History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 524 People die for money
When the news of Zhao Dejun's surrender came, Dong Wenqi's confidant Mi Qiong immediately launched a mutiny, expelled Li Yanqi, the deputy envoy of the Jiedushi, killed Hu Zhang, the commander-in-chief, and took control of Zhenzhou. Then he led his troops to raid Dong Wenqi's home, slaughtered the whole family, dug a big pit and hastily buried them, and took all the money Dong Wenqi had accumulated over the years. Then he reported to Shi Jingtang's new court, saying that the army had rebelled and killed Dong Wenqi's family. I have controlled the situation and restored order in Zhenzhou. Please appoint me as the Jiedushi of Zhenzhou to suppress the rebellion.

According to historical records, Mi Qiong claimed to be the regent.

How much money did Mi Qiong take from Dong Wenqi? The exact figure cannot be verified, but historical records only say that it was an astronomical sum. Dong Wenqi "was corrupt and violent while in office, and accumulated a huge amount of money", which means that he probably accumulated several small amounts.

This huge sum of money should be the most famous in Chinese history, because it seems to be cursed. Anyone who covets this money or owns this money will have a bad end. Starting with Dong Wenqi, it has killed five owners in a row. The whereabouts of this money and these five unlucky people will appear in the following text.

In the second year of Tianfu (937), Shi Jingtang appointed Mi Qiong as the defense envoy of Qizhou (now Jinan City, Shandong Province), and appointed An Zhongrong as the military governor of Chengde Army in Zhenzhou. An Zhongrong will be described in detail later, so we will skip this for now and just talk about Mi Qiong and Fan Yanguang.

Shi Jingtang sent someone to Zhenzhou to analyze the pros and cons for Mi Qiong and persuade him to obey the organization's transfer order and go to Qizhou to take up his post. With Shi Jingtang's earnest persuasion and An Zhongrong's army leading the army to "convince people with reason", Mi Qiong had to accept the arrangement of moving to Zhenzhou and went to Qizhou obediently.

The most convenient route from Zhenzhou to Qizhou is to go south from Zhenzhou and pass through Weizhou. This is also the choice of the Hedong forces when they went south to assist the "Two Zhus of Yan and Yun" many times. Now, Mi Qiong also wants to "pass through Weizhou". The one sitting in Weizhou is Fan Yanguang.

During the Hedong War, Fan Yanguang, the governor of Weizhou, followed Li Congke's order and led his troops to support Zhao Dejun, forming a pincer attack with him. Later, Zhao Dejun and his son were defeated, and Fan Yanguang was alone and unable to act, so he hurriedly retreated to the Weizhou base camp to watch the development of the situation.

It is important to note that Fan Yanguang did not surrender to the Khitan nor went to Luoyang to rescue the emperor. Between Shi Jingtang and Li Congke, he also chose to wait and see. However, his strength was not enough to compete with Shi Jingtang and Zhao Dejun, nor was he strong enough to be a traitor, so he chose the most reliable strategy: to keep Weizhou and establish his own regime in Weizhou.

The Khitans never dared to cross the Taihang Mountains. After a brief rest in Luzhou, they returned to the northern grasslands. Li Congke, who was at the end of his rope, chose to burn himself to death for his country. Shi Jingtang entered Luoyang, changed the country's name to the Great Jin.

Fan Yanguan was still hesitating, because he was not only the only remaining "powerful" leader of the previous dynasty, but also Li Congke's son was related by marriage. Li Congke's son Li Chongmei married Fan Yanguan's daughter.

Fan Yanguang carefully analyzed the domestic and international situations, repeatedly compared the strength of the three parties (the central government, Wei Bo, and Khitan), and after repeated war game simulations, he finally came to a conclusion: it is better to bow to Shi Jingtang and make plans later.

Therefore, after all other vassal states in the world had submitted their memorials to Luoyang to declare their allegiance, Fan Yanguan of Weizhou's memorial of submission and congratulations arrived only late (long after all the other princes arrived).

At this time, the monarch and his ministers understood each other's suspicions. In order to show his trust, Shi Jingtang appointed Fan Yanguang as Duke of Qin and gave him more fiefs to ease his mind.

Fan Yanguang at this time was no longer the original Fan Yanguang.

Fan Yanguang had a "master" named Zhang Sheng who was very favored by him. The reason was that when Fan Yanguang was still an unknown low-level military school student, Zhang Sheng had read his face and predicted that he would be rich and noble in the future. Fan Yanguang believed it without a doubt, so he took Zhang Sheng with him and served him carefully. As he was promoted by merit, he became a general and a prime minister, and even became a relative of the emperor. He remembered Zhang Sheng's prediction and believed in this "Lü Yongzhi"-like master even more.

On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, Fan Yanguang told Zhang Sheng that he had a strange dream and couldn't figure out what was going on, so he asked Zhang Banxian to interpret the dream. According to Fan Yanguang, he dreamed of a snake that drilled into his belly from his navel. When the snake was halfway through, he pulled it out by its tail. What did this mean?

Zhang Sheng hurriedly congratulated him, saying that the snake represented the dragon, and if the snake entered his stomach, it certainly meant that you would become the emperor!

Historical records state that "Yan Guang had begun to harbor the intention of usurping the throne" and "from then on he had many rebellious ambitions."

It happened that Mi Qiong launched a mutiny in Zhenzhou and claimed to be the governor of Chengde Army in Zhenzhou. In Fan Yanguang's view, this was a perfect opportunity to form an alliance, because at this time Mi Qiong must please his neighbors and seek recommendations from everyone to force the court to recognize his control over Zhenzhou. If an olive branch was extended to him at this time, he would definitely be moved and thank God.

Therefore, Fan Yanguang took the initiative to show his goodwill to Mi Qiong, saying that he, a powerful leader with prestige, qualifications, and a lot of weight in the court, with territory and troops, was willing to lend a hand as your friendly neighbor. As for the conditions, they would form a secret small group, with the separatist Heshuo as the core, and establish the "Greater Heshuo Co-prosperity Sphere".

The Heshuo region has a unique geographical environment, with the towering Taihang Mountains to the west, the turbulent Yellow River to the south, the Bohai Bay to the east, and mountains and the Great Wall to the north. There is only a small gap at Yuguan in the northeast, bordering the northern grasslands. Therefore, after the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the central government lost control over the Heshuo region.

The biggest dream of regional strongmen in Hebei, such as Liu Rengong and Liu Shouguang, was to unify Hebei and restore the glory of Heshuo.

Now, Fan Yanguang has also proposed this strategic blueprint to Miqiong.

Fan Yanguang thought that Mi Qiong, the emerging upstart in the feudal circle, would rush to cling to him, but to his surprise, Mi Qiong was unmoved. He accepted Fan Yanguang's letter but did not reply, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Fan Yanguang was both angry and afraid. The secret letter was irrefutable evidence of his rebellion! What did this guy Mi Qiong want to do?

Without the recommendation of a big shot like Fan Yanguang, Shi Jingtang easily rejected Mi Qiong's request to stay behind, appointed him as the Defense Commissioner of Qizhou, and sent General An Zhongrong to take over. At the same time, he requested Zhao Siwen, the Jiedushi of Youzhou of Khitan, to send troops to assist.

Under military threat, Mi Qiong accepted the appointment and then packed up all her property and took it away. This treasure was the cursed money of Dong Wenqi.

Fan Yanguang secretly dispatched elite cavalry to ambush near the border. When Mi Qiong's convoy passed by, the ambushers spread out and killed Mi Qiong to silence him. He then took all the cursed gold and silver treasures for himself. He then submitted a memorial to the court, saying that the patrol soldiers had mistakenly killed Mi Qiong, who happened to be passing by, as a bandit while catching bandits. It was really a misunderstanding and he asked the court to forgive him.

(End of this chapter)