History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 137 Dong Chang's Rise
Dong Chang made his debut with the "Eight Districts of Hangzhou" a long time ago. From Zhou Bao's planning and construction of the "Eight Districts of Hangzhou" to the present time, although he has not had many roles, he has basically portrayed a positive image.

The descriptions of this man in his early years are very stereotyped, as usual, he is "a knight-errant" and "good at boxing and bravery". In short, he is a village tyrant.

In the second year of Qianfu (875), Wang Ying of western Zhejiang rebelled. Dong Chang organized a militia group from his neighbors and made great contributions in self-defense. He was promoted step by step and was eventually noticed by Zhou Bao, the governor of Zhenhai. He was incorporated into the "Eight Capitals of Hangzhou" and commanded the "Shijing Capital" among them.

During the "Huang Chao Rebellion", Dong Chang conscientiously fulfilled the local militia's duty to protect the territory and the people, and made contributions to the protection of Hangzhou.

At that time, Huang Chao was defeated by Cao Quanzheng and Liu Jurong in southern Jing, and had to plunder Jiangxi, and then fled to Liangzhe, threatening Hangzhou. The first to bear the brunt was the "Shijingdu" stationed in Lin'an.

Dong Chang had only 300 soldiers, and was unable to fight against the tens of thousands of Cao troops. In this difficult situation, his capable general Qian Liu offered a plan, saying that to defeat the majority with a small force, one must use surprise tactics. So Qian Liu personally led 20 warriors and secretly ambushed in a dangerous place.

Soon, the 2,000 vanguard troops of the Cao army entered the ambush circle. When the Cao army's vanguard troops passed by here, Qian Liu used a crossbow to shoot the Cao army generals on horseback, killing many of them. The Cao army was immediately in a panic, and Qian Liu took the opportunity to lead his troops to kill them, and unexpectedly killed hundreds of Cao bandits in one breath. He and the twenty warriors actually escaped unscathed.

One more thing to mention here is that Qian Liu's crossbow skills are amazing and he will appear on screen again in the future.

Afterwards, Dong Chang and Qian Liu led their troops to station at Babaili. Babaili is a place name, and "li" can be simply understood as "village", such as Wugouli.

Dong Chang cleverly used place names to launch a new round of psychological deterrence against the Cao army. He told the old ladies in the fields, "If someone asks you where the Lin'an troops are, tell them the truth and tell them 'Lin'an troops are stationed 800 miles away.'"

The Cao army spies asked the peasant women along the way. When they heard this, they were shocked and said to themselves: "A few days ago, a few Lin'an soldiers were able to kill hundreds of us, not to mention that they are now stretching for 800 miles!" So they turned around and ran away, abandoning the plan to harass Hangzhou and instead entered the present-day Anhui to plunder. When the Cao army was moving, Qian Liu also took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, killing and capturing many people.

Dong Chang used his wits and courage to protect the peace of the area by using the double meaning of the place name. Of course, according to the "Wu Yue Bei Shi", the "Battle of Eight Hundred Miles" was entirely Qian Liu's wisdom and courage. However, after the war, Qian Liu was upright and took the initiative to give the credit to his superior Dong Chang. However, the mainstream view is that the real compiler of the book is Qian's descendants (Qian Liu's grandson), so there is a certain degree of beautification of Qian...

In short, Dong Chang gradually became a star leader among the "Eight Cities of Hangzhou" by relying on his achievements such as the "Battle of Eight Hundred Miles", laying the foundation for his future glory.

A typical derivative of the "Huang Chao Rebellion" was the big bandit Liu Hanhong.

Liu Hanhong was originally a minor official in Yanzhou, Shandong. After the Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao Rebellion broke out, he was ordered to follow the town commander to suppress the rebellion. During the period, he robbed the baggage and rebelled, and joined Wang Xianzhi's Cao army. Later, he accepted the amnesty in the battle and stationed his troops in Jiangling Prefecture.

When Huang Chao led the Northern Expedition, Wang Duo abandoned the city and fled. Before leaving, he asked Liu Hanhong to organize the defense of Jiangling. As a result, Liu Hanhong's banditry was not dead, he looted Jiangling and gathered in the mountains again.

Later, he accepted the amnesty and became the governor of Suzhou. Because he felt that the position was too low, he threatened to rebel again. The court tolerated and condoned him and promoted him to the governor of Zhejiang East. While serving in Zhejiang East, Liu Hanhong actively paid tribute to the court. The court was very satisfied with this and believed that a prodigal son who returned to the court was worth more than gold. Therefore, he was given the military name "Yisheng Army" and appointed as the governor of Yisheng Army, which governed seven states.

Liu Hanhong was ambitious and thought he was the reincarnation of Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty. He often boasted, "The world is in chaos, who else can I do but the golden sword?" He believed that he would be the emperor one day. One day, the crows were noisy and disturbed his mood, so he ordered people to cut down the tree. It was an ancient tree with a long history. His subordinates advised him not to cut it down, "Giant trees should not be cut down." People believed that ancient trees were spiritual, and cutting them down was very unlucky and would bring retribution. Liu Hanhong was furious and said, "I dared to cut down a white snake in my previous life, so why can't I cut down a tree in this life?" (I can cut down a white snake, why should I be afraid of a tree!)

Liu Hanhong dominated the Jianghuai area and had a long-term conflict and struggle with Dong Chang. In the struggle with Liu Hanhong, Dong Chang gradually grew stronger.

In the third year of Zhonghe (883), Dong Chang openly occupied Hangzhou, expelled the imperial officials, and proclaimed himself governor. Zhou Bao was unable to control him, so he had to appease and compromise, and recommended him as governor of Hangzhou.

In the second year of the Guangqi reign (886), Dong Chang captured and killed Liu Hanhong, and his power was so great in Jianghuai that he was appointed as the governor of Yisheng Army by the court.

At that time, Liu Hanhong was defeated by Qian Liu's troops. Taking advantage of the chaos, he changed into civilian clothes, took a meat-cutting knife, and disguised himself as a butcher. When the soldiers caught up with him, he raised the knife in his hand and pretended to be a butcher. He was able to get away with it easily. Later, he fled to Taizhou, and was presented to Qian Liu by Du Xiong, the governor of Taizhou. Qian Liu then handed him over to Dong Chang.

When Liu Hanhong was defeated and fled, he actually abandoned his mother, "abandoned his mother, took his wife and ran away", which was deeply despised by the world. So when he was tied up and brought before Dong Chang, Dong Chang angrily accused him of being unfilial and worse than an animal.

But Liu Hanhong was stubborn and unrepentant, without the slightest shame, and continued to speak shamelessly: "Since ancient times, has there been an undefeated family or an unperishable country? The winners are the kings and the losers are the bandits. It's just that you have famous generals and good strategies, but I don't. Don't be so sanctimonious and call me a beast in human clothing. We are just eating meat with our mouths wide open - don't say who is fat."

When he was about to be executed, Liu Hanhong harshly rebuked the executioner and told him to get out, because as a military governor, he could not die at the hands of an ordinary man. He also said that he had dreamed of holding money in his hands, so Qian Liu should do the execution himself.

So Dong Chang ordered Qian Liu to chop him off with his own hands.

Du Xiong, who presented Liu Hanhong, is also worth mentioning:

Du Xiong was a native of Taizhou, from Yangmei Town, Taizhou. He and Lou Wen were both bandits at first, with Lou Wen as the leader and Du Xiong as his deputy. The two initially fought with Liu Hanhong, but were defeated by Liu Hanhong, and then surrendered. Liu Hanhong recommended Lou Wen as the governor of Taizhou, and recommended Du Xiong as the governor of Taizhou.

After Liu Hanhong was defeated by Qian Liu, he gathered more than 600 remnants and fled to Du Xiong in Taizhou. Du Xiong held a grand banquet to welcome his master, and "all his followers got drunk". Then Du Xiong tied up Liu Hanhong and others and sent them to Dong Chang to report their achievements and receive rewards.

Dong Chang then recommended Du Xiong as the military commander of Dehua.

Thanks to my old friend “纯正lsp” for the 12 recommendation votes!

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(End of this chapter)