History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 228 The Prophecy of Sanchuigang
[The prophecy of Sanchuigang]

Li Cunxu and Zhou Dewei, the king and his minister, cried for a long time, and Li Cunxu conveyed the late king's last wishes to him.

When Li Keyong was dying, he said that Li Sizhao was a loyal and filial child, and was his most beloved child. Now he was trapped in Luzhou and was in imminent danger. He asked Zhou Dewei to do his best to rescue him. If he failed, he would die with his eyes open!
Li Sizhao and Zhou Dewei are the most frequently seen generals in the Hedong Group. Their comprehensive strength ranks them in the "first echelon", but their personal relationship is not harmonious and there are deep conflicts. As for what the conflicts are, the history books do not give an answer. Generally speaking, there are conflicts between military generals of equal courage and strategy or counselors of similar wisdom, and they basically cannot escape the four words of fighting for power and profit.

Li Sizhao was besieged in Luzhou, and Zhou Dewei came to rescue him, but the situation did not improve after months and years. Li Keyong was worried that Zhou Dewei was seeking revenge for personal gain and was unwilling to help, so he left a will, teaching Zhou Dewei to consider the overall situation.

After hearing these words, Zhou Dewei burst into tears and immediately expressed his attitude, how could he betray the King of Jin's kindness because of his own selfishness? He was willing to lead the troops and go through fire and water without hesitation!

Afterwards, Li Cunxu summoned all the generals to hold a meeting for discussion.

Li Cunxu had clear ideas. First, he made clear the urgency and importance of the "Battle of Luzhou" and emphasized the strategic goal of "winning the battle". Secondly, he analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy and us, and pointed out that although the enemy was numerous and we were few, our army still had enough confidence to win, thus stabilizing the morale of the army. Finally, he decided to unite all forces that could be united, and join forces with Fengxiang Li Maozhen, Khitan and other forces to fight against the Later Liang.

This echoes the point in the previous article. Zhu Wen's group was filled with pride and complacency from top to bottom. They believed that after Li Keyong's death, civil strife would inevitably break out in the Hedong group, and the Later Liang army was already waiting for victory.

Therefore, only after Liu Zhijun won the first battle did Zhu Wen return to Bianzhou with peace of mind to guard against Li Maozhen's harassment of the Guanzhong area.

This was the opportunity for victory that Li Cunxu saw. He told his generals that although the Later Liang had a large number of soldiers and generals, the arrogant army would surely be defeated. We only need to select an elite force and launch a surprise blitzkrieg, and we will surely defeat them.

At this time, the Hedong Group had been closely united under the leadership system with Comrade Li Cunxu as the core, and the military supervisor eunuch Zhang Chengye and others unanimously supported Li Cunxu's decision.

Li Cunxu decided to lead the army himself.

Li Cunxu particularly liked to put on armor and wield sharp weapons and rush into the enemy's camp to fight. The generals reminded him many times not to be brave and he was in danger many times. Fortunately, the generals risked their lives to save him and he was out of danger.

It is undeniable that Li Cunxu was young and vigorous, brave and good at fighting. But there is another problem that is easily overlooked, that is, he must go on a personal expedition to establish his prestige in the army and make up for his shortcoming of "not having achieved any achievements". The glory on the battlefield must be gained on the battlefield.

Li Cunxu appointed Ding Hui as the commander-in-chief and led Zhou Dewei and others to rescue Luzhou.

This small detail also reveals Li Cunxu's political wisdom. Zhou Dewei is a veteran general from the direct line, while Ding Hui is a surrendered general. Promoting surrendered generals and suppressing the veteran generals from the direct line is a general political routine.

Speed ​​is of the essence in war. The Hedong Army soon arrived at the outskirts of the Luzhou battlefield, a place called "Sanchuigang".

Li Cunxu looked around, tears welling up in his eyes, and said to his attendants with deep affection: "I have been to this place before, twenty years ago."

Twenty years ago, it was the beginning of the heyday of the Hedong Group. Under the extremely strong military pressure from Li Keyong, Meng Fangli, the governor of Dongzhaoyi, was defeated and committed suicide. His brother Meng Qian surrendered the area. The East and West Zhaoyi areas were declared to belong to the Hedong Group. For the first time, the Hedong forces stepped out of the Taihang Mountains, dominating Heshuo and eyeing Henan. Li Keyong led the victorious army back in triumph, and on the way he held a banquet and drank to his heart's content at Sanchuigang.

During the banquet, actors played music to liven up the party. The piece they played was "Song of a Hundred Years". The first half was majestic and grand, while the second half was sad and sorrowful, meaning that the hero was old. When the second half came, the melody was very sad, and Li Keyong and others were immersed in it and could not extricate themselves, "everyone in the audience was sad".

Li Keyong stroked his beard with emotion, raised his hand and pointed at the 5-year-old Li Cunxu, and said: "We are old (Li Keyong was 33 years old at the time), the new generation will replace the old generation, and the future world belongs to their generation. This child is extraordinary. Twenty years later, he can fight here for me. (I am old, this child is extraordinary. In the next twenty years, can he fight here for me!)"

An astonishing prophecy. Twenty years later, Li Cunxu led his troops to the city.

In fact, Li Keyong's "fight here" may not refer to Sanchuigang. We can directly translate it as "this land", or broadly understand it as "the world" or "Central Plains". The correct translation should be: Our descendants will inherit the ambitions of our generation, and will continue to fight for the growth of the Hedong Group.

Coincidentally, twenty years later, Li Cunxu really "fought here".

On the Sanduigang, Li Cunxu was moved by the scene and recalled the past. The veterans around him (such as Zhou Dewei) were in tears.

Li Cunxu filled a glass with wine, raised it high and asked the sky, "May the spirit of the late king in heaven bless my army to victory and success!" Then he slowly sprinkled the wine onto the ground beneath his feet.

It is very touching, but this is not simply Li Cunxu's affectation, sensationalism and tear-jerking. It also contains Li Cunxu's outstanding political wisdom.

Taking advantage of the coincidence of place and time, the author brought back some memories and very tactfully emphasized several important messages: I, Li Cunxu, have the legitimacy to inherit Hedong (the previous king said so 20 years ago); I will lead you to bring the Hedong Group back to its peak moment 20 years ago; we have the blessing of the previous king’s spirit on this trip, and we will surely win!
The senior veterans burst into tears and supported the young lord Li Cunxu from the bottom of their hearts, secretly vowing to sacrifice their lives for the Hedong Group.

Since Li Cunxu took the throne, his political wisdom has been fully demonstrated. A child's character can be seen at the age of three, and a person's character can be seen at the age of seven. No wonder Tang Zhaozong and Li Keyong were very optimistic about him. Li Yazi was no less than his father.

The next morning, the fog was so thick that the sun could not be seen and it was difficult to distinguish between day and night (the fog was thick during the day and night), which was very favorable for a surprise attack. God bless Hedong.

Li Cunxu's judgment was correct. The Later Liang army was filled with mysterious self-confidence, pride, carelessness, negativity and laziness from top to bottom. There were no patrols or scouts on the front line. When Li Cunxu led his army to "Jiazhai", the soldiers of the Later Liang army were still sleeping soundly.

The Hedong Corps appeared and disappeared suddenly from the thick fog.

Zhou Dewei led his troops to attack the northwest corner, and Li Siyuan led his troops to attack the northeast corner. They filled up the trenches, demolished the fences, rushed in, set fire, and sounded the drums of war. The Later Liang army immediately fell into panic and had no intention of fighting, so they fled south.

The Later Liang Dynasty lost tens of thousands of soldiers, and the abandoned food and supplies piled up like a mountain. The general Fu Daozhao was killed.

As expected, Zhou Dewei took the lead and was the first to rush to the city of Luzhou. He shouted to Li Sizhao in the city, saying that the former king was dead, the young lord Li Cunxu had led the army in person and had already broken through Jiazhai, the Later Liang army had fled, and the city gates could be opened!
Li Sizhao looked at Zhou Dewei under the city, gritted his teeth, glared at him, and said angrily to the people around him: "This guy must have surrendered to the thief Zhu, and is trying to trick my city gate open. I will kill him!" Then he ordered people to shoot Zhou Dewei to death with arrows.

Those around him tried to dissuade him, saying that it would not be too late to kill him after finding out the truth.

Li Sizhao then regained his senses a little and said that in this case, please let Li Cunxu show up.

Not long after, Li Cunxu came to the city in person.

Li Sizhao looked closely and saw Li Cunxu wearing a white helmet and white armor. He then realized that Li Keyong was dead, so he burst into tears and even fainted. There was no joy of victory in Luzhou City. The soldiers and civilians in the city were immersed in great grief. Amid the cries of the whole city, the gate of Luzhou City slowly opened.

After Zhou Dewei and Li Sizhao met, they told Li Keyong's last words to each other. They shed tears and from then on, they put aside their past grudges, shook hands and made peace, which became a good story.

During the "Jia Zhai" battle, Kang Huaizheng led more than one hundred cavalrymen to escape and brought back the tragic news of Luzhou's disastrous defeat.

Zhu Wen was so surprised that he couldn't believe his ears. After a long while, he closed his mouth, sighed, and said slowly: "If I had a son, I would like him to be like Li Yazi. Li Keyong died but he lives on. My sons are nothing but a bunch of pigs and dogs!"

Too polite.

It can be seen that people in the late Tang and Five Dynasties were relatively honest. Yang Xingmi praised Qian Liu's son and Zhu Wen praised Li Keyong's son, both saying the same thing: "If I had a son, I would want him to be like me. My sons are worse than pigs and dogs!" Cao Cao in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period praised Sun Quan but called Liu Biao's sons pigs and dogs.

After the Hedong Corps lifted the siege of Luzhou, Zhou Dewei and Li Cunzhang took advantage of the victory to advance to Zezhou. Zezhou controlled the access to and from Taihang Mountain and had a very high strategic position.

Bian General Niu Cunjie was ordered to go north to support the remnants of Luzhou. After hearing that the Hedong Corps attacked Zezhou, he immediately decided to rush to help. His subordinates unanimously opposed it because they would be severely held accountable for acting without orders, and it would be difficult to win because the enemy was outnumbered.

Niu Cunjie was resolute, saying that a general was not bound by the emperor's orders when he was away from home. The situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly, and it was impossible for him to ask his superiors for instructions every step of the way. It was unrighteous not to save the friendly army when it was in trouble, and it was cowardly to flee in fear of a strong enemy. Stop talking nonsense and follow me!

Just when Zezhou was about to fall, Niu Cunjie arrived in time and led his troops to resist tenaciously. Zhou Dewei attacked fiercely for 13 days without any progress. Later, Liu Zhijun led his troops to support him. Zhou Dewei set fire to the siege equipment and slowly retreated.

Zezhou was finally saved.

At this point, the "Battle of Luzhou" that lasted for more than a year came to an end.

From a military perspective, the two sides ended in a draw, neither side gained or lost an inch of land, and the actual control area after the war was exactly the same as before the war.

But on the whole, the "Battle of Luzhou" undoubtedly ended with a great victory for the Hedong Group and a disastrous defeat for the Later Liang, because the significance of this war was more reflected in its political significance.

This battle marked the bottoming out and rebound of the Hedong Group, which continued to rise from then on; while the Later Liang Dynasty retreated and went from prosperity to decline.

(End of this chapter)