History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 700 Chai Rong succeeded to the throne 5
Gao Yunquan of Yanzhou was a pawn used by the Central Plains Dynasty to contain the Dangxiang tribe of Xiazhou. When Li Shouzhen of Hezhong was plotting a rebellion, he colluded with Li Yiyin of Xiazhou. It was the existence of Gao Yunquan of Yanzhou that forced Li Yiyin of Xiazhou to stop.

Gao Yunquan was definitely not an obedient boy. The relationship between him and the Dangxiang tribe of Xiazhou was like that of a cat and a mouse. There was competition, but also mutual dependence and they were each other's foundation.

The imperial court did not want the Gao family to rule Bingzhou for a long time, but the Gao family had a solid mass base in the northwest, and after several coincidences, Gao's descendants eventually ruled the northwest.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, brothers Gao Wanxing and Gao Wanjin worked under Li Maozhen of Fengxiang. After the establishment of Later Liang, the two brothers surrendered to Zhu Wen and helped Later Liang seize Danzhou, Yanzhou, Fuzhou, Fangzhou and other areas in Guanxi. Zhu Wen then appointed Gao Wanxing as the Jiedushi of Yanzhou and Gao Wanjin as the Jiedushi of Fuzhou. Since then, the Gao family has been in charge of the northwest.

Later, his younger brother Gao Wanjin died, and Gao Wanxing concurrently took charge of Yanzhou and Fuzhou. After Gao Wanxing's death, his son Gao Yuntao succeeded him.

During the "prosperous reign of Emperor Mingzong", the imperial court moved Gao Yuntao to Hebei in order to strip the Gao family of its influence in the northwest region.

However, man proposes, God disposes. During the Jin-Liao War, Zhou Mi, the governor of Yanzhou appointed by the imperial court, encountered a mutiny. The rebels wanted to find a respected person to be their leader. After searching for a long time, someone suddenly thought of a famous otaku with a distinguished family background - Gao Yunquan.

Gao Yunquan is the son of Gao Wanjin. Although he was born into a general family, he was not good at martial arts and military affairs. He was a nerd. In his early years, he served as the chief clerk of Yichuan County and later as the county magistrate of Fushi County. His political achievements were mediocre. Soon after, he was laid off and returned home to be unemployed. Now, he lives in his hometown of Yanzhou.

The rebel soldiers rushed to Gao Yunquan's home as if they had found a treasure, and recommended him to be the governor of Yanzhou, and confronted the imperial army closely.

Later, Zhou Mi could no longer support the rebellion and fled the city. Gao Yunquan sent Li Bin to present a memorial to the court, explaining the reasons for the mutiny. Liu Zhiyuan, the then ruler of the Later Han Dynasty, took advantage of the situation and conferred Gao Yunquan the title of Imperial Tutor and Jiedushi of Yanzhou. From then on, the power of the Gao family returned to the northwest.

The biggest move Gao Yunquan made in the Northwest was to kill his wife’s grandfather, Liu Jingyan.

Liu Jingyan was originally a rich second-generation from Yanzhou. Later, he followed Gao Wanjin and was appointed as the governor of Danzhou. At the end of the Later Tang Dynasty, Shi Jingtang rebelled against Hedong. The last emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty, Li Congke, recruited soldiers from all over the country, stipulating that every seven households should send one soldier. Yang Hanzhang, the then governor of Yanzhou, was ordered to recruit soldiers in Yanzhou and go to Beijing to defend the emperor. Liu Jingyan took the opportunity to instigate this mob to launch a rebellion, kill Yang Hanzhang, and support Liu Jingyan as the governor of Yanzhou.

After Shi Jingtang established the state, he officially appointed Liu Jingyan as the governor of Yanzhou. Liu Jingyan was arrogant and domineering in the town, and gradually showed his disloyalty. His adviser Xiong Hao "never forgot the emperor and was concerned about the country", determined to eliminate this hidden danger for the country, so he encouraged Liu Jingyan to transfer to the interior, saying that the border was a barren land and could not be peaceful for a long time. He also tried to help him do business in Bingzhou and Jingzhou.

Liu Jingyan really made a lot of money, so he followed Xiong Hao's advice. Xiong Hao tricked him into going to the capital to pay homage to the court and show his loyalty to the court, so the court would naturally not treat him unfairly.

Liu Jingyan set off in a foolish manner. Xiong Hao immediately made a secret report to the court, saying that Liu Jingyan had evil intentions and must not be allowed to stay at the border, and must be moved to the inland.

The imperial court then ordered Liu Jingyan to move his garrison to Bingzhou, and then to Shanzhou and Dengzhou successively, gradually moving from the northwest into the heart of the Central Plains; and Xiong Hao was summoned to the central government.

Liu Jingyan suddenly realized that Xiong Hao had betrayed his master and tricked him. So he falsely accused Xiong Hao of hiding one of his jade belts and demoted him to the magistrate of Shangjin County in Shangzhou.

Xiong Hao was worried about being retaliated by Liu Jingyan, so he fled on his way to take up his post and hid in the mountains. During this period, Xiong Hao wrote a poem "Exiled to the Sea":
"My home is separated from Qinchuan by the Jing River, and the journey to and from the pass is eight thousand miles.

How can I regret that I have grown old here, yet I have spent many years beside the Shihuang Bridge."

The Complete Tang Poems includes 12 of his poems, with 5 couplets. His works, The Dragon Slayer Collection and The Southern Gold Collection, are unfortunately lost. Not long after, Liu Jingyan retired as the Prince's Grand Tutor and returned home. At that time, Gao Yunquan had been supported by the rebels as the Jiedushi of Yanzhou. Gao Yunquan's wife, Liu, was officially Liu Jingyan's granddaughter.

Liu Jingyan was already over 80 years old at the time. He was born into an old family of Gao Wanjin and had served as the governor of Yanzhou. He was definitely a veteran in Yanzhou.
He is well-known in the "Taoer" and his family's assets are comparable to those of the richest man. He has great influence in the region and has close contacts with the nearby Dangxiang people. He poses a certain threat to the new generation of Gao Yunquan.

When Gao Yunquan's wife came home to visit her parents during the Chinese New Year, Liu Jingyan said to her with contempt, "Your useless husband was originally just a small county magistrate, and he was fired. Now he has transformed himself and is now in charge of Yanzhou. Can he last long?"

Liu reported this to Gao Yunquan, who was angry and frightened, so he decided to take the initiative and kill him, and then report to the court that Liu Jingyan was plotting a rebellion.

Liu Jingyan was already over 80 years old at the time, and you said he was plotting a rebellion... Do you believe it?

After Liu Jingyan's death, Gao Yunquan seized all his property. The court was unable to restrain him and could only let him do what he wanted.

In the first month of the intercalary year of the third year of Guangshun (953), Gao Yunquan died of illness, but his son Gao Shaoji blocked the news and announced to the outside world that Gao Yunquan was ill and bedridden. He also reported to the court that Gao Yunquan was ill and unable to perform his duties, and he recommended me to replace him.

Gao Yunquan's aide Li Bin advised him to submit to the court and not to have second thoughts. Gao Shaoji was furious and killed this meritorious strategist who assisted his father. Then he reported to the court and falsely accused Li Bin of treason.

Afterwards, Gao Shaoji continued to report invasions by barbarian tribes, echoing rebellions by the Pheasant Tribe and others, deliberately creating a tense situation in the border area in an attempt to force the court to give him a formal appointment as the Jiedushi of Yanzhou.

When Guo Wei sent Zhe Congruan and Zhang Jianwu to Qingzhou, he also sent people to Yanzhou to investigate the situation. It turned out that Comrade Gao Yunquan had passed away long ago and it had been Gao Shaoji who had been impersonating him all along.

Gao Shaoji had no choice but to announce the death of his father Gao Yunquan. Guo Wei appointed Suo Wanjin, the former defense envoy of Yanzhou, as the governor of Yanzhou.

Zhe Congruan brought good news from Qingzhou, saying that he had accepted the surrender of 21 tribes of the Pheasant Tribe. Guo Wei ordered Zhe Congruan to station in Yanzhou, and Gao Shaoji was frightened and began to resume paying tribute to the court.

Later, Guo Wei sent a part of the imperial army to station between Fuzhou and Yanzhou, and Gao Shaoji began to gradually transfer power. Guo Wei also appointed Xiang Xun, a close confidant of his, as the governor of Yanzhou.

The Gao family's power in Yanzhou was finally suppressed by the imperial court.

The father and son of Zhe Congruan operated the revolutionary base of Fuzhou, played a role of containment to the west of Liu Chong in Hedong, and made great contributions to the elimination of the Northern Han regime in the future. One of their descendants is even more well-known to everyone, and we will describe him in detail later.

At this point, the Khitan in the north, Huainan in the south, Hou Shu in the southwest, Xiazhou and Yanzhou in the northwest were basically stabilized; Wang Jun and Wang Yin in the interior were eliminated, and the rebellion of the three towns was quelled. Before his death, Guo Wei left Chai Rong with a rare stable situation in recent decades, which allowed Chai Rong to win at the starting line and laid a solid foundation for Chai Rong to become the "first emperor of the Five Dynasties".

(End of this chapter)