History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 1038: Xianping Reign
【Xianping Reign】

In March of the third year of Zhidao in the Song Dynasty (997), Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng took the throne safely amid internal and external troubles.

Needless to say, the external threats mainly came from the old friend of the Central Plains people - the Liao Kingdom, and Li Jiqian of Xiazhou; the internal worries were local dissatisfaction with the court, represented by the civil strife in Sichuan and Shu, and the opposition within the court, such as the counter-revolutionary Wang Jie'en.

Zhao Heng's operation was in line with the rules. First, he promoted his direct descendants, such as Kou Zhen, Wang Qinruo, and Lu Duan, who helped him ascend the throne smoothly, and his old officials in the vassal state, such as Li Zhi and Li Hang;

The second was the purge of dissidents. In this regard, Zhao Heng adopted very mild measures, such as weakening the negative impact of the "palace coup". Wang Jie'en, Li Changling, Hu Dan and others were certainly to be punished, but the reason for their demotion was not "plotting to establish Zhao Yuanzuo". For example, Hu Dan's crime was inappropriate speech and suspected defamation when drafting the imperial edict, while Wang Jie'en and Li Changling's crimes were forming cliques and leaking state secrets. The punishment was relatively light and they were re-promoted afterwards.
As for Zhao Yuanzuo, Zhao Heng not only restored his title, but also expressed his intention to visit him in person many times during his illness; Taizu's grandsons were also promoted to higher positions; Zhao Heng even rehabilitated Zhao Tingmei and promoted Zhao Tingmei's son to a higher position.

In the second year after he ascended the throne (998), Zhao Heng issued a general amnesty and changed the reign title to "Xianping". "Xian" means universal or all, and "ping" means safe, calm or peaceful. In short, it has the beautiful meaning of hoping that everything will be fine.

But the ideas of the two international friends, Li Jiqian of Xiazhou and the Liao Kingdom, two new and old friends, cannot be said to coincide with Zhao Heng's, at least they are very different.

Half a year after Zhao Heng ascended the throne, Li Jiqian of Xiazhou invaded Lingzhou and was driven away by the defenders. Zhao Heng sent envoys to visit the Liao Kingdom, expressing his willingness to turn hostility into friendship and hoping that the two countries would put aside their past grievances. The Liao Kingdom expressed great regret and said that it was not a big deal and that the two countries should continue to work.

In fact, at this time, the rulers and ministers of the Liao Kingdom were planning to launch a large-scale military operation against the Song Dynasty.

In July of the second year of the Xianping reign (999), the Liao Kingdom issued an order to declare war on the Song Dynasty. On September 7, Empress Xiao and her son went to Youzhou to personally lead the expedition against the Song Dynasty, with the emperor's younger brother Yelu Longqing as the vanguard.

Wang Jiying, the chief minister of the Song Dynasty, petitioned Zhao Heng to lead the army in person and cheer up the soldiers on the front line. Zhao Heng praised Wang Jiying and ordered him to rush to the front line to tell them that the emperor would come to guide the work. "You go first, I will follow."

Just as the Liao army set out, Empress Dowager Xiao received a piece of bad news: Yelu Xizhen had died of illness.

The death of the general cast a sad shadow on this expedition. In October, the Liao army lost the first battle and failed to capture Suicheng.

The death of Yelu Xizhen did not change the power comparison between Song and Liao, because in recent times, many famous generals we are familiar with have left us, such as Pan Mei and Cao Bin.

After Yelu Xizhen of Liao passed away, Han Derang took over the heavy responsibility of the Privy Councilor of the Northern Courtyard. After Pan and Cao, there was no more Pan and Cao in the Song Dynasty.

For example, the people who were ordered to stop the Liao army this time were Fu Qian, Zhang Zhaoyun, Qin Han, Tian Shaobin, Shi Pu, and Yang Qiong, all new faces. Can they resist Empress Dowager Xiao and Han Derang?
Suicheng was just a small city, short of soldiers and food, and with poor city defenses, but it still managed to resist the surging main force of the Liao army. This was because there was a young general in the city. His name was Yang Yanlang, the fourth son of Yang Ye and the prototype of the character "Yang Silang" in the story of "The Yang Family Generals".

Empress Dowager Xiao personally commanded the siege, and Yang Yanlang gathered all the men in the city to defend the city. It was freezing cold, so Yang Yanlang ordered people to pour water on the city wall. In one day, Suicheng became the Ice City Harbin. The ice wall was strong and unbreakable, but slippery and impossible to climb, so the Liao army was forced to withdraw.

Yang Yanlang seized the opportunity and went out of the city to pursue the Liao army when they were retreating, and captured many of them.

Commander-in-Chief Fu Qian sent vanguards Tian Shaobin and Shi Pu to garrison Baozhou. Shi Pu and Yang Si took the initiative to attack, but they had not returned to the city by night. Tian Shaobin guessed that the two must be trapped by the Liao army, so he led his troops to rescue them. As expected, the two were trapped and suffered heavy losses. Tian Shaobin joined the battle in time and finally turned defeat into victory.

Fu Qian immediately sent someone to the capital to report the victory to Emperor Zhenzong Zhao Heng. At that time, Emperor Zhenzong was having a party in the back garden (banquet and shooting). This is called planning in the tent and winning a victory thousands of miles away. The ministers immediately bowed and congratulated him again. This was not the end. The next day, all the officials came to Chongde Hall to congratulate him.

It was just a small victory in a battle, not even a battle. It was too early for the rulers and ministers of the Song Dynasty to be complacent.

After the initial defeat, Empress Dowager Xiao took advantage of the mobility of the cavalry and sent Xiao Jiyuan to attack Langshan Town, finally taking the first kill. She then moved to Yingzhou and completed the second kill, then broke through to Leshou County and took the third kill, then detoured back to Suicheng, returning to where her dream began.

The Song army staged a mysterious operation: they lined up with their backs to the water. It is not known whether they strictly followed the "personally taught strategy" or the generals had a wild imagination to pay tribute to Xiang Yu. In short, the Song army, which was mainly composed of infantry, actually lined up with their backs to the water to deal with the Liao army, which was mainly composed of cavalry.

The Liao army was overjoyed, and immediately sent out their cavalry to charge, achieving the goal of killing four people without any suspense, "killing them all", and completely annihilating the Song army in Suicheng.

At this point, we can finally solemnly introduce Fu Qian, the commander-in-chief of the Song army.

Fu Qian was a direct descendant of Emperor Taizong and an old official of the vassal state. After Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, he was incorporated into the imperial army. He followed Emperor Taizong in the war to recover the Northern Han Dynasty. He was wounded by arrows twice in one day. Later, he participated in the "Battle of Gaoliang River". In the battle of Zhuozhou, Fu Qian captured more than 500 people alive. Emperor Taizong personally issued instructions to the Privy Council: Comrade Fu Qian's reward is too little, give me a big reward and promotion! In the "Yongxi Northern Expedition", he lost the battle of Juma River and was symbolically demoted, but was soon promoted again.

At the end of Emperor Taizong's reign, Fu Qian was appointed as the commander of Gaoyang Pass, and later served as the commander of Yanzhou Road and Zhenzhou Road. After Emperor Zhenzong ascended the throne, he was probably impressed by Fu Qian's work experience on the Hebei border and appointed him as the commander of Zhenzhou, Dingzhou and Gaoyang Pass. Therefore, when the Khitan invaded, Fu Qian was able to lead the army to resist the enemy. Although Fu Qian's resume was dazzling, his actual ability was deeply regrettable. The history books said that he was "cowardly and without strategy", timid and stupid.

At that time, Fu Qian had more than 80,000 soldiers under his command. The soldiers were patriotic and made their own weapons such as hammers. After hearing the news of the Khitan invasion, they all volunteered to fight, "fighting hard" to kill the enemy and serve the country, and avenge the previous humiliation. As a result, Fu Qian ordered them to stay behind closed doors and anyone who dared to volunteer to fight would be scolded by Fu Qian.

Soon, the Liao army captured the important stronghold, Langshan Town Stone Stronghold, and the gates of Hebei Province were opened. The Khitan cavalry galloped freely, and the connection between Zhenzhou and Dingzhou and the rear was cut off for several months. During this period of time when the Liao army completed the killing streak, there was almost no organized resistance from the Song army. The Song army in Hebei Province was paralyzed under the wise leadership of Commander-in-Chief Fu Qian, and the only action was no action.

The imperial court was anxious and sent people to urge Fu Qian to organize resistance quickly. They also sent reinforcements. General Fan Tingzhao and others urged him to send troops many times, but he refused. Fan Tingzhao was anxious and scolded: "Even an old lady is braver than you!" Fu Qian was too ashamed to answer, but he still refused to send troops.

When the Liao army attacked Dingzhou, the imperial court sent Li Jixuan to lead 3,000 imperial guards to help. When Li Jixuan arrived at the battlefield, he found that the bridge had been destroyed by the Liao army, so he cut down trees to build a bridge and chased the Liao army for 50 miles. Li Jixuan was unstoppable, but after all, he only had 3,000 men, so he repeatedly asked Fu Qian to give him more troops to chase the Liao army, but Fu Qian rejected all his requests.

Deputy Commander Zhang Zhaoyun also repeatedly urged him to send troops, and Fu Qian finally spoke his mind:

"The enemy is too strong. If we fight them head-on, we will die. Listen to me and lie down obediently."

Later, unable to bear the pressure, he reluctantly allocated 8,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry to Fan Tingzhao, asking him to go out of Gaoyang Pass to block the Liao army, and promised that he would personally lead the main force as a backup. However, when Fan Tingzhao and the Liao army came into close combat, Fu Qian shamelessly stood them up and did not provide support, so Fan Tingzhao and his men were defeated, and the general Kang Baoyi died in battle.

Kang Baoyi's grandfather Kang Zhizhong was a martyr who died on the battlefield against Wang Yu, and his father Kang Zaiyou was also a martyr who died on the battlefield against Li Yun. As the son of a martyr, Kang Baoyi served under Shi Shouxin. When he was surrounded by the enemy, he had the opportunity to break out and escape, but he was ready to die and refused to be a deserter. Three generations of his family sacrificed their lives for the country.

When Song Zhenzong Zhao Heng received the news of Kang Baoyi's death in the Weizhou camp, he was extremely sad and issued an edict to posthumously award him the title of Shizhong and suspended court for two days. Kang Baoyi's sons and grandsons all entered the system. Kang Baoyi's 84-year-old mother was conferred the title of Lady Tai of Chen Guo, and his deceased wife was posthumously conferred the title of Lady of Hedong County.

Zhao Heng immediately sent reinforcements from Weizhou to the front line, including Shi Baoji, the second son of Shi Shouxin.

When the Weizhou reinforcements rushed to Zhenzhou and Dingzhou and joined forces with Fu Qian, Fu Qian detained them and did not allow them to go into battle, so they had to continue to hide with him.

As a result, the Liao army extended its claws from Hebei to Shandong, first looting Dezhou and Dizhou, then crossing the Yellow River to attack Qizhou (now Jinan City) and Zibo (now Zibo City), gathering the three major Shandong delicacies of Dezhou braised chicken, Jinan roasted sweet potatoes, and Zibo barbecue.

Zhao Heng was puzzled. He had sent many elite soldiers to the front line, and many generals with names and surnames, but why was there no victory report? He sent people to ask, and found out that the generals had been requesting to go to the battle, but Fu Qian refused to allow them. Even if someone killed the enemy and made meritorious service, Fu Qian would conceal the victory report.

Zhao Heng was furious and immediately sent Gao Qiong to the front line to take over Fu Qian's military post, and ordered Fu Qian to come back as soon as possible to accept the organization's investigation.

Civil and military officials all submitted petitions demanding the execution of Fu Qian. Zhao Heng spared his life because he had followed the previous emperor for many years. However, he issued an edict to strip him of his official title, exiled his entire family to Fangzhou, and confiscated all his property.

After Fu Qian, who was only in office but doing nothing, was removed, the Song army's long-suppressed fighting power finally broke out. Fan Tingzhao led his army to chase the Liao army to a place 30 miles east of Mozhou, killing more than 10,000 people, rescuing thousands of people from captivity, and seizing countless saddles, horses, and equipment.

When Yang Yanlang, the governor of Mozhou, came to the emperor to report on his work, Zhao Heng was very excited and introduced him to the princes, saying that this was the son of "Yang the Invincible" Yang Ye, who had inherited his father's style and that he could be trusted to guard the border from now on. He then rewarded him handsomely and sent him back.

When the news of Fan Tingzhao's victory arrived, all the ministers congratulated him. Zhao Heng was even happier. In his excitement, he wrote a poem on the wall of the palace and ordered a generous reward for the meritorious soldiers.

In the first month of the third year of Xianping (1000), the Liao army returned with a full load and slowly retreated. Emperor Zhenzong Zhao Heng ordered his deputy commander-in-chief Wang Rong to pursue and kill the Liao army.

However, Wang Rong inherited Fu Qian's cowardly temperament. He did not dare to chase and kill him, but he also did not dare to disobey the order. So Wang Rong, who was as smart as a dog, came up with a trick to kill two birds with one stone: towing and avoiding the other two.

Since receiving the pursuit order, Wang Rong procrastinated and found various excuses to delay the date of dispatching troops. Until he found out that the Liao army had crossed the river, he went out for a stroll in a show of force, "Damn it, where are the people? If you have the guts, don't run!" The Liao army that penetrated deep into today's Zibo and Jinan in Shandong Province was obsessed with barbecue and looted too many spoils, which affected its retreat speed. When Wang Rong sent troops, this Liao army was still lingering in the tidal flats on the north bank of the Yellow River.

Wang Rong was secretly worried about them, "Why are they moving so slowly? How annoying!" With no other options, he could only bite the bullet and deliberately patrol the south bank of the Yellow River, then return safely on the pretext that no enemy troops were spotted.

The Song army tacitly let the Liao army go, and the Liao army was able to return to Youzhou safely. Empress Xiao rewarded the meritorious soldiers, and there is no need to elaborate. This invasion of the south made the Liao Kingdom profit a lot. The prestige of Empress Xiao and her son was greatly improved, and the weak strength of the Song Dynasty was tested, laying the foundation for a larger-scale invasion of the south in the future.

The Liao army left, but Zhao Heng's troubles did not decrease. As the Liao army withdrew, Zhao Heng received a report: Sichuan and Shu rebelled again!
(End of this chapter)