【One word mourns the country】
Li Song and Lu Qi felt deeply favored by the emperor and worked hard for the country. Seeing Shi Jingtang's surly and rebellious behavior, their hearts were burning with fire, so they actively planned.
After careful consideration, the two finally came up with a reliable plan.
After careful analysis, Lu Qi came to the conclusion that if Hedong Shi Jingtang really wanted to rebel, he must collude with Khitan as foreign aid, otherwise he would be alone and unable to fight alone.
God predicts! Again, there has never been a semi-immortal expert who can predict the future or make calculations. He only conducts careful logical reasoning based on fully grasping all kinds of intelligence. The so-called profiling or deduction, in short, it is to find out things. the internal logical rules and simulate the next step.
During the Mingzong period, the Later Tang Dynasty was in a strong position against the Khitan. When the capital of Dingzhou rebelled, it colluded with the Khitan for aid. The Khitan intervened in a high-profile manner, interfered in the internal affairs of the Central Plains, and sent generals such as Tunai and Zhenla to lead their troops southward. The result was a disastrous failure. The Khitan army that went south was almost wiped out and its generals were captured alive. Emperor Mingzong beheaded Tu Nei and other generals such as Zinla were detained.
After that, the Khitan sent envoys many times to sue for peace, and their words were very humble, asking the Later Tang Dynasty to release the captives such as Zila.
Mingzong's reply was quite domineering. He accepted his gifts, beheaded his envoys, did not release prisoners, said nothing in reply, and didn't even bother to say "get out".
Later, there were also problems within the Khitan. Yelvbei abandoned the country and joined the Tang Dynasty, and came to Luoyang to seek political asylum. Emperor Mingzong Li Siyuan was overjoyed. He immediately welcomed him with the ceremony of the emperor, granted him official titles, and raised him in Luoyang. He was the direct descendant of the Liao Taizu. The eldest son is regarded as an important chess piece in the future.
The Empress Dowager Shulu also expressed her kindness to the Later Tang Dynasty many times and requested its return because her eldest son Yelvbei was in the Later Tang Dynasty. But Later Tang never agreed.
Since the Khitans were potential foreign aid for Shi Jingtang to rebel against the imperial court, Lu Qi's Hedong idea was to cut off foreign aid. It happened that the Khitan had been trying hard to seek friendly diplomatic relations with the Later Tang Dynasty for a long time. This was a golden opportunity for the Later Tang Dynasty.
So Lu Qi offered a strategy:
First, release the captured Khitan general Zila and reconcile with the Khitan;
Secondly, one hundred thousand guan of money is given to the Khitan every year. This is unexpected good news for the Khitan people, and they will definitely be happy to form an alliance with the Later Tang Dynasty.
After the Later Tang Dynasty and the Khitan formed an alliance, Shi Jingtang did not dare to have an attack.
Li Song expressed his support, but the 100,000 yuan must be allocated from the national finance, so he had to say hello to Zhang Yanlang, who was in charge of finance (the third division).
Although the finances of the Later Tang Dynasty were tight, compared with the military expenditures to resist the Khitan harassment, if one hundred thousand guan could buy peace in the world, then a true conscience would be worth it.
Zhang Yanlang deeply agreed with the two men's proposal, believing that this move would not only suppress Shi Jingtang, but also save the country a large amount of military expenditure. It was really killing two birds with one stone. He also assured the two of them that as long as the emperor agreed, one hundred thousand guan would not be a problem, and he would solve the money and food problem through other means.
With the strong support of the Ministry of Finance, the two became more motivated and reported the plan to Li Congke.
Li Congke was very happy and praised the two for their loyalty and outstanding ability. They were really the pillars of the country.
It seemed that the matter was inseparable. The two people, who had won the emperor's praise, worked harder and drafted a "Letter to the Khitan Compatriots" overnight, making preliminary preparations for the alliance between the two countries.
Lu Wenji was not high in level but engaged in bureaucracy, Yao Yi was just showing off, Ma Yin was a vegetarian, Li Song and Lu Qi were talented but could not be trusted... Who was the person Li Congke valued and trusted? Answer: Xue Wenyu.
Li Congke was so excited that he couldn't sleep, and told Xue Wenyu the plan very excitedly.
Unexpectedly, Xue Wenyu poured cold water on Li Congke on the spot, "Your Majesty is the emperor, but you serve the barbarians in a humble manner. Don't you feel ashamed? Besides, what if these barbarians propose to follow the marriage tradition and ask for the princess from your majesty? , what will we do then?”
Li Congke stood stunned on the spot. Reflected by Xue Wenyu's strong patriotic sentiments, Li Congke felt ashamed of himself, feeling that he was so small and humble, a traitor and a traitor, and would be reviled forever.
Xue Wenyu was unwilling to give up and carried out cruel finishing blows, which caused huge critical damage to Li Congke's soul. He recited the poem "Ode to History" (also known as "Ode to History" (also known as "Ode to History") by the Tang Dynasty poet Rong Yu very affectionately for Li Congke. "He Fan"):
"In the history of the Han Dynasty, the plan was to make a marriage.
The country is governed by the Ming Lord, and the safety of the country is entrusted to the woman.
How can you imitate the beauty of jade and make it quiet in the dust?
There are thousands of bones underground, who can be my assistant? "
The wording of this poem is relatively easy to understand. The general idea is that the history books of the Han Dynasty record this "marriage" as a heartless and bad idea. The country and the country must rely on the Mingjun and the Holy Lord, how can it rely on women (marriage)? Don't imagine using beautiful women to replace fighting.
After the "An-Shi Rebellion", the Tang Dynasty's national power declined, so it actively adopted the policy of peace and marriage. Proud literati regarded it as a great shame and humiliation, and were heartbroken. The poet Rong Yu then used the past to satirize the present, and used the Han Dynasty's marriage policy to satirize the authorities.
It is said that during the reign of Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty, he discussed foreign policy with ministers, but the ministers unanimously advocated peace and marriage. This disappointed Emperor Xianzong, so he had an idea and recited this "Ode to History" on the spot, and said: "If Rong Yu If he is still alive, give him the title of governor of Langzhou! Wei Jiang (a senior official of the Jin Dynasty in the Spring and Autumn Period who advocated peace and marriage) is such a coward!"
The ministers understood the emperor's attitude and never mentioned the marriage policy again.
Now, Xue Wenyu followed the example of Tang Xianzong and recited this popular poem for Li Congke. In particular, the line "The country depends on the emperor, and the safety of the woman is entrusted to the wife", which was chanted by Xue Wenyu in a strange way, shaking his head and tail, which directly made Li Congke learn a unique skill of Sichuan Opera without a teacher - changing faces.
Li Congke's face turned blue, white, red, black, and yellow...
Shock, regret, anger, shame, self-blame, rejoicing...
Li Congke's attitude took a 180-degree turn and completely rejected the suggestions of Lu Qi and Li Song.
The next day, Li Congke urgently summoned Lu Qi and Li Song alone.
The two of them didn't know that things had changed. When they heard the emperor's urgent summons alone, they thought it was to speed up the process of forming an alliance with the Khitan. Their faces were beaming with joy, and they were writing down a draft in preparation for a deeper explanation of the strategy of forming an alliance with the Khitan. Thought.
As soon as they met and before they could salute, Li Congke became furious and scolded the two of them, "You are well versed in ancient and modern times, and you should be full of knowledge. You should fulfill your responsibilities and work hard to create eternal peace. But you, you actually came up with such a plan. What a bad idea. I only have one precious daughter, who is still young, but you plan to abandon her to the desert and sell her to the barbarians. What are your intentions? You also want to hand over the hard-earned money of the people and the military salary that supports the imperial army to the barbarians. What are you doing? What do you mean? Tell me, what do you mean? Are you a spy sent by the Khitan? You are a traitor and a traitor!"
