History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 747: Returning to One’s Ancestors (Part )

After Xu Zhigao announced his ascension to the throne, Chinese and foreign forces such as Jingnan, Wuyue, Min, Khitan, Goryeo, Later Shu, Khotan, and Southern Han successively sent envoys to congratulate him on his accession to the throne, announced their recognition of his political status, and established friendly diplomatic relations with the "Great Qi Kingdom". Among them, the Khitan treated him as a brother.

In this political feast, some people followed the trend and sought to get a piece of the pie, while others mourned the demise of the Yang regime.

Xu Zhigao's fourth daughter was named "Princess Yongxing". She was the wife of Yang Lian, the eldest son of Yang Pu. Whenever people called her "Princess", she would burst into tears and then ask them to change their words, because she was the Crown Princess of Wu, not the Princess of Qi. As a political victim and a woman, this was her last stubbornness and last resistance.

Zhou Ben, a founding hero of the Yang regime, died of shame and depression two months after the fall of the Southern Wu regime.

However, Li Decheng, who was the founder and undertaker of the Yang regime together with Zhou Ben, did something regrettable.

Li Decheng was originally a subordinate of Zhao Xun, the governor of Chizhou. In 889 AD, Yang Xingmi annexed Zhao Xun. During that period, Li Decheng always stayed with Zhao Xun. Yang Xingmi admired his loyalty to his master very much, so he married his cousin to him. From then on, Li Decheng became Yang Xingmi's trusted and beloved general.

In Yang Xingmi's group, Li Decheng was a surrendered general, but he was also Yang Xingmi's brother-in-law, so he was always low-key and cautious, with the image of a loyal elder. When Tian Yu, An Renyi, and Zhu Yanshou rebelled, Yang Xingmi's subordinates cursed An Renyi and other rebels to show their loyalty to Yang Xingmi.

This scene reminded me of a group crosstalk. If you are interested, you can search for it. "Who is it?" was performed by a well-known domestic folk society. The owner of the society and his partner and six of his beloved apprentices and fellow apprentices participated in the performance. The background at that time was that a well-known actor in the society, Xu Mouliang and others, announced their withdrawal from the society. So the six apprentices and fellow apprentices ridiculed these former colleagues who rebelled and ran away, and did their best to ridicule them, and expressed their loyalty to the owner. However, ironically, a few years later, four of the six people (Li Mou, Cao Moujin, He Mouwei, and Liu Moutian) also withdrew from the society... As a spectator, I often wonder what these people would feel if they looked back at this crosstalk.

In short, it is natural for Yang Xingmi's generals to speak well of An Renyi and others when they rebelled. Only Li Decheng never insulted An Renyi. Finally, An Renyi was surrounded. Because of his accurate archery skills, none of the generals dared to step forward. An Renyi knew that the situation was hopeless, so he named Li Decheng and asked him to surrender. He said to Li Decheng, "You are a loyal and righteous man. Today, I will give you the "first merit of capturing the thief". Then he threw away his bow and arrow, surrendered to Li Decheng, and gave him one of his concubines.

But is Li Decheng really a loyal and honest elder?

After Xu Zhigao ascended the throne, Li Decheng took the initiative to expose and report at a banquet, saying that Your Majesty followed the will of heaven and the will of the people, but Song Qiuqiu was the only one who was unhappy and did not want Your Majesty to ascend the throne. Then he took out a joint letter from all officials persuading him to ascend the throne, but Song Qiuqiu's signature was the only one missing.

Regardless of Song Qiqiu's reasons, he was the only one who dared to openly oppose the fall of the Yang regime. Li Decheng wanted to kill someone with a borrowed knife.

Of course, Song Qiuqiu's opposition was not out of attachment or loyalty to the Yang regime, but out of his own selfish interests.

Xu Zhigao took the letter without even reading it and said, "Song Qiqiu and I have been friends for thirty years. I know him and he will not let me down."

Song Qiuqiu knelt down hurriedly and kowtowed to express his gratitude.

However, the relationship between Song Qiqiu and Xu Zhigao is now very delicate. Although Xu Zhigao does not blame Song Qiqiu, he has actually excluded him from the core power and has been "standing aside" for a long time.

After Xu Zhigao proclaimed himself emperor, he bestowed great titles and rewards as usual, especially to the meritorious officials who were the earliest and most staunch supporters of Xu Zhigao's enthronement, such as Zhou Zong, who was appointed as Privy Councilor, Li Decheng's son Li Jianxun as Prime Minister, Xu Jie as Palace Attendant...but Song Qiuqiu was only given the title of "Si Tu", which was an exclusive package for retirement and pension.

Looking at the personnel appointment letter issued by the court, Song Qiuqiu was jealous and indignant:
Zhou Zong? When he wanted to persuade me to ascend the throne, he had to consult me ​​first. Who does he think he is?

Li Jianxun? A little kid, Li Decheng's offspring, a junior, who is he?

Xu Jie? Not only did he have little experience, but he was also a "surrendered general" with a questionable background. He first followed Yang Xingmi and was promoted to the governor of Jizhou. Later, Xu Zhigao dismissed him for his poor performance (governing the county and being corrupt), and Xu Jie hated Xu Zhigao for this. Later, Xu Wen was impressed by Xu Jie's high emotional intelligence, so he promoted him back to be his deputy envoy. Xu Jie took this opportunity to settle a personal grudge and tried his best to persuade Xu Wen to pass the position to his own son Xu Zhixun. In other words, in the power struggle between Xu Zhigao and Xu Zhixun, Xu Jie was initially on Xu Zhixun's side, but later, seeing that Xu Zhixun was really a hopeless case, he switched to Xu Zhigao's camp. Who does he think he is?

But now, these people are all shitting and pissing on his neck... As Xu Zhigao's true military strategist and chief counselor, Song Qiuqiu's mixed feelings can be imagined.

First, I felt regret. I regretted that I shouldn't have been so smart. I stood on the opposite side just because I was jealous of Zhou Zong's "first merit in persuading him to ascend the throne". I made one mistake after another and became the "opposition" today, isolated by the whole world. Then, I felt humiliated. I felt that I was overtaken and crushed by Zhou Zong, Li Jianxun, Xu Jie, etc. I felt like a king was beaten to death by a bronze. Finally, I felt angry. (I mourned my miscalculation and felt ashamed of my failure to achieve anything. I was so angry.)
When an official of his level is appointed, the emperor will also issue an "acceptance speech" when issuing the appointment letter. Generally speaking, the emperor will talk about his deep revolutionary friendship with this comrade and express that this comrade deserves the title.

However, with such a complex mood, Song Qiuqiu felt like he was in purgatory when listening to these corny and formulaic words. When the eunuch reading the word "friendship of common people" came to the end, Song Qiuqiu could no longer hold back. He suddenly stood up and shouted, "I was indeed a commoner at that time, but Your Majesty was already a governor at that time. We are not 'friends of common people'. Besides, Your Majesty is now the emperor and no longer needs old ministers!" After that, he walked out of the door with his hands down, waiting for the emperor to punish him for making trouble in the court. The civil and military officials in the court looked at each other, and then looked at Xu Zhigao together.

Xu Zhigao looked embarrassed, cleared his throat, and said a few words to comfort him. He did not pursue the crime of disobeying his superiors, but he did not transfer him to another position either.

As mentioned above, Song Qiqiu was very utilitarian and often had a bad temper. He and Xu Zhigao were nominally master and servant, but in reality they were more like a couple in love, quarreling and breaking up at every turn. This was not the first time Song Qiqiu had a quarrel, nor was it the last.

Now, Song Qiqiu was nominally the "Left Prime Minister", but he did not hold any real power at all, and was actually in a state of retirement. So after only half a year, Song Qiqiu could not stand this blatant marginalization and lodged a solemn protest to Xu Zhigao, saying, "I am the prime minister of the empire, why can't I participate in government decision-making?"
Xu Zhigao’s reply was hilarious: Your office has not been vacated yet (the provincial government has not prepared it yet), please wait a little longer.

The prime minister of the empire doesn't even have a desk. Obviously, there is no place for you here, just go home and stay.

Song Qiuqiu turned himself into a resentful woman in the boudoir, and he complained to Xu Zhigao that he was alienated and excluded by his colleagues.

Xu Zhigao was angry, "Are you done yet?"

Song Qiuqiu angrily took off his official uniform and put on prisoner clothes, indicating that he was ready to be punished. He also used this to demonstrate to Xu Zhigao and express his dissatisfaction and resentment.

Some old ministers were heartbroken and advised Xu Zhigao not to make things too difficult for Song Qiuqiu, saying that Song Qiuqiu was, after all, a direct descendant of the emperor's old minister, and it would be better to give him some face to avoid being accused of ungratefulness.

Xu Zhigao spoke from the bottom of his heart to his subordinates, saying that Song Qiuqiu was indeed very talented, but he just didn't know the big picture, so how could he burn his bridges after crossing the river? Then he asked his eldest son Xu Jingtong to take his handwritten edict, inviting Song Qiuqiu to resume his work and promising to let him participate in the decision-making of national affairs.

A few days later, Song Qiqiu and Li Jianxun and others entered the cabinet to discuss a national event. At that time, the Khitan sent Gao Ba, a Youzhou native, to lead a delegation to visit Huainan, and Xu Zhigao attached great importance to it.

Song Qiuqiu's talents - insidious and vicious - were fully utilized. Xu Zhigao finally adopted his suggestions, warmly entertained Gao Ba and others, and gave them generous rewards, expressing that Huainan was willing to form a strategic partnership with Khitan to jointly curb the reactionary forces in the Central Plains. Then he respectfully sent Gao Ba and others back to the country to report, but secretly sent assassins to lurk in the Central Plains area on the north bank of the Huai River, and killed Gao Ba and others in the Central Plains, putting the blame on the Central Plains.

This was Song Qiuqiu's strategy, to sow discord between the Khitan and the Central Plains (Later Jin).

He succeeded, and the Khitan believed that it was the Later Jin who killed Gao Ba, which brought a serious diplomatic crisis to the Later Jin.

The conspiracy was accomplished, and this was a turnaround for Song Qiqiu to return to the core power circle. After learning from the pain, Song Qiqiu carefully summed up the experience and lessons, and also learned how to tickle Xu Zhigao's itch.

In September 938, Zhao Kefeng, the Minister of the Imperial Household, requested Xu Zhigao to restore his original surname and establish a Tang ancestral temple. Xu Zhigao issued an edict to disapprove of his request. In the first month of the following year (9), Xu Wen's biological sons Xu Zhizheng and Xu Zhixun continued to submit petitions to request Xu Zhigao to restore his original surname and establish a Li Tang ancestral temple, but Xu Zhigao also refused.

Song Qiqiu had made the wrong move in persuading the emperor to ascend the throne, and could not afford to miss this opportunity to take a political stand. Song Qiqiu, together with Zhang Juyong, Li Jianxun, Zhou Zong and others, jointly requested that Xu Zhigao restore his original surname.

Unlike Xu Zhizheng and Xu Zhiqi, Song Qiuqiu and others were not only highly respected, but also powerful figures who held real power. They were prime ministers and privy councilors, and were the leaders of all civil and military officials.

Xu Zhigao said sourly, "I dare not forget the Xu family's kindness."

Although it is also a rejection, this sentence is very interesting. There is something else behind the words. If you savor it carefully, you can taste the meaning of "agreement".

Worried that the ministers would not be able to accurately grasp the implication, Xu Zhigao specifically ordered all officials to discuss it. After all, it is a democracy. Let's discuss and see whether it is appropriate for me to change my surname.

So Song Qiuqiu took the lead and after careful discussion by the organization, they finally unanimously agreed: it is very suitable!
(End of this chapter)