【The Mysterious Case of Seo Ji-hun】
The murder of Xu Zhixun is shrouded in mystery, especially because historical records state that Xu Wen had no knowledge of Xu Zhixun's rebellious behavior, but after he was killed, it was narrated by Xu Zhigao, Yan Keqiu and others.
What a person Xu Wen is! He is the top political master within the Huainan Group, and he has countless eyes, ears and eyewitnesses inside and outside Yangzhou. He knows the heart of Huainan, Yangzhou, like the back of his hand. And he had no idea about Xu Zhixun's insults to Yang Wei and the veteran. Do you believe it?
Looking at the murderer of Xu Zhixun's murder case - Zhu Jin, many people have raised doubts throughout the ages. This veteran general who has spent his life in the military and enjoyed a high social status also behaved like a reckless man when he killed Xu Zhixun. Mentally retarded.
First of all, Zhu Jin did not gather his troops. Except for a few warriors lurking in the inner room, Zhu Jin was almost a lone hero without any helpers. When he heard that the public security organs were trying their best to arrest him, he actually escaped alone over the wall. The killing of Xu Zhixun was more like a mistake and wounding than a coup or mutiny.
Secondly, Zhu Jin carried the head and entered and exited the palace as if he were in a deserted place without encountering any obstruction.
There is another key figure - Yan Keqiu, who is also full of mystery.
According to records, Yan Keqiu had long seen that Xu Zhigao was a threat to the Xu family, and repeatedly advised Xu Wen to take action first and get rid of Xu Zhigao. Xu Wen couldn't bear it and said to the effect that Xu Zhigao "had no clear trace of his rebellion" and could not be killed for no reason.
And when Xu Wen finally had the opportunity to involve Xu Zhigao in Xu Zhixun's murder case, Yan Keqiu tried his best to excuse Xu Zhigao, and together with Xu Zhigao exposed all the despicable acts of Xu Zhixun, and tried his best to protect Xu Zhigao.
Another record in historical records may provide us with some clues: Yan Keqiu and Luo Zhixiang, collectively known as "Yan Luo", are the right-hand men of Xu Wen's think tank. Among them, Luo Zhixiang has been bribed by Xu Zhigao, and the two worked together to squeeze out Yan Ke He asked to be demoted from the "central government" and made the governor of Chuzhou. Yan Keqiu then ran to Shengzhou and persuaded Xu Wen to proclaim himself emperor, so Xu Wen stayed in Shengzhou, thus escaping Xu Zhigao and Luo Zhixiang's plot. Xu Zhigao then changed his mind and married his daughter to Yan Keqiu's son. His son Yan Xu turned an enemy into a friend and successfully turned Yan Keqiu into a teammate.
It's scary to think about it. The truth behind Xu Zhixun's murder is far from simple as recorded in history books.
History is always written by the victor. Xu Zhigao finally usurped Huainan, established the "Southern Tang", and restored his surname - Li. His grandson is the famous late poet Li Yu of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
To put it simply, the history of Xu Zhixun’s murder was written by Xu Zhigao.
In fact, when Xu Wen heard the news that his eldest son Xu Zhixun had been killed, his first reaction was: Xu Zhigao must have done it! It was precisely the exculpation of Yan Keqiu and others that brought the investigation of the case to an abrupt end.
What made Xu Wen stop the investigation was not a few gossips from Yan Keqiu and others, but the actual situation. When Xu Wen came to Yangzhou with great momentum, he found that Xu Zhigao had taken the military and political power of Yangzhou as his own and gained actual control of Yangzhou. Frankly speaking, Xu Wen was not confident enough to fall out with Xu Zhigao.
Xu Wen was in Yangzhou under the guise of investigating the murder of Xu Zhixun, but in fact he was investigating Xu Zhigao's control over Yangzhou.
Just imagine, even Luo Zhixiang was instigated by Xu Zhigao to rebel, and Diao Yanneng, who stayed with Xu Zhixun, had already secretly defected to Xu Zhigao. Naturally, other civil and military officials were not to mention, and even his other biological son Xu Zhijian was unswervingly Support Xu Zhigao... Xu Wen was surprised and horrified to find that Xu Zhigao had already firmly controlled both inside and outside Yangzhou, so he stepped down and followed everyone's words, admitting that Xu Zhixun's death was entirely his own fault and that he deserved it.
The end of the murder investigation and liquidation work announced Xu Wen's full compromise with Xu Zhigao.
Therefore, Xu Wen reluctantly appointed Xu Zhigao as deputy envoy of the Huainan Jiedu March and deputy envoy of the internal and external horse infantry and a series of official positions, basically taking over the power of Xu Zhixun. Xu Zhijian was also appointed to take charge of Runzhou to succeed Xu Zhigao. Then he returned to Shengzhou and left the sad place of Yangzhou.
After Xu Zhigao took control of Yangzhou, his behavior was completely opposite to that of Xu Zhixun. He was respectful to the puppet Yang Wei, was humble to the civil and military ministers, and courteous to the virtuous, and the policies he formulated were very tolerant and benevolent. For example, he announced that all previous tax arrears would be exempted, and this year's taxes were allowed to be postponed until the crops matured.
In addition, Xu Zhigao also adopted the advice of counselor Song Qiqiu and abolished exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. Previously, there were two main tax items in Huainan: head tax and land tax, and people were required to pay in cash instead of in kind. As a result, ordinary people need to sell the produced goods and exchange them for copper coins, and the prices of goods are subject to the macro-control of the government... It is similar to Kongqian's "sheep shearing" and "leek cutting" in the later Tang Dynasty. The government uses administrative orders to Intervene in the market, plunder the people's wool, and plunder the people's fat and oil in various ways.
Song Qiqiu suggested that Xu Zhigao directly abolish the "poll tax" and all unreasonable exorbitant taxes, allow the people to turn in goods in kind to offset the taxes, and encourage them with generous conditions, such as silk and satin worth one thousand coins, which can actually be offset against three thousand coins. arts.
Xu Zhigao accepted it completely.
The government reduced people's tax pressure on a large scale, maximizing people's enthusiasm for production and labor. So overnight, there was no more wasteland in the Jianghuai area. All the previously barren fields were opened up into fertile fields. There were mulberry trees in front of and behind the houses, and the people Farming and spinning make the country rich and the people strong.
Some officials expressed that they could not understand, and they came to Song Qiqiu and Xu Zhigao with their abacus to argue, saying that tax cuts would be a temporary relief, but the national treasury crematorium! According to estimates, the government will lose hundreds of millions in tax revenue every year!
Song Qiqiu said that wealth has not decreased at all, let alone shrunk, it is just hiding wealth among the people. How can it be that everyone is rich while the country is poor and weak? Take a longer view, little comrade.
Qiqiu of the Song Dynasty was studious and ambitious, and was especially good at the art of vertical and horizontal maneuvering and conspiracy (you especially liked the theory of vertical and horizontal, short and long). His first name was Chaohui, which was later changed to Zisong. The reason is that Song Qiqiu once rejected Wang Taifu out of jealousy, so Wang Taifu wrote a letter to him, scolding him, saying: "I heard that the great sage Qi took him as his name, and the super sage took him as his title."
The Great Sage refers to the sage Confucius (Kong Qiu), and the Lesser Sage now generally refers to Mencius, but before the Song Dynasty, the Lesser Sage generally referred to Yan Hui. The meaning of Wangtai Fu is that your name is "Qiqiu", which is comparable to that of Kong Sage; your self-title is "Chao Hui", which is better than that of Ya Shengyan Hui. You must be so shameless!
Song Qiqiu quickly changed his cousin name to "Zisong".
