History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 199 The Bad Taste of History
The Bad Taste of History

When Qian Liu assisted Yang Xingmi in suppressing the rebellion, he sent a force to attack Muzhou because Qian Liu in Hangzhou was also facing the problem of internal rebellion.

The story begins with the "Xuzhou-Xuzhou Rebellion". In the defense of Hangzhou, Chen Zhang performed bravely and was awarded the post of governor of Quzhou. However, Qian Liu was very dissatisfied with Chen Zhang's performance.

First, it is to recruit surrenders and rebels.

Zhang Hong, a junior officer in Yuezhou, had a close personal relationship with Xu Wan and considered himself to be an accomplice of Xu Wan. After the "Xu-Xu Rebellion" was quelled, Zhang Hong was worried about being counterattacked, so he led 300 of his men to flee to Quzhou. Chen Zhang gladly accepted them and provided them with political asylum.

Secondly, collaborating with the enemy.

In the same month that Tian Yu lifted the siege of Hangzhou, a military mutiny broke out in Wenzhou under Qian Liu's rule. His general Ding Zhang expelled the governor and established his own regime. Tian Yu immediately sent people to contact Ding Zhang to form an "anti-Qian Liu united front". The envoys had to pass through Quzhou to travel, so Chen Zhang made it convenient for them and allowed the envoys to travel freely.

Finally, it is God’s will that “camphor trees are not allowed to enter the city”.

After Chen Zhang took office in Quzhou, he had to draw a Quzhou city defense map as usual and submit it to the headquarters in Hangzhou for filing. This is not a simple administrative map, but a precise military map. It must strictly follow a certain proportion and mark important facilities such as city walls, trenches, government warehouses, houses, wells, and even every big tree. In that era without satellite positioning and laser ranging, the wisdom of the ancient working people was a miracle, and this military map could be called a 3D sand table.

When Qian Liu unfolded the Quzhou City Defense Map, he found a camphor tree standing outside the west gate. Qian Liu could not hide his disgust, pointed at the camphor tree, and said to the people around him: "If this camphor tree is not allowed into the city, Chen Zhang will not be of any use to me!"

After Tian Yu and others rebelled, Chen Zhang was indeed ready to make a move. Qian Liu ordered his men to assassinate Chen Zhang, but the plot was exposed. Chen Zhang then rebelled in Quzhou and attached himself to Yang Xingmi in Huainan.

In addition to Chen Zhang of Quzhou, Chen Xun of Muzhou also launched a rebellion.

Chen Xun is the younger brother of Chen Sheng. Chen Sheng, together with Dong Chang and others, led the "Eight Capitals of Hangzhou" at the beginning, first resisting Huang Chao and then eliminating Liu Hanhong. Later, Dong Chang stood out from the "Eight Capitals of Hangzhou" and was promoted to Jiedushi. He then promoted Qian Liu to the governor of Hangzhou and appointed Chen Sheng as the governor of Muzhou.

Qian Liu was Dong Chang's subordinate, while Chen Sheng and Dong Chang were equal comrades-in-arms. In terms of seniority and seniority, Qian Liu should have stood at attention and saluted Chen Sheng, saying "Hello, sir". Dong Chang regarded Qian Liu as his direct confidant, so he promoted him vigorously, making his power and status higher than that of the "elders". Promoting direct descendants and suppressing colleagues is a basic operation in power struggles. This made the old senior Chen Sheng very dissatisfied.

Later, Qian Liu used Hangzhou as his base, and took advantage of the dispute between Sun Ru and Yang Xingmi over Huainan. He also took advantage of his old superior Dong Chang's claim to the throne, and took over the eastern Zhejiang area. Chen Sheng remained in obscurity in Muzhou, serving as the governor of Muzhou for 18 years, and eventually died of illness while in office.

After Chen Sheng's death, the three armies elected his son Chen Shaoquan as the successor governor. His brother Chen Xun took the opportunity to launch a mutiny, overthrowing his nephew Chen Shaoquan, changing the rule of "father's death and son's succession" to "brother's death and younger brother's succession", and proclaimed himself the governor of Muzhou.

Chen Xun, who came to power through illegal means, was always worried that Qian Liu would use this as an excuse to bring an army to punish him and then swallow up Muzhou. Coincidentally, the "Xu Xu Rebellion" occurred, and Chen Xun secretly communicated with Tian Yu in order to protect himself.

Unexpectedly, Tian Yu failed to overthrow Qian Liu, which made Chen Xun even more frightened, fearing that his secret connection with Tian Yu would be exposed. After thinking it over, Chen Xun finally made a bold decision. Instead of being suspicious, it would be better to break the window paper. So Chen Xun rebelled in Muzhou.

During the "Xuzhou-Xuzhou Rebellion", Du Jianhui, the son of Du Ling, a subordinate of Qian Liu, made great contributions and was highly valued. Du Jianhui and Chen Xun were related by marriage, and their children were in-laws. A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. Some evil people were jealous of Du Jianhui and spread rumors that Du Jianhui was secretly communicating with Chen Xun and wanted to cooperate with him from inside and outside.

Du Jianhui never defended himself against these malicious slanders and ignored them. Qian Liu did not believe them at first, because Du Jianhui had a good family background and both his father and son had made great contributions. However, three people make a tiger, and gradually, Qian Liu's trust in Du Jianhui began to waver.

Later, Du Jianhui's brother Du Jiansi was also forced to "kill his own brother for the greater good" under pressure and reported that Du Jianhui had hidden weapons at home and was plotting something illegal. Qian Liu immediately sent people to search and confiscate the weapons.

When the searchers broke into Du Jianhui's home, rummaging through boxes and digging deep into the ground, Du Jianhui was having dinner. Facing the house search, Du Jianhui was extremely calm, as if they were air and ignored them at all. A gentleman is open and honest.

After the search, no weapons or sharp blades were found, only mountains of books.

Later, a close friend of Chen Xun defected to Qian Liu and brought with him some of Chen Xun's correspondence, including letters to Du Jianhui, in which Du Jianhui wrote words of advice and warning.

Qian Liu suddenly felt ashamed and embarrassed.

Chen Zhang of Quzhou and Chen Xun of Muzhou both chose to rely on Yang Xingmi of Huainan, and with Yang Xingmi's support, they caused trouble in Qian Liu's southwestern territory.

Yang Xingmi and Qian Liu were a pair of happy enemies in the lower reaches of the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. Sometimes they helped each other, and sometimes they fought each other. Yang Xingmi helped Qian Liu to suppress the "Xu Xu Rebellion", and Qian Liu helped Yang Xingmi to suppress the rebellion of Tian Yu and An Renyi. They were brothers in need and helped each other. At the same time, Yang Xingmi openly funded the Qu and Mu rebels under Qian Liu's rule.

This is politics, a pure consideration of interests without any emotional factors. There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

The troops sent by Yang Xingmi to support Muzhou not only repelled Qian Liu's rebellion troops, but also captured Qian Liu's brother Qian Yi alive.

While Qian Liu was in a state of confusion, Chuzhou Governor Lu Yue took advantage of the situation and occupied Wenzhou under Qian Liu's rule.

Quzhou, Muzhou and Wenzhou can be seen as ripples of the "Xu-Xu Rebellion", which took Qian Liu several years to quell one by one.

When everyone is in chaos, there is real chaos.

Li Keyong of Hedong also encountered a rebellion when Qibi Rang, the chief of the Tuyuhun tribe, launched a rebellion; a mutiny also occurred in Yunzhou, but it was smaller in scale and was quickly put down.

Such is the evil taste of history, misfortune is shared equally:

Zhu Wen - King Shifan of Qingzhou rebelled;

Yang Xingmi - Tian, ​​An, and Zhu rebelled;

Qian Liu - the Erchen Rebellion;
Li Keyong - Tuyuhun and Yunzhou mutiny. So far, we have solved a previous question, that is, Zhu Wen was fighting against the Guanxi Group on the west front and facing the Qingzhou rebellion on the east front. Before Zhaozong was abducted to Luoyang, he kept issuing edicts to order the vassals to attack Zhu. In the face of huge threats, Yang Xingmi, Li Keyong and other powerful vassals were indifferent and missed the opportunity to attack Zhu.

This is the answer, everyone is busy with their own problems and is too busy to handle everything.

The one who suffered the most serious damage was Yang Xingmi of Huainan.

After the Tian, ​​An, and Zhu rebellions were quelled, Yang Xingmi appointed Li Shenfu as the governor of Ningguo Army in Xuanzhou. Li Shenfu said the same bold words as Huo Qubing, "How can I return home if Ezhou is not destroyed?" He refused the governorship and insisted on returning to the front line in Ezhou. However, when Li Shenfu returned to the front line in Ezhou, he fell ill and died. Huainan lost another good general.

Another great general, Tai Meng, also unfortunately died of illness.

At the same time, Zhu Wen had already gotten out of the quagmire, subdued Qingzhou Wang Shifan, kidnapped Zhaozong to Luoyang, and killed him.

So, we finally connect to an important node in the previous article: Zhu Wen decided to march south.

Zhu Wen personally led an army of 50,000 across the Huai River to annex Huainan.

The Huainan army immediately lifted the siege of Guangzhou and returned to Yangzhou, where they held their ground. The Bian army plundered and destroyed the Huainan territory, weakening the Huainan forces to the greatest extent possible.

As if it weren't bad enough, Yang Xingmi's condition suddenly worsened and he was bedridden.

Yang Xingmi's eye disease was fake, but the disease was real. It was precisely because of his long-term serious illness that Mrs. Zhu believed his statement of "entrusting the orphan to his brother-in-law".

After Tai Meng passed away, Yang Xingmi ordered his eldest son Yang Wo to take over Tai Meng's post in Xuanzhou. Just as Yang Wo was packing his bags and preparing to take up his post, Yang Xingmi's great think tank Xu Wen suddenly found him and reminded him: "The lord is ill in bed, but he sent his eldest son away at this time. There must be a villain's evil plan! Remember, if the lord summons you back in the future, you must not rush to leave, unless you are an envoy sent by me."

Yang Wo suddenly realized something and thought of Qin Shihuang and his eldest son Fusu, Liu Biao of Jingzhou and his eldest son Liu Qi. He couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat and was even more grateful to Xu Wen.

Xu Wen is to Yang Xingmi what Zhuge Liang is to Liu Bei. However, the plot is slightly different in the later period. Xu Wen's version of Zhuge Liang interprets the inner world of countless people and puts their fantasies about Zhuge Liang into practice. This will be described in detail later.

Huainan had lost many veteran generals in succession and was threatened by Zhu Wen's military force. The situation was not optimistic. Yang Xingmi had a general under his command named Ma Cong, who was an old subordinate of Sun Ru. After Sun Ru was killed, he surrendered to Yang Xingmi. This man fought bravely and made many military achievements. He was promoted to the commander of Huainan's elite ace "Heiyundu" as a surrendered general.

One time, Yang Xingmi was chatting with him about family matters and accidentally asked him about his background. Ma Cong answered bluntly: "I am Ma Yin's younger brother."

Yang Xingmi was shocked and said, "I have always thought that you have an extraordinary demeanor and are different from ordinary people. You are indeed not an ordinary person! Since your brother is now in a high position and has great power, I will send you back to your brother to enjoy your life."

Ma Cong burst into tears and said, "I am just a surrendered soldier from Huaixi. I am grateful to the king for not killing me and not abandoning me. Yangzhou is only a stone's throw away from Tanzhou, so it is very convenient to exchange letters. I am willing to continue to follow the king."

Now, in order to create a livable external environment, Yang Xingmi had to summon Ma Cong again and said to him earnestly: "I hope you can be a bridge of friendship between Yangzhou and Tanzhou." He also personally gave Ma Cong a farewell party.

After Ma Cong arrived in Tanzhou, Ma Yin was overjoyed and immediately appointed him as deputy envoy of the governor.

As mentioned before, there was no deep hatred between Ma Yin and Yang Xingmi, but the Ma Yin Group inherited the legacy of Sun Ru, and Sun Ru and Yang Xingmi were incompatible over the ownership of Huainan. So Yang Xingmi has always been the one who has his heart set on the bright moon, while Ma Yin is helpless as the bright moon shines into the ditch.

Ma Cong played the role of a peace envoy with due diligence and persuaded Ma Yin to form an alliance with Yang Xingmi. On the one hand, he could take advantage of the power of Huainan, and on the other hand, he could also obtain the convenience of trade.

However, Ma Yin sternly refused and scolded: "Yang Xingmi does not respect the court. Once the court issues an edict to attack us, we will be implicated by him. This is courting our own destruction! You should quickly throw this stupid idea behind you and don't bring disaster upon me!"

Yang Xingmi's plan to ease relations with Ma Yin of Tanzhou completely failed.

After penetrating deep into the heart of Huainan and plundering extensively, Zhu Wen retreated contentedly to the north of the Huai River and then sent troops to reinforce Du Hong in Ezhou.

Huainan was repeatedly bullied by Zhu Wen, and its commander, the role model Comrade Li Shenfu, unfortunately passed away. The Huainan Corps on the Ezhou front shared a common hatred of the enemy. Deputy General Liu Cun took over Li Shenfu's baton, turned grief into strength, launched a more fierce attack on Ezhou, and burned the city walls of Ezhou.

The battle situation was urgent, and the Bianzhou reinforcements in the city planned to break out.

At this time, the Huainan soldiers, who were furious, immediately requested to go to battle, but were stopped by Liu Cun. Liu Cun explained: "The Bian army is eager to break out. If they are blocked, they will definitely return to the city. Once they enter the city, the defense will be strengthened. It is better to let them escape. In this way, Ezhou will fall in no time."

During the fierce battle, Liu Cun showed the calmness that a general should have, grasped the main contradiction - Ezhou, and gave up the secondary contradiction - the Bian Army.

The generals suddenly realized what was going on, so they stood aside and watched, allowing the Bian army to break out and escape. On the same day, Ezhou was captured, and Du Hong and his sons and more than a thousand Bian soldiers who did not have time to escape were captured alive and taken to Yangzhou to await their fate.

Yang Xingmi rebuked Du Hong for his dependence on Zhu Yu, and Du Hong's performance was truly manly. Facing Yang Xingmi's insults and abuse, Du Hong responded with only five words, "I can't bear to let Mr. Zhu down."

Afterwards, Du Hong and his son were beheaded in public.

Zhu Wen was also moved by these words. Later, Zhu Wen built a ancestral hall for Du Hong and Cheng Li in the name of the court to commemorate them forever and to commend their "death in the service of the country". In today's words, they were posthumously recognized as martyrs.

(End of this chapter)