History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 626 A Dog's Journey Home 3
When Emperor Xizong returned to the throne, he appointed Wang Hui as the governor of Daming Palace and the governor of the capital, responsible for redecorating the Chang'an Imperial Palace and maintaining order in the capital.

When Emperor Xizong returned to Chang'an, Wang Hui was ostracized by the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi and was banished from the court. When Zhu Mei supported Li Yan, the "great-grandfather of Emperor Li's third uncle", to usurp the throne, he summoned Wang Hui and planned to make him the prime minister of Li Yan's fake court, but Wang Hui claimed to be ill and refused.

He died of illness in December of the first year of Dashun (891) and was posthumously awarded the title of Taiwei.

Wang Hui refused to serve as prime minister of the puppet regime twice and stuck to his bottom line. "Half-day prime minister" was both a mockery and a sigh of helplessness.

Now, his son Wang Song was forced to serve as the prime minister of a puppet regime—not just an ordinary puppet regime, but a double puppet regime that was even more fake than a puppet regime.

According to the rules, after civil and military officials saluted the "Emperor" to express their loyalty, they had to salute the "Empress Dowager" Wang Defei.

Concubine Wang De couldn't help crying, "We, mother and son, have been isolated and weak. We have witnessed so many ups and downs. We have survived through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Is it easy for us to survive to this day? But today you have supported us to this position. You are forcing us to death!"

Xiao Han left behind a thousand Youzhou soldiers to guard the city gates, ostensibly to protect Li Congyi, but in reality to control Li Congyi and prevent him from escaping.

Afterwards, Xiao Han took Liu Xi (who had escaped from Luoyang) to bid farewell to Li Congyi, and made a strategic shift with the gold, silver, treasures, beautiful concubines and other treasures he had looted.

Li Congyi sent people to Songzhou to summon Gao Xingzhou, the governor of Guide Army of Songzhou, and to Mengzhou to summon Wu Xingde, the governor of Heyang, but both of them ignored him.

This shows that Li Congyi's throne was not confirmed at all.

Concubine Wang De was terrified, so she summoned all the civil and military officials and said, "We, mother and son, were forced to this point by Xiao Han. You can testify to this. We deserve our punishment, but we don't want to implicate you. You should quickly welcome the new emperor (Liu Zhiyuan) and wish for your own good. Don't worry about our life or death."

Everyone was deeply moved by the words of the "Queen Mother" and immediately expressed their willingness to swear allegiance until death. Someone suggested that the total military strength in Bianzhou should now be 5,000 people, and as long as they closed the city and held out for a month, they would surely receive reinforcements from the Khitan.

Concubine Wang De quickly waved her hands, "We are just the remains of a fallen country, how dare we fight with others for the world? At this point, life and death are entirely up to others. If the new emperor sees through the inside story, he will know that we are innocent. If we resist now, we will be guilty. Besides, if we really fight, Bianzhou City will be scorched earth, which will kill more innocent people. It's a sin!"

Therefore, at the suggestion of "Prime Minister" Zhao Yuan, Li Congyi took the initiative to give up the title of emperor and changed his title to King of Liang, temporarily taking charge of military and national affairs. The mother and son moved out of the palace and sent someone to deliver a letter to Liu Zhiyuan, declaring themselves as a vassal and expressing their welcome to His Majesty to take over Bianzhou as soon as possible and preside over state affairs.

Let’s talk about Xiao Han first.

After Xiao Han arrived in Zhenzhou, he and Yelu Malu, the governor of Zhenzhou, led troops to surround the residence of Prime Minister Zhang Li. Zhang Li was sick in bed at the time, but was still forced to go out to welcome guests.

As soon as they met, before they exchanged pleasantries, Xiao Han raised his whip, pointed at Zhang Li's nose, and loudly rebuked him: "Why did you tell the late emperor (Yelu Deguang) that Khitans could not be Jiedushi? I am a Jiedushi and the emperor's uncle, who the hell do you think you are, giving me orders in the Secretariat? The late emperor left me in Bianzhou and I moved into the palace, and the late emperor agreed, but you jumped out and firmly opposed it! You also often slandered us in front of the late emperor, saying that Yelu Ma'ao was greedy and liked to rob people's property, and that I was lustful and liked to rob women! Are you tired of living? I must kill you today!"

He then ordered that Zhang Li's arms be locked with iron chains.

Zhang Li loudly retorted: "Yes, I did say those words. But this is a matter of state. I am doing this for the country of Liao. This is a public matter, not a personal grudge. If you want to kill me, just kill me. Why lock me up? Come on, do it!" Instead, Yelu Malu, who usually kills people like crazy, mediated and spoke for Zhang Li, saying that Zhang Li was highly respected and should not be killed casually. As mentioned in the previous article, Zhang Li was to Yelu Deguang like Han Yanhui was to Yelu Abaoji, and he was quite famous in the Khitan.

After Yelu Ma's strenuous persuasion, Xiao Han finally gave up and released Zhang Li.

Comrade Zhang Li died of grief and anger that night.

Cui Tingxun, the former governor of Heyang who had fled to Zhenzhou, came to see Yelu Malu, approached him quickly, knelt down and kowtowed, stood up and knelt again, holding the wine glass in both hands, and toasted Yelu Malu. Yelu Malu accepted it calmly.

Through a series of small events such as Zhao Zaili's meeting with Zhela, Cui Tingxun's meeting with Yelu Malu, and Xiao Han's scolding of Zhang Li, it is not difficult to see the true situation of the traitors. Any nation despises traitors, and the Khitan people despise traitors who kowtow to them from the bottom of their hearts. Even a so-called "highly respected" person like Zhang Li, who was appointed as prime minister and privy councilor, was still a dog wagging its tail and begging for mercy in the eyes of the Khitan people.

When they are useful, they are given nothing but empty promises, but when they lose their value, they are discarded like old shoes. They are either abandoned when the army retreats, or used as scapegoats and scapegoats, and their lives become their last useful value.

Xiao Han then followed Yelu Ruan back north and participated in the "Crossing Agreement" to avenge his mother's murder.

Let’s talk about Liu Zhiyuan.

Liu Zhiyuan persuaded Li Conglang of Jiangzhou to surrender, and then arrived in Shanzhou. Zhao Hui, the governor of Shanzhou Baoyi Army, went out of the city to greet him, and personally led Liu Zhiyuan's horse and whipped him, guiding him into the city.

The next day, Liu Zhiyuan arrived at Shihao Village, which is the place mentioned in Du Fu's "Shihao Li". When Liu Zhiyuan arrived here, he met the people sent by Bianzhou to welcome him, and told them the reasons and consequences of Xiao Han supporting Li Congyi and Li Congyi "giving up his throne" to Liu Zhiyuan.

A few days later, Liu Zhiyuan arrived in Luoyang, and civil and military officials from Bianzhou came to present memorials and welcome the emperor.

Liu Zhiyuan issued an edict to comfort the people, saying that all officials who accepted the Khitan's appointment could rest assured that the new regime would not retaliate, and everyone should not panic.

Afterwards, Liu Zhiyuan sent Zhengzhou Defense Envoy Guo Congyi to go to Bianzhou to clean the palace first.

Before leaving, Liu Zhiyuan patted Guo Congyi's shoulder meaningfully and said, "Make sure to clean it up. Clean it up. Do you understand?"

Guo Congyi was quick-witted and immediately understood his leader's good intentions. "Your Majesty means..." He pressed his palm downward to indicate "child".

Liu Zhiyuan nodded with satisfaction, "Definitely, clean it up!"

(End of this chapter)