History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 411 Liangzhe Qian Liu 2
This is a different time. Qian Liu's overall strength is already on par with Dong Chang. Will he continue to serve under Dong Chang? Moreover, it is a serious crime of treason. Qian Liu will never join the pirate ship. Not only that, Qian Liu also wants to take the opportunity to raise the banner of rebellion, raise an army of righteousness, and annex Dong Chang openly.

If the second-in-command of the group wants to overthrow the number one, he will inevitably bear huge public opinion and moral costs. So Qian Liu kept saying that Dong Chang had done me a favor and I wanted to help him correct his mistakes.

With Qian Liu's painstaking efforts, he finally established himself as a person who was "loyal to his old master and grateful for the kindness he had received."

Yang Xingmi of Huainan did not want to see the Jianghuai region change from a three-way confrontation to a polarization, so he strongly supported Dong Chang and attacked Qian Liu. Qian Liu could not miss this opportunity, so a three-way melee broke out in the Jianghuai region, and ultimately ended with Qian Liu's victory.

Taking advantage of Dong Chang's declaration of emperorship, Qian Liu unified the two Zhejiang provinces and was known as the "Twin Heroes of Jianghuai" together with Yang Xingmi.

It should be emphasized that although Qian Liu controlled the Liangzhe region, the headquarters of the Zhenhai Army, Runzhou, was occupied by Yang Xingmi. Qian Liu therefore moved the Zhenhai Army headquarters to Hangzhou.

Love and hate:

Just by looking at the ownership of Runzhou, we can get a glimpse of the relationship between Yang Xingmi and Qian Liu. There is no room for two tigers in one mountain. Qian Liu's group seems to have only one enemy - Huainan Yang Xingmi. After Qian Liu unified Liangzhe, he basically stopped external expansion and focused on economic development. The opponent in all foreign wars was always Yang Xingmi.

Therefore, the grudge between the two Jianghuai heroes was very deep. Yang Xingmi used a large rope to thread copper coins, which was called "threading the coin eye", and Qian Liu also used a huge axe to chop down poplar trees, which was called "chopping off the poplar head". Both sides had a lot of fun.

However, what is interesting is that when Qian Liu encountered the largest-scale civil strife - the "Xu-Xu Rebellion", it was Yang Xingmi who extended a helping hand in time and helped his brother.

Xu Zaisi and Xu Wan, former subordinates of Sun Ru, were incorporated into the "Yongwudu" by Qian Liu. They attacked Hangzhou together. Tian Yu, a general under Yang Xingmi, also wanted to break away from Yang Xingmi, so he sent troops to help Xu Zaisi and Xu Wan without authorization, intending to take the opportunity to annex Liangzhe and compete with his old master Yang Xingmi to become the new "Jianghuai Duo".

Qian Liu and Yang Xingmi were far-sighted and put aside their past grudges for the sake of common interests. Yang Xingmi took decisive action with the determination to kill Tian Yu and helped Qian Liu put down the "Xu-Xu Rebellion".

Later, Yang Xingmi's group also encountered the most serious internal strife, with Tian Yu, An Renyi, and Zhu Yanshou rebelling. Similarly, Qian Liu also lent a hand in time to help Yang Xingmi quell the rebellion.

Political marriage:

Qian Liu had many sons, said to be 38, but only 35 were recorded in history books. These sons laid the foundation for Qian Liu's "marriage" foreign policy.

Qian Yuanguan married the daughter of Tian Yu;
Qian Yuanliang, who married Yang Xingmi's daughter, was the son-in-law of the Huainan Group;

Qian Yuanrong, married the daughter of Wang Shenzhi, and was the consort of the Min Kingdom;

Qian Chuanjin, married the daughter of Ma Yin, the son-in-law of the Southern Chu State;

Qian Chuanying, the son-in-law of the Later Liang Dynasty, died before the princess was born, and was a son-in-law who never married into the family;

Qian Chuanjin married Zhu Youzhen's daughter, Princess Shouchun, and became the son-in-law of the Later Liang Dynasty.

Note: Regarding this Princess Shouchun, the New History of the Five Dynasties says that she married Luo Zhouhan, the son of Luo Shaowei, while the Wu Yue Beishi and the Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals say it was Qian Chuanjin. The descriptions are very detailed and specific, not only with the specific time and itinerary, but also specifically mentioning the best man group that escorted Qian Chuanjin to the wedding - Du Jianhui. Du Jianhui was even promoted because of this.

The "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" also recorded another Qian family prince consort: Qian Chuanjing, saying that Emperor Ai of the Tang Dynasty chose Qian Chuanjing as his prince consort. According to textual research, this record should be wrong. In short, we should focus on the big and let go of the small, seek common ground while reserving differences, and Qian Liu made full use of the advantage of having many sons, and formed in-laws with the surrounding big men, consolidating the power of Hangzhou through political marriage.

Take the marriage with Huainan Yang Xingmi as an example. After this political marriage, the tense and hostile relationship between the "two heroes of Jianghuai" was eased. "So far, the two surnames intermarried, and the two regions gradually became harmonious." There is a poem as evidence:
"There is an old rumor about the money-grubbing Yang Tou, and the resentment from south to north of the river is hard to dispel.

Now Nongyu has returned to Xiao Shi, and the dragon seed can play the phoenix flute in harmony. "

Strategic Planning:

The geopolitics of the Qian Liu Group in Hangzhou is very simple. With the strong rise of Huainan forces, the semi-encirclement of Qian Liu was completed, leaving the Qian Liu Group with only three neighbors: Huainan, Fujian, and the sea.

Qian Liu's strategic plan was simple and direct: to be Sun Quan. The specific steps were to follow the orthodox rule of the Central Plains. No matter how the Central Plains dynasties changed, whether it was the Tang Dynasty, the Later Liang Dynasty, or the Later Tang Dynasty, Qian Liu always paid tribute to them, followed the orthodox rule of the Central Plains, and repeatedly refused to proclaim himself emperor and establish a country.

In the year when Li Cunxu conquered Liang, Qian Liu presented a "Imperial Seal" that he had treasured for many years. It was said that it was dug out by a farmer in the territory during the Qianning period of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang and presented to Qian Liu. Qian Liu said that this item was not something that a minister could possess, so he resolutely handed it over to the country and presented it to Li Cunxu, the "True Dragon Emperor".

Why was there no tribute during the Later Liang period? It is difficult to explain.

In short, respecting the Central Plains dynasty is the basic national policy of Qian Liu’s group.

Of course, he also established his own reign title during this period, but he never proclaimed himself emperor. He just took advantage of the opportunity of the change of dynasties in the Central Plains to engage in political speculation in time, and was named "King of Wuyue" and ordered to establish the "Wuyue Kingdom", which was listed among the "Ten Kingdoms".

Before his death, Qian Liu left behind the famous "Ten Instructions", which were instructions and constraints for future generations. Two of them are very representative and can basically be regarded as the basic national policy of the Wuyue Kingdom:

The first is to "follow the orthodox lineage of the Central Plains", admonishing descendants to know their own limits and to not follow the example of Dong Chang who claimed to be emperor. Once they meet the true emperor, they should quickly submit to him.
The second is "political marriage", which warns descendants to marry wives of equal status and marry powerful people such as emperors and generals, and not to covet beauty and marry "lowly people" to tarnish their noble bloodline.

The descendants of the Qian family strictly followed Qian Liu's teachings, and finally during the time of Qian Hongchu (son of Qian Yuanguan and grandson of Qian Liu), they took the initiative to submit to the Song Dynasty and surrender their country.

No matter how historians debate Qian Hongchu's surrender to the Song Dynasty, one thing is indisputable: Qian's surrender to the country led to the peaceful liberation of the Liangzhe region, saving the people from the ravages of war, and allowing the southeastern coastal region to continue to be the economic center of the Song Dynasty. This not only laid the foundation for the unification and prosperity of the Song Dynasty, but could even provide material security for the Southern Song Dynasty's secluded corner.

Diplomacy in Liangzhe:

Qian Liu's diplomatic principles can be summarized as "respecting the Central Plains" and "honorable isolation". Among them, "respecting the Central Plains" is the end, and "honorable isolation" is the beginning. The smart Qian Liu never loses sight of the end or puts the cart before the horse.

As early as the first year of Dashun (890), the imperial court ordered Qian Liu to attack Li Keyong in Hedong, but Qian Liu declined the order on the grounds that the journey was too long.

In the fifth year of Zhenming (919), the Later Liang court ordered Qian Liu to lead an army to attack Liu Yan of Guangzhou because he had usurped the throne. However, Qian Liu "accepted the order but did not carry it out". He agreed verbally but his body was honest.
In the same year (919), Yang Wei of Huainan established the Wuyi era and proclaimed himself the emperor of the Great Wu Kingdom. Qian Liu was extremely indignant and filled with righteous indignation at the usurpation and rebellion of the Huainan Yang family, and thus the "Battle of Langshan-Wuxi" broke out.

(End of this chapter)