History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 200 Maintaining Stability
【Maintaining stability】

Zhu Wen's second expedition to Huainan failed. The material losses were almost negligible, but the blow to Zhu Wen mentally was still considerable.

First of all, it refreshed Zhu Wen's understanding of Yang Xingmi's group.

Tian Yu, An Renyi, and Zhu Yanshou were to Yang Xingmi what Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun were to Liu Bei. These three men allied with Zhu Wen and launched a rebellion. Zhu Wen gloated over the misfortune and stationed his troops in Suzhou, waiting for good news. However, Yang Xingmi's efficiency in suppressing the rebellion was beyond Zhu Wen's expectations, and he missed the opportunity.

Zhu Wen was caught off guard by the fact that Yang Xingmi's group successfully weathered the crisis.

Secondly, it refreshed Zhu Wen's understanding of the political landscape in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

These regions had long been attached to the Bian army, and became the bridgehead for Zhu Wen's group to infiltrate the south. Zhu Wen had absolute say in regional affairs. However, facts ruthlessly slapped Zhu Wen's face. As a rising star in Huainan, Yang Xingmi interfered a little, and the "pro-Zhu faction" collapsed. Zhu Wen's control over this region was gone.

Ma Yin of Tanzhou and Lei Yangong of Langzhou brazenly divided the pumpkin of Jingzhou. This incident dealt the greatest blow to Zhu Wen.

After the blow, Zhu Wen was more worried about losing control of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River than angry about the betrayal of his regional agents. If he wanted to successfully usurp the Tang Dynasty, he had to restore the influence of the Bian army on the region.

Therefore, Zhu Wen decided to march south again, and this time his target was Zhao Kuangning of Xiangzhou.

Zhao Kuangning of Xiangzhou had a long history of bad deeds. Since he inherited his father's throne, he had always been ambivalent about the relationship between Xiang and Bian. As early as the "Battle of Qingkou", he betrayed Zhu Wen and defected to Yang Xingmi. Zhu Wen sent his uncle Cong and Kang Huaizheng to conquer him by force.

Now, Huainan's Yang Xingmi is expanding his power westwards, and Xiangzhou's Zhao Kuangning is taking advantage of the situation and appointing his younger brother Zhao Kuangming as the governor of Jingnan.

Here I have to explain that the people who actually sent troops to Jingnan were Lei Yangong of Langzhou and Ma Yin of Tanzhou, so the land of Jingnan was actually controlled by these two people. Zhao Kuangning of Xiangzhou paid tribute to the court for many years and presented himself as a loyal minister, so he recommended his brother Zhao Kuangming as the successor of Jingnan. The court was also happy to borrow flowers to offer gifts to Buddha, generously letting Zhao Kuangning and his brothers fight with Lang and Tan for Jingnan. So after Cheng Li committed suicide by drowning, the war in Jingnan continued.

In order to consolidate himself, Zhao Kuangning allied with Wang Jian of Xichuan in the west and Yang Xingmi of Huainan in the east. This series of actions by Zhao Kuangning of Xiangzhou were all aimed at weakening Zhu Wen's power, which Zhu Wen could not tolerate.

However, Zhu Wen did not give up his fantasy of Xiangzhou. After all, Zhao Kuangning's father, Zhao Dezhen, was the first enlightened person to submit to Zhu Wen. Zhao Kuangning had red genes in his body and could be regarded as a "second generation of Bian" with "red roots and strong seedlings". He was worth fighting for. The best strategy was to defeat the enemy without fighting.

After the assassination of Emperor Zhaozong, Zhu Wen sent an envoy to Xiangzhou to test Zhao Kuangning's attitude. Zhao Kuangning wept bitterly to the envoy and said bitterly: "I am deeply indebted to the country and dare not have any other thoughts."

Zhu Wen's fantasy was shattered. He knew that it was impossible for him to infiltrate the middle reaches of the Yangtze River by gentle means, and he could only intervene with force.

In order to successfully carry out the southern expedition, Zhu Wen first had to quell the internal instability to prevent a fire in his backyard. The so-called "internal" can also be divided into two major aspects: local and central.

At the local level, he was most worried about Wang Shifan of Qingzhou. When Wang Shifan of Qingzhou surrendered to Zhu Wen, he still had 100,000 troops under his command. The generals of Qingzhou were determined and high-spirited, and they still had a fighting chance. However, because Wang Shifan's brother Wang Shike was captured alive by the Bian army, Wang Shifan surrendered resolutely for personal gain. It was precisely because of his strong strength that he remained in Qingzhou after surrendering, and Zhu Wen did not dare to move the town rashly. It has been a year since then.

Now, Zhu Wen decided to march south and must first stabilize Shandong. Zhu Wen found his most eloquent counselor Li Zhen, hoping that he could use his eloquence to attract Wang Shifan.

Li Zhen took the order and rushed to Qingzhou.

Wang Shifan did not dare to be negligent and honestly handed over the official seals of the Jiedushi and the Inspector, as well as the warehouse keys and other items, to show that he was willing to accept the personnel transfer and would never be greedy for the position of Jiedushi of Qingzhou.

However, faced with the request of moving the whole family to Bianzhou, Wang Shifan showed the expected resistance, crying and begging in front of Li Zhen, saying that he was not only a criminal, but also Zhu Wen's enemy who killed his nephew. If he left the town and went to Bianzhou, he would be killed. He begged Li Zhen to save his life and let him stay in Qingzhou.

Li Zhen used the past to satirize the present, using Zhang Xiu from the Three Kingdoms period as an analogy, saying, "Do you know that there was a Zhang Xiu from the Three Kingdoms period?" During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, Zhang Xiu was repeatedly hostile to Cao Cao. Later, Yuan Shao sent someone to summon Zhang Xiu to Hebei. The counselor Jia Xu said to Zhang Xiu, "Yuan Shao is generous on the outside but jealous on the inside. He doesn't even tolerate his own son. How can he really tolerate you? Cao Cao uses the emperor to command the princes. His ambition is not small. He is eager to show the world his generosity and kindness to recruit heroes from all over the world, so he will definitely not make things difficult for you." Now, the more you offend Zhu Wen, the more Zhu Wen will treat you well and use you as a typical example!

Zhang Xiu also surrendered to Cao Cao first and then rebelled, causing Cao Cao's eldest son Cao Ang, nephew Cao Anmin, and favorite general Dian Wei to die in the rebellion. Zhu Wen also lost his beloved nephew Zhu Youning due to Wang Shifan's rebellion.

Wang Shifan suddenly realized what was going on, so he packed his bags and moved to Bianzhou with his entire family the next day. When they were almost there, Wang Shifan changed into plain clothes, rode a donkey, and still met Zhu Wen as a criminal.

Zhu Wen also showed due magnanimity and treated him with courtesy. Not long after, he recommended him as the governor of Heyang.

According to historical records, Wang Shifan was quite fond of Confucianism, loved reading, liked to make friends with literati, talked and laughed with great scholars, and had no contact with ordinary people. I dare not comment on whether he was a Confucianist or not, but he was definitely not good at history. Li Zhen has the final right of interpretation on the historical story of "Zhang Xiu's surrender to Cao". Li Zhen did not lie, but he deliberately concealed some facts and omitted the ending of the story.

Anyone who has read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms should know the end of Zhang Xiu. Wang Shifan's final ending is a perfect tribute to Zhang Xiu.

Zhu Wen used Wang Shifan as a show, but he couldn't let go of the hatred in his heart. He not only ridiculed Wang Shifan for not knowing history, but also sneered at his so-called "Confucianism". Did Confucian disciples also plot rebellion? Later, Zhu Wen arranged Han Jian to govern Qingzhou. Before leaving, he gave Han Jian earnest advice, hoping that he could govern Qingzhou like he governed Huazhou. He also said with a double meaning: "That is the hometown of Confucius and Mencius. In your spare time, you must read the books of sages carefully and experience them with your heart. Don't read them to your heart's content!" Han Jian and Zhu Wen laughed, knowing that this was a veiled criticism of Wang Shifan.

Wang Shifan inherited his father's position. His father, Wang Jingwu, was originally a general of the Pinglu Army. He seized power through a military coup and expelled the governor An Shiru. This was one of the reasons why Zhang Chan, a general under Wang Jingwu, was dissatisfied and rebelled after Wang Jingwu's death. Therefore, Zhu Wen often ridiculed Wang Shifan, a Confucian scholar from the hometown of Confucius and Mencius.

In addition to the local instability, the power of the central court also needed to be consolidated and cleaned up. Zhu Wen did not have to worry about this task because there were people willing to act as the vanguard.

A political purge has begun its bloody curtain.

(End of this chapter)