History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 849 Actor's Self-cultivation 3
3. Internal response
1. Shi Shouxin
Shi Shouxin was originally a trusted subordinate of Guo Wei. After Guo Wei became emperor, he was appointed as the imperial guard. After Chai Rong ascended the throne, he participated in the "Battle of Gaoping" and was promoted for meritorious service. He then participated in the "Three Expeditions to Huainan". Then - here comes the key point, pay attention to the blackboard, highlight the key points, please look at Shi Shouxin's work experience during the "Three Expeditions to Huainan":
"I joined the expedition to Huainan as the vanguard, conquered Liuhe, entered Wokou, and conquered Yangzhou..."

His war trajectory is highly consistent with that of Zhao Hongyin and Zhao Kuangyin. Although there is no clear record in historical books, we can boldly guess that it was during the "Three Expeditions to Huainan" that Shi Shouxin forged a deep fighting friendship with Zhao Kuangyin and became a close revolutionary comrade-in-arms.

After following Chai Rong to conquer the Three Passes in the north, he was promoted to the commander-in-chief of the palace due to his merits. He came into contact with Zhao Kuangyin and became his subordinate.

During the "Chenqiao Mutiny", Shi Shouxin stayed in Bianzhou and became Zhao Kuangyin's capable "internal supporter".

In addition to the Palace Guard Commander Shi Shouxin, there was another commander of the Bianzhou garrison - Palace Guard Commander Wang Shenqi.

2. Wang Shenqi
This gentleman's development trajectory is highly similar to that of Shi Shouxin: he initially served Guo Wei, "was pure and cautious in nature, and was very trustworthy to Guo Wei." He was Guo Wei's trusted subordinate and had followed Guo Wei to attack Li Shouzhen in Hezhong.

After Chai Rong ascended the throne, he participated in the "Battle of Gaoping" and was promoted to a mid-level general of the Imperial Guards (Iron Cavalry Du Yu Hou) for his merits. Once, Chai Rong personally tested the martial arts of the Imperial Guards. Wang Shenqi performed well and hit the target repeatedly, which earned him a special reward from Chai Rong.

When Chai Rong first conquered Huainan, Wang Shenqi and Guo Lingtu attacked Shuzhou. After a long siege, Wang Shenqi selected elite cavalry to attack the city and "took it overnight". Guo Lingtu then stationed in Shuzhou, while Wang Shenqi turned to attack Huangzhou.

A few days later, the Southern Tang counterattacked, Guo Lingtu was defeated and gave up Shuzhou. When Wang Shenqi heard about it, he immediately selected elite light cavalry, and they attacked overnight, with their men holding their mouths shut and their horses binding their hooves, and successfully recaptured Shuzhou. He was once again awarded a special commendation by Chai Rong.

Afterwards, Wang Shenqi supported the main line in the middle from the west and assisted Zhao Kuangyin in winning the "Battle of Purple Mountain"; then he followed the main force all the way eastward. In the Battle of Haozhou, Wang Shenqi led thousands of death squads to capture the water fort and seize Haozhou Yuecheng, and Haozhou surrendered; he also attacked Chuzhou, predicted the enemy's prediction, set up an ambush in advance, and successfully killed thousands of people and captured more than 5,000 people.

Afterwards, he followed the Northern Expedition and made considerable contributions in the "Northern Conquest of the Three Passes".

A fierce batch.

After Chai Zongxun ascended the throne, he was promoted to the position of Palace Guard Du Yu Hou due to his merits.

During the "Chenqiao Mutiny", Shi Shouxin, the commander-in-chief of the palace, and Wang Shenqi, the commander-in-chief of the palace, commanded the Bianzhou garrison. They can be said to be the last gatekeepers of the Later Zhou Dynasty and the last moat of Chai Zongxun.

However, both of them were Zhao Kuangyin's confidants. Historical records record that "Shouxin and Shenqi were both loyal to Kuangyin." They had been in the same boat for a long time, especially Wang Shenqi. After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin once said in person: "Shenqi is my friend in plain clothes."

On the night of the "Chenqiao Mutiny" occurred, Zhao Kuangyin's group dispatched the military envoy Guo Yanyun to rush to Bianzhou overnight to notify Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi, "Tiger, tiger, tiger."

There is another small detail worth pondering here. According to historical records, Zhao Kuangyin drank alone that night and was drunk and conscious of nothing. After Zhao Pu and Zhao Guangyi discussed with the generals, they sent Guo Yanyun back to Bianzhou to communicate without waiting for Zhao Kuangyin's instructions, and then launched a mutiny at dawn the next day.

First of all, how could they be sure that Zhao Kuangyin would obey obediently? What if he refused to obey and insisted on being a loyal minister of the Zhou Dynasty?
Secondly, before the mutiny happened, he notified the rear to prepare for support. What if Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi informed on the mutiny?
Therefore, this can still be regarded as another indirect evidence of the "long-term conspiracy" of Zhao Kuangyin's group. Zhao Kuangyin's group had already gone through careful planning. Zhao Pu, Chu Zhaofu, Wang Yansheng and others in Chenqiaoyi, Shi Shouxin, Wang Shenqi and others in Bianzhou City were all trustworthy comrades, all of whom were "insiders". They may have even gone through many rehearsals and were just waiting for the official release.

4. Black-faced thugs
Although the "Chenqiao Mutiny" was an illegal coup to change dynasties, there have been few negative or questioning voices, and it has long been well received. The most liked comment is "no bloodshed". Since ancient times, there have been many mutinies, and there are also many mutinies that led to the change of dynasties, but they were basically accompanied by blood and full of killings. Only Zhao Kuangyin's "Chenqiao Mutiny" was praised as a "bloodless coup", which lasted for a short time - less than two days at most, and the process was mild - no bloodshed, no chaos in the market.

If we look at it from the perspective of the general price of changing dynasties, the "Chenqiao Mutiny" is indeed worth writing about, but strictly speaking, it was not "bloodless", and some people really paid the price of their lives for it. Behind the kind smiles of the leading actors such as Zhao Kuangyin, some supporting actors also silently took on the role of black-faced thugs. Now, let's welcome Comrade Luo Yangui and Wang Yansheng to the stage to take their bows with warm applause:

1. Luo Yangui, the "professional follower"
Luo Yangui was born into a family of officials. His father was the governor of Qinzhou during the Later Jin Dynasty. Because of his father's relationship, Luo Yangui joined the Central Imperial Guards.

During the "Jin-Liao War", Shi Chonggui came to Chanzhou and needed messengers to travel between Chanzhou and Weizhou. However, the road was full of Khitan cavalry at that time, and the messenger who delivered intelligence became a high-risk job, almost a life-or-death struggle. No courier dared to take this job. At this time, Luo Yangui took the initiative to volunteer, holding a secret message in his mouth and riding a horse with his hooves wrapped, galloping back and forth at night, and successfully delivered the intelligence. He was highly valued by Shi Chonggui and promoted to the commander of Xingshun.

After the Khitan destroyed the Jin Dynasty and took control of Bianzhou, they promoted Luo Yangui to the position of Protector of the Holy Spirit. Then he was forced to return north. On the way to Youzhou, Luo Yangui had just arrived in Weizhou when he heard the news that Liu Zhiyuan was the leader in Hedong. So he led his troops to flee westward overnight and took refuge in Taiyuan Prefecture in Hedong. Liu Zhiyuan was very happy (the Han emperor praised him). After Liu Zhiyuan took control of Bianzhou, he immediately promoted him to the position of Protector of the Holy Spirit (previously it was a false order from the Khitan).

During the reign of Guo Wei of Later Zhou, he was involved in the "Two Kings Punishment", was labeled as "Wang Jun's accomplice", and was demoted and exiled.

After Chai Rong ascended the throne, he recalled him to the Imperial Guards and appointed him as the commander of the cavalry and infantry army. Later, he was affiliated with Xiang Xun's troops and participated in the "Qin-Feng War". He was promoted to the rank of Du Yu Hou for his merits.

Although historical records do not provide any information about the intersection between Luo Yangui and Zhao Kuangyin, we can still find some clues:

Luo Yangui is a person who is good at scheming, or in other words, good at "following the dragon".

At first, he was not well-known in the Later Jin Dynasty. In order to gain the emperor's appreciation, he volunteered to take on the glorious and arduous task, thus gaining the emperor's appreciation.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Later Han Dynasty, he very wisely surrendered to Liu Zhiyuan and received Liu Zhiyuan's affirmation;

At the beginning of the establishment of the Later Zhou Dynasty, he was involved in the "Two Kings Punishment" and was considered to be Wang Jun's accomplice. Wang Jun and Wang Yin were two great heroes who assisted Guo Wei in establishing the country and becoming emperor. Because they were disloyal and had too much power, they were eventually suspected by Guo Wei and were killed. There is no smoke without fire. Luo Yangui was classified as "Wang Jun's accomplice", which shows that Luo Yangui should have had a close personal relationship with Wang Jun at that time. In other words, if Wang Jun successfully overthrew Guo Wei, then Luo Yangui would still be a "founding hero."

And in Zhao Kuangyin's "Chenqiao Mutiny", Luo Yangui was undoubtedly Zhao Kuangyin's trusted henchman.

At that time, Zhao Kuangyin met with Prime Minister Fan Zhi and others, and pretended to cry to them that he had no choice. Prime Minister Fan Zhi and Wang Pu were at a loss. At this time, Luo Yangui held a sharp knife and threatened Fan Zhi and Wang Pu ferociously. Zhao Kuangyin hurriedly shouted at Luo Yangui not to be rude to the prime minister.

Faced with the stern rebuke from his master, Luo Yangui not only had no intention of stopping, but became even more aggressive, wishing to kill Fan Zhi, Wang Pu and others with a single blow, while Zhao Kuangyin's dissuasion remained just lip service.

As a result, Fan Zhi and others were forced to submit and become subjects of Zhao Kuangyin.

How could Luo Yangui have the guts to disobey Zhao Kuangyin's order? In fact, Luo Yangui not only did not disobey Zhao Kuangyin's "order", but obeyed Zhao Kuangyin's order very loyally. The master and servant sang in unison, perfectly performing a duet in front of the prime minister.

Luo Yangui's eyes widened, his face was full of ferocity, but it was just intimidation, no blood was shed. The one who really caused bloodshed in this mutiny was another double-act artist, Wang Yansheng.

(End of this chapter)