History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 381 Brother Comes Back 3
The ambitious Wang Yanbing was overjoyed, thinking that this was a godsend opportunity, so he ordered his second son Wang Jisheng to temporarily take charge of the Jianzhou military government, and led his eldest son Wang Jixiong to lead the army downstream and head straight for Fuzhou.

Wang Yanbing personally led his troops to attack the west gate, and ordered his eldest son Wang Jixiong to lead the navy to bypass Fuzhou and attack the east gate.

Wang Yanjun sent his nephew Wang Renda to lead the navy to fight against Wang Jixiong.

Wang Renda ambushed warriors on the boat, then hoisted a white flag to signal surrender.

Wang Jixiong was very foolish and naive. He thought it was reasonable that the soldiers and civilians in Fuzhou were afraid of his father Wang Yanbing's reputation and were terrified. He did not doubt Wang Renda's surrender without a fight and boarded the ship alone to accept the surrender to express his sincerity.

"Hello, comrades. Thank you for your hard work!" Wang Jixiong came on board with a smile to comfort the people.

Suddenly, ambushes emerged and Wang Jixiong was captured and killed on the spot.

Wang Renda rushed Wang Jixiong's head into the city, had it delivered to the west gate, and hung it high on the west gate.

At this time, Wang Yanbing was organizing his troops and preparing to set fire to the city. Suddenly, he saw a bloody human head hanging on the city gate tower. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was the head of his son Wang Jixiong.

The shock was so great that Wang Yanbing burst into tears and couldn't control himself.

Wang Renda took this opportunity to order a counterattack. Wang Yanbin was in a trance and had not yet recovered from his grief. He could not respond in time, and his troops were instantly defeated by the sudden and fierce attack of the defenders.

The attendants on both sides carried Wang Yanbing in a large bucket and fled in a hurry. It can be seen that Wang Yanbing was really hit hard and could no longer ride a horse.

Wang Renda would not let the tiger go back to the mountains, so he ordered his troops to chase after him. He successfully captured Wang Yanbing alive and handed him over to Fuzhou.

The two brothers met again outside the city of Fuzhou. Wang Yanjun could not help but say to Wang Yanbin, "Brother, please come down again!"

Wang Yanbing lowered his head and said nothing.

Wang Yanjun temporarily imprisoned him, and then sent envoys to Jianzhou to recruit the remaining followers of Wang Yanbin.

The remaining members of Wang Yanbing killed the envoys, and then protected Wang Jisheng and Wang Jilun and fled to Qian Liu in Hangzhou.

Wang Yanjun then beheaded Wang Yanbing and sent his younger brother Wang Yanzheng to take over Jianzhou and appease the people.

At this point, the first transfer of supreme power in the Min Kingdom was officially completed, and Wang Yanjun finally gained actual control of Fujian. The historical materials for this story are still quite brief. As the saying goes, the fewer words, the more information.

When Wang Yanbing invaded Fuzhou and captured and killed Wang Yanhan, he had already actually controlled Fuzhou, but he took the initiative to welcome Wang Yanjun into the city, transferred the supreme power to him, and helped him ascend the throne. Historical records show that because Wang Yanbing was Wang Shenzhi's adopted son, he felt that he could not inherit Fujian, so he gave up his throne to Wang Shenzhi's biological son.

So... a few years later, he was still an adopted son. He couldn't stay in Fuzhou then, but could he do so now?
Moreover, the last time we started an uprising, we had a flimsy excuse, such as Wang Yanhan forcibly conscripted women and refused to listen to advice, which was immoral, and later we claimed that Wang Yanhan and his wife had conspired to poison my father... This time we started an uprising without even an excuse. We are raising an army without a name, and our name is unjust and our words are not convincing.

It was unbelievable that Wang Yanbing went to Fuzhou for the second time.

With Wang Yanbing's rapid defeat, the central government of the Later Tang Dynasty also lost the opportunity to control Fujian. The court's acceptance of Wang Yanbing's tribute and the appointment of Wang Jixiong as the governor of Jianzhou also deeply hurt Wang Yanjun, who was subservient to the Later Tang Dynasty. Wang Yanbing used his rebellion to sever the relationship between Fujian and the central government and promoted the further independence of the Min Kingdom. Although there is no direct historical record, through the analysis of many objective historical materials, I personally believe that Wang Yanbing's rebellion is likely to be inseparable from An Zhonghui, a senior official of the Later Tang Dynasty.

As mentioned in the previous article, An Zhonghui implemented the policy of reducing the power of the feudal lords with a tough attitude and resolute will. The following article will mention his strong and high-pressure attitude and his tough tactics when facing political forces such as Southern Chu, Southern Wu, Wuyue, and the two Sichuans, so that we can appreciate the iron-fisted policy of this hawkish official.

In addition to high-profile military operations, An Zhonghui would also resort to some underhanded and despicable means, such as spreading rumors to kill prominent figures in the opposing camp in order to weaken the opponent's strength.

Therefore, my personal opinion is that Wang Yanbing, the meritorious general who supported the new master, was most likely lured and instigated by An Zhonghui to return to the court and wait for an opportunity to seize Fujian for the court.

My personal opinion is that it is logical, and the motive and time of the crime are all there, but there is a lack of historical data to support it. This is just my opinion, and you are welcome to discuss and correct me.

Perhaps it was because he saw through the hypocrisy, viciousness and sinister intentions of the Later Tang court that Wang Yanjun's attitude towards the central government suddenly took a 180-degree turn after he calmed down Wang Yanbing, from being submissive to being disloyal.

Half a year later, the Later Tang court appointed Wang Yanjun's younger brother Wang Yanzheng as the governor of Jianzhou, sending a friendly signal to Wang Yanjun: the past is like smoke, let it turn over, life must go on, and look forward.

Wang Yanjun did not buy it. He began to push his luck and constantly tested the bottom line of the Later Tang central government:

First, they requested the court of the Later Tang Dynasty to confer the title of King of Fuyi on Wuzhu, the King of Minyue during the Han Dynasty. The legal basis for Wang Yanhan to establish the Kingdom of Min was precisely this King of Minyue, Wuzhu, so the Wang family had to infinitely enhance Wuzhu's political status and popular prestige. In this way, the "Great Min Kingdom" no longer needed to maintain a subordinate relationship with the central court of the Later Tang Dynasty, because the legal foundation of the Great Min Kingdom was Wuzhu, not the Later Tang Dynasty, paving the way for the future separation from the Later Tang Dynasty.

The Later Tang court approved this request.

Next, Wang Yanjun showed off his second wave of cool moves: at that time, Ma Yin of Southern Chu and Qian Liu of Wuyue died one after another, so Wang Yanjun submitted a memorial to the Later Tang court, saying that they were both "Shangshu Ling", and now they were both dead, so the "Shangshu Ling" position was idle anyway, so give it to me.

Asking for the title of Shangshu Ling. Some historical materials (Old History of the Five Dynasties) say that Wang Yanjun wanted to inherit Ma Yin's title of Shangshu Ling and Qian Liu's title of Wuyue King. In short, it was an unreasonable request that obviously violated common sense.

This was too unreasonable. The Later Tang court gave him a big cold eye. They didn't even bother to pay attention to him (not reporting).

This was exactly the result Wang Yanjun wanted, so he used this as an excuse to break off all ties with the Later Tang court, stop paying tribute, and declare the political independence of the Kingdom of Min.

In fact, Wang Yanjun had already had the idea of ​​becoming emperor before this, so he broke away from the Later Tang in this way and put the blame on the Later Tang for the breakup, just like a scumbag deliberately using cold violence to force his girlfriend to break up first, "You were the one who brought it up first, it's not my fault!"

The year after breaking up with Later Tang, Wang Yanjun officially ascended the throne and became emperor.

By the way, it is foreshadowed that the Wang family seems to have been cursed in some way. Among the descendants of Wang Shenzhi, starting from the eldest son Wang Yanhan, almost none of them died of natural causes. Almost all of them died unexpected deaths, which is as strange as the Kennedy curse.

The above is the origin, love and hatred between the Central Court of the Later Tang Dynasty and the illegal separatist forces in Fujian Province - the Min Kingdom. It is particularly important to emphasize that during the reign of Li Siyuan, the Min Kingdom and the Central Court had a brief honeymoon period, and then they parted ways. However, due to geographical barriers (such as Huainan), the interaction between the two sides was all carried out remotely. Whether it was love or life and death, it only remained at the diplomatic level, without any substantial help or substantial harm.

Scratching an itch through the shoe.

(End of this chapter)