Chapter 26 6. Competition: arrogance will only bring disaster

During the Five Dynasties period when the regimes in the north were constantly changing, the Shu Kingdom, with Chengdu as its capital, was sitting on the wealth of Tianfu. It actually enjoyed decades of peace and became a country of Tianfu that was truly far away from war. The founding emperor of Later Shu was Meng Zhixiang, the great ancestor, who passed the throne to his third son, Meng Chang.At the beginning of succeeding to the throne, Meng Chang was young and promising. He became emperor in his teens, but he was not arrogant because of this. mulberry.At the same time, in order to further enhance the national power and give the people living space, a policy of resting with the people was formulated, and taxes were reduced. In just a few years, the Kingdom of Shu became the most powerful country in the south.Its territory has also been expanded again and again, and the northern border once expanded to Chang'an.In his prime, Meng Chang should have done more, but he suddenly became addicted to wine and sex, did not think about government affairs, and his life began to become extravagant.It turned out that the plainly dressed King of Shu began to desire extravagance. In the harem, there were three thousand pinks and blacks, and even a chamber pot had to be exquisitely crafted and inlaid with precious treasures.Under the leadership of such a monarch, the Kingdom of Shu also began to gradually decline.

During the period when Meng Chang was intoxicated, the regime in the north underwent earth-shaking changes. From Guo Wei to Chai Rong, and then to Zhao Kuangyin, they changed their masters several times.After Zhao Kuangyin established the Great Song Dynasty, he was determined to unify the whole country. First, he seized Jingnan with a spear, and planned to continue to invade the south. For the peaceful Shu Kingdom, all these are like heaven.Meng Chang didn't know how powerful Zhao Kuangyin was until he received the news that Jingnan was in a hurry. After searching all over the Shu Kingdom, Meng Chang couldn't find a few generals he could trust to defend his throne.After thinking over and over again, he said to Prime Minister Li Hao: "It's better to surrender to Song Ting, maybe you can survive for a while."

Such negative thoughts were quickly denied by Li Hao and others. He resolutely said: "Since we eat the king's salary, how can we easily say surrender at such a moment when the courtiers are loyal? It has been rich for a long time, and the soldiers have not practiced for a long time, but fortunately there are natural moats to defend, and the terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as we stick to the city, we will definitely be able to keep the Song army out of the city." Meng Chang said helplessly: "Although there is a natural barrier, if the Song army attacks by force, it may be difficult to defend against. I am not willing to give up this great glory and surrender, but are you sure you can resist the Song army's invasion?"

The privy envoy Wang Zhaoyuan said loudly: "Your Majesty, what Prime Minister Shicai just said is very true. We have a large army to protect the city, and there are also natural moats to defend. The Song army is nothing to be afraid of. Please entrust this task to us. We will decide later." Live up to His Majesty's entrustment." Meng Chang said: "Since I ascended the throne, there has been no war in Shu for 30 years. Now that the enemy is facing us, I can only rely on your hard work! But the Song army is fighting everywhere, and I think it will cause dissatisfaction in many places, and we can't fight alone. Fighting alone, if you can unite with other monarchs to resist the Song Dynasty, you can also increase your protection."

Wang Zhaoyuan said: "Your Majesty is wise. Now the Song army has taken Jingnan, and they have always been at odds with the Northern Han Dynasty. We are not far from the Northern Han Dynasty. If we can form a pincer attack, we can definitely attack Bianliang." Meng Chang said: "Since everyone thinks this method is good, I will write a letter and send it to the Northern Han monarch, so that we can attack the Song court together with him to ensure the peace of our Shu kingdom." After everyone discussed together, Meng Chang immediately revised a letter and sent Zhao Yantao to Taiyuan, intending to form an alliance with the Northern Han Dynasty and jointly fight against the Song army.Unexpectedly, Zhao Yantao saw the political corruption in the Kingdom of Shu and the king's abandonment of government affairs, and he had already turned to the King of Song. In addition, the Song Army quickly captured Jingnan.Therefore, he did not send the letter to Taiyuan, but used it as his own bargaining chip, came to Kaifeng, and surrendered to Zhao Kuangyin for credit.

After regaining Jingnan, Zhao Kuangyin, who had always wanted to go south, was struggling with no excuses, and suddenly heard Zhao Pu say that there was a messenger from Shu, so he immediately received Zhao Yantao.Unfolding the alliance letter written by Meng Chang to the Northern Han Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help but said to Zhao Pu: "Meng Chang knew that our army was about to overwhelm the border, so he wanted to form an alliance with the Northern Han Dynasty. Song Junwei is already well-known outside the country, and this time he will go to the Kingdom of Shu for sure."

Zhao Pu said: "We have never had an excuse to send troops. Now that we have this letter, we can take advantage of it to send troops!" Zhao Kuangyin nodded and said, "I also have the same intention." He bestowed a high salary on high officials to Zhao Yantao, who came to surrender, and wrote a letter of condemnation, stating that he had no intention of harming Shu, and always wanted to live in peace with Shu. Therefore, Meng Chang should not attempt to collude with the Northern Han Dynasty, which would be detrimental to the Song Dynasty.Song Ting couldn't bear this, so he sent troops immediately to ask for an explanation.

Meng Chang was taken aback when he received Zhao Kuangyin's letter. He didn't expect to reveal his plan before he contacted the Northern Han Dynasty. Hearing that the Song Army had already attacked Chengdu under the leadership of Zhang Yongde, Wang Quanbin and others, he was even more frightened and fidgeted. His favorite concubine, Fei Guifei, was nicknamed "Mrs. Huarui" because of her icy skin and fine bones, and pink lips. The country is safe and sound. This is His Majesty's blessing, this time I believe that Li Hao and Wang Zhaoyuan will definitely find a way to resist the Song army."

Meng Chang looked at Mrs. Huarui, and said helplessly, "I'm afraid that the Song army will come so menacingly that they won't be able to resist. At that time, I'm afraid you and I will be separated too." Mrs. Huarui threw herself into Meng Chang's arms and said affectionately, "No matter what happens, I will never leave Your Majesty, and I will never leave the Kingdom of Shu." Meng Chang said: "For you, I will also try my best to ensure the peace of Shu, and not let the Song army rush to the land of abundance that my father and son have worked so hard to manage for many years to burn, kill and loot."

Just when Meng Chang and Mrs. Huarui were inseparable, Song Jun had already arrived at the border under the leadership of Zhang Yongde.Meng Chang hurriedly summoned all the ministers to discuss countermeasures, and the privy envoy Wang Zhaoyuan stood up again and said impassionedly: "I am willing to lead the army to defend against the enemy and share your majesty's worries." Meng Chang was overjoyed when he heard that, and said to him: "It's rare for you to stand up at this time. In this case, I will appoint you as the commander of the southwest camp, Han Baozheng as the envoy, and Li Jin as the deputy envoy. Reject the enemy."

Seeing that Meng Chang used himself so much, Wang Zhaoyuan couldn't help being complacent. He looked around the generals proudly and said, "I will definitely do something for your majesty. This time I will send troops not only to defeat the enemy, but I will definitely lead the army of Shu to take the Central Plains. .” Such arrogant words were especially audible to Meng Chang, who was lacking in self-confidence. He hosted a banquet for Wang Zhaoyuan, hoping that he would win the battle. Among the Song army led by Zhao Kuangyin to Wang Quanbin to attack Houshu, there were Cui Yanjin, Wuxin Jiedu envoy, Wang Renzhan, deputy privy envoy, Liu Guangyi, Ningjiang Jiedu envoy, and Cao Bin, the privy secretary.Any of these people's military strategy surpassed Wang Zhaoyuan's, but Meng Chang didn't realize this at all, and was completely deceived by Wang Zhaoyuan's wild words.When Wang Zhaoyuan compared himself to Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms, Meng Chang actually believed that he could save the weakened Hou Shu, and put the fate of the country in the hands of a guy who could only talk big. Sure enough, after the Song army met the Shu army led by Wang Zhaoyuan, although relying on the terrain advantage, Wang Zhaoyuan still lost three battles and lost three battles. In the end, he lost his ability to resist and could only be captured without a fight. After the Song army broke through Houshu's defenses, they rushed straight to Chengdu.Soon, Meng Chang went out of the city to surrender and was escorted to Kaifeng.Zhao Kuangyin did not accuse him of any crimes. Instead, he was appointed as the grand master of the school and concurrently served as the order of Zhongshu. He was named Qin Guogong and ordered him to live in the capital. In the Chengdu Palace of the Kingdom of Shu, those rare treasures, together with Mrs. Huarui, were sent to Zhao Kuangyin.The guards who searched for treasures even brought back a drowning utensil. Zhao Kuangyin saw that this item was not only exquisitely crafted, but also inlaid with various colored gemstones and agates, making it a rare treasure.He not only said with emotion: "Even a chamber pot should be so exquisite, how can Meng Chang not perish? Leaving it will only make people indulge in enjoyment. It is an ominous thing!" He said, So they smashed the Qibao drowning vessel to pieces. While lamenting Meng Chang's luxurious life, Zhao Kuangyin warned himself not to repeat the same mistakes.But he also couldn't resist Mrs. Huarui's beauty, and happily kept her in his harem. Hou Shu, ruled by Meng Chang, was once likely to become the most powerful country in the south, and was even expected to make a northern expedition to the Central Plains.But he abandoned the government, indulged in wine and sex, and couldn't extricate himself, and finally ruined a country.He died suddenly seven days later. In the end, many people attributed the cause of Shu's demise to Wang Zhaoyuan, who believed that he was arrogant, used flattery to occupy a high position, and controlled the government by flattery.After gaining Meng Chang's trust, he regarded himself as Zhuge Liang, overestimated his capabilities, and did not have a clear understanding of the situation in Song and Shu.He first bewitched Meng Chang to form an alliance with the Northern Han Dynasty, which caused Song Ting to get hold of it and caused a military disaster for Houshu; then he boasted about Haikou, but retreated before the battle, which caused Song's army to drive straight in, making this piece of land that was rare in the Five Dynasties rich and fertile. The land also ignited the flames of war, and finally the country fell.But fundamentally, if Meng Chang is a hard-working monarch, if he can maintain the hard-working and simple style of his youth and take the responsibility of strengthening the country and enriching the people instead of indulging in the arms of Mrs. Huarui, then people like Wang Zhaoyuan will not If you gain power, you will not be able to control the government, let alone lead troops to fight and lose the country.So fundamentally speaking, Meng Chang was the crux of the subjugation of the Later Shu.For the downfall of a regime, its incumbent shoulders an inescapable responsibility. Zhao Kuangyin learned this lesson from the opponent's failure and kept reminding himself that the Song Dynasty's rule could continue.