Chapter 9 9. Murder: another form of opportunity

Under the persecution of Shi Jingtang's traitorous behavior, another monarch of the Five Dynasties period stood up from his banner.Liu Zhiyuan, who was originally a general of the Later Jin Dynasty, controlled the Hedong area and established the Later Han Dynasty. It became an important feature of the Five Dynasties period that military generals took power and established a country as emperor. The military power held by these people became the most practical power in troubled times, because only those with weapons could hold real power.Whether it is Li Siyuan in the Later Tang Dynasty, Shi Jingtang in the Later Jin Dynasty, or Liu Zhiyuan in the Later Han Dynasty, this rule cannot be ignored.Therefore, after Liu Zhiyuan established the Later Han Dynasty, he was extremely wary of the generals who held military power, but the development of the situation made him hard to guard against.In order to quell the continuous rebellion of all parties, the military power in the hands of generals can only be gradually increased.When Liu Zhiyuan died of illness, he only trusted Guo Wei and Shi Hongzhao, the ministers of the court. He believed that one of them could defend against the enemy, and the other could assist in sorting out internal affairs. Therefore, he entrusted the crown prince Liu Chengyou to Guo and Shi, and hoped that they would assist them well. Make it a wise king.

Guo Wei, who bears a heavy responsibility, won the trust of Liu Zhiyuan with his loyalty and honesty, but Liu Chengyou, the newly succeeded Emperor Yin of the Han Dynasty, was much afraid of him.Because Guo Wei was the privy envoy at the time, he was the most valiant military trump card in the later Han Dynasty. The continuous outbreak of rebellion in various places forced Liu Chengyou to rely on Guo Wei to pacify him, so he loved and hated him.Soon after Emperor Yin ascended the throne, Li Shouzhen, the governor of Hezhong, Zhao Siwan, the governor of Yongxing, and Wang Jingchong, the governor of Fengxiang, jointly rebelled.Emperor Yin sent Bai Wenke, Guo Congyi, Chang Si and others to conquer successively, but they all returned without success. In desperation, Guo Wei had to send troops.Under Guo Wei's one-year attack, Li Shouzhen finally abandoned the city and set himself on fire, and Zhao Siwan and Wang Jingchong had no choice but to surrender.

Guo Wei, who was once again a victorious class teacher, was supported by the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty. Liu Chengyou hosted a banquet for him to wash away the dust. Said: "I, Guo Wei, have never been defeated since I led the army to fight. Although I have fought bloody battles for decades, I can still recover my old life, which shows that God has favored me!" When the ministers raised their glasses to congratulate, there were inevitably some words of praise. Some people said, "The general is brave", while others said, "He is invincible, he is truly a godly general." Thanks to the hard work, half of the country depends on the protection of the general, so the country can be stable!"

For these kind words, Guo Wei did not refuse anyone who came, and accepted them all.And this kind of situation with high meritorious deeds also made Yin Emperor Liu Chengyou very worried.He said to his confidant Li Ye: "Guo's power is high, which will inevitably lead to ambition. If this continues, I am afraid that the court will be unstable." Li Ye said: "Nowadays, most officials in the court respect Guo Wei. And in one party, there are many people who hold great power. The Xuanhui envoy Wang Jun and the guard infantry commander Wang Yin are all Guo Wei's henchmen. If A slight movement will inevitably cause these people to riot, and I am afraid the situation will be difficult to control by then."

Liu Chengyou said angrily: "If you let him go on like this because of fear, what do you want me, the emperor, to do?" Li Ye knew what Liu Chengyou wanted to do, so he took the opportunity to suggest: "If you want to subdue these people at once, you have to send someone to assassinate them and take them down in one fell swoop. At that time, you can also assign the military power to reliable people." Liu Chengyou hurriedly asked: "What good strategy do you have?" Li Ye said: "Because I know that the emperor has been afraid of Guo Wei for a long time, I have already placed a close friend in the army. The commander of the Ma Jun Guo Chong is a trustworthy person. I can secretly order him to kill Guo Wei and Wang Jun. As for Wang Yin, Now that he is stationed in Zhenning with troops, the emperor only needs to order Li Hongyi, the Jiedu envoy of Zhenning, to kill him quietly."

According to Li Ye's strategy, Liu Chengyou secretly arranged for Guo Chong and Li Hongyi to kill Guo Wei and others.But they didn't expect that Li Hongyi had long been dissatisfied with Emperor Yin's rule.After receiving the secret order, he did not act according to the requirements, but showed the edict to Wang Yin. Wang Yin was furious when he saw the secret order. After thanking Li Hongyi, he hurried to Guo Wei's army and informed him of the news. Although he always knew that Emperor Yin was dissatisfied with him, Guo Wei just hoped that he could live in peace.But now that he saw the secret order to kill himself, he couldn't help being angry, and said to Wang Yin, Wang Jun and others: "I have been a soldier all my life, because I accepted the entrustment of the late emperor, I fought for the country in every possible way, and I never complained. Now the emperor actually wants to kill me? Do I have to sit and wait for death?"

Counselor Wei Renpu said: "The former emperor left you and Shi Hongzhao alone, but the emperor was very dissatisfied with you two holding great power. Not long ago, Shi Hongzhao was assassinated, which already indicated that the crisis is coming. Now it is not surprising that he wants to attack you. gone." Guo Wei paced solemnly and said, "I was an official in the same dynasty as Shi Hongzhao and Su Fengji, and I know what kind of people these people are. The emperor can't get close to loyal ministers, but he is very close to villains like Li Ye, and keeps away from those who are really helpful to the country. This is the misfortune of the people. Since he doesn't want me to continue to serve the Liu family's Han Dynasty, then I can only fight for myself."

Wei Renpu said: "I have observed for a long time that the generals under the general are also very dissatisfied with the emperor's handling of affairs. If the general can raise his arms this time, there will be a large number of people responding." But Wang Jun shook his head and said, "That's not necessarily the case. It's been rare to be peaceful in the past few years. Everyone hopes to live a few days of stability. If you lead the army rashly, the soldiers may not obey orders." Wang Jun, Wang Yin and the others had nothing to do about it, and everyone could only frown and rack their brains.Guo Wei's adopted son Chai Rong suddenly stood up and said: "The emperor has been suspicious of everyone for a long time, and he only endured it because there was no real persecution. As long as we can arouse everyone's opposition, we can make the soldiers They followed us to overthrow Emperor Yin."

Counselors Fan Zhi and Wang Pu both agreed with this. Fan Zhi said: "With the general's talent, we can definitely lead everyone to overthrow this fatuous little emperor. Jiedu envoys from all over the country are also very supportive of the general. As long as we raise troops, we will definitely win them." support." Guo Wei looked at the secret letter written by Emperor Yin Liu Chengyou to Li Hongyi in his hand, and suddenly said: "The emperor wants to kill me, so I have to rebel; if the emperor wants to kill everyone, I think the soldiers will not bear it anymore. After finishing speaking, he ordered Chai Rong to gather all the soldiers under his banner, and said to everyone with a secret letter: "We have lived and died for the court, and we will do our best to be loyal. But the emperor is suspicious of everyone. This letter in my hand The letter is a secret letter from the imperial court just received. The emperor asked me to kill all the generals who hold military power to ensure the stability of the world!"

When the generals heard this, the crowd became furious, and they all said, "Is it because we are fighting bloody battles to be suspected and killed by the emperor?" Guo Wei saw that everyone was very angry, so he comforted and said: "I fought with you and have a deep friendship. How could I do this to you? That's why I show you this letter to let you know that I, Guo Wei, are not A villain who secretly kills." The soldiers who didn't know where to go expressed their gratitude to Guo Wei's subordinates for their mercy. Wang Jun stood up and said: "We have all been greatly favored by the general, but now the emperor is foolish and listens to slander. It is lucky to escape such a thing once, but I don't know the next time." Are you so lucky? The general is benevolent, we are willing to follow the general to overthrow the emperor and support you on the throne!"

Under the instigation of Wang Yin, Wei Renpu, Fan Zhi and others, all the soldiers shouted Guo Wei's name excitedly, asking him to lead the army to attack and eliminate the villains on the king's side. Chai Rong carefully reminded Guo Wei: "Now your family members are still in the capital. If we raise troops wantonly, it will definitely make Liu Chengyou angry, and I'm afraid it will be bad for your family members." Guo Wei said resolutely: "Since we want to decide to pursue great things, we can't be entangled by the affection of these sons and daughters." Taking advantage of the high voices of everyone, he led the generals to quickly raise the flag of rebellion. Through the way of coercion, Guo Wei said that Emperor Yin wanted to kill himself as that he wanted to kill the generals, which aroused the anger of the crowd.After the army was raised, Emperor Yin hurriedly asked the Jiedu envoys to suppress it, but Guo Wei, whose reputation was far and wide, immediately persuaded the Jiedu envoys to defect, and together they attacked the capital Luoyang. Emperor Yin of the Later Han Dynasty, Liu Chengyou, escaped from the capital amidst the chaos, but was executed by his subordinate Guo Yunming.After Guo Wei took control of the regime, he annihilated the Liu clan who could inherit the throne one by one, and appointed himself as the supervisor of the country. He officially ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor in the first month of the following year, and changed the name of the country to Zhou, which was called the Taizu of Later Zhou in history. Guo Wei's seizure of power is another example of an emperor born in the military during the Five Dynasties period.He was forced to raise an army, cleverly took advantage of the opportunity when Emperor Yin wanted to kill himself, and made a lot of achievements.Although he came from a low background and is proficient in pen and ink.He only touched a little bit on the art of war, but with his outstanding wisdom and strategy, he still dominated the troubled times.After the establishment of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Guo Wei upheld his simple style and said to the left and right: "I was originally born in a poor family. It was only because I followed the current situation and encountered good luck that I was able to obtain my current status and become an emperor. How can I plunder the emperor?" How about the common people to satisfy their own selfish desires?" He ordered Prime Minister Wang Jun to search for talents, and reuse Wei Renpu, Fan Zhi, Wang Pu and others; accept others' suggestions with a humble attitude, reform bad governance, and make the economic and political development of the northern region The situation gradually improved, which laid a good foundation for Zhou Shizong Chai Rong to flex his muscles after succeeding to the throne.