History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 217: Success at Zhaixing Ridge, Fault at Da'an Mountain

[Success is achieved at Zhaixing Ridge, but fault lies at Daan Mountain]

Since his debut, Liu Rengong has shown himself to be sinister and cunning. He dug a hole underground to attack Yizhou and earned the nickname "Liu Kutou".

Later, he became the agent of Hedong forces in Youzhou area (commonly known as a lackey), guarding the house for Hedong forces; it is difficult to raise a wolf as a dog to guard the house, and Liu Rengong's vicious dog bit his master, occupied Youzhou and rebelled. He was fickle, ambitious but incompetent. Not only could he not make full use of the geopolitical advantages, but he became a public enemy and was repeatedly ravaged by the two major political and military groups of Zhu Wen and Li Keyong. No one else could offend the two major camps of Jin and Bian at the same time except Liu Rengong.

Not only did it offend two major military groups, but it also ruined the relationship between neighbors. The Heshuo region, which served as a barrier, became a stumbling block.

Perhaps the only achievement he could show off was his series of impressive moves in dealing with the Khitan issue. But Liu Rengong was already very proud of this alone.

Thus, Liu Rengong began a life of extravagance and debauchery in his later years.

Liu Rengong built a luxurious castle on Da'an Mountain (now Baihua Mountain in Beijing), thinking that the mountain was surrounded by cliffs and could resist the enemy's attack, so he could rest assured. The castle was magnificent and comparable to the imperial palace. Liu Rengong searched for beautiful women and indulged in drinking day and night. He also invited alchemists from all walks of life to make elixirs for him in order to achieve immortality.

His behavior was exactly the same as that of Gongsun Zan of Liaodong in the late Han Dynasty, and his end was also a tribute to Gongsun Zan.

In order to support his extravagant lifestyle, Liu Rengong made various financial reforms in the country and used every possible means to squeeze the people's wealth.

For example, Liu Rengong forcibly confiscated the money from the people and hid it on the top of the mountain for him to squander and enjoy, and ordered the people to mint coins with clay and circulate them in the country. From today's financial perspective, Liu Rengong monopolized the right to issue currency in the country, fleeced the people, and made the designers of the US dollar hegemony feel inferior. If inflation is a financial nuclear weapon, Liu Rengong is the financial Thanos, who can destroy everything with just a flick of his finger.

For example, Liu Rengong prohibited tea merchants from entering the country from the south of the Yangtze River, and instead collected leaves and weeds from the mountains to make "tea" and sell it in the country. Trade barriers plus official fraud.

Liu Rengong's absurd behavior is jaw-dropping.

As the saying goes: Like flies, like maggots are laid.

Liu Rengong's son Liu Shouguang was also a shameless and lustful person, and he had an affair with Liu Rengong's concubine Luo. Liu Rengong was furious that his own son had cheated on him, so he beat Liu Shouguang half to death with a stick, then drove him out of the house, severed the father-son relationship, and forbade him to inherit any property of Youzhou Lulong Army.

It was around March or April of the fourth year of the Tianyou reign of the Tang Dynasty (907), and the work of Tang's abdication to Liang was nearing completion. Prior to this, in order to expand his influence and consolidate his power, Zhu Wen sent his general Li Sian to expedition to Youzhou.

Li Sian led a large army to attack Youzhou's Lulong Army. Wherever they passed, they burned, killed and looted, implementing Zhu Wen's highest instruction - the "Three Alls Policy", in order to cause the greatest possible irreparable trauma to Youzhou Liu Rengong. If this battle could not conquer Youzhou, Youzhou would also be forced to regress to primitive society and would no longer pose a threat to Zhu Wen. At the same time, it was also a warning to the others, letting the towns in Heshuo see the consequences of disobeying Zhu Wen.

Li Sian went straight to the city of Youzhou. At that moment, Liu Rengong was singing and dancing with a group of beautiful women on Da'an Mountain. The city defenses were weak and it was almost captured by Li Sian.

Liu Shouguang, who was expelled from the city, led his men to Youzhou City, climbed the city wall to resist, and sent elite troops to fight Li Sian. Li Sian was defeated and retreated slightly.

Liu Shouguang then claimed to be the commander of the Lulong Army based on his merit in defending the city, and sent his generals Li Xiaoxi and Yuan Xingqin to lead the army to attack Da'an Mountain.

The two generals lived up to the trust and conquered Da'an Mountain, which Liu Rengong regarded as a natural barrier, and captured the old commander Liu Rengong alive. Please remember these two generals, Li Xiaoxi and Yuan Xingqin, who will have greater achievements in the future and will be introduced later.

A new emperor appoints new ministers, and Liu Shouguang usurped power by force. All of Liu Rengong's former generals and confidants who were disliked by Liu Shouguang were executed.

The rest of Liu Rengong's remnants fled in all directions. For example, Liu Rengong's grandson Wang Sitong led 3,000 troops to join Li Keyong in Hedong; Li Chengyue led 2,000 troops to join Li Keyong in Hedong; Liu Shouguang's younger brother Liu Shouqi first fled to Khitan, and soon after also fled to Hedong.

Liu Shouguang's elder brother, Liu Shouwen, who was stationed in Cangzhou, cried bitterly after hearing the news of the incident in Youzhou. He gathered his troops and said, "We gave birth to such a rebellious beast. I would rather die than live!" Then he led the army north to attack.

Liu Shouwen and Liu Shouguang fought against each other, and at first they won and lost, but Liu Shouguang was more sinister and vicious, and gradually gained the upper hand. Liu Shouwen had no choice but to unite with Khitan and Tuyuhun to ask for support. With the interference of external forces, Liu Shouwen reversed the situation and was about to turn the tables.

However, Liu Shouwen made a fatal mistake at the critical moment. He rode alone to the front of the battle, weeping and shouting to the crowd: Don't kill my brother.

When the two armies clashed, Yuan Xingqin, a general under Liu Shouguang, recognized Liu Shouwen at a glance, rode forward, and captured him alive. The Cangzhou rebel suppression army immediately scattered.

Liu Shouwen originally just wanted to put on a show to get away with the blame for killing his brothers. Historical records record that he was "pretending to be sad," but he ended up getting what he wanted.

Many years later, Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yunwen, also warned the army not to kill Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, and not to let him bear the infamy of killing his uncle. Zhu Yunwen should really read history books carefully. It is said that if future generations mourn for him but do not learn from him, they will also make future generations mourn for future generations.

Liu Shouguang took advantage of the victory to attack Cangzhou. Liu Shouwen's staff Bin Zuo recommended Liu Shouwen's son Liu Yanzuo as the commander of Cangzhou and held the city firmly. Liu Shouguang pushed Liu Shouwen to the wall and tried to persuade the defenders to surrender, but failed, so he besieged the city.

As mentioned earlier, Zhu Wen had just besieged Cangzhou, and the city was out of food, with people resorting to cannibalism. Later, when Zhu Wen withdrew his troops, out of respect for Liu Shouwen, he left several granaries for him to provide relief to the hungry people. Now, the brothers are killing each other, Cangzhou is besieged again, and the tragedy of cannibalism is staged again in the city.

Not long after, Liu Yanzuo opened the city and surrendered, and was later killed along with his father Liu Shouwen by Liu Shouguang.

Earlier, when Liu Shouguang imprisoned Liu Rengong, Luo Shaowei had written a letter to Liu Shouwen of Cangzhou, explaining the pros and cons. Liu Shouwen was also worried that Zhu Wen would take advantage of the situation, so he offered money to Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen was overjoyed, clapped his hands and laughed, praising Luo Shaowei's letter as worth 100,000 soldiers.

Now, Liu Shouguang also made a wise decision. He expressed his allegiance to Zhu Wen and recognized the Later Liang Dynasty, while also hoping to be recognized by the Later Liang Dynasty.

Zhu Wen was overjoyed and immediately issued an imperial decree to appoint Liu Shouguang as the governor of Lulong Army in Youzhou of Later Liang, and gave Liu Shouguang the title of prime minister to show his respect.

As a result, the Youzhou Lulong Army and Cangzhou Yichang Army, which were originally occupied by Liu Rengong and his son, all became the emerging "pro-Zhu faction".

In the fourth year of Tianyou (907), both Khitan and Youzhou experienced serious internal crises, and the way to resolve the crises was to recognize the legitimacy of Later Liang, and they were interdependent and had interlocking interests.

During that period, another group experienced a transfer of supreme power, but did not move closer to the Later Liang Dynasty. This was the Yang Clan in Huainan.

(End of this chapter)