【Southern Crisis】
Zhu Youzhen mobilized troops and generals, and sent Yuan Xiang from the "foreign relatives' gang" to resist first. After Yuan Xiang rushed to the front line, the Huainan Army immediately retreated. This result is really surprising.
The vanguard officer of the Huainan Army was Zhu Jin, and its commander was Xu Zhixun (son of Xu Wen). The following article will describe the political turmoil in Huainan. At that time, it may not be difficult to understand the secret confrontation between Xu Zhixun, the son of a powerful minister, and the "foreign relatives gang".
Huainan only played the role of a soy sauce man in the southern crisis, and the greater crisis came from the southernmost tip of the empire-Lingnan region.
During the Huangchao Rebellion, Lingnan was also devastated. There was a local officer who repeatedly made meritorious service in the battle against the Cao army and was promoted to the governor of Fengzhou.
Here is the moment to witness the miracle together: The officer’s name is Liu Qian. It is said that he has outstanding talents and amazing bones... He was appreciated by Wei Zhou, the former prime minister and Lingnan Jiedushi, who even asked Wei Zhou to marry his niece to him regardless of the disparity in family status.
Wei Zhou was born in Jingzhao Weishi, and was already a prominent figure in politics during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. His father Wei Dan made great contributions to the "Yuanhe Zhongxing". When Emperor Xuanzong read "Yuanhe Shilu", he was deeply moved and issued an edict. He carved stones to record his merits for Wei Dan, and promoted Wei Zhou to an official position.
Wei Zhou was later promoted to prime minister and Lingnan military envoy. The father and son's outstanding political achievements in the Xianzong and Xuanzong dynasties were well-known among the people. For this reason, the father and son were both included in the "Biography of Xunli". "Xunli Zhuan" specifically records officials who emphasized agriculture and preached education, were honest and honest, and were well-known as good officials.
Such a prominent official (****, member of the Politburo, senior provincial official) actually wanted to marry his niece (the daughter of his younger brother Wei Xiu) to a commoner, a low-level military officer (Lianyungang) who was born as a small businessman. Platoon level) Liu Qian. At that time, many people around them expressed their opposition to this marriage. Brothers Wei Zhou and Wei Xiu had unique vision and said that if you don't bully a young man into poverty, he will definitely do great things in the future.
After Liu Qian married Wei Shi, Wei Zhou died of illness. A few years after his death, the Huang Chao Rebellion broke out. When Huang Chao invaded Lingnan and Liu Qian was promoted to the governor of Fengzhou, Wei Zhou had been dead for more than ten years. The governor is not Wei Zhou's final prophecy, his prophecy is about the longer-term future.
Huang Chao did not stay in Guangzhou for a long time, and then started the Northern Expedition, crossing the Huaihe River, entering Dongdu, occupying Tongguan, and conquering Chang'an.
Although Huang Chao's forces left Lingnan, they completely disintegrated the foundation of the Tang Dynasty's rule here, causing serious chaos and vacuum, leaving a hotbed for heroes from all walks of life to compete.
Heroes such as Liu Qian emerged one after another and merged and integrated. Within a year, Liu Qian had a huge military force, with over 10,000 soldiers and over 100 warships, and became a famous warlord along the coasts of Guangdong and Guangxi.
After Liu Qian died of illness, more than a hundred aborigines under his rule planned to take advantage of the opportunity to rebel, but were quickly and decisively suppressed by his eldest son Liu Yin (son of Webster). Later, Liu Chonggui, then the governor of Lingnan East Road, announced that Liu Yin would replace his father.
Liu Chonggui's family background has been mentioned in the previous article (Chapter 140 "The Last Straw"), because his brother Liu Chonglu was used by the Kansai Group to stage a farce of "taking hemp and dismissing him from office". Coincidentally, the "dismissal from office" and Liu Chonggui's report of Liu Yin's attack on the throne occurred in the same year (894).
Liu Chonggui was so angry that he died of anger within a year. That year (895), Zhaozong was busy arranging the "Prince's Troops", so he changed the Lingnan East Road to the Qing Navy, and asked Xue Wang Li Zhirou to go to Guangzhou to serve as the Qing Navy's military envoy in Guangzhou with the title of prime minister, replacing Liu Chonggui.
There is a widely circulated story about Liu Chonggui. Let’s first look at a preliminary investigation report of a criminal case:
Cause of crime: Home invasion and homicide.
Current investigation: The deceased was a young woman, about 20 years old, with fair skin and beautiful appearance. She was injured by a sharp knife and died on the spot; the time of death was midnight; a large number of bloody footprints were left at the scene and continued to the dock. There were also bloody handprints on the clothes of the deceased. , after investigation, it was found that the bloody footprints and bloody handprints were left by a rich second generation; at dawn the next day, the rich second generation had already left the scene of the crime for more than 100 miles.
Key evidence: There was a bloody murder weapon at the scene, a butcher knife. After forensic investigation and evidence collection, the shape, depth and other characteristics of the wound on the deceased were completely consistent with the murder weapon, and it can be identified as the murder weapon in this case.
Eyewitness confessions: On the night of the crime, many witnesses pointed out that the rich second generation ran to the dock in a panic and sailed away from the crime scene overnight.
The suspect (a rich second generation) confessed: He was a stranger to the deceased, met by chance during the day, and arranged to have a private meeting at the woman's home in the evening. When he arrived at the scene, he found that the victim had been killed, and he knew nothing about the rest.
At present, the criminal suspect has been captured and tortured in prison, but he flatly denies the burglary; the family members of the victims demand that the government severely punish the murderer.
All the evidence seems to point to the rich second generation. Both the families of the victims and the public believe that the rich second generation is the culprit in this case. Public opinion is also obviously biased towards this theory and continues to put pressure on the government. However, this case is still full of doubts and the chain of evidence is incomplete. It cannot be arbitrarily determined that the rich second generation is the murderer.
This official who was under tremendous pressure was none other than Liu Chonggui. At this moment, he was standing alone in the study, carefully reviewing the thick case files, then frowning, stroking his beard, and looking serious. After a long time, his brows relaxed slightly and a smile appeared on his face, "That's it!"
[Liu Chonggui changes his knife]
Liu Chonggui ordered that in order to welcome a major festival, the government decided to hold a grand celebration ceremony and a grand banquet. All butchers in the territory needed to be gathered to slaughter animals at the stadium.
The butchers came to the stadium happily, the government centralized procurement, big projects, there was oil and water.
The officials explained to the butchers the precautions, work disciplines...etc., etc. In short, the time was delayed until the evening. The government issued an order: It was getting late and the slaughter was not conducive, so it was postponed to tomorrow.
From ancient times to the present, kitchen knives, pig-butchering knives, etc. have all been controlled knives. Especially in ancient times, every inch of iron was a weapon, and kitchen knives and other knives were strictly controlled. It is almost equivalent to the current real-name system and must be registered. Normally, unless there are special circumstances, It is not allowed to carry knives on the street.
This time, the butchers brought their own knives, so the government logically asked the butchers to leave the knives they brought with them at the stadium and wait for them to be used tomorrow.
After the butchers left, Liu Chonggui secretly changed the package and randomly replaced the butcher knife involved in the case with a similar knife.
The next day, the butchers gathered again to receive their knives. In the end, only one butcher was left empty-handed, and the only thing he could use was his crime tool.
The official asked him why he didn't take his knife back, and the butcher replied that it was not his knife. As mentioned just now, in that era, kitchen knives, butcher knives, etc. were strictly controlled and the real-name system was used. Although there was no serial number or QR code for traceability, everyone knew their own knives.
The official pretended not to know and asked the butcher, "Oh, maybe someone took it by mistake... Then who do you think this knife should belong to?"
The butcher took it and looked at it carefully, "It looks like that so-and-so."
So the government immediately rushed to so-and-so's home and found that so-and-so's home was empty. After visiting the surrounding people, they learned that this person disappeared after the incident.
Someone is suspected of committing a major crime!
But the question arises again. This person has long been on the run in fear of crime. How can he be caught and brought to justice?
Liu Chonggui selected a death row inmate who was similar in age to the second-generation rich man on death row and publicly pronounced the verdict: This case was a result of the second-generation rich man’s lust, attempted adultery and murder. The facts are clear and the evidence is conclusive. In view of the criminal methods of this case It is extremely cruel, vile in nature, and has extremely negative social impact. Therefore, he will be executed immediately without waiting for the queen to ask!
That afternoon he would be beheaded in a downtown street. There were a huge crowd of onlookers, including relatives of the criminal suspect. They had already been watched and controlled by plainclothes policemen mixed in the crowd.
The "murderer" was beheaded and the government announced that the case was closed.
Two days later, so-and-so finally showed up. As soon as he returned home, he was arrested and brought to justice. After interrogation, XX confessed the entire history of the crime. The truth of the case finally came to light:
On a sunny afternoon, at a bustling dock, a handsome and generous second-generation rich man met a young, beautiful and voluptuous victim woman. So the rich second generation made an agreement with the woman to have a private meeting at her home tonight to release their youthful hormones.
That night, the moon was dark and the wind was high. The woman half-opened the door, waiting for her wishful lover. Suddenly, a figure sneaked into the house. The woman was filled with joy and enthusiastically rushed forward and hugged the figure.
Coincidentally, this figure is the criminal - the butcher so-and-so. Seeing a door ajar in the dark night, he wanted to steal the house and steal it. Unexpectedly, he was "caught" on the spot as soon as he entered the door.
Feeling guilty as a thief, in a panic, someone stabbed the woman with the butcher knife he carried with him, then dropped the murder weapon and ran away. The woman fell into a pool of blood and died on the spot.
After a while, the rich second generation arrived as promised. As soon as he entered the door, he stepped on the slippery blood on the ground and fell into a pool of blood. At first, the rich second generation thought it was water, but it felt slippery and sticky, with a faint smell of blood. Surprised, he touched the body on the ground. He immediately panicked and fled the scene, crawling on the ground and ran away. We returned to the dock and sailed away overnight. By daybreak, we had sailed more than a hundred miles.
Finally, the murderer and butcher XX was sentenced to death in accordance with the law; the rich second generation entered a private house at night and committed "adultery" and was slapped with a few slaps in accordance with the law and was later released in court.
This case has been included in many books both ancient and modern. In Teacher Guo Degang's long stand-up comedy "Pictures of Good and Evil", there is a scene in which a county magistrate tried a case in the late Qing Dynasty. It is very similar to it. I don't know if it is a historical coincidence or an artistic process. In addition, there are similar plots in many storytelling and stand-up comics about handling cases, which shows the status of "Liu Chonggui changing swords" in history.
In addition, Liu Chonggui was also a calligrapher and painter. He was good at flower and bird painting, especially lychee painting (he was not the governor of Lingnan for nothing).
One of his poems is included in "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty":
"Bizhuan Renshi combined with Hongjun,
In front of the osmanthus forest, spring is abundant.
I can't miss the beautiful scenery at this time,
Feng Xi is not a fisherman. "
