History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 528: Three Towns Rebellion 2
Zhang Congbin was a little-known young man before. No one knew who he was. All we knew was that he was a low-ranking officer under Li Cunxu. He followed Li Cunxu in the battles and made great contributions. Later, he was promoted to the commander of the imperial army. During the reign of Emperor Mingzong, he followed Yao Yanchou to participate in the "Hezhong Doubt" and put down the "rebellion" of Yang Yanwen in Hezhong.
This man was very good at observing people's words and expressions. He was a treacherous and arrogant person. Whenever he went out, he would be followed by more than a hundred followers. He was very impressive. One day on his way to work, he met an imperial censor on Tianjin Bridge. Because the censor did not give way in time, Zhang Congbin ordered his followers to throw him from Tianjin Bridge into Luo River. The censor drowned. Afterwards, Zhang Congbin reported that the man fell to his death due to drunkenness.

When thieves meet, they nod. Fan Yanguang was able to detect the traitorous aura emanating from Zhang Congbin, so he sent someone to contact him and conspire to join forces in a rebellion. Fan Yanguang held Shi Jingtang back on the front line in Huazhou, while letting Zhang Congbin stab Shi Jingtang in the back, thinking of ways to screw him.

Zhang Congbin readily agreed.

At that time, Zhang Congbin was leading his troops stationed in Mengzhou (northeast of Luoyang, across the Yellow River), and Shi Jingtang was ordering Zhang Congbin to return to Luoyang to mobilize thousands of troops.

Therefore, Zhang Congbin first killed the Mengzhou Heyang Jiedushi and Prince Shi Chongxin, and let the general Zhang Jizuo stay in Mengzhou to temporarily act as the governor of Heyang; he led his army into Luoyang, killed the Luoyang governor and Prince Shi Chongyi, and ordered Luoyang deputy governor Zhang Yanbo to temporarily act as the mayor of Luoyang (acting as the governor of Henan Prefecture), and then opened the Luoyang treasury, took out gold and silver treasures to reward his soldiers.

Li Xia, the judge in Luoyang, refused to obey orders and was ruthlessly killed by Zhang Congbin. Afterwards, Shi Jingtang posthumously awarded Li Xia the title of Right Counselor, and made his mother Tian the Grand Lady of Jingzhao County. He recruited his descendants according to their talents, gave them a lot of money and rewards, and used the salary of "Right Counselor" to support his mother until her death.

Zhang Congbin rewarded the soldiers of the three armies. The rebel soldiers cheered and then followed Zhang Congbin to Sishui Pass, preparing to attack Bianzhou in one go.

Luoyang is closer to Sishui Pass, and Zhang Congbin took the initiative and entered Sishui Pass first, killing the general guarding the pass, Song Yanhao, and greatly increased his reputation.

Shi Jingtang sent Hou Yi and Du Chongwei with 5,000 soldiers to resist.

Hou Yi is a veteran who is still strong and healthy, and he is 62 years old this year. His family has been farmers for generations. When he was young, he took the initiative to join Li Keyong in Hedong, hoping to make achievements in the war and change his fate with military merit. In the battle, Hou Yi showed amazing bravery and was promoted for "being the first to climb the mountain". When he attacked Liu Shouguang in Youzhou, he once again made "being the first to climb the mountain".

City sieges in the cold weapon era were extremely brutal, especially for the attackers, who basically piled up corpses, with a very high death rate. Those responsible for climbing the city walls were veritable "cannon fodder" with almost no chance of survival.

So many people would ask: Are the soldiers stupid? Why did they charge forward?

If we expand on this question, there are actually many contents, and the space is too large, so we will only briefly explain it. The main reason why the soldiers knew that they were risking their lives but still rushed forward without hesitation was that there was a clear reward and punishment system in the army.

Penalty:
The rear of the siege troops was the "supervising team", who were armed with long swords and broad axes. Their mission was not to kill the enemy, but to kill their own people. If the soldiers in front hesitated or even wanted to retreat, the supervising team would mercilessly hack them to death on the spot.

Even if they die, if they charge forward, they are considered martyrs, and they will receive resettlement allowances and pensions after their death; if they are hacked to death by the supervision team, they are considered traitors, and after their death, not only will their family members not receive any compensation, but they will even have to accept punishment from the organization.

Before the charge, the commander would also issue clear instructions, such as "those who retreat will be killed" and "those who look back will be killed." Of course, there were also unexpected events, such as Li Congke's "Fengxiang Battle". Li Congke cried on the top of the city wall, Yang Siquan was unwilling to attack, but Zhang Qianzhao behind him ordered the supervisory team to wave his sword to urge them. Yang Siquan was furious, so he raised his arms and called for a change of sides in front of the battle, turned back to attack Zhang Qianzhao, and then surrendered to Li Congke.

reward:
The intensity of the reward must match the intensity of the punishment. For the soldiers who attacked the city wall, the lowest reward was "promotion", at least to the company level, and "the first to reach the city wall" was even more coveted.

As the name suggests, the "first person to climb the wall" is the first person to climb up the wall. According to various historical data, if an ordinary soldier can get the "first person to climb the wall", the lightest reward is "provincial governor", which is equivalent to today's mayor and city officials. The gold and silver treasures rewarded are enough for him to spend in his lifetime.

What is more tempting than money and official positions is the reward of title. In the feudal period, a farmer whose ancestors for eight generations were poor farmers could suddenly become a respected "aristocratic" lord and enter the ruling class. Not only would he have no worries about food and clothing in this life, but his descendants would also be able to enjoy the benefits.

High risk brings high income. Because of the cruel and ruthless military law and the exciting reward system, even though there are mountains of corpses and seas of blood under the city, the soldiers will climb up the city walls like crazy to compete for the "merit of being the first to climb the city".

Hou Yi, who had been a poor peasant for generations, turned his life around by "being the first to reach the top". In a battle, Hou Yi was injured in the foot by a catapult, and Li Cunxu bandaged his wound himself, which shows how much favor he was receiving at that time.

After recovering from his injury, Hou Yi remained as brave as ever. At that time, there were two young generals in the Later Liang army, Li Li and Li Jian, who were as brave and invincible as Yan Liang and Wen Chou. All the generals in Hedong dared not fight against them, and Li Cunxu was deeply worried about them. Hou Yi took the initiative to volunteer, and like Guan Yu, he killed Yan Liang and Wen Chou, and even captured the two Lis alive.

At the end of the Tongzhi and Guangxu periods, Hou Yi followed Li Siyuan to attack Zhao Zaili of Weizhou. Li Siyuan was taken to Weizhou by the rebels, and "Mingzong entered Wei". Hou Yi was loyal to Emperor Li Cunxu and refused to join the rebels, so he escaped and returned to Luoyang. Li Cunxu was so moved that he burst into tears and "cried while stroking his back".

After Li Siyuan entered Luoyang, Hou Yi took off his shirt, tied himself up and asked to be put to death.

Li Siyuan praised his loyalty and personally untied him, saying that he was loyal to his master and that he was doing his duty faithfully. What crime could this be? Not only did he not make things difficult for him, but he continued to use him.

When Zhu Shouyin of Bianzhou rebelled, Hou Yi was the first to break through the gate and made great contributions to Li Siyuan. The following year, he followed Wang Yanqiu to defeat the rebellion of Wang Du of Dingzhou.

When Li Congke rebelled, Li Conghou sent Hou Yi to fight against him. Hou Yi knew that his army was in a state of turmoil, and there were only two ways to suppress the rebellion: either surrender voluntarily or be forced to surrender by his subordinates. After much deliberation, Hou Yi backed out for the first time in his life, claiming to be ill and refusing orders, and was demoted to the governor of Shangzhou.

(End of this chapter)