History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 751: “Health Products” Kill People (Part )

[“Health products” kill people]

During Xu Zhigao's reign, he worked diligently and conscientiously, forgetting to eat and sleep, a typical workaholic, which resulted in his being exhausted both physically and mentally, and he often suffered from back pain and felt unable to do things. Therefore, Xu Zhigao could only turn to "health products" and often took various elixirs that were said to prolong life and grant immortality.

One day, Xu Zhigao dreamed that a god gave him a magic pill to eat. Early the next morning, the alchemist Shi Shouchong presented him with a batch of "magic pills".

What a coincidence! Xu Zhigao was sure that this was a dream sent by the gods, and Shi Shouchong was the lovely angel sister, so he happily took the medicine, and from then on he became obsessed with the Taoist alchemy.

Now we know that the main raw materials used by Taoists to make elixirs in ancient times were heavy metals such as mercury, lead, copper, gold, and tin, and sometimes jade and other substances were added.

In that era, people believed that materials such as gold, silver, and jade were stable in nature, not easy to change, and would not decay, so as long as they were absorbed by the human body through some means, people would become "immortal" like them. This was a typical pseudo-scientific theory of "you are what you eat", plain and simple, but a mad test on the brink of death.

Therefore, Taoists and alchemists in every dynasty have devoted themselves to studying how to make it easier to absorb through chemical means (alchemy), and used emperors, generals, princes and nobles as guinea pigs for experiments.

Different Taoists and alchemists have different understandings of "alchemy", so they use different recipes and have their own merits in the refining process. Especially for those masters who dare to claim that they have exclusive secret recipes, the toxicity contained in their finished products is really terrifying when you think about it carefully.

One really dared to refine it, and the other really dared to eat it. In the spirit of scientific exploration, Taoist priests and alchemists successfully sent away waves of dignitaries.

From the list of ingredients, we can easily see that the Taoist alchemy has a high economic threshold, and ordinary people have no chance to participate, so they escaped the disaster. Poverty can sometimes save lives.

Many emperors suffered from heavy metal poisoning due to long-term use of elixirs, the most common of which was mercury poisoning. For example, Xu Zhigao, we do not know the specific ingredients and proportions of the "elixir" he took, but his clinical manifestations were a drastic change in temperament, irritability, and difficulty controlling his emotions. Chinese medicine said he was "getting angry", in short, it was more consistent with the characteristics of chronic mercury poisoning.

The ministers around him noticed his abnormality and advised him to stop taking the medicine immediately. However, Xu Zhigao said that "the medicine cannot be stopped."

Xu Zhigao regarded these poisons as treasures. He not only enjoyed them himself, but also gave them to his most favored ministers, such as Li Jianxun, the chief minister who had unwaveringly helped him ascend the throne.

"I won't give it to ordinary people."

After taking the medicine for a few days, Li Jianxun truthfully reported his experience with the medicine, saying that he felt very hot and had obvious symptoms of getting a fever after just a few days of taking it.

After hearing this, Xu Zhigao was quite unimpressed and said lightly: "I take it every day and I feel great." Xu Zhigao's temperament became more and more manic, and he often lost his temper and often got furious over trivial matters. However, whenever his ministers argued with reason and what they said was reasonable, Xu Zhigao could still suppress his anger and try to accept it calmly. However, as he continued to take the "magic pill", the poisoning became more and more serious.

In February 943, Xu Zhigao developed a carbuncle on his back, which rapidly worsened. Xu Zhigao strictly blocked the news and asked the imperial physician to treat him in secret. At the same time, he sent his confidant to urgently summon his eldest son Li Jing (Xu Jingtong) to the palace to take care of him.

On February 2, Li Jing rushed into the palace and saw his father for the last time. At that time, Xu Zhigao was already dying and passed away in the evening of the same day.

When a man is about to die, his words are good. When Xu Zhigao was dying, he finally realized the truth that "health products" are harmful to people. He held his son's hand and said, "I took the elixir to prolong my life, but it backfired and made me die faster. You must learn from my mistakes and never make a fool of yourself again!"

Sure enough, starting from Li Jing until the death of Li Yu, the last emperor of Southern Tang, and the destruction of his country, the rulers of Southern Tang no longer indulged in Taoism and no longer believed in any panacea.

Afterwards, Xu Zhigao taught Li Jing an eight-character motto for governing the country: "Be good friends with neighboring countries to protect the country."

Xu Zhigao earnestly warned Li Jing not to learn from Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, not to be ambitious and rely on dangerous terrain to block the enemy's troops, but to implement his own philosophy of governing the country and make friends with the neighbors. Only in this way can he be a filial son in my eyes and a wise king in the eyes of the people.

In order to make Li Jing's impression deeper, Xu Zhigao bit Li Jing's finger himself, so that he would remember the unforgettable pain and these wise words.

The previous article has briefly described the foreign policy of the Southern Tang during the period of Xu Zhigao. In one word: good-neighborliness and friendship.

Historical records have recorded a conversation between Xu Zhigao and Feng Yansi. At that time, Feng Yansi planned for Xu Zhigao to dominate the world. He said that we in Huainan should first destroy the Wuyue Kingdom, and then destroy the Min Kingdom and the Chu Kingdom. In this way, we can divide the world with the Central Plains and dominate one side.

Xu Zhigao objected to this, saying that the Qian family of Wuyue State nominally respected the Central Plains and occupied the moral high ground, and that it was neither justified nor reasonable to attack them.

Although the Min Kingdom is weak, if it occupies a strategic location and resists stubbornly, it will take at least a year or two to completely destroy it. Moreover, since ancient times, the Min area has been a remote place with a high heaven and a distant emperor. It is prone to chaos and is difficult to govern. Annexing the Min area may not be worth the loss.
The ponies of Southern Chu have been acting recklessly in Hunan and Xiang and have lost the support of the people. I do not deny that we can easily annex it, just as Mencius said, "The people of Qi attacked Yan." However, Southern Chu is located in a place surrounded by enemies, where the core interests of many forces are intertwined. As the saying goes, a single move can affect the entire body. The butterfly effect caused by this is something we cannot afford.

Therefore, our diplomatic attitude towards Wuyue, Min and Southern Chu should be "keep the three kingdoms and use them as a shield from the outside world." That is, we should regard these three neighbors as the moat of Huainan, allowing them to offset foreign cultural infiltration, political influence and military attacks. In this way, we can concentrate on development, accumulate strength, and wait for the day when there is a major change in the Central Plains, so that we can seize the opportunity to kill them with one strike and rule the world in one fell swoop.

This is Xu Zhigao's great talent and strategy. He was not a "farmer" who was not enterprising and was content with a small fortune, but a politician who could judge the situation and know when to advance and retreat.

(End of this chapter)