Chapter 4 4. Replenish your energy: Li Keyong's forbearance

In the formation process of the complicated fighting pattern during the Five Dynasties period, every period of history will expose dark characters who will do anything to fight for power and profit.Among them, Zhu Wen is a typical representative of China's non-compliance with "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness" for thousands of years. In the process of his development and expansion, every place runs counter to the traditional moral requirements.Therefore, although he has achieved certain achievements, he is still despised by the world.The reason why such characters are produced is not only their temperament, but also has something to do with the social and historical environment at that time. Without strange tricks, they cannot survive, let alone win.Therefore, observing Zhu Wen from an objective point of view, all his actions were reasonable under the social environment at that time.

Contrary to Zhu Wen, Li Keyong's appearance inspired the old and young of the Tang Dynasty.Although he was born in the Shatuo family, he has been favored by the emperor for generations. He has been loyal to the Tang court since the time of Taizong, so he upholds the idea of ​​"loyalty to the emperor" throughout his life.Although after the formation of the separatist regime, Li Keyong also became a hero, but he always regarded himself as an old minister of Tang Dynasty. Even after Zhu Wen replaced Emperor Tang and changed the reign name to "Kaiping", Li Keyong still used Tang's reign name "Kaiping". "God Bless", under the banner of reviving the Tang Dynasty, he competed with the Hou Liang established by Zhu Wen.

Zhu Wen, who is constantly looking for opportunities, has no scruples about the puppet-like Emperor Tang, and the only thing that makes him guard against is the powerful Li Keyong.Therefore, for a long time, Zhu Wen wanted to kill Li Keyong, but he had no chance.Although Li Keyong was well aware of Zhu Wen's wolf ambitions, his strength could not prevent the fall of the Tang Dynasty, so he could only bear with it, hold each other, and wait for the opportunity to defeat the enemy. After Huang Chao's rebel army invaded Chang'an, Li Keyong, who occupied the Hedong and Taiyuan areas, was ordered to be King Qin.Young and vigorous, he led his army to defeat Huang Chao's general Shang Rang in one fell swoop, and won the award of Tang Xizong, and his status began to become more and more prominent.When Huang Chao turned to confront Zhu Wen, he counterattacked and added the courage to back the water, causing Zhu Wen, whose military strength had not reached its peak at that time, to retreat steadily. In desperation, Zhu Wen had no choice but to ask Li Keyong for help.The two teamed up to attack Huang Chao. After chasing and fighting fiercely, Huang Chao fled to Laiwu with only a thousand people.

After finally letting out a long sigh of relief, Zhu Wen couldn't help feeling jealous when he saw Li Ke's bravery and skill in fighting.After discussing with counselors Jing Xiang, Xie Tong and others, he decided to win over Li Keyong for his own use first.So, he set up a banquet and wanted to make friends with Li Keyong. At the banquet, there are all reckless warriors, and they are naturally bold and unrestrained when drinking.Li Keyong was twenty-eight years old at the time, four years younger than Zhu Wen.Young and energetic, he said to Zhu Wen after a few glasses of wine: "Brother Zhu won this time, the emperor will definitely reward you greatly, and I will toast you first!"

Zhu Wen picked up his wine glass with a smile, and said politely: "This time, the defeat of Huang Chao is all because of General Li's righteousness and help. I will definitely ask for credit for the general." As soon as Li Keyong heard it, he asked drunkenly: "I don't know what credit Brother Zhu will ask for my younger brother?" When Zhu Wen heard it, he couldn't help being stunned. He just said it casually, but he didn't expect Li Ke to ask it so seriously, and he was at a loss for words.Jing Xiang hurriedly said at the side: "General Li is brave and invincible, even if the emperor grants you a brave general this time, it is possible."

Li Keyong laughed loudly when he heard it, pointed at Jingxiang and said: "The emperor's power is unpredictable, you say that, as if you let the emperor reward me, he will reward me! Since you are so powerful, Why call me to help to defeat Huang Chao?" This sentence suddenly changed Zhu Wen's face, which was clearly an insinuation that he was controlling the government.Zhu Wen was displeased in his heart, but he still said with a gentle face: "He is just guessing, the general doesn't care. You fought bravely for the country, and the emperor's reward will only be more than this!"

Li Ke drank a glass of wine, squinted his eyes and said to Zhu Wen: "Yes, you and I are on the front line killing enemies for our country, but we don't know which thieves have stolen the credit. Brother Zhu, do you think so?" Li Ke's insinuation became more and more obvious. Seeing this, Zhu Wen left the table with an excuse.Li Keyong and his subordinates drank until they were very drunk, and then staggered back to the post house and fell asleep. In Zhu Wen's military tent, Jing Xiang, Xie Tong, Ge Congzhou and others saw Zhu Wen's ugly face, and they all dared not step forward.Zhu Wen said slowly: "I was able to defeat Huang Chao today because of Li Keyong's help. But even without him, I would just slow down temporarily. But today at the banquet, he frequently made disrespectful remarks , I really don’t know how to flatter.”

Jing Xiang said: "Although this Li Keyong is not very old, he comes from a military family and is brave in combat. There are still many brave generals under his banner who are good at fighting. Moreover, he is located in Hedong and Taiyuan, with vast land and abundant resources. His strength should not be underestimated. " Ge Congzhou heard this, and said angrily: "He has always prided himself on being loyal to the emperor, but who doesn't know that his family is just the surname "Li" given by the emperor. Madness." Zhu Wen paced back and forth, his brows furrowed tightly, and just as everyone finished speaking, he suddenly raised his head and said, "Li Keyong must not stay!"

Jing Xiang and others hurriedly asked, "What does this mean?" Zhu Wen said: "Li Keyong has profound family knowledge, and he also has a large number of supporters in the court. Hedong and Taiyuan are rich places. If things go on like this, this person will definitely become a big deal, and then he will be our enemy. Today's wine Yan originally hoped to form an alliance with him, but it seems that he didn't have this idea at all, and he didn't take me seriously at all. In this case, I can only avoid future troubles if I get rid of him early." Jingxiang said: "My lord's words are very true. Since I can't use them, I have to destroy them as soon as possible, so as not to raise tigers."

Zhu Wen asked, "What's their situation now?" Xie Tong said: "According to the arrangement of the military division, Li Keyong and his subordinates are all arranged in Shangyuanyi. They were all drunk at the banquet tonight, and they probably have already rested at this time." Zhu Wen said resolutely: "Immediately dispatch the cronies, take the arrows, and swear to kill the Li family's child in the posthouse!" Under the arrangement of Jingxiang and Ge Congzhou, Zhu Wen's three hundred soldiers carried torches and quietly approached Li Keyong's resting Shangyuan post all night. The bedside table.Li Ke was awakened immediately after a long battle, and his subordinates also rushed in to protect him.But Zhu Wen kept on doing nothing, and after a shower of arrows, torches were thrown in one after another, intending to set fire to the posthouse, ensuring that Li Keyong would surely die.

Regarding this kind of practice of revenge and extermination, Li Keyong gritted his teeth and said: "Zhu Wen is really a thief. I led troops to rescue him from the flames of war, but he wanted to burn me to death!" The general hurriedly grabbed Li Keyong and said: "Now Bianzhou is full of Zhu Wen's army. The situation is not good for us. We should take advantage of the chaos and escape quickly, and then seek revenge!" While speaking, the post house was filled with thick smoke, the fire was fierce, and waves of heat rushed into the room.When everyone saw this situation, they were afraid that they would not escape this disaster.Unexpectedly, there was a sudden thunder in the sky, and heavy rain poured down. When Ge Congzhou set off, he originally wanted to take advantage of the darkness to cover.Who knew that what was hidden under the clouds was a torrential rain.When the fire was at its fiercest, a torrential rain drenched the Shangyuan Station, and the fire was extinguished in a short while.Li Ke took the opportunity to escape under the protection of his subordinates. Li Keyong, who fled back to Jinyang, was furious. Remembering that he almost died in Bianzhou, he ordered people to immediately dispatch troops and horses, intending to defeat Zhu Wen with all his strength.But his wife Liu Shi came out and said: "You were assassinated by Zhu Wen in Bianzhou. This is a matter of ours. But if we rush to send troops now, others will definitely think that we are wrong. First of all, among them Second, although you are a great official of one side, you need the emperor's edict to send troops to conquer, if you go out now, it will definitely become a reason for Zhu and Wen to fight back." Li Keyong always attached great importance to Liu's suggestions, but he couldn't suppress his anger, so he said angrily: "Should I stop here and wait for Zhu Wen to come and kill me again!" Liu said: "Of course not. Now we'd better report to the Ming court and tell the world about Zhu Wen's deeds. Then ask for orders to crusade, so that the name will be justified." Li Keyong nodded and said, "Madam's words are reasonable." In fact, Li Keyong just couldn't calm down the anger in his chest because of the raid on Shangyuan Station in Bianzhou.After he calmed down and thought about it, he still accepted Liu's suggestion, wrote his experience and Zhu Wen's actions into a memorial, and submitted it to Tang Xizong for him to handle. For Tang Xizong at that time, it was indeed a difficult and difficult matter for two powerful ministers to compete.Although Li Keyong had an outstanding status in the court, there were also many ministers who were inclined to Zhu Wen. In addition, they all held military power. Emperor Xizong didn't want to see the two tigers fighting each other, so he let the two reconcile.In order to appease Li Keyong, Emperor Xizong also named him the King of Longxi County in the name of breaking Huangchao.However, Zhu Wen didn't want to fight Li Keyong because he was fighting against Qin Zongquan, Huang Chao's former subordinate. Seeing Xi Zong's mediation, he immediately changed his smile, sent envoys to apologize, and presented gold jewelry and other rich gifts. As far as Li Keyong is concerned, although he has Hedong, Taiyuan and other places as his sphere of influence at this time, he feels that it is too early to turn against Zhu Wen.In the case of equal strength of both sides, the outcome is unpredictable.Although Zhu Wen was fighting against Qin Zongquan, and Li Keyong was also sending troops to Guanzhong with Wang Chongrong, he didn't want to spread his forces and face the enemy.Therefore, after some thinking, Li Keyong decided to endure the bad breath and look for a better opportunity to take revenge. The dispute between Zhu and Li has been fruitless for decades because of their equal strength.After Li Keyong's long-term accumulation, his strength has been continuously improved.Although he failed to defeat Zhu Wen himself, after his death, his successor Li Cunxu fulfilled this wish for him, defeating Houliang, which can be regarded as comforting Li Keyong's forbearance back then.