China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 39

Later Shu was built by Meng Zhixiang and its capital was Chengdu. In its heyday, its territory was about most of present-day Sichuan, southeastern Gansu, southern Shaanxi, and western Hubei.

Meng Zhixiang was born in Longgang, Xingzhou (now southwest of Xingtai, Hebei).Meng Zhixiang was Li Keyong's nephew and son-in-law. Li Cunxu sent him to guard Shu after he destroyed the former Shu. Relatives were a very important reason.In addition, Guo Chongtao, the main general who destroyed Shu, was recommended by Meng Zhixiang in his early years, and he was recommended as the best candidate to suppress Shu at this time, which also played a facilitating role.Meng Zhixiang was appointed in 925 A.D., and arrived in the first month of the following year.A coup d'état occurred in the later Tang Dynasty, Zhuang Zong was killed, and Ming Zong ascended the throne.Since then, Meng Zhixiang has been inseparable from the Later Tang government, as if he was the overlord of the separatist party.

Meng Zhixiang only served in Xichuan, Dongchuan also had Dong Zhang, the Jiedu envoy.Later, Meng Zhixiang annexed Dongchuan.Meng Zhixiang and his ministers and generals were all bureaucrats of the Later Tang Dynasty, and some of them were descended from the Later Liang Dynasty.These people generally do not have outstanding insight and courage. What Meng Zhixiang can do is to clean up the mess of Wang's former Shu and restore the state of moderate prosperity in Shu.

When Meng Zhixiang first arrived in Chengdu, peasants in central Shu rebelled against the tyranny of the previous Shu.On the one hand, Meng Zhixiang sent troops to suppress, on the other hand, he selected more honest local officials, exempted exorbitant taxes, recruited the dispersed population, and gradually stabilized the social situation.After some management, Shuzhong gradually stabilized.

In 934 A.D., Meng Zhixiang proclaimed himself emperor, the country was named Shu, and it was called Hou Shu in history.In the same year, Meng Zhixiang died of illness, and Hou Shu entered the period of his son Meng Chang's rule.

●Shi Jingtang shamelessly declared himself emperor

After the death of Emperor Mingzong Li Siyuan of the Later Tang Dynasty, his son Li Congke became the Emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty, the last emperor of the Tang Dynasty.As early as Li Siyuan's reign, Li Congke had been at odds with his brother-in-law Shi Jingtang, the Jiedu envoy of Hedong. After he ascended the throne, the two broke openly.Li Congke sent people to attack Shi Jingtang, and Shi Jingtang asked Liao for help.Emperor Yelu Deguang of the Liao Kingdom immediately sent troops to rescue Jinyang (now Taiyuan, Shanxi), and defeated the Tang army.After Yelu Deguang came to Jinyang, Shi Jingtang went out of the city to greet him in person, and shamelessly called Yelu Deguang, who was 10 years younger than him, his father, and Yelu Deguang officially Yibu Shi Jingtang as emperor.

After Shi Jingtang proclaimed himself emperor, he immediately gave the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun to the Liao State according to the original agreed conditions.Shi Jingtang was grateful to Yelu Deguang, and sent a memorial to the Liao Kingdom, calling the Liao ruler "Father Emperor" and himself "Son Emperor".During Shi Jingtang's 6 years in office, he sent envoys to Khitan 43 times.

●Xu Zhigao established the Southern Tang Dynasty
Xu Zhigao, a native of Xuzhou (now Xuzhou, Jiangsu), was originally surnamed Pan. When Xu Zhigao was 6 years old, his father died during the war, and he went to Huainan with his mother and uncle.Soon, his mother also passed away unfortunately, and Xu Zhihao, who became an orphan, had to go to the temple to make ends meet.Later, Huainan Jiedu envoy Yang Xingmi met Xu Zhigao in Haozhou (now Fengyang, Anhui). Seeing that he was smart, clever and attractive, he gave him to his general Xu Wen, and Xu Zhigao became Xu Wen's Adopted son, renamed Xu Zhigao.

After Yang Xingmi's death, Xu Wen gradually took control of the military and political power, and supported Yang Xingmi's second son, Yang Longyan, to establish the State of Wu.After Yang Longyan's death, Xu Wen planned to proclaim himself emperor for Yang Xingmi's fourth son, Yang Pu, and thus became the first minister of Wu.When Xu Zhigao grew up, he was outstanding in appearance and courageous. He was kind, sincere and popular, and his prestige was higher than Xu Wen's other sons.Xu Wen's eldest son, Xu Zhixun, hated him very much, and tried to harm him several times, but because of Xu Zhigao's good popularity, he saved himself from danger.Xu Wen asked Xu Zhigao to be the envoy of the Louchuan army, and led the water army to station in Jinling (now Nanjing, Jiangsu). After Xu Zhigao went out with the army and made great achievements in battle, he was appointed as the governor of Shengzhou (now Nanjing).He was diligent in government and loved the people, and managed Shengzhou in an orderly manner. Xu Wen was very happy after seeing it, so he asked him to govern Runzhou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu).Later, Xu Zhixun, who was stationed in Yangzhou, was killed by general Zhu Jin because of extreme bullying of his subordinates, and Yangzhou was in chaos.Xu Zhihao was ordered to quell Zhu Jin's rebellion, and Xu Wen asked Xu Zhigao to govern Yangzhou.Xu Zhigao won the love of the local people and soldiers with his style of loving the people like a son.After Xu Wen died of illness in Jinling, Xu Zhigao acted immediately and obtained Xu Wen's position as a power minister, and finally pushed Yang Pu to the throne of emperor, and he took control of the real power in the court.Yang Pu granted Xu Zhigao the title of King of Donghai County.

In 937 AD, Yang Pu was forced to abdicate, Xu Zhihao officially proclaimed himself emperor, and the founding state was named Daqi, with Jinling as its capital.After proclaiming himself emperor and founding the state, Xu Zhigao changed his name to Li Yi, changed the name of the state to Tang, and was known as Southern Tang in history.

After ascension to the throne, Xu Zhigao continued to implement benevolent government and made important contributions to the economic development of the Jianghuai area.

●After Jin and Liao launched their troops, Jin died
In 942 A.D., Shi Jingtang, the great ancestor of the later Jin Dynasty, died, and Shi Chonggui, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, came to the throne.Under the pressure of the Central Plains people's struggle against the invasion of the Liao Kingdom, Emperor Chu gradually became estranged from the Liao Dynasty.When writing a letter to the Liao Kingdom to report the funeral, Jing Yanguang reversed the old practice of proclaiming himself a vassal to Khitan, calling him a grandson but not a vassal. Yelu Deguang, Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty, was furious and sent envoys to question the Kingdom of Jin, saying that he did not report his death to the Liao Dynasty first when he became an emperor. Liao's permission and the throne are all illegal.Jing Yanguang said to the envoy of the Liao Kingdom: "Weng Nu will come to fight, and Sun (Jin) has [-] sharpened swords, which is enough to treat each other." Therefore, when the emperor ascended the throne, Jin and Liao began to fight.

Although Jin and Liao often clashed, the rulers of Jin regarded the war as a trifling matter. Many Jin officials secretly surrendered to Liao.Zhao Yanshou, who had already surrendered to Liao, wanted to rely on Liao to replace Jin, and tried his best to persuade Yelu Deguang to attack Jin.

In 944 AD, Yelu Deguang took Zhao Yanshou and Zhao Yanzhao as the vanguard, personally led the army to the south, captured Beizhou, and then advanced southward from Yanmenguan to Heng, Xing, and Cang in several ways.In February, Yang Guangyuan, the envoy of Jinping Lu Jiedu, betrayed the Jin Dynasty, colluded with the Liao Kingdom, and rebelled in Qingzhou (now Yidu, Shandong).The Liao State crossed the river from Majiakou to attack Yunzhou, responding to Yang Guangyuan's rebellion, but was defeated by the Jin army at Majiakou.In March, Yelu Deguang personally led an army of 10 to attack Yuzhou (now Hengyang South, Henan).The Liao Kingdom retreated and returned to the north on separate routes. The places they passed by were burned and plundered, and thousands of miles around were plundered and emptied.In May, Jin sent troops to conquer Yang Guangyuan. By December, most of Qingzhou city starved to death, but Liao's reinforcements did not arrive.In the winter of the same year, Yelu Deguang once again invaded the south, and the states in Hebei were in a hurry.

In 945 AD, Liao soldiers stationed in Yuanshi (now Yuanshi, Hebei), and Zhao Yanshou was still the vanguard.The two armies of Jin and Liao clashed in Yangcheng (now east of Qingyuan, Hebei). The Jin army Li Shouzhen and others took advantage of the weather conditions and took advantage of the strong wind to fight against Liao. Liao was defeated because of underestimating the enemy.

After the victory in Yangcheng, the emperor thought that there was nothing wrong with the world. He devoted himself to entertainment, searched for rare treasures from all over the world, made more utensils and played with them, built large-scale construction projects, and rewarded actors and actresses excessively.

In 946 AD, the Liao State ordered Zhao Yanshou and the governor of Yingzhou to feign surrender to the later Jin Dynasty and secretly send false information.In October, Jin Zhongji, the emperor appointed Du Wei as the marshal and Li Shouzhen as the deputy commander, and led Song Yanyun and other troops to attack Liao.Dewey had long had a treacherous intention of betraying his country, and demanded that all the forbidden troops set out with the army.Emperor Chu believed that the attack would win, and agreed to Dewey's request.Therefore, the guards in Kaifeng are empty, just waiting for Dewey's betrayal.

Dewey sent a secret envoy to see the Liao Lord and demanded a reward.The Lord of Liao told the secret envoy that Zhao Yanshou's qualifications were not high enough to be the emperor, and if Dewey came to surrender, he should be allowed to do so.Dewey was overjoyed and determined to surrender.

In the winter month of the same year, when the Jin army arrived at Yingzhou, the gates of the city were open and there was no one there. Dewey did not dare to advance easily.After being cut off from the grain road and the way back, Dewey conspired with Li Shouzhen to surrender to Liao.As a result, the Liao army won Hengzhou, and then went south. Zhang Yanze, the Jiedu envoy of the Zhen Guojun, led 2000 cavalry to take Kaifeng first.Zhang Yanze went straight in, came out of the emperor as a concubine, and called himself "Sun Nanchen Zhonggui".At this point, the Later Jin Dynasty perished.

In 947 AD, Yelu Deguang arrived in Kaifeng, and sent 300 cavalry to escort Shi Chonggui's family to the Liao Kingdom.This subjugated slave was placed in Jianzhou (in today's Liaoning), endured infinite humiliation, lived for 18 years, and did not die until 964 AD.

When Yelude entered Kaifeng, he also slaughtered and looted, and hundreds of miles around Kaifeng and Luoyang became white land.He also strictly ordered the Jin officials to scrape the money, and all the generals, scholars and people must donate money and silk, and the property obtained will not be distributed to the Liao army, and it will be transported back to the Liao country.At that time, Liu Zhiyuan proclaimed himself emperor in Jinyang, and many towns and old Jin generals responded with troops.The general public also revolted, with tens of thousands of people in most and hundreds of people in small groups, breaking through prefectures and counties, and killing Liao officials.Yelu Deguang had to leave Kaifeng and return north with thousands of promoted and demoted officials, hundreds of court ladies and eunuchs, and all the property of the Jin government treasury.

●Liu Zhiyuan established the Later Han Dynasty
Liu Zhiyuan, a member of the Shatuo tribe.Liu Zhiyuan was very introverted when he was a child. He was usually reticent, weak in constitution, and often fell ill. His eyes were more white than dark, and his face was purple and black, which gave people a very majestic feeling.Due to difficulties in life, he had no choice but to become the son-in-law of a rich family surnamed Li.In feudal society, this kind of son-in-law was called a son-in-law, and his social status was almost at the bottom and he was discriminated against.When herding horses, Liu Zhiyuan was tied up and beaten by monks because the horses trampled on the crops belonging to the temple.Liu Zhiyuan was unwilling to spend his whole life like this, so he looked for opportunities to go out and do some business.Soon, he joined Li Siyuan as a soldier, and because of his bravery in battle, he was promoted to be a partial general, and worked with Shi Jingtang.Liu Zhiyuan rescued Shi Jingtang twice, and Shi Jingtang was grateful for his life-saving grace, so he reused him and appointed him as the commander of soldiers and horses.

After Shi Jingtang became the "child emperor", he wanted to weaken Liu Zhiyuan's power, so he found an excuse to transfer him out of the capital, and later he was simply dismissed from the post of commander of the imperial army.Liu Zhiyuan began to make plans for the future, concentrating on managing the Hedong site.After Shi Jingtang's death, his son Shi Chonggui succeeded to the throne, and his attitude towards Khitan began to become tough.In the three wars between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Khitan, Liu Zhiyuan did not send a single soldier to rescue him, but reaped the benefits of the fisherman.In 3 AD, Liu Zhiyuan followed the advice of his general Guo Wei and proclaimed himself emperor in Taiyuan.However, in order to win over the hearts of the army and the people, he announced that Shi Jingtang's original year name would be used instead of Shi Chonggui's Kaiyun year name. After entering Luoyang, he officially changed the country name to Han, which was called Later Han in history.

●Guo Wei replaced the Northern Han Dynasty and built the Zhou Dynasty
Guo Wei, styled Wenzhong, was born in Yaoshan, Xingzhou (now Longyao, Hebei). He joined the army at the age of 18.At the end of the Later Jin Dynasty, he assisted Liu Zhiyuan in the establishment of the Later Han Dynasty and served as the deputy envoy of the Privy Council.Liu Zhiyuan died after being emperor for 11 months, and his son Liu Chengyou came to the throne, known as Emperor Yin of the Later Han Dynasty in history.Guo Wei served as the privy envoy at that time, responsible for the conquest and put down the rebellion in Hanzhong, Yongxing and Fengxiang.

As Emperor Yin grew older, he became dissatisfied with the four ministers who restrained him, Yang Xie, Shi Hongzhao, Wang Zhang, and Guo Wei, and wanted to get rid of them.Empress Dowager Li objected to him doing so, but Liu Chengyou actually said: "What do women in boudoirs know about important national affairs?" So, after Emperor Yin killed Yang Na, Shi Hongzhao, and Wang Zhang, he secretly sent people to Yedu to kill General Guo Wei. , Guo Wei was forced to launch a mutiny and went south to attack Bianjing.Soon, Liu Chengyou was killed by his favorite minister Guo Jiuming who fled together.After Guo Wei entered the city, he let Empress Dowager Li preside over the political affairs and appointed Liu Yun as emperor.

In 950 A.D., Guo Wei led an army to fight against the Liao Dynasty. When he arrived in Chanzhou, thousands of soldiers clamored and put the yellow flag on Guo Wei, wanting to support Guo Wei as emperor.Therefore, Guo Wei led his army back to Tokyo, and all the officials of the Later Han Dynasty came out of the city to greet him and persuade him to ascend the throne as emperor.Guo Wei accepted their suggestion and appointed himself the supervisor of the country.In the first month of the second year, Empress Dowager Li had no choice but to issue an imperial edict to bestow a jade talisman on Emperor Guo Wei.The Later Han Dynasty perished from then on.

●Zhou Shizong Chai Rong Reform
In 954 AD, Guo Wei died of illness, and his adopted son Chai Rong succeeded to the throne as Zhou Shizong.Chai Rong is Guo Wei's nephew, and his aunt Chai is Guo Wei's Empress Shengmu.Chai Rong lived in Guo Wei's house when he was young, and he was a kind and respectful person, so he was deeply loved by Guo Wei, and Guo Wei adopted him as his adopted son.When Chai Rong became an adult, he was majestic in appearance, good at riding and shooting, heavy and reticent.In 950 A.D., Guo Wei served as the left-behind envoy of Yedu and the envoy of Tianxiong Jiedu, and Chai Rong was the envoy of Tianxiong Yaneidu.At the end of the same year, after Guo Wei overthrew the post-Han regime, Chai Rong was appointed as the governor of Chanzhou, the Taifu of the school, and the minister of Tongzhong Shumen.After Chai Rong came to the throne, Fu Shi, the wife of Weiguo, was made the queen, and she was changed to Yuan Xiande.

After Chai Rong succeeded Guo Wei as emperor, he continued to rectify military, political, and economical aspects, and strengthened the feudal centralization.Internally, Chai Rong ordered Zhao Kuangyin, the Marquis of Yu in front of the palace, to select the forbidden army and rectify the army; he reused the virtuous minister Wang Pu;Externally, Chai Rong personally conquered the Northern Han Dynasty; seized Houshu Qin (in today's Qin'anbei, Gansu), Jie (in today's Wudu, Gansu), Feng (in today's Shaanxi) and other states; became a minister in the Southern Tang Dynasty, and captured 14 of the 60 states in the northern part of the Southern Tang Dynasty. County; Liao Kingdom in the north.In 959 AD, Chai Rong died of illness at the age of 39, and his 7-year-old son Chai Zongxun came to the throne.

Zhou Shizong Chai Rong reigned for 6 years, worked hard to govern, built water conservancy, got rid of old customs and bad rules, reduced exorbitant taxes, rectified the legal system, eliminated redundant troops, rebuilt the army, strengthened the feudal centralization of power, and planned the great cause of unification. monarch.

●Political tumbler Feng Dao
After the demise of the Tang Dynasty, five dynasties emerged in the Central Plains, which were called Houliang, Houtang, Houjin, Houhan, and Houzhou in history, and they were collectively called the Five Dynasties.The monarchs of the Later Liang and Later Zhou were Han people, and the monarchs of the Later Tang, Later Jin and Later Han were from the Shatuo nationality.The reigns of these dynasties were not long, and together they were only 54 years.During this period, the imperial power changed and the generals went up and down, but there was a man who swayed from side to side like a tumbler but remained standing. He was the most controversial prime minister in history, Feng Dao.

Feng Dao was from Jingcheng, Yingzhou (now west of Cangzhou, Hebei). Zhang Chengye, the supervisor of Hedong, admired him very much and recommended him to Li Keyong, King of Jin.Feng Dao was very frugal. The military tent he lived in was made of thatch, and there were no mats inside. He just slept on a bundle of straw every day.Feng Dao ate with his servants every day, using the same tableware, without any pretentiousness.

Later, when Mingzong Li Siyuan was in power, 44-year-old Feng Dao became prime minister for the first time.At Feng Dao's suggestion, Guozijian revised the Confucian classic "Nine Classics" and organized engraving and printing. This was the beginning of official printing in ancient times.Mingzong died of illness, and Feng Dao assisted Min Emperor Li Conghou and Last Emperor Li Congke.The last emperor didn't trust Feng Dao and ordered him to leave the town of Tongzhou.When he was in Tongzhou, a military official scolded Feng Dao at the gate of the government office. Feng Dao said, "He must be drunk", and then let the military official come in, sober him up and hold a banquet for him. He complained, and soon he was promoted to the official position of the man.Once, Feng Dao asked someone to explain the "Tao Te Ching" to him. The first sentence was "Tao can be Tao, very Tao".At that time, it was stipulated that the name of the prime minister must be "avoided", that is, the word "Tao" cannot be said, but other words must be used instead.The man read tremblingly: "Don't dare to say, don't dare to say, very afraid to say." Feng Dao laughed, just let him speak out.

What's interesting is that whenever Feng Dao left the capital to become an official in other places, the dynasty was not far from extinction.After the fall of the Later Tang Dynasty, Feng Dao became an official in the Later Jin Dynasty.The Liao Kingdom invaded, and the Later Jin Dynasty perished. Feng Dao surrendered to the Liao Kingdom, and Yelu Deguang worshiped him as his grand master.Later, when Liu Zhiyuan established the Later Han Dynasty, Feng Dao returned to the Central Plains and assisted Liu Zhiyuan wholeheartedly.After the fall of the Later Han Dynasty and the establishment of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Feng Dao became an official in the Later Zhou Dynasty.What a "political tumbler"!

##No.19 Art Paradise

●The Four Masters and Young Talents of the Early Tang Dynasty
The early Tang Dynasty was a period of relatively stable politics and less turmoil in the history of our country. Many literati and poets at that time regarded poetry as an elegant plaything to embellish peace.Of course, there are also some new poets who disdain to associate with these so-called "court scribes" and are determined to change.They are like-minded and communicate with each other, enabling poetry to take on the mission of singing life again, and Tang poetry has also achieved a real turning point.They are Lu Zhaolin, Luo Binwang, Wang Bo, and Yang Jiong, known as the Four Masters of the early Tang Dynasty.

The Four Heroes were active in the periods of Taizong, Gaozong and Empress Wu.In terms of age, Lu and Luo are about 20 years older than Wang and Yang.All four are young geniuses who are heroic and graceful.King Luo Bin was able to compose poems at the age of 7, and was known as a child prodigy. The four-character quatrain "Goose" handed down is still widely recited by the world.When Yang Jiong was 10 years old, he was appointed as a boy, and he was waiting for the establishment of Hongwen Museum in the following year.When Wang Bo was 16 years old, he was recommended by Taichang Bo Liu Xiangdao as a child prodigy.When Lu Zhaolin was 20 years old, he signed the code for Deng Wangfu, "the secretary of the Wangfu, one by one. Wang has 12 books, Zhaolin always reads them, and can remember a little."But in terms of official career, they have no ambitions.Among the four, only Yang Jiong was the county magistrate.Young and ambitious, talented and humble, this kind of life experience has profoundly affected their ideological character and literary creation.

Among the four masters, Wang Bo wrote the popular "Tengwang Pavilion Preface" and "Knee King Pavilion Poems", which have been handed down to this day.The poem goes: Tengwang Gaoge Linjiang Zhu, Peiyu sings and sings and dances.The painted buildings fly towards Nanpu clouds, and the bead curtain rolls in the rain in the western mountains at dusk.The shadows of the clouds and lakes are long and the sun is long, and things change and stars move for several degrees of autumn.Where is the emperor and son in the pavilion now? Outside the threshold, the Yangtze River flows by itself.

This poem was written by Wang Bo when he visited Tengwang Pavilion in Hongzhou.Unfortunately, this young poet and outstanding man fell into the water and died when he left Tengwang Pavilion to cross the South China Sea by boat. He was only 27 years old.

After Wang Bo's death, the other three of the four masters were devastated, especially Yang Jiong, because Yang Jiong was usually very close to Wang Bo, and the two often exchanged poems and discussed together.Yang Jiong also personally wrote the preface for Wang Bo's collection of poems, which shows that the relationship between the two is not ordinary.But he soon freed himself from the grief of losing his friends, and challenged the "beautiful and charming" court legacy with the spirit of "opening up the Hanyuan and sweeping the literary field", and began to change the style of Tang poetry with his vigorous and bold pursuit.His poems handed down to future generations were finally compiled into a book "Yingchuan Collection".

(End of this chapter)