【Suspicious Clouds in the River】
If Li Siyuan's biological son Li Congcan was killed because he was unwilling to bow to An Zhongjia, then Li Congke, who was Li Siyuan's godson, would really deserve to die even more.
Regarding why An Chongjiao tried every possible means to kill Li Congke, there are two mainstream views in authoritative history books, one is private and the other is public, and there is no contradiction:
Private: Because Li Congke once beat An Chongjia.
That was when Li Siyuan was in charge of the Chengde Army in Zhenzhou. At a banquet, Li Congke and An Zhonghui had a fierce argument after drinking. Then Li Congke hit An Zhonghui on the head with his fist and knocked off An Zhonghui's hat with one punch. hairpin. An Zhongjie ran away in embarrassment with his hair disheveled.
After Li Congke sobered up, he felt very regretful and went to An Chongjie to plead guilty. An Chongjie also expressed his understanding, and the two shook hands and made peace, returning to their old friendship.
Is An Zhongjie the kind of person who doesn't care about past grudges? He is narrow-minded and will retaliate for his anger. On the surface, he is calm and gentle, but deep down in his heart, he has an unforgettable hatred for Li Congke, waiting for revenge.
Public: Li Siyuan faced a similar problem as Li Keyong - establishing a prince.
Li Siyuan was getting older and was exhausted mentally and physically by the complicated and difficult state affairs. It was time to consider the issue of successors.
Li Siyuan devoted a lot of effort to his eldest son Li Congshen and cultivated him carefully. He also kept him with Li Cunxu for training, but it was a pity that he was executed by Yuan Xingqin. The remaining sons are all young and have the ears of a pig or a dog. We will learn about their style later.
However, Li Siyuan's adopted son Li Congke is the oldest and has followed Li Siyuan in battles since he was a child. He has made numerous meritorious deeds and enjoys high prestige in the army. He is in a key town and has a large number of troops...
Is the current Li Congke to Li Siyuan the same as the Li Siyuan to Li Keyong back then? This is a comparison that sends chills down the spine. Today’s Li Siyuan is not as good as Li Keyong back then, but today’s Li Congke is no less than Li Siyuan back then. More importantly, Li Siyuan’s sons Li Congrong and Li Conghou are far behind. Li Cunxu!
The "Xingjiaomen Incident" may be replayed.
These two reasons may exist at the same time. In short, An Chongjie must find an opportunity to kill Li Congke. Now, Li Congke went to Zhenhezhong, far away from the central government, and An Chongjie thought that an opportunity had come.
An Chongjie took the trouble to warn Li Siyuan that his godson was unreliable and that Li Congke would rebel sooner or later. We had to kill him early...
At first, Li Siyuan tried to excuse Li Congke by saying, "The treason is not clear yet," but An Chongke was sincere and never gave up.
An Zhongjie was just talking eloquently and spitting, not noticing that Li Siyuan's expression had changed.
Is your godson unreliable? Does the godson want to force his own son to death and then seize his godfather's land and country? An Zhongjiao, can’t I hear you pointing at the mulberry tree and cursing the mulberry tree?
This could not be said clearly, so Li Siyuan could only stare and sulk, unmoved at all.
After An Zhongjie retreated, he carefully summarized and concluded that the reason why Li Siyuan protected Li Congke was simply because "the rebellion was not clear", there was no real evidence, and he did not dare to kill the meritorious old generals without authorization.
There may be evidence.
There is really no evidence.
The evidence must be there.
In order to put Li Congke to death, An Chongjie was so crazy that he did not hesitate to frame Li Congke and frame Li Congke.
An Chongjie secretly contacted Yang Yanwen, the Yazhong general in Hezhong, and ordered him to wait for Li Congke to leave the city, close the city and refuse, and if there were any questions, let Li Congke enter the court.
On April 5, the first year of Changxing (930), the opportunity finally came. Li Congke left the city and went to Huanglongzhuang to inspect the war horses. In accordance with the instructions of the "secret edict", the Ya general Yang Yanwen closed the city gate, refused to admit Li Congke, and launched the "River Mutiny".
Li Congke was shocked when he heard the news. He hurried to the city and asked Yang Yanwen, "I treat you well on weekdays. Why do you want to rebel today?"
Yang Yanwen bowed his hands on the city wall and saluted, and replied: "It is not that I do not miss the kindness of the commander-in-chief. I just received a secret decree from the Lord conveyed by the Privy Council, inviting the commander-in-chief to come to Beijing for pilgrimage."
Li Congke walked about sixty miles east, settled down, and sent envoys to report to the court. He felt that something was fishy and that someone must be trying to harm him.
An Chongjie's move was very vicious, similar to the "Burning the Forage Farm" in "Water Margin". First help Li Congke "rebellion", and then send out troops to suppress him in an open and honest manner, causing him to die in the rebel army; if Li Congke really goes to Beijing for pilgrimage, he can also make a fuss about the rebellion, and at least he can be punished for negligence and dereliction of duty.
On April 9, Li Congke's envoy arrived in the capital and reported to Li Siyuan the reason why Yang Yanwen had closed the city and refused to accept the offer. Li Siyuan instantly became suspicious, and then called An Chongjie and asked, "Yang Yanwen said he was under the order of the Privy Council? What's going on? Please explain to me."
Of course, An Zhongjie couldn't admit that he was hypocritical, "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, a thief bites you and it penetrates three parts of your body! This is of course the traitor's bloody spouting. Your Majesty, you must be aware of it!"
Li Siyuan was confused. What happened in the river? If you want to solve the mystery, it is easy, that is, ask Yang Yanwen face to face.
Therefore, Li Siyuan ordered Li Congke to go to Beijing and promoted Yang Yanwen to be the governor of Jiangzhou. According to regulations, Yang Yanwen was coming to the capital to face the Holy Spirit to express his gratitude, so Li Siyuan could use this opportunity to get to the bottom of things.
An Chongjie's strategy is to fish in troubled waters, how can he allow Li Siyuan to find out the truth! So he jumped up and down and advocated using force to attack the "rebels" in the river.
At this time, An Zhongjie was at the peak of his life, and he was able to forcefully promote the "counter-rebellion" matter, and even Emperor Li Siyuan could not stop it.
An Zhong ordered Chang'an to stay at Suo Zitong and infantry commander Yao Yanchou to lead an army to attack Hezhong.
Li Siyuan secretly told Yao Yanchou not to kill Yang Yanwen. He must be captured alive. I will question him personally.
Coincidentally, Suo Zitong and Yao Yanchou also received secret instructions from An Zhongjie: They must kill Yang Yanwen and silence him!
With the emperor on one side and powerful ministers who were more emperor than the emperor on the other, Suo Zitong and Yao Yanchou were involved in the darkest political conspiracy in the Li Siyuan period.
Generally speaking, any little person who is involved in the fight between gods and gods will not have a good outcome in any case, and will become a political victim sooner or later. From the moment the big shot comes to the door, the tragic life of the little guy begins.
After Li Congke received the edict, he immediately rushed to the capital to prove his innocence to Li Siyuan.
Li Siyuan blamed him for his oversight and ordered him to go home and think about his mistakes behind closed doors. It is equivalent to being released on bail pending trial. In fact, this is Li Siyuan's protection for Li Congke.
In just a few days, Suo Zitong and Yao Yanchou put down the "rebellion" in the river. Along with the report of victory, Yang Yanwen's head was sent.
An Zhongjiao breathed a long sigh of relief, smiled widely, and immediately led hundreds of civil and military officials to the court to congratulate the emperor for quelling the rebellion in Hezhong.
This was An Zhongjie's provocation to Li Siyuan, a provocation to the supreme imperial power, and he was on the verge of death, trying his best.
