[The rabbit is half dead, the dog is half cooked]
In the process of starting his own business, Li Cunxu went deep into the masses, worked side by side with ordinary soldiers, ate and lived together, risked his own strength, and gained military morale.
Li Cunxu often hosted banquets with generals, and often invited friends to accompany him during meals. Many generals accompanied him. Fighting in the same trench, eating in the same pot.
One day in July of the fifth year of Zhengming (919), Guo Chongtao persuaded Li Cunxu and asked to reduce the number of guests accompanying the banquet to reduce expenses.
Li Cunxu was furious and said, "These people are all warriors who have sacrificed their lives for me. Don't I even have the right to set up a banquet?" Well, I quit. You can choose another person to be the commander-in-chief among the three armies.
Then he ordered his secretary-general to draft a proclamation to inform the entire army: The president has resigned, who do you love?
This secretary-general is Feng Dao, the famous "roly-poly prime minister" in Chinese history.
Feng Dao was reluctant to write, and Li Cunxu urged him repeatedly. Feng Dao risked his life to persuade him, saying: "The king is about to pacify Henan and seize the world. Guo Chongtao's suggestion cannot be considered a serious mistake. It's fine if the king doesn't accept it. Why bother to alarm the whole army?" ? If the enemy finds out that our generals are at odds with each other and our masters and servants are at odds, it will be detrimental to your reputation, Your Majesty."
At this time, Guo Chongtao also came in from the outside and solemnly apologized to Li Cunxu. Feng Dao intervened, and Li Cunxu calmed down his anger and stopped being petty.
In order to have dinner with the generals, he got angry and even threatened to resign. This is the domineering side of Li Cunxu. But does he really trust his generals?
Answer: Never.
Objectively speaking, since Li Cunxu came to power, he has never truly trusted his generals, such as Zhou Dewei. It was just that at that time, he urgently needed to establish prestige in the army, and also needed to rely on these generals to help him conquer the world.
After the three towns of Heshuo, Liu Shouguang of Youzhou, and Zhu Youzhen of Houliang were all defeated, Li Cunxu no longer had any worries. The practice of hiding birds and hiding rabbits and cooking rabbits and dogs gradually came to light, and there was no need to cover up.
During the Jiahe confrontation, there was a Hedong general who appeared frequently - Li Jianji. This person's original name was Wang Jianji, and he was first a subordinate of Li Hanzhi. After Li Hanzhi took refuge with Li Keyong, he was required to select 500 warriors to present to Li Keyong according to the rules. Wang Jianji was among them. Later, he was named the most brave warrior. Li Keyong adopted him as his adopted son and changed his name to Li Jianji.
When Li Cunxu took over Wei Bo's army, Wei Bo's elite "Silver Spear Effective Festival Capital" was handed over to Li Jianji's command.
During the Battle of Baixiang, he led 200 men to defend the bridgehead, resisting the tens of thousands of troops from the Back Liang Dynasty, and helping Zhou Dewei to relieve the siege; in the Battle of Huliupi, he used less strikes to attack more, disrupting the Back Liang position, and finally turned defeat into victory, turning the tide of the war; De In the battle of Shengjiacheng, he led the warriors to break through the mobile fortress erected on the river by the back beam and once again turned the tide of the battle. The Khitan went south and Li Jianji also participated in the "Battle of Defense of Youzhou".
It can be said that during the confrontation in Jiahe, Li Jianji relied on his bravery and fearlessness to turn the tide and made great achievements for the Hedong Army.
Li Cunxu had always been suspicious of his godbrother. When he asked him to command the "Silver Spear Effective Festival Capital", he sent the eunuch Wei Lingtu as the supervisory eunuch to monitor Li Jianji's every move and report his words. One line.
Li Jianji was not only brave in battle, but also good at guarding. Whenever he received a reward, Li Jianji would distribute it all to his subordinates without taking any of it himself. Therefore, all his soldiers are willing to die for him.
Wei Lingtu took this as an attack point and secretly reported to Li Cunxu, saying that Li Jianji dispersed his family wealth to reward the soldiers, which gained the military's morale and his ambition was not small! It is implied that Li Jianji intends to rebel.
Therefore, Li Cunxu deprived Li Jianji of his military power and sent him to Daizhou to serve as governor. Li Jianji had an upright and resolute personality. He knew that he had been framed, but he was unwilling to defend himself. Finally, a few months later, he died in Daizhou, angry to death.
Li Siyuan, another godbrother of Li Cunxu who had great military exploits, could not escape suspicion because of the "Northern Crossing of the Yellow River" incident during the Battle of Huliupi.
In the second year of Tongguang (924), Li Siyuan was ordered to go north from Bianzhou to resist the Khitan. At that time, Weizhou's ordnance inventory contained a batch of exquisite armors for the royal family. Li Siyuan used a formal official letter and followed formal legal procedures to request Zhang Xian, the deputy left-behind officer, to withdraw 500 copies.
Zhang Xian believes that the war has begun. If the process is strictly followed, reports need to be made at all levels, from Weizhou to Luoyang, and then wait for instructions from Luoyang to be sent back to Weizhou. The procedures are cumbersome, the journey is long, and it takes too much time to go back and forth. Therefore, Comrade Zhang Xian handled special matters and directly handed Li Siyuan 500 sets of armors, and then made up the process.
Zhang Xian thought that Li Cunxu would praise him for his adaptability, but what he didn't expect was that Li Cunxu would be furious. "Zhang Xian sent my armor to Li Siyuan without receiving my order. What was his intention?" The order was issued: Zhang Xian was fined a month's salary and had to go to the front line in person to get the armor back from Li Siyuan.
If you were Li Siyuan, how would you feel at this time?
Li Siyuan was the military envoy of Xuanwu Army in Bianzhou at that time. Bianzhou is the center of the Central Plains region and the capital of the former dynasty, and is close to Luoyang, the imperial capital. How can you allow others to sleep soundly on the side of the couch? In February of the third year of Tongguang's reign (925), after Li Siyuan defeated the Khitan army, Li Cunxu moved Li Siyuan's town from Bianzhou to Zhenzhou.
Li Siyuan's family all lived in Taiyuan, so in March of the third year of Tongguang's reign (925), he went to the imperial court and requested that his adopted son Li Congke be transferred from Weizhou to Taiyuan in order to take care of his family.
Li Cunxu was furious, "Who has the final say in the world? Li Siyuan has a lot of troops and is in an important town. How dare you order me? Do you want to rebel?" Don't you think Weizhou is far away from Taiyuan? Well, I have ordered that Li Congke be demoted to Commando captain, lead hundreds of people to garrison Shimen for me! Let's go!
Li Siyuan was so frightened that he repeatedly explained, apologized, and admitted his mistakes. Then he took the initiative to go to Beijing to report on his duties. He entered the court alone, which showed that he had no second thoughts.
Not only was Li Cunxu suspicious of Li Siyuan, but Guo Chongtao was also suspicious of him. Guo Chongtao privately told his confidants that Li Siyuan was a highly accomplished master and was not someone who had been under others for a long time. I don’t think any of the princes could compete with him.
After receiving the news of Li Siyuan's request to enter the court, Guo Chongtao secretly reported to Li Cunxu and suggested taking this opportunity to execute Li Siyuan to avoid future troubles.
Li Cunxu regained some sense. Li Siyuan was the first to conquer Bianzhou, and he was indispensable for defeating the Khitans. Nowadays, the traces of rebellion are not yet clear. He keeps proving his innocence to the court and actively requests to go to Beijing to see him. If he still dies at the Hongmen Banquet, wouldn't it make all the generals fearful? Zhu Wen killed Wang Zhongshi and Zhu Youzhen killed Xie Yanzhang. I, Li Cunxu, cannot repeat this mistake.
Therefore, Li Cunxu rejected Li Siyuan's application to report to Beijing. "I don't doubt you, either of us brothers is following the other, there's no need to come."
Later, in the war to pacify Qianshu, Crown Prince Li Jiji took command. Li Cunxu's purpose was very clear, to train his successor, let Li Jiji gain seniority and connections in the army, and cultivate his own military strength, so as to avoid repeating the difficult dilemma he faced when he took the throne in the future. Li Siyuan was not able to participate in the whole process.
At the end of the year, Li Siyuan went to Beijing to see him. Li Cunxu secretly ordered his confidant Zhu Shouyin to closely monitor Li Siyuan.
