He, Wen Tao, was proficient in everything, and could be called an all-rounder at the end of the Tang Dynasty; he had two generations and three masters in his lifetime, pushing the country to the peak!
This person is the famous prime minister, famous general, military expert, and strategist of the Later Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period: Guo Chongtao!
Famous minister Guo Chongtao
Guo Chongtao (郭崇韬), also spelled An Shi, was a native of Yanmen, Daizhou. Initially serving under Li Kexiu, after Li Kexiu's death, he came to Li Keyong's side again, and has been a close subordinate of Li Keyong ever since. Guo Chongtao was known for his ability and honesty in his work, and he was alert and calm in dealing with things, and after Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang succeeded to the throne, he was even more important, and was appointed as the deputy envoy of Zhongmen, and participated in confidential affairs together with Meng Zhixiang and Li Shaohong.
Li Cunxun declared himself empress dowager and established the Later Tang dynasty, and Guo Chongtao was appointed as a military secretary and privy councillor. In the same year, Guo Chongtao made a surprise attack on Bian Prefecture, Liang and Jin confronted each other for forty years, and destroyed Liang in eight days of the First World War, and he used the merits of his ministers to grant shizhong and Jizhou jiedushi envoys, sealed the Duke of Zhao County, 2,000 households, gave iron coupons, and spared ten deaths.
Of course, this is not a portrayal of Guo Chongtao's life; in the third year of Tongguang, Li Cunxun made his eldest son Li Jiquan the capital, and Guo Chongtao led an army of 60,000 to attack Former Shu. Guo Chongtao's military strategy was indeed extraordinary, and in order to act prudently and ensure success, he made full use of the strategic principle of "taking and using it for the country and using grain for the enemy" in Sun Tzu's Art of War, sending troops to attack Fengzhou first, and the Fengzhou garrison fell without a fight, and Guo Chongtao received a large amount of grain and eight thousand soldiers.
Subsequently, Guo Chongtao sent troops to force Sanquan and other places to surrender, fully replenishing the military materials needed in the future. After that, the military siege of the city was unusually smooth, the Former Shu regime was destroyed in just 70 days, and the former Shu lord Wang Yan also surrendered.
It is a pity that such a meritorious and meritorious courtier established a great merit for the country, and eventually died in the schemes of eunuchs. As for his five sons, two of whom died in Shudi and three elsewhere, all family property confiscated. After Emperor Mingzong of Tang succeeded to the throne, he issued an edict to let Guo Chongtao return to his hometown and return the old family property in Taiyuan.
Looking at Guo Chongtao's life, it can be said that he is a tragic figure. For Li Keyong and Li Cunxun's father and son, he was loyal and loyal, and he had repeatedly built qigong, and it was difficult for others to compare with him, and Xiping Shudi was even more meritorious. But instead of restraining the eunuchs who opposed him, he died at the hands of the eunuchs.