【Minister of the subjugated country】
It was the night of October 9, AD 923, in the third year of Longde in Later Liang and the first year of Tongguang in Later Tang Dynasty.
On this night, Zhu Youzhen, the last emperor of the Later Liang Dynasty, died for his country, and the king died in Sheji; on this night, "Zhuangzong entered Bianzhou", and Li Cunxu entered Bianzhou as a conqueror.
The Hou Liang Empire fell. It was an extremely long night, and countless people stayed awake all night.
Jingxiang sat alone in the study, the candle on the table was about to burn out, the weak light struggled to emit the last ray of light, illuminating Jingxiang's face as dark as a statue.
"Bang", the door was roughly pushed open, and with a gust of cold autumn night wind, a figure stepped in excitedly. The candle in front of him swayed from side to side and almost went out.
The visitor could not identify his face, but he could only be heard shouting with uncontrollable excitement: "Great! The new emperor has issued an edict and pardoned our crimes. Let's go, shall we go to the court together?"
Hearing the sound, he knew that the person coming was Li Zhen.
The "crime" he mentioned was actually "serving as an official in the former dynasty". According to custom, after a change of dynasty, the officials of the former dynasty must kneel before the new emperor and ask for forgiveness for having "gone astray" or "complicit in the evil". The new emperor should magnanimously show that he has forgotten the past, pardoned him, and restored his official position to his original position, okay?
Jingxiang's face was heavy, his eyes turned from the candlelight to Li Zhen, and he said slowly: "You and I are both prime ministers of the Later Liang Dynasty. Although the king is fatuous and favors traitors, you and I cannot do our duty to advise. Now that the empire is destroyed, you and I are unable to save it. If the new emperor accuses you and me of dereliction of duty, how should we respond?"
Li Zhen was speechless. The atmosphere became increasingly awkward in silence.
Li Zhenre felt his face stuck to his cold buttocks, feeling ashamed and had to leave sadly.
After a while, his family came to report that Li Zhen had entered the palace to meet the new emperor!
Jingxiang looked in the direction of the palace and sighed: "The Zhu family and the new emperor have been feuding for two generations. Now that the empire has been destroyed and the old master died tragically, even if the new emperor doesn't blame you and me, how can you and I go back to Jianguomen (the main entrance of the palace)? ? How can you meet Taizu under Jiuquan? Li Zhen, Li Zhen, you are a man in vain!"
The east is white, sweeping away the darkness before dawn. A new day has arrived.
When the family opened the door, they found that the stubborn candle on the desk had finally run out of oil and was completely extinguished. Jingxiang had also hanged himself from the beam and died.
On the same day (October 10), all the civil and military officials of Hou Liang once again entered the palace collectively and knelt down to ask for pardon. Li Cunxu ordered people to read out the pardon edict. After the announcement, all Liang civil and military officials were pardoned and returned to their posts.
When he entered the city yesterday, Li Cunxu ordered the search for Zhu Youzhen, and someone offered Zhu Youzhen's head.
After Li Cunxu heard that Zhu Youzhen had died for his country, he felt disappointed and sighed: "The enemy favors the enemy, but the enemy has no heir. I fought against him for ten years, but it is a pity that I did not live to see him." He showed the sympathy between heroes. Maybe Li Cunxu is really not just showing off. After all, winners and confident people are tolerant and generous. As he said, the feud between the two families was forged by his father's generation and was an old feud between Li Keyong and Zhu Wen. What's more, the real culprit behind the "Shangyuanyi Incident" was the Tang Dynasty court, and Zhu Wen was just taking the blame. Xia, this was well understood by both parties. As for Li Keyong's later use of the "Shangyuanyi Incident" to attack the court and extort money, it was a tacit understanding among everyone.
In the final analysis, there is no life-or-death conflict between Li Cunxu and Zhu Youzhen. Maybe, before entering Bianzhou, Li Cunxu was still looking forward to the scene of a happy reunion where they would smile and forget their grudges; maybe, Li Cunxu was planning to force Zhu Youzhen to participate in an abdication ceremony...
We have been fighting for more than ten years. I finally entered the capital and had the opportunity to chat and laugh with you like a conqueror. Youzhen, why did you just leave? Alas, what a pity, what a pity!
Li Cunxu ordered Wang Zan to temporarily store Zhu Youzhen's body in a Buddhist temple, and embalm Zhu Youzhen's head, then put it into a wooden box and send it to the Royal Taishe for collection.
Li Cunxu completed the mission of the second arrow. My late father’s final mission (23).
Before Li Cunxu entered Bianzhou, Zhao Yan, the core figure of the "foreign relatives gang", fled to Xuzhou and defected to Wen Tao, the military envoy of the Kuangguo Army in Xuzhou. It was only because the tomb robber Wen Tao bribed the "foreign relatives gang" - especially Zhao Yan - with huge sums of money that he became popular in the Houliang Dynasty. Zhao Yan believed that the revolutionary friendship between him and Wen Tao was unbreakable, so he went to defect to him.
As expected, Wen Tao went out of the city to greet Zhao Yan. He took Zhao Yan into the city with great enthusiasm, then closed the door and beheaded him. Wen Tao plundered all of Zhao Yan's property, and then used Zhao Yan's head as a certificate of surrender to the central government of the Later Tang Dynasty.
As for Duan Ning, the last elite division of the Houliang Empire, who was on the front line along the river, after learning that the capital was in danger, he immediately sent Du Yanqiu back to the capital first. As for his motives, some said that he originally wanted to fight with Later Tang, while others said that he was preparing to contact Later Tang to discuss surrender. I personally think it is the latter. He had no intention of squaring off with the Later Tang Dynasty. The last elite troops of the Later Liang Empire became his bargaining chip for betraying his country and seeking glory.
Du Yanqiu met the Later Tang army led by Li Congke on the way, and immediately surrendered; the next day, Duan Ning led the main force to also surrender. Fifty thousand elite troops surrendered without a fight.
Duan Ning is different from Li Zhen and others. After all, he has 50,000 elite troops in his hands, so Li Cunxu is very cautious for fear of irritating them. Duan Ning led the senior generals to plead guilty to show their sincere loyalty. Li Cunxu comforted them with kind words and offered huge rewards. He grabbed both spiritual and material resources to appease the emotions of these 50,000 elite soldiers.
Li Cunxu named Duan Ning Li Shaoqin and Du Yanqiu Li Shaoqian. Extra courtesy and grace.
After receiving the reward and comfort, Duan Ning was relieved of the burden in her heart and felt extremely relaxed. Her face was filled with joy from the bottom of her heart, without even the slightest trace of shame. The other surrenders of Houliang wanted to bite his face.
Duan Ning is worthy of being a talent cultivated by the "foreign relatives gang". He has taken his shamelessness and despicability to the extreme, and is better than his predecessors. In order to please the government of the Later Tang Dynasty, Duan Ning and Du Yanqiu jointly reported on the real names of the core members of the "foreign relatives gang" that they had tried their best to lick, such as Zhao Yan, Zhang Hanlun, Zhang Hanjie, Zhu Gui, etc., accusing them of harming the country and the people, committing heinous crimes, and not killing them was enough. The common people are angry.
Li Cunxu immediately issued an edict, declaring that several extremely bad elements who had committed unpardonable crimes - Jingxiang, Li Zhen, Zhao Yan and other core members of the "foreign relatives gang", Yelu Ge, were to be executed by the entire clan; the remaining civil and military officials would no longer be held accountable. .
Yelu Lage, also known as "Yelü Sala Aba", was the younger brother of Liao Taizu Yelu A Baoji. As mentioned earlier, Yelu Abaoji unified the eight Khitan tribes and served as Khan for nine years. Not only were the leaders of the other seven tribes dissatisfied, but there were also voices of opposition among the Yelv clan of the Diela tribe, who were directly related to him. Yelu Abaoji’s younger brothers successively Three rebellions were launched, known as the "Rebellion of the Disciples" in history. Among them, Yelu Lage was a key member of the three rebellions.
After the failure of the third rebellion, Yelu Lage was imprisoned by Yelu Abaoji. In the third year of Zhengming (917), Yelu Lage and his son took the opportunity to defect and went to Li Cunxu's tent in Hedong to seek political asylum. Li Cunxu adopted him as his adopted son and gave him the post of governor; in December of the fourth year of Zhenming (918), During the Battle of Huliupi, Yelu Lage defected to Houliang with his wife.
In terms of actual seniority, Yelu Lage should be Li Cunxu's uncle, because Li Keyong and Yelu Abaoji were sworn brothers. Later Shi Jingtang also used this as a basis to recognize Yelu Deguang (Taizong of Liao Dynasty, the second son of Yelu Abaoji) as his cadre. father. Li Cunxu adopted his uncle as his adopted son.
Li Cunxu ordered Yelu Ge to be executed on charges of capriciousness, betrayal of his brother, treason and surrender to the enemy, and failure to live up to the emperor's favor.
Those who were demoted were Zheng Jue, Liu Yue, Wang Quan and others. The reason is that they have been favored by the Tang Dynasty for generations, but they hold high-level positions in the Later Liang Dynasty and forget their ancestors! Zheng Jue, not much to introduce; Liu Yue, Liu Chonggui's nephew; Wang Quan, Wang Gui's grandson (Wang Gui, Wang Shi's brother).
Lu Siduo, the general of the Hou Liang Forbidden Army, was good at riding and shooting, and often engraved his name on arrow clusters. During the confrontation at Jiahe, Lu Siduo once shot Li Cunxu and hit the saddle. Li Cunxu pulled out the arrow and keeps it to this day. Now, Lu Siduo surrendered with everyone, knelt down and begged for forgiveness. Li Cunxu, with a smile on his face, suddenly took out the arrow from behind and asked Lu Siduo to identify it, "This arrow almost killed me. Come on, come on, look. Look, do you recognize it?”
Lu Siduo took one look and was so frightened that he immediately fell to the ground and begged for mercy.
Li Cunxu comforted him with kind words, expressed his great appreciation for him, and asked for a special pardon for him. After that, Lu Siduo was still appointed to take control of the imperial army.
The local vassal towns in the former Houliang Empire expressed their surrender to Li Cunxu by going to the capital or going to Beijing in person. Among them, Yuan Xiangxian, the military envoy of the Xuanwu Army in Songzhou, the backbone of the "foreign relatives gang" and Zhu Wen's nephew, was the first local vassal town to come to Beijing to pay homage; Huo Yanwei (the adopted son of Huo Cun), who was retained by the national army in Shaanzhou Town, was the second indivual. The famous mark will last forever and will remain infamy for thousands of years.
Li Cunxu held a banquet, and after the banquet Liang surrendered his ministers and generals. While drunk, Li Cunxu suddenly gestured around with his fingers and said to Li Siyuan: "These people are all my fierce enemies before. The fact that we are able to sit down and drink together today is all thanks to you as a pioneer!"
Before he finished speaking, Dai Siyuan, Huo Yanwei and others all left the table and knelt down to kowtow to apologize. This sentence is too scary. What do you mean, Your Majesty?
Li Cunxu smiled awkwardly and hurriedly ordered them to sit down at the table, "Don't get me wrong, we two brothers are just having fun and it has nothing to do with you." Then he ordered people to give them royal clothes, wine vessels, etc. to appease their fragile little hearts. The banquet and drinking went on as before, and they dispersed happily.
Meng Qiu, the governor of Qizhou, asked to die. Meng Chuan was originally a cavalry general under Li Cunxu. When Li Cunxu and Liu Wei faced off in Shen County, Meng Chuan led his 700 cavalrymen to rebel against Jin and defect to Liang. He was appointed as the governor of Qizhou by Hou Liang. Now that Li Cunxu had destroyed Liang, Meng Zhuan was frightened and uneasy, so he voluntarily surrendered and sought leniency.
"Your Majesty, I realize my mistake. Please have mercy and kill only me. Don't kill my whole family, okay?"
Li Cunxu sent someone to angrily rebuke Meng Qiu, "You led 700 cavalrymen to rebel and surrender to the enemy at my most critical moment. How can you meet me now!"
Meng Qiu was so frightened that he lost his mind.
The messenger paused for a moment, and suddenly his expression changed to a relaxed one, "So - there is no need to go to the capital to meet, and I can continue to be your governor."
Li Cunxu showed generosity, humor and naughtiness. He can forgive you, but he must scare you first. Soon after, Meng Qiu was changed from the governor of Qizhou to the governor of Beizhou, and the black history of defection was wiped out.
Li Cunxu issued an edict: all the military envoys, observation envoys, defense envoys, regimental training envoys and governors of the former Hou Liang vassal towns will remain in their original status, and the new central government (Later Tang) will no longer send anyone to replace them; the officials who originally defected from the Later Tang to the Later Liang will also be replaced. Let bygones be bygones.
With the issuance of the pardon edict, more than fifty local vassal towns appointed by the original Hou Liang Empire, without exception, all surrendered and swore allegiance to the Later Tang government.
Zhu Youqian from the river happily came to court, named Li Jilin, and ordered the prince Li Jiji to serve him as his brother, and he was treated with great favor.
Yuan Xiangxian, who was the first to come to court, named Li Shaoan;
Huo Yanwei, the second person to come to court, was named Li Shaozhen;
The tomb robber Wen Tao named Li Shaochong;
Kang Yanxiao, the hero of Pingliang who proposed the plan, was named Li Shaochen.
Mayin of Tanzhou sent his son Ma Xifan to lead a delegation to pay tribute in person and present the imperial seal and a list of civil and military officials in the territory as a sign of submission;
Jingnan Gao Jichang, this grandson was more well-behaved, and took the initiative to ask for a name change to avoid taboos. Because "Chang" violated the taboo of Li Cunxu's grandfather Li Guochang, he requested to be renamed "Gao Jixing" and asked the court for permission to visit Beijing and report on his work. Then he led only 300 personal cavalry guards and entered Beijing to face the saint. Conferred the title of King of Nanping;
Qian Liu from Hangzhou sent an envoy to congratulate him;
Fengxiang Li Maozhen sent envoys to congratulate;
Huainan Yang Pu sent envoys to congratulate;
The former Shu King Yan sent envoys to congratulate;
Liu Yan of the Southern Han Dynasty sent envoys to congratulate...
A new empire gradually rose, and it entered the second generation of the "Five Dynasties", the Later Tang Dynasty.
