History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 387 Xu's Special Wu
4. Huainan

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Gao Pian was stationed in Huainan and gradually developed the intention of separatism. Later, he fell into depravity and favored the "master" Lu Yongzhi. Bi Shiduo raised an army to resist the tyranny and colluded with Qin Yan, the governor of Xuanzhou, to imprison and kill Gao Pian. Yang Xingmi, the governor of Luzhou, raised the banner of "serving the king and saving the emperor", expelled Bi Shiduo and Qin Yan and occupied Huainan. Sun Ru broke away from the traitor Qin Zongquan of Cai and fought with Yang Xingmi for Huainan. In the end, Yang Xingmi defeated Sun Ru and controlled the two towns of Huainan and Xuanzhou.

Huainan, which had been ravaged by war, was in ruins and almost became a thousand-mile uninhabited area. With the strong assistance of civil and military officials, Yang Xingmi recruited exiles, encouraged agriculture and sericulture, and fought wits and courage with the Tang court and Zhu Wen of Bianzhou, Qian Liu of Hangzhou and others. He finally established a solid foundation in Huainan and restored Huainan's economy to its pre-war level. He transformed Huainan's power from a coveted fat meat into a powerful vassal state feared by everyone, and became the undisputed leader in the Jianghuai region.

After Yang Xingmi's death, his eldest son Yang Wo succeeded to the throne.

Yang Wo had little talent and was of bad character. He "danced on the grave", as evidenced by the poem:

"The shooting range has just been opened inwards, and the room is filled with the sound of dancing dust.

The incense and candles are like bright day, and the sackcloth-clad man plays ball in the middle of the night."

Less than three years later, Xu Wen and Zhang Hao launched a mutiny and killed Yang Wo. At first, the two conspired to surrender the entire Huainan region to Zhu Wen. After killing Yang Wo, Zhang Hao changed his mind and planned to take the spoils of war for himself, so Xu Wen preempted him. After Zhang Hao's death, Xu Wen announced the "truth" of Yang Wo's murder and put all the blame on Zhang Hao.

After Yang Wo's death, the generals recommended Yang Xingmi's second son Yang Wei to succeed him.

Yang Wei, originally named Yang Ying, also known as Yang Longyan. This book calls him Yang Wei, and the family must be in good order.

It is said that Xu Wen once dreamed of a white dragon coiling around a palace pillar, and the next morning he accidentally saw Yang Wei in white clothes, "standing against a pillar", and was secretly surprised. So after killing Yang Wo, Xu Wen privately told his adviser Yan Keqiu that he wanted to make Yang Wei the emperor.

This should be a fabricated story, because supporting Yang Wei was not only Xu Wen's idea, but also the idea of ​​all civil and military officials. Yang Wei was only 23 years old when he died, and there is no record of him having children in historical records, so according to the rules, his younger brother should have succeeded him.

Yang Wei was only 11 years old at the time. Although he was supported by many ministers, the military and political power was controlled by Xu Wen. Yang Wei had been a puppet of Xu Wen since he succeeded to the throne.

In troubled times, there is no shortage of capable ministers and heroes. The great leader commented that Zhu Wen was "similar to Cao Cao". We have also used a long and short article to describe Zhu Wen's life. He is indeed similar to Cao Cao, but Xu Wen from Huainan is more like Cao Cao than Zhu Wen. Even his ending is basically a perfect tribute to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao undermined the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhu Wen undermined the Tang Dynasty, and Xu Wen undermined the Southern Wu. However, only Zhu Wen sat on the throne and was the only one who had power during his lifetime. Xu Wen chose Cao Cao's path and presented himself as a "loyal minister" until his death, leaving the task of usurping power and becoming emperor to his son.

After eliminating Zhang Hao, Xu Wen took over Zhang Hao's power and served as the commander of the left and right guards, which was equivalent to controlling the "Central Imperial Guards", which was his capital to "hold the emperor hostage". Xu Wen knew very well that if he wanted to control Huainan, it would be far from enough to rely on these imperial guards alone. He found Shengzhou (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province) was a good place. He thought that the terrain here was like a dragon coiling and a tiger crouching, with the aura of a king, and it was the most important military port in Huainan.
Xu Wen was then appointed as the governor of Shengzhou, but he remained in Yangzhou, the headquarters of Huainan, and sent his adopted son Xu Zhigao to Shengzhou. The father and son, one in the central government and the other in the local government, held a large number of troops and coordinated with each other.

However, can one control a regime simply by killing the old master (Yang Wo) and silencing the witnesses (Zhang Hao)? Of course it is not that simple, Xu Wen still has a lot of work to do.

In the entrepreneurial history of Yang Xingmi Group, the most senior people are the "Thirty-Six Heroes". Xu Wen is also among them, but he has made the least contributions and is the most insignificant. The ones who are really ranked high and have the most reputation in the group are Liu Wei, Tao Ya, Li Yu, Li Jian and others.

Especially when Liu Wei and Yang Xingmi were seriously ill, his staff member Zhou Yin even publicly asked Yang Xingmi to give up his power to Liu Wei. So when Zhang Hao planned to establish Huainan as the new ruler after killing Yang Wo, Yan Keqiu and others used these four people to intimidate Zhang Hao, causing him to have deep concerns and give up the idea of ​​establishing himself and establish Yang Wei instead.

Now, the meritorious old ministers represented by these four people are also obstacles on Xu Wen's road to power. Xu Wen must deal with them first.

These old ministers who had worked hard and made great contributions were all sent to local areas, while the former unknown and insignificant Xu Wen jumped from the captain of the palace security to the actual controller of the central government. They were all indignant and repeatedly made public remarks that despised Xu Wen and challenged his authority.

Among them, Li Yu's reaction was the most intense. He once publicly said, "Who the hell is Xu Wen? I have never heard of such a person! How dare he boss us around?"

In March of the second year of Qianhua (912), Xu Wen sent Xu Jie to Hangzhou. When passing through Xuanzhou, Xu Jie persuaded Li Yu, the governor of Xuanzhou, to come to Yangzhou to meet the new emperor Yang Wei. Li Yu had already agreed, and the meeting was about to end in a friendly atmosphere. But Xu Jie was bent on doing bad things and said something inappropriate, "If you don't go, I'm afraid someone will say you are plotting a rebellion."

Xu Jie's original intention was to make Li Yu be more careful, behave himself, and be on the lookout for "certain people" at all times so as not to be caught by them and killed.

Li Yu was instantly irritated by this sentence, and asked in a stern voice: "What, I am plotting a rebellion? Then, does killing Yang Wo count as a rebellion?"

After Xu Jie returned to Yangzhou, he reported the meeting truthfully. Xu Wen was furious and decided to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, and use Li Yu as a warning to the "36 heroes".

Therefore, Xu Wen, in the name of his lord Yang Wei, publicly accused Li Yu of not attending the court audience. He then ordered General Wang Tan to be the governor of Xuanzhou, and General Chai Zaiyong to lead a large army to escort Wang Tan to Xuanzhou to take up his post. He also ordered his adopted son Xu Zhigao to lead surface ships to cooperate, and they launched simultaneous attacks by land and sea, aiming at Xuanzhou.

Li Yu refused Wang Tan's entry and went up to the city to resist. The battle lasted for a month without making any progress.

However, Li Yu's youngest son, who was also his favorite, was serving as an official in Yangzhou, so Xu Wen took him hostage and escorted him to the city of Xuanzhou to persuade him to surrender.

The youngest son was very disappointing. When he reached the city, he started crying and wailing, begging his father to save his life.

Li Yu was afraid of the consequences and missed the best opportunity to counterattack.

So Xu Wen took the opportunity to send He Luo into the city as a lobbyist, and persuaded Li Yu to surrender in the name of his lord Yang Wei.

He Luo was eloquent and said, "Now you have closed the city gates tightly, neither fighting nor surrendering. What's the reason? If you really want to rebel, please kill me immediately to show your ambition. If you don't want to rebel, you should come with me to see the lord and explain your innocence."

(End of this chapter)