History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 123 Pengzhou Ending
Han Jian and Wang Jian were originally low-ranking officers in the Zhongwu Army. When Huang Chao invaded Chang'an, they were selected by Yang Fuguang and formed into the "Eight Zhongwu Commanders". They made great contributions in the battle to drive out Huang Chao and recover the capital. After Yang Fuguang's death, they were reorganized by Tian Lingzi into the "Five Commanders Following the Emperor".

Yang Fuguang was very grateful to Han Jian for his help.

But now, Yang Fugong has become Han Jian's prisoner.

Yang Fugong cursed and called Han Jian a dog slave who was ungrateful. If it weren't for my brother Yang Fuguang's support, how could you, Han Jian, be where you are today? Seeing our Yang family in trouble, not only did you not risk your life to save us, but you also added insult to injury and even wanted to take my head to ask for credit and reward? In terms of seniority, I am your uncle, your uncle's!
Every word is a truth that touches the heart.

Han Jian was so ashamed and angry that he executed Yang Fugong and his adopted son Yang Shouxin, leaving only Yang Shouliang.

Yang Shouliang looked up and found that the 800 followers around Han Jian were all his former subordinates, so he said to Han Jian: "I have always treated them well, but today, they are said to have died for me, and they didn't even say a word to plead for me. I advise you to kill these ungrateful people quickly, so as not to end up like me in the future!"

Han Jian nodded in agreement.

Yang Shouliang said again, "Don't be in a hurry to kill me. Please send me to the capital. After I meet the emperor, I can tell him about the merits of my ancestors. Maybe I can survive by chance."

The "ancestor" Yang Shouliang mentioned was Yang Fuguang.

Yang Shouliang and Yang Shouxin were brothers, originally named Ziliang and Zixin, and were also from the "Caojun". They first followed Wang Xianzhi and later surrendered in the battle with Yang Fuguang. Yang Fuguang adopted Ziliang as his son and renamed him Yang Shouliang, and gave Zixin to Yang Fugong, who adopted him as his son and renamed him Yang Shouxin.

Han Jian took Yang Shouliang to the capital, stuffed a small ball into his mouth, and then tied his mouth tightly with silk. The scene was really interesting.

Emperor Zhaozong went up to the Yanxi Tower and interrogated Yang Shouliang in person. Yang Shouliang was speechless and could only shake his head. The clerks on his left and right answered for him, "He pleaded guilty."

"Oh, then why didn't he say anything?"

"He has nothing to say."

Therefore, Yang Shouliang was beheaded under a willow tree according to the law, and his head was hung in the downtown area for public display.

Almost at the same time, Yang Shouhou died of illness in Mianzhou, and his generals surrendered the entire state to Wang Jian.

Li Maozhen presented a piece of evidence, which was a collection of letters written by Yang Fugong to Yang Shouliang, totaling 60 pages.

In the letter, Yang Fugong asked Yang Shouliang to store up food and grass, prepare for war, and be ready for trouble. In the letter, Yang Fugong also said that it was I who supported Zhaozong to become emperor against all odds, but this ungrateful man still wanted to mess with me. We should think of a way to beat him up!

This is the "ironclad evidence" presented by Li Maozhen of the Yang group's rebellion.

Before sending troops, Li Maozhen impeached Yang Fugong, saying that this guy claimed to be a descendant of the Sui Dynasty royal family and "because Emperor Gong abdicated to the Tang Dynasty, he was named Fugong." In short, the name "Yang Fugong" was ironclad evidence of treason.

I've seen a lot of nonsense, but I've never seen such nonsense.

How could Yang Fugong be a descendant of the Sui Dynasty royal family? It is common sense that Yang Fugong's surname is not Yang, and he has nothing to do with Yang Jian and Yang Guang.

Speaking of "Fugong", "Fu" is the generation name of his generation, the next is "Shou", and the previous is "Xuan". "Yang Fugong" means that the descendants of the Yang family of the Sui Dynasty want to restore the country of Emperor Gong? Then should Liu Nianhan and Zhu Fuming also be executed?
Now that things have come to this, we can’t help but re-examine the “anti-Yang movement”. Did Yang Fugong really want to rebel?
"Yang Fugong plotted a rebellion" is a false proposition in itself. What kind of rebellion did the eunuch plot?
History is written by the victors.

Let's remove the filter and repeat it from a different angle and perspective:
With Zhaozong's deliberate connivance, the new civil service group launched an all-round and three-dimensional attack on the old eunuch Yang Fugong, attacking everything from his clothing to his surname and adopted son, making groundless accusations and even making false accusations out of nothing.

Yang Fugong, who had been in the officialdom all his life, had already smelled the blood and rain, and made the same choice as Tian Lingzi, retreating to advance. The old slave is not playing anymore, the old slave hands over the real power, retires and goes home, and exchanges it for a frail old age, okay?
No.

The godson's visit to his godfather was intended to usurp the throne and plot evil. Even Emperor Zhaozong thought this reason was too far-fetched, so the reason for starting the war was that Yang Fugong was suspected of murdering the envoy who delivered the imperial edict, rather than conspiring with Yang Shouxin to rebel.

Yang Fugong and Yang Shouxin had no choice but to flee to Xingyuan Prefecture and seek refuge with Yang Shouliang. Note that the word I used in the previous article is "self-protection".

After seizing control of Shannan, the Yang group's main attack direction was not Chang'an in the north, but Dongchuan and Xichuan in the south.

Li Maozhen launched an attack, and Yang Shouliang's northern defense line collapsed at the first sign of collapse, and it seemed that he was not prepared to resist the army from the capital.

Did the Yang Group really plan a rebellion for a long time?

The "outside house gentlemen" of the Yang family group, these Jiedushi and governors never paid tribute to the court according to the law. But this can be seen as evidence of separatism, not evidence of treason. At that time, almost all the vassal states did not pay tribute. When commenting on a person or defining a thing, we must present facts and reason, and say what we mean. The Yang family group was arrogant and lawless... In a broad sense, this can be a manifestation of treason, but in the specific environment at that time, it cannot be equated with "treason" in a narrow sense.

I have no intention of vindicating Yang Fugong, nor do I advocate that merits and demerits should be offset. Even the meritorious eunuch Yang Fuguang had his own stains, as detailed in the previous article.

Merits are merits, mistakes are mistakes, and history cannot be taken lightly.

Therefore, I personally insist that the "Anti-Yang Movement" was an important part of Zhaozong's grand chess game to recover imperial power and revive the Tang Dynasty. Both Tian Lingzi and Yang Fugong were victims of political struggles and cannon fodder chosen by history.

【Pengzhou Ending】

Wang Jian besieged Pengzhou for two years and four months. The food in the city was cut off, and as expected, cannibalism broke out. Some of the defenders surrendered, and Yang Sheng knew he was no match for them, so he planned to surrender.

Wang Jian sent ten sheep to express his condolences.

Yang Sheng was furious, thinking that Wang Jian was mocking him as a lamb to be slaughtered, so he refused to surrender and insisted on fighting to the end.

Faced with the fortified city, the Xichuan army was at a loss as to what to do. Their think tank Wang Xiancheng suggested building a "Dragon Tail Road", which was to pile up a slope with earth to the same height as the city wall.

The Longwei Road was well-prepared, and the Xichuan army had already attacked the city with ease. The city was about to fall, but Yang Sheng still resisted with all his might. His general Wang Maoquan started a mutiny, beheaded Yang Sheng, and opened the city to surrender.

Wang Maoquan was adopted by Wang Jian and renamed Wang Zongxun. Other surrendered generals who were adopted included Wang Zongmian (Zhao Zhang), Wang Zongjin (Wang Zhao), and Wang Zongwan (Li Wan).

A general named An Shijian persisted in resisting and refused to surrender even after being captured alive, unwilling to serve Wang Jian. Wang Jian appreciated his talent and asked, "You have already repaid Yang Sheng, can you serve me now?"

An Shijian cried, "I once swore to live and die with Yang Sheng. Today I don't want to live in humiliation, but only want to die. If you kill me early, it will be a good deed for you."

Wang Jian tried to persuade An Shijian again and again, but An Shijian refused to say a word (he refused to respond three times, so he was killed). Wang Jian ordered a grand funeral for him. This scene was much like Cao Cao beheading Chen Gong.

Pengzhou was conquered, and the four states under the rule of the Weirong Army were annexed by Wang Jian.

It is worth saying a few more words about Yang Sheng.

Yang Sheng was originally a general in Fengxiang, and the governor of Fengxiang at that time was still Li Changfu. Yang Sheng was brave in battle, had strategy, and was kind and well-connected, which made Li Changfu suspicious, so Li Changfu wanted to find an opportunity to kill him. A concubine of Li Changfu named Zhou leaked the secret to Yang Sheng, so Yang Sheng fled Fengxiang and joined the imperial army.

Later, Tian Lingzi recognized Yang Sheng's talent and promoted him. He also asked him to lead troops to garrison Dasan Pass to cover the retreat of Emperor Xizong. He worked hard and made great contributions. Later, Tian Lingzi carved out four states from Xichuan, established the Weirong Army, and promoted Yang Sheng to the governor of Weirong.

When Wang Jian entered Sichuan and besieged Chengdu, Yang Sheng led troops to rescue Tian Lingzi and Chen Jingxuan, but was repelled by Wang Jian.

After Wang Jian took over Xichuan, Yang Sheng joined forces with Yang Shouliang of Shannan to fight against Wang Jian of Xichuan, until they were finally defeated by Wang Jian.

It should be noted that the "Yang" in Yang Sheng is not the same as Yang Fugong's "Yang". Strictly speaking, Yang Sheng belongs to the "Tian School" rather than the "Yang School".

After Li Changfu was executed, the concubine Zhou who had saved Yang Sheng's life came to Yang Sheng. She had a smile on her slender eyebrows, spring in her phoenix eyes, and her eyebrows and eyes were full of charm. If a beauty saves a hero, shouldn't the hero pledge himself to her?

Zhou proposed to marry Yang Sheng.

However, Yang Sheng rejected the marriage, saying that you saved my life and gave me a great favor of rebirth, and I am willing to serve you as a mother. Don't be a wife, be a mother.

Zhou urged Yang to get married many times, but Yang refused. He greeted her twice a day, morning and evening, and treated her with great respect, like a mother.

A poignant love story.

Yang Sheng was kind-hearted and treated his subordinates well. Except for a few generals who betrayed him, most of the generals in Pengzhou City were willing to die for him, such as An Shijian.

"Even though the food in the city was exhausted, no one rebelled." - New Book of Tang

(End of this chapter)