History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 376: The Three Kings of Fujian 2
This sentence frightened the vanguard officer so much that he burst into tears. Several people hugged each other and cried for a while. The vanguard officer held Wang Chao's hand tightly and asked, "What should we do? Is there any way to save our lives?"

Seeing that the time was right, the three Wang Chao brothers told their plan in detail, and both sides agreed immediately, "Let's do it!"

Several people ambushed dozens of trusted warriors in the bamboo forest and waited for Wang Xu. When Wang Xu passed by, everyone rushed out shouting and pulled Wang Xu off his horse. Before Wang Xu could figure out what was going on, his hands were tied behind his back and he was dragged to the front of the camp to be shown to the public. The soldiers shouted "Long live!" and were very excited.

Some historical books (New Book of Tang) say that the vanguard officer who instigated the rebellion of Wang Chao and his three brothers was Liu Xingquan. Combining various historical materials (Zizhi Tongjian, Jiuguo Zhi, Shiguo Chunqiu), it is inferred that the claim that Liu Xingquan was instigated to revolt should be a fallacy. According to common sense, Liu Xingquan was Wang Xu's brother-in-law and the vanguard officer of the army. How could he turn against his brother-in-law because of a few words from outsiders? Moreover, when Wang Shenzhi, one of the three brothers, was in power, he built a temple in Zhangzhou to commemorate Liu Xingquan and his younger brother Liu Dequan. The reason was that Liu Xingquan and Liu Dequan were wrongly killed because of Wang Xu's suspicion. "Mourning their death is not a crime" can also indirectly prove that it was Wang Xu who killed Liu Xingquan that provoked the mutiny.

After the Zhulin Mutiny, the three Wang Chao brothers nominated the vanguard officer as the new leader. The vanguard officer refused, saying that it was the three Wang Chao brothers who saved my life today, so how could I be the boss? Come on, come on, you three brothers.

The four men pushed each other away, no one was willing to take the lead. Finally, the vanguard officer drew his sword, stuck it into the ground, and said, "Why don't we ask God?"

The rule is that the four people take turns kneeling down to worship the sword. If the sword moves three times when someone is kneeling down to worship it, that person will be our lord. Based on the principles of openness, fairness and justice, the four people began to kneel down to worship the sword stuck in the ground.

When the second brother Wang Shenzhi knelt down, the sword suddenly flew into the air (the sword leaped to the ground), and everyone was astonished, saying: "This is God's will! It's amazing!"

So the entire army knelt down to Wang Shenzhi, and Wang Shenzhi made his elder brother Wang Chao the leader and himself the deputy leader.

Even Wang Xu, who was locked in a cage nearby, was shocked. He shook his head and sighed, "No wonder I couldn't kill him. God is protecting me!"

Regarding Wang Xu's death, some say that he committed suicide because he could not bear the humiliation, while others say that he was killed by Wang Chao and his three brothers.

After confirming Wang Chao's ruling position, Wang Chao ordered the whole army, saying that the emperor was in trouble in Shu, and we should go to Shu to defend the king; some historical books also say that Wang Chao led his troops to return to his hometown in Guangzhou. No matter which version is it, it doesn't matter, because he didn't actually go anywhere.

Because just as they were gathering their troops and preparing to go, Quanzhou's richest man Zhang Yanlu and others came with a group of common people, carrying rich gifts of beef, wine and delicacies, to reward the army. They said that Quanzhou Governor Liao Yanruo was bullying the people, was greedy, violent and cruel, and that the people of Quanzhou were in dire straits, so they asked them to help punish evil and promote good.

So Wang Chao took the initiative to do what was right, took money from others to help them get rid of disasters, led his troops to besiege Quanzhou, killed the governor Liao Yanruo, and then pacified the surrounding big and small bandits, suppressed the ground, gained actual control of Quanzhou, and his team became increasingly stronger.

Quanzhou was under the jurisdiction of Chen Yan, the governor of Fujian, so Wang Chao sent someone to deliver a letter to Chen Yan to apologize. Chen Yan was a reasonable person, so he went with the flow and recommended Wang Chao as the governor of Quanzhou.

After Wang Chao gained the revolutionary base in Quanzhou, he worked hard to govern the country, pacified refugees, encouraged farming and sericulture, reduced taxes and levies, developed the economy, repaired the inner city, expanded the city defense system, trained the army, prepared for war, and attached importance to education... The people of Quanzhou were all convinced and strongly supported Wang Chao's rule.

Five years later, in the second year of Dashun (891), Chen Yan, the governor of Fujian, died of illness, and his brother-in-law (some say son-in-law) Fan Hui claimed to be the successor. Fan Hui was arrogant, extravagant, suspicious, cruel and inhumane, and lost the support of the people. Many of Chen Yan's former subordinates fled to Quanzhou and instigated Wang Chao to attack Fan Hui.

Wang Chao sent his third brother Wang Shenzhi to attack Fuzhou (the capital of Fujian Province) to compete with Fan Hui for Fujian. When Wang Shenzhi's army was dispatched, the people of Fujian spontaneously helped Wang Shenzhi transport food and grass, and the ethnic minority tribes along the coast also provided boats to help Wang Shenzhi transport troops and supplies.

The siege lasted for nearly a year. Fuzhou was too big for Wang Shenzhi to make any progress. Fan Hui asked for help from Dong Chang, the governor of Yuezhou Yisheng Army, because Dong Chang and Chen Yan were in-laws. Dong Chang then sent 5,000 reinforcements to Fuzhou.

Wang Shenzhi reported to Wang Chao that the city walls of Fuzhou were strong and tall, our army had suffered heavy casualties, and enemy reinforcements were about to arrive, so he suggested withdrawing.

Wang Chao refused.

Wang Shenzhi was a little angry and said, "Why don't you come to the front line and see for yourself!"

Wang Chao replied angrily: "If a soldier dies, I will replace him. If a general dies, I will replace him. If both the soldier and the general are dead, I will naturally go and fill the gap!"

The commander was furious and rebuked the commander on the front line. Wang Shenzhi was terrified, so he personally put on his armor and led the troops. Since he could not escape death, a real man would rather die in front of the battlefield than behind it.

Soon after, Fuzhou ran out of ammunition and food. Knowing that the situation was hopeless, Fan Hui abandoned the city and fled, but was killed by his subordinates. Upon hearing the news, the reinforcements sent by Dong Chang also turned back immediately.

Wang Chao entered Fuzhou City, proclaimed himself the governor of Fujian Province, changed into plain clothes, buried Chen Yan with great ceremony, and married his daughter to Chen Yan's son Chen Yanhui.

Tingzhou and Jianzhou in the territory also surrendered to Wang Chao. Over 20 bandit gangs of varying sizes were either recruited or eliminated in the next six months. Wang Chao gained actual control over the five prefectures of Fujian Province.

According to some historical records, when Chen Yan was seriously ill, he asked someone to invite Wang Chao from Quanzhou and recommend Wang Chao as the Surveillance Commissioner of Fujian Province as his successor. However, before Wang Chao arrived in Fuzhou, Chen Yan died of illness. Fan Hui then instigated a military mutiny, refused to accept Wang Chao, and proclaimed himself as the regent.

Obviously, this was the public opinion created by Wang Chao's group after they seized Fuzhou, implying that Wang Chao's occupation of Fujian was a legitimate successor. This included reburying Chen Yan after entering the city, marrying his daughter to Chen Yan's son, and treating Chen Yan's family well, all to prove that he was Chen Yan's legitimate successor.

This statement and practice is not Wang Chao's original creation. For other examples, see Zhu Wen's takeover of Hezhong, Li Siyuan's takeover of the Later Tang, etc. These are the routine operations after seizing power by force and conspiracy.

In September of the second year of Jingfu in the Tang Dynasty (893), Emperor Zhaozong formally appointed Wang Chao as the governor of Fujian Province; in September of the third year of Qianning (9), Fujian Province was promoted to Weiwu Army, and the governor Wang Chao was promoted to Jiedushi.

From then on, Fujian entered the Wang family period.

Wang Chao was seriously ill and bedridden in the second year after he was appointed as the governor of Weiwu Army (897). Wang Chao had four sons, Wang Yanxing, Wang Yanhong, Wang Yanfeng, and Wang Yanxiu, but Wang Chao handed over the military and political power to his third brother, Wang Shenzhi.

(End of this chapter)