History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 657: Fatal Drinking Game
Prime Minister Su Fengji immediately expressed his opposition, saying that since ancient times, only the central government can command the local governments, how can the local governments command the central government? If Guo Wei was sent out but retained as the Privy Councilor, then the central government's affairs would be subject to the will of the local governments, and Bianzhou would be subject to Weizhou. What a joke!
Shi Hongzhao was immediately furious, saying that Guo Wei's trip was not only to control Weizhou, but also to coordinate and organize all the forces of the towns in Hebei to fight against the Khitan. If he did not have an official title from the central government and was just a Jiedushi at the same level as the towns, the coordination work would be difficult to carry out and would inevitably encounter many obstacles.

At present, the main contradiction of the Later Han Dynasty is the ethnic contradiction, and the biggest threat is the threat of the northern barbarians, so all work must be given the green light to resist the Liao Dynasty and handled specially. Therefore, Liu Chengyou finally agreed to Shi Hongzhao's suggestion, and Guo Wei still retained the title of Privy Envoy.

Shi Hongzhao supported Guo Wei for his own sake, because they were all in the same boat and had common interests. If Guo Wei set a precedent today, it would become a routine, and Shi Hongzhao could serve as a local governor while retaining his power as a privy councilor.

It was with the strong support of Shi Hongzhao that Guo Wei became the uncrowned king north of the Yellow River. Liu Chengyou issued an edict that all resources north of the Yellow River, including the army, food, personnel and materials, were to be dispatched by Guo Wei alone!
On April 4, civil and military officials held a farewell party for Guo Wei. Prime Minister Dou Zhengu held a banquet at his home and all officials gathered together.

During the banquet, Shi Hongzhao stood up to toast Guo Wei, and Guo Wei also stood up to return the toast. Shi Hongzhao held up the wine glass and said sternly: "At the imperial meeting yesterday, someone actually sang a different tune for us. I don't know what their intentions were!" As he spoke, he glanced at Su Fengji viciously.

Su Fengji also quickly picked up his glass and gestured to Shi Hongzhao and Guo Wei at the same time, saying: "Different opinions should be allowed in national affairs. Besides, I am also dedicated to the public, and have no other intentions. Don't sacrifice personal interests for the sake of public."

Military general Yang Bin also stepped forward to help smooth things over, and said on behalf of Su Fengji: "Yes, public is public, private is private. In a meeting, there will always be pros and cons. Why bother about it?"

Shi Hongzhao snorted coldly and said to Yang Bin and Guo Wei who came to help him out: "To defend the country and protect the people, we have always relied on spears and swords. What's the point of having so many hair awls?"

"Mao Zhuizi" is the name used by warriors to refer to writing brushes, and it is also a derogatory term for scholars.

At this time, Wang Zhang, the judge of the Three Courts, could not help but defend Su Fengji and said, "If there were no hair awls, where would the army's pay and rewards come from?" It is still the accountants who know how to speak. They use their own jobs as metaphors, which are reasonable and easy to understand.

In fact, Yang Bin, who was also in the military camp, also had conflicts with Su Fengji, but for the sake of the overall situation, he chose to intercede for Su Fengji; although Wang Zhang was also a "hairy awl", he also hated the civil service group very much and was usually hostile to Su Fengji, but in this farce, he also spoke for Su Fengji.

With the joint persuasion of Yang Bin, Wang Zhang and others, as well as the mediation of his master Guo Wei, Shi Hongzhao finally suppressed his anger. Although no bigger commotion occurred, the dinner ended in a bad mood.

Just one month later, Shi Hongzhao got drunk again and almost caused a death.

1.2.3 “May Wine Party”

Just one month after the "April Drinking Party", on May 4, Wang Zhang hosted a banquet at home to entertain civil and military officials. At first, it went very smoothly, colleagues talked and laughed, and the wine was drunk more and more, so someone suggested using an elegant way to drink - playing drinking games.

According to records, this was a drinking game that used hand gestures as drinking orders, and the loser had to drink alcohol as punishment. It should be a game similar to finger-guessing. Perhaps the rules were different in different places, and Shi Hongzhao, a rough man from the military, could not play and did not understand the rules.

At this time, the guest envoy Yan Jinqing happened to be sitting next to Shi Hongzhao, and Yan Jinqing patiently explained the rules of the game to him. The job of the guest envoy is to represent the central government to visit local areas or foreign countries, and to be proficient in the drinking culture of all parts of the country and all over the world. Yan Jinqing is a high-level god in this regard. Under his guidance, the bronze Shi Hongzhao can definitely fly with ease.

So Su Fengji said to Shi Hongzhao, "With an old driver named Yan accompanying you, are you still worried about being fined for drinking?"

This sentence seems ordinary, but it is a double entendre. Because Shi Hongzhao's wife also had the surname Yan, and her previous job was not glorious, or "a drunkard prostitute" in classical Chinese.

Don't call a short person short in front of him, and don't call a monk a thief bald. Su Fengji, a professional hostess with 30 years of experience and surnamed Yan, made Shi Hongzhao furious with a word.

Shi Hongzhao immediately cursed Su Fengji with the most vulgar and obscene words. Su Fengji knew that he had made a mistake and did not dare to retort, so he remained silent.

Shi Hongzhao became more and more angry as he cursed, so he immediately punched Su Fengji, but Su Fengji dodged.

"You still dare to hide?"

Shi Hongzhao turned around and drew his sword, chasing Su Fengji. Su Fengji performed the Qin King's running around the pillar, moving flexibly.

At this time, Yang Bin came to the rescue again. He hugged Shi Hongzhao tightly, crying anxiously, "Mr. Su is the prime minister of the dynasty, the head of all officials. If we kill him, how can we explain to the emperor? Brother, you should think twice!"

Wang Zhang, the host of the drinking party, also advised Shi Hongzhao to calm down, and at the same time winked at Su Fengji, "Run away!"

Su Fengji escaped in a panic, galloping on his horse.

Shi Hongzhao chased after him, holding his precious sword, and also jumped on his BMW. Yang Bin quickly grabbed his reins.

"Ah, I'm going home. Lao Yang, let go."

Yang Bin immediately called on his followers to bring his horse over, and said, "I haven't drunk enough wine, and I haven't talked enough. I haven't visited you for a long time. You may as well bother me today." Then he rode side by side with Shi Hongzhao, and sent Shi Hongzhao home, comforting and enlightening him.

After Liu Chengyou heard about it, he ordered Wang Jun, the Xuanhui envoy, to hold a banquet at Gongzi Pavilion to reconcile the two. However, Shi Hongzhao did not grant him such courtesy and the banquet ended in failure.

From then on, the conflict between civil and military generals reached its peak.

Su Fengji was very frightened, so he planned to take the initiative to be sent to a remote place as a Jiedushi to avoid Shi Hongzhao, but he soon came to his senses, "Once I leave the central government, Shi Hongzhao can crush me to pieces with a small note, and kill me like crushing an ant."

It was also from this moment that Su Fengji began to plan how to get rid of Shi Hongzhao.

2. Yang Bin

2.1 Yang Bin
Yang Bin was from Weizhou. When he was young, he was a temporary worker in a government department, responsible for clerical and archival work. This background is very important. His background as an official made him hate officials very much, which paved the way for his life.

His outstanding performance at work brought him into the sight of a senior leader, who not only promoted him to be a tax collector, but also married his daughter to him. This was because the senior leader was tasked with an important and arduous task at the time, which was to extort money from the people.

(End of this chapter)