History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 246 A blessing in disguise
【A blessing in disguise】

Relocation of towns was one of the means to test the central authority. After Zhu Youzhen came to power, there were several successful relocations of towns.

For example, Liu Shouqi was appointed as the governor of Cangzhou Shunhua Army to replace Zhang Wanjin, and Zhang Wanjin was appointed as the governor of Qingzhou Pinglu Army. However, this time the relocation of the garrison was recommended by Yang Shihou, which reflected Yang Shihou's authority.

Afterwards, Zhu Youzhen started a series of preparatory work from the simple to the difficult: he transferred Yunzhou Jiedushi Zhu Youzhang to Xuzhou Jiedushi; he transferred Qingzhou Jiedushi Zhang Wanjin to Yanzhou Jiedushi; he transferred Huazhou Jiedushi Kang Huaizheng to Yongping Army Jiedushi.

Among them, only Kang Huaizhen's relocation had practical significance: he was transferred from Huazhou to Chang'an in the west to resist the threat of Li Maozhen in Fengxiang. In addition, he also appeased Liu Xun, the former governor of Yongping Army, by arranging him the position of mayor of the capital (Kaifeng Prefecture Yin) and concurrently serving as governor of Zhennan Army.

Zhu Youzhang was the fifth son of Zhu Wen and the younger brother of Zhu Youzhen. Zhang Wanjin was "desperate enough to come and surrender", so it can be said that there was no resistance to mobilizing these two people.

All of this was a prelude. What followed was Zhu Youzhen’s real intention: to transfer Zhu Youzhang to be the governor of Xuzhou, replacing Wang Yin.

Wang Yin was the adopted son of Wang Chongying. When Zhu Wen annexed Wang Ke of Hezhong, he promoted him to important positions in order to fulfill his promise to "treat Wang's descendants well" and soon made him his confidant. Later, Wang Yin and Kong Xun jointly framed Jiang Xuanhui, fabricated the scandal of "Jiang Xuanhui secretly having an affair with Empress Dowager He", and falsely accused Jiang Xuanhui, Liu Can and others of plotting to restore the Tang Dynasty. Through conspiracy, they overthrew the "Three Envoys Gang", won Zhu Wen's further trust, and seized the power of the "Three Envoys Gang".

Wang Yin had a close relationship with Zhu Yougui. After Zhu Yougui usurped power, he appointed Wang Yin as the governor of Xuzhou Wuning Army.

Xuzhou, an important city in the east, must be manned by a comrade who can be trusted. Zhu Youzhen could not allow Xuzhou to be controlled by the "remnants of Yougui".

Wang Yin also knew the danger, so he openly disobeyed the order, refused to be replaced, surrendered to the Huainan Group, and called for reinforcements from Huainan. Huainan immediately sent "Pig Killing Vanguard" Zhu Jin to lead troops north to support.

Zhu Youzhen issued an edict to strip Wang Yin of all his official positions and titles, and transferred generals Niu Cunjie and Liu Xun to join forces with Zhu Youzhang to suppress the rebellion in Xuzhou.

At this time, Wang Zan, Wang Chongying's biological son and Wang Ke's younger brother, was afraid of being implicated, so he hurriedly submitted a petition, saying that Wang Yin's original surname was Jiang, and he "followed his mother to remarry" in his early years. My father Wang Chongying felt sorry for the child, so he adopted him as his son and gave him the surname Wang. He has nothing to do with our family and is not a member of our Wang family.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen ordered Wang Yin to restore his original surname Jiang. Therefore, some historical books recorded him as "Jiang Yin".

Niu Cunjie was very wise and knew that Wang Yin was a coward who only knew how to flatter and fawn, and that the Huainan reinforcements were the focus of suppressing the rebellion. So Niu Cunjie assembled in Suzhou, south of Xuzhou, to deal with the Huainan reinforcements first.

Zhu Jin crossed the Huai River to the north and entered the hinterland of the Later Liang Dynasty. It was a big taboo for military strategists to advance alone. After being hit head-on by Niu Cunjie, he retreated in disgrace and returned to Huainan.

Afterwards, Niu Cunjie and Liu Xun returned the battle and easily captured Xuzhou. Wang Yin and his entire family burned themselves to death. The Later Liang army found Wang Yin's 70% cooked body from the ashes, cut off his head, and sent it to the capital to report their achievement.

Zhu Youzhang went to Xuzhou smoothly. Zhu Youzhen finally eliminated a hidden danger, and the imperial power was consolidated to a certain extent.

Reclaiming Xuzhou was a small gift for the New Year (915), but the big gift came a month later: Yang Shihou died of illness.

Upon receiving the sad news of Yang Shihou's death, Zhu Youzhen stopped attending court for three days to express his condolences and posthumously awarded him the title of "Grand Master". However, he secretly accepted congratulations and held a secret party to celebrate. The greatest hidden danger of the empire was finally gone!
The reason why Zhu Youzhen was extremely afraid of Yang Shihou was not only because of his seniority and achievements, nor was it simply because he held a large number of troops. The main reason was that Yang Shihou controlled Wei Bo.

The importance of Weizhou to the Later Liang Empire does not need to be elaborated. It is the most important town in Heshuo, with strong strength and an extremely important strategic position.

Yang Shihou intercepted the imperial tribute in Weizhou and selected elite soldiers from the army to form a private armed force, the Yinqiang Xiejie Independent Regiment (Yinqiang Xiejiedu), ignoring the central government's orders. The Later Liang central government was unable to control it. In fact, Yang Shihou had already established his own regime.

Therefore, we have repeatedly emphasized that Yang Shihou is the empire's greatest enemy deep in Zhu Youzhen's heart.

Now, he is dead.

Zhao Yan made an important suggestion to Zhu Youzhen: to divide Wei Bo.

Zhao Yan pointed out that for 200 years, the Wei Bo Army has always been a major concern of the Tang Dynasty because it has too wide a territory, and has a strong army and sufficient food. In recent years, from Luo Hongxin to Luo Shaowei, and then to Yang Shihou, they have also been entrenched here, and they are close to the central government, and even the former emperor Zhu Wen can't do anything about it. Now that Yang Shihou has passed away, this is a great opportunity given to your majesty by God! It is best to take this opportunity to disintegrate and divide it, weaken its power, and eliminate future troubles. Otherwise, who will become the second Yang Shihou?

Existing historical records show that Zhu Youzhen favored Zhao Yan and Yuan Xiangxian. According to my personal guess, Zhu Youzhen was probably sidelined by these two people and was their puppet.

Regardless of the truth, Zhu Youzhen followed the advice of Zhao Yan and Yuan Xiangxian on many key issues, including this time.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen made a decision: to split Xiang and Wei. The six states of Weizhou were divided into two, Xiangzhou, Chanzhou, and Weizhou were separated from them, and the new "Zhaode Army" was established with Xiangzhou as its headquarters. The troops and property of the original Weizhou Army were also divided into two.

As Zhao Yan said, the Weizhou military town was too big to be eliminated and had been separatist for more than 200 years. How could it be divided and dismantled with a piece of imperial edict? Dividing Weizhou would inevitably face difficulties and obstacles and would cost a heavy price. Zhu Youzhen was ready to meet the challenge.

First, Zhu Youzhen recruited generals who were highly respected and good at fighting to guard Xiangzhou and Weizhou. He Delun, the governor of Pinglu Army in Qingzhou, was transferred to serve as the governor of Xinwei Bo Army and stationed in Weizhou; and Zhang Yun, the general, was transferred to serve as the governor of Zhaode Army and stationed in Xiangzhou.

Secondly, external military forces were sent to intervene strongly to escort the two generals. General Liu Xun was sent to lead 60,000 elite troops to cross the Yellow River and head north to enter the territory of Weizhou, claiming to be a crusade against Zhenzhou and Dingzhou, but in fact putting pressure on Weizhou.

Following the imperial edict, all parties began to take action. Dark clouds gathered over Wei Bo.

The Wei Bo army has been professionalized and socialized for nearly 200 years, becoming a privileged class in the country. Fathers, sons, and brothers in the army succeed each other, and they intermarry with each other. They are a special group with strong centripetal force. Xiang, Chan, and Wei have been an inseparable part of the Wei Bo army since ancient times.

Now, they were to be simply and roughly separated, away from their homes and separated from their families. After hearing the news, the officers and soldiers of Wei Bo complained bitterly.

Zhu Youzhen had expected this kind of resistance.

With the political and military support of the central government, He Delun repeatedly urged the officers and soldiers of Wei Bo to set off as planned. The entire Wei Bo army cried and was extremely reluctant.

In order to support He Delun's work, Liu Xun sent his brave general "Wang Tieqiang" Wang Yanzhang to lead 500 cavalrymen to station in Weizhou, enter the city to assist in defense, and further put pressure on the Wei Bo army.

This move greatly stimulated the officers and soldiers of Wei Bo.

That night, the officers and soldiers of Wei Bo suddenly mutinied, set fire to the houses in the city, looted wantonly, and surrounded Wang Yanzhang's residence. Wang Yanzhang saw that the situation was not good, so he forced open the city gate and escaped.

After daybreak, the rebel army broke into the inner city, massacred all of Hedren's personal guards, and abducted and placed Hedren under house arrest.

At the critical moment, Zhang Yan, commander of the Silver Spear Xiejie Independent Regiment, stepped forward to stop the looting of the Wei Bo army and maintain order in the city.

Sure enough, something went wrong.

Zhu Youzhen only wanted to weaken the Wei Bo army, not to destroy it, and even less to force it to revolt. Therefore, Zhu Youzhen immediately sent his personal eunuch to communicate and comfort Zhang Yan, agreed to promote Zhang Yan to the position of governor, and gave him a generous reward.

However, Zhang Yan was not satisfied with this offer. He threw the emperor's edict to the ground, insulted the envoy, and then put forward his own conditions: stop the action of splitting Wei Bo and continue to maintain the integrity of the Wei Bo army; Liu Xun must withdraw his troops.

The eunuch who came to deliver the imperial edict was called Hu Yi. He was insulted and abused by Zhang Yan, and he held a grudge. After returning to Beijing, he described Zhang Yan as a simple-minded fool with strong limbs, and tried his best to instigate the central government to use force against him, hoping to kill someone with a borrowed knife.

Zhu Youzhen still kept a clear mind. The Silver Spear Xiejie Independent Regiment was an elite force selected from hundreds of thousands of people by the famous general Yang Shihou. How could its generals be so incompetent?

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen rejected the solution of military expedition and continued to use sugar-coated bullets to recruit the people. He said that this was the established guideline and basic national policy of the central government and could not be easily changed. My words are golden and I cannot go back on my word.

The two sides exchanged letters many times and bargained for a while, but still failed to reach a compromise.

Zhang Yan understood that Zhu Youzhen was determined to divide Wei Bo. In a rage, Zhang Yan put his hands on his waist, pointed his spear, and shouted at Zhu Youzhen facing south (raising his arms and pointing southward, saying, "How dare you, you servant!"). Then he forced He Delun to write a memorial to threaten the central government and make a final effort.

He Delun was forced to submit a memorial to the court, which basically advised Zhu Youzhen to turn back from his wrong path and stop dividing Wei Bo. Of course, it is very likely that this memorial was just signed to help He Delun.

Zhang Yan coerced and bribed a folk expert to write a memorial for him, requiring that the words must be fierce and the more vulgar the better. He also raised the price on the previous price: not only to maintain the integrity of Wei Bo, but also to inherit Yang Shihou's title of Grand Marshal (Zhaotao Envoy).

It was obvious that Zhang Yan had no sincerity in the negotiations. He had only one purpose: to irritate Zhu Youzhen and force the central government to resort to force. As long as the central government turned against him, he would have a reason to break away from the Later Liang.

Zhu Youzhen's imperial edict arrived, and he patiently explained to Zhang Yan the origin of Yang Shihou's title of "Zhaotao Envoy" and explained in detail why he could not be given the title of "Zhaotao Envoy". His words were sincere and his attitude was almost humble. Zhu Youzhen still hoped to resolve the differences peacefully through dialogue.

Zhang Yan tore the edict into pieces and threw it on the ground, then turned around and said to He Delun, "The young master is ignorant and has been led astray by treacherous villains! Now the soldiers and civilians in Wei Bo are in panic and urgently need to be appeased. The King of Jin in Hedong leads an army of 100,000 and has made it his mission to restore the Tang Dynasty. He also has a feud with Daliang. I have decided to pay tribute to Hedong and surrender, to seek happiness for the soldiers and civilians of Wei Bo." He then used threats and inducements to force He Delun to surrender.

He Delun had no choice but to comply and sent his trusted confidant to Taiyuan Prefecture to offer land and surrender to Li Cunxu of Hedong.

(End of this chapter)