After Ma Yin learned that Li Cunxu had destroyed Shu Kingdom, he was very uneasy. According to the description of the spies sent back, the current Tang army is extremely powerful. If Li Cunxu sent such an army to attack him, his army would probably not be his opponent. Ma Yin was nervously thinking about how to avoid this disaster.

Ma Yin hurriedly asked someone to invite Gao Yu to ask for his opinion. Gao Yu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry, you might as well adopt the strategy of retreating to advance. Ma Yin asked in confusion: "I don't understand what sir, I don't understand this. Please tell me bluntly." Gao Yu said, "The Tang lord just pacified Shu, and it was time to be proud. The prince might as well express his intention to retire to the mountains and forests and enjoy his old age. Please ask Li Cunxu to arrange someone to take the lead. If he happily accepts your request for retirement, it means that he intends to go south. However, it takes time for him to go from the Central Plains to the Yangtze River. We can prepare for the war calmly. Cao Cao was defeated in Chibi back then, and Li Cunxu may not be able to be stronger than Cao Cao. Li Cunxu's rear was not stable, and the Khitans were always eyeing him. As long as we stick to the change, his army will not adapt to the southern climate and naturally have no combat power."

After hearing what Gao Yu said, Ma Yin suddenly realized and felt at peace. So in November of the third year of Tongguang in the Tang Dynasty (925), Ma Yin brought Tuoba Heng and asked him to draft a memorial to send it to Luoyang, asking Li Cunxu to seek resignation from his mug. Ma Yin wrote in the memorial, "I have built a place between Henglu, and I love it as a place for fur coats, and I originally returned to the seal and ribbon to protect my old age." This means that Ma Yin has found a place to enjoy his old age in Hengshan and Yuelu Mountain. He is willing to hand over the seal and ribbon back to the court, and ask Li Cunxu to send someone else to take charge of his jurisdiction, and he is willing to retire and enjoy his old age.

But after receiving Ma Yin's memorial, Li Cunxu rejected Ma Yin's kindness. Because Li Cunxu was very busy at this moment, he had no time to think about the distant land of Hunan. Besides, he naturally knew that this was Ma Yin's temptation. If he really agreed to Ma Yin's request, Ma Yin would probably immediately cut off the tribute and contact. Li Cunxu had no plans to go south now, as long as Ma Yin could continue to submit tribute. So Li Cunxu issued an edict to keep Ma Yin and asked him to continue to perform his duties. After receiving the edict, Ma Yin was completely at ease.

Besides, when the Tang army was invading the hinterland of Shu Kingdom as if it was unstoppable, King Gao Jixing of Nanping also sent troops westward under the order of Li Cunxu, preparing to seize the natural danger of the Three Gorges, expand his territory, and consolidate the border defenses in the west of Jiangling. Gao Jixing left his son Gao Conghui to guard Jiangling, and personally led the Nanping naval army to go up the river and enter the Three Gorges.

At this time, the person responsible for guarding the east side of Shu was Zhang Wu, the governor of Zhenjiang, the governor of the Shu Kingdom, and the recruitment of Xialu Road. Zhang Wu was from Hezhou, and his father Zhang Yong was originally a boatman on a ferry on Wujinba, Hezhou. When Zhang Wu was young, he was seven feet tall and had a purple-black face. The nearby thieves were afraid of him. When Zhang Wu grew up, he joined Wang Jian's army and was brave and good at fighting. He made military achievements and was named Polangdutou and was responsible for river defense. When he captured Zizhou, he made great contributions. Wang Jian was promoted to Zhang Wu to the governor of Yuzhou and the governor of Wanzhou, and was also appointed as the commander of Feizhao.

At that time, Zhao Kuangning, the governor of Zhongyi who was separating the East Road of Shannan, prepared to compete with Wang Jian for the east of Sichuan, and sent naval troops to go up the river to enter the Three Gorges and attack Kuizhou, but was repelled by the Shu army. After this incident, Wang Jian ordered Zhang Wu to build a defensive project on the Three Gorges east of Kuizhou. Zhang Wu built a wooden fence on both sides of the Yangtze River, and used huge iron chains to cross the river surface to connect the two sides, known as the "Zhengxia".

Later, Gao Jixing dispatched Jingnan Navy to attack Kuizhou, and Shu Kingdom sent Wang Xiancheng and Zhang Wu to welcome the enemy. They attacked the enemy ships with fire, burned, and drowned. Ji Xing was more than half of the generals. Gao Jixing fled in a small boat.

After Gao Jixing's Nanping Army entered the Three Gorges, the governor of Kuizhou, Wang Chengxian, led his troops to fight Gao Jixing with a fierce battle with the floating bridge, but Gao Jixing burned the floating bridge with a fire boat. The Shu army was defeated, and the Jingnan army took advantage of the victory to advance towards Kuizhou.

At that time, Zhang Wu had less than 10,000 soldiers, and was at a disadvantage in terms of the power comparison between the enemy and us. After learning that Gao Jixing had defeated Wang Xiancheng, Zhang Wu had no intention of surrendering because he looked down on this defeated general of his men back then and was preparing to attack Gao Jixing head-on.

When the fleet led by Gao Jixing arrived, it was blocked by the Hengjiang iron chain. Gao Jixing, who was furious, came up with a move, and chose a group of warriors who were not afraid of death, took a small boat, holding a giant axe as the leader, hoping that they would risk their lives to cut off the Hengjiang iron chain and open the way for the army. Unfortunately, the iron chain was very hard, and the warriors did not cut off the iron chain.

At night, a storm broke out on the river, and the blocked warships lost control and were in a dilemma. Zhang Wu took this opportunity to attack with fire, causing Jingnan troops to burn and drown. Then, he commanded the army to descend and attack with arrows and stones. Although the warship Gao Jixing was covered with Niu Ge, it was still hit by a huge flying stone. Gao Jixing saw that the situation was hopeless, Yi Xiaozhou fled. The Jingnan troops were defeated and more than 5,000 people were captured and beheaded. The navy that Gao Jixing worked hard to destroy was instantly gone. The Southeast Army that attacked Shu was smashed by the Shu army.

Soon, Zhang Wu, who had just won a great victory, received news that the Shu army was defeated on the northern front, Wang Yan fled at the battle, and a large number of generals surrendered to the Tang army. Zhang Wu immediately sent envoys to Jin to meet Li Jiji, expressing his willingness to give up the Kui, Zhong, and Wan Sanzhou under his jurisdiction and surrender to the Tang lord.

When the news of the demise of Shu Kingdom reached Jiangling, Gao Jixing, the king of Nanping who had just returned from the Three Gorges, was having a meal. After hearing the urgent report from his subordinates, Gao Jixing was trembling with fright, and even his chopsticks fell to the ground.

Gao Jixing sighed, "This is my fault!" The reason why Gao Jixing encouraged Li Cunxu to attack Shu was that he thought that the Shu army could stalemate with the Tang army by relying on natural dangers. He could take advantage of the fire to rob and get some benefits. Of course, he did not want Shu Kingdom to be really destroyed. Now both the west and north sides of Jingnan were occupied by the Tang army. If Li Cunxu had any intention of Jiangling, the Tang army that destroyed Shu would go down the river and Jingnan would not be able to resist it.

Seeing this, Liang Zhen quickly comforted Gao Jixing and said, "Don't worry, if Li Cunxu gets Shu, he will naturally be more proud and indulgent. His disaster is near, and he probably won't have the chance to attack us. The demise of Shu Kingdom may be our blessing."

Liang Zhen's prediction was generally correct, and Li Cunxu did not intend to swallow Nanping in one go. Because there were major problems within the Tang army, Li Cunxu had no time to take care of other places.

Li Shaochen had the greatest contribution to pacifying the former Shu Kingdom, and his title was above Dong Zhang. However, because Dong Zhang had a good relationship with Guo Chongtao, Guo Chongtao often summoned Dong Zhang to discuss military affairs and left Li Shaochen aside. Li Shaochen felt uneasy and said to Dong Zhang: "I have the greatest contribution to pacifying Shu Kingdom. You are mediocre followers, but instead whispered in front of Guo Gong, excluding others. As a general, aren't you afraid that I will kill you with military laws?" Dong Zhang was ashamed of his words, so he told Guo Chongtao these words.

Guo Chongtao was unhappy, so he submitted a letter to Li Cunxu to appoint Dong Zhang as the governor of Dongchuan. After Li Shaochen learned about it, he was furious and said, "I risked my life to overcome dangers and pacify Dongchuan and Xichuan. Now I let Dong Zhang enjoy his success!" So he found Guo Chongtao and said, "Dongchuan is an important place, and the mediocre people cannot be guarded. Ren Yuan is both civil and military, so he should be appointed as the governor." After hearing this, Guo Chongtao said angrily: "I am the emperor's order to control the army. How can you violate my actions?" Li Shaochen had no choice but to retreat in a bad mood.

When he began to attack Shu, Li Cunxu sent eunuch Li Congxi and others to follow King Li Jiji of Wei. Although Li Jiji was the commander-in-chief, he planned and appointed official positions in the army to be in charge of Guo Chongtao. Guo Chongtao handled affairs all day long, and his door was crowded. However, Li Jiji's residence was deserted and Li Congxi and others felt humiliated. After conquering Shu, the noble ministers and generals of Shu Kingdom all fought to send treasures and geese to Guo Chongtao and his son Guo Tinghui. What King Li Jiji of Wei got was just some horses, bunches of silk and other ordinary items, and Li Congxi and others became even more angry.

Wang Zongbi wanted to be the governor of Xichuan, so he found Li Jiji first, but Li Jiji did not agree. So Wang Zongbi bribed Guo Chongtao and asked to be the governor of Xichuan. Guo Chongtao agreed on the surface, but never submitted a memorial for him. So Wang Zongbi brought the people of Shu to see Li Jiji, listed many reasons, and asked Guo Chongtao to stay to guard Shu.

Li Congxi said to Li Jiji: "The Guo family is very arrogant, and now he has asked the Shu people to ask for commander for him. His ambitions are hard to guess. The king must be guarded against him." Li Jiji said: "The Lord relies very much on him and cannot let him leave the temple. How can he let him guard this barbaric land? These things are not what I want to hear. After returning to the court, you will go to the emperor and the emperor to speak out."

Under the instigation of Li Congxi and others, Li Jiji naturally became suspicious and angry at Guo Chongtao. Sometimes speaking with Guo Chongtao often implicitly sarcastic. From then on, Li Jiji and Guo Chongtao suspiciously arise between each other.

At this time, Song Guangbao happened to come from Zizhou. He told the story of Wang Zongbi's accusation of killing Song Guangsi and others. In addition, Guo Chongtao collected tens of thousands of dollars from Wang Zongbi to comfort the army, but Wang Zongbi refused to give it to him. So Guo Chongtao instigated the soldiers to set fire at Wang Zongbi's residence, and he wanted to kill Wang Zongbi to show his innocence.

Guo Chongtao also told Li Jiji that he would arrest Wang Zongbi and Wang Zongwo, and accused them of being unfaithful, and then killed them and their families, confiscating their property. After Wang Zongbi was killed, Guo Chongtao placed Wang Zongbi's body in a downtown area, and the people of Shu cut off meat and cooked food to vent their anger.

When Wang Chengxiu and others arrived in Chengdu, King Li Jiji of Wei asked, "You are stationed in the big town and have strong soldiers, why don't you resist?" They replied, "I am afraid of the mighty gods of the king." Li Jiji asked again, "Why don't you surrender?" They answered, "The king's army did not enter the territory." Li Jiji asked, "How many people have you entered the Qiang land?" Wang Chengxiu said, "There are 12,000." Li Jiji asked again, "How many people are coming back now?" They answered, "There are 2,000." Li Jiji said, "Now is the time for you to repay the 10,000 dead." So he killed Wang Chengxiu and others and his family.

Under the recommendation of Guo Chongtao, Li Cunxu appointed Meng Zhixiang, the governor of Xichuan, as the governor of Xichuan, and at the same time urged Guo Chongtao to return to Luoyang. Guo Chongtao was always jealous of eunuchs and once secretly said to King Li Jiji, King Wei: "The king will win the world in the future, and even if he is a bad horse, he will not be able to ride a horse, let alone appoint eunuchs. They should be resigned and specially appointed scholars." Lu Zhirou happened to overheard Guo Chongtao's words, and the eunuchs hated Guo Chongtao even more so that they gritted their teeth.

Although Chengdu was captured at that time, thieves rose up in Shu and were covered with mountains and forests. Guo Chongtao was worried that the army would withdraw, and these thieves would become a disaster. So he ordered Ren Yuan and Zhang Yun to attack them in different ways, and therefore stayed and did not return to Luoyang. Li Cunxu sent eunuchs to urge Yansi, but Guo Chongtao did not

I went to the suburbs to greet Xiang Yansi. After seeing Xiang Yansi, I was very arrogant again, which made Xiang Yansi very angry.

Li Congxi took the opportunity to say to Xiang Yansi: "The military affairs here are controlled by Mr. Guo. His son Guo Tinghui, who has been drinking and drinking with the generals in the army and heroes in Shu all day long, swearing to the sky, and swearing to the sky. I don't know what it means? All the generals are all the poor parties of the Guo family. Once there is a change, not only will we die without a burial place, but the King of Wei cannot save us from disaster!" While saying that, she cried bitterly. Xiang Yansi said, "When I go back to report to the palace, there will be a subsequent decree."

On the second day, Xiang Yansi said goodbye to King Li Jiji and Guo Chongtao. He rushed back and told Empress Liu all of this after arriving in Luoyang. Empress Liu turned to Li Cunxu and asked to save Li Jiji's life. Before that, Li Cunxu was already confused when he heard the Shu people ask Guo Chongtao to be the guard. At this time, he heard Empress Liu's words and became even more suspicious.

When Li Cunxu then checked the account books of the Shu Kingdom's treasury, he said, "People say there are many treasures in Shu, why are there so few on the account?" Xiang Yansi said, "I heard that after Shu Kingdom was captured, all the treasures were in the hands of Guo Chongtao and his son. Guo Chongtao had 10,000 taels of gold, 400,000 taels of silver, a million strings of money, and a thousand precious horses. Other things were equivalent to this. As for what Guo Tinghui got, it has not been calculated yet. So the court did not get much." Li Cunxu was furious.

When Meng Zhixiang was about to go to Chengdu, Li Cunxu said to him: "I heard that Guo Chongtao has a strange intention. After you arrive, kill him." Meng Zhixiang said: "Guo Chongtao is a meritorious minister and should not be dealt with like this. When I arrived in Shu for a while, if he had no strange intentions, I would send him back and hand him over to His Majesty for treatment." Li Cunxu thought about it and agreed to him.

Li Cunxu sent eunuch Ma Yangui to Chengdu quickly, urging Guo Chongtao to return to the court, and said, "If Guo Chongtao is in charge of the imperial edict, there is no need to say. If he deliberately delays and is arrogant and domineering, he can conspire with King Jiji of Wei to get rid of this problem!" Ma Yangui obeyed the orders. Before leaving, he went to see Empress Liu again and said, "The situation in Shu is in danger. If there is any change, how can he report his orders three thousand miles away?"

So Empress Liu came to find Li Cunxu again, and Li Cunxu said, "Now everything is out of rumors. If you don't know the truth, how can you decide!" Empress Liu saw that he refused to agree, so she drafted a tutor to Ma Yangui, and asked him to hand it over to Li Jiji, and killed Guo Chongtao.

Guo Chongtao deployed military affairs and agreed with Li Jiji to return the capital. General Li Jiji, the King of Wei, set out from Chengdu and ordered Ren Yuan to stay for temporary management and wait for Meng Zhixiang's arrival. On this day, Ma Yangui came to Chengdu and showed Queen Liu's resignation to Li Jiji. Li Jiji said: "The army is about to set out, and Guo Chongtao shows no sign of rebellion. How can he do such a shame? You can't say such things anymore. Besides, the emperor has no orders. Just relying on the Queen's resignation, is this OK?"

Li Congxi and others cried and said, "If there is any change in the middle of Guo Chongtao's experience, it will be even more unsuccessful." Li Congxi and others quickly told Li Jiji about the pros and cons, and tried their best to encourage him. Li Jiji finally obeyed their opinions.

So Li Jiji sent someone to summon Guo Chongtao to discuss matters and asked his confidant general Li Huan to stand down the steps, and then go upstairs to hide. Not long after, Guo Chongtao did not think much and came up high. As soon as he got to the stage, Li Huan took out an iron cone, smashed Guo Chongtao's head, and killed his son Guo Tinghai and Guo Tingxin.

The chief executive Li Song said to Li Jiji: "Now the army is about to set out, you will kill the general without imperial edict, which can easily cause a mutiny from the soldiers. Can't you bear it and talk about it when you arrive in Luoyang?" Li Jiji said: "You are right, and it's too late to regret it now."

So Li Song summoned several clerks and forged an imperial edict. Then he announced the imperial edict to the outside world, and the army settled down a little. Guo Chongtao's left and right confidants were hiding, and only the secretary Zhang Li went to the Wei Palace to cry for a long time. Li Jiji appointed Ren Yuan to replace Guo Chongtao in charge of military and political affairs.

After Wang Yan arrived in Chang'an, the eunuch Jing Jin said to Li Cunxu: "The King of Wei has not arrived yet, Kang Yanxiao has just been pacified, and the southwest is not very stable. Wang Yan has many accomplices. If they heard that you were expeditioning in the east, things may change. It is better to kill them to prevent future troubles." Li Cunxu nodded in agreement and sent the envoy Xiang Yansi to kill them with the order of the Tang Lord. Li Cunxu's order said: "Wang Yan and his party will kill them together."

When the Privy Councilor Zhang Juhan saw it, he felt unbearable, so he changed the word "春" to "官". Therefore, more than a thousand officials of Shu Kingdom and Wang Yan's servants were spared from death. After Xiang Yansi arrived in Chang'an, he killed all Wang Yan's family in Qinchuan Post. Wang Yan was only twenty-eight years old when he died. When Wang Yan's mother Xu was killed, he shouted: "My son will surrender with a country and will inevitably destroy the whole family. You will be retribution sooner or later."

Acting officer Jing Jin also falsely claimed that Guo Chongtao and Li Jilin had a conspiracy. Li Jilin was Zhu Youqian and served as the governor of the Guardian Army. When the army conquered Shu, he sent his son Li Lingde to follow Guo Chongtao to fight. Li Cunxu didn't think much about it, so he ordered Zhu Shouyin to kill him with one knife. Then he sent an edict to Li Jiji's army and ordered him to kill Li Lingde. Li Jiji ordered Dong Zhang to act according to the order, so Dong Zhang naturally followed the order and killed Li Lingde.
Chapter completed!