History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 61 Huainan Gao Pian
Perhaps Lu Xie was not in favor of the marriage from the bottom of his heart. But there was nothing he could do, as this was the mess left by Gao Pian. And Gao Pian was one of Lu Xie's two legs (relying on Tian Lingzi internally and entrusting military affairs to Pian externally), so he had to support Gao Pian unconditionally. Supporting Gao Pian was supporting himself.

From this perspective, Lu Xie was kidnapped by Gao Pian, with their interests interlocked and their destiny shared. But Gao Pian was far away in Huainan, while Lu Xie was in the court, so before Huang Chao invaded Chang'an, Lu Xie committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

Because Lu Xie was with Tian Lingzi, the court finally agreed to the marriage with Nanzhao. A girl from the royal family was chosen and named "Princess Anhua" to marry Long Shun, the ruler of Nanzhao.

Therefore, an engagement delegation was sent, with Xu Yunqian as the deputy head. The delegation arrived in Nanzhao with gifts and greetings from Emperor Xizong.

Long Shun warmly entertained the envoys from his mother's family, and then asked the envoys to bring generous gifts and his sincere greetings to the Tang Empire.

Later, Longshun sent a highest-level group of groomsmen, led by his prime minister, to the Heavenly Palace to welcome Princess Anhua to marry.

At this time, Gao Pian, who was in Huainan, suddenly reported to the court, saying that he had been dealing with Nanzhao for many years and knew Nanzhao's strengths and weaknesses very well. The three people who came to welcome the bride - Zhao Longmei, Yang Qihun, and Duan Yizong - were the most important think tanks of the Nanzhao king. As long as the three of them were killed, Nanzhao would be dead! The opportunity cannot be missed, and we must not let the tiger go back to the mountain.

Emperor Xizong of Tang readily accepted Gao Pian's proposal and wiped out the "strongest group of best men in history".

Gao Pian was right. According to historical records, after these people were killed, Nanzhao "lost all its counselors and the barbarians became weaker."

This should be regarded as the most serious marriage fraud in history, which accelerated the demise of Nanzhao.

Long Shun was obsessed with sex, or rather, he was infatuated with the friendship between the two countries. He was still obsessed with Princess Anhua and continued to send envoys with generous gifts to welcome her. The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty promised, Your Majesty, you are a great country, your words are golden, and your words are as good as gold.

Emperor Xizong accepted all the generous gifts and was preparing carriages, horses and costumes for the marriage.

So how's the preparation going?

Ha ha.

Long Shun was really very silly and naive, but he still didn't give up. He kept sending envoys and presenting generous betrothal gifts, hoping that the princess would marry him soon.

Xizong could not bear the condemnation of his conscience, so he had to send Xu Yunqian and others to form an engagement delegation to Nanzhao to discuss the marriage.

Before they set out, the Huang Chao Rebellion was put down.

Now that the internal strife has been quelled, we are no longer afraid of external threats from Nanzhao. Let’s go - send back the Nanzhao wedding party.

The infatuated man Long Shun never got to see Princess Anhua until his death and died in depression.

After Longshun died, his son Shunhuazhen ascended the throne. Shunhuazhen continued to send envoys to the Tang Dynasty to show goodwill, but the Tang emperor simply ignored them and "did not reply". After that, the Central Plains was in chaos, and diplomatic exchanges with Nanzhao were officially severed.

Within a few years, Nanzhao and the Tang Dynasty perished one after another, and "Princess Anhua" became an eternal pain in the hearts of the Nanzhao people.

【Huainan Gao Pian】

When the battle in Chang'an was at a stalemate and the situation was unclear, Emperor Xizong of Tang placed his hopes on Gao Pian.

Gao Pian was quite critical of the imperial court because the prime ministers in the court used him as a pawn in the political struggle. They ignored Gao Pian's subjective feelings and damaged his own interests. Moreover, Lu Xie, the only person who supported him, had committed suicide by taking poison. The rest of the civil and military officials in the court could basically be regarded as Gao Pian's political enemies.

The court had previously rejected his plan to encircle and suppress Huang Chao, which completely angered him. In a rage, Gao Pian lost his mind and wanted to kill someone with a borrowed knife, deliberately letting the enemy go and using Huang Chao to intimidate the central government. So he took a passive attitude of keeping his troops in Huainan and watched Huang Chao cross the Huai River to the north.

His plan was to let Huang Chao severely scare the imperial court and force it to give up more power, and then when the imperial court was on the verge of death, he would come to the rescue, become the savior of the Tang Dynasty, and then take over greater power.

Therefore, Zheng Ting pointed out incisively that Gao Pian was "delaying and playing with the enemy" and harboring evil intentions.

Unexpectedly, the situation went wrong. The king's army was useless, the emperor fled, and Huang Chao proclaimed himself emperor in Chang'an.

The situation got out of control in an instant, and Gao Pian was both surprised and terrified.

Imperial edicts from Emperor Xizong came in like snowflakes, continuously promoting Gao Pian and urging him to send troops to defend the king.

At this time, Gao Pian had adjusted his strategic thinking in time, from nurturing the enemy to separatist hegemony. He planned to annex the Liangzhe area and emulate Sun Ce of the Three Kingdoms to dominate the Eastern Wu.

He was stationed in Huainan, and his target of annexation was the neighboring vassal state - Zhenhai Army.

One day in May of the second year of Zhonghe (882), a pheasant landed on the eaves of Gao Pian's headquarters office. Like many leaders who pursue fame and fortune, Gao Pian was very superstitious. He believed in yin and yang, feng shui, Taoism, reincarnation, etc. He asked an expert to give him some advice.

Gao Pian kept a great man named Lu Yongzhi by his side. Lu Yongzhi was eloquent and good at making false statements, and Gao Pian revered him as a living god.

Lu Yongzhi calculated with his fingers and said that when a pheasant entered the room, the military headquarters would be empty.

Gao Pian was very upset after hearing this. The military office will be empty? Doesn't that mean I'm done? How unlucky!

So I'm asking for a way to resolve this.

Lu Yongzhi smiled and said, "How difficult is this?"

So under the guidance of Lu Yongzhi, Gao Pian assembled all his troops and stationed them in Dongtang. He also conducted military parades and exercises in the camp, making an appearance of mobilizing all his troops to march north to support the king, and announced to the outside world that he was going to Chang'an and Beijing to support the king.

At the same time, Gao Pian also wrote a letter to Zhou Bao, the governor of Zhenhai, asking him to send troops to attack Huang Chao and liberate Chang'an together.

Zhou Bao was also a descendant of a military family, but not as prominent as Gao Pian. Zhou Bao and Gao Pian served in the Shen Ce Army together in their early years. At that time, the two were colleagues of the same rank. Zhou Bao was older than Gao Pian, so Gao Pian treated him as his elder brother. A good buddy, a good colleague, and a good comrade-in-arms.

Gao Pian promoted Zhou Bao's son, and Zhou Bao promoted Gao Pian's nephew. They looked after each other.

Now, the two have become neighbors again, one is stationed in Huainan and the other in western Zhejiang.

It's just that Gao Pian had made many military achievements and was constantly promoted to higher positions, and his status and position slightly surpassed Zhou Bao. In daily entertaining and seeing off guests, Gao Pian was inevitably a bit bureaucratic, and the relationship between the two brothers gradually became estranged.

Because their jurisdictions were adjacent, there were many frictions in official matters, which led to a growing rift between the two brothers.

After receiving Gao Pian's invitation to join the army, Zhou Bao was still full of joy. Although there were minor conflicts between the two brothers, they should still put aside their differences and work together for national justice and national affairs.

Therefore, Zhou Bao actively dispatched troops and assembled warships to prepare to support the capital.

At this time, Zhou Bao's staff warned him that Gao Pian had no intention of serving the king, and his intention to play with the invaders was known to everyone. It was also heard that Gao Pian had ambitions to annex Jiangdong. On the surface, he was going to help the capital, but there was no guarantee that he was not planning to attack our Zhenhai Army. The Marshal must not take it lightly!

Zhou Bao was shocked, but then he thought, Gao Pian came from a famous family and treated me like a brother, so he shouldn't do such a thing at this time, right?
"Don't have the intention to harm others, but be on guard against others!"

Zhou Bao is a gentleman, and it is difficult for him to have a villain's heart. This is too alarmist, but it is better to send someone to find out the news first.

The spy sneaked into Huainan and found that Gao Pian really had no intention of facing the danger.

It is easy to tell whether a country really wants to fight or is just bluffing. Simply put, it depends on its war mobilization.

Gao Pian did mobilize all the troops in the country, bows were strung, swords were drawn, helmets and armor were thrown, and the momentum was deafening. It can fool the laymen, but not the experts.

As the saying goes, food and fodder must be sent before troops move out. Gao Pian mobilized thousands of troops but did not prepare carriages, food and fodder, nor did he allocate baggage. It did not seem like he was going on a long journey.

Secondly, if they really wanted to go to the rescue, they should have left behind a certain amount of armed forces to suppress the situation on the ground. Otherwise, there would be a military vacuum in Huainan, wouldn't that give bandits an opportunity to take advantage?

Don't use a dog paddle in front of pirates.

Zhou Bao was quite surprised when he heard the news, "Could it be that my dear brother really wants to take advantage of me?"

At this time, Gao Pian sent another invitation letter in time, inviting Zhou Bao to a banquet, ostensibly to hold a high-level military meeting to discuss the detailed deployment of the rescue mission to the capital.

"Sure enough, he has bad intentions!" The baby was sad and angry.

Zhou Bao wrote back to Gao Pian, saying that he was ill and could not attend the military meeting. He also said in the letter: "We don't usually interact with each other, and you haven't invited me to dinner. What's more, what kind of heartless minister would want to hold a banquet at this time when the holy ruler is in disgrace and the ancestral temple is insulted? Besides, I am not Li Kang. I will not use my own head as a stepping stone to deceive the court. Your family tradition is not working anymore. Don't learn from your grandfather, grandson!"

Thanks to the book friend "151023051918540" for the recommendation vote

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(End of this chapter)