Li Cunxu initially sent it to Southern Wu in the form of an "imperial edict", announcing the replacement of Houliang by the Later Tang Dynasty. However, Nanwu refused to accept it and forced Li Cunxu to use a letter of credence with equal status, with the heading "Emperor of the Tang Dynasty addressed to the Lord of Wu". Only then did Nan Wu accept it, and replied with the same wording and etiquette, saying, "The Lord of Wu Kingdom wrote to the Emperor of Tang Dynasty."
He didn't give in or pretend to be a grandson. They only recognized equal diplomatic relations and resolutely refused to surrender to Li Cunxu.
If you get into trouble, you have to bear the responsibility. Yan Keqiu was so angry that he fell ill. In addition to feeling guilty, what Yan Keqiu wanted to do was to actively remedy the situation. He wrote a dogma of answers overnight, predicting what Li Cunxu might ask, and then listed one by one standard answers that would not lose the national integrity and shock Li Cunxu.
Lu Ping memorized it by heart, then followed Yan Keqiu's advice, brought heavy gifts, first bribed the dignitaries of the Later Tang Dynasty, and then calmly responded to Li Cunxu's cross-examination.
As a result, everything Li Cunxu asked was as expected by Yan Keqiu. Lu Ping's calmness and fluent answers made Li Cunxu look at the Southern Wu regime with admiration. He told the people on his left and right that Huainan seemed to be full of talents and it was not easy to take advantage of them.
Therefore, Li Cunxu postponed the expedition to Huai. Incidents such as Li Yan's mission to Shu also contributed to Li Cunxu's idea of attacking Shu first.
In this year, Xu Zhigao quietly challenged Xu Wen’s authority for the third time:
The cause of the incident was that someone reported that Shouzhou regiment training envoy Zhong Taizhang had embezzled, stolen and sold public horses. So Xu Zhigao sent Wang Min, the governor of Chuzhou, to lead his troops in the name of inspecting Huoqiu (now Huoqiu County, Anhui Province). When passing by Shouzhou, he suddenly rushed into the city and announced that he would take over Shouzhou, and ordered Zhong Taizhang to be the governor of Raozhou. .
After Xu Wen heard about it, he immediately summoned Zhong Taizhang to Shengzhou and sent his confidant Chen Yanqian to ask him what was going on.
As a result, no matter how Chen Yanqian cross-examined him, Zhong Taizhang never said a word.
Xu Wen was even more confused, so he sent someone to ask him why he didn't defend himself.
Zhong Taizhang snorted coldly and said: "In terms of fighting alone, I am also known as a warrior among a hundred thousand troops. I am in Shouzhou and have more than 5,000 infantry and cavalry under my command. If I have second thoughts, I can do it with just one single person." How can Wang Min, who is riding alone, capture me? Is there any need to ask whether I have failed my lord? My lord can just demote me to be the county magistrate, not to mention that I am still the governor now. I am already satisfied. If I defend myself , will it soon be equivalent to announcing to the world that the lord is wrong?"
After Xu Wen heard about it, he sighed and said that if it hadn't been for Zhong Taizhang, I would have died in Zhang Hao's hands. Now that I am rich, how can I forget the kindness of the past? So he ordered not to pursue the crime of stealing and selling official horses.
When Xu Wen planned to assassinate Zhang Hao, he approached Zhong Taizhang. Zhong Taizhang came forward to find thirty warriors and formed a blood alliance. Xu Wen also tested him. Zhong Taizhang successfully passed the test and led his men to successfully assassinate him. Zhang Hao. Afterwards, someone suggested that Xu Wen kill Zhong Taizhang to silence him because he knew too much. Xu Wen did not do this, but kept promoting him to repay his kindness.
Xu Zhigao argued hard and strongly suggested that Zhong Taizhang must be punished to deter other civil and military officials.
Xu Wen's final ruling was to let Xu Zhigao and Zhong Taizhang become in-laws. Xu Zhigao's eldest son married Zhong Taizhang's second daughter.
It is worth mentioning that the newlyweds later gave birth to a son, who was the future empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Yu. Zhong Taizhang is Li Yu’s grandfather.
Those that Xu Zhigao wanted to protect, such as Cui Taichu in Shouzhou, Xu Wen must give severe blows; those that Xu Zhigao wanted to attack, Xu Wen must unswervingly preserve. This is the game of power between Xu and his son.
This game of thrones will continue.
In the second year of Tongguang (924), Yang Pu went to Baisha Town to watch the building boats, and then changed the name of Baisha Town to Yingluan Town as usual. Xu Wen came to see him from Shengzhou. Mingjun and loyal ministers talk happily.
While chatting, Yang Pu deliberately pronounced "rain" as "water", "Oh, I heard that there are heavy floods in Henan, and the people of Henan are holding on!"
Xu Wen expressed doubts and asked why.
Yang Pu said: "Zhai Qian's father's name is Zhai Yu. I have been avoiding it for a long time."
"Ah?!" From ancient times to the present, it has always been a taboo for ministers to avoid the king. Is there any reason for a king to avoid his subjects?
Who is this Zhai Qian? He is actually one of Xu Wen's closest associates and a trusted henchman. Zhai Qian's positions include the envoy of the palace, the envoy of the palace, and the armaments envoy. These positions have a common feature, that is, the level is very low, but the job responsibilities are very important. They are the management of palace gates, palace security, armory, etc., usually Cronies will be appointed to take charge.
As early as the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Zhai Qian surrendered to the army under Yang Xingmi's tent, and later became a subordinate of Xu Wen. From then on, Zhai Qian was Xu Wen's close subordinate and won Xu Wen's trust.
When Zhang Hao was assassinated, Zhai Qian was Xu Wen's "messenger" and was responsible for secretly communicating with Yan Keqiu, Zhong Taizhang and others. For such an important matter to be conveyed by him, it shows Xu Wen's full trust in him. And Zhai Qian lived up to his trust, completed the task brilliantly, and successfully won over Zhong Taizhang.
"When it comes to punishing Hao, piety is powerful." - "Nine Kingdoms"
The "Assassination of Zhang Hao" incident is an important milestone for the Xu Wen Group and an important reference for studying the character lines of Xu Wen's team. Everyone who participated in it at that time can be said to be 100% pure direct descendants. It's like participating in Li Shimin's "Xuanwumen Incident".
When Zhu Jin killed Xu Zhixun and broke into the palace with his head, the guards on duty did not dare to stop him. Zhai Qian led his subordinate King Qin to rescue him in time, and ordered his subordinates to close all the palace doors, "Close the door and release the dogs!"
So Zhu Jin panicked and escaped over the wall. As a result, he broke his ankle and then committed suicide.
Mi Zhicheng led his men to inquire about Zhu Jin's whereabouts, and announced that he was crusading Zhu Jin and that King Qin came to his rescue.
However, Zhai Qian had already seen through everything. He saw that Mi Zhicheng wanted to help Zhu Jin, so he used a lie to test Mi Zhicheng. He called Mi Zhicheng aside and watched in private. After making sure that no one was watching, he lowered his voice and said to Mi Zhicheng mysteriously and nervously: "Zhu Jin has been killed. This matter has failed. What are you still doing?" Don’t you want to go back quickly? Come on, I’ll pretend I didn’t see you.”
In and out of words, he hinted that he already knew that Mi Zhicheng and Zhu Jin were accomplices, and pretended that he was secretly helping him.
Mi Zhicheng was shocked and quickly expressed his gratitude to Zhai Qian, "It's a great kindness that I will never forget! Okay, you can get busy first, I'm leaving."
After Xu Wen arrived in Yangzhou, Zhai Qian reported to Zhu Wen Mi Zhicheng's suspicious behavior at the time of the incident, which led Xu Wen and Yan Keqiu to devise a plan to kill Mi Zhicheng.
Xu Wen was very happy, praising Zhai Qian for not only being loyal, but also smart, and knowing how to adapt to changes. He trusted him even more, and gave Zhu Jin's mansion and villa to Zhai Qian as a reward.
After the founding of the Southern Wu Kingdom, Xu Wen gave the wise and reliable Zhai Qian the palace gate, palace city, military equipment and other envoys, letting him control the palace and monitor Yang Pu's every move.
Zhai Qian also completed this task very well, controlling the inside and outside of the palace airtight. There seemed to be an invisible high wall around Yang Pu, which was so oppressive that he couldn't breathe.
Zhai Qian is Xu Wen's eyes and ears and the shackles of Yang Pu's court. If Yang Pu wants to get rid of the puppet role, he must first get rid of Zhai Qian.
Yang Pu was no ordinary person. He used the method of "avoiding taboos" to tactfully complain to Xu Wen, and then complained to Xu Wen. The general idea was that Zhai Qian was taking advantage of others' power, being domineering and bullying the emperor...
Xu Wen quickly knelt down and kowtowed to Yang Pu, begging for mercy, saying that he had no idea that Zhai Qian would go so far. This was definitely not what I meant, and I would behead this kid right away.
Yang Puze said very generously: "God has the virtue of a good life. The death penalty is too serious, so just exile him elsewhere."
So Xu Wen exiled Zhai Qian to Fuzhou.
Those who want to achieve great things must cherish their feathers. Yang Pu cleverly used this to get rid of Xu Wen's spy Zhai Qian, but can Yang Pu turn the tide?
