Xichuan's rebellion made the position of Meng Chang, the lord of the Shu state before and after, very embarrassing.
In early February, Meng Chang was informed that the family had moved to Bieliang. Meng Chang was flustered, but helpless. Halfway through, a rebellion broke out in Xichuan, and the Song army's attitude towards Meng Chang changed significantly, becoming worse. However, Zhao Kuangyin was still good to Meng Chang, and when he heard that some Generals of the Song Army were preparing to excavate the grave of Meng Zhixiang, the founding prince of the Later Shu Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin made a special order, asking the Song Army to preserve the graves of Meng Chang's ancestors, and the imperial court sent special personnel to guard it and sacrifice it according to the season. Meng Chang's frightened heart was slightly calm.
By the time we reached the Gangneung area, the rebellion in the Xichuan area was already in full swing, nearly half of the area fell into the hands of the rebels, and the Song army of the Western Expedition was caught in a bitter battle. As the lord of the Surrendered Later Shu State, his merits were also torn apart by the rebels.
On May 15, Meng Chang's family finally arrived in Bieliang. On the sixteenth day, Meng Chang led more than thirty high-ranking Officials of Later Shu to prostrate themselves at the Mingde Gate in plain clothes and wait for summons. Zhao Kuangyin sent someone to summon Meng Chang and others to pardon Meng Chang and others for their sins of disobeying the Mandate of Heaven, and to reward Meng Chang and others with clothes and crown belts. At the Chongyuan Hall, Meng Chang trembled and greeted Zhao Kuangyin, who was sitting on a dragon chair. After that, Zhao Kuangyin took Meng Chang to review the three armies, and in the loud slogan of the Song Army, Meng Chang trembled and returned to the luxurious villa that had just been completed.
On the fifth day of the first month of June, Meng Chang waited bitterly for more than ten days, and Zhao Kuangyin issued a decree that the former Prince of Houshu, who only knew how to drink and play women, was also named jiedushi.2 Although they are all virtual positions, they finally have a name.
However, just six days after giving Meng Chang the title of official, on June 11, Meng Chang fell ill and died.
A few days ago, Meng Chang had also attended the knighthood banquet held by the imperial court, drinking and listening to music, without any signs of physical discomfort, why did he suddenly die after six days?
There is no clear information about Meng Chang's death in the history, and there is such a record in the Song People's notebook "Discussion on the Iron Walled Mountain". "The State Dynasty descended to western Shu, and Lady Huarui returned to China with Chang. On the tenth day, Lady Huarui was summoned to the palace, and Chang died. ”
According to the notes, Meng Chang's death was rooted in the woman. Lady Huarui was beautiful and colorful, and her talent was overflowing, "140,000 people were disarmed, and none of them were boys" and "shamed the Shu junchen soldiers." After Zhao Kuangyin saw Lady Huarui, he fell in love with her at first sight, and naturally summoned Lady Huarui to the palace and occupied her. If you want Madame Huarui to officially become his Zhao Kuangyin woman, it is natural to want Madame Huarui's husband to die first. Therefore, after Lady Huarui entered the palace, Meng Chang "died".
However, the statement of the notes is too simple and has obvious jokes. Zhao Kuangyin is not a dimwitted monarch, does Zhao Kuangyin like beautiful women? There are not many records in the historical records, but there are indeed several notes mentioning that Zhao Kuangyin was very fond of Lady Huarui. However, if Meng Chang was killed because he loved Lady Huarui, it was not Zhao Kuangyin's style at all. Zhao Kuangyin is not a king who does not love Jiangshan and loves beauty, in his heart, the Jiangshan he has worked hard to build is the most important, and everything else can be put in place. Besides, if you kill Meng Chang for the sake of a woman, then, how will you face some other princes such as southern Tang and Wu Yue who are still eyeing the tiger?
However, Meng Chang's violent death was indeed a fact. My opinion is that Meng Chang was killed by Zhao Kuangyin, but not for Lady Huarui. Possessing Lady Huarui was nothing more than a trivial or even trivial reason for Zhao Kuangyin's plan to kill Meng Chang. The real reason is the Nishikawa Rebellion.
Judging from the "History of the Old Five Dynasties", the "History of the New Five Dynasties", the "Continuation of the Zizhi Tongjian Long Edition" and the later "History of the Song Dynasty", Meng Chang, the lord of the Later Shu State, was an out-and-out emperor. However, in addition to the "History of Song" compiled by the Yuan Dynasty, the other three books were compiled by Song Dynasty officials, and the "History of Song" was also compiled according to the official materials circulated in the Song Dynasty, that is, the four books were actually suspected of being processed by the kings of the Song Dynasty.
As the victor after the Great War, all kinds of historical materials will naturally smear and powder for Zhao song, and Meng Chang, as a loser, is naturally faint and incompetent, useless and useless. However, if we look at Meng Chang's surrender from a different perspective, we may come to a completely different conclusion.
When Meng Chang left Chengdu with his family and officials, hundreds of thousands of people went to see them off, crying and crying. Originally, the defeat of Later Shu and the defeat of Meng Chang should make the people of Chengdu rejoice, why are the people so sentimental? The reason is also very simple, Meng Chang has all kinds of evil deeds like the historical records of forcing taxes, but in the forty years that Meng Chang's father and son managed Xichuan, Xichuan can almost be said to be a paradise. In just fifty years, the Central Plains changed five dynasties, more than a dozen kings, and countless soldiers and civilians died in the war. However, Nishikawa was stable for forty years. Moreover, when the Song army approached Chengdu Province, there were still more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in the city, and many generals were willing to fight, but Meng Chang still took the initiative to choose to surrender. Meng Chang's surrender did have its discouragement, but objectively it saved nearly a million people in Chengdu Province and millions of people in Xichuan from military disasters.
When Meng Chang left and Quan Shixiong and others led the former Hou Shu officers and soldiers to launch a rebellion, Quan Shixiong was built as the "Great King of Xingshu", and Quan Shixiong also understood that Meng Chang's father and son still had enough influence and appeal in Xichuan, and using "Shu" as a banner could most effectively gather various forces. And it is.
The xichuan rebellion in full swing made Zhao Kuangyin, who originally had contempt for Meng Chang, gradually become dissatisfied and worried. In Zhao Kuangyin's view, as long as Meng Chang is still alive, then the Xichuan rebels will have a spiritual belonging, and it will be difficult for Xichuan to be pacified. Therefore, a few days after rewarding Meng Chang, Zhao Kuangyin thought twice and killed Meng Chang. Although this move will cause Zhao Kuangyin to suffer some stigma, it can be used to pacify Xichuan faster.