Chapter 2 2. Shu

The proverb "the tree falls and the monkeys scatter" was verified very frequently and accurately during the Five Dynasties period.The stability of a period is mostly due to the awe of the old leaders by warlords everywhere, and they dare not, unwilling, unnecessary, and unable to set up another hill.Once the big brother dies, none of these local warlords will obey anyone, and they will take over the mountains and become kings one after another. In recent years, the world has been in war and turmoil, dynasties have changed like a revolving lantern, and the regime of feudal towns has changed three times a day.Whether it is Zhu Liang or the Later Tang Dynasty, whether it is the Central Plains Dynasty or a remote kingdom, in order to control local forces and promote more cadres, the feudal towns in the territory are split up and then split up, packaged and repackaged, so the feudal towns are getting smaller and smaller , the name is getting better and better.In the continuous wars and regime changes, the large domain of the feudal town is equivalent to the current prefecture-level city, and the small one is equivalent to the current county.

Among the feudal towns in the world, Sichuan is the largest.In the early years, after Wang Jian merged Dongchuan and Xichuan, he unified the whole territory of Sichuan, proclaimed himself emperor, and established the name of Shu Kingdom.Guo Chongtao, the number one minister of the Later Tang Dynasty, assisted Li Jiji in destroying Shu and brought the Kingdom of Shu into the territory of the Later Tang Dynasty.Later, the Tang court designated Sichuan as an area under the jurisdiction of a feudal town, and sent the son-in-law, Meng Zhixiang, as an envoy.Meng Zhixiang had just arrived in office, and his foothold was not stable. Two generals in the Shu army, Dong Zhang and Kang Yanxiao, rebelled.Dong Zhang occupied Dongchuan.Meng Zhixiang's actual control area is Xichuan and part of the original Dongchuan, which is most of the original Shu Kingdom.

Readers who have read "The Snow in Front of the Door Must Be Swept" in the previous book "The Wind and Rain" must still remember Meng Fangli, who once gave Li Keyong a lot of headaches in the Zelu area.Later, Meng Fangli was defeated by Li Keyong, and Meng Qian, Meng Fangli's third younger brother, took over as Xing Ming's envoy.Meng Qian couldn't do anything alone, so he asked Zhu Quanzhong for help.But Zhu Quanzhong was too far away, and the far water could not save the near fire, so Meng Qian had no choice but to surrender to Li Keyong. Meng Fangli also has a lesser-known second brother, Meng Dao, who has never been a high-ranking official in his life.Meng Dao's son is Meng Zhixiang.Meng Zhixiang served under Li Keyong in Jinyang since he was a child.There is no record in the history books how Meng Zhixiang was talented and why he attracted Li Keyong's attention.It is only recorded that Li Keyong betrothed Li Kerang's daughter to Meng Zhixiang, which shows that Meng Zhixiang and Li Keyong have an unusual relationship and are highly valued by King Jin.Meng Zhixiang's younger sister is married to Li Kening.Meng Zhixiang and Li Cunxu are also more temperamental, and the two have a good relationship since childhood.Meng Zhixiang and Li Keyong had a special relationship, which established Meng Zhixiang's high political status in Hedong and even in the court of Zhuangzong in the later Tang Dynasty.

Meng Zhixiang was ordered to enter Sichuan. Just after taking office, the political situation of the Central Plains court changed drastically.For a while, rumors spread and the situation was chaotic.On the way back to the army led by Wei Wang Li Jiji, Kang Yanxiao and Dong Zhang rebelled, which made the situation in Sichuan even more complicated. How to stand firm? How to deal with the relationship with the Central Plains court? How to deal with the relationship with Prince Li Jiji? How to treat Kang Yanxiao and Dong Zhang? How to treat the old and the young in Shu? These are a lot of problems before Meng Zhixiang. These problems test Meng Zhixiang's wisdom and courage.

Wait and see. Meng Zhixiang is by no means a military leader with strong limbs and a simple mind. He is very intelligent, at least his mind is definitely enough.Have a more profound insight into the situation.For example, in his early years, he understood that the role of director of Jinwang's office was too risky, so he simply didn't go into this muddy water, but recommended Guo Chongtao to replace him.After entering Sichuan, he took a deliberately evasive attitude towards Guo Chongtao, leaving this hot potato to Li Jiji, while he deliberately arrived in Chengdu one step later, watching his old friend Guo Chongtao die.Meng Zhixiang is also good at giving courtesy first and then soldiers. He treats his subordinates, surrendered generals, and territorial soldiers and civilians with kindness, striving to win the hearts of the people.For the tens of thousands of confiscated money from the Shu Kingdom, he voluntarily donated most of it to Li Jiji, and transported it back to the court of the later Tang Dynasty in the name of a labor force.That is to say, Meng Zhixiang doesn't take the initiative to cause trouble, and first strives for cooperation with anyone, and then thinks of other ways if the cooperation fails.He is a man of strategy.

Huairou meter. When Meng Zhixiang entered Chengdu, he happened to catch up with Guo Chongtao, the envoy of the Conquest of Shu, who was killed.The Tang army who conquered Shu was about to set off to return to the division, and the people were panicked, shrouded in an atmosphere of terror and anxiety.With a calm expression, Meng Zhixiang was promoted to sit in the township, counted the treasury, issued a list to calm the people, assigned the duties and responsibilities of officials, announced a new order, and presented the Tang Army's class teacher. Everything was done in an orderly manner.Meng Zhixiang stabilized the overall situation, and the local soldiers and civilians in Chengdu and Sichuan, as well as the Tang army, calmed down a little.

After Kang Yanxiao's rebellion, Meng Zhixiang cooperated with Wei Wang Li Jiji to launch a crusade, and quickly pacified Hanzhou and other places.At this time, Meng Zhixiang still obeyed the instructions of Li Cunxu and Li Jiji's father and son.After the successive deaths of Li Cunxu and Li Jiji, Meng Zhixiang once waited and watched, both for the purpose of verifying and confirming the news, and also for the purpose of waiting and watching the development of the situation. Later Mingzong Li Siyuan became emperor in Luoyang, and Meng Zhixiang began to beating drums in his heart. He had no obedience to Li Siyuan, and he had almost nothing to do with him.Meng Zhixiang's desire to be independent is secretly growing.However, formally Meng Zhixiang still belonged to the post-Tang feudal town, so he had to maintain certain etiquette and rules, and the face project still needed to be done.Therefore, at the beginning of Li Siyuan's reign as emperor, Meng Zhixiang adopted selective execution of the court's orders.

Keep a low profile. Meng Zhixiang was indeed a thoughtful person. He was planning to achieve independence in Sichuan, and he was not in a hurry for success.On the surface, they maintained a relationship with the Mingzong court of the later Tang Dynasty, but secretly recruited troops, bought horses, accumulated grass, and stored food to expand their strength. In just two or three years, Xichuan's army expanded to 70,000 people. Meng Zhixiang occupied Xichuan, and Dong Zhang occupied Dongchuan.Meng Zhixiang is better than Dong Zhang because he adopted a certain attitude of cooperation with the court of the later Tang Dynasty, while Dong Zhang adopted an attitude of breaking with the court of the Later Tang Dynasty.This created the conditions for Meng Zhixiang to carry out maneuvers between Dongchuan and the imperial court.Meng Zhixiang pulled and hit Dong Zhang again and again, sometimes pulling and sometimes hitting, and regarded Dong Zhang as a bargaining chip for separation and reunification with the court of the later Tang Dynasty.

The attitude towards Meng Zhixiang in the Later Tang court was divided into two factions. One faction believed that Meng Zhixiang was untrustworthy, and sooner or later he was a member of "Shu independence" and should be cut off as soon as possible.One faction believes that Meng Zhixiang will not become independent without authorization, and that Meng Zhixiang and his deployment are inextricably linked with the later Tang Dynasty, and the main focus should be on appeasement.The former is represented by An Chonghui and Ren Yuan, while the latter is represented by Emperor Li Siyuan.After several debates between the two factions, the hostile faction gained the upper hand in the early stage.

In the camp of the hostile faction, there were also experts who came forward to fight against Meng Zhixiang.The imperial court and Xichuan fought frequently, fighting openly and secretly. Pulling from the bottom of the pot. Ren Yuan came back from the expedition in Sichuan, and he was deeply impressed and had a detailed understanding of Sichuan's prosperity.Although since the later Tang Dynasty conquered Shu, three or four batches of property have been transported back from Sichuan, and the carts and carts have been pulled for several months.But Ren Yuan knew that there was still a large amount of property left in Sichuan. These properties belonged to the later Tang court in name, but were actually under the control of Meng Zhixiang.

After Li Siyuan became emperor, he appointed officials on a large scale and made a wish that all those who could be considered relevant would be promoted.Meng Zhixiang was also on the list.The imperial court appointed Meng Zhixiang as a servant, which is equivalent to enjoying the treatment of a prime minister. It is false to appoint an official, but it is true to seize wealth. The imperial court sent the imperial servant Zhao Jiliang to Chengdu to deliver a letter of appointment to Meng Zhixiang. At the same time, Ren Yuan mobilized the imperial court to appoint Zhao Jiliang as the envoy of the Sanchuan System, responsible for supervising the transportation of the remaining gold, silver, silk, and grain in the Sichuan treasury to Luoyang.Ren Yuan not only wanted to collect all the surplus money of the Shu Kingdom to the imperial court, but also asked Zhao Jiliang to stay in Sichuan and be responsible for the tax collection of Dongchuan and Xichuan.After Zhao Jiliang is responsible for calculating these financial revenues, what should be handed over to the imperial court must be handed over to the imperial court, and what should be reserved for the feudal towns can be reserved for the feudal towns.In fact, the role of Zhao Jiliang sent by the imperial court was to deprive Meng Zhixiang of his financial power. What is the purpose of depriving financial power? Of course, it is to draw fire from the bottom of the pot to weaken the energy of Xichuan and Dongchuan's independent rebellion and make them retreat in spite of difficulties. Even a discerning person can see the power of the imperial court's move without blinking. Meng Zhixiang was not too excited when he heard that he was promoted, he just smiled.Then when he heard that Zhao Jiliang had come to supervise the financial and taxation, Meng Zhixiang was very excited, and immediately became angry, and refused to carry out the imperial order.Not only did they withhold the remaining millions of money and did not send it to the Luoyang court, but they also did not allow Zhao Jiliang to handle taxes.Withholding money was the second priority. Meng Zhixiang also kept Zhao Jiliang's people, and detained him in Chengdu to prevent him from returning to the Central Plains. The reason why Meng Zhixiang detained Zhao Jiliang was because neither Ren Yuan nor An Chonghui knew about it.Meng Zhixiang and Zhao Jiliang are old acquaintances, and they are friends.Zhao Jiliang is clever and strategic, and Meng Zhixiang has always regarded him highly.Meng Zhixiang entered Sichuan alone, lacking both civil servants and generals, how could he do great things without his right hand and right arm?The polished commander still made a fuss?Now Zhao Jiliang came to his door by himself, and fell into Meng Zhixiang's arms.Meng Zhixiang wrote to the imperial court, asking Zhao Jiliang to be the deputy envoy of Xichuan Jiedu under the pretext of keeping Zhao Jiliang by his side for a long time to advise on major affairs. If one plan fails, the court will make another plan. Anti-interval. This time it was An Zhonghui who came up with the solution.Since Zhao Jiliang and Meng Zhixiang wear a pair of trousers, another person should be appointed as Xichuan Jiedu envoy and supervisor to monitor the movements of Meng Zhixiang and Sichuan.So who is the right person to send?Don't send another Zhao Jiliang No. 2. When the imperial court was selecting candidates, one person volunteered to go to Sichuan.This person is Li Yan.Li Yan appeared many times in the previous documents.It was after he made several missions to Shu that he suggested to Zhuang Zong Li Cunxu to conquer Shu.After the successful conquest of Shu in the later Tang Dynasty, Li Yan did not get any benefits, and was still a guest official of the provincial envoy.Li Yan is unwilling to be lonely, and intends to seize the opportunity of the change of dynasty, and once again use the Shu Kingdom to make achievements, hoping to seek greater wealth. Li Yan took the initiative to ask for appointment as Xichuan Supervisor.An Zhonghui thought that he was more suitable. He not only understood the situation in Sichuan, but also mastered the imperial court's policies. He was relatively loyal to the imperial court. More importantly, he had nothing to do with Meng Zhixiang. In order to implement the court's strategy as soon as possible, Li Yan set off immediately on a certain date.Before leaving, Li Yan's old mother pulled Li Yan's skirt and said: "My son, you offered advice to the emperor a few years ago, which caused the destruction of the Shu Kingdom. Now you have to go to Sichuan, and the Shu people will forgive you." Is it?" Li Yan ignored his mother's objection, and resolutely went to the road of no return. After Emperor Mingzong Li Siyuan came to the throne, in order to eradicate the scourge of eunuchs, he ordered all local armies to abolish the post of supervisor.The eunuchs who supervised the army fled to death.Xichuan Jiedu envoy Jiao Yanbin is no exception. He has been laid off by Meng Zhixiang and is waiting for work in Chengdu.The reason why Meng Zhixiang didn't kill Jiao Yanbin was because they didn't know each other well, and they had no enmity, so why kill someone for no reason?Is it because he is a eunuch?More importantly, Meng Zhixiang didn't want to use bloody cleansing methods to establish his prestige, and he didn't have the habits of bandits and warlords in his character genes.During the seven or eight years that Meng Zhixiang lived with Li Siyuan's court in the later Tang Dynasty, he had been in a fierce ideological struggle, struggling between being a loyal minister and a filial son and a rebellious minister and a traitor, between sticking to one goal and establishing a new foundation. No matter how Meng Zhixiang struggled, now the court turned his back on his word and sent a new supervisor to the Xichuan Jiedu envoy. Doesn't this clearly mean that he doesn't believe Meng Zhixiang?Meng Zhixiang's subordinates clamored and said, "Kill Li Yan! Don't let him enter Sichuan!" Meng Zhixiang waved his hands and said, "Everyone, don't get excited, I have my own arrangements." Within a few days, Li Yan arrived at the Sichuan border.As an imperial envoy, Li Yan sent the notification documents to Chengdu, waiting for Meng Zhixiang to send someone to pick him up at the border.The ancients could not greet and see off the border, this is a set of procedures.For important people, send them to the border, and pick them up at the border. Meng Zhixiang led a pro-military guard, with bright helmets and armor, and lined up to welcome Li Yan.At the post station at Dalukou, the swordmen, spearmen, and archers of the Shu army stood majestically and murderously on the hatchback, the conch horns blew, and the war drums shook the mountains.Meng Zhixiang took Li Yan's hand and walked side by side, walked through the guard of honor into the living room.Meng Zhixiang originally wanted to frighten Li Yan with a big battle, so that Li Yan retreated when he knew it was difficult.Unexpectedly, Li Yan made up his mind to wade into this muddy water.Li Yan, Hou Ren's military supervisor, looked calm and showed no fear. He waved to the soldiers on both sides from time to time, walked a few steps and shouted: "The soldiers have worked hard, and the soldiers are tanned." belly, and responded loudly: "Your Excellency has worked hard, and your Excellency is even darker!" The murderous intent of the Shu army did not force Li Yan to retreat.We had to go to Chengdu together. No matter how unwelcome the imperial envoy is, according to conventional etiquette, a banquet should be set up to welcome the guests.Sichuan has always been rich in delicacies, hot pot, twice-cooked pork, Mala Tang, Mapo Tofu, Husband and wife lung slices, Maoxuewang, etc. are all on the table.The fine wine with the fragrance of sauce was also poured one by one.Meng Zhixiang cupped his hands and saluted. After the toast speech, everyone toasted and drank happily. After three glasses of wine, Li Yan put away his smile, took out an imperial edict from his bosom seriously, and began to read out with a cough: "Since Emperor Zhuangzong, eunuchs have harmed the army, especially the army and the country. Order Xichuan Festival The military governor Meng Zhixiang deprived Jiao Yanbin of his official position, and executed the law on the spot." Li Yan's announcement of the killing order on the wine table was really beyond the surprise of those present.In an instant, the jubilant atmosphere of a table, a room, and a yard disappeared, and some people who did not understand that Dessera came to accompany them were anxious, not knowing what unexpected events were going to happen.Everyone looked at me, I looked at you, and finally they all looked at Meng Zhixiang. Meng Zhixiang sat on the spot without moving a muscle, neither left the seat to kowtow to accept the order, nor did he accept the order to speak.Li Yan looked at Meng Zhixiang and waited for his statement.But Meng Zhixiang was expressionless while holding the wine glass, and remained silent.The air at the scene seemed to freeze, and there was no sound.I don't know which one knocked the wine glass over due to excessive tension.The white jade porcelain wine glass hit the bluestone tabletop edged with nanmu with a "clang", and everyone's highly nervous eyes shot at that person.The person who knocked over the wine glass suddenly turned red, and beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.After the wine glass was overturned, the wine in the glass flowed on the table and dripped on the floor tiles along the edge of the table.The sound of "click, click" of the wine was like a heavy drumstick beating on the hearts of everyone, making everyone breathless.In the dead and silent room, the sound of this small water drop was like the roar of everyone's ears in Huang Zhong Da Lu Zhen.Everyone was thinking silently in their hearts, why didn't the damn water drops finish dripping. After more than 30 seconds of hard torment, Meng Zhixiang drank the wine in the cup held between his fingers, slowly put the wine glass on the table, and then squinted at Li Yan from the corner of his eye. He said unhurriedly: "A few years ago, Mr. Li was sent as an envoy to the Kingdom of Shu, and proposed to the emperor to attack Shu, which caused the lives of both the east and the west. The people of Shu hate Mr. Li deeply. I never thought that Mr. Li would have the courage to enter Sichuan." Li Yan originally thought that after the imperial decree was read, Meng Zhixiang would humiliate himself and bow his head temporarily.If that's the case, Li Yan will buy time to implement the plan of alienation in the Xichuan army.Taking advantage of Tang Jun's nostalgia for returning to the east, he encouraged some generals to break away from Meng Zhixiang's control, and then looked for opportunities to overthrow Meng Zhixiang. The atmosphere of the banquet at this moment made Li Yan fully feel the intensity of Meng Zhixiang's hostility.Although he was mentally prepared, Li Yan still felt a huge coercion over Meng Zhixiang's overtones.Li Yan straightened his waist, rolled up the imperial decree and put it on his chest. He said neither humble nor overbearing: "It is the duty of a minister to worry about the country. Shu has no way. I will attack it to save the people of Li from fire and water." Meng Zhixiang didn't answer Li Yan's words, but changed the subject and said: "The Xichuan Army originally had the post of supervisor, and the minister has already deprived the supervisor of the army by the order of the emperor, and Jiao Yanbin did not act arrogantly, rebelliously and rebelliously, so he should not be executed. Li Your Excellency asked me to kill Jiao Yanbin, I cannot obey orders." Li Yan said: "The eunuch is wronging the country, and everyone gets him and punishes him. Is Meng Shuai going to go against the wishes of the people of the world?" Meng Zhixiang still said unhurriedly: "The wish of the people of the world is to live a good life, and they don't want to continue the war, and they don't want to mess around with nothing. Not all eunuchs are bad people. May I ask Mr. Li to represent the people of the world? Besides, since the imperial court dismissed the Xichuan Supervisor, then they sent Mr. Li to be the Supervisor, what is the meaning of this?" Li Yan snorted and said with a sneer: "A few days ago, the imperial court sent Zhao Jiliang to supervise the finances in central Sichuan. I don't want to be stranded in Chengdu by the Sichuan army. I don't know what this means? The imperial court sent me here to help Meng Shuai manage the three armies." Suddenly a murderous intent flashed in Meng Zhixiang's eyes, he threw the wine glass to the ground, and shouted, "Come here!" He strode towards the wine table. Meng Zhixiang pointed to Li Yan and said: "This Master Li is an enemy of the Shu people, and he made the emperor suspicious of the soldiers and people of Sichuan, sowed my Xichuan army's heart, and has ulterior motives. He was pulled out and beheaded by me, as a sacrifice to the people of heaven and earth!" Four burly men grabbed Li Yan's arms and twisted his neck and pushed him out of the door.Li Yan scolded as he walked: "Meng Zhixiang is a thief, how dare you rebel!" After a while, a "click" sound was heard, and Li Yan's head fell to the ground. In the later Tang Dynasty, Meng Zhixiang beheaded the supervising envoy sent by Mingzong's court, and it was obvious that Meng Zhixiang was going to tear himself apart with the court.In terms of size, the face of the imperial court was too bad, and it went directly to the nineteenth floor of hell.How can the imperial court swallow this bad breath easily? According to the general situation, the imperial court should send troops to beat him up.But the court is still forbearing. Had to endure. It is tolerable, and you have to bear it. After the political events such as the war of defeating Shu, the rebellion of Weizhou, and the change of the emperor, the vitality of the later Tang Dynasty was severely damaged. The salaries of civil and military officials were not fully paid, and the soldiers of the army did not have enough to eat. How could they have the ability to launch a large-scale war again?What's more, it is even more difficult for Laoshi to attack and fight in Sichuan, so the court had to endure it. The tree wants to be quiet but the wind doesn't stop. Borrowing a knife to kill someone. The later Tang court wanted peace, but his enemies didn't think so.For a seriously ill elephant, it is the perfect time for a tiger wolf to attack.Hubei Gao Jixing has been waiting for this day for a long time, and the flowers he has been waiting for are about to wither. This day finally came, and it finally came as the great strategist Liang Zhen had predicted. Like a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Gao Jixing endured silently for many years in Jiangling, Hubei (now Wuchang). Hongtu's opportunity finally came.He didn't want to endure it anymore, because he was also old, and if he endured it any longer, he would be the one who died. Taking advantage of the civil strife in the later Tang Dynasty, Gao Jixing wrote to the imperial court, requesting the imperial court to bring Kuizhou, Zhongzhou, and Wanzhou near the Three Gorges into his jurisdiction.At this time, Li Siyuan had just ascended the throne, and Dou Luge was the prime minister.Douluge was cowardly, so he persuaded the emperor to agree to Gao Jixing's request and hand over the three states to Gao Jixing for management.Gao Jixing made great progress, not only managed the three prefectures on behalf of the imperial court, but also refused the imperial court to send governors to these three prefectures, he wanted to send officials at all levels to these three prefectures himself.Gao Jixing directly sent troops to drive away the state officials of these three states and forcibly occupied them. Emperor Mingzong Li Siyuan was furious, and decreed to remove all the officials and nobles of Gao Jixing, and sent Liu Xun, the governor of Shannan Dongdao, as the emissary to the south to know Jingnan, and Xia Luqi, the governor of Zhongwu, as the deputy emissary, leading an army of 40,000 Crusade against Gao Jixing.In addition, the imperial court recruited Ma Yin, King of Chu in Hunan, Dong Zhang, Dongchuan Jiedu envoy, and Meng Zhixiang, Xichuan Jiedu envoy, to enlist Gao Jixing from all sides. Gao Jixing was frightened when the army came under him. Only then did he realize that a skinny camel can still kick people to death.How can a small town in Hubei fight against the four soldiers of the imperial court?Gao Jixing had no choice but to fortify the wall and clear the field, defending without fighting. Later, the Tang general Xixiye defeated the Jingnan navy in the Three Gorges, and regained the three prefectures of Kui, Zhong and Wan.However, the military operation to push Jiangling encountered obstacles.This obstacle mainly comes from the weather. It rains every day. The northern army soldiers are exposed to the wild, and a large number of them fall ill.The Tang Army and the Jingzhou Army fell into a stalemate. Gao Jixing was isolated and helpless, so he extended an olive branch to the state of Wu, requesting to be a vassal of the state of Wu and ask for asylum.Xu Wen, who was in power in the state of Wu, believed that Gao Jixing was an expedient measure, and Jiangling was much closer to Luoyang than Yangzhou, so it would not be beneficial for Wu to obtain Jingzhou. Trapped in heavy siege, with no rescue outside, Gao Jixing was trapped in a city of sorrow.Tang Jun couldn't hold on any longer, and gave up his plan to attack Jiangling, and was forced to withdraw his troops.Soon after this war, Gao Jixing died of illness.Gao Jixing's final fight was short-lived and vanished like the wind.Gao Jixing, who always wanted to get ahead, was dragged down by the soles of his feet. Within a few days, his beriberi recurred, and he died of severe infection and poisoning. In the war against Gao Jixing, the court of the later Tang Dynasty resorted to the strategy of killing three birds with one stone.I want to take this opportunity to weaken Dong Zhang and Meng Zhixiang and let them also send troops to fight.At this time, Dong Zhang and Meng Zhixiang still honored the later Tang court as Zhengshuo on the surface, but they didn't want to, but they had to put on a show.Meng Zhixiang saw through the imperial court's intentions. He sent a team of troops eastward along the Yangtze River, but ordered his generals to only send troops and not fight, so as to preserve their strength. The Xichuan army lay on the mouth of the Three Gorges River to watch the excitement, and did not participate in the war, how could it do it?Later, the Tang court became anxious and sent people to urge the Xichuan army to assist the Tang army in fighting.The imperial court came to the door, and it was unreasonable not to call.Meng Zhixiang had a wicked mind. He secretly informed the generals of the Xichuan Army in the Three Gorges that they would deliberately instigate their subordinates to mutiny.One night, the Xichuan military camp was in chaos, and the troops fell apart.The Xichuan Army withdrew from the battle in desperation and withdrew to Chengdu. The battle of wits between Meng Zhixiang and the court can be described as colorful and full of sparks. Feeling meter. Meng Zhixiang and the imperial court are now in the same bed with different dreams, and each has its own guesses and defenses.However, Li Siyuan still maintained great restraint.Meng Zhixiang sent people back to Jinyang to pick up his wife, Princess Qionghua, and their children and family members.Some civil and military ministers proposed to put Meng Zhixiang's family members under house arrest and prevent them from going to Chengdu.Li Siyuan waved his hand and said: "Forget it, let them go, I don't believe Meng Lang will rebel, besides, Princess Qionghua is a relative of the emperor." Now that the situation is clear, more and more ministers of the later Tang Dynasty believed that Meng Zhixiang would rebel and seek independence sooner or later, and Meng Zhixiang also became more and more determined that the methods of torture by the later Tang court would be endless. Combine vertical and horizontal. An Zhongjiao did everything possible to restrain Meng Zhixiang and prevent him from embarking on the road of separatism.Two years later, under the planning of An Zhonghui and others, the imperial court found various excuses to collect money and grain from Sichuan.Meng Zhixiang denied everything and bargained.Later, the imperial court further split the two towns of Xichuan and Dongchuan into three or four small feudal towns, and when dispatching the new feudal town Jiedushi, they brought troops from the Central Plains into Sichuan to mix sand in the military circles of Sichuan, which was actually compressed and disintegrated. The sphere of influence of Meng Zhixiang and Dong Zhang.Under such circumstances, the conflict between Sichuan and the imperial court finally intensified in an all-round way, to the point of a complete showdown.The two sides decided to tear their skins to the end. Due to the bad relationship between Meng Zhixiang and Dong Zhang, Xichuan and Dongchuan have been living their own lives in recent years, and no one cares about the other.Regarding the attitude towards Dongchuan and Xichuan, An Zhonghui still adopted a strategy of treating Dongchuan and Xichuan differently.The court of the later Tang Dynasty wooed Dong Zhang and mainly attacked Meng Zhixiang.No one expected that the thoughtless Dong Zhang couldn't hold back his anger, and turned back impatiently. Meng Zhixiang originally wanted to watch Dong Zhang and the court fight alone, stand by and reap the benefits of being a fisherman.But Zhao Jiliang, the deputy envoy of Jiedu, persuaded Meng Zhixiang: "Dongchuan and Xichuan are closely related, and now we can't just see Dongchuan fighting alone. Dong Zhang can't defeat the imperial court. Once Dongchuan falls, then Xichuan's life will be very difficult. We should Take the initiative to form an alliance with Dong Zhang to jointly fight against the imperial court." Meng Zhixiang finally overcame his psychological barrier, adopted Zhao Jiliang's suggestion, formed a military alliance with Dong Zhang, and jointly launched an all-out war against the imperial court. Seeing that Meng Zhixiang and Dong Zhang rebelled openly, the court could no longer bear it.Since you can't bear it, you don't need to bear it anymore. After more than three years of intrigue and fighting, the relationship between the Later Tang court and Meng Zhixiang in Sichuan finally broke down. Both sides no longer needed a fig leaf and declared war. The imperial court sent Tianxiong Jiedu envoy and pro-military envoy Shi Jingtang to attack Sichuan. Since ancient times, the middle of Shu has been a difficult problem. Before the world was in chaos, Shu was in chaos first, and the world was at peace before Shu. Since ancient times, it has been difficult to defeat Shu. There are two difficulties. The road to Shu is dangerous and long, the journey is long, and the transportation of food, grass and military supplies is too expensive.Then there is the military fortress entering Sichuan, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The land route uses the Jianmen plank road as the throat, and the water route uses the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River as the vital gate.The reason why Guo Chongtao in the later Tang Dynasty was able to quickly defeat the Shu Kingdom was because of the internal turmoil in Shu, who had no will to resist and fled.Now Meng Zhixiang and Dong Zhang joined forces to resist the Tang army, and the Tang army encountered insurmountable resistance. The Tang army worked hard to attack far away, and they fought smoothly at the beginning, and they captured Jianmen Pass in one fell swoop.When the news reached Chengdu, Meng Zhixiang's heart skipped a beat, feeling a little scared.The loss of Jianmen Pass means that the gates in central Shu are opened, the natural danger is broken, and the Tang army can drive straight in.But a few days later, the battle report came again, saying that Tang Jun stopped at Jianmen and stopped moving forward.Meng Zhixiang looked up to the sky and laughed loudly, and said: "Shi Jingtang missed a good opportunity by staying in Jianmen, we don't have to be afraid of them." So why didn't Shi Jingtang go forward at Jianmen? At this time, major events occurred within the Later Tang court. An Zhonghui, who is under one person and above ten thousand, is suspected by Emperor Mingzong, and his status is in jeopardy.Why was An Chonghui suspected by Li Siyuan?Isn't he a direct descendant of Li Siyuan?An Zhongjiao is almost the second person of Guo Chongtao, who works hard for the country and the public, and at the same time relies on his strong relationship with Li Siyuan, so he has great power, but in terms of doing things, he leaks his edge, authorizes his own power, and even does things on his own behind the emperor's back many big events.In the first two or three years after Emperor Mingzong ascended the throne, Li Siyuan had great trust and reliance on An Zhonghui, and he regarded him as a minister, and entrusted An Zhonghui with full authority to preside over major military and state affairs.Three or four years later, Li Siyuan couldn't stand An Chongjiao's domineering behavior.By the fifth or sixth year, the conflict between Li Siyuan and An Chonghui was on the rise. Li Siyuan and An Chonghui differed in their political ideas in the later period. An Zhonghui had a more thoughtful idea of ​​military expansion.However, Emperor Li Siyuan advocated recuperating and recuperating, allowing the soldiers and civilians to settle their duties and coexist peacefully with the outside world.The war against Shu planned by An Zhonghui and the war against Wu planned to be launched both had a profound conflict with Li Siyuan's ideas. In addition to An Zhonghui's high position and weight, and a big tree that attracts the wind, there is another key factor that is the contradiction between An Zhonghui and Li Congke.An Chonghui and Li Congke had some misunderstandings in their early years, which created a estrangement.An Zhonghui was very worried about this.Another thing is that An Zhonghui has always distrusted Li Congke, and he always thought that Li Congke would be the scourge of Li Siyuan's court sooner or later.Therefore, An Zhonghui continued to create obstacles between Li Congke and Li Siyuan, and spoke ill of Li Congke.But Li Siyuan loved Li Congke very much, and he didn't quite believe that Li Congke would betray him.An Chonghui designed every possible way to frame Li Congke, and wanted to put Li Congke to death.He actually carried Li Siyuan behind his back and appointed someone to drive Li Congke out of Hezhong Township.Although Li Congke appealed to Li Siyuan, but because An Chonghui woven the crime net so carefully that Li Siyuan did not find any evidence.In the end, because of An Chonghui's face, Li Siyuan had to take some measures to reduce Li Congke's treatment. The so-called "separate relatives" means that although Li Congke is not Li Siyuan's own son, he is a father-son relationship after all. An Chong told you that you and Li Siyuan are both monarchs and ministers and outsiders no matter how hard they are.An Zhonghui mistakenly believed that as long as it was for the sake of the Li family, Li Siyuan would support him, understand him, and tolerate him no matter what he did.But he was wrong. An Chonghui's political philosophy is very complicated, and his strategies for survival in the officialdom are also very complicated.There is both the side of the public and the country, and the side of personal grievances, the side of advocating justice, and the side of fighting dissidents, the side of daring to do things, and the side of accommodating.An Zhongjiao is a clean and honest official, who does not take bribes or take bribes. In the era of the Five Dynasties, when bribery and self-enrichment prevailed, it was not easy to do so.But An Chonghui loves power too much, and the purpose of his love of power is not to satisfy his personal desires, but to realize his political ambitions. In short, An Chonghui is too self-righteous, and he seems to be holding the emperor above himself. When the Tang army attacked Shu, the laborers attacked far away, the roads were dangerous, and the transportation of grain and grass was far away, and the cost was high.Transporting one hundred catties of grain, the driver, servant, and migrant worker would have to eat fifty catties on the way.Because the road is too difficult to walk, the food and grass team often fails to arrive as expected.This is the biggest threat to Shi Jingtang's front, so Shi Jingtang dare not march. The war against Shu was in trouble, and Li Siyuan was worried. As the chief planner and commander of this war, An Zhonghui, seeing the serious situation, took the initiative to invite Ying to supervise the battle.An Chonghui hurried to the front line with more than a hundred people. They traveled more than 400 miles in one day without rest.The princes along the way to conquer Shu were frightened when they heard that An Chonghui came to supervise the battle in person, and it was so fast.Before An Zhonghui arrived, they all consciously pressurized, recruiting troops, collecting grain, and transporting, regardless of the cost, the rear support supply line was fully activated. The appearance of An Zhonghui promoted the supply of grain and grass to a certain extent.However, the frontline of the war against Shu was not smooth. Li Renju was killed in several armies, Xia Luqi died in battle, and Zhang Wu died of illness.The Xichuan army that Shi Jingtang encountered was stubbornly resisting. The war was mired. At this time, An Chonghui, the biggest supporter of the war against Shu, was sentenced to death by the emperor.An Zhonghui was on the road in Shaanxi, and before he returned to Luoyang, he was dismissed by the court and transferred from the central government to work in a local area.Break the wall and everyone pushes.An Zhonghui was suspected by the emperor, and many people took the opportunity to make trouble and frame An Zhonghui in front of the emperor.On the road, an imperial envoy sent by the emperor smashed his head with an iron mallet, and his family was also killed.It's weird that An Chonghui even died so much like Guo Chongtao.Fortunately, An Chonghui's leader was Li Siyuan. If it was Li Cunxu, An Chonghui might have died earlier and worse. After An Zhonghui's death, Emperor Mingzong changed his strategy, ended the war against Shu, and changed to a policy of appeasing Sichuan. Promotion and security plans. Meng Zhixiang also planned to accept the reconciliation attitude of the later Tang court in moderation, but Dong Zhang was determined not to reconcile.Because when Dong Zhang rebelled, his son and wife were still in Luoyang, and they had already been executed by the court.So Dong Zhang decided to fight the later Tang court to the end.Meng Zhixiang persuaded Dong Zhang several times to stop fighting, but Dong Zhang disagreed.Under this situation, Meng Zhixiang took advantage of the contradiction between Dong Zhang and the court, took the opportunity to launch a war to eliminate Dong Zhang in one fell swoop, and completely occupied the eastern and western Sichuan. After Meng Zhixiang took full control of Sichuan, he offered higher and higher prices to the imperial court. Two years later, the court of the later Tang Dynasty planned to win over Meng Zhixiang with a soft policy, but Meng Zhixiang was greedy, and finally the court had to make Meng Zhixiang the inspector Taiwei and Zhongshuling, and he was the governor of Chengdu Yin, Jiannan, and East and West Sichuan. Observed and dealt with within the management, unified and detained the barbarians near the border, and also served as the envoy of the Eight Kingdoms of the Western Mountains and Yunnan to appease the system, etc., King of Shu. Death and livelihood. In November 933 AD, Li Siyuan died at the age of 67.This is the first of the five emperors since the end of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Liang of the Five Dynasties, and the Later Tang Dynasty to die.Zhu Quanzhong, Zhu Yougui, Zhu Youzhen, and Li Cunxu all died by accident.During Li Siyuan's seven years as emperor, he implemented a policy of recuperation, seldom launched large-scale wars, and there were rare scenes of successive years of agricultural harvests.In the history of more than 50 years of war in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the period of Li Siyuan's court was considered a relatively good period, and it could barely be called a well-off period.This has a great relationship with Li Siyuan's kind and honest character. After Li Siyuan's death, Meng Zhixiang immediately revealed the true face of Lushan Mountain, no longer accepting the leadership of the later Tang court in the Central Plains, and directly announced his enthronement and proclaiming himself emperor, the establishment of the Great Shu Kingdom, and the establishment of another mountain.However, Meng Zhixiang did not reign as emperor for too long. After only six months, he died of old illness.