History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 643: Three Aids from Later Shu
Li Shouzhen strengthened his determination to fight to the end and waited quietly for a miracle to happen.

Zhao Siwan in Chang'an and Wang Jingchong in Fengxiang took advantage of the situation and secretly communicated with Hou Shu. Meng Chang of Hou Shu believed that this was another godsend opportunity, so he interfered in the internal affairs of Hou Han for the second time and sent a large army to the north through Dasan Pass to get involved in the Central Plains.

Zhao Hui, who was holding Fengxiang back, sent the military supervisor Li Yancong to lead his troops to fight. Hou Shu was at a disadvantage and retreated to Dasan Pass.

Trapped in Hezhong City is a whimsical man named Li Shouzhen, while trapped in Fengxiang City is a resentful woman named Wang Jingchong.

Wang Jingchong was from Xingzhou, Hebei Province. He was smart, eloquent, and good at observing people's words and expressions. In short, he was a good material for flattery and sycophancy.

When he was young, he tried his best to show off his talent in front of the most powerful person in Xingzhou, the Xingzhou Jiedushi. He was appreciated by the Jiedushi and was taken with him as a servant. This nobleman opened up Wang Jingchong's brilliant life, because the name of the Xingzhou Jiedushi was Li Siyuan.

After Li Siyuan became emperor, the capable Wang Jingchong was promoted to Tongshi Sheren and Gemen Shi, or simply Da Suicui. His main job was to represent the central government to convey the will to the local areas, and he was the imperial courier for the court. Another job was to serve as a military supervisor.

Obviously, Wang Jingchong was very trusted by Li Siyuan. Because although these two jobs were of low position and rank, they had to be completed by his trusted henchmen, and they had to be "his own people".

During the reign of Emperor Mingzong, "Jing Chong would be appointed as the military governor or military supervisor during military campaigns." With the emperor's trust, it was no problem for him to rise to prominence.

Wang Jingchong was full of joy, looking forward to a promotion. However, what awaited him was the changing political situation in the Later Tang Dynasty. After Li Siyuan's death, Li Conghou and Li Congke were like passing clouds. A new emperor has new ministers, and Wang Jingchong was forgotten by the times.

It was not until Shi Jingtang established the Later Jin Dynasty that he remembered Comrade Wang Jingchong, who was favored by the previous emperor, among the pile of old papers, and arranged a job of a general in the imperial guards for him - the General of the Left Jinwu Guard.

Wow - General! Haha, the title of a general of a certain guard is usually a title that often appears in the routine of "promotion in name but demotion in reality". It is a standard feature of military officers' retirement homes and a special seat for retirement and pension.

Wang Jingchong was unhappy and often lamented that his talent was not appreciated and that his talents were buried by incompetent rulers.

When the Khitan entered Bianzhou and the Later Jin Dynasty was destroyed, the depressed Wang Jingchong saw hope again. He bribed the Khitan general Gao Mouhan with a large sum of money to ask him to help speak a few good words for him in front of Xiao Han.

Before Xiao Han retreated, he hastily supported Li Congyi. Li Congyi's fake court was of course a puppet of Xiao Han, so he promoted Wang Jingchong according to Xiao Han's highest instructions and gave him the high positions of "Xuanhui Envoy" and "Supervisor of the Left Treasury". Anyway, it was a "fake" one, and the warehouse had long been emptied by the Khitans, so it didn't matter whether he was in charge or not.

When Liu Zhiyuan started an uprising in Taiyuan, Wang Jingchong very wisely chose to stand on Liu Zhiyuan's side. He took advantage of his power (in charge of the left treasury) to embezzle the national treasury and gave all the gold, silver and treasures to Liu Zhiyuan, helping Liu Zhiyuan solve his urgent problem.

Liu Zhiyuan was very grateful to Wang Jingchong for his wisdom and so he appointed him as the General of the Right Jinwu Guard...

Wang Jingchong was almost crying.

Liu Zhiyuan was not optimistic about Wang Jingchong's "talent". Although Wang Jingchong tried his best to show off, Liu Zhiyuan remained unmoved. From the time Liu Zhiyuan proclaimed himself emperor to his death, he only launched one large-scale war, which was the battle to pacify Du Chongwei in Weizhou. In this war, Wang Jingchong did not even have the opportunity to join the army, and could only watch others go to the front line to make achievements, get promoted and make money.

Wang Jingchong plucked up the courage to risk his life and once again recommended himself and took the initiative to go to the front line. He "drew strategies for attack and warfare for Emperor Gaozu (Liu Zhiyuan) and was very eloquent." His analysis was very logical and really impressed Liu Zhiyuan. As a result, "Emperor Gaozu was amazed by his talent" and finally began to value this talent. He thought about finding a suitable opportunity to formally give him a chance to gain experience and prove himself.

The opportunity soon came. Zhao Kuangzan of Chang'an and Hou Yili of Fengxiang colluded with foreign countries and colluded with Hou Shu to plot rebellion. They then expressed to the Later Han that they had to stop and requested to return to the Central Plains.

Therefore, the seriously ill Liu Zhiyuan sent Wang Jingchong to the west, on the pretext of helping the Uighurs to attack the Dangxiang and restore the tribute route, in order to intimidate the western border, and secretly promised him to "act at his own discretion".

Wang Jingchong finally reached the second peak of his life. He came to the western part of the empire, took over and pacified Chang'an, and decisively attacked, defeating the invading army of Hou Shu with a smaller force, thus safeguarding the country's unity and sovereignty.

With his great achievement of pacifying Guanxi, Wang Jingchong should be promoted and given more titles, and his destiny will usher in a turning point.

The turning point has come, and the direction is wrong.

After Liu Zhiyuan died, Liu Chengyou ascended the throne. Liu Chengyou believed Hou Yi's slander and became suspicious of Wang Jingchong.

Wang Jingchong had been scheming for most of his life and had experienced too many ups and downs. At this moment, he was extremely lost and hopeless, so he took a desperate risk and rebelled angrily. He followed in Hou Yi's footsteps, surrendered to Hou Shu and asked for help, rebelled against the central government, and became the person he hated the most.

Now, the reinforcements of Hou Shu were repelled again, and Wang Jingchong was surrounded in Fengxiang, with a bleak future. After thinking it over, Wang Jingchong was heartbroken. He blamed the heavens, the earth, and the society, but the one he hated the most was Hou Yi. If you hadn't colluded with foreign countries first and framed the loyal and good people later, how could I, Wang Jingchong, have fallen to this point?

Hou Yi, the former Fengxiang Jiedushi, went to Bianzhou to meet the emperor, and his family was still in Fengxiang. So Wang Jingchong ordered the massacre of Hou Yi's entire family. A total of 70 people in Hou Yi's family were killed.

Hou Yi's son Hou Renju happened to be on a business trip and luckily escaped the disaster. Hou Renju's son Hou Yanguang was still a breastfeeding baby at the time. His wet nurse Liu replaced Hou Yanguang with her own son and sent him to be executed. She then fled with Hou Yanguang in her arms, begging for food on the streets all the way until she reached Bianzhou and safely delivered Hou Yanguang to Hou Yi's home.

After executing his enemy's entire family, Wang Jingchong sent his son Wang Derang to Chengdu to meet Meng Chang, and stayed in Hou Shu as a hostage, requesting Hou Shu to send troops for assistance; Zhao Siwan in Chang'an also sent his son Zhao Huaiyi to Chengdu as a hostage, requesting Hou Shu to send troops.

Meng Chang of Later Shu sent An Siqian, the governor of Shannan West Road in Xingyuan Prefecture, to lead an army out of Dasan Pass to rescue Fengxiang.

Wu Zhaoyi, the prime minister of Later Shu, wrote a memorial to the emperor, saying that Li Cunxu of Later Tang was ambitious and sent troops to attack Shu. At that time, Wang Zongyan of Former Shu was hot-blooded and went north to Qinzhou to confront him. All the civil and military officials in the court thought it was not possible, but Wang Zongyan insisted on doing it. What was the final result? Both emperors lost their country and their lives. Isn't this a lesson for us?

(End of this chapter)