This was a secret contest between Xu Wen and Xu Zhigao, and a careful test by Xu Zhigao to challenge Xu Wen's authority.
"If Cui Taichu can't be controlled, who can he be?" Xu Wen yelled this sentence angrily, which is worthy of Xu Zhigao's deep thought. These words seemed careless, but in fact they were a serious warning to Xu Zhigao.
Xu Zhigao is a smart man. "Father is right." Weiwei retreated.
This was the second recorded rivalry between father and son.
A year and a half ago (920), Zhang Chong, the military commander of Wuning Army in Luzhou, attacked Anzhou, which belonged to Houliang, but returned without success. When Zhang Chong took office in Luzhou, he was also arrogant, corrupt and lawless, and his harsh governance was comparable to that of Zhao Zaili.
Zhao Zaili launched the Beizhou Rebellion, separatized Weizhou, welcomed Li Siyuan to Weizhou, and promoted Li Siyuan to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor. During his term of office, this person imposed excessive taxes and made life difficult for the people. He was regarded as a "thorn in the side" by the people. According to historical records, when he left Songzhou, the people rejoiced and happily celebrated that he had finally sent away the god of plague. The streets and alleys were filled with a festive and peaceful atmosphere, and the people talked one after another: "If this person leaves, , it can be said that the thorn in the side has been removed, so good, so good!"
After Zhao Zaili heard about it, he was extremely angry, so he went to the court and asked to stay in office for one year. After being approved, he immediately established a new tax item-"nail-pulling money", worth 1,000 yuan per person, and took out the household registration book. Collections were carried out door to door and whipped for the slightest disobedience. It was simply open robbery. Kong Qian is ashamed of himself.
Within a year, "nail-pulling money" alone collected millions of dollars, more than any other official court. "Pulling out nail money" has therefore become a three-character idiom, specifically used to describe exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes that are cleverly designed.
Zhang Chong of Luzhou was even worse than Zhao Zaililai.
He once went to Yangzhou for official business. The people of Luzhou thought that he was leaving office, so they congratulated each other and said, "Qu Yi will never come back again!"
"Qu Yi" had a derogatory meaning in the colloquial language at that time, and the meaning was "this grandson is finally gone."
After Zhang Chong came back, he immediately collected "Qu Yi Qian".
The next year, Zhang Chong went to Yangzhou for business again. The common people no longer dared to talk nonsense, and after meeting, they "just rubbed their beards to celebrate." He said nothing, just nodded and stroked his beard, "You understand."
After Zhang Chong came back, he asked for "money for stroking his beard".
When Zhang Chong came to Shengzhou, an actor composed a sketch "Zhang Chong's Reincarnation" to satirize him: After "Zhang Chong" died, the seducer told him that because he had done too many evil things in the world, he heard that the Lord of Hell would sentence him to reincarnation in his next life. In the water, be like fish, shrimp, tortoise and the like. As a result, the King of Hell said: "Just go and be an otter in Jiao Lake."
The otter has become a widely loved Internet celebrity animal due to its cute appearance. In fact, this kind of animal is "cruel and addicted to fish". The ancients often used "otter" to describe cruel and greedy people, and it was often used to satirize corrupt officials.
In Lujiang County under the jurisdiction of Luzhou, people petitioned to accuse the county magistrate of corruption and bribery. Xu Zhigao sent disciplinary inspection cadre Yang Tingshi to deal with it.
Yang Tingshi is known for his uprightness and fear of power. He is a selfless disciplinary inspection cadre. Yang Tingshi said to Xu Zhigao: "This matter is of great importance. The thunder cannot be loud and the raindrops are light. We cannot just swat flies and not kill tigers. Are you right?"
"Of course, we must fight the tiger together!"
So, Yang Tingshi said: "With your support, I feel relieved. I plan to arrest Zhang Chong, the governor of Luzhou, put him in handcuffs and shackles, take him to Shengzhou, and question Xu in person based on his confession. Wen, even Xu Wen will do it together!"
Xu Zhigao was shocked, "Why did you make such an earth-shattering news for the little county magistrate who I asked you to investigate for corruption?"
Yang Tingshi smiled slightly and asked Xu Zhigao: "Why does the little county magistrate dare to be so rampant? Who doesn't know that he was ordered by Zhang Chong, the military governor? And do you know how Zhang Chong handled the stolen money? Over the years, He used the money to make money, and a large part of it was given to today's powerful people. Do you still want to find out? "
Xu Zhigao came to his senses, canceled the anti-corruption operation, and respected Yang Tingshi even more. This incident also shows that although Xu Zhigao held a lot of power, it was still not enough to directly challenge Xu Wen's authority.
Xu Zhigao still needs to wait patiently.
Cao Cao had Sima Yi by his side, and Xu Wen also had Xu Zhigao by his side.
In April of the third year of Longde (923), Li Cunxu had conquered Yunzhou and was about to implement the "Left Hook" operation. He wrote to Huainan, telling him of the great victory in Yunzhou, and requesting for joint troops to attack the rear beams and deliver a fatal blow to the rear beams. .
Xu Wen planned to send troops northward and adopt a wait-and-see attitude to reap the benefits. His think tank Yan Keqiu opposed sending troops, on the grounds that "if the rear Liang asks us for help, how should our army respond?"
At that time, all the officials unanimously advocated sending troops to help Li Cunxu, but only Yan Keqiu firmly opposed it. Xu Wen obeyed Yan Keqiu's words, so he supported Yan Keqiu against all opinions and decided to stand aside.
Within half a year, Li Cunxu overthrew Hou Liang and sent an envoy to inform Huainan.
Xu Wen smiled bitterly and said to Yan Keqiu: "Look, I said that I should send troops to help him, but you disagree with me life and death. What can I do now?"
Preventing Huainan from helping Tang Dynasty destroy Liang Dynasty should be a major strategic mistake made by Yan Keqiu. It was not just as simple as not allowing the Huainan Group to take advantage, but it also gave Li Cunxu a reason to conquer Huai, making Huainan extremely passive.
Li Cunxu destroyed the Later Liang Dynasty and claimed to be the orthodox of the Central Plains, and even the legal successor of the Tang Dynasty. In this way, he had sufficient reason to conquer the illegal separatist regimes such as the Former Shu, Southern Han, and Southern Wu, while the Southern The Han Dynasty was entrenched in the Lingnan and Guangxi areas, separated from the Central Plains forces by half of China (Gao Jichang in Jingnan and Ma Yin in Tanzhou). Obviously, they would not be Li Cunxu's first choice. In other words, the unstoppable Li Cunxu would attack Qianshu and Nanwu. Choose one between them.
When Li Cunxu destroyed the Liang Dynasty, the former Shu raided the northwest territory of the Later Liang many times and cooperated with Li Cunxu in fighting. Although the Southern Wu responded several times, they were absent from the last and most important military operation. A virgin who loses her virginity is not as good as an old prostitute who behaves well. The Huainan forces offended Li Cunxu to death.
At that time, Li Cunxu did list Huainan as the next target of attack, but changing it to Qianshu was a matter for later. In short, Yan Keqiu's early missteps pushed the Huainan forces to the brink of life and death.
Now that the mistake has been made, we can only actively remedy it.
Yan Keqiu first persuaded Xu Wen, saying that Li Cunxu, who had a small power in Yiying, was now complacent and arrogant, and that he was unable to govern the country. I calculated with my fingers that it would not be long before there would be great chaos within the Later Tang Dynasty. And we only need to bribe him with humility and generous gifts to protect the country and the people.
Did Xu Wen obey?
Hard to say.
