History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 205 Ding Hui surrenders to Jin
As you can imagine, the army Liu Rengong put together by temporarily conscripting able-bodied men had no combat effectiveness at all. Liu Rengong was also very tactful and did not dare to go south to fight the Bian army, but instead defended the strategic location - Waqiao. At the same time, he asked for help from Li Keyong in Hedong.

Zhu Wen built a camp around Cangzhou, with three layers inside and three layers outside, like an iron barrel, so that even birds and mice could not pass through. When the food in the city was eaten up, the soldiers and civilians could only eat dirt to survive, and then there was the tragedy of cannibalism.

Zhu Wen sent envoys to persuade them to surrender, saying that you are in such a difficult situation and have no reinforcements, why don't you surrender quickly?
Liu Shouwen climbed up to the top of the city wall and personally shouted to Zhu Wen, "Youzhou and I have a father-son relationship. Your Majesty, you rule the world with benevolence and filial piety. If a son betrays his father, you will also look down on me, right?" He spoke with confidence and neither humble nor arrogant.

Zhu Wen felt a little ashamed and admired Liu Shouwen, so he temporarily suspended the offensive to show his appreciation for other heroes.

Liu Rengong asked Li Keyong of Hedong for help, and sent more than a hundred envoys. However, Li Keyong hated Liu Rengong for his previous betrayal, scolded him for being fickle, and was unwilling to help.

Facing Liu Rengong's urgent request for help, Li Keyong sternly refused, "You deserve what you have done!"

His son Li Cunxu tried hard to persuade him, saying that Zhu Wen already controlled 70 to 80 percent of the territory in the world, and even the three powerful vassal states of Weizhou, Yiwu and Chengde in Hebei bowed to him (these three towns were so powerful after the "Anshi Rebellion" that even the central court was unable to restrain them, so the "hereditary vassal state" also started from here). In the area north of the Yellow River, the only ones who could fight against Zhu Wen were us and the Liu family. Now, the Liu family is in trouble, and the lips and teeth are cold. Although he is a scumbag and has hurt your feelings, we must repay evil with virtue, show our broad mind, revive the glory of Hedong, and gain both fame and fortune!
Li Cunxu's political talent was once again demonstrated as he broke free from the shackles of personal emotions and broke away from vulgar tastes.

Li Keyong suddenly realized the truth, so he agreed to rescue Liu's father and son, and formulated a strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao, and sent troops to attack the Zhaoyi area.

There is no free lunch in the world. Li Keyong asked Liu Rengong to send troops to Taiyuan, ostensibly to assist in the defense, but in reality to serve as hostages in return for Hedong's rescue of Cangzhou.

Liu Rengong sent 30,000 troops to station in Taiyuan Prefecture. Li Keyong then sent his generals Zhou Dewei and Li Sizhao to lead the army south to attack Luzhou.

At the same time, Zhu Wen was caught in a dilemma of being surrounded by enemies:
First, the Kansai region.

Li Maozhen of Fengxiang sent his son Song Kan to Chengdu as a hostage, and formed a close strategic partnership with Wang Jian of Xichuan. Subsequently, the Guanxi Group, which had no worries, began to challenge Zhu Wen's authority in the Guanxi region. Li Jihui of Bingzhou gathered troops from Fengxiang, Baosai, Zhangyi, and Baoda to attack the Dingnan Army of Xiazhou.

The second is the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

Lei Yangong of Langzhou continuously attacked southern Jing, while the newly appointed governor of southern Jing, He Gui, always kept the city closed and held out. Zhu Wen was very dissatisfied with this, so he ordered his grandson Gao Jichang, who was also a capable man, to replace He Gui and sent another 5,000 troops to station in southern Jing.

Jingnan had been ravaged by war. It was first divided and plundered by Lei Yangong of Langzhou and Ma Yin of Tanzhou, then taken back by the brothers Zhao Kuangning of Xiangzhou, and later taken into the possession of Zhu Wen, who ordered He Gui to be in charge. However, Lei Yangong of Langzhou was still unwilling to give up his evil intentions and never stopped looting, smashing, and burning in the Jingnan area.

The Jingnan that He Gui took over was a mess with numerous holes. Moreover, He Gui was a new official and was unfamiliar with the place. He had shallow roots and weak strength. He chose to avoid the enemy's attack and hold the city. Therefore, we cannot arbitrarily conclude that he was afraid of the enemy and was cowardly.

He Gui was a great general, but not a great commander. He only saw the tactical level, not the strategic level. He was focused on the tiny southern part of Jingzhou, while Zhu Wen was focused on the whole world.

Jingnan plays a pivotal role in geopolitics. It is the facade and the mainstay of Zhu Wen's forces in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. It is connected to Xichuan in the west, Huainan in the east, and Guangdong and Guangxi in the south. It is the beachhead for Zhu Wen's unification. If the army is not enough, you can add more; if the money and food are insufficient, you can transport them; if you lose the battle, you can win it back... The only thing you can't lose is momentum. In a word, you can't be a coward!
He Gui was also a surrendered general (a subordinate of Zhu Xuan in Yunzhou). His principle of doing things was to be low-key, cautious and not ostentatious. So when faced with difficulties, his strategy was to digest them himself instead of asking for help from his superiors, so as to avoid causing dissatisfaction and slander from his colleagues and suspicion from his lord. This is the rule for all surrendered generals to survive.

Fortunately, Lei Yangong of Langzhou was indeed just a clown. After Gao Jichang took over, he implemented the instructions of the highest decision-making level that "don't be cowardly" and "just do it", and Lei Yangong's gang fled and withdrew from Jingnan.

The Guanxi battlefield also achieved impressive results. General Liu Zhijun faced a strong enemy without fear. He first fought a beautiful self-defense counterattack, conquered Fangzhou under the jurisdiction of the Baoda Army, annihilated 3,000 enemy troops, and captured Fangzhou governor alive. Afterwards, he and Kang Huaizheng faced the main force of the Guanxi Group, conquered the 60,000 troops of the Guanxi Group with 5,000 soldiers and horses, and then pursued the victory and conquered the five states of Guanxi. The Guanxi Group came aggressively, lost the city and lost the land, and never recovered from it. The dangers in the west and south were solved without danger. At present, only the Liu father and son in the northeast and Li Keyong in Hedong in the north are left. Among them, the Liu father and son have become turtles in a jar, with no food, eating dirt to survive, hiding in the northeast to play in the mud, and surrendering to Bianzhou is almost a foregone conclusion.

What Zhu Wen never expected was that the most fatal blow to him came from Li Keyong in the north.

[Ding Hui surrendered to Jin]

Luzhou is the capital of the Western Zhaoyi Army and a strategic location that the Jin-Bian forces have repeatedly fought for. Whoever controls Luzhou controls the Zhaoyi area; whoever controls the Zhaoyi area controls the initiative in the Jin-Bian hegemony. In order to control this area, the two sides have launched a long-term tug-of-war and paid a heavy price. Now, both the Eastern and Western Zhaoyi Armies are under the control of Zhu Wen, and the one sitting in Luzhou is Zhu Wen's direct descendant, Ding Hui.

Ding Hui was a direct descendant of Zhu Wen's direct descendants. He was born in the Cao Army of Huang Chao and was Zhu Wen's subordinate in the Cao Army. Later, he followed Zhu Wen in his rebellion against Qi and surrendered to Tang. He has been following him ever since. He is a time-tested old revolutionary comrade.

When the news of Emperor Zhaozong's assassination reached Luzhou, Ding Hui was filled with grief and indignation. He ordered the entire army to wear mourning clothes and wept bitterly for a long time.

Now, Li Sizhao led his army to attack Luzhou, and Ding Hui led the entire city's soldiers and civilians to surrender without a fight.

When Ding Hui saw Li Keyong, he cried and said, "It's not that I am unable to defend the city, but because the King of Liang bullied the Tang Dynasty. Although I was favored by him, I couldn't tolerate his rebellious behavior, so I came to him for help."

Li Keyong praised his loyalty and righteousness, treated Ding Hui well, and gave him a status higher than that of other generals.

At this time, Zhu Wen had ordered Li Maoxun to reinforce Luzhou, while he himself was concentrating siege equipment and preparing to launch a general attack on Cangzhou. The news of Ding Hui's surrender without a fight was like a bolt from the blue, causing Zhu Wen to immediately abandon Cangzhou and retreat with his entire army.

Previously, Zhu Wen had requisitioned food and supplies from all over the country, transported them by land and sea, and piled them up like a mountain under the city of Cangzhou. Now Zhu Wen hurried back to the army, and there was no time to move the food and supplies, so Zhu Wen ordered to set them on fire. In an instant, thick smoke billowed, flames shot up into the sky, and the flames could be seen clearly from miles away; all the ships that had not been unloaded in time were sunk.

Liu Shouwen wrote to Zhu Wen, begging him, "Your Majesty is kind-hearted. You have mercy on the people of Cangzhou, so you have forgiven my sins and lifted the siege. The soldiers and civilians of Cangzhou will never forget your kindness. Now, tens of thousands of people in the city have been without food for months. Instead of turning the food into ashes and mud, it is better to give it to the hungry people in the city."

Zhu Wen was once again moved by Liu Shouwen, who embodied loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness to the fullest, and he began to sympathize with him, so he ordered to reserve several warehouses for Liu Shouwen. The people of Cangzhou were able to survive in difficulty.

Li Keyong appointed Li Sizhao as the governor of Zhaoyi and continued to advance southward to attack Zezhou. Zezhou controlled Tianjing Pass, an important checkpoint in and out of Taihang Mountain. Under the tenacious resistance of the Bian army, Li Sizhao returned without success.

Ding Hui's surrender to Jin was an important political event in the struggle between Jin and Bian. Its political impact was extremely far-reaching, far beyond the gains and losses of a city or a place. This was also the main reason why Li Keyong treated Ding Hui well.

Zhu Wen was deeply traumatized, and from then on, he became more suspicious and no longer trusted those around him. It can be said that Ding Hui's surrender to Jin was the beginning of the demise of the Later Liang. Although Zhu Wen had not yet established the Later Liang, Ding Hui had already planted the seeds of its demise. We will detail the subsequent fermentation of "Ding Hui's surrender to Jin" later.

(End of this chapter)