety"?
Li Congke was in some danger, so he consulted with his trusted confidants in Fengxiang to discuss countermeasures.

Almost all the staff members advised Li Congke not to let the tiger go back to the mountains. Only Han Zhaoyin and Li Zhuanmei advocated releasing Shi Jingtang, and the reason they gave was to appease Zhao Dejun.

Zhao Dejun is currently in charge of Youzhou. If Li Congke takes action against the "powerful faction" at this time, it will inevitably provoke a strong backlash from Zhao Dejun and his son.

Li Congke also went to Shi Jingtang's home in person to check on his condition and found that "haggard" could no longer be used to describe Shi Jingtang's condition. Shi Jingtang had now become a breathing skeleton, and was almost dying.

We can fully believe that Shi Jingtang deliberately reduced his food intake and rest to make himself look neither human nor ghost in order to deceive Li Congke.

Li Congke believed it. So he said to his people: "Shi Lang is not only my close relative, but also my long-time comrade-in-arms. Now that I am the emperor, who else can I rely on if not Shi Lang?" So he issued an edict to let Shi Jingtang continue to serve as the governor of Hedong, and to add the title of inspector of the imperial tutor and the minister of the imperial court, and to return to the town and return to his fiefdom immediately. Shi Jingtang finally escaped.

2.7 Zhao Dejun and his son

Zhao Dejun was originally a general under Liu Shouwen of Cangzhou. The Liu brothers killed each other and Liu Shouwen was killed by Liu Shouguang. Zhao Dejun then turned to serve Liu Shouguang of Youzhou. When Li Cunxu attacked Youzhou, Zhao Dejun thought that Liu Shouguang would surely fail, so he took the initiative to surrender to Li Cunxu. He was highly regarded by Li Cunxu and was given the name Li Shaobin.

In the war to destroy the Later Liang, Zhao Dejun performed well and made many military achievements. Li Cunxu promoted him to be the Jiedushi of Youzhou Lulong Army and stationed him in Youzhou. After Li Siyuan ascended the throne, he married his daughter Princess Xingping to his adopted son Zhao Yanshou. When Wang Du of Dingzhou rebelled, he colluded with the Khitan and went deep into Hebei. The Khitan reinforcements were defeated by Wang Yanqiu and were intercepted by Zhao Dejun when they retreated. All the Khitan leaders were captured.

Zhao Dejun had been stationed in Youzhou since the end of Emperor Zhuangzong's reign, and was successively promoted to Shizhong. During the reign of Emperor Mingzong, he was appointed Northeast Recruiting Envoy, and made an indelible contribution to building the first line of defense against the Khitan.

Zhao Yanshou entered the central government and served as a privy councilor. In the late Mingzong period, in order to avoid the disaster of Li Congrong, he actively sought to be sent out and became the governor of Xuanwu Army in Bianzhou.

After Li Congke ascended the throne, he named Zhao Dejun the King of Beiping, named Zhao Yanshou the Duke of Lu, and appointed Zhao Yanshou as the Jiedushi of the Zhongwu Army of Xuzhou and concurrently the Privy Councilor, leaving him in Luoyang to work. He also often visited Zhao Yanshou's home to show his favor.

Shi Jingtang and Zhao Dejun were the top two "powerful factions", and Li Congke could only be ranked third, so he could not afford to offend these two. Ironically, Li Congke's kingdom was eventually destroyed by the joint efforts of Shi Jingtang and Zhao Dejun, father and son, but that is a story for another time.

2.8 Fan Yanguang

Originally a general under Li Siyuan, Fan Yanguang was unknown at first until the "Left Hook" operation, when his bravery, calmness, wit and loyalty were revealed.

At that time, Fan Yanguang, who was responsible for delivering the intelligence, was captured by the Later Liang Dynasty, thrown into prison, and severely tortured. Facing the torture, Fan Yanguang refused to reveal any secrets. Zhuangzong entered Bianliang, rescued Fan Yanguang, and immediately appointed him as the Acting Minister of Works.

After Li Siyuan proclaimed himself emperor, he was promoted to the position of Envoy of the Southern Courtyard of Xuanhui, and followed Huo Yanwei to pacify Wang Gongyan of Qingzhou. Later, he pacified the rebellion of Zhu Shouyin of Bianzhou, and was promoted to Privy Councilor. He was sent out as the Jiedushi of Chengde Army in Zhenzhou. After An Zhonghui's downfall, he entered the court again as Privy Councilor, and was given the title of Prime Minister, becoming one of Li Siyuan's direct confidants.

In order to avoid the disaster of Li Congrong, Fan Yanguang took the initiative to request to be sent out and was able to garrison Chengde Army in Zhenzhou.

As a direct descendant of Emperor Mingzong who achieved success late in life, Fan Yanguang became a general and a prime minister. He served as a privy councilor and prime minister in the court, and as a governor and a frontier official in the local area. Although his overall strength was inferior to that of Li Congke, he was also a force that should not be underestimated, and he was also one of the "powerful factions".

After Li Congke ascended the throne, he summoned Fan Yanguang to the court and continued to serve as the Privy Councilor and conferred him the title of Duke of Qi. Soon after, he was appointed as the Inspector of the Imperial Tutor and concurrently the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and was sent out as the Jiedushi of Xuanwu Army in Bianzhou.

(End of this chapter)