[Specialized in treating various dissatisfactions]
Li Siyuan weakly claimed to take control of Luoyang. With the loyal and wise assistance of his close confidant An Zhongjie and others, it took only two or three years to basically control the internal and external affairs, whether with power or favor, conspiracy or conspiracy. Stay in control of the situation. Especially through the methods of dealing with the rebels such as Bianzhou, Huazhou, and Lutai Army, it is not difficult to see that Emperor Mingzong Li Siyuan of Mingjun Holy Master is definitely a wolf in sheep's clothing. If a tiger doesn't show off its power, don't treat it like a sick cat.
Li Siyuan was a talented man with great ambitions. He was unwilling to be the "Provincial Governor of Luoyang" and did not want to see the empire fall apart. His ambition was to complete the great cause of unifying the empire, truly restore the scene of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and put the continuation of Tang Zuo into practice. Not just as a political slogan.
His most important confidant, An Chongjie, also had this attitude. He was devastated by the current situation of separatist vassal towns and numerous small countries, and took it as his own duty to unify the country.
It is precisely because of this that An Chongjiao won Li Siyuan's favor and trust.
While the complete and supreme power was undergoing a smooth transition, An Chongjie was also busy with an important task - reducing the vassal state.
Cutting down vassals has always been a difficult and dangerous task, but once successful, the rewards are also very considerable. In order to realize the resurgence of the Tang Dynasty, An Zhongjiao devoted himself to it without hesitation and embarked on the road of no return to reduce the vassal state.
Since Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty and established the Liang Dynasty and started the "Five Dynasties", this book has always taken the Central Plains Dynasty (Latter Liang, Later Tang) as the main line, interspersed with brief descriptions of other political forces ("Ten Kingdoms" and Khitan, etc.), which will be followed in the following chapters.
Li Siyuan's proclaimed emperor was an important time node in the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" period. Because the previous separatist forces were in a period of rapid growth and made a fortune silently under the leadership of the founder of their regime, they had no connection with the Central Plains dynasties. Not close, more independent. Before and after Li Siyuan proclaimed himself emperor, the various separatist forces basically entered a mature and stable period. Because Li Siyuan made a weak claim, he questioned the vassal relationship and intended to challenge the central authority. Therefore, this period was the peak period for the official establishment of the "Ten Kingdoms" , Nanwu, Nanchu, Nanping, Houshu, Wuyue.
It was also during this period that the founders of the separatist forces passed away one after another, and the "second generation governance" model was initiated internally. And these second-generation sons can rarely surpass their father and elder brothers, and most of them are prodigal sons, such as the former Wen Wang Zongyan.
Therefore, we will take the Li Siyuan court's movement to reduce vassal status as an opportunity to review each branch.
1. Jingnan
Before Li Cunxu attacked Shu, Gao Jichang from Jingnan went to Luoyang for pilgrimage. During this period, Li Cunxu said that he planned to unify the world, but now the only ones not surrendering to the Central Plains are the former Shu and Huainan. I plan to destroy Huainan first and then the former Shu. What do you think?
Gao Jichang urged Li Cunxu to destroy the former Shu first and then plan for Huainan. And he also vowed to Li Cunxu that if the king's army conquered Shu, Jing Nanyuan would be the vanguard to help conquer Shu!
As mentioned in detail above, first of all, Gao Jichang believed that Shu was a land of high mountains and had been managed by Wang Jian and Wang Zongyan for more than 30 years, so it would definitely be difficult to capture. If Li Cunxu attacked Shu, he would inevitably fall into the quagmire of war and seriously deplete the national power. In this way, it would It could no longer pose a threat to Jingnan; secondly, if Li Cunxu really wanted to attack Shu, Jingnan could pretend to be a tiger and attack the former Jingnan territories of Kui, Zhong, Wan, etc. that were occupied by the former Shu. This was the so-called vanguard for Li Cunxu.
Later, Li Cunxu gave Gao Jichang the title of King of Nanping and the title of Shangshu Ling.
Gao Jichang smiled coldly and said to the great counselor Liang Zhen: "He is just afraid that I will unite with former Shu."
Not long after, the news of Li Cunxu's conquest of Shu came. Gao Jichang couldn't help but laugh "haha" and said to his neighbors with great pride: "I lied to Li Cunxu, but I didn't expect that he actually fell for it!"
In the war against Shu, the main force was the Later Tang Dynasty's expeditionary force against Shu led by Li Jiqi and Guo Chongtao, which detoured southward from Fengxiang to enter Shu; the other force was commanded by Gao Jichang (camped southeast of Xichuan to recruit envoys), and Li Cunxu ordered him to do so. Send troops to attack the five prefectures of Kui, Zhong, Wan, Gui, and Xia, and agree to allocate these territories to Jingnan (provided that you capture them and "take them for yourself").
This is completely Gao Jichang's wishful thinking!
Gao Jichang had long wanted to regain the Kui, Zhong, Wan and other states, and had sent troops to conquer them by force. However, Zhang Wu, the former Shu general, taught him to start a new life in a minute. Jingnan's "Invincible Fleet" was completely defeated, and he never dared to provoke his former commander-in-chief. Shu.
Now, Gao Jichang deceives Li Cunxu into aggressively attacking Shu to attract firepower for himself. Jingnan will be able to regain these territories under false pretenses. Then Li Cunxu's main force will be trapped in the quagmire of the Sichuan War and unable to escape. Jingnan will grow stronger from then on... Gao Jichang can laugh out loud in his dreams. Call.
However, the reality was completely opposite to Gao Jichang's script, which Gao Jichang did not expect: the army that conquered Shu only fought at three springs, and then made decisions all the way, with almost no bloodshed, and the former Shu surrendered directly, which took less than two months; and he However, his troops were re-taught by Zhang Wu and returned in defeat.
In this battle to destroy the country, the only victory for the former Shu came from the southeastern battlefield. General Zhang Jingnan's "Invincible Fleet" was almost completely wiped out. ) fled back in embarrassment.
Zhang Wu, the former Shu general, had long been on guard against Jingnan and invented the famous "Lock Gorge" tactic. In fact, it is also a very common routine, that is, a large number of huge iron chains are buried in the Yangtze River, with both ends hidden on both sides. Using the large winch control, once the surface ship enters the ambush area, the soldiers on both sides of the strait immediately turn the winch, and the iron chain rises from the bottom of the river, making the ship unable to advance or retreat. Then the ambush troops on both sides of the strait fire thousands of arrows and rain down stones.
Jingnan Gao Jichang had already suffered the loss of "Lock Gorge" before, but he remembered to eat rather than to fight, and was tricked again.
After the former Shu Grand Marshal Wang Zongbi announced his surrender, Zhang Wucai proposed surrender to Li Jiji, "I will surrender to the Tang Dynasty but not Jingnan, otherwise it is better to let me die." Therefore, Kui, Zhong, Wan and other states returned to the territory of the Later Tang Dynasty.
When the news of the demise of Shu reached Jingnan, Gao Jichang was eating. When he heard a thunderbolt from the blue, he was stunned on the spot. He didn't even know that the chopsticks in his hand fell to the ground.
Gao Jichang was in a daze for a long time before he gradually came to his senses. Shock, regret, fear... Gao Jichang was deeply hit and sighed: "Hey! This is my fault! I thought I had successfully deceived Li Cunxu, but I didn't expect it. You put your life in the hands of Li Cunxu!"
Historical records record that Gao Jichang's original words were, "It's my fault! I held Tai'a against him and gave him a handle. What can I do?"
The second half of the sentence is not controversial, it just means leaving your destiny to others. The key point of dispute is the first half of the sentence, "It's my fault." What does this "fault" mean?
