History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 671: Chanzhou Mutiny 1
Then the question arises again, since Empress Dowager Li knew that Liu Chengxun could not be emperor, why did she list him on the list of candidates?

Obviously, this was a big chess game played by Guo Wei. According to historical records, after Guo Wei entered Bian, Empress Dowager Li became his mouthpiece, and everything Guo Wei did was issued based on the Empress Dowager's edict. In other words, whether it was insisting that Guo Yunming was the murderer of the regicide or the list of candidates for the throne, they all came from Guo Wei.

If Empress Dowager Li directly designated Guo Wei as the successor, it would be equivalent to confirming Guo Wei's accusation of treason. So Guo Wei had to play the whole drama, first listing all those who had the right of succession, even if there were disputes, and then defeating them one by one to prove that none of them could ascend the throne and leave no excuse.

Since none of Liu's descendants can inherit the Han Dynasty, then... with just a small accident, Guo Wei will be able to sit on the throne legitimately and logically.

The best is yet to come.

After easily denying Liu Chong and Liu Xin, and then denying the disabled and weak-willed comrade Liu Chengxun through a public exhibition, the only successor to the Han Empire would be Liu Yun of Xuzhou.

Therefore, Guo Wei solemnly requested Empress Dowager Li to summon Liu Yun to Bianzhou to succeed the throne.

Empress Dowager Li ordered the relevant departments to prepare the emperor's special ceremonial guard, the imperial carriage, and go to Xuzhou to welcome Liu Yun. Feng Dao, Zhao Shangjiao, Wang Du and other respected old officials went to welcome him in person.

The moment Feng Dao received the edict from the Empress Dowager, the tablet in his hand suddenly fell to the ground.

He was too entangled. He was originally an aide to Liu Shouguang of Youzhou, and later served Li Cunxu. Starting from Li Cunxu of the Later Tang Dynasty, he has been an official in the central government for nearly 30 years, and has seen off 8 emperors. He is an evergreen in the political arena and a veteran among veterans. He is not a dirty-hearted person, but he can see through Guo Wei's little calculations at a glance. He knows very well what Guo Wei wants to do. He came to Guo Wei to say goodbye, then lowered his voice and asked, "Are you sincere in doing this?"

Six words, 30 years of officialdom wasted. Can Guo Wei speak out his true feelings? Can it still be called true feelings if it is spoken out? Who among the decent people speaks out their true feelings? - Despicable!
Sure enough, Guo Wei patted his chest and guaranteed, swearing to heaven that he was sincere, otherwise, he would do this and that to me.

Feng Dao had no choice but to follow the "Empress Dowager's" order and go to Xuzhou. In the past, preparing the imperial carriage to welcome the new emperor was an extremely glorious and coveted job. Not only would one receive generous rewards, but one would also become a hero and mascot of the new emperor. However, there was no joy on Feng Dao's face, and his melancholy was beyond words.

As the imperial carriage left Bianzhou City, Feng Dao could not help but look back at the imperial city and sighed, "I have never done anything wrong in my life, but today, I am finally going to break my vow, oh!"

After Feng Dao left, Guo Wei led all the officials to submit a memorial to Empress Dowager Li, saying that it would take at least ten days for Feng Dao and others to travel back and forth, and that the country could not be without a ruler for a day, so they asked the Empress Dowager to attend court and handle government affairs.

On November 11, Empress Dowager Li attended the morning court and appointed Wang Jun as Privy Counselor, Wang Yin as Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards, and Guo Chongwei as Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards. The real power returned to the military group, or at this time we can already say that the real power has fallen into the hands of Guo Wei's group.

As luck would have it, Zhenzhou and Dingzhou sent an extremely urgent military intelligence: Khitans are invading!

The only surviving comrade of the Later Han Empire who could lead the army to war was Comrade Guo Wei, so Guo Wei had no choice but to shoulder the heavy responsibility of marching north to resist the enemy.

On December 12, Guo Wei left Bianzhou and headed north to resist the Khitan.

Guo Wei's route was basically the same as when he came here. His first stop was Huazhou, then Chanzhou, and then north to Weizhou. Last month, when Guo Wei went south, it took him one day to get from Weizhou to Chanzhou, one day to get from Chanzhou to Huazhou, and two days to get from Huazhou to Bianzhou.

It took another two days of confrontation and fighting... In short, they set out from Weizhou on November 11, marched, confronted, and exchanged fire, and entered Bianzhou on the 15nd. The whole process of redressing grievances and defending rights took only one week. So now that the barbarians have invaded the border, how long will it take Guo Wei to return along the same route?
They set out from Bianzhou on December 12st and arrived in Huazhou on the 1th. Guo Wei also ordered them to rest on the spot and "stay for several days." How many days does "several days" mean?

Guo Wei rested until December 12 before heading towards Chanzhou. Three days later, on December 16, he arrived in Chanzhou.

The journey that was supposed to take two or three days took Guo Wei nearly 20 days.

"Comrade Guo Wei, the northern barbarians have invaded our borders, penetrated deep into Hebei, plundered counties, and slaughtered our people. This is extremely urgent and cannot be delayed. Why are you hesitating and putting our people in jeopardy?"

Guo Wei frowned, stared with an incredible look, and asked: "Are we counting on peace and no barbarian invasion? The ministers are all loyal ministers. Once the country is in trouble, they will rush to the front line regardless of everything and dedicate everything to the country and the nation without compensation? - No way?"

Guo Wei has his own unspeakable secrets. In short, he wants to be a chastity arch even though he is a whore.

His wings were not yet fully grown, and the threat from the Liu family was increasing. Everything was full of variables. If he rushed to Hebei and fought with the Khitan to a mutual defeat, then the Liu family would revive.

The historical records of these 20 days are very obscure and have been artificially mosaiced.

In fact, Guo Wei was very busy during these 20 days: stabilizing the rear; making open and covert efforts; and fulfilling the will of heaven and the people.

1. Stabilize the rear

When Guo Wei entered Bian, he found the prime ministers Dou Zhengu and Su Yugui who were hiding among the people, appeased them with kind words, and ordered them to resume their posts. When Guo Wei went north, the two prime ministers still "held temporary power over state affairs." Of course, there was another person who "held temporary power over state affairs" with the two of them - the Privy Councilor Wang Jun.

Dou Zhengu and Su Yugui were able to survive because they did not participate in the Xiao Qiang Incident, and the reason they did not participate in it was because their "prime ministers" were in name only and had long been sidelined. Therefore, this "reinstatement" is not to restore the functions of "prime ministers", but to restore "standing aside".

In other words, Comrade Wang Jun was the one who had the power to know state affairs, and Dou Zhengu and Su Yugui were the political vases of Guo Wei's group.

Promote civil servants such as Fan Zhi who have outstanding talents and noble character.

Fan Zhi was a superb student. He could write articles at the age of nine, and could teach others and answer their questions when he was thirteen or fourteen. He passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the reign of Emperor Mingzong. He first served as a staff member in Xuzhou, and later served as the magistrate of Fengqiu County in Bianzhou.

Interestingly, Fan Zhi's ranking when he passed the exam was 13th. We have a misunderstanding that the higher the ranking, the better. In fact, there is an unspoken rule here - passing on the mantle, that is, look at the ranking of the chief examiner (the examiner of the imperial examination) when he passed the exam that year. His ranking that year is the best ranking for the new Jinshi this year. Fan Zhi's chief examiner was He Ning, and He Ning's ranking that year was 13th. He admired Fan Zhi very much, so he picked up his pen and named "13th". In other words, Fan Zhi, who ranked 13th, was the "number one scholar".

(End of this chapter)