3.3, "Bodhisattva"
Before Murong Yanchao officially rebelled, an "expert" observed the stars at night and said that Saturn moved between Jiao and Kang, indicating that there was blessing under Jiao and Kang, and Jiao and Kang corresponded to Yanzhou, so Yanzhou was inevitable Something very auspicious happens.
These words played into Murong Yanchao's fancy, thinking that this was a sign from God that he would become emperor. So he led his men to go out thirty miles west of Yanzhou City, burned incense, built a Kaiyuan Temple, and prayed for blessings on statues of gods. At the same time, he ordered the people to plant a yellow flag in front of their homes.
When Yanzhou was captured, Murong Yanchao still burned incense in the ancestral hall of Saturn to pray for blessings and a miracle from heaven. After getting the news that the city had fallen, they fled in a hurry.
It was precisely because he was busy praying devoutly and firmly believed in the coming of miracles that he was not fully prepared for the "self-immolation". In panic, he could only commit suicide by throwing himself into a well.
After Yanzhou was pacified, Guo Wei originally planned to wipe out all the members of Murong Yanchao and massacre all the powerful officials in Yanzhou. Dou Yi, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, felt that this was not possible and took the prime ministers Feng Dao and Fan Zhi to persuade Guo Wei. Finally, Guo Wei announced the pardon of all Murong Yanchao's accomplices and implemented the principle of "only punish the first culprit and ignore the rest."
Subsequently, Yanzhou was downgraded to a defensive state and the "Taining Army" was abolished; Yanzhou and the army were exempted from taxes for one year within a radius of five miles, and summer taxes were exempted within ten miles; people whose houses were destroyed due to war were given subsidized wood ; Those who unfortunately die in the war will be given a pension of three bolts of silk and exempted from three years of corvee...
Yanzhou is today's Jining City, Shandong Province. Jining may not be well-known nationwide, but there is a county-level city under Jining that everyone knows about. It can even be said that it has a certain reputation internationally. It is Qufu, the hometown of Saint Confucius.
When Guo Wei arrived in Yanzhou, he naturally had to take a trip to Qufu County to pay homage to Confucius. After arriving at the Confucius Temple, Guo Wei wanted to kneel down to worship the sage Confucius, but the people around him hurriedly tried to dissuade him, saying that Confucius was just a minister, and His Majesty was the emperor, and there was no reason for an emperor to kneel down and worship his ministers.
Guo Wei said: "King Wenxuan (titled by Confucius) was the teacher of emperors of all generations. What's wrong with kneeling down to worship your own teacher?" Then he bowed down to the sage Confucius respectfully.
Later, Guo Wei visited Confucius Forest and paid homage to the tomb of Confucius. Guo Wei was filled with emotion at this situation and asked his followers, "Can the descendants of Saint Kong and Ya Saint (Yan Yuan) be found now?"
They replied: "Comrade Kong Renyu, the former magistrate of Qufu County and Duke Wenxuan, is the forty-third generation grandson of Confucius; there is also a local tribute Yan She who is a descendant of the Ya Sheng Yan Yuan."
Guo Wei immediately sent an order to summon Kong Renyu, bestowed Fei on Kong Renyu, appointed him on the spot as the magistrate of Qufu County, and appointed Yan She as the chief registrar of Qufu County. Before leaving, he ordered the Yanzhou government to be responsible for repairing the Confucius Temple and prohibited cutting down trees near Confucius' tomb.
Confucius is a symbol of Chinese culture and has also become a political symbol or tool. Those who respect Confucius are the legitimate rulers of China, and those who respect Confucius are the barbarians.
Guo Wei himself had no education, but he still had to show enough respect for Confucius to prove that the Later Zhou regime was the seat of Chinese cultural orthodoxy. Among the "Five Dynasties", the "pore content" of the Later Zhou Dynasty is the highest, because Comrade Guo Wei is a descendant of Uncle Guo, a descendant of the Emperor Zhou, and inherited the mantle of the Emperor Zhou, and Confucius and his Confucianism The "rituals" advocated are the Zhou rites. Confucius spent his whole life working hard to maintain the Zhou rites. As a descendant of the Emperor of Zhou, Guo Wei and the "Great Zhou" he ruled, how could he not respect Confucius?
There is no doubt that Guo Wei's worship of Confucius can be regarded as his political show.
On the issue of kneeling down to worship Confucius, Guo Wei once again used "God's will". According to Guo Wei himself, he arrived in Yanzhou on May 13. At that time, the rebels held the city and Wang Shi could not attack it for a long time. On May 17, Guo Wei had a dream in which he saw a Taoist priest handing him a book. The title of the book was "Return to Beijing on the 2nd of the following month", and there were many words below. He didn't remember it (because he couldn't edit it anymore). When he woke up, he told his close relatives.
After another 4 days, the outer city of Yanzhou was finally captured, followed by another 9 days of suppression of the remaining forces... On June 1st, Guo Wei paid homage to Confucius, and on June 2nd, Guo Wei left Yanzhou and headed to Bianzhou.
According to historical records, "In modern times, there has never been such a speedy personal campaign against Czechoslovakia." What's even more strange is that the heavenly book in his dream half a month ago told him that June 2 was the date for his return to Beijing.
The interpretation of this story is: Guo Wei had divine help behind him; it was God's will that Guo Wei ascended the throne and became emperor.
Xuzhou, Hedong, and Yanzhou were the "three towns that rebelled" in the founding of the Later Zhou Dynasty. Although Liu Chong in Hedong was not completely wiped out, it no longer posed a fatal threat to the Later Zhou Dynasty.
But Guo Wei still has a long way to go.
First, there are natural disasters. During Guo Wei's period, the main natural disasters in the Central Plains were floods, and the Yellow River burst and flooded many times, which had a certain impact.
Secondly, the local threats (three towns) were basically put down at the end of the year, but hidden dangers within the imperial court began to emerge, mainly due to the founding hero Wang Jun.
Three, assist the second minister
1. Wang Jun
Wang Jun was born as an idle folk artist. He was proud of his beautiful singing voice. After several twists and turns, he finally embraced Liu Zhiyuan and became Guo Wei's supervisor. During the Xiaoqiang Revolution, Wang Jun supported Guo Wei in his bid for the throne southward and became one of the founding heroes.
Wang Jun is two years older than Guo Wei. Guo Wei respects him very much and calls him "brother" instead of calling him by his first name. However, he also takes credit for his contribution to the founding of the country, takes credit for himself, is arrogant, arrogant and domineering, and has many meritorious deeds that seek death. Same.
According to records, he has a violent temper and is headstrong. Everything must be done according to his wishes. He will curse and get angry if he is not satisfied at all. Not to mention his subordinates and colleagues, he even dared to scold Guo Wei.
Guo Wei could only compromise and give in to his elder brother, which further encouraged Wang Jun's arrogance and domineering.
During the Xiaoqiang Incident, Guo Wei relied on the support of Wang Yin and Wang Jun and relied on the army to seize the world. In order to consolidate the imperial power, Guo Wei also adopted the "civilian line", vigorously cultivated the civil official group, restrained the military general group, and at the same time, among the military general group He vigorously cultivated his direct lineage and weakened the power of meritorious generals such as Wang Yin and Wang Jun. For example, Zheng Renjie, Li Chongjin, Xiang Xun and others were promoted.
Zheng Renjie
He was originally an aide to Chen Shaoguang, a general in the Later Tang Dynasty. He was bold, careful, and quite strategic. One time, Chen Shaoguang was drunk and acted like crazy. He didn't know why, but he drew his sword and wanted to kill Zheng Renjie. All the guests at the banquet were so frightened that they hid in Tibet. Only Zheng Renjie showed no fear and waited calmly. After being struck by the sword, Chen Shaoguang was impressed by his courage. He dropped his sword on the spot, apologized to him, and said to him: "Sir, you have extraordinary magnanimity, and you will definitely prosper in the future!"
