Wei Qi's eyes were full of horror, and when he saw Gao Baoxu's calm expression, he seemed to have been confirmed.
Because in this era, anyone with a little common sense knows that Jingnan is actually trying to survive in the cracks.
Many people despised the way of life in Jingnan. When the Central Plains had the upper hand, they attached themselves to the Central Plains. Later, when Yang Wu in Jiangnan became more powerful, he took the initiative to show favor to Yang Wu.
Of course, the foundation of the Central Plains was not very stable at this time. Later, Gao Jixing sought independence on his own, and the timing was just right for him to succeed in establishing his business. If it were any other time, Jingnan might be swallowed up by one of them.
Some people jokingly called the Central Plains tyrants in the late Tang Dynasty, among them were Wu Yue Qian Miao, Chu State Ma Yin and Jingnan's Gao Jixing!
Many people don't understand why Gao Jixing is compared with Qian Miao or even Ma Yin. In fact, the reason is very simple. Although the Central Plains, Jiangnan, and even Shu and Lingnan have produced outstanding figures, they are all slightly inferior to these three places.
Because these three people have been independent since the end of the Tang Dynasty, and then they reigned for a very long time, and everyone got a good death! In other political regimes, either the founders are short-lived, or the foundations they create are short-lived, or the foundations are given up to others, or the fortunes change.
Although Jingnan's territory has never been large, it has been extremely difficult for the Gao family who was caught in the middle. Because in the first year of Kaiping in the Later Liang Dynasty (907), if Gao Jixing was appointed as the governor of Jingnan, Jingnan, which was under the jurisdiction of ten states at that time, was actually only the city of Jiangling Prefecture.
It was at this time that Gao Jixing saw the backbone of the strong external force and the internal cadre. In fact, the building was about to collapse. So he boldly summoned the exiles to gradually resume their work after taking office. After more than ten years of hard work, in the second year of Tongguang (924) of the Later Tang Dynasty, he was won over by the Later Tang Dynasty and granted the title of King of Nanping, and obtained the two places of Guizhou and Xiazhou.
Because the terrain in Jingnan was narrow and the troops and horses were weak, it occupied an important position in the north-south transportation at that time. In addition to the situation in the world at that time, if the Southern Han, Fujian and Chu countries in the southeast entered the Central Plains from the north, they would have to pass through Jingnan, but Gao Jixing saw an opportunity.
That is why Gao Jixing understands that his regime is nothing more than waiting for a communist leader. Because if Jingnan serves as a buffer for several places, as long as all parts of the world are peaceful, their own territory will not have the slightest impact. If one day there is an annexation, or a real war between the two countries, I will inevitably become the first victim.
Therefore, in order to maintain the status quo of the world, Gao Jixing can be said to have spared no effort to interact with each other. When Yang Wu's power became stronger, he secretly made friends with Chu; when Chu became more stable, he moved westward to make peace with Shu. Anyway, what he is most willing to do is to balance the forces in various places. Even in the Southern Han Kingdom as far away as Lingnan, he had contacts from time to time, which shows the living situation of Gao Jixing.
However, in the eyes of outsiders, it is obviously a shameless behavior for a local separatist force to be friendly with any force, so some people call Gao Jixing Gao Laizi.
However, Gao Jixing didn't take it seriously because he started it in the late Tang Dynasty and was once the domestic slave of Zhu Wen's adopted son Zhu Yourang. Later, he was appreciated by Zhu Wen and adopted as his adopted son by Zhu Yourang. Because of his meritorious service in battle, he served as the defense envoy of Yingzhou. Because he was born into the royal family of the Later Liang Dynasty, Gao Jixing had always been ambitious.
When Zhu Wen was alive, Gao Jixing was quite well-behaved. Later, when a wealthy family killed his father with his son, and the power of the Later Liang Dynasty declined, Gao Jixing gradually became domineering. Because the attack on Xiangzhou failed, they simply cut off tribute to Houliang. Because of this invasion of the Central Plains, Jingnan gradually broke away from the jurisdiction of Houliang.
At the beginning of the Later Tang Dynasty, Gao Jixing was also afraid of the power and went to Luoyang to meet Li Cunxu. However, I don't know whether Li Cunxu was confused or didn't take Gao Jixing seriously, and actually allowed Gao Jixing to return to Jiangling.
At that time, Li Cunxu did regret it and asked Liu Xun, the military governor of Xiangzhou, to intercept Gao Jixing. However, Gao Jixing, who narrowly escaped death, fled back to Jiangling at full speed and never left Jiangling Mansion again. The regretful Li Cunxu saw that there was nothing he could do, so he had to appease Gao Jixing and make him King of Nanping again.
From then on, the power in the Central Plains was uneven, and Jingnan could no longer be taken into consideration. Gao Jixing gradually transformed from a vassal vassal to an independent political power. It has complete autonomy over the military, political, and diplomatic affairs within its territory.
Because Gao Jixing made the right choice and had a large foundation, the surrounding separatist regimes gradually recognized the existence of Jingnan. In addition, Gao Jixing's son Gao Congjie inherited his father's legacy and was an extremely conservative heir, which made Jingnan perfect and finalized during this period.
But why did the Central Plains countries acquiesce to Jingnan at this time? Because although Gao Jixing was powerful, his son Gao Congjie seemed to be even more shrewd.
Because Gao Congjie pursued double standards of doing great things to protect his country and making good friends with neighboring countries!
First, it was Zhengshuo who established the Central Plains, which clarified the style of the strongest force in the Central Plains. His vision was probably unparalleled by the powers of the various countries at that time. Secondly, he made good friends with Yang Wu, Southern Tang, Ma Chu and Hou Shu, and had few wars with these countries in his life. Compared with the wars and chaos all over the world at that time, Jingnan was an anomaly!
However, some people clearly saw Gao Congjie's cleverness, because when Yang Wu was strong, he persuaded Yang Wu to found a country. When the Yang Wu Li family rose to prominence, he persuaded the Li family to depose the master and become independent. This vision could be said to be somewhat unique at the time. Later, Jingnan received support from the Southern Tang Dynasty, which was inseparable from Gao Congjie's vision at this time.
Moreover, Gao Conggui is more rational and pragmatic than the ups and downs in power, as well as more flexible and open. Not only did it lift the dark cloud of war hanging over Jingnan, it also brought peace and stability for a longer period of time. This kind of flexible decision-making allowed the Jingnan regime to maintain a good tone. Although the successor Gao Baorong was much inferior, he still maintained Jingnan's national destiny steadily because he followed his policies.
As a descendant of the Gao family, Gao Baoxu naturally knows his father's strategy, but because his brother Gao Baorong is weak and incompetent, Jingnan does have a huge pressure now. This kind of pressure is difficult for outsiders to see, but Gao Baoxu, who has received an excellent education since childhood, understands Jingnan's current predicament very well.
Because the Central Plains dynasty is becoming increasingly powerful, and the several conquests against Southern Tang and Shuzhong are the best examples. Nowadays, Shu Shu does not strive for progress, and the Southern Tang Dynasty relies on natural dangers to live and die. Although Jingnan does not have such a crisis yet, Gao Baoxu, as a discerning man, can see such a deep crisis!
