History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 674: Chanzhou Mutiny 4
Under Guo Wei's order, the army urgently broke camp, crossed the Yellow River at lightning speed, and entered Chanzhou.

On December 12, a full half month after leaving Bianzhou, Guo Wei finally arrived in Chanzhou.

It is said that when Guo Wei arrived in Chanzhou, purple air came from the east and gathered in front of Guo Wei's horse.

Guo Wei said that he would fight the Khitans to the death, but his body was honest and he settled down in Chanzhou again.

At this time, Liu Yun was also slowly approaching Songzhou. From the map, Songzhou was right in the middle of Xuzhou and Bianzhou.

After arriving in Chanzhou, Guo Wei made two more arrangements: he sent Prime Minister Su Yugui to Songzhou to welcome him; and the radio program was changed from "Approaching Science" to "Today's Statement".

Prime Minister Su Yugui was originally a political figurehead who did not hold any real power, but he was highly respected and was a founding hero and prime minister of two dynasties. Therefore, the actual significance of asking him to go to Songzhou to receive the emperor was that Liu Yun had to wait in Songzhou. If Liu Yun did not wait for Su Yugui in Songzhou, but hurried to Bian to ascend the throne, it would be a violation of the relationship between the monarch and his subjects, and what kind of decorum would it be?

This is the "horse hitch" that Guo Wei put on Liu Yun. To use a popular phrase nowadays, it is called flattery.

In Chanzhou, Guo Wei's cronies began to incite the emotions of the soldiers in the army.

"Do you still remember the late emperor's secret decree? The late emperor didn't trust us and wanted to kill us all! Fortunately, the uncle of the emperor leaked the secret in time, and Marshal Guo led us to defend our rights and purge the emperor's court. What happened? We accidentally forced the late emperor to death, and we also smashed, looted and burned in the capital... We are adding crime to crime. To use a classical Chinese phrase, our crimes are too numerous to list!"

The opinions in Huazhou also fermented again. "Everyone, tell me, if the Liu family continues to be the emperor, will we still have a chance to survive?"

Since there is no way to survive, then... well, this is the only thing we can do!
On December 12, everything was ready except for the east wind. Guo Wei shouted the secret code for the performance: "Draw camp and fight the Khitans!"

"Roger that!"

Guo Wei, please start your performance.

That night, the soldiers, led by several leaders, suddenly launched a "mutiny". Thousands of people shouted and opposed going north and suggested going south.

Going north is to die, going south is to seek wealth and honor. Please obey the will of the people, bear the burden, and become the emperor.

Guo Wei was extremely shocked, "No, no!" Then he turned and ran, and the soldiers chased him. Guo Wei hid in the office building and locked the door. The soldiers used human ladders and climbed over the wall to enter the room. Some rushed into the office, some climbed to the roof, and some shouted and searched all over the yard...

Finally, everyone cornered Guo Wei, who was hiding from place to place, in the study, knelt down, and almost cried out: "Marshal, please have pity on the soldiers, have mercy, and become the emperor. All the soldiers have a deep hatred for the surname Liu, and we must not let the surname Liu become the emperor again!"

Guo Wei was so scared that he waved his hands, "Hey, what nonsense are you talking about? I dare not listen!"

Some people tore down the yellow military flag, mistook it for a dragon robe, and rushed to put it on Guo Wei.

"Don't be like this, no, no..." Guo Wei hurriedly stopped him.

The soldiers hurriedly held Guo Wei down and forced the "yellow robe" on him. Guo Wei fainted at the right time and stopped struggling.

While he was unconscious, the soldiers knelt on the ground, kowtowed to him three times and nine times, and shouted "Long live him!"

When the ceremony was over, Guo Wei woke up at the right time and looked down, "Oh, why am I wearing it? You...what are you doing? No, no..."

The soldiers cheered, "Marshal... No, Your Majesty! Your Majesty is already our emperor!"

"Ah? You guys..." Guo Wei was so emotional that he fainted again.

"All the soldiers and officers shouted and rushed to the post station, advancing like a wall... climbing the wall and jumping over the house... The chaotic army piled up like a mountain, climbing up the steps and surrounding the steps, supporting and hugging each other, some tore up the yellow flag and covered the emperor's body, replacing the red robe, and the shouts shook the earth..."

Faced with the sudden "mutiny", Guo Wei's guards were defeated and disappeared without a trace. "The guards on both sides were scattered and fled."

Guo Wei was helpless under duress. He "lost his voice and fainted several times." He struggled and resisted and fainted several times.

Finally, Guo Wei was forced to climb the city gate tower as a last resort and expressed his agreement to the kidnappers' demands. The soldiers then restored order and "escorted the emperor south."

When the army crossed the Yellow River, supernatural events occurred again.

It is said that the ice on the river had melted and the floating bridge had not been built in time. On the night when Guo Wei decided to return to the south, a north wind suddenly blew all night. When the next morning came, people were surprised to find that the Yellow River had frozen again and the ice surface was large enough for the army to pass through. The soldiers called it "Ling Bridge". When the last soldier safely reached the south bank, the "Ling Bridge" automatically melted.

Source: All the soldiers who participated in the mutiny.

Of course everyone agreed, because this was "God's will", otherwise it would be a mutiny. We are all in the same boat.

Afterwards, Guo Wei submitted a memorial to Empress Dowager Li, reporting the whole story of being forced by the army, saying that the army would arrive in Bianzhou in five seconds, and asked the Empress Dowager to vacate the throne and let me inherit the Han Dynasty's ancestral temple and state. At the end of the memorial, Guo Wei promised that he would serve Empress Dowager Li like his own mother. He begged the Empress Dowager to understand the current situation, follow the will of the masses, listen carefully to the voice of the masses, and never stand on the opposite side of the masses, otherwise... right.

Empress Dowager Li immediately issued an imperial edict, saying that Comrade Guo Wei had worked hard and made great contributions. With his heroic talents and his duties both inside and outside the country, he had established great merits and won the unanimous support of the people of the world. It was time for him to take another step forward. Now that all officials have supported him and the people have supported him, it is only natural for Comrade Guo Wei to take charge of all affairs. How could I go against the tide of history? I announced that from now on, Comrade Guo Wei would be the regent.

We have no way of knowing what Empress Dowager Li really thought. The Qing dynasty was forced to abdicate by Yuan Shikai, which is relatively recent, and there are abundant records of it. It has been put on the screen, and several veteran actors have performed this wonderful scene, which has become an eternal classic. However, Guo Wei was far away in Chanzhou, and the scene of remotely forcing the emperor to abdicate has been forgotten.

Is Empress Dowager Li really so happy?
Since Liu Chengyou was murdered and Guo Wei entered Bian, Empress Dowager Li has been completely isolated. Even her brothers, Li Hongyi and others, have joined Guo Wei's group. How can Empress Dowager Li, who has lived in the deep palace for a long time, have "her own people"? All the civil and military officials in the court follow Guo Wei's lead, and the power of the prime minister and the military power are also firmly controlled by Guo Wei's group...

The history books clearly record that after Guo Wei entered Bian, all his orders and instructions were pretended to be the edicts of the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager Li was completely Guo Wei's political skin and political vest.

Perhaps Empress Dowager Li was unwilling, but reality forced her to bow her head; perhaps she did not bow her head at all, but she did not have the right to speak, and her edicts were directly issued by Guo Wei's group, so she was "forced to bow her head."

(End of this chapter)