History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 544: Er An's Rebellion 4
Prime Ministers Feng Dao and Li Song catered to Shi Jingtang's wishes and repeatedly recommended Du Chongwei.

Du Chongwei was a man of little talent and bad conduct, so the common people avoided him like a plague. His staff had advised him to be more restrained, otherwise the people would flee. Once, Du Chongwei passed by a street market and said to his followers, "Everyone says that I forced the people to leave their homes, but look for yourself, there are still so many people on the street!"

His so-called qualifications or merits were basically gained by lying down and gaining experience, and being led by masters: he followed Hou Yi to attack Zhang Congbin; he followed Shi Jingtang to subdue Fan Yanguang.

However, he was able to be promoted repeatedly, becoming a general and a prime minister, and his rank was close to that of Liu Zhiyuan. The reason was simple: he was Shi Jingtang's brother-in-law and one of Shi Jingtang's few "trustworthy" comrades.

Liu Zhiyuan despised this gigolo who relied on nepotism to rise to power. In March of the fourth year of Tianfu (939), Shi Jingtang gave the title of prime minister to both Liu Zhiyuan and Du Chongwei. Their names appeared in the same imperial edict, and Liu Zhiyuan almost refused the edict.

In the story of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei appointed Guan, Zhang, Zhao, Ma and Huang as the "Five Tiger Generals", with Guan Yu as the leader and Huang Zhong as the last. Guan Yu was quite dissatisfied with this, thinking that he and his third brother Zhang Fei were heroes who had served as the emperor, had made great contributions and had the sworn brotherhood in Peach Garden, so it was only natural that they should be among the Five Tigers; Zhao Yun had followed Liu Bei for many years, so he was also qualified; Ma Chao was from a famous family, so he was also qualified... But towards Huang Zhong, Guan Yu made his attitude clear: either he or I, or me or him!

Huang Zhong was a general who surrendered to Liu Bei after the Battle of Chibi, and before that he was only a general, so Guan Yu called him an "old soldier". In ancient times, the term "old soldier" was slightly derogatory and could only be used to be modest. If used on others, it would be a naked personal attack.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Liu Zhiyuan was angry because he was listed on the same level as Du Chongwei. He refused to accept the imperial edict, closed his door and did not see guests. He submitted four memorials in a row to express his rejection of the appointment, which was exactly the same as Guan Yu's "Either he or I, or I or he."

Shi Jingtang was furious and said, "It's up to you if you want it or not! So he decided to remove Liu Zhiyuan's military power, let him retire, and go home to enjoy his old age.

The counselor Zhao Ying cried out that it was impossible, and kowtowed to plead, saying that Your Majesty was trapped in Taiyuan with more than 100,000 people, and had only 5,000 soldiers. If it were not for Liu Zhiyuan's resolute will to fight, how could there be a country today? If he was deprived of his military power because of such a small matter, everyone in the world would be chilled.

Shi Jingtang calmed down his anger and sent He Ning, a scholar from the Duanming Palace, to do ideological work on Liu Zhiyuan, and only then did Liu Zhiyuan accept it.

Now (the sixth year of Tianfu, 941) Du Chongwei had replaced Liu Zhiyuan's power over the imperial guards, which made Liu Zhiyuan furious, and he transferred his anger to Feng Dao and Li Song.

In mid-August, Shi Jingtang arrived in Weizhou as scheduled. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Shi Jingtang issued an edict of amnesty for the whole country. He also issued an edict to comfort An Zhongrong, urging him to turn back from his wrong path and not to go further and further down the wrong path.

Seeing Shi Jingtang's humble attitude in seeking peace, An Zhongrong thought that Shi Jingtang was weak and could be bullied, so he stepped up his rebellion. This edict had a counter-effect.

This patriotic young man, who seemed indignant and ready to fight the Khitans to the death, secretly contacted the Khitans through Youzhou in order to gain their support and overthrow Shi Jingtang's regime.

The Khitans also understood that An Zhongrong's conspiracy was nominally against Liao but actually against Jin, and they also planned to gain benefits from this turmoil, so they chose to sit back and watch.

"Although Chongrong spoke in the name of Khitan, he secretly sent people to ally with Liu Xi, the governor of Youzhou." - "New History of the Five Dynasties"

"Zhongrong became more and more unbridled and unrepentant. Despite this memorial, he also secretly sent someone to form an alliance with Liu Xi, the Khitan commander of Youzhou." - "Old History of the Five Dynasties" This is the ugly face of the "patriotic youth" An Zhongrong.

In addition to secretly communicating with the Khitans, An Zhongrong also actively contacted the rebels in the Later Jin Dynasty - An Congjin, the governor of Shannan East Road in Xiangzhou. Although they were thousands of miles away, An Zhongrong still keenly smelled the familiar smell emanating from An Congjin.

The jurisdiction of Xiangzhou Shannan East Road is located in the north of Jingnan. It is the throat of the central government connecting Jingnan, Hunan and other southern vassal states. As the saying goes, those who are close to Zhu are red, and those who are close to Gao are dependent on him. An Congjin actually did the old business of the Gao family in Jingnan - robbing tribute. An Congjin intercepted the tribute that Ma Xifan of Southern Chu paid to the Later Jin Dynasty, and privately made weapons and armor, recruited soldiers and horses, and expanded his strength.

When his staff tried to persuade him to change his mind, he beheaded them. As for rebellion, An Congjin was determined to do it.

In March of the fifth year of Tianfu (940), Shi Jingtang planned to move An Congjin to Qingzhou by taking advantage of the nationwide relocation movement. He sent people to test An Congjin's attitude, but received a very firm rejection.

In April of the sixth year of Tianfu (941), An Congjin sent envoys to visit Hou Shu and requested Hou Shu to send troops to attack Jinzhou and Shangzhou under the control of Hou Jin, forming a pincer attack with Xiangzhou.

Meng Chang (Meng Renzan) of the Later Shu summoned his ministers to discuss the matter. They all agreed that the two states of Jin and Shang were far away and had dangerous terrain, so logistical supply was a problem. For the Later Shu, the two states of Jin and Shang were too useless. It would cost a lot to conquer them, and they could not bring benefits to the Later Shu. Instead, they increased political and diplomatic costs out of thin air. Why should the people of Shu help the rebel An Congjin to get chestnuts out of the fire?

Therefore, Hou Shu politely declined An Congjin's invitation.

An Congjin turned to Gao Conghui in Jingnan for help.

As early as last year, An Congjin had contacted Gao Conghui in Jingnan, who had agreed to support him in his rebellion against the Later Jin central government.

Gao Conghui had been a professional traitor for thirty years. At that time, he and An Congjin played a double act tacitly, saying no on the surface, but being honest with his body (rejecting on the outside but actually agreeing with him). In this way, he could play to both Shi Jingtang and An Congjin, and both sides regarded Gao Conghui as their own.

Now, An Congjin wanted to move the rebellion from the PPT into reality, and came to ask Gao Conghui to fulfill the previous secret agreement and send troops to help.

Gao Conghui was sure that An Congjin would not succeed, so he put on a stern face and asked, "What secret agreement? Haven't I always rejected your solicitation?" He seriously analyzed the pros and cons for him and advised him not to be stubborn and stubborn. Wouldn't it be better for him to be a loyal minister like me?
Gao Conghui's adviser Wang Baoyi even suggested that Gao Conghui quickly betray An Congjin to the central government of the Later Jin Dynasty to prove his innocence and avoid bringing trouble to himself.

Xiangzhou Shannan East Road is closely adjacent to Jingnan. If the imperial army comes to quell the rebellion, it is very likely that Jingnan, which is in collusion with the rebels, will be wiped out, so Jingnan must prove its innocence.

Therefore, Gao Conghui reported An Congjin's rebellion to the Central Committee of the Later Jin Dynasty "truthfully", and attached the recent correspondence between him and An Congjin as irrefutable evidence. As mentioned above, in these correspondences, Gao Conghui's public attitude has always been to express his rejection and opposition to An Congjin's rebellion.

(End of this chapter)