Not only should rewards be given to the top leaders in these regions, but certain rewards should also be given to the second-in-command or top-ranking celebrities, such as Ma Xigao in Hunan.
Ma Xifan from Hunan Province sent "precious dragon and phoenix utensils", "yinhua fruit" and other items.
Faced with these exquisitely crafted rare treasures and top-notch works of art, Shi Jingtang first expressed his true inner monologue to his ministers: "What is the use of these wonderful skills?" After shaking his head and sighing, he said: " But it’s a token of their sincerity that they came all the way to deliver it to us. Even though I don’t like it, I don’t want to ruin their happiness.”
The ministers on the left and right couldn't help but give him a thumbs up (those who heard it were convinced).
In order to show his appreciation for Ma Xifan's tribute, Shi Jingtang gave Ma Xifan titles such as "envoy to the governor of Jiangnan Province", a real title of Shiyi, and changed it to "a hero who supports the sky, assists in transporting people with virtue, and leads to good governance."
So Ma Xifan presented a privately-customized luxury car for the royal family. It was decorated with gold lacquer and cypress wood, gold patterns and silver decorations, and was decorated with pearls, clams, red silk mesh bags and other treasures. This was a daily greeting; he also paid tribute to two people. Thousands of pieces of silk were given as a reward to "the governors and envoys of all the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River"; forty silver gongs (a total weight of two thousand taels), three thousand pieces of cloth, and fifty taels of gold were presented as tribute, plus food, real estate, and seals. Give the hero a title.
After receiving a large number of thanksgiving gifts, Shi Jingtang realized that this was not only a diplomatic success, but also a business victory, so he awarded Ma Xifan the title of "Tiance General" and issued a seal, allowing him to open the "Tiance General Mansion". ", set up civil and military officials. This was the privilege that Zhu Youzhen gave to Ma Yin back then, and now Shi Jingtang gave it to Ma Xifan.
In the end of his life, the Later Jin Dynasty and the Hunan Ma Group (Nanchu) maintained good diplomatic relations of peace, friendship, mutual trust and mutual assistance.
"Gao Laizi" in Jingnan, which is located in today's Hubei Province, was even better behaved. The character and temperament of the Gao family and his son have been vividly described in the previous article, so I will not go into details here. I will talk about something that was not mentioned in the previous article.
Similar to Hunan Ma Xifan, Jingnan Gao Congjie also maintained peace and stability with the later Jin Dynasty. Jingnan Gao Congjie brought the rogue spirit to an unprecedented level, and became better than his master. While maintaining friendly diplomatic relations with the central government of the Later Jin Dynasty, it also flirted with the Huainan forces, the hostile camp of the Later Jin Dynasty. When Xu Zhigao founded the country and proclaimed himself emperor, he sent an envoy to congratulate the southern suburbs and recognized Xu Zhigao's "Southern Tang" regime in a high-profile manner. A red line that must not be touched. Jing Nan touched it.
Not only did Huainan have a rivalry with the Later Jin Dynasty, Gao Congjie of Jingnan also had a secret liaison with the rebel generals within the Later Jin Dynasty. This content will be presented in detail later.
In short, Jingnan Gao Congjie is a real scumbag. He is no longer a matter of stepping on two boats or three boats. He steps on several boats and will not reject anyone who comes.
Later, an envoy from the Later Jin Dynasty came to celebrate Gao Congjie's birthday. Gao Congjie warmly invited the envoy to participate in a military parade on the water. He showed the envoy from the Later Jin Dynasty the huge naval power of Jingnan and looked at the endless ships on the river. The envoys of the Later Jin Dynasty were amazed by the huge ship. At this time, Gao Congjie said: "Wu and Shu have been unwilling to surrender for a long time. I have prepared war preparations for the imperial court. The powerful navy is ready to help the king unify the world!"
After the envoy returned home, he reported truthfully. After hearing this, Shi Jingtang was overjoyed and gave him a horse and other gifts. There was a constant exchange of gifts between the two parties.
In general, Jingnan Gao Congjie during the Tianfu years was like a scumbag who had no chance to be a scumbag. Although he was prepared to cheat on her, he never got the chance, so he remained loyal. Does mental cheating count as cheating? This is a problem, but it is not a problem of "high laziness".
At the beginning of his accession to the throne, Shi Jingtang awarded Qian Yuanguan of Wuyue "Deputy Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses". In April of the second year of Tianfu (937), he sent Cheng Xun, the Minister of Rites, and others as envoys to grant Qian Yuanguan the title of King of Wuyue in the Zhejiang and Zhejiang regions. , and awarded the deputy marshal the gold seal. On the way back, Comrade Cheng Xun unfortunately drowned in the sea.
Qian Yuanguan paid tribute to the Later Jin Dynasty, such as a gold belt with carved dragons and the emperor's clothing, to express his recognition of the Later Jin Dynasty. He also paid tribute to the Later Jin Dynasty: 500 taels of gold utensils, 10,000 taels of platinum, 8,000 pieces of silk damask with different writings from Wu and Yue, 3,000 pieces of gold bar yarn, Twenty thousand bolts of silk, ninety thousand taels of brocade, twenty-four thousand kilograms of tea, a rhinoceros horn belt and other items were given as a thank you gift for the knighthood and the commander-in-chief.
What a deal! Then reward and then give!
Now, Qian Yuanguan’s official title is:
"He is a hero of Chongde and Zhidao in promoting the country and protecting its fortunes, deputy marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, military governor of Zhenhai and Zhendong, internal inspection and disposal of Zhejiang East and West Roads, concurrently envoy of the two Zhejiang salt and iron production and development fields, Kaifu Yitong three divisions , the Grand Master of the Inspection School, Shou Zhongshu Ling, the Chief of the Governor's Office of Yuezhou in Hangzhou, the Shangzhu Kingdom, the King of Wuyue, 15,000 households in the city, and 1,500 households in the real seal."
In formal official documents, these lines should be added before "Qian Yuanguan", which is the official title of this comrade.
On this basis, within one year, Shi Jingtang promoted the "King of Wuyue" to the "King of Wuyue", allowed the founding of the country and the establishment of hundreds of officials; the "Deputy Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses" was promoted to the "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses" ", increase the number of households in the city by 5,000, increase the number of households in the feudal state by 500, and give promotions to Qian Yuanguan's brothers and sons...
In short, Shi Jingtang just borrowed flowers to offer to Buddha, which was a favor without any expense. And every time you add a seal or change a gift, you will receive a huge thank you gift, making a profit without losing money.
The difference between the Qian clan of Wuyue and Houshu, Jingnan and Hunan is that Wuyue country has a coast, so it can contact Khitan by sea. Therefore, while Wu Yue Qian Yuan Guan maintained friendship and peace with the Later Jin Dynasty, he did not give up his management of the Khitan. However, this was also fundamentally different from the Huainan forces. The interactions between Wu Yue and the Khitan were simple and sunny, and did not target any The conspiracy of a third party (such as the Later Jin Dynasty) did not set up an imaginary enemy.
The reason why these three countries are grouped together is because they are highly similar, such as geographical location and diplomatic positioning. It can be summarized as follows: there is the possibility of dialogue with the Later Jin Dynasty, and they share a common yearning for peaceful coexistence, but at the same time they also maintain friendly and mutually beneficial cooperative relations with the Later Jin Dynasty and Huainan. Between the central and Huainan camps of the Later Jin Dynasty, they refuse to "choose sides" ", I want both.
They were the "periphery" of the later Jin forces. What bad intentions can there be in being a peripheral person?
3.3 Outside the periphery
3.3.1 Huainan
Huainan forces completed major structural changes during the Shi Jingtang period. The powerful minister Xu Zhigao usurped the power of the Yang family in Southern Wu and established the "Southern Tang". Based on this change, for the convenience of expression, the "Huainan forces" have been used to refer to it, instead of sometimes "Southern Wu" and sometimes "Southern Tang" according to time points.
However, Xu Zhigao's change of dynasty was very smooth, because the Yang family had long been ousted by Xu Zhigao. The so-called drastic change in the regime now is just a change of the country's name, and the powerful departments and powerful figures have not changed at all.
