【Graveside Dance】
According to Yang Xingmi, all the disciples are unworthy and cannot inherit the inheritance. Among the sons, the eldest son Yang Wo had just turned 21 years old, and the other sons were even younger. If Xu Wen and Zhang Haokan had not been the lonely and important ministers, Yang Xingmi would have died with his eyes closed.
In the Huainan Group, the civil and military officials also criticized Yang Wo's governance ability and moral character, saying that "he has no reputation, and the military government takes it lightly." Tie Hanhan Zhou Yin bluntly suggested that Yang Xingmi give way to the veteran Liu Wei, and even dared to withhold the official document summoning Yang Wo to Yangzhou without authorization. Thanks to the operation of Xu Wen and Zhang Hao, Yang Wo was able to successfully assume the throne.
The previous article talked about Yang Wo's external measures after he took charge of Huainan. If it were limited to the results, it could be called unsatisfactory. However, if you examine it carefully, you will find a chilling conclusion-Yang Wo lacks top-level design.
As the most powerful vassal in South China, Huainan should have been in a strategically active position and set the pace, just like Yang Xingmi, a man of great talent and strategy, who became a trendsetter of the times. However, Yang Wo was completely in a passive position, being led by others.
The attack on Hongzhou was a result of the collusion of Zhong Chuan’s traitors, who passively interfered in Jiangxi affairs;
The attack on Tanzhou was a self-defense counterattack because it was attacked first;
The reason for aiding Langzhou was because Lei Yangong of Langzhou was in trouble and burned himself, so the slave dragged his master into the water...
People without thought, he must worry about. Ordinary people are like this, let alone a country of ten thousand chariots!
If it is just a lack of ability, with the help of loyal ministers and good generals who are loyal and wise, it is enough to be able to live in a corner. However, Yang Wo was morally corrupt and squandered all Yang's energy, and he was worthy of the "unworthy" evaluation.
First, there is the graveyard dance.
During the mourning period for his father Yang Xingmi, Yang Wo did not show any sadness, but drank and partyed day and night. Yang Wo likes to play ball and is so obsessed with it day and night. In order to obtain enough lighting, Yang Wo ordered people to make huge candles. It is said that it takes ten people to surround them. Just one such huge candle costs tens of thousands of dollars. Here, Under the light of a giant candle, the stadium was as bright as day.
Secondly, avenge private revenge.
Under normal circumstances, ability is inversely proportional to temper and mind. A waste egg like Yang Wo must have the character traits of a small belly and a vengeance.
When he heard that Zhou Yin had objected to his father's passing the throne to him, he was furious. He immediately summoned Zhou Yin, scolded him in person, denounced Zhou Yin as a traitor, and then beheaded the honest and simple Zhou Yin.
As for the veteran Wang Maozhang who strictly enforced the law and did not allow him to bring his cronies to Yangzhou, he was also retaliated and was forced to defect to Qian Liu in Hangzhou. This has been mentioned in the previous article and will not be repeated.
The execution of Zhou Yin and the forced removal of Wang Maozhang marked the beginning of Yang Wo's bloody political purge, aiming the butcher's knife at "veterans". As the saying goes, one dynasty is an emperor and one courtier, and all the generals and generals who have made great achievements in the past are in danger and panic.
General Lu Shizhou was stationed in Jiangxi. During the "War between Huaichu", he repeatedly severely wounded Ma Yin in Tanzhou and made countless contributions to Huainan. However, he also suffered from Yang Wo's suspicion. Out of fear, Lu Shizhou was forced to go into exile and defected to his former enemy, Tanzhou Ma Yin.
When Ma Yin heard that Lu Shizhou had come to surrender, he was very happy and said to the people around him: "I want to attack Lingnan, and this person is enough!" So he appointed Lu Shizhou as the commander-in-chief (the commander of the Ma Bu Army) and led the army to attack Lingnan. Lian Kezhao, He, Wu, Meng, Gong, Fu and other states expanded the power of Tanzhou to the Lingnan area. Subsequently, Ma Yin appointed Lu Shizhou as the governor of Zhaozhou.
Of the two Huainan generals, one defected to Hangzhou Qian Liu and the other to Tanzhou Ma Yin. One goes and the other goes up, and the power of Huainan is greatly weakened by Yang Wo's small belly.
Third, promote cronies.
Yang Wo knew that his reputation was not good enough to convince the public. Zhou Yin was outspoken and said it out loud, while others kept it deep in their hearts.
Yang Wo used the "Great Purge" to promote a large number of cronies to important civil and military positions. These cronies were familiar with the hidden rules of politics and unscrupulously oppressed and squeezed out the elders of the previous dynasty, gradually returning military and political power to the "Prince Gang".
Fourth, replace the guards.
Yang Wo's suspicion of "dissident" elements reached the extreme. He not only distrusted the old Tuogu officials left behind by his father, but also distrusted the guards around him. Yang Wo often went out to play alone, and his attendants searched everywhere but could not find him. In Yang Wo's view, it was safer for him to be alone, because these guards were left by his father, and the people who led these guards were Tuogu veterans Xu Wen and Zhang Hao.
Xu Wen and Zhang Hao are obviously the top representatives of the "veterans of the former dynasty" and are the thorn in Yang Wo's side.
Therefore, Yang Wo personally selected a group of young and strong warriors to form the "Prince East Palace Cavalry Company" (East Court Horse Army) as his personal bodyguards, and included all the thousands of personal troops commanded by Xu Wen and Zhang Hao. Demobilized and converted its camp into a shooting range.
In less than a year, Yang Wo relied on his own strength to turn the Huainan Group into a mess. There is poetry to prove it:
"The shooting range is newly opened to the inner camp, and the basement is noisy and the sky is falling.
The incense candles are all around like the morning, and Mai comes to bat the ball late at night. "
Xu Wen and Zhang Hao, the old ministers who had the important task of entrusting the orphans, couldn't stand it anymore, so they went to Yang Wo and persuaded him in tears to change his ways and not to ruin the inheritance that the late king had worked hard for.
Yang Wo was furious, "You always say I'm not qualified. What do you mean? Since I'm not qualified, okay, then you kill me and you come and sit in this position!"
The two were horrified and quickly apologized saying they had misunderstood.
Yang Wo snorted coldly, tossed his sleeves and left. The two old ministers were left shaking their heads in the cold wind and lamenting.
When Yang Wo was in Xuanzhou, he had three cronies, Zhu Sixing, Fan Sicong and Chen Fan. The three of them commanded 3,000 elite troops. This army was regarded as Yang Wo's direct armed force. When he first came to Yangzhou to seize the throne, Yang Wo wanted to bring him with him. They walked together, but Wang Maozhang refused according to law. Now, Yang Wo transferred this army to Yangzhou.
Xu Wen and Zhang Hao felt unprecedented fear. If they didn't take any action, they might become the second Zhou Yin and Wang Maozhang.
Xu Wen, Zhang Hao and others! Compared with Yang Wo, it is like a king versus a bronze.
First, on the pretext of the failure of the "War between Huaichu", Xu Wen and Zhang Hao executed Yang Wo's cronies, the supervisor Xu Xuanying, for the crime of defeating the army.
Secondly, during the Hongzhou War, Yang Wo sent three of his cronies—Zhu Sixing, Fan Sicong, and Chen Fan—to the front line to gild their qualifications and gain revolutionary achievements, paving the way for future promotions.
Therefore, Xu Wen and Zhang Hao secretly sent their confidant Chen Youchi to the front line to assassinate the three people and falsely accuse them of treason.
Of course Yang Wo didn't believe it, but before Yang Wo could take action, news came from the Hongzhou front line: Zhu Sixing, Fan Sicong, and Chen Fan had been executed.
Yang Wo was furious and decided to kill Xu Wen and Zhang Hao.
On the ninth day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of Tianyou's reign in the Tang Dynasty (907), Yang Wo was promoted to office. Xu Wen and Zhang Hao suddenly broke in with two hundred elite warriors, their bows strung and their swords unsheathed, full of murderous intent.
Yang Wo was shocked and blurted out, "Damn, you really want to kill me?"
The two men clasped their fists and saluted, and replied: "Your Majesty, how dare we kill the King? We just want to kill the evil villains around the King!" Then, they listed the crimes of more than a dozen of Yang Wo's cronies and dragged them to the yard. Here, he used a sledgehammer to kill him with a headshot and declared that he was carrying out "soldier advice." It is to "clear the emperor's side".
Xu Wen and Zhang Hao used this "military remonstrance" to not only eliminate all Yang Wo's cronies, but also eradicate "dissident elements".
As a result, the military and political power in Huainan fell into the hands of Xu Wen and Zhang Hao, and Yang Wo became their puppet.
Although Yang Wo is still nominally the highest military and political officer in Huainan, his real power has been controlled by Xu Wen and Zhang Hao. At this time, it was only one year and two months since Yang Xingmi's death.
