History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 177: Xuxu Rebellion (Part )

Gu Quanwu was indeed very thoughtful. He asked, "You're just going to let me go empty-handed?"

"Carry a valuable gift."

Gu Quanwu shook his head. "It's useless to bring any gifts (acting alone will lead to failure)!"

"Look... you're the one who said it's possible, and you're the one who said it's not possible..."

Gu Quanwu waved his hand and said, "Yang Xingmi is not after a few petty gains. He wants your sincerity, my king."

"What kind of gift is considered sincere?"

Gu Quanwu did not keep the secret any longer. "Please, Your Majesty, select a young master and send your own son to Huainan as a hostage!"

Qian Liu selected his sixth son (some say it was the fourth son, but it doesn't matter whether he was born from the same or half mother) Qian Yuanlang, and sent him and Gu Quanwu to Yangzhou as hostages, expressing his willingness to form an alliance with Yang Xingmi.

One more thing to mention is that at this time, "Qian Yuanling" should be "Qian Chuanling", and Qian Liu's sons were ranked with the "Chuan" character, such as Qian Chuanying mentioned in the previous article. After Qian Liu's death, Qian Chuanguan inherited the business, changed his name to Qian Yuanguan, and changed the "Chuan" character of his brothers to "Yuan". Therefore, later historical books directly recorded Qian Liu's sons as "Qian Yuanmou", and those who were recorded in the history books as "Qian Chuanmou" should be sons who died earlier than Qian Liu, such as Qian Chuanying.

Qian Yuanlong changed into a servant's clothes and disguised himself as Gu Quanwu's servant. When they passed through Runzhou, An Renyi, a general under Yang Xingmi, warmly entertained Gu Quanwu and his companions. He immediately fell in love with this handsome "servant" and expressed his willingness to exchange ten servants for Gu Quanwu's one servant.

Gu Quanwu traveled light and had a small following, living under the roof of a house, dependent on others and being controlled by them. If he did not agree, it would probably anger An Renyi and cause an unexpected disaster; if he agreed... of course he could not agree!
So Gu Quanwu bribed the city guards with a large sum of money, escaped quietly in the middle of the night, and passed through Runzhou without any danger.

After arriving in Yangzhou, Gu Quanwu met with Yang Xingmi and explained the pros and cons to him, hinting that Tian Yu also had rebellious intentions. If he was allowed to seize Hangzhou, Tian Yu would also betray Yang Xingmi; and if Yang Xingmi was willing to restrain Tian Yu, then Qian Liu was willing to marry his children to him.

The butt determines the head. Yang Xingmi and Qian Liu were both commanders of the town, and they had more in common. As a lord, the most taboo thing is the betrayal of subordinates. You must not take advantage of the danger at this time and encourage or condone your subordinates to betray your lord.

Gu Quanwu explained the logic of rebellion and obedience, which moved Yang Xingmi so much that he stated on the spot: The Huainan authorities firmly oppose any form of rebellion and separatism, and clearly oppose all forms of betrayal.

So, Gu Quanwu introduced Qian Liu's beloved son, Qian Yuanliang, to Yang Xingmi.

Clothes match people, saddles match horses, the beauty of West Lake matches foreign films, and dogs run happily with bells. Even dressed as a servant, he can fascinate An Renyi, and when he changes into a gentleman's clothes, Qian Yuanling is simply a popular young handsome man.

Yang Xingmi fell in love with him at first sight and could not help but sigh: "If I had a son, I would want him to be like Qian Lang. My son is nothing but a dog!"

Cao Cao also made similar praises to Sun Quan, but what Cao Cao said was, "If I had a son, I would hope he would be like Sun Zhongmou. If he had a son like Liu Jingsheng, he would be a pig and a dog!" Cao Cao praised Sun Quan and scolded Liu Biao's son; Yang Xingmi praised Qian Yuanliang and scolded his own son.

Everything happened just as Gu Quanwu expected. Xu Wan indeed contacted Tian Yu of Xuanzhou and asked for support. Tian Yu immediately sent troops to help the rebellion and wrote a threatening letter to Qian Liu, saying that he heard that Yuezhou had vacated the houses and was waiting for your arrival. You are welcome to move to Yuezhou. In this way, I don't have to kill more of your soldiers.

Qian Liu replied: "It is common for the army to have rebellions and mutinies. And you, as the commander of a town (Xuanzhou Ningguo Army Jiedushi), actually helped a traitor to betray his master! Stop talking nonsense and do it!"

Tian Yu built fortresses on important transportation routes to cut off Hangzhou's communication and supply lines with the outside world, intending to besiege Hangzhou.

Qian Liu offered a reward: Anyone who can destroy Tian Yu’s camp will be rewarded as a governor!

A junior officer named Chen Zhang led a death squad of 300 men out of the city to fight and destroyed a stronghold. He was then appointed governor of Quzhou.

Afterwards, Tian Yu personally led his army to approach Hangzhou and stationed in the north of the city. Tian Yu came to the front line, hid behind the flags and drums, and inspected the defense of Hangzhou.

Qian Liu also climbed up the city wall himself, waiting for an opportunity to speak to Tian Yu.

Suddenly the wind started to blow, the flags fluttered, and Tian Yu finally revealed his true face.

Qian Liu spoke to him and explained to him the principles of obedience, loyalty and righteousness.

Whether out of guilt or arrogance, Tian Yu always avoided the question and kept silent.

Qian Liu personally fired a crossbow and killed the flag bearer next to Tian Yu. The defenders in the city beat drums and shouted, shaking the heavens and the earth. Tian Yu was frightened and ordered his troops to retreat a distance and set up camp again in the northwest corner of Hangzhou.

During this period, in order to express his disdain for Qian Liu, Tian Yu sent people to take turns to challenge the enemy and curse them under the city.

After taking the first blood, Qian Liu also entered the super god mode. Regardless of the difference in status and hierarchy, he became addicted to playing with the crossbow. He completed the super god mode himself and was named the best shooter and MVP of the game.

Although Tian Yu's official status was the Jiedushi of Ningguo Army in Xuanzhou, and he was nominally equal to Yang Xingmi, he was not actually on an equal footing with Yang Xingmi. His actual political status was that of Yang Xingmi's vassal and subordinate. Just like Ding Hui, Zhang Cunjing, and Ge Congzhou to Zhu Wen. Yang Xingmi, Zhu Wen and other bigwigs occupied too much territory. First, for the convenience of management, second, to avoid attracting attention, and third, to reward meritorious generals. In short, in order to expand and consolidate their sphere of influence, after taking down several vassal towns, they would recommend their meritorious generals to be the Jiedushi of the new town. After the generals became the governors, their old superiors still enjoyed indirect rule over the area and were the "emperors" of the area. In peacetime, the generals could defend the land and the people for them; in wartime, they would completely obey their command and dispatch.

Therefore, when Xu Wan asked Tian Yu for help, Tian Yu should have asked Yang Xingmi for instructions instead of sending troops on his own.

Tian Yu's wishful thinking was to win a quick victory and take Hangzhou before Yang Xingmi could react. By then, even if Yang Xingmi opposed it, Tian Yu would gain actual control of Hangzhou. "He held two towns at the same time" would become a fait accompli, and Yang Xingmi would be helpless.

Under Gu Quanwu's planning, Qian Liu had long seen through Tian Yu's tricks. As long as the war could be dragged into a stalemate, he would win.

There is not much time left for Tianji.

After re-setting up camp, Tian Yu could not wait to launch a fierce attack on Hangzhou. He did not even wait until dawn the next day and launched the attack at night. He used the northwest corner of Hangzhou city as a breakthrough point and gathered ladders, battering rams and other siege equipment, determined to take the city.

The defenders were heavily guarded and resisted fiercely, with arrows and stones raining down. Many Xuanzhou soldiers were killed or wounded and failed to capture the city wall. Tian Yu had to break camp and retreat temporarily.

Afterwards, Tian Yu, unwilling to give up, mobilized a large number of ships and planned to cross the Qiantang River to the east and attack Yuezhou using the leapfrog tactics, but he also failed.

In fact, Tian Yu was doomed to fail before the battle even began.

The Art of War says: The best military operation is to attack the enemy's plans, the next best is to attack their alliances, the next best is to attack their troops, and the worst is to attack their cities.

When Xu Wan and Xu Zaisi just launched the rebellion, Qian Liu's side had already won in "strategy". They anticipated that the rebels would seek help from Tian Yu, and also anticipated that Tian Yu would turn to attack Yuezhou when he could not gain the upper hand in Hangzhou, so they had made preparations long ago. They also won a great victory in "diplomacy", winning the support of Yang Xingmi, the boss behind Tian Yu.

In contrast, Tian Yu only worked hard on "soldiers" and "siege".

Tian Yu and Qian Liu were not on the same level at all. There was a gap between their realms. Qian Liu gave a very insightful evaluation of Tian Yu: "perverse and without spirit".

After the failed attack on Yuezhou, Yang Xingmi's envoy arrived at a place several miles north of Hangzhou called "Bandaohong".

The messenger conveyed Yang Xingmi's words to Tian Yu, "Hurry back to Xuanzhou! If you don't come back, I will let someone else guard Xuanzhou in your place."

This was what Tian Yu was most reluctant to see, but had to face. Ultimately, he failed to win the race against time and received Yang Xingmi's order to withdraw before taking control of Hangzhou.

Tian Yu did not dare to break openly with his boss Yang Xingmi, so he gathered his troops and returned to Xuanzhou with Xu Wan and Xu Zaisi. Before leaving, he asked Qian Liu for 200,000 strings of cash as labor and military expenses.

Qian Liu agreed to spend money to avoid disaster.

Tian Yu also proposed that Qian Liu send one of his sons as a hostage, and asked for a marriage alliance through this son, allowing Qian Liu's son to marry Tian Yu's daughter.

According to records, Qian Liu had 38 sons, 35 of whom are historically documented.

Qian Liu called all his sons to his side and asked them which one of them was willing to be Tian Yu's son-in-law. No one answered. Qian Liu then forced a task and planned to send Qian Chuan as a hostage.

Qian Chuanqi refused to do so, and Qian Liu was so angry that he almost wanted to execute him.

At this time, Qian Yuanguan came out to rescue him and said he was willing to go to Xuanzhou as a hostage. Qian Liu was very happy and immediately ordered people to prepare.

Qian Liu's wife Wu cried, "Why did you send your child to the tiger's mouth?" Qian Liu was speechless, and Qian Yuanguan helped him out again, saying that the country was in trouble, how could he live in seclusion? If I don't go to hell, who will? Then he kowtowed to his mother and bowed again before leaving.

Qian Liu also cherished his children and did not want to send his son into danger, but if he did not send a hostage, the war would continue endlessly, and there would be more troubles. As a man of integrity and a responsible ruler, Qian Liu could only put his personal interests behind the collective interests and use his own flesh and blood to exchange for a peaceful and prosperous world.

In addition to having to deal with external pressure and inner pain, Qian Liu also had to endure the misunderstanding and complaints from his family. On the way to send Qian Yuanguan out of the city, Qian Liu, a seven-foot-tall man who had spent his whole life in the military, finally couldn't help crying. The father and son hugged each other and cried all the way.

Afterwards, Qian Yuanguan, accompanied by several servants, descended from the north gate of the city and returned to Xuanzhou with Tian Yu.

Tian Yu of Xuanzhou and An Renyi of Runzhou were both meritorious generals under Yang Xingmi. However, their performance in the "Xu Xu Rebellion" is worth careful consideration.

Although the "Xuzhou-Xuzhou Rebellion" was quickly suppressed, it had a profound impact on the political structure of the Jianghuai region like a domino effect. We will discuss its butterfly effect in detail later.

Thanks to my old friend “Bedroom King” for his recommendation and support!
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(End of this chapter)