【Flying Dragon in the Sky】
Great waves wash over the sand, and troubled times are a breeding ground for heroes. After struggling from the bottom of society to finally ascending to the throne of the emperor, he is destined to be full of legends. Among them, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, is the most well-known, because his era is relatively close to ours, and he created a vast and enjoyable world. It is a unified dynasty with a long history and a great influence on the historical process.
If we only look at their backgrounds, Zhu Wen and Xu Zhigao's first half of their lives were almost the same as Zhu Yuanzhang's. One was a servant and the other was a street boy.
Living under the shelter of others allowed Xu Zhigao to develop keen insight and extraordinary endurance from an early age.
Young masters who have no worries about food and clothing are more likely to be infected with the young master's temper, such as Xu Zhixun and Xu Zhixun, because they have prematurely and easily mastered social resources that others cannot reach, but they take it for granted that this is natural and natural. of. They genuinely believe that they are superior to others.
But Xu Zhigao was different. He had a very deep understanding of his situation. He must lower his stature and be cautious. Even if he is in a high position, he must be polite and approachable. He must remind himself all the time: Xu Zhigao, you are just a homeless, homeless, and jobless wanderer! Live with your tail between your legs.
I have already mentioned how he served Xu Wen and tried every means to please his godfather. In fact, Xu Zhigao was like this to almost everyone, not only to Xu Wen. No one had ever seen Xu Zhigao lose his temper. The impression he left on everyone was that he was polite and polite.
Xu Zhigao knew very well how much he weighed. Even if he was in a high position, he was always at a disadvantage. A weak situation requires a weak attitude.
The veteran general Chai Zaiyong was so proud of his merits that he even wore military uniforms and carried weapons to the Golden Palace. The supervisory censor severely criticized him, but Chai Zaiyong adopted a "see what you can do to me" attitude. On the surface, Chai Zaiyong despised Yang Pu, but in fact he challenged Xu Zhigao's authority.
This was a signal from the meritorious veteran to Xu Zhigao.
Xu Zhigao's solution was: not to mention the matter at all, and then deliberately broke into the forbidden area-Yang Pu's inner house. After entering, he pretended to be surprised, "Oh, why did I enter this place by mistake!" He hurriedly retreated, and then made a memorial to himself. Impeached, launched profound self-criticism, and asked Yang Pu to deal with it seriously.
Yang Pu said that he was "not allowed by the imperial edict" and offered good words to comfort him, but Xu Zhigao still insisted on giving him a month's salary.
Comrade Xu Zhigao has a firm political stance, obeys the leadership of King Wu, has high political consciousness, has strong political concepts and organizational disciplines, and actively plays a leading role as an example... learn from Comrade Xu Zhigao.
Chai Zaiyong was ashamed and ashamed, and he sincerely admired Xu Zhigao's superb management skills. From then on, he was convinced and no longer wanted to be a thorn in the side. Chao Gang also punished him.
The bitter meat tactic is one of the important means for weak leaders to manage their teams.
Xu Zhigao was well aware of the importance of talents. He had been thirsty for talents for a long time. He was very good at dealing with corporals, offering advice to others, being sincere and sincere, and won the hearts of the people.
When he was in charge of Shengzhou, Xu Zhigao was thrifty, self-reliant, generous with his wealth, and devoted all his money to seeking talents. It was at that time that a large number of talents such as Song Qiqiu and Wang Lingmou were appointed by him as guest staff, and they became his future leaders. The direct team of Jiangshan Sheji.
At that time, Li Cunxu destroyed the Liang Dynasty, Li Siyuan came to power, and the Khitans moved south. War was frequent in the Central Plains. Many scholars and frustrated politicians fled to the south for refuge. Xu Zhigao was based in Shengzhou and controlled Huaikou. Those who were near the water would get the moon first, so he sent people to keep an eye on the Huaihe River crossing and spent a lot of money to welcome talents from the north, including Sun Sheng, an important talent mentioned later.
Xu Zhigao also specially built a "Yanbin Pavilion" as a designated institution for recruiting talents, "so heroes from all over the world returned home."
Xu Zhigao also had his own "intelligence agency". In his spare time, he also personally went to the streets and fields to conduct private visits incognito. Unlike other warlords and powerful officials, his purpose was to investigate the sufferings of the people and then help them solve their problems. He was a grassroots, A good cadre who does practical things.
After the reputation spread, many people came to join him in admiration. "All the famous and old people came to the south." Everyone finally saw a leader with the demeanor of a wise king.
When the weather was hot, Xu Zhigao also refused to let his subordinates hold an umbrella or fan for him. If his attendants held an umbrella for him, he would yell loudly: "There are so many scholars exposed, why should I use this?"
After Xu Zhixun's death, Xu Zhigao entered Yangzhou and showed great respect to Yang's puppets (Yang Wei and Yang Pu), which was widely praised.
Therefore, although Xu Wen was in charge of Shengzhou and had control over the center of Yangzhou, everyone in Yangzhou was sincerely willing to accept Xu Zhigao's leadership.
In 919 AD, Yang Wei founded the country and was called the King of Wu. Xu Zhigao ascended the throne and was given the title of "Zuopu She Participates in Political Affairs", which was equivalent to deputy prime minister and slightly lower than "Tongping Zhangshi". At that time, he was respected as "Political Servant She Gong".
At that time, Xu Zhigao was just thirty years old.
As the saying goes, if your mouth is hairless, your work will be weak. Because he was too young and promoted too quickly, Xu Zhigao felt that he did not have enough prestige to convince the public, so he took some kind of medicine to turn his beard white overnight (frozen overnight) so that he could He looks more mature and experienced.
After Xu Wen's death, the players of Huainan Game of Thrones became Xu Zhixun and Xu Zhigao, and the result was no doubt.
Xu Jie, the deputy marching envoy next to Xu Zhixun, was once a "princeling" who strongly supported Xu Zhixun. He urged Xu Wen to pass the throne to his own son Xu Zhixun, and Xu Wen finally made up his mind to enter Yangzhou on the pretext of persuasion. Get rid of Xu Zhigao. However, Xu Jie, a high-ranking and powerful official, saw that Xu Zhixun was bound to lose this game of power, so he turned to support Xu Zhigao and took the initiative to leak Xu Zhixun's secrets to Xu Zhigao.
Not only the "lonely and important ministers" rebelled, but Xu Zhixun's two younger brothers: the third brother Xu Zhijie and the fourth brother Xu Zhijian also secretly sided with Xu Zhigao.
Especially the fourth brother Xu Zhijian, he is Xu Zhigao's die-hard fan. The eldest brother Xu Zhixun held a Hongmen Banquet at Shanguang Temple and wanted to take the opportunity to kill Xu Zhigao, but Xu Zhijian leaked the secret. Today, the second brother Xu Zhixun is fighting with Xu Zhigao, but Xu Zhijian still sits unswervingly on the same bench as Xu Zhigao.
The actual record says, "Zhixun was built by his younger brothers internally, and sold externally by Jie, but he didn't know it." Xu Zhixun didn't know that he had betrayed all his relatives, and that his father's left-behind ministers and his own brothers were all pancakes. Roll the croquettes - hit the inside with a cannon and eat the inside out.
Among them, the third brother Xu Zhijie was the most devoted. History records say, "Zhi Xun's defeat was due to Zhi Tuo's failure. Zhi Gao was extremely virtuous."
In the final showdown of this game, Xu Zhixun and Xu Zhigao used exactly the same tactics, both to deceive the other into their own territory, the Hongmen Banquet.
But in the end, it was Xu Zhigao who successfully tricked Xu Zhixun. The key factor in his success was his fourth brother Xu Zhijian. He persuaded Xu Zhixun at the last moment and deceived his second brother to Yangzhou.
After Xu Zhixun failed and was imprisoned, he found out about the betrayal of his two younger brothers. He was heartbroken and felt unspeakable grievances.
Xu Zhigao rewarded Xu Zhijian as the military governor of Hongzhou Zhennan Army. In the second year of Changxing (931), Xu Zhijian died of illness and took office in Hongzhou. Xu Zhigao ordered Xu Zhixun to replace him. On his way to his post, Xu Zhixun happened to encounter Xu Zhijian's funeral procession.
Xu Zhixun stepped forward, touched his fourth brother's coffin, and said with tears in his eyes: "Fourth brother, we are brothers, why did you treat me like this? Oh, forget it, the matter is over, I can't complain. It’s just...how can you face our father when you get to the underworld?"
After saying that, I burst into tears. The people who saw him off and accompanied him on both sides were also sad and shed tears. The scene was extremely desolate.
In this deception, Xu Zhigao's performance was so similar that he actually got an unexpected gain. He deceived the powerful minister An Chongjie of the Later Tang Dynasty, making An Chongjie believe that Xu Zhigao would become a minister of the Later Tang Dynasty, so he sent a jade belt worth more than a thousand guan. , as a token.
The specific details of Xu Zhigao's victory in this power game and the story of his usurping the throne and proclaiming himself emperor will be presented in detail later.
We retrace the main line of "cutting down the vassal" of An Zhongjie, the powerful minister of the Later Tang Dynasty: Under An Zhongjie's tough stance, the Later Tang Dynasty officially severed diplomatic relations with Huainan and was on the verge of war. An Zhongjie advocated the conquest of Huaihe; Xu Zhigao unintentionally hunted rabbits in the grass. He defrauded a priceless jade belt and deceived An Zhonghuo's innocent and pure feelings.
