2.5 Li Jizhen
Two generations, father and son, have been in charge of Fengxiang for decades and have won the hearts of the people. When Li Congke left Fengxiang, the people spontaneously blocked the road and asked for Li Jizuo to come back and serve as his parents' official.
After Li Congke came to the throne, he fulfilled his original promise and appointed Li Jisuo as the military governor of Fengxiang. Fengxiang controlled Shu in the south and bordered the northwest tribes in the west. It was an important town in the western part of the empire. Li Jizuo was loyal to the court and won the hearts of the people, so Li Congke followed the trend and safely placed Li Jizuo in Fengxiang.
After releasing Li Jisuo to return to Fengxiang, he was granted the title of King of Xiping.
2.6Shi Jingtang
On April 10, Shi Jingtang went to Beijing for pilgrimage. Shi Jingtang was embarrassed because he originally came to pay homage to Li Conghou. Before Li Conghou fled, he ordered Shi Jingtang to raise troops to attack Li Congke. When Shi Jingtang and Li Conghou met in Weizhou, seeing that Li Conghou was in danger, he made a key political speculation, imprisoning Li Conghou and professing his vassalship to Li Congke.
Shi Jingtang is the leader of the "strength faction" and the most powerful brother. If Shi Jingtang dares to claim the first place, Li Congke would not dare to claim the second place because there are also Zhao Dejun and his son.
Although Li Congke has followed Li Siyuan for many years, he has never played a solo role. In other words, he is just a warrior who charges into battle, an excellent general, but not a handsome man, and has never been the commander-in-chief of the front army.
But Shi Jingtang and Zhao Dejun were different. Both of them served as commander-in-chief of the front army. They took charge of their own affairs, went north to resist the Khitan, and went west to conquer both Sichuan. Although Shi Jingtang did not shine on the battlefield of Liangchuan, he gained a wave of experience after all.
Shi Jingtang's influence in the army far exceeds that of Li Congke. So in the last years of Mingzong, when the Khitan harassed the northern border, and Mingzong asked the officials who could resist the Khitan, the officials unanimously said that only Shi Jingtang and Kang Yicheng.
Li Congke would not ignore Shi Jingtang's threat to him. This time Shi Jingtang took the initiative to come to Beijing, and Li Congke wanted to take the opportunity to put him under house arrest in Luoyang, unwilling to let the tiger return to his mountain.
Of course Shi Jingtang understood Li Congke's thoughts, so he frowned all day long and didn't think about food or food. Finally, worry became a disease and he couldn't afford to fall ill. His wife is the third daughter of Li Siyuan and the biological daughter of Empress Dowager Cao. She was first named Princess Yongning, then Princess of Wei. After Li Congke ascended the throne, she was named Princess of Jin, and later Queen after the establishment of Jin Dynasty. The title is not important, what is important is that she is the daughter of Queen Mother Cao. She went to Queen Mother Cao and cried, begging to let her husband return to town.
Children love sweets, and mothers-in-law love their husbands. Seeing that her son-in-law was haggard and almost dying, Empress Dowager Cao felt distressed, so she went to her adopted son Li Congke to intercede.
Listen to your mother. In the feudal period, the words of the queen mother were very important to the emperor. If the emperor took the lead and refused to listen to his mother, how could he "ruly the world with filial piety"?
Li Congke was in some danger, so he asked Fengxiang's close relatives to discuss countermeasures.
Almost all the staff advised Li Congke not to let the tiger go back to the mountains. Only Han Zhaoyin and Li Zhuomei advocated letting Shi Jingtang go, and the reason they gave was to appease Zhao Dejun.
Zhao Dejun is currently in charge of Youzhou. If Li Congke attacks the "powerful faction" at this time, it will inevitably trigger a strong backlash from Zhao Dejun and his son.
Li Congke also personally visited Shi Jingtang's home to check on his condition, and found that "haggard" could no longer be used to describe Shi Jingtang's current situation. Shi Jingtang had now become a panting skeleton, and was in danger of passing away at any time.
We can completely believe that Shi Jingtang deliberately reduced his diet and rest and made himself look less human and ghost-like in order to deceive Li Congke.
Li Congke believed it. So he said to the people around him: "Shi Lang is not only a close relative of mine, but also a comrade who has fought side by side with me for a long time. Now that I am the emperor, who else can I rely on if I don't rely on Shi Lang?" So he issued an edict to let Shi Jingtang continue to be the leader of the Hedong Festival. The envoy, the Grand Master of Inspection and the Secretary of the Central Committee, immediately returned to the town and returned to the vassal state.
Shi Jingtang finally escaped.
2.7 Zhao Dejun and his son
Zhao Dejun was originally a general of Liu Shouwen in Cangzhou. The Liu brothers killed each other. Liu Shouwen was destroyed by Liu Shouguang. Zhao Dejun then switched to serve Liu Shouguang in Youzhou. When Li Cunxu attacked Youzhou, Zhao Dejun believed that Liu Shouguang would be defeated, so he surrendered voluntarily. Li Cunxu was highly regarded by Li Cunxu and named Li Shaobin.
In the war to eliminate Houliang, Zhao Dejun performed well and made many military exploits. Li Cunxu then promoted him to the military envoy of Youzhou Lulong Army and took charge of Youzhou. After Li Siyuan ascended the throne, he married his daughter Princess Xingping to his adopted son Zhao Yanshou. During the rebellion in the capital of Dingzhou, they colluded with the Khitan and went deep into Hebei. The Khitan reinforcements were defeated by Wang Yanqiu. When they retreated, they were intercepted by Zhao Dejun, and all the Khitan leaders were captured.
Zhao Dejun has been stationed in Youzhou since the last years of Zhuangzong, and he has accumulated many ministers. During the reign of Emperor Mingzong, he also recruited envoys from the northeast, building the first line of defense against the Khitan, and his contribution was indispensable.
Zhao Yanshou entered the central government and served as a privy envoy. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, in order to avoid the disaster caused by Li Congrong, he actively sought to be released abroad and served as the military envoy of the Xuanwu Army in Bianzhou.
After Li Congke ascended the throne, he named Zhao Dejun the King of Peiping, Zhao Yanshou the Duke of Lu, and appointed Zhao Yanshou as the Military Envoy of Xuzhou Zhongwu Army and the Privy Envoy. He stayed in Luoyang to work and often visited Zhao Yanshou's home to show his kindness. Favor.
Shi Jingtang and Zhao Dejun are the top two "powerful factions", and Li Congke can only be ranked third, so these two people he cannot afford to offend. Ironically, Li Congke's empire was ultimately brought down by the joint efforts of Shi Jingtang and Zhao Dejun. This is a story for another day.
2.8 Fan Yanguang
Originally a general under Li Siyuan, he remained unknown at first. It was not until the "Left Hook" operation that Fan Yanguang's bravery, calmness, wit and loyalty were revealed.
At that time, Fan Yanguang, who was responsible for delivering intelligence, was captured by Houliang, thrown into prison, and tortured. Facing the torture, Fan Yanguang refused to reveal even a single word of the secret. Zhuangzong entered Bian, rescued Fan Yanguang, and immediately became the Minister of the Ministry of Inspection and Industry.
After Li Siyuan became emperor, he was promoted to the envoy of the Southern Academy of Xuanhui. He followed Huo Yanwei to pacify the Duke of Qingzhou, and later pacified the rebellion of Zhu Shouyin in Bianzhou. He was promoted to privy envoy, and became the envoy of the Chengde Army in Zhenzhou. After the fall of An Zhongjie, he became the envoy again. He entered the court as a privy envoy, with the title of prime minister, and became one of Li Siyuan's direct relatives.
In order to avoid Li Congrong's disaster, Fan Yanguang took the initiative to request for release and was able to leave Zhenzhou to form the German army.
As a late-blooming direct descendant of the Ming Dynasty, Fan Yanguang became a general and a prime minister, serving as a privy envoy and prime minister in the court, as a military envoy in the local area, and as a frontier official. Although his overall strength is lower than that of Li Congke, he is still an energy that cannot be underestimated, and he is also one of the "powerful factions".
After Li Congke ascended the throne, he summoned Fan Yanguang to the court, continued to serve as privy envoy, and was granted the title of Duke of Qi. Soon after, he paid homage to the Grand Master of the School and the Secretary of the Central Committee, and became the military envoy of the Xuanwu Army in Bianzhou.
