【Death of Yang Wo】
After Yang Wo was ignored by Xu Wen and Zhang Hao, he was always angry and always looking for opportunities to regain military and political power. Xu Wen and Zhang Hao also felt that Yang Wo was a time bomb and must be eliminated quickly.
The two secretly conspired and agreed to kill Yang Wo, then carve up Huainan, and then jointly submit to Zhu Wen.
In May of the second year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty (908), Xu Wen and Zhang Hao sent their close soldiers to break into Yang Wo's dormitory at night and kill him. Yang Wo planned to use sugar-coated bullets to incite the assassins, and promised that if you can help me kill Xu Wen and Zhang Hao, then you will all be promoted to governor. Faced with the temptation of the governor, most of the assassins were tempted, but Ji Xiang remained unmoved. He adhered to professional ethics, strictly performed his tasks, and strangled Yang Wo to death.
At dawn the next day, Zhang Hao urgently summoned all civil and military officials and announced that his lord was old (after all, he was 23 years old) and frail. He suddenly fell ill last night. Unfortunately, treatment failed and he left us prematurely.
In the palace hall, there were astonished civil and military officials inside, and there were fully armed swordsmen and axemen outside. All the guards and followers of the generals were blocked out in advance... Needless to say, everyone understood what was going on.
Zhang Hao pressed his sword with his hand, his face full of murderous intent, glanced at everyone, and asked sternly: "My lord is dead, please tell me, who should be in charge of this military and political power?"
Everyone bowed their heads in silence, and no one responded.
Zhang Hao was so angry that he held the hilt of his sword tightly, raised his voice, and roared to ask again.
Still no one answered.
Zhang Hao was so furious that he asked again almost hysterically.
After asking three times, everyone remained silent. The atmosphere was tense, terrifying and awkward.
At this time, Yan Keqiu took the initiative to step out and rescue Zhang Hao, saying: "Military and political power is of great importance and should not be trivial. Today, we are surrounded by enemies on all sides and are fighting endlessly. The only one who can stabilize the situation is you! It's just... It would be a little hasty to ask you to preside over military affairs now..."
Zhang Hao glared, "What's the rush?"
Yan Keqiu replied: "Liu Wei of Luzhou, Tao Ya of Shezhou, Li Yu of Xuanzhou, and Li Jian of Changzhou are all equal friends with the late king (Yang Xingmi). They have seniority, great achievements, high reputation, and have troops outside. If you proclaim yourself king today, will they really support you?"
Liu Wei, Tao Ya, Li Yu, Li Jian, together with Li Shenfu, Tai Meng, Zhu Yanshou, Tian Kai, Yuan Xi, Xu Wen, etc., are the entrepreneurial shareholders of Yang Xingmi Group, core members of the "Luzhou Direct Line", and are known as "Thirty "Six Heroes". When Yang Xingmi started his army, it was with the help of these 36 people that he gradually became bigger.
Among the thirty-six heroes, only Xu Wen had the least meritorious service and the lowest reputation.
In his later years, Yang Xingmi tried his best to suppress the "Legends of Luzhou", especially the rebellion of Tian Kai and Zhu Yanshou, which made Yang Xingmi regard the "Thirty-Six Heroes" as the biggest destabilizing factor of the Huainan Group.
When Yang Xingmi was seriously ill, the "Luzhou direct lineage" was ready to make moves. For example, there was a strong voice for Liu Wei to take the throne. Tiehanhan Zhou Yin even dared to ask him to give up the throne to Liu Wei in front of Yang Xingmi.
And once the "direct descendants of Luzhou" succeed and usurp the Yang family's foundation, Xu Wen, as a marginalized figure, will not get much benefit. Therefore, the clever Xu Wen chose to side with the Yang family and expressed his willingness to support the Yang family's rule and support Yang Wo's succession. Only then did he gain Yang Xingmi's trust and become one of the old ministers of Tuogu.
In short, Xu Wen's reputation within the Huainan Group is not too high.
Looking at Zhang Hao again, his reputation is far behind Xu Wen. Zhang Hao was born as a "Cai thief". He initially served for the Cai thief Qin Zongquan, and later became a general of Sun Ru's army. Later, he surrendered to Yang Xingmi, and then surrendered and rebelled, and then rebelled and surrendered again. At that time, some generals suggested that Yang Xingmi take down this capricious little man. He was killed, but Yang Xingmi kept him in the guards in order to show his mercy.
Not only does Zhang Hao have little qualifications and a poor reputation, he also lacks the prestige to convince the public. So when he roared three times, no one responded to him.
So when Yan Keqiu said the names of Liu Wei and others, Zhang Hao really lost his confidence, and the arrogance he had just evaporated instantly. All that was left was the silent anger simmering in his chest.
Yan Keqiu continued: "Now, the best way is to appoint another young master and let you assist in the administration. In this case, who can have any objections?"
Zhang Hao was silent for a long time and had no idea.
During this tense and silent moment, Yan Keqiu walked quickly outside, wrote quickly, wrote a few lines on a piece of paper, hid it in his sleeve, and then called everyone into the palace to congratulate him.
Everyone was puzzled and did not dare to ask more questions.
Yan Keqiu returned to the palace, took out the piece of paper from his sleeve, read it loudly, and insisted that it was an oral instruction from Mrs. Shi (Yang Wo's biological mother). The general idea was that the late emperor died before he started his business... Yang Xingmi died. Unfortunately, the eldest son Yang Wo died of a sudden illness, so Yang Wei, the second son of Yang Xingmi, had to take over the throne according to the order of eldest and youngest. The generals should not let down the old kindness of the Yang family and must do their best to assist Balabala...
Righteous words cannot be refuted.
Zhang Hao's face was pale and he was sweating all over.
Only then did all the generals regain their composure, and they all fell to their knees, shouting that they were willing to assist the second young master, whether through fire or water, without hesitation.
As a result, Yang Xingmi's second son Yang Wei (only 12 years old), with the support of all the generals, became the supreme ruler of the Huainan region and inherited his father and brother's legacy. Yang Wei was first named Yang Ying, and later changed his name to Yang Longyan. This book is written as Yang Wei for convenience.
Zhang Hao was extremely disappointed when the raw rice was cooked.
After the power handover ceremony was completed, General Zhu Jin visited Yan Keqiu's home and sighed: "I have been armed and brave since I was 16 years old. I have faced powerful enemies and charged into battle. I have never known what it means to be afraid. But today when I faced Zhang Hao , Haha, I am not afraid of your laughter, but I am actually sweating! But you actually contradicted me in person, convinced me with your reasoning, and finally made him give in. Only then did I realize that I am just a brave man, and you are the real man!"
Zhu Jin needs no introduction. Qiongji came to vote and was highly regarded by Yang Xingmi, ranking first among the generals. His identity in the army was "the deputy commander of all the camps in the east", while the official commander was Yang Xingmi, Yang Wo, and Yang Wei. It can be said that Zhu Jin is the number two figure in Huainan's military system.
As analyzed in the previous article, this is Yang Xingmi's political method. The more three-no products like Zhu Jin have no foundation, no background, and no qualifications, the more they will be vigorously promoted, while the "Legends of Luzhou" with high moral prestige and hard work are the key to suppress. object.
From then on, Zhu Jin was convinced of Yan Keqiu, respected him as his brother, and devoted himself to him.
Although Xu Wen and Zhang Hao conspired to kill Yang Wo, Zhang Hao was directly involved in a series of actions such as the killing and extortion of power. Zhang Hao wanted to monopolize the fruits of victory and no longer cooperate with him. Xu Wen shared. Unexpectedly, he was blocked by Yan Keqiu, and Zhang Hao became indignant. Therefore, Zhang Hao hatched another plan to get rid of Xu Wen's hidden danger.
The young master Yang Wei, who was under the control of Zhang Hao, appointed Xu Wen as the observation envoy to western Zhejiang and sent him to Runzhou. This is the first step, to squeeze out the core circle of power and move it from the "central" to the local governments. The next step is of course to be demoted again and again, and to commit suicide in search of gifts.
Of course Xu Wen understood this trick. When Yang Xingmi was seriously ill and the "direct lineage of Luzhou" released his eldest son Yang Wo, Xu Wen reminded Yang Wo. Now Zhang Hao's plan to trick Xu Wen was really wrong.
Xu Wen pretended to go to Yan Keqiu to say goodbye, but Yan Keqiu turned away and warned him that Zhang Hao was planning to kill you.
"Huh? What should I do?"
Yan Keqiu said that Zhang Hao is cruel and willful and will not last long. If you trust me, then I will find a way to save you.
This is what Xu Wen wants.
