History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 13: Dog-Headed Military Advisor Zhou Zhong
Zhou Zhong is a non-famous, non-mainstream scholar.

There is not even any record in historical materials that he took part in imperial examinations, nor is there any glorious title of "repeatedly failing the examinations". There is only a sentence "There was a man named Zhou Zhong, who was always proud of his talent and strategy."

Confucius said: If you are poor, you should take care of yourself; if you are rich, you should help the world.

As a scholar, one should stick to the moral bottom line, know good and evil, beauty and ugliness, and know propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame. They sacrificed their lives for the sake of righteousness, and could not be moved by poverty or power, such as Wen Tinghao.

Zhou Chongzhi was a man of great ambition but little talent. He felt that his talent was not appreciated and was extremely indignant at the world that buried talented people.

Judging by today's standards, Zhou Zhong suffers from mental illness and is mentally sub-healthy. He has certain antisocial tendencies and mild paranoia.

The specific external manifestation is that they speak without restraint and firmly believe that they have the talent to govern the world and the strategies to stabilize the country. At the same time, they show strong hostility towards all existing orders.

He has to destroy the world to expose the ugliness of the old world, and he has to rebuild the world to realize the value of his life.

It's a disease, it can be cured.

Pang Xun and his group's core members were all warriors, not a single one was educated. But Pang Xun knew that if he wanted to do great things, he must have a think tank to give advice and strategies, and he must have educated people. So he also put on a gesture of respecting the wise and humble, and releasing Wen Tinghao was just a show.

Zhou Zhong just fits Pang Xun's taste. He can talk for a long time in a way that we can't understand. He knows astronomy, geography, and harmony among people. He knows yin and yang, the eight trigrams, the strange gates, and the escape armor. He can plan and win in the battle from thousands of miles away...

In short, he talks a lot about benevolence, righteousness, and morality.

Pang Xun had a very pleasant conversation with Zhou Zhong, and thought that he had gained Mr. Zhou Zhong, which was like adding wings to a tiger, and it was really a blessing from heaven. He immediately treated Zhou Zhong as a distinguished guest.

Zhou Chong, wearing a feather fan and a blue scarf, finished writing the memorial while chatting and laughing.

The structure of the memorial was as follows: it began with the usual sophistry, putting the blame of the rebellion on the imperial court; then it reversed right and wrong, saying that the siege and looting of cities was the maintenance of public order; and finally it issued a naked military threat to the imperial court.

Putting aside his writing skills (which are actually pretty unremarkable and barely passable), his emotional intelligence and political acumen are incredibly low.

We can't help but wonder if Zhou Zhong is a high-level spy who has successfully infiltrated Pang Xun's group, because he really spared no effort in leading Pang Xun to destruction.

Normally, after a mutiny or civil uprising, the correct procedure is as follows: First, confess to the court, saying that you were really confused for a moment, how could you accidentally embark on a criminal path? Now, I know that I have committed a huge crime, but I dare not die because I am in charge of a piece of land. I heard that the emperor's grace is great and the emperor's grace is lenient, so I dare to ask the court for forgiveness. Why not go with the flow and let me take charge of the affairs of the area.

This is the tone of the memorial, to seize the moral high ground.

However, this was only the first step. The second step was to bribe the neighboring provinces and military governorates and ask them to submit petitions for mercy. This was called taking advantage of the situation.

Of course, bribes to civil and military officials of the central court had already been brought to the capital along with memorials.

Well, the court officials cited a lot of evidence, arguing the disadvantages of military conquest and the advantages of peaceful pacification; the local vassal states also petitioned for mercy, how could they be rejected? Since the prefecture and county were actually under his control, then... the court would just do him a favor and confer him a post such as a governor, inspector, or defense envoy. It was no big deal.

This is how all those who have stolen land and established their own territory have done since ancient times.

And what about Pang Xun and Zhou Zhong?
Instead of admitting his mistakes and repenting, he hurled swear words, denounced the court's corruption, and issued military threats against the court. How could the court save its face? Even if it wanted to pardon you, it would have no way out.

This memorial had pushed the situation to an irreversible point, and Pang Xun's subsequent actions were even more reckless.

Pang Xun sent out his trusted generals to attack from all sides and capture the surrounding counties and prefectures in order to further expand his sphere of influence and let the imperial court know how powerful he is!
His strategy was to force peace with war, using military advantage to gain political leverage. This seemed to be Zhou Zhong's work.

Pang Xun's group spread rumors that the court had appointed Pang Xun as the governor of Xuzhou and the letter of appointment was on the way. They were unilaterally politically whitewashing and whitewashing the fact that they were following the enemy and rebelling as serving the country.

Another rumor he spread was even more sensational: he first forged a memorial from Cui Yanzeng to the court, claiming that he wanted to kill all the soldiers in Xuzhou and force the local people into slavery in order to permanently solve the Xuzhou issue; then he forged a reply from the court: the memorial was approved.

Incite hostility between the masses and the court.

Through military strikes, political propaganda, and the incitement of public opinion, Pang Xun's banditry grew rapidly, spreading to surrounding areas such as Shandong, Jiangsu, and Anhui. Xuzhou became a holy place in the hearts of bandits from all over the country, and people from all over the world came to make pilgrimages to join the gang.

Pang Xun sent the "Four Dogs of the Xu Bandits" and the "Five Tiger Bandits" to attack Haozhou and Sizhou, two important strategic locations.

The governor of Haozhou opened the city and surrendered.

As the enemy's forces were at their zenith, Xuzhou City welcomed an important guest - a eunuch sent by the imperial court to comfort the enemy.

Not long ago, Cui Yan had sent a letter to the court to report the situation in Xuzhou and truthfully reported his own armed suppression.

Upon receiving the news, the imperial court immediately sent eunuchs to Xuzhou to convey the high-level spirit of appeasement and pacification.

Various signs indicate that the attitude of the imperial court has always been to hope for a peaceful solution at the local level and not to escalate the conflict. Therefore, the so-called "secret decree" repeatedly promoted by the Pang Xun Group is completely fictitious and is groundless nonsense.

Pang Xun cordially received the eunuch who was in charge of comforting the emperor. The majestic ceremonial guard stretched for thirty miles to show off the military might to the eunuch who was in charge of comforting the emperor.

Along the way, Pang Xun arranged thousands of his men to play the role of bandits (acting as themselves, with superb acting skills) and make rampant chaos. Pang Xun was calm and composed, and soon, reports of victory came from all directions, saying how the rebellion was suppressed.

Pang Xun chatted and laughed with the eunuch, saying, "Look, the situation in Xuzhou is not peaceful. If it weren't for me suppressing it, what would have happened?"
He was served delicious food and drinks, and before leaving he was given a large bribe, and he asked the eunuch to say good things about him.

Wherever Xu's bandits passed, cities surrendered and bandits swarmed over them. Only in Sizhou came a discordant voice.

Sizhou Governor Du Yan first pretended to surrender to the rebels, lured the rebels' vanguard into the city, and killed them all. The rebel general Li Yuan led his troops to attack the city, but hundreds of them were killed, so he was forced to retreat and set up camp to seek help from the rear.

Sizhou, which controls the throat of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, is also connected to Xuzhou in the north and Huainan in the south. It is a place that must be fought for by military strategists. Only by occupying Sizhou can Pang Xun rest assured in Xuzhou, and he can not only establish his own territory, but also advance to Huainan and expand his situation.

Pang Xun waved his hand and directly sent an additional 10,000 troops (only 1,500 were sent to attack Haozhou), intending to overwhelm the small Sizhou city with the force of a mountain crushing an egg.

(End of this chapter)