History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 535 Weizhou Surrender (Monthly Ticket Plus)
Shi Jingtang issued a consolation edict, indicating that he would of course choose to forgive him, and to appease all the soldiers and civilians in Weizhou from Fan Yanguang down. Fan Yanguang led his subordinates in plain clothes (guilty people) to kneel outside the camp gate to receive the edict.

Fan Yanguang sent Li Shi, the deputy envoy of the Jiedushi, to Bianzhou to meet the emperor, to present a letter of apology and to offer a jade belt as tribute.

Shi Jingtang appointed Liu Churang to temporarily take charge of the military affairs of Weizhou; he issued an edict to restore all the official titles of Fan Yanguang (which were stripped on the day of rebellion), and moved him to Yunzhou in accordance with the surrender agreement.

There are many pleasures in reading original historical works. For example, I like reading the imperial edicts and decrees after major events. The reasons are as follows:
First of all, although these articles were issued in the name of the emperor, the actual authors were the Hanlin Academy's Imperial Academy scholars and imperial edict writers, that is, the top writers in the country at the time, with first-class skills. Because they were issued in the emperor's tone, they naturally couldn't be too vulgar, and both the writing style and the artistic conception had to be elegant and positive. Therefore, these articles are often of high level and good writing style.

Secondly, these articles may seem obscure and difficult to understand to us today, but that is because we are ignorant. These great talents often quote classics and condense them. They are usually four or six sentences in parallel and antithetical, and they follow the principle of one sentence and one allusion. In the previous article, we analyzed an imperial edict, which actually contained two allusions in four words. If you don’t have a particularly deep understanding of traditional culture and classics, you will certainly not understand what they are saying. But once you understand them, you will applaud and be impressed by the ancients.

Finally, it is "I will just watch you pretending to be cool," watching the ancients talking nonsense in a serious manner.

Today, the developed Internet allows us to stand on the shoulders of giants, so that an ordinary middle school student can understand. At that time, the emperor needed to have several people around him who were responsible for "translating" the ministers' memorials, such as the Duanming Palace scholars appointed by Mingzong Li Siyuan. Otherwise, he really couldn't understand what the ministers were saying, nor did he know what the Hanlin scholars asked him to say.

Let's take a look at the pardon letter Shi Jingtang gave to Fan Yanguang:

"I have just ascended the throne, and have not yet pacified the Central Plains. Six flights have only reached the capital, and a thousand miles have not yet been embraced."

——I have just ascended the throne, and the people are still uneasy. It is normal for you to have some small thoughts, so don't blame yourself too much.

"The King of Chu sought the old times, and found the lost hairpin; Zengzi passed on the doubts, and suddenly became the thrown shuttle."

——I’ve learned something new. The two sentences above and below use the allusions of “the King of Chu cut off his ribbon” and “Zeng’s mother threw away her shuttle” respectively.

The previous sentence said that King Zhuang of Chu was entertaining his ministers at a banquet. Suddenly a gust of wind blew and blew out the candles used for lighting, leaving the room in darkness. A concubine complained to the king that someone among the ministers had taken advantage of the darkness to touch me. I had an idea and tore off his hat tassel. After turning on the lights, I would kill whoever's hat tassel was broken.

After hearing this, King Zhuang of Chu immediately ordered everyone to take off their hats, and then lit the lights and continued the feast as usual. He did not pursue the matter at all. Three years later, the State of Chu went to war with the State of Jin. There was a general who was extremely brave and always charged to the front in every battle, which eventually led to the victory of the war.

King Zhuang of Chu summoned the general and expressed his confusion, saying, "I have never treated you specially, so why are you so selfless?"

The general lowered his head and said frankly and guiltily: "I am the pervert three years ago..." In order to repay King Zhuang of Chu for his leniency, he was willing to sacrifice his life.

The next sentence is about Zeng Shen's mother hearing rumors that her son had killed someone outside. If one person said it, she didn't believe it. If two people said it, she still didn't believe it. If she continued to weave cloth as it was, but when more and more people said it, Zeng Shen's mother finally believed it, so she threw away the loom and escaped over the wall.

Shi Jingtang compared himself to King Zhuang of Chu, and Fan Yanguang to the general. Although you have a bad past, I still forgive you, and hope that you can change your ways and serve the country again in the future; at the same time, he explained that he fully believed in you and that "three people make a tiger", and neither of us should believe in three people making a tiger, and ignore the rumors. Although Fan Yuanguang was forgiven for his past and was only transferred to another post, the court must clip Fan Yanguang's wings to prevent him from continuing to cause trouble in Yunzhou.

Therefore, all of Fan Yanguan's former officials and students were promoted to other areas to serve as provincial governors, training envoys, defense envoys, etc., leaving Fan Yanguan of Yunzhou alone.

Among the people who were rewarded or dismissed, there was a man named Li Yanxun, who was appointed as the acting Sikong and the governor of Fangzhou. He was widely questioned, and Shi Jingtang's close ministers urged Shi Jingtang to execute him because he was "unforgivable for his ten crimes."

Li Yanxun was from Xingzhou and was a temporary worker in the local government. He had "no self-discipline" and was originally a shameless hooligan. Li Siyuan once sat in Xingzhou, and Li Yanxun flattered Li Siyuan and won his favor. After Li Siyuan ascended the throne, he promoted him and later arranged for him to visit Dongchuan.

As soon as he entered the country, he angered Dong Zhang, the governor of Dongchuan, because of his misconduct. Dong Zhang arrested one of his followers, and Li Yanxun was terrified and fled back overnight. Later, Dong Zhang of Dongchuan rebelled, and Li Siyuan appointed Li Yanxun as the military supervisor of the infantry to follow Shi Jingtang to attack Dong Zhang.

During the reign of Li Congke, he was transferred to be the military commander of Heyang.

When Zhang Congbin rebelled from Heyang, Li Yanxun joined the rebels and participated in Zhang Congbin's rebellion. After Zhang Congbin's defeat, Li Yanxun fled to Weizhou and joined Fan Yanguang's rebellion. Fan Yanguang appointed him as the general commander of the infantry and arranged for him to command the defense of the city.

Yang Guangyuan found out that Li Yanxun was from Xingzhou and his old mother was still in Xingzhou, so he sent someone to invite the old lady from Xingzhou to the city of Weizhou and let her persuade her rebellious son to surrender.

However, Li Yanxun was "unfilial to his parents and stopped providing them with food in the village." He had long since stopped fulfilling his obligation to support them, and his friends and colleagues all despised him.

"Oh, I can't see clearly. Where did you get this old lady from? Are you trying to trick me?"

"You don't even recognize your own mother?"

"Closer, closer, yes, yes, a little closer... OK, right here!"

Li Yanxun suddenly drew his bow and shot his own mother to death. "Well, let's see what else you have to say."

The soldiers of both armies were all stunned. What a traitor! In broad daylight, before the battle between the two armies, he shot his own mother to death with his own hands...

Now, Shi Jingtang not only pardoned him, but also made him the mayor... The ministers were filled with righteous indignation, saying that the crime of matricide was unforgivable, and that if this beast was not killed, the government would not be able to recover, and the public anger would not be appeased!

(End of this chapter)