History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 627 Hell Mode Start 1
After Guo Congyi arrived in Bianzhou, he forced Concubine Wang De and Li Congyi to commit suicide.

Concubine Wang De cried, "My son was forced by the Khitans. What crime did he commit? Why can't we spare his life and serve him a bowl of wheat rice to offer sacrifices to his father's tomb every year during the Cold Food Festival?"

In the late Tang Dynasty, only poor common people would use wheat rice to worship their ancestors. Concubine Wang De was begging for mercy, so she used the standards of common people to express her misery.

Everyone who heard it was moved to tears.

But Guo Congyi was ordered to do this. If you don't want to be respectable, I can only help you be respectable.

Li Congyi died at the age of 17.

Li Congke was Li Siyuan's adopted son, and Shi Jingtang was Li Siyuan's son-in-law. Li Congyi posed a relatively small threat to them, but Liu Zhiyuan had nothing to do with Li Siyuan, and the political threat he posed to him was fatal. Therefore, Liu Zhiyuan could not tolerate Li Congyi and had to kill him as soon as possible.

As I said, politicians are not born emotional animals. They only pursue the maximization of political interests. They have no mercy and tolerance, only the weighing and game of interests and threats.

Clean the house before inviting guests. Guo Congyi helped Liu Zhiyuan clean up Bianzhou. Liu Zhiyuan left Luoyang on June 6 and headed towards the sacred Bianzhou.

Thanks to the outstanding performance of General Shi Hongzhao, Liu Zhiyuan was able to march forward calmly all the way. From Taiyuan to Luoyang, and then to Bianzhou, Liu Zhiyuan's main force had never engaged in a battle. Wherever they passed, they conquered the city without bloodshed and with the help of orders.

According to records, Shi Hongzhao was a man of few words and ruthless. He was taciturn, calm and strong. His troops had strict military discipline. During the attack on Luzhou, the conquest of Zezhou and the capture of Mengzhou, Shi Hongzhao issued an order: Anyone who dared to trample on farmland or tie a horse to a tree would be executed regardless of his official rank.

Needless to say, farmland was trampled, and Cao Cao even cut off his hair in exchange for his head. It was forbidden to tie horses to trees because horses would eat the bark, which would then kill the trees.

Even the ownerless wild trees on the roadside are cared for so much, not to mention those that harass the people.

For officers and soldiers who dared to violate military discipline, Shi Hongzhao's execution method was also very special: a big hammer to blow their heads off. The sensory stimulation was stronger than beheading.

The officers and soldiers were all trembling with fear, strictly enforced the discipline, and dared not cross the line. The combat effectiveness of the troops was thus enhanced, and in sharp contrast to the Khitan army that robbed men and women, raped and looted everywhere, the people all regarded Shi Hongzhao's troops as the people's soldiers and did their best to help them.

Shi Hongzhao led this army to overcome all difficulties and successively recovered strategic locations such as Luzhou and Zezhou, like a sharp knife, from Hedong to Henan. The places such as Jiangzhou in the west also heard of Shi Hongzhao's successive victories, and then they were afraid and did not dare to resist Liu Zhiyuan, and chose to surrender.

History is fair. Even though Liu Zhiyuan entered Bianzhou via the western route suggested by Guo Wei, Shi Hongzhao still deserves the credit for being the first to enter Bianzhou.

Liu Zhiyuan's troops were growing in number, as people kept coming to him along the way. There were outlaws who wanted to turn over a new leaf and seek amnesty, as well as frustrated politicians and scholars who were not appreciated for their talents. They all wanted to catch the last train of the times, turn their fortunes around in the tide of dynasty change, break through the shackles of class solidification, and achieve a leap in life. Among these people was a minor official named Wei Renpu.

Wei Renpu, a child from a poor family, lost his father at a young age. His mother worked hard to support him in his studies. When he was 13 years old, his mother borrowed a piece of coarse linen and sewed clothes for him overnight. The image of his mother's hunched body, calloused hands, and squinting eyes sewing clothes under the lamp deeply imprinted in Wei Renpu's heart. The 13-year-old boy burst into tears and sighed: "As a man, not only can I not support my mother, but I also let my mother work hard to make clothes for me. How can I feel at ease!" From then on, he studied hard and vowed to change his fate with knowledge.

When he was a little older, Wei Renpu bid farewell to his mother, and set out for Luoyang with only the money for the journey and his knowledge, intending to realize the value of his life with his talent and knowledge.

Wei Renpu lived in Weizhou, and to go to Luoyang, he had to cross the Yellow River. Wei Renpu stood at the bow, looking at the vast Yellow River, thinking about his mother who worked day and night, and his mind was full of thoughts. Suddenly, he took off his shirt, threw it into the river, and swore to the sky: "If I can't make a name for myself, I will never come back! (If I don't make it, I won't cross this river again)"

The ancients had a deep meaning for throwing away clothes, just like a soldier drinking a bowl of wine and then smashing the bowl before going into battle, or a general throwing his helmet to the ground. Throwing clothes, smashing bowls, and helmets all meant that if they could not fulfill their oaths, they would die, or would rather die than do something else.

After Wei Renpu arrived in Luoyang, he indeed showed amazing talent and was immediately admitted to the Privy Council and became a grassroots clerk in the Privy Council.

Although his position was low, Wei Renpu was diligent and conscientious, meticulous in his work, and had a good personality. He was the most handsome guy in the Privy Council, and his colleagues at the same level were far behind him. Standing out from the crowd, Wei Renpu had no other wishes but to be appreciated by his superiors, and then to be steadily promoted, to support his mother, and to bring honor to his family.

If it were a peaceful time, Wei Renpu would definitely follow this career plan and become a Phoenix man in the capital Luoyang. If he was lucky, he might be chosen by a high-ranking official like the prime minister and marry his daughter to him, or even become a son-in-law of the emperor...

But this was not a peaceful period, this was the early years of the Later Jin Dynasty.

Wei Renpu did not wait for promotion, but waited for the Khitans. The Khitans took control of Bianzhou, and took all the civil and military officials of the Later Jin Dynasty to the northern grasslands. Wei Renpu was among the troops heading north.

When Wei Renpu arrived at Zhenzhou with the army, Yelu Deguang died suddenly, so Wei Renpu took advantage of the chaos to escape and headed south. When he arrived in Weizhou, Du Chongwei, the governor of Weizhou, warmly invited him to stay. Du Chongwei had heard of Wei Renpu for a long time. Although he was born in a humble family and held a low position, he was knowledgeable, talented, motivated, loyal and honest. He was definitely a potential stock, so he proposed to promote him to be his staff.

Du Chongwei had long admired Wei Renpu, and Wei Renpu had of course long heard of Du Chongwei. If you are not of the same kind, don't take the same boat. Moreover, Du Chongwei was a sinking ship.

Wei Renpu took advantage of the situation and escaped overnight.

Du Chongwei hurriedly sent people to chase after him on horseback, but they failed to catch up.

Wei Renpu continued to move southward from Weizhou, crossed the Yellow River, and finally met Liu Zhiyuan's troops in Gongxian (now Gongxian, Henan Province). Guo Wei was responsible for receiving him and said, "Since you have escaped from the Khitans, you must know the strengths and weaknesses of the Khitans, right?"

(End of this chapter)