History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 55: Zhongwu Badu
【Xuzhou Mutiny】

Zhou Ji was originally a general of the Zhongwu Army. When Huang Chao's army crossed the Huai River to the north, he was ordered to go to Mengshui to deploy defenses. However, the Ganhua Army that came from Xuzhou had unpleasantness and misunderstandings with the local Zhongwu Army, which led to a fight between the two sides. Zhou Ji had not walked far at that time, but heard that the Xuzhou soldiers dared to make trouble in his territory, so he immediately led his troops back and killed all the Xuzhou soldiers who made trouble, and then slaughtered the entire family of Xue Neng, the governor of the Zhongwu Army.

It is known in history as the "Xuzhou Mutiny."

Why did General Zhou Ji, the Zhongwu general, kill the military governor of the Zhongwu army in the end, since he wanted to avenge the Zhongwu army?
Xue Neng, the governor of Zhongwu Army, had previously served as the governor of Ganhua Army. He had just come to Xuzhou from Xuzhou less than a year ago. Coincidentally, the imperial court ordered the deployment of the Mengshui defense line, and the Xuzhou Ganhua Army followed the order to come to the territory of the Xuzhou Zhongwu Army. The Xuzhou soldiers were arrogant, unruly, fierce and rebellious, and had a bad reputation. The Xuzhou soldiers and civilians were afraid of them from the bottom of their hearts.

At that time, there were many incidents of the task force crossing the border and harassing the people, just like bandits. Luoyang, not far away, had just been looted and burned by new recruits from Ruzhou, causing the Luoyang defense line to collapse.

Xue Neng, the governor of the Zhongwu Army, relied on his work experience in Xuzhou and regarded himself as the "old commander of the Ganhua Army". He violated the rules and placed the Ganhua Army in the city of Xuzhou.

Field troops are not allowed to enter the city, this is the rule. Xue Neng wanted to save face on both sides and let the reformed troops enter the city to show the special care of the old commander, to make the reformed troops grateful, and at the same time to show off to the people of Xuzhou, "See, the Xuzhou soldiers only listen to me."

Xue Neng overestimated the value of his face.

That night, the soldiers of Xuzhou gathered together and made a noise, almost mutiny.

Xue Neng hurriedly climbed to the top of the city wall and asked the reason.

The reason is simple: gathering together to ask for rewards.

"Brothers from Xuzhou, look around, do you still recognize me?" Xue Neng was confident that he just wanted money. "I am your old superior, Xue Neng! If you have anything to say, just say it to me. We are all family, and I will never let you down!"

Under Xue Neng's authorization, the Xuzhou government warehouse re-allocated food and wages to them, and served them with good wine and meat. Xue Neng also personally comforted and consoled them for a long time, and the Xuzhou soldiers finally calmed down.

However, the actions of the Xuzhou soldiers greatly stimulated the sensitive nerves of the people in the city, because the local Zhongwu Army had just rushed to the Mengshui front under the leadership of General Zhou Ji.

The host was not at home, and the guests were armed with weapons. The city of Xuzhou was filled with fear.

The news soon reached Zhou Ji.

Zhou Ji was furious. We went to the frontline to fight, but you not only didn't go to the frontline as agreed, but harassed our wives and children in the rear? Are we Henan people easy to bully?

"Eh - I've been treated to delicious food and drinks, and you still don't want to do it? Go back and beat up these bastards!"

The Zhongwu Army immediately changed the rear team to the front team and rushed back. They returned to Xuzhou City before dawn. Without any explanation, they attacked the Xuzhou soldiers and killed all the Xuzhou Ganhua Army Task Force.

The soldiers were so angry that they were mad with killing intent and the mood was so excited that it took a long time to calm down. Zhou Ji took the opportunity to continue to incite discontent in the army and resent Xue Neng for favoring the Xuzhou soldiers.

"We fought hard at the frontline, but he didn't give us any rewards, but gave them to these bastards instead. Why? Are our Zhongwu Army raised by a stepmother? This Xue Neng is a traitor!"

Xue Neng had been in the Zhongwu Army for less than a year, and his mass base was weak. In addition, the soldiers in Xuzhou did not support him, which led to rumors of favoritism. After Zhou Ji's instigation and instigation, the Zhongwu Army soldiers directly expelled Xue Neng.

Zhou Ji secretly sent an assassination team to catch up with Xue Neng and massacre his entire family. Afterwards, Zhou Ji claimed to be the governor and temporarily took over the post of governor. Soon after, he was officially appointed by the court as the new governor of Zhongwu Army.

The mutiny caused serious chaos within the Zhongwu Army. For example, General Qin Zongquan took advantage of the situation and led his troops to expel the governor of Caizhou and proclaimed himself governor of Caizhou. In order to gain support, the military governor Zhou Ji also adopted an appeasement attitude and recognized the legitimacy of Qin Zongquan.

Zhou Ji was busy stabilizing the remnant of Zhongwu and no longer went to the Mengshui defense line.

After the Xuzhou mutiny, Qi Kerang, the governor of Taining, who was originally organizing a defense line in Ruzhou and Zhengzhou to intercept Cao's army, abandoned his position and fled directly to Tongguan to deploy defenses for fear of being annexed by Zhou Ji. Other war zone task forces on the Mengshui defense line were also affected by the Xuzhou mutiny and scattered.

The Xuzhou mutiny caused the Mengshui defense line to collapse without a fight, leaving no one to defend it. This led to Huang Chao's army crossing the Huai River and taking over Luoyang and approaching Tongguan as if they were in an unmanned area.

Zhou Ji, the governor of Zhongwu Army, chose to submit to Huang Chao.

【Zhongwu Badu】

When the news of the "Battle of Longweipo" came, Zhou Ji was restless and worried. When the news of Huang Chao's evacuation of Chang'an came, Zhou Ji could no longer hold back, so he set up a dinner and urgently summoned the eunuch Yang Fuguang, saying that he had something important to discuss.

Yang Fuguang's attendants all advised him not to attend the banquet, saying that Zhou Ji had already surrendered to the bandits and that this might be a Hongmen Banquet, and the reward might be your head.

Yang Fuguang was determined, saying that the country was in ruins, so why should I care about my life? We should focus on the overall situation and not worry about personal safety. So he declined the escort of his attendants and went to the meeting alone.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, they finally started talking about current affairs.

Men don't shed tears easily, but they do when they are sad. When talking about the precarious Tang Dynasty, Yang Fuguang suddenly burst into tears.

After crying for a long time, Yang Fuguang said slowly: "A man of honor should never forget the great grace of the emperor and the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period. You, Zhou Ji, are just a commoner. You have been promoted to the high position of duke and marquis by the grace of the emperor and command the troops of a town. Today, the country is in trouble. How can you bear to abandon more than a dozen emperors of the Tang Dynasty and kneel down to a private salt dealer?"

Zhou Ji was so ashamed that he burst into tears as well. He cried bitterly, "How could I, Zhou Ji, be willing to surrender to a bandit? But I am alone and powerless to resist the bandit alone, so I pretended to surrender as a temporary measure. In fact, I am always looking for an opportunity to kill the bandit and serve my country! The reason why I invited you here today is to discuss this matter!"

So the two of them swore an oath over the wine, and worked together to kill the villains and support the Tang Dynasty.

That night, Yang Fuguang sent his godson Yang Shouliang, along with a number of smart and capable warriors, to sneak into the inn under the cover of darkness and kill all the envoys sent by the Huang Qi regime to the Zhongwu Army.

The Xuzhou Zhongwu Army officially restored order and returned to the embrace of the Tang Dynasty.

Qin Zongquan, who had previously seized Caizhou by taking advantage of the Xuzhou mutiny, refused to obey orders and still wanted to submit to the Huang Qi regime.

Yang Fuguang adhered to the fine tradition of convincing people with reason, and personally led 3,000 Zhongwu soldiers to Caizhou to explain the reason to Qin Zongquan and appeal to his emotions.

Qin Zongquan was moved and expressed his willingness to return to the right path. He sent his general Wang Shu to lead 3,000 Caizhou soldiers to follow Yang Fuguang to attack Huang Chao.

Here, everyone needs to remember this thief Qin Zongquan. In the future, he will dominate the Central Plains and accomplish some "great things".

Perhaps Wang Shu guessed Qin Zongquan's inner monologue of being passive in fighting the enemy and active in establishing his own regime, or perhaps he received Qin Zongquan's secret instructions, so he deliberately stayed and delayed the march.

Yang Fuguang was in charge of military law, beheaded Wang Shu, annexed his troops, and then reorganized the Zhongwu troops into eight du (which can be understood as today's "tuan"), each with a thousand people, and eight Zhongwu generals carefully selected by Yang Fuguang as du heads.

This is the famous "Eight Capitals of Zhongwu" in the late Tang Dynasty.

The eight people who served as the group leaders were Lu Yanhong, Wang Jian, Han Jian, etc. One has to admire Yang Fuguang's vision, as these people later became important figures, and some of them even became emperors.

The morale of the reorganized "Eight Zhongwu Cities" was high. Under the leadership of Yang Fuguang, they burst out with amazing fighting power. In one fell swoop, they defeated Zhu Wen who was stationed in Dengzhou and recaptured Dengzhou.

Yang Fuguang led the "Eight Zhongwu Commanders" to hunt down the remnants of Zhu Wen and chased them all the way to Lanqiao.

(End of this chapter)