History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 741 Mr. Xu's Father, Mr. Li 2
A hero is not judged by his origin. Although Xu Zhigao was born in a humble family, it is undeniable that he was smart and quick-witted, with a high level of comprehension. He was superior to Xu Wen's sons in all aspects, and therefore was highly valued by Xu Wen.

After Xu Wen sidelined the Yang family, he ordered Xu Zhigao to take charge of Shengzhou (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province). During his tenure in Shengzhou, Xu Zhigao showed amazing foresight.

Xu Zhigao knew the importance of talent, so he treated people with respect and sought out talents in Shengzhou, which was also the case throughout his administration. In Shengzhou, he got a counselor who had a great influence on him, just like Liu Bei got Zhuge Liang, and he got Song Qiqiu.

He and Song Qiuqiu felt that they had met too late, and they often had long talks and humbly asked for advice. Song Qiuqiu formulated for him the governing principles of "establishing the civil tax system, encouraging farming and sericulture, light taxation, and prohibiting non-corvée". Over a dozen years, Shengzhou "had a prosperous people, a safe county, well-regulated rituals and laws, fair and honest officials, a strong city, abundant military equipment, harmonious soldiers, and people were happy to work".

Xu Zhigao made Shengzhou prosperous and his political reputation spread far and wide, so much so that even Xu Wen could not help but come to inspect it.

After the inspection, Xu Wen praised Shengzhou highly, saying that he was jealous of the beautiful articles, gentleness and wealth of Shengzhou. So Xu Wen made a bold decision: let his eldest son Xu Zhixun stay in Yangzhou, while he stayed in Shengzhou. As for Xu Zhigao, the great contributor to the development of Shengzhou, Xu Wen placed him in Runzhou.

Xu Zhigao was very upset that his godfather had robbed him of the fruits of victory and sent him to a second-tier city, so he proposed to go to Xuanzhou, which was also a first-tier city. Xu Wen rejected his proposal, saying that he was a brick of the revolution and could be moved wherever he was needed. The economically underdeveloped Runzhou needed your development. Go ahead and listen.

Xu Zhigao was very depressed. At this time, the great strategist Song Qiuqiu secretly told him that Runzhou was only separated from the core of power - Yangzhou by a river. If something unexpected happened in Yangzhou, you would be the first to get the upper hand because you are close to the water. Even if there is no accident in Yangzhou... we can help it to have an accident.

Xu Zhigao suddenly realized what was going on and immediately went to Runzhou to take up his post happily.

What followed was the "Yangzhou Incident" full of doubts, in which Xu Zhixun was killed. The official report was that Xu Zhixun was licentious and immoral, and eventually forced Zhu Jin to rebel. Zhu Jin killed Xu Zhixun and then committed suicide. The above article has detailed descriptions.

In short, after the "Yangzhou Incident", Xu Zhigao rushed into Yangzhou first, restored order, and thus took control of Yangzhou.

At this point, a very strange situation was formed. The "center" (Yangzhou) of the Huainan regime was actually controlled by Xu Zhigao, while Xu Wen actually formed the "second core" in Shengzhou.

This period was also the darkest moment for the Huainan regime. Beneath the apparent harmony was a turbulent political struggle.

Xu Wen's confidants had two major demands. One was to persuade Xu Wen to depose Yang Zili, and the other was to persuade Xu Wen to remove Xu Zhigao and use his own son Xu Zhixun as the heir.

With the help of his adviser Song Qiuqiu, Xu Zhigao worked out a corresponding countermeasure. They chose to avoid the main issue and switch concepts. They tried to portray Xu Wen as a loyal minister of the Yang family, upholding the banner of protecting the Yang family and preventing him from deposing Yang and establishing himself as the emperor. They never mentioned the fight for the throne in order to avoid outside attention and downplay Xu Zhigao's status as an adopted son.

After Xu Zhigao's team's bold move, the issue of Xu Wen's choice of successor was finally changed to whether Xu Wen would be a loyal minister or a treacherous minister.

Xu Wen also doubted the role Song Qiuqiu played around Xu Zhigao and thought about getting rid of him.

Song Qiqiu had a neighbor whose name is unknown. Historical records record him as "Master Shitou". Master Shitou had received favors from Xu Wen, so Xu Wen ordered Master Shitou to secretly monitor Song Qiqiu. Master Shitou was obviously not proficient in intelligence work, and Song Qiqiu noticed it.

Song Qiuqiu was cunning and treacherous. He pretended to know nothing, behaved in a dissolute manner and spoke rudely. He got drunk every day and hummed vulgar tunes.

After a period of observation, Master Shitou reported to Xu Wen that Song Qiuqiu was just a madman in name only and was not a cause for concern. Only then did Xu Wen relax his vigilance.

Xu Wen's confidants such as Yan Keqiu and Xu Jie constantly advised him to replace Xu Zhigao with his own son Xu Zhixun. Xu Zhixun himself had also made it clear many times that he wanted to replace Xu Zhigao, but Xu Wen remained hesitant.

According to public information (Xu Zhigao's publicity team), Xu Wen believed that Xu Zhixun's ability was far inferior to Xu Zhigao, so he disagreed.

In fact, Xu Wen did not want to take down Xu Zhigao, but Xu Zhigao had already occupied Yangzhou and held the political card of Yang's puppet, and it was impossible to take down Xu Zhigao with a transfer order. On the contrary, Xu Zhigao could command Xu Wen in the name of Yang Pu.

Xu Zhigao's political advantage of "holding the emperor hostage" was fully demonstrated in the political struggles that followed. In short, the relationship between Xu Wen and Xu Zhigao was very delicate, and removing Xu Zhigao would require long-term consideration.

Xu Wen's adviser Yan Keqiu thought of a solution that killed two birds with one stone, that is, Xu Wen would lead the heads of various war zones to Yangzhou to persuade and force Yang Pu to become emperor, but take the opportunity to remove Xu Zhigao.

Xu Zhigao's only advantage is the political card of "using the emperor to command the princes", and his sphere of influence is limited to the central government (Yangzhou), while Xu Wen's power is the local vassal power represented by Shengzhou. In theory, without the central government's order, local troops cannot be mobilized without authorization, so the clever confrontation between Xu Zhigao of Yangzhou and Xu Wen of Shengzhou has formed today. Once the name of "persuading the emperor to ascend the throne" is given, Xu Wen can legitimately mobilize local troops across the country to rush into Yangzhou. By then, the matter will be settled, and Xu Zhigao will have no choice but to surrender.

This time, Xu Wen brought his own son Xu Zhixun with him, with the purpose of replacing Xu Zhigao with Xu Zhixun.

When Xu Zhigao heard the news, he was terrified, so he wrote a memorial overnight, requesting to be exiled to Hongzhou. He wanted to escape from this troubled place before Xu Wen came to Yangzhou, so that he could at least save his life.

Man proposes, God disposes. On the night when Xu Zhigao drafted the memorial, Xu Wen suddenly died of illness.

Xu Zhixun hurried back to Shengzhou to stabilize the Shengzhou revolutionary base and had no time to fight for Yangzhou.

Xu Zhigao breathed a sigh of relief, his time had come!
Thanks to all the friends who continued to support this book during the period of suspension, and special thanks to old friend "Dadi Longteng" for his support!

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(End of this chapter)