History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 546: Er An's Rebellion 6
Liu Zhiyuan told Guo Wei the court's bottom line: as long as Bai Chengfu was willing to change his mind, the Later Jin central government was willing to give him a Jiedushi position.

After Guo Wei's on-site inspection, he reported to Liu Zhiyuan, saying that there was no need to spend so much money. We took these barbarians too seriously. An Zhongrong was bribed by just giving them some rags. What kind of governor is this? Just give him a few cents more and it will be fine.

After learning the truth, Liu Zhiyuan was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, thinking that these Tartars had never seen the world! So he told Bai Chengfu: The central government has ceded your pasture to the Khitans. If you don't want to be ruled by the Khitans, then the central government will allocate a new pasture for you. You are now helping the traitor An Zhongrong of the country! An Zhongrong has become a street rat, despised by the world, and is about to be finished. If you don't correct your position in time, you will only perish with him. At that time, you can neither return to the north nor stay in the south (Central Plains). You should think twice now!

Bai Chengfu was greatly frightened, and hurriedly said that he did not know much about the internal affairs of the Central Plains, and was not familiar with An Zhongrong... Then he led his tribe to Hedong and expressed his allegiance to Liu Zhiyuan.

Liu Zhiyuan submitted a petition to the court to settle Bai Chengfu's Tuyuhun tribe between Lanzhou and Shizhou, and recommended Bai Chengfu as the governor of Datong (a nominal title, as Datong was within the "Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun" and belonged to the Khitan at that time). All the elite cavalry of the Tuyuhun tribe were incorporated into Liu Zhiyuan's own army.

In this way, Bai Chengfu's Tuyuhun tribe drew a clear line with An Zhongrong and clearly stood on the side of the central court. At the same time, the Tatar, Qibi and other tribes did not respond to An Zhongrong's request for an alliance.

People then realized that An Zhongrong's earlier boasting about the nomadic peoples in the north being unable to bear the exploitation of the Khitan and rising up in rebellion, the tribes uniting to request the Central Plains to send troops to attack the Liao, and how much the Han people trapped in the barbarians missed their homeland... were all An Zhongrong's self-directed and wishful thinking.

The nomadic tribes in the north did suffer from the exploitation of the Khitans, but this situation had existed for decades, not just recently. This was the law of survival on the grasslands. Any powerful nation, after gaining an advantage, would inevitably exploit other weaker nations. Therefore, although most of the northern nomadic peoples complained, they were just grumbling and generally tolerated it.

As for Bai Chengfu's Tuyuhun tribe, it was because of some other reasons that Bai Chengfu pretended to be ignorant and engaged in political speculation between the Khitan, the Later Jin, and An Zhongrong. He succeeded and became the governor of the Later Jin.

An Zhongrong made up a lot of rumors and used some common complaints to hype them up, causing a huge uproar. However, with Bai Chengfu's decision to turn from evil to good, An Zhongrong's lies were exposed.

When the tide recedes, you will know who is swimming naked. An Zhongrong has become a tyrant and a traitor to the people.

2. Playing hard to get
In July of the sixth year of Tianfu (941), when Shi Jingtang left Bianzhou for Weizhou, he had already formulated a strategy with He Ning, a scholar of Duanming Palace, to deal with An Congjin of Xiangzhou.

As Shi Jingtang's command center moved north, An Congjin in the south was very likely to take advantage of the situation. He Ning suggested leaving more than a dozen blank imperial edicts and troop dispatch orders to Shi Chonggui, who was left behind in Bianzhou. Once An Congjin made a move, Shi Chonggui only needed to fill in his name temporarily and the troops would be dispatched to attack. Shi Jingtang accepted the proposal. Then he announced in a very high-profile manner that he would go north to Weizhou.

In November, An Congjin launched a rebellion and sent troops north to attack Dengzhou.

The governor of Tangzhou sent a letter to Bianzhou in a hurry to report the urgent military situation. Shi Chonggui, the governor of Bianzhou, immediately activated the emergency plan and sent Zhang Cong'en, Jiao Jixun, Guo Jinhai (a Turkic person), Chen Sirang and others to lead the central army south to join forces with the local army of Li Jianchong, the governor of Shenzhou.

Then, Shi Chonggui dispatched the second echelon of the rebellion suppression force and ordered Gao Xingzhou, the governor of Luoyang, to lead the army south. The military deployment of the central court was soon announced: Gao Xingzhou was the commander-in-chief of the main force, Song Yanjun was the deputy commander-in-chief, and Zhang Cong'en was the military supervisor; the Turkic general Guo Jinhai was the commander of the vanguard force, and Chen Sirang was the military supervisor; Shi Jingtang also ordered Li Dezhen, the governor of Weizhou, to replace Shi Chonggui as the governor of Bianzhou.

The order to exchange Shi Chonggui with Li Dezhen is very interesting. It is a matter of opinion whether Shi Jingtang was protecting him or monitoring him. I personally think it was the latter, because Shi Chonggui stayed in the capital with more than a dozen blank imperial edicts and troop transfer orders in his hands, which was an extremely huge threat to Shi Jingtang, and the degree of threat was far greater than that of the two Ans in the north and south. When the emergency plan was launched, Shi Chonggui just rigidly implemented the emergency plan prepared by Shi Jingtang in advance. Once it was completed, he would immediately transfer him to his side and keep him under strict supervision to prevent the "Crown Prince" from suddenly having other ideas.

Shi Jingtang's life was really not easy, he had to guard against fire, theft and his son.

An Congjin attacked Dengzhou, but An Shenhui, the governor of Weisheng Army of Dengzhou, closed the city and held on. An Congjin could not take the city after a long siege, so he left. An Congjin wanted to launch a blitzkrieg while Shi Jingtang was in Weizhou dealing with An Zhongrong, taking advantage of the situation and attacking him unexpectedly, but he could not afford to waste time.

An Congjin had two routes for the Northern Expedition. One was Dengzhou in the north, and the other option was Tangzhou slightly to the east. These two places were the first line of defense of Luoyang and Bianzhou, followed by Xuzhou. After passing Xuzhou, the great cause could be accomplished.

When Dengzhou could not be captured quickly, An Congjin chose to take another route, break out of Dengzhou, detour eastward, and try to go north through Tangzhou. However, when he was halfway there, he encountered Guo Jinhai's vanguard at Huashan between Dengzhou and Tangzhou.

An Congjin was horrified that the blitzkrieg had turned into an ambush. He could only fight hastily and in a panic. The result was predictable: the rebels were defeated, more than 10,000 people were annihilated, An Congjin's son An Hongyi was captured alive, and the seal of the governor of Shannan East Road was seized. An Congjin led only a few dozen personal cavalrymen to flee back to Xiangzhou, pulling the drawbridge, closing the city gate, and resisting stubbornly.

The imperial army won the first battle, and Shi Jingtang appointed Gao Xingzhou to be in charge of the affairs of Xiangzhou (in charge of the military affairs of Xiangzhou); he also issued an edict ordering Gao Conghui of Jingnan and Ma Xifan of Nanchu to send troops to help suppress the rebellion and provide food and military supplies to the imperial army.

The surface forces of Jingnan and Nanchu responded to the imperial edict of the central court, attacking from the north and south, advancing by land and sea. An Congjin of Xiangzhou has not much time left, and his life is in countdown.

On the same day the imperial edict was issued, An Zhongrong of Zhenzhou also received news of An Congjin's rebellion.

"Young people don't follow the ethics of martial arts. There must be a first come first served rule, right?"

This year, Zhenzhou suffered from disasters, with drought and locust plagues occurring simultaneously. An Zhongrong gathered tens of thousands of hungry people in the territory and forced them to follow the army south to Weizhou, claiming that he wanted to meet the emperor.

(End of this chapter)