【Escape from the tiger's mouth】
In October of the first year of Tongguang (923), Li Cunxu overthrew Hou Liang and issued an imperial edict to comfort him. Gao Jichang summoned his advisers to discuss whether to go to Beijing for an audience.
Counselor Sikong Xun and others all persuaded Gao Jichang to go to Beijing with one voice. The reason was that Li Cunxu had decided to rule the world and was eager to show his broad mind to the heroes of the world. The earlier he went, the less danger he would have. My lord, you should hurry up sooner rather than later. It is best to be the first. Go to court to win Li Cunxu's favor. Li Cunxu will definitely use you as a positive example. Not only will there be no danger, but you will also get a lot of benefits.
Among the ministers, only Liang Zhen firmly opposed it. He said that Li Cunxu was very ambitious and had long wanted to conquer the world. Even if we mobilized all the troops and guarded the dangerous pass, we still might not be safe, let alone you riding alone and traveling thousands of miles away! And you are not only an old general of the Zhu family, but also Zhu Wen's god-grandson, and Li Cunxu's enemy. You must not take any personal risks!
Finally, Liang Zhen cited an allusion to King Huai of Chu, "I'm afraid of King Huai's troubles, but I'll see you again today!"
King Huai of Chu and King Zhaoxiang of Qin met at Wuguan to form an alliance. The State of Qin detained him and forced him to cede territory. King Huai of Chu refused and eventually died in Qin.
After repeated deliberation, Gao Jichang failed to follow Liang Zhen's suggestion and left his two sons to temporarily serve in the military affairs. With only 300 cavalry guards, he went to Luoyang to meet Li Cunxu.
As expected, the civil and military ministers of the Later Tang Dynasty unanimously asked Li Cunxu to take this opportunity to detain Gao Jichang.
The news in Luoyang was very tense, and the favored eunuchs and actors came to Gao Jichang one after another and demanded bribes from Gao Jichang. Gao Jichang was vaguely aware of a terrifying murderous aura. If you want to escape from the tiger's mouth, you must pretend to be a grandson and a good boy, and this is exactly the special skill of "Gao Laizi".
After arriving in Luoyang, Gao Jichang took the initiative to change his name to "Gao Jixing" because the word "Chang" violated the taboo of Xianzu (Li Guochang). Li Cunxu was very happy. This grandson was very well-behaved.
In the next meeting, Gao Jichang behaved even more well-behaved. At that time, Li Cunxu chatted with him about current affairs and said that I destroyed the Back Liang and revived the Tang Dynasty. Now, within the four seas, only Huainan and Qianshu refused to surrender. I planned to destroy them and restore the Tang Empire to its former glory. However, The road to Shu is as difficult as climbing to the sky. It is only separated from Huainan by a river. It seems that Huainan is easier to capture. I plan to destroy Huainan first. In your opinion, what do you think?
Regardless of whether the Later Tang Dynasty conquered Huaihe or conquered Shu, for Jingnan Gao Jichang, there were mixed advantages and disadvantages. Those who benefit can take advantage of the situation and divide the land of the two neighbors in the name of sending troops to help the Later Tang Dynasty. As a result, Jingnan, Huai and Shu are closely interdependent. Once Huai and Shu are conquered by the Later Tang Dynasty, Jingnan will not be able to survive alone.
Such is the subtlety of geopolitics. Whether it is conquering Huaihe or conquering Shu, the result of losing both sides is the most beneficial to Gao Jichang. Therefore, after the question raised by Li Cunxu entered Gao Jichang's ears, it was translated as "Which one is harder to fight, Huainan or Qianshu?"
Therefore, Gao Jichang had a sincere attitude and serious expression, put on an expression of "for your own good", and sincerely led him into the ditch, "Your Majesty, Shu is rich and has a lot of oil and water, while Huainan is poor, with little land and poor people. Poor, I think we should attack Shu first, it is profitable, and by going down the river from Shu, Huainan will also lose the protection of the Huaihe River, which will make the conquest of Huaihe more smooth. If your Majesty attacks Shu, I am willing to lead my troops. The horse is the vanguard in conquering Shu!
The reason for instigating the Later Tang Dynasty to attack Shu was because the road to Shu was difficult. The Later Tang Dynasty was very likely to fall into a quagmire of war, and both sides would suffer in a fight with the former Shu. As for acting as a vanguard for the Later Tang Dynasty, it was a "private product" brought along by Gao Jichang, because he had long coveted Kui. , Wan, Zhong, Fu and other lands controlled by the former Shu. Once the Later Tang Dynasty launched a large army into Shu, Gao Jichang could pretend to be powerful and seize the land of the former Shu in the name of helping the Later Tang Dynasty.
Li Cunxu told Gao Jichang that he planned to conquer Huaihe first. In fact, Li Cunxu's real idea was to conquer Shu first. He deliberately said the opposite and wanted to test Gao Jichang's character to see if he could only shout "Long live the leader" Will the flatterer follow his own wishes and advocate the conquest of Huai? Li Cunxu was very satisfied with Gao Jichang's performance, and he had no clue about Gao Jichang's charlatanism.
Gao Jichang not only refuted Li Cunxu's intention to conquer Huaihe River first, but also offered to send troops as the vanguard, which made Li Cunxu look happy and raised his hand to caress Gao Jichang's back.
Gao Jichang immediately ordered the embroiderer to embroider Li Cunxu's handprints on the back of his clothes, and told Li Cunxu that he wanted to hang this piece of clothing with dragon paw prints in the most conspicuous place in his home to honor his ancestors!
Li Cunxu was very happy. This grandson is so good at coaxing people.
As for why Li Cunxu preferred to conquer Shu, we will discuss it later.
Under Gao Jichang's careful disguise, Li Cunxu gradually developed a liking for him. Although most civil and military officials suggested that Gao Jichang be detained, his favorite eunuchs and actors continued to put in good words for him because they accepted Gao Jichang's bribes. Li Cunxu was a little undecided, so he asked the chief counselor Guo Chongtao for advice.
Among the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, almost all voices called for Gao Jichang to be detained. Only Guo Chongtao advocated his release.
Guo Chongtao said to Li Cunxu, "Now that your Majesty has decided to rule the world, he urgently needs to convey his message to the four seas. Now the feudal princes from all over the world are paying tribute one after another. They are nothing more than sending their children or generals. Only Gao Jichang came to the capital in person to see him. We should give him some comfort." Then he was sent back to the town as a gift, as a typical example, to set an example to other feudal princes, and called on everyone to learn from Comrade Gao Jichang. If we kill him or detain him, who will dare to come to court in the future?
Li Cunxu thought what he said was reasonable, so he treated Gao Jichang generously and sent him back to town.
Li Cunxu let Gao Jichang go, just like Cao Cao let Liu Bei go.
Gao Jichang advanced on both sides of the road, not daring to stop for a moment, and fled quickly; Li Cunxu immediately regretted it and sent people to rush forward to send a secret edict to Liu Xun, the governor of Shannan East Road in Xiangzhou, asking him to intercept Gao Jichang and kill him if necessary. He, in short, must not let Gao Jichang leave alive.
When Gao Jichang galloped into the ground in Xuzhou, he said to his left and right: "There are two big mistakes in this court meeting. I made the first mistake by coming to the court, and the second mistake by him letting me go." He was proud of himself.
After arriving in Xiangzhou, there are historical records that Kong Qing also hosted a banquet in honor of Gao Jichang. The two had met with swordsmanship before, but this time they met and their grudges were wiped out with a smile. After the banquet, when Gao Jichang returned to Guanyi, he suddenly felt palpitated and uneasy, so he abandoned all his luggage and fled overnight with his personal cavalry. He could not rest at ease until he entered the ground in Jingnan.
It was getting late, and the city gates and passes were closed. Gao Jichang led his men to forcefully break through the pass and escape (Fenglin Pass).
As soon as Gao Jichang left, Liu Xun received a secret edict. After hurriedly bringing people to Guanyi, they found out that Gao Jichang had already broken through the barrier and left. It was estimated that he would be unable to catch up, so he had to give up.
After returning to Jingnan, Gao Jichang held Liang Zhen's hand and said, "If you don't listen to your words, you will probably avoid the tiger's mouth!"
Out of his own selfish motives, Gao Jichang persuaded Li Cunxu to conquer Shu, and the conquest of Shu was also Li Cunxu's original intention. Everyone knows that the road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to reach the sky. One man can guard the pass, and ten thousand men cannot open it. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Moreover, Shu has been managed by Wang Jian for more than 30 years (Wang Jian took control of Chengdu in 891, annexed Dongchuan in 897, and annexed Dongchuan in 907). When he proclaimed himself the emperor and founded the country in 1998), why did Li Cunxu want to attack the former Shu?
Because Li Cunxu was not the only one who "played music and then danced".
