History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 656 Shi Hongzhao VS Su Fengji
Although the civil official representative Su Fengji and the military general representative Shi Hongzhao were enemies, they still had a common language in the face of common interests, and they cooperated with each other tacitly. As for the means of making money, they also showed their magical powers.

In addition to working together to rob the wives, daughters and property of wealthy families, Su Fengji, Shi Hongzhao and others also accepted bribes from all sides, taking money and helping others to get rid of disasters. For example, Hou Yi and Wang Rao mentioned above all bribed those "in power".

It was also under the tacit understanding of the civil and military generals that the rich families all acted like grandsons and their slaves became masters.

It was under this almost inhumane iron-fisted control that, despite natural disasters and rebellions in various places, the imperial capital, the city of Bianzhou, where the emperor lived, managed to keep doors open at night and people did not pick up things on the streets. The city was in order and no one dared to fart.

Therefore, after suppressing the rebellions in the three towns, Guo Wei specifically mentioned Shi Hongzhao's great achievements in pacifying the rear and maintaining order in the capital.

Shi Hongzhao's cruelty was not limited to Bianzhou. In addition to serving in the central government, he was also the governor of Songzhou Guide Army. Therefore, his greedy and cruel claws extended from the central government to the local areas. There are also two typical cases:
"Suck the marrow out of Songzhou"

He sent his trusted aides to collect taxes, but they were all ruthless and greedy, extorting 10,000 strings of cash every month and giving them to Shi Hongzhao, which made the people of Songzhou hate Shi Hongzhao to the core.

"Overstepping one's authority and killing Yingzhou"

At that time, salt, iron, and wine were monopolized by the government, and the profits belonged to the central government (three departments). However, strictly speaking, we cannot summarize it as "salt and iron monopoly" because in many cases, the government would take appropriate measures and assess the situation to lift the ban on salt and wine, allowing private enterprises to operate, and the original profits would be distributed to households. However, whether it was a government monopoly or a tax distribution, the profits theoretically belonged to the central government.

There was a wine koji factory in Yingzhou. A commercial dispute occurred. Yingzhou general He Zheng and the director of the wine koji factory, Qu Wen, fought for the control of the wine koji factory. The dispute could not be resolved, so they filed a lawsuit with the central government and asked the three courts to make a ruling. The three courts of course supported Qu Wen and said that the wine koji factory should be directly under the central government and the local government should not interfere.

He Zheng then found Shi Hongzhao and asked him to come forward.

Shi Hongzhao made unreasonable arguments and said that Yingzhou was his subordinate state (Guide Army), and that you have to listen to me here in my territory. Yingzhou is under my jurisdiction, and everything in Yingzhou is under my jurisdiction!
It was obviously unreasonable, but the staff of the IRS had no way to deal with it.

Shi Hongzhao not only occupied the Jiuqu field, but also killed Qu Wen, arguing that he had "jumped the chain": You dared to bypass me and go directly to the central government to sue me in my territory, ignoring my existence? Not only did he kill Qu Wen, he also killed dozens of staff members related to the case in one go.

Arrogant and unreasonable.

1.2 Grudges with the Civil Service Group

1.2.1 Taking advantage of the situation
Shi Hongzhao despised civil officials and often publicly stated: "Literati are the worst. They always look down on us military officers and call us 'soldiers'. It's really hateful!"

"Zu" means soldiers or warriors, such as "bingzu", "shizu" and "yongzu", but it also means death, such as the date of birth and death. Civil officials deliberately used the word "zu" with a double meaning to refer to military generals. Shi Hongzhao and others were scolded, but they had no way to express their bitterness and suffered in silence.

However, the relationship between Su Fengji, the representative of the civil officials, and Shi Hongzhao, the representative of the military generals, was somewhat subtle. The two were both in opposition and in cooperation. However, in this cooperation, Su Fengji basically used Shi Hongzhao to make him a pawn and a scapegoat. Shi Hongzhao was short-sighted and was often driven by Su Fengji for the sake of the immediate petty gains. For example, in the case mentioned above where Su Fengji framed Li Song, it was Shi Hongzhao's "Guard Division" that was responsible for interrogating Li Song. The petty gain that took the blame was Li Song's youngest daughter.

For example, a group of scholars who were taking the imperial examinations were dissatisfied with the corruption of the court, so they gathered in front of the examination hall and shouted loudly, petitioning for the people. This was the Later Han version of "Petitioning on a Public Bus". Su Fengji arrested them all, sent them to the Imperial Guards, and instigated Shi Hongzhao to beat them up and tattoo them on their faces. Of course, you can kill them directly if you want.

Shi Hongzhao was foolish enough to execute the order. His son Shi Dezhen, who was able to distinguish right from wrong and had a kind heart, immediately jumped out to protect these scholars, saying that these students were indeed lawless for making loud noises in the important places of state organs and should be punished, but - they should be handed over to the police station and the public security bureau, not to the military court. This matter is not your business. Dad, this is someone deliberately setting a trap for you and making you bear the infamy of the world! Why do you have to take advantage of others' troubles?
Shi Hongzhao suddenly realized what was going on, so he ordered the students to be released without charge on the spot.

When I read this history, a classic scene from an animation always comes to my mind: two villains, one is always short, fat and stupid, acting as a laborer and thug, while the other is a monkey-faced man, acting as a military strategist. For example, Er Gou and Da Ma Hou in Boonie Bears.

Brain is a good thing, but unfortunately Shi Hongzhao didn't have much of it.

The peak of the conflict between Shi Hongzhao and civil servants such as Su Fengji occurred at two drinking parties in the third year of Qianyou (950).

1.2.2 “May Wine Party”

In April of the third year of Qianyou (950), faced with the continued harassment of the Hebei region by the Khitan cavalry, the defenders of the various towns in Hebei had no choice but to close the city walls to protect themselves. They had no power or courage to fight back. Liu Chengyou convened a royal meeting to discuss appointing a general who was brave, resourceful, resourceful and courageous to garrison the area.

All the ministers unanimously recommended General Guo Wei, who had just put down the rebellions in the three western towns.

Therefore, Liu Chengyou decided to send Guo Wei to Weizhou to control the towns in Hebei and coordinate anti-Liao affairs.

So far, there has been no opposition, this is the unanimous voice of the masses. However, the problem is that Guo Wei has the title of "Privy Envoy".

In principle, central officials can remotely serve as local officials. For example, if the Privy Councilor is also the Jiedushi of a certain place, then his place of work is still in the central government, and the actual work in the local area is done by his deputy. He is just a "special official" or an honorary Jiedushi, receiving a Jiedushi's salary and enjoying the Jiedushi's political status. This is considered a grace from the court to him.

The opposite is not true. Local Jiedushi cannot concurrently hold a central government position. However, honorary titles such as prime minister and envoy are exceptions. For example, many powerful local vassals have titles such as "concurrently serving the emperor, co-prime minister, and minister of the imperial court." They only enjoy corresponding political status and cannot perform the duties of a prime minister.

After it was agreed that Guo Wei would be sent to Weizhou, Shi Hongzhao, who was also a military general, proposed that Guo Wei's title of "Privy Envoy" should be retained.

(End of this chapter)