History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 880: The Legend of the Lai Family (Part )

【Legend of Lai】

Jingnan, also known as "Nanping" and "Bei Chu", is a unique place among the "Ten Kingdoms". Its land area is the smallest, without a doubt. At first, there was only a tiny city called Jiangling, and later it was stabilized into three states: Jing, Gui, and Xia. The Gao family never claimed to be emperor or king, which is fundamentally different from the Former Shu, Later Shu, and Southern Tang. Therefore, some historians believe that Jingnan should not be included in the "Ten Kingdoms". For example, the "Nine Kingdoms Records" did not recognize the Gao family regime in Jingnan, but only recorded the other nine kingdoms.

Gao Jichang, the founding emperor, was originally a servant of Zhu Yourang, the adopted son of Zhu Wen. Later, he was favored by Zhu Wen and ordered Zhu Yourang to adopt him as his adopted son. Thus, he became Zhu Wen's god-grandson. Later, he followed Zhu Wen to fight and repeatedly offered brilliant strategies, which earned him further appreciation from Zhu Wen.

In 907 AD, Zhu Wen established the country and proclaimed himself emperor. He appointed Gao Jichang as the governor of Jingnan. From then on, Gao Jichang began to manage this base.

During the Later Tang Dynasty, he took the initiative to avoid taboos and changed his name to Gao Jixing. Zhuangzong Li Cunxu named him "Prince of Nanping County", which is also the origin of the term "Nanping Kingdom".

During the reign of Emperor Mingzong Li Siyuan, he broke away from the Central Plains and turned to Huainan, where he was given the title "King of Qin".

Gao Jichang died of beriberi and was posthumously named "King of Chu" by the Later Tang Dynasty. His son Gao Conghui once again pledged his loyalty to the Central Plains.

Although Jingnan is a small place, it occupies a unique geographical location. The Gao father and son benefited from this and played geopolitics very well. Please put the words "hypocrisy" and "double-dealing" on the public screen.

While supporting the Later Tang dynasty, Gao Conghui secretly maintained close contact with the Huainan group and persuaded Xu Zhigao to ascend the throne. When Xu Zhigao really usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, Gao Conghui applied to set up a consulate in Shengzhou to strengthen political mutual trust, which was warmly welcomed by Xu Zhigao.

The prosperity of the Jingnan region benefited to a large extent from the Gao father and son's "two-timing" strategy, which enabled them to reap huge dividends in the fields of politics, commerce and trade through the confrontation between the Central Plains and Huainan.

Gao Conghui not only had a secret relationship with Huainan, the mortal enemy of the Central Plains, but also secretly communicated with the traitors in the Central Plains. When An Congjin, the governor of Shannan East Road of the Later Jin Dynasty, was plotting a rebellion, Gao Conghui had close correspondence with him and expressed his willingness to support him. At the same time, when Tao Gu, a Hanlin scholar from the Later Jin Dynasty, visited Jingnan, Gao Conghui invited him to go up to the tower to review the troops. Pointing at the warships on the river, he said, "Wu and Shu have been disloyal for a long time. I have prepared the navy and am only waiting for the emperor's order!"

Tao Gu reported to the court, and Shi Jingtang of the Later Jin Dynasty was very happy and gave him 100 war horses.

A few months later, An Congjin indeed rebelled, and then called on Gao Conghui to fulfill the agreement and provide support. However, Gao Conghui, contrary to his usual behavior, sternly refused, and reported An Congjin's rebellion to the court of the Later Jin Dynasty, crying about An Congjin's despicable behavior of alienating Jingnan, and asked the court to send troops to fight against the rebel An Congjin together with Jingnan.

Sure enough, Shi Jingtang not only did not blame Gao Conghui, but instead rewarded him and asked him to provide military rations to help quell the rebellion.

When the Khitan destroyed the Jin Dynasty, Gao Conghui immediately sent envoys to pay tribute to the Khitan and pledge his allegiance. At the same time, he sent people to Taiyuan Prefecture in Hedong to persuade Liu Zhiyuan to ascend the throne, expressing that Jingnan fully supported Comrade Liu Zhiyuan in taking the job of emperor, and only asked that after Liu Zhiyuan became emperor, he would cede Yingzhou to Jingnan.

This is the racial talent of the "Gao Laizi" family - to play both sides. This is why the tiny Jingnan was able to survive throughout the entire Five Dynasties.

After Liu Zhiyuan entered Bian, Gao Conghui sent him a generous gift: 1,000 taels of gold and silver, 300 pieces of brocade with different patterns, 200 pieces of white silk, 100 pieces of white silk, two plush warm seats, and a nine-chain pure steel hand knife. At the same time, he asked Liu Zhiyuan to fulfill his previous promise and make Yingzhou a part of Jingnan.

Liu Zhiyuan acted like a little rogue and refused to acknowledge his mistake and give it.

Gao Conghui was very angry. The Gao Laizi family had always played tricks on others. This was the first time they were played tricked. It was a disgrace to the family! So he refused to accept any title given by Liu Zhiyuan.

Coincidentally, Du Chongwei of Weizhou rebelled, and Gao Conghui decided to take this opportunity to teach the Later Han a lesson, so he sent troops to attack Xiangzhou. However, he was defeated by An Shenqi, the governor of Xiangzhou. He then turned to attack Yingzhou, and as a result, the "elite of the country" in southern Jingzhou was defeated by a small governor of Yingzhou.

Facts have proved that Jingnan has no other strengths except being a rogue and a scumbag.

Gao Conghui was extremely angry, so he announced that he would break off all ties with the Later Han Dynasty and instead pledge allegiance to the Southern Tang and Later Shu. In short, he still had to unswervingly maintain the basic national policy of straddling two camps.

Jingnan is bordered by the Central Plains to the north, Huainan to the east, Southern Chu to the south and Hou Shu to the west. It has a well-developed water system and convenient transportation, making it an important transportation hub and logistics distribution center. Gao Laizi's strategy of having his feet on two boats transformed the most difficult geopolitical problems during the Five Dynasties into the most ideal business environment, which led to its economic prosperity.

The reason is easy to understand. Huainan and Zhongyuan are politically irreconcilable, and foreign trade is strictly prohibited. However, there are objective needs in the economy, and they are interdependent. Both sides need a window for dialogue and communication to get what they need. Jingnan just meets all the conditions to act as a window, so both Zhongyuan and Huainan acquiesce in Jingnan's "smuggling" behavior. This is the tacit understanding between politicians. The "middleman" Jingnan makes a lot of money by making a difference.

In addition to Huainan, Shu's foreign trade was also mostly carried out via the "Jingnan-Zhongyuan" waterway.

Once Jingnan broke away from the Central Plains, it would mean closing the trade route and giving up its status as an international cargo transit station. As a result, within just half a year, Jingnan's economy was on the verge of collapse. Historical records show that "since it was cut off from the Han Dynasty, merchants from the north did not come, and the country was impoverished."

Gao Conghui finally realized how reckless he was. He was heartbroken, "Whoever starts a trade war with China will lose everything." Another advantage of the "Gao Laizi" family is that they are shameless, shameless, and have no idol baggage. After realizing that Jingnan could not leave the Central Plains, Gao Conghui immediately sent people to the Later Han Dynasty to pretend to be obedient and admit their mistakes.

He was lucky because Liu Zhiyuan had passed away and Liu Chengyou had just ascended the throne for less than half a year. Seeing that Gao Conghui admitted his mistake sincerely (two hundred taels of gold, one thousand taels of silver, fifty pieces of fine brocade, six and fifty zhu of embroidered brocade, two hundred pieces of rosin, and two catties of camphor), he issued an edict to comfort him and readmit Gao Conghui of Jingnan.

Soon after, the Later Han Dynasty sent a special envoy, Tian Min, to visit Southern Chu via Jingnan. Note that the shortest route from the Central Plains to Southern Chu is to go through Jingnan, which is a foreshadowing of the Song Dynasty's "using the pass of Guo as a pretext to attack Guo".

Gao Conghui entertained Tian Min and during the meal inquired about the strength of the Later Han Dynasty. He asked Tian Min about the situation and said that the Central Plains had been severely damaged after the war between Jin and Liao, and it might have suffered a devastating trauma.

In international exchanges, strength determines attitude. If the strength of the Central Plains cannot exert sufficient deterrence on the region, that is, the central government is weak and the local areas are strong, then the feudal lords will become more unscrupulous, which is also an important reason for the formation of the feudal separatist situation since the end of the Tang Dynasty. Gao Conghui seemed to care about the superior country, but in fact he was trying to gain political initiative for Jingnan.

How could such a low-level trick be hidden from Tian Min? Tian Min replied: "Du Chongwei surrendered to the Khitan with 300,000 troops and all their equipment. The Khitans settled them in Zhenzhou without taking away a single soldier or piece of armor. Now, these troops and equipment, along with the rest of the Later Jin armed forces, have all returned to the Han Dynasty without losing a single cent. How can it be said that they have suffered a great loss?"

Gao Conghui was quite unhappy, and was not convinced in his heart.

Tian Min also presented him with the A version of the Five Classics, asking him to read more books of sages, learn more about benevolence, righteousness, morality, have a little understanding of shame, and stop treating ignorance as a personality trait and "laizi" as a compliment.

Gao Conghui became even more displeased and said, "I only know the Book of Filial Piety and I can't understand anything else." The implication was that you in the Central Plains mocked me for being unkind and unjust, so I will scold you for being disloyal and unfilial.

Tian Min added: "The highest virtue is enough here!" Then he recited the "Prince Chapter": "When in a high position, do not be arrogant; when high, do not be dangerous; when in a high position, do not be prudent; when full, do not overflow."

It was a subtle criticism of Gao Conghui's arrogance and pettiness, who wanted to bargain with the Celestial Empire just because he controlled two or three states.

This is a fight between gods and a duel between masters.

Gao Conghui was so angry that he punished Tian Min by making him drink (he punished Min with a large cup).

In November of the first year of the Qianyou reign of the Later Han Dynasty (948), Gao Conghui was seriously ill and appointed his son Gao Baorong to judge the internal and external military affairs, which was equivalent to the "judge of the six armies and guards" or "the generalissimo of the world's military affairs" in the Central Plains Dynasty, and his status was roughly equivalent to that of a successor. He then passed away at the age of 11, leaving us too early.

Gao Conghui ruled Jingnan for 20 years. Historians had relatively friendly comments about him. Sima Guang commented that he was "bright and wise, and courteous to scholars". The "Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms" commented that he was "intelligent and resourceful."

Gao Conghui inherited and carried forward Gao Jichang's "relying on his son" tradition. Although he was despised and scorned by the Central Plains Dynasty and the vassal states, and his international status was at the bottom, Jingnan did gain a lot of benefits. Who doesn't want to make money while standing? But making money while kneeling is also making money.

Making money, doing business, that's not shabby.

To put it bluntly, the Gao family of Jingnan is shameless, fickle, profit-driven, and two-faced... To put it nicely, they are very versatile, good at maneuvering, and adept at handling things with ease.

We can refer to the historian's final verdict on Gao's father and son:

"The tiny Jingzhou is surrounded by four warring states... He can fight against all the states with one hand, and make peace or fight with them. He plays with the Central Plains in the palm of his hand. He is also a man of great strategic skills!"

During these 20 years, the Jingnan region has basically maintained peace and stability, its economy has developed rapidly, and its people have lived and worked in peace and contentment. Objectively speaking, the fact that Jingnan, located in a "land surrounded by four wars", can achieve this ideal state is closely related to the political wisdom of the Gao father and son - "Lai Ziism".

No matter how outsiders spurn and ridicule the Gao father and son, the people of Jingnan should express their sincere gratitude to the Gao family.

At the beginning of his succession, Gao Conghui also envied his neighbor, the Ma family of Southern Chu, for their extravagance and debauchery, and wanted to criticize their corruption. His adviser Sun Guangxian advised him that Ma's extravagance would eventually lead to the demise of the country, so why should he learn from them? Gao Conghui suddenly realized his mistake and from then on he was proud of hard work and ashamed of extravagance and debauchery. As a result, Sun Guangxian entered the core power circle and was highly valued by Gao Conghui.

Gao Conghui was not fond of extravagance and debauchery, harsh laws, suspicion and killing. His only hobby was raising horses. For this purpose, he spent a huge amount of money to buy famous horses from all over the world. However, he never met a famous horse in his entire life. This was Gao Conghui's lifelong regret.

(End of this chapter)