History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 576: Pacification of Qingzhou
Soon after, Shi Jingtang led the army to attack Shu, and Feng Hui was able to go with him to make amends. Knowing his shame and then being brave, Feng Hui led an elite squad, set out from Lizhou, crossed mountains and ridges, and ventured through the primitive forests that no one had set foot on, and finally got behind Jianmen Pass. Then, like a god descending from the sky, he raided Jianmen Pass, wiped out 3,000 defenders (Dong Zhang's troops), controlled Jianmen Pass, and opened a good start for Shi Jingtang's war against Shu. Meng Zhixiang was so angry that Shu lost Jianmen Pass that he cursed his pig teammate Dong Zhang.

Although the Later Tang Dynasty failed to take advantage of Jianmen Pass for various reasons and Shi Jingtang ultimately returned without success, Feng Hui made great contributions and was awarded the post of Chanzhou governor. He was also selected by Shi Jingtang for this battle.

After Shi Jingtang ascended the throne, Feng Hui was still the governor of Chanzhou. At that time, Chanzhou was a subordinate county of Weizhou Weizhou Army, and the governor of Weizhou Army was Fan Yanguang. Before Shi Jingtang could promote his old comrade Feng Hui, Fan Yanguang raised the banner of rebellion. Fan Yanguang appointed Feng Hui as the commander-in-chief and his confidant Sun Rui as the military supervisor.

Yang Guangyuan led the army to suppress the rebellion. At the front line of Huazhou-Liyang, Feng Hui and Sun Rui fled and fled into Weizhou City. Afterwards, Feng Hui surrendered and was granted the title of Jiedushi of Yicheng Army in Huazhou by Shi Jingtang. He was finally promoted to Jiedushi from then on.

Just half a year later, he was transferred to Lingzhou Shuofang Army and arrived in the northwest.

He repeatedly jumped between Later Liang and Li Cunxu, which Shi Jingtang did not care about, but he participated in Fan Yanguang's rebellion, which the Later Jin court could not tolerate.

In fact, from this time on, the court had excluded him from the group of "trustworthy comrades".

Lingzhou Shuofang Army is located in the northwest border of the empire, surrounded by ethnic minorities, and the ethnic relations are very thorny. Due to the decline of the Central Plains Dynasty, it gradually lost its absolute control over this area, and this area was often invaded by foreign tribes. That's why An Zhonghui deliberately placed his political enemy (Kang Fu) here and killed people with the sword of Qiangdi.

Previously, Zhang Xichong and Lu Wenjin rebelled against Liao and returned to Tang. Later, Liao supported Jin and destroyed Tang, which frightened Zhang Xichong and Lu Wenjin. Lu Wenjin chose to continue fleeing south and went to Huainan; while Zhang Xichong was placed in Lingzhou by Shi Jingtang, which was actually a kind of protection for Zhang Xichong.

When Lu Wenjin defected to Huainan, Shi Jingtang's regime reached a tacit consensus from top to bottom to turn a blind eye; and placing Zhang Xichong in Lingzhou was also a deliberate act of "the emperor is far away" so that if the Khitans demanded the return of Zhang Xichong, Shi Jingtang would have sufficient reasons to explain why he could not hand him over.

In July of the third year of Tianfu (938), Feng Hui surrendered from Fan Yanguang's group and was appointed as the governor of Huazhou. In the first month of the fourth year of Tianfu (7), Zhang Xichong died of illness, and the Shuofang Army in Lingzhou was vacant, so Shi Jingtang moved Feng Hui to Lingzhou.

After Feng Hui took office, he did not resort to bloody means of fighting violence with violence, but instead held a banquet, prepared a rich feast, and invited ethnic minorities from the surrounding areas to the banquet. The ethnic minorities in the northwest were generous and straightforward, and they got drunk one after another, and then rushed to take out gifts and give them to Feng Hui to show their friendship, and Feng Hui also took out the generous gifts he had prepared in advance.

All of a sudden, the ethnic conflicts between the Han and Tibetans disappeared, and people of all ethnic groups put aside their past grudges, linked hands, cheered, sang and danced, "the people of the tribe were grateful for the favor" and "the Tibetans were very happy."

Previously, in order to maintain the stability of Lingzhou, the imperial court had to allocate 60 million yuan every year to transport food and military pay from the west of Tongguan to Lingzhou, which consumed a lot of manpower and material resources. The people suffered terribly, and many people left their homes. The indirect losses were incalculable. In addition, the Qiang, Di, Dangxiang and other tribes often plundered passing merchants, and the imperial court was overwhelmed.

After Feng Hui took office, he quickly became one with the various tribes. The ethnic minorities stopped robbing on the road, and the court no longer had to waste money and effort to transport food and salaries. The local people were able to farm and work. Not only did they not need the court to allocate funds and food, but they were self-sufficient and had a surplus to support the army. Feng Hui also built a number of warehouses, hotels and other facilities, which promoted the local economy. Taxes were more than before, but the burden on the people was less than before. "More salaries, no additional taxes on the people, great order within the jurisdiction", so Shi Jingtang specially issued an edict to praise him.

In one year, Feng Hui purchased 5,000 war horses from various ethnic minorities through border trade, and all the ethnic groups in the northwest were convinced and willing to accept Feng Hui's leadership. This also aroused the suspicion of the court, and "the court was worried about it."

As Feng Hui's power grew, he extended his sphere of influence to Liangzhou in Hexi. In the seventh year of Tianfu (942), a mutiny broke out in Hexi, and Li Wenqian, the governor of Hexi, was expelled. Feng Hui immediately sent his general Wu Jixing to Liangzhou to take over as governor of Hexi.

Since the Five Dynasties, Liangzhou has only been nominally under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains. In fact, the Jiedushi and other posts were established by the locals themselves, and the jurisdiction of the Central Plains dynasty here was in name only. Soon after Feng Hui arrived in Lingzhou, he not only pacified Lingzhou, but also controlled Liangzhou. This was one of the reasons why he was suspected by the court.

Now, the list of "Fifteen Generals to Defend against Liao" has been released. The 51-year-old Feng Hui expressed his dissatisfaction. In terms of seniority and military exploits, he can definitely be ranked in the top ten!
Yes, but... you are a "remnant of Fan Yanguang", and you have done an excellent job in the northwest, so excellent that I am afraid of you... I have reasons, but they are not convenient to put on the table. "Lord Sang, what do you think?"

This is nothing. Sang Weihan immediately drafted an imperial edict and sent it to Feng Hui, which roughly said: It is not that I have forgotten you, but because Shuofang is an important town in the empire, and you are the only one who can guard it in the world, I am really considering transferring you back to the inland area recently, but I can't find a genius who is both civil and military to succeed you at the moment!
Feng Hui was so happy when he received the imperial edict that he couldn't stop smiling. From then on, Feng Hui dispelled his suspicion and resentment towards the court, and this imperial edict became his spiritual companion in his later years. He would show it off to everyone he met, "Look, what the emperor said is so right! What a wise saying!"

Later (in the second year of Kaiyun, 945), Feng Hui requested to move his garrison to Bingzhou, and the court agreed. Before he even reached Bingzhou, the court changed his title to Jiedushi of Shanzhou, and Feng Hui excitedly presented the court with a thousand horses and five hundred camels.

But Feng Hui soon found out that he had been tricked by Shi Chonggui, using the old trick of promoting him in public but demoting him in private. He then began to struggle hard, and these stories will be described in detail later.

In short, Feng Hui was excluded from the "Fifteen Generals to Defend against Liao" because of suspicion from the imperial court.

In September, the Khitan launched a tentative attack on Shenzhou, north of Jizhou, but was repelled. Subsequently, the Khitan completely gave up the idea of ​​rescuing Yang Guangyuan of Qingzhou.

Li Shouzhen had besieged Qingzhou for nearly half a year. The city was out of food and grass, and many people in the city starved to death. Yang Guangyuan stood on the top of the city wall, looking anxiously to the northwest. From sunrise to sunset, he could not see any Khitan reinforcements.

(End of this chapter)