Another scholar who looked a little sorry for the audience was Sang Weihan, the talented man who was sent away by Ma Xifan for sponsorship. Sang Weihan was from Luoyang, and his father was Sang Gong, a guest general from Henan Prefecture. He was a little taller, extremely smart and good at lyrics. Unfortunately, Sang Weihan was not tall, his face was disproportionate, and he looked quite ugly. He looked in the mirror and sighed, "Can my seven-foot body be destroyed on this foot-long face?"

According to the situation at that time, it was really like this. Since the Li Tang Dynasty, there have been four requirements for the appointment of officials: "Personal words and judgments". The first "body" is to see whether the body is beautiful and whether he is handsome or not. Sang Weihan went to take the imperial examination. When the examiner saw his name and surname Sang (Sang), he felt very unlucky. When he looked at the real person, he immediately transferred his ranking to the rear of Sun Shan.

Therefore, although Sang Weihan is extremely talented, he never won the exam after many references. Someone advised him: Forget it, don’t have to take the exam again. Sang Weihan was extremely firm. He asked someone to build an iron inkstone and made a poisonous oath: "When I get this iron inkstone worn out, I won’t take the exam!" He also wrote "Fu Fusang Sunrise", pointing out that in legend, even the sun rose from the giant Fusang tree. What reason is there to look down on the one named Sang?

In the three years of Tongguang, the persevering Sang Weihan finally passed the Jinshi exam. But this inspiring story has a very uninspiring truth behind it: his father Sang Gong went to the back door of King Zhang Quanyi of Qi, and Zhang Quanyi greeted the official who presided over the imperial examination, and Sang Weihan passed the imperial examination. Zhang Quanyi died soon, and Sang Weihan, who had just lost his backer, was lucky to meet Shi Jingtang and a boss who really valued his talent but did not care about his appearance. Since then, no matter where Shi Jingtang was transferred to serve, Sang Weihan served as his chief secretary and participated in decision-making.

Shi Jingtang told his confidant about his "strange dream", not long after, Taiyuan received the edict that was very considerate from the surface text: When today I fully affirmed Shi Jingtang's contribution to the country, and also understood his hard work for a long time while sick, so I approved the request. Shi Jingtang was transferred to Tianping Jiedushi and was awarded the title of Duke of Zhao, and added an honorary title of "The Master of the Futian Recruitment"! As for the position of Hedong Jiedushi, Song Shenqian, the former Heyang Jiedushi; the position of the head of the horse and infantry chief in the north will be replaced by Zhang Jingda, the former deputy head of the general manager of Shi Lang, please go to Yunzhou to enjoy the blessings!

In the memorial sent to Luoyang, Shi Jingtang, who had been in poor health, was instantly refreshed and urgently summoned his confidants to discuss matters. Shi Jingtang first told a lie he made up by himself: "Before I came to Taiyuan this time, today I said to me: I will entrust you to the north gate of the country. As long as you are alive, I will not send anyone to replace me! The words are still in my ears, why did you suddenly repent and give such an order?"

Then, Shi Jingtang made his own judgment, and at the same time tested his subordinates' support for him, saying: "I think it may be the suspicion caused by the troubled soldiers in Xinzhou last year. During the Spring Festival this year, the words the Lord said to the princess have already appeared! Moreover, since the son ascended the throne today, he has used relatives, trusted evil people, indulged in alcohol and sex, and was debauchery, and what should I do if I don't die! At the beginning, when the Shao Emperor ran away, I saw that people were overwhelmed, and hesitated for a moment, and failed to support the danger, which made the Shao Emperor kill! Whenever I think of this, I feel heartbroken and feel sad.

It's been almost three years since my chest. Now I don't want to rebel, but the court wants to harm me first. Can I still surrender and die on the road? Or I first say that I'm seriously ill and can't go on the road. If I can let me go, I will continue to respect him. If he must add troops to me, I won't blame me!"

When Shi Jingtang's subordinates heard the half-true and half-false "internal words" of his superiors, they knew that they had all reached the biggest crossroads in their lives. Some were nervous, some were firm and had different ideas. When Shi Jingtang was persuaded to punish Shi Jingtang for the suspicion of the rebels in Xinzhou to wipe out the suspicious aide Duan Xiyao was not afraid of the big deal, and said, "No need to test, just say no, what can the court do if the court?" Shi Jingtang smiled, he was really straightforward.

The judge of the Jiedushi Zhao Ying, however, raised the opinion that Shi Jingtang was obviously not what Shi Jingtang wanted to hear. Zhao Ying was originally a subordinate of the famous general Kang Yanxiao. Maybe he felt too deeply about the whole process of Kang Yanxiao from rebellion to being killed, so he opposed Shi Jingtang's idea of ​​reprimanding. He believed that Li Congke wanted to murder Shi Jingtang was not sure. As long as he obeyed the imperial edict, gave up military power, and went to Yunzhou to retire, he would most likely be without danger. If he raised an army, how could he block the soldiers of the world in just a corner of Hedong? That would be the way to die! Observing the judge Xue Rong's view was the same as Zhao Ying, but he did not dare to say so directly: "I am just a scholar. I am not aware of military affairs and can't help." Shi Jingtang believed that they had no malice towards him and did not blame them.

Liu Zhiyuan, the first general under Shi Jingtang, was naturally a tough villain: "Ming Gong, you have been in charge of the army for many years and have won the hearts of soldiers. Now you have occupied a place of victory in the world. Your subordinates are strong and powerful. If you raise troops and send out a letter to the world, your imperial career will be successful! With such a good foundation, how can you throw yourself into the tiger's mouth just because of a book made by the court?"

Of course, among all the suggestions, the highest-level and most practical opinion comes from the smartest Sang Weihan. He said: "When the son first ascended the throne today, when you entered the throne, you came to Jin. How could you not know the reason why the dragon cannot be indulged in the abyss? But he still sent you back to Hedong. This is not a human plan, but God wants to teach the public a weapon to make you do something big! And now the Emperor Mingzong still has his son left in the world, but the Lord seized the throne with his adopted son, and the people were dissatisfied. As the son-in-law of Emperor Mingzong, you are naturally regarded as a potential enemy by the Lord who has a conscience. This suspicion cannot be eliminated by bowing your head and surrendering, and you can only save yourself!"

How to save yourself? If the Li Congke-style miracle does not happen again, there is no hope. Sang Weihan said calmly: "The Lord of the Khitan once made an appointment with Emperor Mingzong to be brothers. The closest tribe is in Yunzhou and Yingzhou. If you can be kind to them, lower your attitude and pay tribute to them. Once there is an emergency, then ask for help in the morning and Khitan reinforcements will arrive at night. Why worry about the big thing not being done!" Shi Jingtang accepted his opinion and decided to rebel.

On May 10, Zhaoyi Jiedushi Huangfu Li urgently submitted a memorial: Shi Jingtang rebelled! Before the court could react, Shi Jingtang's new submission had been sent to Luoyang: "The country left by Emperor Mingzong should naturally be left to the son of Emperor Mingzong. How can His Majesty be inherited by His Majesty? Since it cannot convince everyone, Your Majesty should take the initiative to abdicate and give it to the real destiny of a destiny. Such a king, Li Congyi, was originally

Emperor Mingzong loved his son and cultivated virtue in the palace since he was a child. If you take the initiative to return the position to him, you can avoid all kinds of criticism from the world for harming your brothers!"

After reading the stamp sent by Taiyuan, Li Congke was furious. Since he had broken up, no one should pretend! The Emperor of Later Tang tore the stamp and threw it on the ground and stepped on his feet. Then he issued an edict to refute: "I heard that the father has a country and pass it on to his son; if the king is in trouble, he will rely on his relatives. Your relationship with King E is not distant. When he was in trouble, he would do something wrong and do nothing in the world. Now he suddenly remembered that he wanted to establish King Xu and pretend to be loyal ministers of the late emperor. Who do you want to deceive? He is a hero who is like you in doing things!"

The literary fight naturally could not replace the martial fight. After intense discussion with the ministers, Li Congke immediately made a series of decisions: On May 14, an edict was formally issued to remove all Shi Jingtang's positions. On the 17th, Zhang Jingda, the general of the North Cavalry and Infantry Army, was appointed as the commander of the army to attack Shi Jingtang, and Yang Guangyuan, the governor of Yiwu, was appointed as the deputy. In addition, Zhang Yanqi, the governor of Anguo, An Shenqi, the governor of Baoyi, the governor of Baoyi, Gao Xingzhou, the governor of Zhang Wu, and the general of the right sect, Wu Tinghan, and other armies will attack Taiyuan!

Shi Jingtang did not go south as soon as he raised his troops to rebel, or asked the Khitan for help. He might want to try his own public opinion offensive and incitement to instigate the rebellion. How effective can it have? After all, with Li Congke's success before, he could repeat a low-cost dynasty change, so there was no need for the Khitans to get involved and share the weight.

Shi Jingtang's actions of sending out edicts to the world still achieved some results: as soon as Yang Guangyuan, the deputy commander of the siege, left his garrison, Dingzhou responded to Shi Jingtang's mutiny, but they were quickly suppressed and had no impact on the situation.

Shi Jingtang's secret envoy came to Daizhou and persuaded Zhang Lang, the governor of Daizhou, to respond to him. Zhang Lang's confidant, Xiongyi, commander An Yuanxin, also advised Zhang Lang: "Mr. Shi is a loyal elder. I think he will succeed in this operation. We might as well respond secretly." But Zhang Lang refused and said, "How can a minister have two hearts!" Then he beheaded Shi Jingtang's secret envoy! An Yuanxin regretted it and was probably worried that the disaster would cause him, so he planned to attack Zhang Lang. However, the plan failed, so he led hundreds of subordinates to escape from Daizhou and defected to An Shenxin, the cousin of An Shenqi, the governor of An Guoguo. An Shenxin may have had contact with An Yuanxin in private. After the two met, they led their cavalry to rebel and defected to Shi Jingtang.

After An Shenxin and An Yuanxin, two more turnovers occurred in the siege led by Zhang Jingda: the inspector An Chongrong and the commander Zhang Wandi each led more than 500 people and more than 1,000 people to Taiyuan. In Yunzhou, a infantry commander Sang Qian launched a mutiny and attacked the Datong Jiedushi Sha Yanxun. Sha Yanxun was caught off guard and broke through the encirclement and fled. Then he gathered troops to counterattack and defeated Sang Qian. Sang Qian wanted to flee south to escape to Shi Jingtang, but was captured on the way and was then taken to Luoyang to behead.
Chapter completed!