3. The dream of a great country—Huainan
The Huainan forces were a relatively special military and political entity during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The first is its description. So far, this book has basically referred to it as "Huainan Force" in general. Its manifestations in history can be roughly divided into three forms. The earliest is the Huainan Group with Yang Xingmi as the core, and generally It starts from the end of the Tang Dynasty when Yang Xingmi annexed Sun Ru and occupied Yangzhou; the second stage was the "Southern Wu" regime, and the third stage was the "Southern Tang".
The starting point of the second stage is vague or controversial. Because in 919 AD, Yang Wei (the second son of Yang Xingmi, also known as Yang Longyan) took the throne of Wu, and changed the Yuan Dynasty without changing the country's name. It was not until 927 AD that Yang Pu announced that he was the emperor and granted amnesty to the Yuan Dynasty.
The "Southern Wu" regime is also called the "Yang Wu regime". Many people are also accustomed to merging the first and second phases mentioned above, starting from the time Yang Xingmi occupied Yangzhou.
The third stage is what we know as the "Southern Tang". Xu Zhigao, a powerful minister of the Yang family, usurped power and changed the country's name to "Tang".
Southern Wu and Southern Tang both belong to the "Ten Kingdoms". It can be said that they are just two different names for the same regime in different periods, and they are internal updates.
Another special thing is that their comprehensive strength ranks first among the "Ten Kingdoms", and they were even able to compete with the Central Plains Dynasty at one time, forming two camps that divided the Huaihe River and ruled.
All of this is inseparable from the literary and military strategies of the early leaders of the Huainan Group. The Huainan sages with Yang Xingmi as the core laid a solid foundation for the Huainan power. In fact, since the death of Yang Xingmi, the real power of the Huainan forces has been controlled by the powerful minister Xu Wen, and he also wants to usurp power and establish himself. It is precisely because the Yang family is deeply rooted in Huainan and has a mass base that is difficult to shake that Xu Wen has to be like Sima Yi. Forced to continue the rule of the Yang family, after Yang Xingmi, it went through Yang Wo, Yang Wei, and Yang Pu. It was not until the death of Xu Wen himself that the usurpation of the Yang family was completed in the hands of his adopted son Xu Zhigao.
Xu Wen played a role in the historical process of Huainan and was the soul of Huainan's forces. Xu Wen's path to power is both incredible and reasonable.
First of all, Xu Wen is the oldest direct member of Luzhou in Yang Xingmi's entrepreneurial team and one of the "Thirty-six Heroes". However, Xu Wen's seat is thirty-sixth, ranking last, and in Yang Xingmi's entrepreneurial process , Xu Wen is also the transparent, soy sauce man who has made the least meritorious deeds and is the least outstanding.
When the best of the "Thirty-Six Heroes" were all in Fang Town, Xu Wen just stayed by Yang Xingmi's side silently, working hard. And this kind of neglect became an important factor in his monopoly of power.
After Yang Xingmi's death, most of the elders with outstanding military exploits and outstanding abilities left the town. Only this harmless loser stayed with him, so he naturally became the minister who cares about life.
It was not until this time that people discovered that Xu Wen was hiding in a deep place!
He first united with Zhang Hao to launch a coup, assassinated Yang Wo, supported Yang Wei, and emptied the Yang family's rule. Then he attacked Zhang Hao and completely dumped the blame for the coup on him. Then he used a series of tough measures ( Li Yu (Li Yu's genocide) shocked the dissidents (Liu Wei, Tao Ya, etc.) and forced the "Thirty-Six Heroes" and other elders to recognize his authority.
From then on, the actual controller of the Yang regime in Huainan became Xu Wen. Both Yang Wei and later Yang Pu were just puppets.
People kept urging Xu Wen to take another step forward and pierce the window paper.
Xu Wen liked to wear white robes. Whenever he celebrated his birthday, his adopted son Xu Zhigao would give him a brand new white robe. One time when Xu Wen celebrated his birthday, Xu Zhigao sent him a fitted white robe. After Xu Wen put it on, he walked in the hall and showed off to the guests, "Look, isn't he handsome?"
At this time, someone among the guests catered to him and said flatteringly: "The white robe is not as beautiful as the yellow robe."
While Xu Wen was still pondering, Xu Zhigao jumped up angrily and loudly rebuked the guest, "Do you want my father to be infamy for a thousand years?" Then he spoke earnestly and advised Xu Wen not to imitate Cao Cao, Sima Yi, let alone Zhu Wen.
In fact, Xu Zhigao is the real BOSS who promotes the historical process of Huainan. Xu Wen is a giant, and Xu Zhigao is the person standing on the shoulders of giants. The reason why he strongly opposed Xu Wen's usurpation of power was because his wings were not yet full. If Xu Wen usurped power, his own son would inevitably be designated as the crown prince.
"I know that Gao Wen is eager to take over the country, but I am not his direct descendant and cannot have an heir, so I say this." - "The Story of the Five Kingdoms"
Xu Zhigao, wearing the cloak of loyalty and filial piety, stood on the moral high ground and worked hard to praise Xu Wen. He took the initiative to ask Xu Wen to remove his guards and weapons when entering the palace to show his openness to the Yang family, and gained the favor of Yang family and Xu Wen.
"Jiang Biao Zhi" couldn't help praising Xu Zhigao, "He assists the young master at home, and Bi Bi's adoptive father outside".
However, "The Story of the Five Kingdoms" pointedly pointed out, "Consulting for his family from within and his country from outside, he worked hard and worried several times as much as Cao Ma." Xu Zhigao had sinister intentions and was so vicious and despicable that even Cao Cao and Sima Yi felt inferior to him.
Who is this Xu Zhigao?
[Mr. Xu’s father, Mr. Li]
According to "Jiangnan Unofficial History", Xu Zhigao's father was named Li Rong.
Li Rong has the standard characteristics of a hard-core ruthless person: "He has a sense of self-discipline, does not care about the property, and always makes friends with heroes..." This is the appearance routine of almost all heroes. In short, he is from the bottom of society and neither loves nor loves. He didn't like to study, and he didn't like to do serious things, and he was not satisfied with doing nothing and idleness, so he could only find an entertainment activity that could release the restlessness of youth in that turbulent era, such as smashing, looting, and burning, and put his hormones on "Daoer".
Therefore, Comrade Li Rong defected to one of the most famous local gangs involved in gangs. The gang boss was a gangster named Xia Shao. After Li Rong joined the gang, he confessed to Xia Shao, "I won't pretend anymore. I'm showing my cards right. I'm a descendant of the royal family..."
If the names of the people in this record were hidden, it would be easy for people to mistake it for Liu Bei's lines in "The Three Brothers in the Taoyuan". It's so similar. I estimate that "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" may have referred to this record. In short, Comrade Li Rong said that he was a clan member of the Tang Dynasty, and it was very sad to see the state of Jiangshan State in such ruins, so he wanted to work together with everyone to achieve a big cause and gain wealth together. The thieves' blood boiled with excitement.
Later, Xia Shao and Li Rong started to stir up trouble, and as expected, it grew and grew, with thousands of people, and it was difficult for the local government to suppress them. As a result, it attracted the attention of another group of people. The leader of this group was named Yang Xingmi.
"I heard you are very good." Yang Xingmi came. The Xia Shao gang was destroyed. Li Rong and other key members were captured, and then their family members were searched and executed.
At that time, Li Rong's son was only a few years old. He hid himself from disaster, and then became an orphan, wandering around Huaibei (Haozhou). He was kindly taken in by Xu Wen and raised as his son. Later he was named Xu Zhigao.
Is this record true?
According to records in "Jiang Biao Zhi", Xu Zhigao was originally born in Xuzhou, his biological father was named Li Zhi, and his grandfather was named Li Rong. His parents died early, and he became an orphan at an early age. He had a sister who became a nun, and he was taken by her by her side. The nun sister once took him to and from Xu Wen's house. Xu Wen's wife was also named Li. She saw that the child was well-behaved but pitiful, so she took him in.
There are also records that when Yang Xingmi was plundering Haozhou, he got this wandering boy. He originally planned to adopt him as his adopted son, but his sons could not tolerate him, so he gave it to Xu Wen to be adopted as his adopted son.
In short, Xu Zhigao's previous identity was that of a street boy near Haozhou, and as for his biological father's name, he made it up himself later. This will be explained in detail when he talks about the founding of the country and the proclaimed emperor.
