History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 545: Er An's Rebellion 5
It was not until then that An Congjin suddenly realized that Gao Conghui had been setting a trap for him from the beginning! This Gao Laizi was too cunning. If yellow mud falls into the crotch, it is shit if not shit.

An Congjin hurriedly wrote a memorial to defend himself, accusing Gao Conghui of being hypocritical and reminding Shi Jingtang not to be fooled by his cute appearance. He was the hidden villain and he was just a small character being used by him.

Gao Conghui submitted another memorial. The enemy's bite was deep-rooted! It was because I refused to join the enemy in the rebellion that the enemy slandered me. Your Majesty, please understand! In addition, I, Jingnan, am willing to send troops to help the court suppress the rebellion to prove my innocence.

Gao Conghui really sent troops this time because he had other plans. Without using our brains, we know that Gao Jichang and Gao Conghui, father and son, have the same nature and will not do anything without profit. As for what purpose, we will explain it in detail later.

Wang Baoyi, the counselor who gave Gao Conghui this idea, was despised by his colleagues, who believed that he had no moral integrity and was talented but immoral. However, in troubled times, the warlords fighting for hegemony did not need moral role models.

Wang Baoyi's sons Wang Zhenfan, Wang Huifan and Wang Yanfan all served in Jingnan. Among them, Wang Huifan married Gao Conghui's daughter, and Wang Yanfan served as Guangnan Transport Commissioner in the Northern Song Dynasty.

It was also through the interference of Gao Conghui in Jingnan that "An Congjin also wants to rebel" quickly topped the list of hot searches in the Later Jin Dynasty, stealing the limelight from An Zhongrong. This led to the above node, where An Zhongrong secretly contacted An Congjin to discuss the rebellion strategy of attacking Shi Jingtang from both the north and the south.

Who is An Congjin, and what confidence does he have to support his ambition?
An Congjin was from the Suoge tribe, which originated from the Nine Surnames Hu region in Central Asia. He had deep roots with the Sogdians. The Suoge tribe, Shatuo and Anqing were collectively known as the "Three Shatuo Tribes". His father and grandfather were both cavalry generals of the Shatuo tribe, serving in the Zhuxie tribe, and An Congjin followed Li Cunxu.

After Li Siyuan proclaimed himself emperor, An Congjin, who had never had any military merit, was promoted to Jiedushi because the weak Li Siyuan wanted to establish a united front and cultivate his own party members out of political needs.

Later, An Congjin was ordered to suppress Li Yichao of Xiazhou, but he returned without success, forcing Li Siyuan to recognize the high degree of autonomy of the Dangxiang people in Xiazhou. This was the first time that An Congjin commanded an operation independently.

When Li Congke started his rebellion in Fengxiang, An Congjin was serving in the Central Imperial Army and was appointed by Li Conghou as the city defense commander to organize the defense of Luoyang. However, he changed his mind and killed the Privy Councilor Feng Yun and surrendered to Li Congke. When Li Congke entered Luoyang, An Congjin led the civil and military officials to kneel and greet him in the suburbs.

Li Congke then appointed him as the governor of Shannan East Road in Xiangzhou as a reward.

After Shi Jingtang ascended the throne, he gave him the title of prime minister as a sign of winning over.

That's it. This is the resume of An Congjin's first half of his life. Although he was a vassal and sat in an important city of the empire, he almost never led troops in battle. The only record was the defeat of Xiazhou.

When Fan Yanguang was plotting a rebellion, An Congjin had the idea of ​​learning from his predecessor. Taking advantage of the strategic location, he recruited soldiers and horses, expanded his military strength, and secretly colluded with An Zhongrong, working together as a front and back. Not only did he intercept the tribute from the south, he also forcibly detained passing merchants, tattooed their faces, and sent them into exile.

His son An Hongchao was serving in the capital, and as a hostage, he petitioned to return home. In order to appease and comfort him, Shi Jingtang released An Hongchao and only asked An Congjin to repay his kindness and not cause trouble.

Like An Zhongrong, An Congjin regarded Shi Jingtang's compromise and concession as weakness and incompetence, and not only did he not restrain himself, but he even intensified his behavior.

An Congjin had two close confidants, Wang Lingqian and Pan Zhilin, who had followed An Congjin the longest and were loyal to him. They tried hard to persuade him to give up the idea of ​​rebellion. An Congjin asked his son An Hongchao to go on an outing with Wang Lingqian, took the opportunity to get Wang Lingqian drunk, and then pushed him off a cliff to his death.

After hearing that Shi Jingtang had fled north to Weizhou, An Congjin killed Pan Zhilin and officially declared rebellion. Facing the danger of being attacked from both north and south, Shi Jingtang had a clear understanding. He tried his best to appease and persuade, but he would not have any illusions about the enemy. While compromising and giving in, Shi Jingtang also made corresponding deployments and was ready to suppress the rebellion by force.

Previously, using the "division of Wei Bo" as an introduction, a "great shift of the universe" was promoted, which temporarily eliminated the hidden danger of Yang Guangyuan in Wei Bo and weakened the power of An Zhongrong in Zhenzhou. This was only a preliminary layout.

The subsequent visit to Weizhou can be seen as an upgraded version of the ultimate deployment, which is very targeted:

1. The Weizhou garrison commander and the Taiyuan garrison commander were swapped.

Liu Zhiyuan, the governor of Weizhou, was appointed as the governor of Taiyuan and concurrently the governor of Hedong. Liaozhou and Qinzhou were separated from Zhaoyi Army of Luzhou and placed under the jurisdiction of Hedong. Li Dezhen, the governor of Taiyuan, was appointed as the governor of Weizhou.

The Hedong region is of great significance and must be commanded by a capable and trustworthy comrade. Therefore, Shi Jingtang placed the "powerful" Liu Zhiyuan there, and let his brother-in-law and gigolo Du Chongwei follow him, escort him in the camp, go to the Zhenzhou battlefield to gain experience and qualifications, and lead the team.

When Liu Zhiyuan was young, he was poor and married into a family surnamed Li in Taiyuan as a son-in-law. One day, Liu Zhiyuan went to the suburbs to herd horses. The horses got scared and trampled on the temple's farmland. The monks rushed over, caught him, and presented him to the abbot. The old monk had a kind face, clasped his hands together, and chanted the Buddha's name loudly, "Amitabha, what a good thing, beat me to death!"

A group of monks beat Liu Zhiyuan half to death.

"Amitabha, sin, sin, sin."

Now, Liu Zhiyuan returned to Taiyuan as the highest military and political chief in Hedong region. According to historical records, the first thing Liu Zhiyuan did after arriving in Taiyuan was to summon the old abbot.

The old monk was so frightened that his face turned pale. He felt deep regret for his heroic act of convincing people with reason. He thought that he would definitely die on the spot today.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zhiyuan ordered his men to give him a seat, and then presented him with valuable gifts, and consoled him with kind words, trying to reassure him that he would let bygones be bygones and that the past would be written off.

The story of Liu Zhiyuan repaying evil with kindness was spread by the old monk, and the people of Hedong were overjoyed. The word spread on the streets that a generous and benevolent general had come to Taiyuan Prefecture!

After quickly stabilizing the people's hearts, Liu Zhiyuan sent someone to contact Bai Chengfu, the chief of the Tuyuhun tribe entrenched in the north. The person he sent was called Guo Wei.

Bai Chengfu was seduced by An Zhongrong and rebelled against Khitan, and colluded with An Zhongrong.

In fact, Bai Chengfu's Tuyuhun tribe was very weak, with only a thousand tents in total, and its military and economic strength were negligible. However, his political value was indeed enormous, which is what An Zhongrong mentioned repeatedly in his memorials and proclamations, saying that the Tuyuhun, Tatar, Qibi and other tribes could not bear the oppression of the Khitan and requested to return to the Central Plains, which created a beautiful picture of "the will of heaven and the expectation of the people" for An Zhongrong, exerting huge public pressure on Shi Jingtang's Later Jin regime.

(End of this chapter)