【The former Shu was destroyed】
On November 22, Li Jiqi crossed Mianjiang and arrived in Deyang.
On November 25, Li Jizhen arrived in Hanzhou, where pioneer Kang Yanxiao had been waiting for eight days.
On November 26, Li Jiji arrived in the northern suburbs of Chengdu.
On November 27, under the leadership of Li Yan, Wang Zongyan surrendered at the Shengzian Bridge in the north of Chengdu with the standard ceremony of subjugation: Wang Zongyan was dressed in white, with a piece of jade in his mouth and a straw rope tied around his neck. , someone was holding a sheep next to him, and behind him were hundreds of civil and military officials wearing linen, wearing filial piety, and bare feet. The officials were wailing and crying under the leadership of Prime Minister Wang Kai, and at the end of the team was carrying an empty coffin.
Li Jiji also followed the rules and accepted the jade from him, ordered Guo Chongtao to untie Wang Zongyan's rope, and then burned the empty coffin on the spot, and later declared a pardon for their crimes in the name of Emperor Tang Li Cunxu.
The civil and military officials of the former Shu kowtowed to the northeast of Luoyang to express their gratitude.
At this point, the former Shu Kingdom officially ended and the second generation died.
On November 28, the army of the Later Tang Dynasty officially entered Chengdu. Guo Chongtao set strict military disciplines in advance, strictly prohibiting looting and harassing the people. On the day when the army of the Later Tang Dynasty took over Chengdu, the city of Chengdu remained in good order.
Wang Zongyan likes to collect fine BMW horses, and there are hundreds of famous horses in the imperial garden. After Li Jiji took charge of Chengdu, he selected the best from the best and selected more than 20 unique horses.
There were still dozens of Nanzhao prisoners imprisoned in Chengdu. A man named Xu Ai claimed to have been on an envoy to Nanzhao, so he brought gifts in the name of the Later Tang Dynasty and sent Nanzhao prisoners back home as gifts to stabilize bilateral relations and seek A peaceful and stable external environment. As a result, Nanzhao turned a blind eye. It is unclear whether Nanzhao did not accept Later Tang's sincerity or whether Xu Ai turned into an international fraudster.
The Expeditionary Force of the Later Tang Dynasty left Luoyang on September 18 and entered Chengdu on November 28, which took 70 days. Some historical materials ("Records of Zhuangzong" and "Old History of the Five Dynasties") say it is 75 days, which is not accurate, only 70 days. And if you count from crossing the border, it’s only about a month and a half.
During this month and a half, the 60,000-strong Hou Tang army took over 10 vassal towns, 64 prefectures, and 249 counties in the former Shu. They took over more than 30,000 armed forces and confiscated weapons, armor, grain, gold, silver, and silk. Tens of millions.
It can be seen from these sets of figures that the national defense strength of Qianshu is in vain and is really in vain. At the same time, we can also intuitively feel the hidden dangers faced by the army of the Later Tang Dynasty as conquerors. With such a small number of people controlling such a large place, if someone surrenders and rebels, if someone raises their arms and raises their arms, people who are unwilling to surrender will gather to respond...
In Chengdu, there was no trace of joy on the faces of Li Jiqi and Guo Chongtao. Instead, they were more worried than before.
How to quickly digest a political power is something that Li Jiji and Guo Chongtao urgently need to solve. On the invisible front of political struggle, Guo Chongtao was once again ordered to take command in the battle.
There is one person who is crucial to digesting Qianshu, and he is Wang Zongbi.
The emergence of Wang Zongbi relieved Guo Chongtao of a lot of work. Driven by greed, Wang Zongbi inadvertently served as the vanguard of Guo Chongtao's political struggle.
At the most critical moment of the former Shu, Wang Zongbi launched a coup and surrendered to the Later Tang Dynasty. However, everything Wang Zongbi did was to protect his own interests, and there was no need or possibility for him to be truly loyal to the Later Tang Dynasty.
In fact, this is understandable. Protecting the vested interests of those who defected and surrendered is also an important part of the united front work. Otherwise, who would abandon the dark side and turn to the bright side? We are all adults, we just want to take what we need, so there is no need to talk about feelings.
After Wang Zongbi launched a military coup, he immediately raised a butcher's knife against the eunuch group. He killed Song Guangsi, Jing Runcheng, Li Zhouren, Ouyang Huang and other eunuchs, put their heads into a wooden box, and packaged them for Li Jiji. , saying that they are the bad guys who bring disaster to the country and the people. The former Shu was messed up by these eunuchs. They deceived the king and committed unpardonable crimes.
Later, Wang Zongbi killed Chengdu governor Han Zhao and other sycophants, and their heads were hung in the downtown area for public display.
As the core figure of the "Adopted Son Gang" and the "First Brother of the Adopted Son", Wang Zongbi went on a killing spree against the eunuch group and the shameless literati group on the eve of the country's fall, and launched a political purge. This was obviously not for the purpose of helping the former Shu country, but also for the country. Not only seeking revenge, but also gaining greater bargaining chips for oneself, allowing oneself to gain more real power before formally surrendering, in exchange for corresponding treatment after surrendering.
Song Guangsi and Han Zhao were the leaders of the eunuch group and the civil servant group respectively. They had the richest political resources and should naturally fall prey to Wang Zongbi. Then the struggle was logically expanded. Wang Zongbi would kill anyone who was dissatisfied and a treacherous official who "bewitched the Holy One" and "brought harm to the country and the people."
Other dignitaries were frightened out of their wits, such as Xu Yanqiong, Pan Zaiying, Gu Zaixun, etc. They were very knowledgeable about current affairs and went bankrupt. They dedicated all their property and beautiful women, gave up all their power, and begged Wang Zongbi for his life. This saved him from death.
Later, Wang Zongbi sent his son Wang Chengban to present Wang Zongyan's concubines, palace maids, and various treasures to Guo Chongtao and Li Jiqi respectively, requesting that he be appointed as the governor of Xichuan.
Li Jiji didn't look good to Wang Chengban. He pointed at the treasures he presented and said, "These are my family's things. Do you still need to give them to me?"
Wang Zongbi controlled the military power (judged the guards of the six armies), purged the political enemies (eunuchs, civil servants), and actually controlled the overall situation of the former Shu. If he was willing to serve the Later Tang and act as a "Shu traitor", then he would become the digester of the Later Tang. The best candidate for the dual rule of former Shu and Shu; but once he had other ideas, it would be possible that all the previous achievements of the Later Tang Dynasty would be wasted and he would instead make wedding clothes for Wang Zongbi.
In this situation, it was actually very difficult for Wang Zongbi to save his life.
After surrendering and before the army of the Later Tang Dynasty took over, Wang Zongbi actually deployed city defenses and put in a battle order, but was ordered to disarm by Li Yan. After the Later Tang Dynasty took over Chengdu, Guo Chongtao asked Wang Zongbi for money to reward the army, but Wang Zongbi refused for various reasons, resulting in The troops of the Later Tang Dynasty did not receive rewards, and the sergeants were extremely resentful. They ignored military regulations and orders, and rioted at night, setting fires, smashing, looting, and burning, which caused panic in Chengdu.
Wang Zongbi held real power and had a very high prestige in Shu. If this person is not eliminated, the later Tang Dynasty will be restless. Wang Zongbi was a pawn in Later Tang's digestion of Former Shu. Guo Chongtao's consideration was never whether to abandon him, but when and why to abandon him.
Soon, the opportunity came.
In early December, Song Guangbao rushed back to Chengdu from Zizhou, met with Li Jiji and Guo Chongtao, and exposed Wang Zongbi's despicable act of framing and killing Song Guangsi and others for his own personal gain.
Therefore, Li Jiqi immediately reached an agreement with Guo Chongtao: kill Wang Zongbi immediately!
On December 10, the occupying army of the Later Tang Dynasty suddenly arrested Wang Zongbi, the "Three Zhaos" and others, executed everyone in their homes, and confiscated all their property. In the list of articles presented, the occupying army of the Later Tang Dynasty listed several major crimes against Wang Zongbi and others: deposing the owner without authorization; killing ministers; stealing state property... and accused them of being the culprits of the country's downfall.
Former Shu officials had long hated Wang Zongbi so much that they competed to cut off and eat Wang Zongbi's flesh alive on the execution ground. At this point, Later Tang eliminated the biggest hidden danger.
