The infighting continues

The three feudatories had just been pacified, and the infighting in the Later Han court began again. Not only will there be discord, even between the monarch and the minister, there is also an open and secret fight, the civil minister and the military general, the military general and the military general, the minister and the Son of Heaven, the forces of all parties are inseparable, making the whole court miserable, the people are panicked, and finally the Later Han court was dragged into the abyss of no return. Before we get into this infighting, let's introduce a few key figures.

- Ruthless General Shi Hongzhao. Shi Hongzhao, the character of Yuan, is a native of Zhengzhou, Henan Province.

Like Liu Bang, Shi Hongzhao was born as a farmer, but he didn't like farming, wandering around all day long, playing with boxing sticks, and rampaging in the township, and was used by the villagers as a negative teaching material for not doing his job properly and idle. In the last years of the Later Liang Dynasty, the imperial court issued an edict ordering every seven households to send one person to be a soldier, and Shi Hongzhao joined the Later Liang army, because he had a good foundation and high martial arts, so he was selected into the forbidden army.

Later, he became Shi Jingjiao's personal guard, and when Liu Zhiyuan was transferred to Taiyuan to garrison, he asked him to be under his own command, promoted to general, and concurrently served as the assassin of Leizhou.

Later, Liu Zhiyuan proclaimed himself emperor, Daizhou Wang Hui rebelled, surrendered to the Khitan, Shi Hongzhao was ordered to conquer, and took Daizhou in one go, and was soon appointed as the Xuzhou Festival Envoy, and the commander of the guards and infantry troops. At that time, Wang Shouen, who was stationed in Shangdang, asked to surrender, and the Khitan ordered the general Geng Chongmei to lead the troops across the Taihang Mountain and take the Shangdang directly, Liu Zhiyuan asked Shi Hongzhao to go to meet the enemy and support Wang Shouen, Shi Hongzhao just arrived in Luzhou, and before the battle, the Khitan soldiers retreated, Shi Hongzhao made persistent efforts and marched all the way to the army, Zezhou, Heyang and other places surrendered their cities.

With Shi Hongzhao, a brave and warlike new force, Liu Zhiyuan successfully occupied the Central Plains. and eventually occupied Kaifeng City, the capital of the Later Jin Dynasty.

Soon, Shi Hongzhao followed Liu Zhiyuan north to attack Weizhou. After coming back, he was awarded the Tongping chapter because of his merits, and became a powerful figure in the court at that time. But like most generals. Shi Hongzhao also has a big shortcoming, that is, he is domineering and ruthless, and he doesn't know how to be flexible.

Whether it is to the common people, subordinates, colleagues or superiors, and whether it is wartime or peacetime, this characteristic has been fully brought into full play in him. During the rebellion of the three feudatories, the people in the capital were panicked, and rumors spread wildly in the market and the imperial court.

Responsible for the security of the capital division. He used an iron and bloody hand to mercilessly crack down on the rumor-mongers, and some people were caught on the street and were punished on the spot without saying a word; Some people look up at the Taibai star that appears during the day, so they are considered to be privately observing the celestial phenomena and have a rebellious heart, and are beheaded; And a man was falsely accused of speaking ill of a man and being put to death because he was drunk and quarreling with the soldiers.

Streets of the Dead. Shi Hongzhao also took matters into his own hands and personally interrogated the prison. As long as he thinks that someone is guilty, he will order him to be arrested, and after passing through the hall hastily, Shi Hongzhao sometimes stretches out three fingers. The subordinate horses understood it, and they would drag the prisoner out and behead him.

At the same time, a series of tortures were widely used. Broken tongues, cramps, broken feet, etc.,

The effects of this series of terrorist policies were also immediate. Not only did the rumors stop, but the people didn't even dare to speak. Even if they see something that others have thrown on the road, no one dares to pick it up casually.

The families of those who have been wronged are even more involved in the case, and they dare not appeal, lest they suffer another misfortune. Shi Hongzhao is also quite strict in governing the army, and all the soldiers under him, no matter who they are, will never be forgiven and tolerated as long as they violate military discipline. There was once a commander, because he did not listen to the dispatch, he was beaten to death by Shi Hongzhao on the spot, and the soldiers were frightened when they saw this, and they almost couldn't leave.

In his dealings with other ministers, generals, and even the emperor, he still adhered to this practice, especially to the ministers, and he despised them even more, often saying: 'I can't stand these literati, they always despise us generals, saying that we are pawns, which is really hateful!' It's hateful! ‘

This standard of likes and dislikes made him try his best to win over Guo Wei, who was also a military general, and he was against Su Fengji, the minister who was born in Wenchen, everywhere.

- I don't know the general situation of Yang Wei. Yang Wei, a native of the Guanshi clan of Weizhou, was a staunch ally of Shi Hongzhao. When he was young, he was an official in charge of the state government, and Kong Qian, the envoy of the Tang Dynasty, was his wife's uncle.

When Kong Qian was appointed as a branch official, he supplemented Yang Wei as a hook officer, and successively served as the grain envoy of Meng, Hua, and Yun. When Liu Zhiyuan stayed in Yedu, he appointed Yang Wei as the right capital of the guard, and after the founding of the Later Han Dynasty, he was promoted to the privy envoy and the school inspector. Yang Wei was born as a small official, did not like scribes, and did not look at each other with Su Fengji and others.

After Liu Chengyou ascended the throne, Prime Minister Li Tao played a chapter under the instruction of Su Fengji, requesting that Yang Wei and Guo Wei be transferred out of the capital to serve in the feudal town, Yang Wei and others cried to the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother was very angry, deposed Li Tao and appointed Yang Wei, and crowned him as the Zhongshu Shilang and the Ministry of Shangshu, Tongping Zhangshi, and the privy envoy.

At that time, the appointment of officials in Zhongshu Province was too indiscriminate, and the phenomenon of wrong appointment was very common. If it does not conform to Yang Wei's wishes, even if a document is written and an official, it will not be approved.

Although Yang Wei is good at government affairs, he does not know the general situation and cannot focus on the overall situation, and often says: "To govern the country, as long as the money is abundant and the armor is strong, as for the articles and music, they are all unreal things and not worth paying attention to." "Under his auspices, government affairs are harsh and trivial, unrealistic, and change every day.

At the beginning, Zhou Can was the general of the Zhuwei of the former dynasty, and after being deposed from the official rank, he followed Wang Jingchong to the west, and after Wang Jingchong rebelled, he became the mastermind.

After quelling the rebellion of the three feudatories, Yang Wei played: "The officials appointed by the previous dynasties like to incite the ministers of the feudal towns to rebel, and they should all be sent to the capital." ”

Soon, officials from the former dynasty gathered in the capital from all directions, blocking the prime minister's mount every day to ask for the official title; A few days later, Yang Wei played again: "The officials appointed by the previous dynasty should live in the two capitals, so that they can fill the vacancies." ”

As a result, more and more officials are wandering and displaced; Seeing this situation, Yang Wei played again: "The officials authorized by the former dynasty who come and go on the road must have a pass. Within a few days, the yamen of the lawsuit, which was responsible for issuing the documents, was overcrowded, and the public was in a big uproar, so they had to give up.

Greedy and willful Wang Zhang. Wang Zhang, a native of Nanle. In the early years of Tongguang, he worked in the Privy Council. Later, he returned to the daimyo and became an official of Confucius.

Later Tang Qingtai in the last years. The holy capital Yu Hou Zhang Lingzhao who was stationed in the daimyo made a rebellion and drove away Liu Yanhao, the envoy of the festival. After claiming to stay, Wang Zhang still served in his original position and was served by Zhang Lingzhao. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the emperor sent Fan Yanguang to conquer Zhang Lingzhao, and the search for the traitor was very strict, Wang Zhang's wife was Bai Wenke's daughter, and Bai Wenke had a good relationship with Li Jingzhou, so he entrusted Wang Zhang to Li Jingzhou.

After the city was conquered, Li Jingzhou hid Wang Zhang, put it in a sack and put it on the back of a camel. Transported to Luoyang and hidden in his own home.

When Liu Zhiyuan was in charge of the guards and pro-army, he was appointed as the official of the capital, and from then on, Wang Zhang followed Liu Zhiyuan to Hedong to take charge of money and grain. When the three feudatories rebelled, Wang Zhangguan went to inspect the school Taiwei and Tongping Zhangshi.

During this period, Wang Zhang collected wealth, gathered materials, and supported the Western Expedition. After the rebellion was put down. There is still a surplus of food in the country. At this time, he should have recuperated, but Wang Zhang was autocratic and greedy, and as always, he exploited the people, making the small people complain.

Wang Zhang did not like scribes. He often says: "If these people give them an abacus and don't even understand the pros and cons, what is the use of asking them!" ”

The county magistrate asked for a monthly salary. Wang Zhang allocated some materials that could not be used in the army, calling them "idle and miscellaneous things". The relevant departments were instructed to overestimate the value of idle sundries, and continue to raise them after the assessment. It is called "raising the estimate", even so, Wang Zhang is still not satisfied, and often arbitrarily orders to add estimates.

Ming's well-behaved Su Fengji. Su Fengji, a native of Chang'an, was a civil official leader at the time. His father, Su Yue, was once engaged in Liu Zhiyuan's work and was very courteous to Liu Zhiyuan. So he recommended Su Fengji to him and said: "Old man, I am old, and there is no place for wisdom and knowledge. My son Feng Ji has learned to write and write in a superficial manner, and his disposition is deferential and loyal, and if you do not care that he is as humble as a pig and a dog, I would like to let him serve by your side. ”

Liu Zhiyuan summoned Su Fengji, and saw that he was smart and very fond of him, so he promoted him to Binzuo, and let him stand aside and serve whenever there was a plan to discuss.

The documents and archives of the Privy Council and the Zhongshu Mansion are often piled up with tables and benches, and the people around him dare not hand them over to Liu Zhiyuan, Su Fengji often hides them in his arms or sleeves, and asks him for instructions when Liu Zhiyuan is happy, so basically he can get Liu Zhiyuan's approval every time. After Liu Zhiyuan became emperor, Su Fengji was promoted to the secretary of the ministry, and soon he was transferred to the left servant to supervise the history of the country.

After the development, Su Fengji sold his official beard, was greedy, and unscrupulous means to achieve his goals. After Liu Zhiyuan captured Kaifeng, Li Song, the prime minister of the former dynasty, was captured by the Khitans and stayed in Zhending, Liu Zhiyuan gave Li Song's mansion to Su Fengji, and Li Song's property in Luoyang, Xijing, was also occupied by Su Fengji.

After Li Song returned to the Han Dynasty, Li Song's younger brother Li Yu often complained and expressed dissatisfaction because the house was occupied.

At this time, one of Li Song's servants falsely accused Li Song of rebellion, and Su Fengji lured him to write a pleading, on which Li Song's family was arrested.

Then he tricked Li Yu into confessing: "I discussed with my brother Li Song, my younger brother Li Shanyi, and 20 servants in the family, and when Liu Zhiyuan's coffin set off to the mountain mausoleum, they set fire to the rebellion together, and the complaint is true." Even so, Su Fengji was not satisfied, and with a stroke of the pen, he changed "twenty people" to "fifty people", and in this way, Li Song's whole family was killed.

Su Fengji likes to kill, when Liu Zhiyuan was in Taiyuan, because of his birthday, he ordered Su Fengji to take care of the prison prisoners, in order to ask for the blessing of Fulu, Su Fengji actually killed all the prisoners, and then reported that the prisoners were sorted out. By the time he was in charge of the imperial court, he was even more fond of killing.

The imperial court was worried about the thieves in various places and sent people to arrest them, and Su Fengji drafted an edict by himself, to the effect that "to deal with all the thieves, the thief's family and the neighbors will guarantee together, and the whole clan where the thief is located must be beheaded." ”

Someone said to Su Fengji: "If you become a thief, you will destroy his family, it is not in accordance with the king's law, and the guarantors of the neighbors have to punish the crime together, is it too much?" Su Fengji insisted on his own opinion, and even deleted the word "whole family". At that time, Zhang Lingrou, the envoy of Yunzhou who captured the thieves, killed all the people of 17 villages in Pingyin County.

In short, none of these four men are good stubble, and the conflict between the parties reached its peak in 950 AD. At the beginning, in April of this year, the imperial court was rampant north of the Yellow River due to the Khitan invasion, and the governors of the feudal towns only sought self-protection, and no one resisted, so everyone discussed letting Guo Wei go out of the town of Yedu and lead the generals to guard against the Khitan.

Of course, there is no problem with Guo Wei's qualifications and ability to go out of Zhenye, and there is no problem for him to work hard to resist all sides of the enemy, the key to the problem is that Shi Hongzhao hopes that Guo Wei will further improve his strength with this, but Su Fengji wants to take the opportunity to attack the forces on Shi Hongzhao's side, and the focus of the confrontation between the two sides is whether to retain Guo Wei's privy envoy position, Shi Hongzhao of course supports retention, and Su Fengji believes that there is no such precedent.

Shi Hongzhao said: "Guo Wei is also the privy envoy who can act decisively according to the situation outside, so that the troops of all walks of life are afraid to obey, and the order can be carried out unhindered. Su Fengji-for-tat: "It is justified to use the internal court officials to control the outer court officials; Now, is it possible to use the external court officials to restrain the internal court officials? ”

However, this battle ended in Shi Hongzhao's victory. On 15 April, Liu Chengyou followed Shi Hongzhao's suggestion and appointed Guo Wei as the guard of Yedu, the envoy of Tianxiong Festival, and the privy envoy as before. At the same time, an edict was issued to the area north of the Yellow River, and all troops, weapons, money, grain and grass, as long as they saw the documents signed by Guo Wei, should accept the order. The next day, the court magnates gathered and feasted in Dou Zhengu's mansion, Shi Hongzhao raised his wine glass to persuade Guo Wei to drink, looked around and said sharply: "Yesterday's discussion of the imperial court, how can everyone's opinions be so different!"

Today I toasted this cup for my virtuous brother. Su Fengji and Yang Wei also raised their glasses and said: "It's all for the country, so why bother!" Shi Hongzhao said contemptuously: "To stabilize the country, you rely on spears and swords, where can you use a brush!" ”

Wang Zhang, who was eating and drinking on the side, also joined the debate at this time, and said coldly: "Without a brush, where does the money and military endowment come from?" "Wine is good wine, and the banquet is a good banquet, but the ministers broke up unhappily, and the contradictions between the civil ministers and military generals have increased.

In May, Wang Zhang was the east, and invited several court dignitaries to eat at home, saying that it was to eat, then it was impossible to drink, and if you want to drink, it is necessary to draw fists to help the fun, although Shi Hongzhao also often drinks, but the martial artists drink directly to blow the bottle,

As for what else to say about the alcohol order, it is not very good at it, and Yan Jinqing, the envoy of the guest province, was next to Shi Hongzhao and secretly taught him a few tricks in private. Of course, Su Fengji would not let go of any opportunity to make Shi Hongzhao look ugly, so he laughed and said: "There is a person surnamed Yan next to him, why worry about being punished for drinking!" ”

The speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, it happened that Shi Hongzhao's wife was also surnamed Yan, and it happened that Yan was originally a prostitute in a restaurant, Shi Hongzhao took it for granted that Su Fengji was ridiculing Yan, and couldn't help but be furious and insulted Su Fengji with swear words. There is a way to show that only when he meets a soldier, he can't explain it clearly, Su Fengji saw this, and he didn't say anything.

The more Shi Hongzhao spoke, the more angry he became, and he was about to get up and beat him, but Su Fengji saw that the situation was not good and wanted to leave. Shi Hongzhao asked for the sword to chase him down, but Yang Wei tearfully dissuaded him (to be continued.) )