【Geographical discrimination】
There was a deep-rooted regional discrimination against Shu in the Central Plains. At that time, Henan was the center of the world, Bianzhou and Luoyang were the first-tier big cities, and Youzhou (today's Beijing) was a remote rural village, bordering the Northern Territory. Not to mention the southeastern coast, Guangdong, Shenzhen, Macau and Hong Kong... were barren and barren lands at that time, specially used to exile serious criminals.
The Shu people, including their rulers Wang Jian and Wang Zongyan, have never regarded themselves as Central Plains people. From the top dignitaries to ordinary people, they all regard themselves as a fringe civilization that is outside the Central Plains culture, a descendant of the Central Plains dynasties and the Southern Barbarians. Buffer transition zone, that kind of inferiority is inherent.
The people of the Central Plains regard the Shu land as a barren land where birds do not poop, and the Shu people as uncivilized savages.
1. Chen Jingxuan killed the chicken to scare the monkey
When Xizong entered Shu, the accompanying servants were full of discrimination against Shu. They yelled and pointed in the palace in Chengdu. After being killed by Chen Jingxuan, they stopped talking and did not dare to talk nonsense.
2. There are no horses in Shu
In the third year of Tianfu (903), Wang Jian sent Wei Zhuang to pay tribute to Chang'an and took the opportunity to repair Zhu Wen to create a relatively friendly external environment. Zhu Wen then sent his confidant Wang Yin to return to Chengdu.
After Wang Yin arrived in Chengdu, he was warmly received by Wang Jian. During the dinner, Wang Yin, as the "Special Envoy of Friendship between Bian and Shu", could not suppress his inner arrogance and made some inappropriate and discriminatory remarks against Shu.
At that time, in order to show his strength to Zhu Wen, Wang Jian showed off the military power of Shu to Wang Yin. Wang Yin first expressed polite appreciation, and then said: "Sichuan has many armored soldiers, but it lacks horse ears." In the era of cold weapons, the number of war horses is the most intuitive manifestation of military strength, just like when we discuss naval strength today, it is inseparable. The number of aircraft carriers and destroyers opened. Therefore, there is something hidden in Wang Yin's words. The four words "but no horse's ears" overturned all previous compliments and tactfully belittled Wang Jian's military strength. It was not harmful but extremely insulting.
Wang Jian's face darkened for a moment, and he said seductively: "The mountain roads in Shu are rugged and dangerous, and are not suitable for cavalry fighting. Besides, I really don't lack war horses. Come on, come and see with me!"
Wang Jian gathered his cavalry troops and held a grand military parade in Xingxiu Mountain. According to records, there were 12,000 horses in attendance, and the troops were well-organized and well-trained.
Wang Yin was greatly impressed.
Wang Jian himself was a cavalry general, and he knew the importance of cavalry. After acquiring the land of Shu, he purchased good horses at high prices at the border settlements and domestic trade transfer stations for more than ten years, so he had a force of 12,000 horses. Horse cavalry unit.
Sincerity is only the intention to cooperate, but strength is the basis of cooperation. Under Wang Jian's rule, the Shu region not only had the natural dangers of the Shu road, but also had an armed force that could not be ignored. Therefore, the Later Liang Dynasty never listed the former Shu as a strategic imaginary enemy, and the Shu region was able to enjoy two decades of peaceful development. Expect.
3. Regard Shu as Fan
In the second year of Qianhua (912), the Later Liang Dynasty sent an envoy to visit the former Shu. In the letter, Zhu Wen respected Wang Jian as his brother, recognized the political status of the former Shu, and expressed his willingness to make Liang and Shu happy and recognize them as a country of brothers.
Everything seemed normal, but the knowledgeable Zhang Ge pointed out a detail that was easily overlooked: the seal of the letter was "The Seal of Daliang Entering Shu".
Zhang Ge spoke eloquently, saying that in the Tang Dynasty, the seals used for envoys to foreign countries were "The Tang Dynasty enters a certain seal". Now that Daliang serves His Majesty as a brother, how can he insult our country with the courtesy of Yi and Di?
Wang Jian suddenly became furious and wanted to kill Daliang's envoy on the spot.
Zhang Ge stopped again, saying that the two countries were at war, so why not kill the envoys? What's more, Liang and Shu were forming a friendly alliance, so how could they kill their envoys? This is the fault of the relevant departments in Daliang. They cannot vent their anger on the envoy, let alone destroy the joy between the two countries.
Wang Jian regained his sanity and specially engraved "The Seal of the Great Shu into the Liang Dynasty" as a reply. The letter's header was also "A letter from the Emperor of the Great Shu to His Excellency the Emperor of the Liang Dynasty".
Later Liang was the first generation of the "Five Dynasties", and Qian Shu was the first country of the "Ten Kingdoms". This visit became the first diplomatic incident between the central court and local separatist regimes, and became the diplomatic template for the "Five Dynasties" and the "Ten Kingdoms" in the future. When the Later Tang Dynasty was established, the letters of credence of various local governments basically maintained the same formation. They were basically "a letter from the emperor of a certain country to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty", as listed above.
According to historical records, both sides used "enemy rites". Note that the "enemy" here is not the enemy of the enemy, but the enemy of the equal, which means equality.
4. Mai Xiu Liangqi
In the second year of Zhenming (916), Later Liang sent Feng Shunqing to visit the former Shu.
Feng Shunqing's father was a Hanlin scholar and the right servant of Shangshu Feng Ao. He had outstanding literary talent and was highly appreciated by Li Deyu. There are 2 of his poems in "Full Tang Poems" and 26 articles in "Quan Tang Wen". Regarding this Feng Shunqing, some historical records say that he has outstanding literary talent, while others say that he has no ideas. When he was a Hanlin scholar in the Later Liang Dynasty, he often had others write for him.
However, regardless of his literary talent, many historical materials have reached a high degree of consensus on one issue: this person had a frivolous character and was arrogant. There are differences on "talented" and "untalented", but they agree on "immoral".
At that time, Fengxiang Li Maozhen and Houliang were in a state of war, so the mission could only take a long way up the Han River, pass through Quanzhou to Hanzhou, and then go to Chengdu.
Feng Shunqing was frivolous and arrogant, and had always looked down upon Shu. He deliberately put on a arrogant attitude (he always underestimated its mountains and rivers, and looked down upon them with pride), and suppressed his bad temper to keep Shu officials along the way from coming.
When he arrived in Quanzhou, the commander-in-chief of Quanzhou treated him as a distinguished guest, held a banquet, and received Feng Shunqing with the highest standards. During the banquet, the actors will play music to promote the wine. Feng Shunqing held the wine glass and ordered the song "Maixiu Liangqi".
Jeonju Lingguan was sweating profusely, saying that he had never heard of this piece of music, and begged to replace it with another piece that he was good at.
Feng Shunqing wanted this effect, and waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, if you don't listen to anything else, just listen to "Maixiu Liangqi"." Then he sneered at Shu.
The commander-in-chief of the whole state was ashamed, ashamed and angry, so he could only vent his anger on his own officials, "If you are ashamed, you can stick the general who is happy."
Feng Shunqing was so proud that he left Quanzhou and rushed to his next stop - Hanzhou.
Hanzhou Lingguan had already heard about the tragic experiences of his colleagues across the state, and was frightened and ordered to attend the banquet. Sure enough, Feng Shunqing ordered "Maixiu Liangqi" again, but "I couldn't answer the three calls", and Hanzhou Lingguan also couldn't play it.
Feng Shunqing was shy, curled up in a grin, "Let me tell you, you guys from the mountains, country bumpkins who have never seen the world, how can you hear about the joy of my kingdom?" The look of contempt was palpable.
At this time, an actor named Wang Xin bowed his hands and said, "Sir, please forgive us for being ignorant. Can you please teach us so that we can listen to it and learn from it?"
"Hmph, please prick up your ears and listen to me." Feng Shunqing stopped his cup and showed off his singing voice.
Before he could finish singing, Wang Xin wrote down the score of "Maixiu Liangqi" and gave it to the band, who actually played it completely and flawlessly. The exquisite skills made Feng Shunqing stunned.
Wang Xin said: "Sir, this is a piece of music written by Daliang Xin, so we didn't have it in Shu, but now we have it."
Feng Shunqing failed to show off, so he was depressed and drank heavily. At the same time, Hanzhou Lingguan had already flown the music score to Chengdu, and told Chengdu exactly what happened in Quanzhou and Hanzhou. Be sure to be prepared. Daliang's special envoy Feng Shunqing came with bad intentions.
After Feng Shunqing arrived in Chengdu, it was his turn to be embarrassed:
Before the banquet started, "Maixiu Liangqi" was played in the hall. In the center of the hall, there were several farm tools for harvesting wheat. Dozens of poor people performed in their true colors. They were as skinny as firewood, dressed in ragged clothes, carrying men and women, and carrying baskets. It looks like picking up wheat, and sings at the top of its lungs with the ups and downs of the music. The lyrics are generally about the hardship of life and the poverty of the people. The melody is sad and miserable, which makes people cry when they hear it.
"Sir, don't you like this? Please—"
Looking at Feng Shunqing again, his face was ashen and he didn't say a word from beginning to end. After the banquet, Feng Shunqing "returned in shame and regret" and returned dejectedly along the same route. When passing by Hanzhou and Quanzhou, he never mentioned "Liangqi". He was granted the title of Shunqing, and Liangqi was taboo.
The people of Shu finally felt proud and proud, and granted Shun Qing the honor of being sent home on his way back. "The people of Shu sneered at him."
