History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 489: One Word Destroys a Nation
【One word ruins a nation】

Li Song and Lu Qi felt that they were deeply favored by the emperor and worked hard for the country from time to time. Seeing Shi Jingtang's rebelliousness, they were heartbroken and actively made plans.

After careful consideration, the two of them actually came up with a reliable plan.

After careful analysis, Lu Qi came to the conclusion that if Shi Jingtang of Hedong really wanted to rebel, he would have to collude with the Khitan for external aid, otherwise he would be alone and powerless.

God's prophecy! Again, there has never been a semi-immortal who can predict the future and calculate. It is just that on the basis of fully mastering various intelligence, careful logical reasoning is carried out. The so-called profiling or deduction is to find out the internal logical laws of things and simulate the next step.

During the reign of Emperor Mingzong, the Later Tang Dynasty was in a strong position against the Khitan. When the King of Dingzhou rebelled, he colluded with the Khitan for support. The Khitan intervened in a high-profile manner and interfered in the internal affairs of the Central Plains. They sent generals Tu Nei and Xi La to lead the army southward, but they suffered a miserable defeat. The Khitan army that went south was almost annihilated, and the generals were captured alive. Emperor Mingzong beheaded Tu Nei, and Xi La and other generals were detained.

After that, the Khitan sent envoys many times to seek peace, with very humble words, requesting the Later Tang to release captives such as Xila.

Mingzong's response was quite domineering. He accepted his gifts, executed his envoys, refused to release the prisoners, did not say a single word, and was too lazy to even say "get out".

Later, problems arose within the Khitan state. Yelu Bei abandoned his country and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, coming to Luoyang to seek political asylum. Mingzong Li Siyuan was overjoyed and immediately welcomed him with great ceremony as an emperor. He conferred him an official title and a higher rank on him, and raised him generously in Luoyang. He regarded the eldest son of Liao Taizu as an important chess piece for the future.

Empress Dowager Shulü also made overtures to the Later Tang many times, asking for the return of the halberd, because her eldest son Yelü Bei was in the Later Tang. However, the Later Tang never agreed.

Since Khitan was a potential foreign aid for Shi Jingtang's rebellion against the imperial court, Lu Qi's strategy for Hedong was to cut off the foreign aid. It happened that Khitan had been trying to seek friendly diplomatic relations with the Later Tang for a long time, which was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Later Tang.

So Lu Qi offered a strategy:

First, release the captured Khitan general, Zila, and reconcile with the Khitan;
Secondly, giving 100,000 strings of money to the Khitan every year was unexpected good news for the Khitan people, and they would certainly be happy to form an alliance with the Later Tang.

After the Later Tang and Khitan formed an alliance, Shi Jingtang no longer dared to attack.

Li Song expressed his support, but the 100,000 strings of cash must be allocated from the national treasury, so he had to inform Zhang Yanlang, who was in charge of finance (Judge of the Three Departments).

Although the finances of the Later Tang Dynasty were tight, compared with the military expenditures for resisting the harassment of the Khitan, if 100,000 strings of cash could buy peace in the world, it would be a true conscience price.

Zhang Yanlang agreed with their proposal, believing that this move would not only suppress Shi Jingtang, but also save the country a large amount of military expenditure, which was really killing two birds with one stone. He also assured the two that as long as the emperor agreed, 100,000 strings of cash would not be a problem, and he would solve the money and grain problem through other means.

With the strong support of the Ministry of Finance, the two became more motivated and reported the plan to Li Congke.

Li Congke was delighted and praised the two men for their loyalty and outstanding abilities, saying they were truly the pillars of the country.

It seemed that the matter was almost certain to happen. The two men, who were praised by the emperor, worked even harder and drafted a "Letter to Khitan Fellows" overnight, making preliminary preparations for the alliance between the two countries.

Lu Wenji was not very competent but was a bureaucrat, Yao Xi was just a show-off, Ma Yinsun was just a figurehead, Li Song and Lu Qi were talented but not trusted... Who was the person that Li Congke valued and trusted? Answer: Xue Wenyu.

Li Congke was so excited that he could not sleep. He told Xue Wenyu about this plan. Unexpectedly, Xue Wenyu poured cold water on Li Congke on the spot, "Your Majesty is the emperor, but you serve the barbarians humbly. Don't you feel ashamed? What's more, if these barbarians ask for the princess according to the tradition of marriage, what should we do then?"

Li Congke stood there in shock. In the reflection of Xue Wenyu's strong patriotic sentiment, Li Congke felt ashamed of himself, thinking that he was so small and humble, a traitor, a traitor, and would be cursed forever.

Xue Wenyu was relentless and made a cruel finishing blow, causing great damage to Li Congke's mind. He recited the poem "Ode to History" (also known as "Peace with the Barbarians") by the Tang Dynasty poet Rong Yu for Li Congke with great affection:

"In the history of the Han Dynasty, the most stupid plan was marriage alliance.

The country is governed by the Ming Lord, and the safety of the country is entrusted to the woman.

How can I compare your jade-like beauty to the quiet barbarian dust?

"Who will be my assistant in the thousand-year-old bones underground?"

The wording of this poem is relatively easy to understand. The general idea is that the history books of the Han Dynasty recorded this stupid and bad idea of ​​"marriage". The country needs a wise ruler, not a woman (marriage). Don't dream of using beautiful women to replace weapons.

After the An-Shi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty's national strength declined, so it actively adopted the policy of marriage alliance. Proud scholars regarded it as a great shame and humiliation, and were deeply distressed. The poet Rong Yu used the Han Dynasty's policy of marriage alliance to satirize the authorities.

It is said that during the reign of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, he discussed foreign policy with his ministers, but they all advocated marriage alliance, which made Emperor Xianzong quite disappointed. So he suddenly had an idea and recited this poem "Ode to History" on the spot, saying: "If Rong Yu were still alive, he would be appointed as the governor of Langzhou! Wei Jiang (a senior official of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period who advocated marriage alliance) is such a coward!"

The ministers understood the emperor's attitude and never mentioned the marriage policy again.

Now, Xue Wenyu imitated Emperor Xianzong of Tang and recited this popular poem for Li Congke. Especially the line "The country depends on a wise ruler, and its safety depends on women", which was recited by Xue Wenyu in a weird way, directly allowing Li Congke to learn a unique Sichuan opera skill - face changing.

Li Congke's face turned blue, white, red, black, and yellow...

Shock, regret, anger, shame, self-blame, relief...

Li Congke's attitude took a 180-degree turn and he completely rejected the suggestions of Lu Qi and Li Song.

The next day, Li Congke urgently summoned Lu Qi and Li Song separately.

The two men were unaware that things had changed. When they heard that the emperor had urgently summoned them alone, they thought that he wanted to speed up the process of forming an alliance with the Khitan. They had beaming faces and were preparing to elaborate on the strategic idea of ​​forming an alliance with the Khitan in more depth.

As soon as they met, before they had time to greet each other, Li Congke flew into a rage and scolded the two of them, "You are well-versed in history and are well-versed in classics. You should fulfill your duties and work hard to create eternal peace. But you actually came up with such a bad idea. I only have one precious daughter, who is still wet behind the ears, but you plan to abandon her in the desert and sell her to the barbarians. What is your intention? You also want to hand over the people's hard-earned money and the military pay for the imperial army to the barbarians. What is your intention? Tell me, what are you thinking? Are you spies sent by the Khitan? Dead traitors, dog traitors!"

(End of this chapter)