History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 759 I, Hu Hansan, am back again

[I, Hu Hansan, am back again]

The cunning Song Qiqiu took advantage of the weak Li Jing's unstable foothold and attacked him. His followers advised Li Jing not to burn bridges after crossing the river, to treat the founding heroes and old predecessors well, and not to disappoint everyone. So Li Jing ordered Song Qiqiu to return to Beijing, and also transferred Zhou Zong, a member of the "former emperor's party", to the central government. Although the two entered the central government in name, they still had no real power.

After Song Qiuqiu returned to the central government, he started to fight without stopping.

The first to be hit was Chang Mengxi of the "Qingliu Party".

Chang Mengxi was a man from northern Shaanxi, where the original boss was Li Maozhen from Fengxiang. The people in the northwest were tough and martial, but Chang Mengxi was a maverick who loved reading and writing, and was out of tune with the people around him. Later, he became a temporary worker in the local county government office, and his life was dull and he could not see the day to get ahead.

After Li Maozhen died, his son Li Jihe succeeded to the throne. Li Jihe attached great importance to culture, so Chang Mengxi was promoted to the magistrate of Baoji County. Li Jihe paid tribute to the Later Tang Dynasty and moved to Bianzhou during the reign of Emperor Mingzong. Chang Mengxi followed Li Jihe to Bianzhou. It is said that he was framed in Bianzhou and had to flee to Huainan and seek refuge with Xu Zhigao. Xu Zhigao valued him very much and gradually promoted him. After he became emperor, he promoted him to the position of Palace Attendant Censor and Deputy Director of the Ministry of Rites.

The Imperial Censor in the Palace is similar to today's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and is also often referred to as the "censor" or "remonstrating official" in storytelling and romance. He is responsible for reporting on and supervising senior officials. It can be seen that Chang Mengxi must be a person who speaks out for justice and is impartial.

Chang Mengxi performed outstandingly and was highly appreciated by Xu Zhigao. He received many commendations and was constantly entrusted with important tasks. He was promoted to the Secretariat, and many state affairs were entrusted to him for handling.

How impartial was Chang Mengxi? He even dared to confront Li Jing, repeatedly accusing him of his faults without showing any mercy. Although Li Jing was furious, he did not dare to lose his temper, and suppressed his anger, showing respect for his integrity.

At that time, Song Qiqiu had just started to operate political speculation. He ambushed his confidant Chen Jue beside Li Jingqian, and then searched his brains to find all kinds of faults of Li Jing. Chang Mengxi's approach just met Song Qiqiu's interests. At that time, Song Qiqiu's team was still relatively immature. Based on the principle of "either our enemy or our friend", Song Qiqiu took the initiative to extend an olive branch to Chang Mengxi, "We in the East Factory need talents like you!"

However, facing Song Qiqiu's solicitation, Chang Mengxi flatly refused. Not only did he refuse to go along with him, he also ran to Xu Zhigao to make a report, saying that Song Qiqiu and Chen Jue were extremely treacherous, and Wei Cen, Feng Yansi, and Feng Yanlu were also villains and should not be used. This made Song Qiqiu very angry.

Later, Xu Zhigao established Qi Wang Li Jing as the heir to the throne. Chang Mengxi often advised against it, saying that Chen Jue, Wei Cen, Feng Yansi and others were treacherous and evil and should not be allowed to stay with Li Jing.

After Li Jing ascended the throne, he knew that Chang Mengxi was loyal and upright, so he put aside their past grudges and appointed him as a Hanlin scholar.

Song Qiqiu who returned from Hongzhou is no longer the same Song Qiqiu as before. He now has a huge influence and his slogan has become "You are either my friend or my enemy." He wants to sacrifice Chang Mengxi first.

Song Qiuqiu and his followers accused Chang Mengxi of "sealing and refuting the imperial edict."

The job of the Menxia Province was to review imperial edicts and government decrees. When it was deemed inappropriate, it had the right to reject or modify them, which was called "feng refutation."

There is no detailed record in the history books, and Chang Mengxi clearly had the power to "seal and refute", but he was still convicted for it. This shows that Song Qiuqiu had a powerful hand.

Chang Mengxi was banished from the court and exiled to Chizhou.

Chizhou to the Southern Tang regime is like Guangdong and Guangxi to the Li Tang Dynasty. It was a gathering place for demoted officials. Many high-ranking officials of the central government were demoted here for the convenience of centralized custody. The locals called the officials who were exiled here "migrants". The person responsible for supervising these "migrants" was Wang Yanchou, the governor of Xuanzhou Ningguo Army (Chizhou was a prefecture under the jurisdiction of Ningguo Army).

Wang Yanchou was very unfriendly to the migrants and was extremely strict in supervising them, even to the point where it was difficult for them to make a living. However, Wang Yanchou was a different person towards Chang Mengxi and treated him with great respect and courtesy.

"I, Song Qiqiu, am here to fight tigers, not flies!"

After testing his hand with Chang Mengxi, Song Qiuqiu immediately turned his attention to a heavyweight figure in the Southern Tang Dynasty - Zhou Zong.

Zhou Zong is a heavyweight because his qualifications are comparable to Song Qiuqiu's. They both came to Xu Zhigao when he first became the governor of Shengzhou. They became Xu Zhigao's undisputed original meritorious official, assisting Xu Zhigao from Shengzhou to the central government, and then winning the battle for the throne, eliminating Xu Zhixun, and finally dominating Huainan. During this period, Zhou Zong repeatedly offered clever plans and was highly valued by Xu Zhigao, which also caused Song Qiuqiu's jealousy.

The conflict between the two was intensified on the key issue of Xu Zhigao's enthronement. At first, the two had the same view that Xu Zhigao should not act too hastily, and should not learn from Zhu Wen, but from Cao Cao and Sima Yi. However, the turn of the story was so unexpected. One day, Xu Zhigao suddenly pulled out his white beard in front of the mirror and said meaningfully that he was old. Zhou Zong, who was beside him, immediately guessed what Xu Zhigao meant, so he broke the window paper and suggested that Xu Zhigao usurp Southern Wu, and got Xu Zhigao's tacit approval. Originally, Zhou Zong kindly informed Song Qiqiu and told him about the key change in the political direction. Unexpectedly, Song Qiqiu was unwilling to be "the first merit of persuading Zhou Zong" (Qiqiu was jealous of the great discussion from Zong), and unexpectedly stood on the opposite side, not only publicly expressing opposition, but also persuading Xu Zhigao to kill Zhou Zong with flowery words. Fortunately, Xu Jie, Li Jianxun and others pleaded hard, which saved Zhou Zong's life.

Zhou Zong told you the political trend in time, fearing that you would stand on the wrong side or say the wrong thing, and he was wholeheartedly doing it for your own good, but you, Song Qiqiu, wanted to kill him...

Zhou Zong finally recognized Song Qiuqiu's beastly nature, and their personal relationship broke down. Song Qiuqiu also took the first step into the abyss, and they drifted apart from each other from then on.

After Xu Zhigao became emperor, he treated Zhou Zong especially well, and Song Qiuqiu was also ostracized because of his political stance, which made Song Qiuqiu even more angry and humiliated, so he took his anger out on Zhou Zong, regarding him as a thorn in his side, and often slandered him, refusing to stop until he had Zhou Zong killed.

Zhou Zong was well aware of the political situation and Song Qiqiu's despicable and shameless tactics, so he chose to retreat. Although he was favored by Xu Zhigao, he never relied on his achievements to be arrogant. Historical records show that Zhou Zong "feared power, lived frugally at home, and did not use his salary." Zhou Zong was a noble man, a pure man, and a man who was free from vulgar tastes. Even if Song Qiqiu was nitpicking and picking bones in eggs, he could not find any faults with Zhou Zong, "so even if Qiqiu slandered him every day, he could not harm him."

As the saying goes, you don't have to worry about thieves stealing, but you have to worry about thieves thinking about it. Being cautious in words and deeds may not necessarily avoid being framed by villains, and being indifferent and showing weakness will not win the mercy of the enemy. Being in a high position, it is a crime to possess a treasure, so Zhou Zong chose to stay away from the central government, first leaving Jiangzhou and then moving to Xuanzhou.

After Li Jing succeeded to the throne, Li Jianxun, a founding hero who was also a member of the "Former Emperor Party" like Zhou Zong, asked Li Jing to care for the old predecessors and not let others say that the emperor was ruthless. So Li Jing summoned Zhou Zong back to the central government.

According to records, when Zhou Zong returned to the capital, Li Jing personally adjusted his hat (pleated futoujiao) as a sign of special courtesy.

Zhou Zong returned and was treated with special courtesy by the current emperor Li Jing. He even made Zhou Zong and Song Qiqiu serve as prime ministers together to check and balance each other. This made Song Qiqiu very angry. So Zhou Zong naturally became Song Qiqiu's second target.

Song Qiuqiu and his cronies Chen Jue, Wei Cen and others joined forces to frame Zhou Zong (Song Qiuqiu made many friends and tried every means to overthrow him), forcing the honest man to death.

Zhou Zong couldn't stand it anymore and ran to Li Jing to cry.

At this time, an interesting scene appeared. Confucius said: A gentleman is concerned with righteousness, while a villain is concerned with profit. Song Qiqiu's party was not a monolithic entity. They had no common ideals and beliefs. They were just a mob that came together for their own small interests. When personal interests were touched, fierce conflicts would break out among them.

For example, the rising new star in the political arena - Wei Cen. Wei Cen and Zha Wenhui were appointed as deputy envoys of the Privy Council by Li Jing, and they held real power. Coincidentally, Chen Jue's mother passed away, and Chen Jue had to resign and go home to "mourn his mother" as usual. Wei Cen stretched out his evil hands to Chen Jue and began to publicize Chen Jue's various evil deeds in order to usurp Chen Jue's power.

Zhou Zonglai filed a complaint against Song Qiuqiu and Chen Jue, and Wei Cen also "turned against" and filed a complaint against Chen Jue. The despicable deeds of Song Qiuqiu and Chen Jue gradually surfaced, and those who had been oppressed by Song Qiuqiu and his party also complained about their unfortunate experiences.

Li Jing finally saw through Song Qiuqiu's ugly face and demoted him from the capital again, sending him to be the governor of Runzhou Zhenhai Army.

Song Qiuqiu became angry and humiliated, and once again gave up his job and submitted a petition to resign and retire. Just like he had done more than ten years ago, he still wanted to retire to Mount Jiuhua.

After more than ten years, it’s still the same recipe and the same familiar taste.

In order to show his attitude, Li Jing was also very ruthless and did not try to keep him. He approved it immediately and issued an imperial edict to encourage him: "Regarding your request to retire, the late emperor approved it more than ten years ago (tomorrow's trip, the promise in the past). I have long known that you are a person who is indifferent to fame and fortune, and I dare not go against your ambition. Let's go, quickly."

Li Jing still felt that it was not enough, so he specially bestowed on him the title of "Mr. Jiuhua" and the title of "Duke of Qingyang", and used the taxes of Qingyang County as his living expenses. "You can retire with peace of mind!"
"Let's go!" Song Qiuqiu came to Jiuhua Mountain in a fit of anger and built a private villa on a large scale. His daily food, clothing, housing and transportation were all in accordance with the standards of princes and nobles. The resentment in his heart was beyond words.

Song Qiqiu fell from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the valley after his second enemy, Zhou Zong. The centipede is still alive, and his followers, the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils", are still entrenched in the capital, occupying the core power circle. In the future, Song Qiqiu will come out again and stir up another round of waves.

Song Qiuqiu's life was full of ups and downs. Sometimes he was an ordinary citizen, and sometimes he was the prime minister of the empire. He became one of the most legendary figures in the history of the Southern Tang Dynasty and even in the history of China. However, despite all his scheming, his final years were very miserable, which will be described in detail later.

(End of this chapter)