History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 892: Destroying Shu (Part )

When the news of Wang Zhaoyuan and Zhao Chongtao's defeat and capture and the loss of Lizhou reached Chengdu, Meng Chang was horrified and hurriedly took out all the savings in the national treasury to recruit brave warriors. He temporarily assembled a force of more than 10,000 people. Then, Crown Prince Meng Xuanzhe took command, with Li Yangui and Zhang Huian as his deputies. He led this motley crowd of more than 10,000 people to the front line in an effort to drive the Song army out of Jianmen Pass.

This prince, Comrade Meng Xuanzhe, was the eldest son of Meng Chang. He was 27 years old at the time. He had been pampered since childhood and was uneducated and had no knowledge of military affairs. His two deputies, Li Yangui and Zhang Huian, were also mediocre and ignorant. This is how the history books evaluated them.

However, the name Li Yangui has appeared repeatedly in the previous article. He has appeared as a commander in major military operations, giving us the illusion that he is a famous general and a pillar of the country. Now let's formally get to know this famous general of the Later Shu Dynasty - Li Yangui.

Li Yangui's ancestral home was Taiyuan in Hedong. At the age of 7, he entered the general's mansion and served Meng Zhixiang, the governor of Taiyuan. Meng Zhixiang liked this smart boy very much, so he always took him with him from Hedong to Xichuan. After Meng Zhixiang became emperor, he placed him in the imperial guard system as a direct confidant.

After Meng Chang ascended the throne, Zhao Kuangzan surrendered to Hou Shu. Li Yangui was ordered to go to meet him. Halfway through the journey (Ziwu Valley), he heard the news that Zhao Kuangzan was suppressed by Wang Jingchong. So he withdrew his troops and returned to the capital. However, he was pursued by Wang Jingchong and was defeated and returned without success.

In the "Qinfeng War", Li Yangui led the army northward and was defeated again. He submitted a petition to wait for punishment, but Meng Chang released him without questioning him. Not only did he not deprive him of his military power, but he gave him even greater military power. Amidst the outcry from the court and the public, Li Yangui resigned under pressure from public opinion, but was promoted again soon after.
Now, Wang Zhaoyuan, Zhao Chongtao and other main forces were wiped out, and Li Yangui was given the task at hand.

Although Li Yangui participated in all the major battles during Meng Chang's reign, he was defeated without exception. He was as fierce as a tiger, but his record was zero and five.

As for the Crown Prince Meng Xuanzhe, he is even more of a funny guy hired by the monkey.

According to records, in order to demonstrate the power of the army, Meng Xuanzhe embroidered all the flags and decorated the flagpoles with precious Shu brocade. Just when the army was about to set out, it suddenly rained heavily. Meng Xuanzhe was worried that the rain would wet the flag with the word "General" on it, so he ordered people to take it down. After the rain stopped and the sky cleared, Meng Xuanzhe ordered people to hang it up again. As a result, the soldiers were clumsy and hung the flag in the wrong direction, with the head facing down and the feet facing up. The general flag was hung upside down, which was very unlucky.

This was of course a work error, and we cannot criticize Meng Xuanzhe with the decadent ideas of feudal superstition, but his subsequent actions are indefensible. Meng Xuanzhe brought a group of concubines and dozens of entertainers with him, and "everyone who saw him could not help but laugh."

Although Wang Zhaoyuan was arrogant, he at least looked up to Zhuge Liang, while Meng Xuanzhe paid tribute to Ximen Qing.

The country was in crisis, but Meng Xuanzhe, the crown prince, was at ease. He spent his days and nights playing with Li Yangui, not caring about military affairs. As soon as he arrived in Mianzhou (between Chengdu and Lizhou), he received news that the Song army was coming. Meng Xuanzhe realized that he was not out for a trip, and the enemy was coming soon. What should he do? After an urgent discussion with Li Yangui, he finally came up with a solution: run!
The two men burned houses and warehouses, implemented a scorched earth policy, and then planned to flee to Dongchuan. Later, they felt that Dongchuan was not safe either, so they simply fled back to Chengdu in one breath.

Meng Chang was almost mad with rage. Did I send you just to set a fire?

At the same time, after conquering the important town of Kuizhou, the Eastern Army marched westward along the river, conquering Kaizhou, Wanzhou, Zhongzhou, and Suizhou in succession, and appeared in the southeast of Chengdu. At this point, the two armies were approaching the outskirts of Chengdu.

In the first month of 965, Meng Chang asked for advice from his attendants, "My dear ministers, who has any plan to repel the enemy?" The civil and military officials remained silent. Only the veteran general Shi Yu raised his hand and answered, saying that the Song army had come a long way and would not be able to last long. We should fortify our defenses and fight a protracted war until the Song army retreats.

Meng Chang was already in despair. He smiled bitterly, shook his head and sighed, "It takes a thousand days to raise an army, but only a moment to deploy it. My father and I have raised them for forty years with fine clothes and delicious food, but now they are unwilling to shoot an arrow eastward for me! Now, I want to fortify the city and clear the countryside, but who can work for me?"

The performance of the Hou Shu army on the battlefield completely broke Meng Chang's defense. It was the so-called "fear of the wind, fear of the wind". "Ahem..." Someone cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence, "Um..."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, and then began to whisper to each other, discussing, "I knew it was him!"

Li Hao stepped out of the line and said, "Your Majesty, there is only one way out now. Please seal the treasury, write a letter of surrender, and a letter of submission..."

The look in Meng Chang's eyes when he looked at Li Hao was very intriguing. It was unclear whether he should be grateful or condemning. Behind his complex eyes, he revealed endless sadness, grief, helplessness and despair.

"I will follow your wishes and draft it for me."

Li Hao claimed to be the descendant of Li Shen, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. When he was 13 years old, his father and brothers and sisters all died in the war. His mother was separated from him and he lived a wandering life from then on, and finally settled in Bingzhou. More than ten years later, Liu Zhijun, a general of the Later Liang Dynasty, attacked Bingzhou. Li Hao fled and was captured by patrol soldiers. Liu Zhijun talked with him and found that he was very knowledgeable, so he kept him by his side and married his daughter to him. In the same year, Liu Zhijun rebelled against Liang and surrendered to Shu (Former Shu), and Li Hao followed him to Shu.

Later, Liu Zhijun was killed due to Wang Jian's suspicion, and Li Hao was implicated and dismissed from office. After Wang Jian's death, Wang Zongyan ascended the throne, and Li Hao was able to resume his career and rose from county magistrate to Hanlin scholar.

After the fall of Former Shu, Li Hao was captured and taken to the Central Plains. Later, he was appointed by Li Siyuan as Zhao Jiliang's deputy and served in Xichuan. Meng Zhixiang detained Zhao Jiliang, who later became a hero who assisted Meng Zhixiang in establishing the country and becoming emperor. However, Meng Zhixiang did not take Li Hao seriously at first. After reading an article by Li Hao, he realized that he was a talent and entrusted him with an important task.

After Meng Chang ascended the throne, Li Hao continued to be used in important positions. He was first a Hanlin scholar and later became a prime minister and participated in the compilation of national history.

Meng Chang respected Li Hao very much. He ordered people to paint portraits of meritorious officials of the third rank and above, imitating the Tang Dynasty's "Painted Portraits in Lingyan Pavilion", and hung them on both sides of the corridors with the real portrait of the previous emperor Meng Zhixiang. Li Hao's portrait was hung in the main hall for his "merit as an assistant", which was extremely honorable.

Once, Right Assistant Minister Zhang Jiuling told Meng Chang that the reason why our country was in a mess was because there were treacherous officials in the court. Meng Chang asked him who the treacherous officials were, and Zhang Jiuling said Prime Minister Li Hao and Privy Councilor Wang Zhaoyuan. Meng Chang was immediately furious and banished Zhang Jiuling from the court.

Li Hao and Wang Zhaoyuan were Meng Chang's favorites. Of course, Meng Chang loved Wang Zhaoyuan more. So when Li Hao and Wang Zhaoyuan disagreed on their attitudes towards Song, Meng Chang chose Wang Zhaoyuan without hesitation.

Interestingly, when the Former Shu Dynasty fell, it was Li Hao who drafted the surrender letter for Wang Zongyan, and now he drafted the surrender letter for the Later Shu Dynasty. So that night, someone wrote six big characters on the gate of Li Hao's house - the Li family of the Shixiu surrender letter.

After receiving the letter of surrender, Wang Quanbin sent someone to deliver it back to Bianzhou at full speed, and also sent his confidant Kang Yanze to Chengdu to appease Meng Chang.

(End of this chapter)