History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 320 The Disaster at Qinchuan Post Station

[The Disaster at Qinchuan Posthouse]

The western territory of Former Shu was not affected by the war, and the Tianxiong Army in Qinzhou, a major northwestern city, still controlled the most elite force of Former Shu - the Longwu Army.

When the Later Tang entered the country, Qinzhou Jiedushi Wang Chengxiu and Jiedushi Deputy Envoy An Zhongba analyzed the current situation and discussed the battle plan.

Wang Chengxiu planned to launch a surprise attack on the rear of the Later Tang, so that the Former Shu would be in a position to close the door and fight the dog.

An Zhongba strongly opposed it, saying that if the action failed, the consequences would be disastrous. Our country has more than 100,000 elite troops and the most dangerous terrain in the world. Even if the Later Tang army is brave, they can never get close to Jianmen Pass!
An Zhongba suggested that the two of them lead their troops south to reinforce Chengdu in order to compete for the credit of "serving the king and protecting the emperor."

In fact, An Zhongba had other plans and Wang Chengxiu fell into his trap.

The next day, Wang Chengxiu assembled his troops and prepared to march south with An Zhongba. The local tyrants and evil gentry in Qinzhou held a farewell banquet outside the city. An Zhongba suddenly knelt in front of Wang Chengxiu's horse and kowtowed, saying, "Qinzhou is an important city in the country. If we all leave, who will defend the empire and the people? Marshal, you can go first. I am willing to stay and guard the border for you!"

At this point, Wang Chengxiu had no choice but to take his deputy, Wang Zongli, to the south. As soon as Wang Chengxiu left, An Zhongba immediately surrendered the city to the Later Tang.

According to the policy announced by the Later Tang Dynasty, if An Zhongba surrendered with Wang Chengxiu, he could at most get a deputy governor, the second in command of a vassal state. But if he sent Wang Chengxiu away and offered the Qinzhou Tianxiong Army alone, he could become a governor, the top commander.

An Zhongba's little plot put Wang Chengxiu in a difficult situation. Since the east side was the route of the Later Tang, Wang Chengxiu had to lead 12,000 Longwu troops to detour to the west side, and even once went out of the territory of Former Shu and entered the territory of the Qiang people. He then "smuggled" to Chengdu with great difficulty by constantly bribing.

Along the way, they encountered poor mountains and bad waters, climbed snow-capped mountains, crossed grasslands, ran out of food and fodder, and suffered constant harassment and attacks from the Qiang tribe. Large numbers of elite Longwu soldiers froze to death or starved to death. By the time they reached Maozhou, only two thousand people were left.

On December 12, the remnants of the Longwu Army, which had gone through numerous hardships, finally completed the Long March under the leadership of Wang Chengxiu and Wang Zongli and arrived in Chengdu. At this time, the Former Shu capital had been destroyed for half a month.

Wang Chengxiu asked Li Jiji to surrender.

Li Jiji angrily scolded: "You guard the most important military town for the country and command the most elite military forces. Why don't you resist the enemy's invasion?"

Wang Chengxiu flattered him and said, "I am afraid of your majesty's divine power!"

He patted the horse's hoof, "Why didn't you surrender earlier?"

"Because the king's army did not enter my jurisdiction." The sophistry made sense.

Li Jiji asked again: "How many people did you lead through the Qiang-controlled area?"

Wang Chengxiu answered truthfully: "Twelve thousand people."

“How many of them are back alive now?”

"two thousand."

Li Jiji was both angry and sad. Before, these more than 10,000 Longwu soldiers were a strong enemy, but now they are the elite of our Tang Dynasty. You actually consumed more than 10,000 of them for no reason!

"Then, now is the time for you to pay back the ten thousand lives." Li Jiji ordered the execution of the entire family of Wang Chengxiu and Wang Zongli.

Wang Zongbi was a huge hidden danger within the Former Shu court, while Wang Chengxiu of Qinzhou was a huge hidden danger locally.

After eliminating these two hidden dangers, the Later Tang occupation forces performed a major operation on the political situation in Shu: officials above the fourth rank were demoted one level; those below the fifth rank, if they did not have outstanding talents or noble family backgrounds, were all demoted back to their hometowns.

The imperial edict issued by Li Cunxu to Wang Zongyan was also conveyed. Li Cunxu swore a poisonous oath to protect Wang Zongyan and guarantee that he would have a certain fiefdom and title, so that he could still enjoy a certain degree of wealth and glory and spend his old age in peace.

After Wang Zongyan received the imperial edict, he was extremely pleased and said to those around him happily: "It's great to be Liu Chan." (Holding the edict, he said happily: "It's no problem to be the Duke of Anle.")
A few days later, on the third day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of Tongguang (926), Li Jiji sent Li Jihe and Li Yan to lead their troops to escort Wang Zongyan and his clan, Prime Minister Wang Kai, Zhang Ge, Yu Chuansu, Xu Ji, Hanlin scholar Li Hao and other civil and military officials and their families, totaling thousands of people, to Luoyang to await their fate.

On February 2, the troops arrived at Chang'an, and an order came from Luoyang, asking them to stay there and wait for further instructions. Wang Zongyan dreamed of becoming the second Liu Chan, but he didn't know that danger was approaching.

One month later, on March 3, the eunuch brought Li Cunxu's edict to Yansi:

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, decrees: Kill Wang Zongyan's entire family. I decree this."

According to historical records, Li Cunxu originally wanted to kill Wang Zongyan and his thousands of civil and military officials. The original text of the edict was "Wang Yan and his party were to be killed", which meant that all the kings and ministers of the fallen Former Shu and their families were to be killed. At that time, the edict had been approved by Li Cunxu, with the word "OK" written by the emperor himself, and it was stamped with the official seal of the central government. It was an effective central red-headed document. When Zhang Juhan, the Privy Councilor of the Later Tang Dynasty, reviewed it, he was extremely entangled. While no one was around, Zhang Juhan pressed the edict against the pillar in the hall, picked up a pen and quickly erased the word "行" and changed it to "家".

Zhang Juhan risked his life to tamper with the emperor's edict. One word saved thousands of lives.

At Qinchuan Posthouse outside Chang'an, the fallen king Wang Zongyan was brutally exterminated. Wang Zongyan was 28 years old at the time.

When Wang Zongyan's mother, Concubine Da Xu, was dying, she wailed, "My son surrendered his country, but still ended up with the whole clan being exterminated. Li Cunxu, you are treacherous and broke your oath. Wait, you will be in great trouble!"

Among the concubines in the harem, there was a "palace maid Liu" with black hair and beautiful appearance. The executioner suddenly felt pity for her and wanted to spare her life. Liu was not afraid at all and said, "My country is destroyed and my family is ruined. I shall not be humiliated!" She went to die with a sense of honor.

At that time, a monk named Yuan Gong, who was traveling in Shu, wrote the poem "Abandoning the Country":
"Extreme joy leads to sorrow, and sighs begin as soon as the singing stops.

Leading the sheep to depose the lord and looking for the country of Qi, pointing at the deer will lead to the destruction of the treacherous ministers.

Danjin locks the moon in the cool night sky, and the flowers in the back garden are blooming in old spring.

The two dynasties’ empires have become dreams, and the old mausoleums are filled with crows.

It is said that as early as when Wang Jiangang founded the country, there was a monk with strange behavior. He held a big broom and sprinkled water on the door when he came across government offices, temples, Taoist temples and other places. At that time, people called him "the sweeping monk". After the monk finished sweeping, he would write six words on the ground, "Water-walking immortals are afraid of Qinchuan", and no one could understand its meaning.

It was not until Wang Zongyan suffered the disaster at Qinchuan Posthouse that people suddenly realized that "water travel" was the word "Yan". It turned out that the sweeping monk had been spoiling the fate of Former Shu to people.

Other historical records state that the calendar department of Former Shu in 925 set the leap month for the first month of the next year (926) and reported this to the court. The court officials said it would be best to align with international standards and adopt the calendar of the Later Tang Dynasty, so the leap month was moved to December of this year.

However, the calendar vendors on the street still had stocks of the old calendar (the leap first month of next year) and were selling them at a discount. When someone asked if they had the new calendar (the leap twelfth month of this year), the calendar vendors said casually, "Oh, it doesn't matter, it's just one day anyway." This was a prophecy, and the Former Shu Kingdom really didn't make it to the first month of next year.

(End of this chapter)