8. Two Sichuan
Through the review of several forces mentioned above, the passionate and passionate image of An Chonghui, the "hawkish" official of Mingzong, emerges vividly on the page. He regards the great cause of unification and restoring the glory of the empire as his own mission. He is paranoid and radical, ignores the facts, and leads to darkness.
An Zhongjia worked hard to solve difficulties when there were difficulties. Even if there were no difficulties, he would also create difficulties for the country. His stubbornness was most vividly demonstrated in the Sichuan and Sichuan affairs.
The elimination of former Shu and the subjugation of Bashu was the greatest political legacy left by Li Cunxu to Li Siyuan, and it was a good start for the "unification of the motherland". An Zhong's ingenious plan to stabilize the world finally removed the land of Bashu from the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty. On the corpse of "Previous Shu", a young separatist regime - "Later Shu" was rising.
Meng Zhixiang, this low-key and meaningful man, this man who got a blessing in disguise, his strength explains what the blessing of luck is and what it means to rise to the occasion.
Meng Zhixiang's uncle was Meng Fangli, the former military governor of Zhaoyi Army in Luzhou, and his uncle was Meng Qian. At that time, Li Keyong was still the governor of Hedong in Taiyuan Prefecture, and he grew up together with Zhu Wen of Bianzhou. At that time, Meng Fangli was also a hero with equal strength as Li Keyong and Zhu Wen.
However, Meng Fangli unfortunately slept next to the tiger. Due to geopolitical and military requirements, the Luzhou Zhaoyi Army was the first target on the expansion path of Hedong Li Keyong.
When Li Key used his troops to suppress the situation, Meng Fangli committed suicide by taking poison in anger. The three armies supported his younger brother Meng Qian to seize the throne. Meng Qian was also defeated, so he surrendered to Li Keyong.
Li Keyong was very friendly to the Meng family. Zhaoyi Army was the first vassal town he annexed, and the Meng family was the first batch of high-level political prisoners he accepted. Li Keyong married his daughter (some say Li Keyong's younger brother, Li Keyong's daughter) to Meng Zhixiang, and also married Meng Zhixiang's sister to his younger brother Li Kening.
This generation is a little bit chaotic. It doesn’t matter, it’s a common bug in political marriages.
However, Meng Zhixiang has been unknown and low-key for a long time. Being indifferent to fame and wealth, and being wise and prudent in protecting one's own safety has also become a treasure trove for him to survive countless turbulent political struggles.
When Li Cunxu first came to power, he was almost involved in a fatal incident, the "Li Kening rebellion case." Fortunately, he had not been involved in politics for a long time, so he was not implicated in the end. But it also gave Meng Zhixiang a lot of fright, making him even more afraid to get even half a step closer to power.
Li Cunxu believed that Meng Zhixiang was honest and loyal, and was his brother-in-law. He wanted to promote him because of his "relative to the virtuous", but he gradually approached the core power circle.
While others were envious, jealous, and resentful, Meng Zhixiang was terrified. Every time he was promoted or reused, the door of hell was one step closer to him, so that he was in constant panic all day long.
As his colleagues around him were killed one by one without charge and died in the ruthless political struggle, Meng Zhixiang could no longer sit still, so he took the initiative to ask Li Cunxu to step back to the second line and ask him to be transferred to a local government. Leave the center.
Thanks to this layer of "relatives", Li Cunxu did not overly suspect or embarrass Meng Zhixiang. He only made a reasonable request to him: You can resign, but you must recommend a comrade who can take your place.
Meng Zhixiang recommended Guo Chongtao to Li Cunxu.
Recommending Guo Chongtao was originally just Meng Zhixiang's escape plan. To put it bluntly, he asked Guo Chongtao to block the gun for him. Unintentionally, Guo Chongtao reached the pinnacle of his life, and he was very grateful to Meng Zhixiang for his recommendation and vowed to return the favor.
He waited until Guo Chongtao took command to conquer Shu before he finally waited for this opportunity. Guo Chongtao recommended Meng Zhixiang to Li Cunxu as the governor of Xichuan.
After the fall of the former Shu, Li Cunxu fulfilled his promise and appointed Meng Zhixiang as Tongping Zhangshi and Chengdu Prefecture as Deputy Envoy of Xichuan Festival.
Before Meng Zhixiang took office, Li Cunxu had already tactfully explained to Meng Zhixiang his real mission in going to Xichuan. In one sentence: to make money. For this reason, Li Cunxu staged a clumsy drinking game.
Li Cunxu asked the relevant departments to use all the treasures in the treasury to build an extremely luxurious small single room, and then drank and talked with Meng Zhixiang.
Let’s talk about the old friends first, and then talk about the children.
Li Cunxu said with great emotion, this Li Jiji was just a young boy a few days ago, but today he was able to pacify Bashu for me. He is truly a child who can be taught.
Meng Zhixiang quickly complimented him, saying that a tiger father has no dog sons, let alone a real dragon.
Following the topic of pacifying Bashu, Li Cunxu expressed emotion again, saying that when the late emperor passed away, our Hedong Group was on the verge of bankruptcy and could only save a corner of Taiyuan. But now we have such a vast territory that all the treasures from all over the world can be gathered in the mansion.
Before Meng Zhixiang had time to praise his leadership, Li Cunxu followed the drunkenness in front of him and said, "Look, this room is full of rare treasures. But I heard that Shu is rich and full of gold. The silver treasures are even better than here."
Meng Zhixiang heard that something was wrong with the tone of his words and quickly held his breath, feeling that something bad was going to happen.
Sure enough, Li Cunxu expressed the central idea of the dinner: "After you go to Xichuan, you want to transfer those gold and silver treasures back to me. I don't worry if others have gone. After all, no one can resist the temptation of sugar-coated bullets. I trust you in our relationship."
As soon as Meng Zhixiang arrived in Luoyang, his superiors showed off his quota. Li Cunxu regarded the hearsay as fact and asked Meng Zhixiang to send back the legendary wealth. If the money sent does not meet Li Cunxu's satisfaction, it is obvious that Meng Zhixiang is guarding and stealing; and if he wants to forcibly plunder the people's wealth in Shu, which has just experienced the ravages of war, it will trigger a civil uprising, and Meng Zhixiang will not be able to escape the oppression of the common people. Accusations of breach of duty.
This is the most embarrassing situation for people in the workplace: a lump of ice cream has been frozen into ice, but the boss thinks it is ice cream wrapped in chocolate ice cream. While serving it to your mouth, he says it is a special product that the business department flew back from abroad. Expensive high-end ice cream, which everyone in the company is reluctant to eat, is only given to the best of you... Be sure to be grateful to your leader.
Meng Zhixiang stayed in Luoyang for several days. "Can you ask your own son Li Jiji to be brought back to you directly when he is in class?" These were Meng Zhixiang's words from the bottom of his heart, but he could not say them out, otherwise they would be his last words.
Meng Zhixiang looked up to the sky and sighed. He had been a coward all his life. Even if he hid in the end, he might still not be able to escape this test. I often walk by the river without getting my shoes wet. "Hey, Guo Chongtao, you are not repaying a favor, you are clearly seeking revenge!"
Just when I was packing my bags and preparing to head west, I heard news about Guo Chongtao. Someone accused Guo Chongtao of treason, and the matter had already caused a stir in the court.
Li Cunxu temporarily gave Meng Zhixiang a new task: quickly go to Xichuan and kill Guo Chongtao!
