Chapter 244 Chapter 243 Gaozu Meng Zhixiang

Meng Zhixiang, courtesy name Baoyin (also known as Baoyi), was born in Longgang, Xingzhou (now southwest of Xingtai, Hebei).Born in the fifteenth year of Xiantong in Tang Dynasty (874 AD), and died in the first year of Mingde in Later Shu (934 AD). At the beginning, Meng Zhixiang served Jin with his father, and was gradually appreciated by Li Keyong, king of Jin, and married his younger brother Kerang's daughter.Cun Xu's heir, promoted Zhixiang to be the envoy of the Zhongmen, Dian in charge of the Privy Council, the position of the Zhongmen envoy was light, and he had frequent contacts with the King of Jin. Several of Zhixiang's predecessors were punished for some reason, and none of them survived.Therefore, Zhixiang repeatedly asked for another post, and recommended Guo Chongtao to replace him.Cunxu made Zhixiang the Marquis of Yu, the capital of the Mabu Army. After Cunxu proclaimed himself emperor, he changed Taiyuan Prefecture to Beijing, appointed Zhixiang as Taiyuan Yin, and stayed behind in Beijing.Guo Chongtao was ordered to assist King Wei Jiji in the conquest of Shu, and recommended Zhixiang Town Xichuan.

In December of the third year of Tongguang (AD 925), Zhixiang traveled westward from Luoyang. That night, when he arrived at Shihao Village in Xin'anxi, the Chinese envoy Ma Yangui rushed up and announced Zhuangzong's decree and empress decree to him.The Queen ordered Jiji to kill Guo Chongtao.Zhixiang sighed: "The chaos will start!" He also rushed to Xichuan. Seventeen days later, Zhixiang entered Chengdu, but Guo Chongtao had been killed four days earlier.The people in Shu are turbulent and the situation is unstable. Zhixiang chooses honest officials to comfort the people and reduce the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes of the former Shu.Soon, Wei Wang Jiji returned to the north, Zhuangzong was killed again, Li Siyuan (Mingzong) came to the throne, and Jiji committed suicide.Seeing the turmoil in the Central Plains, Zhixiang secretly prepared to proclaim himself emperor based on Shu.

Li Yan, the defense historian of Sizhou who had been sent to the former Shu, recommended himself and was appointed as the governor of Xichuan.After Li Yan's last envoy to Shu, he advised Zhuang Zong to conquer Shu. Therefore, before he left, his mother said to him: "You have made a plan to destroy Shu, and now you enter Shu again. I am afraid that you will repay Shu with death." Zhixiang Hearing that there was another supervising army coming, he said angrily: "Everyone abolishes the supervising army, why did Xichuan set it up alone?" But when he heard that it was Li Yan who came, he breathed a sigh of relief. Once, because he angered Zhuang Zong, he was ordered to be beheaded. Zhixiang was the coach at the time. He ordered the executioner not to do it, and then hurried into the palace to persuade Zhuang Zong to give him a lighter punishment. It's done.For this reason, Li Yan was grateful to Meng Zhixiang for a while.So Meng Zhixiang thought that this time, as long as he gave a little signal to Li Yan, he would return to Luoyang.In the first month of the second year of Tiancheng (927 A.D.), Meng Zhixiang first sent subordinate officials to Jianzhou to greet him and conveyed his intentions, and then sent soldiers in full armor to welcome Li Yan, trying to make an excuse for Li Yan to return.Unexpectedly, Li Yan didn't care about these at all.At a banquet, Li Yan ordered Meng Zhixiang to kill Jiao Yanbin, the former Xichuan supervisor. Zhixiang refused, and asked sharply: "Your Majesty was on an envoy last time, and after returning, he invited troops to attack Shu. Now that you are back, what is your purpose?" , bowed his hands to see off the guests, and signaled the general Wang Yanzhu to kill him.Li Yan lost his prestige, kowtowed again and again, and begged Zhixiang for mercy: "Yan's crime is serious, although death is inevitable, but please benefactor, let me go back to the west, and die of old age in Luozhong." Li Yan.At this time, Tang Mingzong, in order to win over Zhixiang, had just released Zhixiang's wife and children who had stayed in Luoyang to Chengdu.When they reached Fengxiang, news of Li Yan's death came, and local officials detained them.After Tang Mingzong heard the news, he didn't want to anger Zhixiang, so he ordered Fengxiang to release Zhixiang's family members, and did not hold Zhixiang responsible for killing Li Yan without authorization.Meng Zhixiang has actually formed an independent force in Xichuan.

Since the first year of Tiancheng (926 A.D.), Meng Zhixiang worked hard and worked hard for 6 years, and finally occupied the eastern and western Sichuan. He was relieved in his old age.In February of the fourth year of Changxing (933 A.D.), Zhixiang was conferred the title of King of Shu again. On the twenty-eighth day of the first lunar month, Zhixiang took the throne, and the country was named Shu.Appoint Zhao Jiliang as prime minister, and Wang Chuhui as privy envoy.However, his health was deteriorating day by day, and he did not get better because of proclaiming himself emperor.At a banquet in June, I was unable to raise a cup.But he still insisted on taking care of important military and political affairs.On July 7th, he hosted a banquet in Danxia Building and watched court ladies playing begging games upstairs at night, and his condition worsened.On the twenty-sixth day, the prince Renzan was made the crown prince, Zhao Jiliang, Li Renhan, Zhao Yanyin, Wang Chuhui and others were called into the palace, and they were ordered to assist the government, and died that night.61 years old.Posthumously titled "Civil, Military, Sage, Virtuous, Heroic, Ming Xiao Emperor" and temple titled "Gaozu", he was buried in Heling.