History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 64 Shatuo Li Keyong

The Huang Chao gang's sphere of influence was compressed into an isolated city, but the situation did not allow the Tang army to be blindly optimistic. Because with the compression of the sphere of influence, the concentration of bandits also increased unprecedentedly. The population density of Chang'an reached an incredible level.

Hundreds of thousands of bandits have taken up residence in Chang'an. A small temple is home to powerful evil spirits, and a shallow pond is home to many turtles.

As the population density increased, the primary problem it faced was food shortage. The price of food in Chang'an was outrageous: one dou of rice cost thirty strings of cash.

what is this concept?

In the early Tang Dynasty, the price of a dou of rice was about 4 wen. In one year of great harvest, a dou of rice was sold for only 2.5 wen. This was in peacetime, with good weather and good harvests. If it was a time of war or famine, it would be a different story. But even if it was "different", it would only be a few hundred wen, and it was extremely rare to reach a thousand wen.

One thousand wen is one guan, and thirty guan is thirty thousand.

In the second year of the Zhonghe reign of the Tang Dynasty (882), the price of rice in Chang'an reached an all-time high.

This price is beyond the reach of ordinary people. Either eat dirt or starve to death.

Therefore, Huang Chao's group found a new ingredient - people. Human trafficking became the most prosperous trade activity in Chang'an City. A living person could be sold for hundreds of strings of coins, with the price being determined by fatness or thinness.

Under the temptation of huge profits, the Tang Dynasty government troops also got involved, searching the mountains for fleeing civilians and then selling them to the Huang Chao Group.

Before Huang Chao's group attacked Chang'an, a scholar who came to Beijing to take the imperial examination was stranded in Chang'an due to illness. He witnessed what Huang Chao's group and the Tang Dynasty's official army did with his own eyes. After that, he successfully escaped from Chang'an and came to Luoyang. After a year of polishing, he combined his own experience and created a long poem, recording this long period of history.

This scholar was named Wei Zhuang. His epic masterpiece is the famous "Song of the Qin Woman", which is another monument after Du Fu's "Three Elegies and Three Farewells" and Bai Juyi's "Song of Everlasting Sorrow". It is also known as the "Three Wonders of Yuefu" together with "The Peacock Flies Southeast" and "The Ballad of Mulan".

This narrative poem is like a picture scroll, depicting the whole process of Huang Chao's gang's entry into Chang'an, which is the story we mentioned earlier. It is very exciting, but due to limited space, it is impossible to copy the entire text. Only some words and sentences are excerpted for your appreciation:

"On the fifth day of the twelfth month of the Gengzi year the year before last..." In the first year of Guangming (880), the Gengzi year, Huang Chao captured Tongguan and invaded Chang'an;
"Blood is boiling in every house, and cries of injustice are shaking the earth everywhere..." This paragraph uses a writing technique similar to "buy a fine horse in the east market, buy a saddle in the west market, buy a bridle in the south market, and buy a long whip in the north market", describing the tragic experiences of the women in the four neighborhoods: the beautiful woman in the east was abducted by the grass army, the chaste woman in the west was killed on the spot, the newly married bride in the south was beheaded, and the woman in the north took off her makeup and ran away, but was burned to death on the beam...

"He has dishevelled hair and dirty face, and his eyebrows are still red... His clothes are reversed and his speech is different, and his face is full of boasting and carvings... He wears a gorgeous hairpin with his short hair, and does not take off his court clothes and wraps himself in an embroidered quilt. He holds an ivory tablet upside down as one of the three ministers, and wears a goldfish pendant upside down as two historians. In the morning, he hears the music and answers entering the court, and in the evening, he hears the noise coming to the wine market."

This section is a snapshot of the core leadership of the Huang Qi regime. They are unkempt like the Red Eyebrow Bandits, speak foreign dialects, have tattoos on their faces, and wear a human costume. They also imitate humans by wearing gorgeous hairpins, holding tablets, and wearing goldfish bags. However, they don't grow their hair long, hold the tablets upside down, and wear the goldfish bags upside down. They are unaware that they have made a fool of themselves. They attend court meetings during the day, and after court breaks, they go to bars in groups of three or five to dance and party... They are not Central Committee members at all, they are clearly a group of demons.

"One dou of gold and one dou of millet... Shang Rang ate wood bark in the kitchen, and Huang Chao cut human flesh on the plane." This is the situation we just mentioned. There was a food shortage in Chang'an, and even Huang Chao and Shang Rang could only eat human flesh, grass roots and tree bark to fill their stomachs.

Seeing that the two armies were about to reach a stalemate in Chang'an again, Wang Zhongrong was very worried, fearing that the night would be long and full of troubles.

The military supervisor eunuch Yang Fuguang also considered the seriousness of the problem. Unlike Wang Chongrong's long sighs, Yang Fuguang found a way to solve the problem - restarting Li Keyong.

Li Keyong, son of Li Guochang, was a Shatuo. During the "Pang Xun Rebellion", the imperial court recruited Shatuo cavalry to suppress the rebellion. The Shatuo chieftain Zhuye Chixin fought bravely and made countless contributions. He was rewarded according to his merits and was promoted to the governor of Zhenwu Army and given the name "Li Guochang".

After Li Guochang arrived at the town, he became arrogant because of his achievements and killed officials appointed by the imperial court. However, the imperial court was in serious internal and external troubles and could only tolerate Li Guochang's arrogance.

Li Guochang and his son became more and more aggressive, and taking advantage of the turmoil in the Central Plains, they developed the evil intention of establishing their own separatist regime.

In the fifth year of Qianfu (878), the armies of Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao wreaked havoc across the country, seriously affecting the court's finances. Famine also broke out in the Daibei region, causing serious problems with logistics supplies.

The Defense Commissioner of Datong at that time was Duan Wenchu. He had a history of collecting empty salaries and exploiting the garrison troops in Annan. Now he was back to his old ways, drastically cutting the supply of food and other materials to the troops, causing great resentment in the army.

General Li Jinzhong (what an ironic name) secretly allied with generals Xue Zhiqin, Kang Junli, Li Cunzhang and others, plotted a mutiny, and supported Li Guochang and his son as their leaders.

In February, Li Jinzhong and others incited the soldiers' discontent and launched a mutiny. They executed Duan Wenchu ​​by slow slicing, and then recommended Li Keyong to take charge of military affairs. Li Keyong submitted a memorial to the court, claiming to be "the governor of Datong Defense".

In that era, this was a typical routine for a mutiny. Expel or execute the superior, then call yourself "Liu Hou", submit a report to the court, and report your work. The court would most likely take a tolerant attitude, go with the flow, and officially issue a letter of appointment, acknowledging the mutiny. After a year or so, the "Liu Hou" would be officially promoted.

To Li Keyong's surprise, the central government, which was exhausted by the Cao army, rejected his request. So Li Guochang and his son started a double act with the court.

Li Guochang submitted a memorial to the court, severely condemning his son's rebellious behavior and requesting the court to send another Datong Defense Envoy. He also stated that if this little bastard Li Keyong dared to disobey orders, he would personally lead his troops to attack him and sacrifice his own relatives for the sake of justice. He would never betray the grace of the Tang Dynasty in order to protect his son!
As expected, the court appointed Lu Jianfang as the new Defense Commissioner of Datong, and asked Li Guochang to tell Li Keyong that as long as he was obedient and did not cause trouble, the court would definitely arrange an official position for him that would satisfy him.

When Lu Jianfang went to the town, Li Keyong closed himself off and refused to receive him.

So the court made another move, which directly defeated the Li father and son: Lu Jianfang and Li Guochang moved their garrisons to each other, letting Lu Jianfang go to Zhenwu and Li Guochang go to Datong.

It depends on whether you, Li Guochang, leave or not, and whether you, Li Keyong, accept it or not.

A transfer order exposed the hypocrisy of the Li father and son.

Li Guochang could no longer pretend, so he tore up the imperial edict in front of the people, killed the eunuchs who supervised the army, and formally raised the banner of rebellion.

Led by Li and his son, the Shatuo rebels marched southwards to attack and plunder, targeting Taiyuan Prefecture in Hedong, and war broke out in Hedong.

The imperial court mobilized the Zhaoyi Army, the Lulong Army, and the Tuyuhun and other tribes to support the Hedong Army.

This "Shatuo Mutiny" and the "Huang Chao Uprising" were separated by the Yellow River, echoing each other from north to south.

In February of the first year of Guangming (880), the Hedong army was defeated by the Shatuo rebels, so they launched a mutiny and killed Kang Chuangui, the governor of Hedong. At the end of the same year, Huang Chao entered Chang'an.

Therefore, one of the reasons why Huang Chao was able to thrive in the south of the Yellow River was that the rebellion caused by Shatuo Li Keyong in the northern region of the Yellow River seriously distracted the court's attention.

After Kang Chuangui died for his country, Prime Minister Zheng Congdang was appointed as the governor of Hedong and took charge of suppressing the rebellion.

Under the command of Zheng Congdang, the government troops finally defeated the Shatuo rebels. Li Guochang and Li Keyong led the remnants to flee north and seek refuge with the Tatar tribe.

The Tuyuhun chieftain Helian Duo bribed the Tatars, wanting them to kill the two Lis just as Gongsun Kang in Liaodong killed the two Yuans, to pay tribute to "Guo Jia's legacy to conquer Liaodong."

However, Li and his sons were not like Yuan brothers. Li Keyong was skilled in archery and horse riding. At the age of 13, he could kill two birds with one arrow. His archery skills were superb and his martial arts were unparalleled. Therefore, when he went out with the Tatar chiefs, he deliberately showed off his martial arts, often performing shooting horse whips from a distance of steps, and even more exaggeratedly shooting pine leaves. The Tatar chiefs were intimidated by the force and did not dare to act rashly.

Li Keyong took the opportunity to invite the Tatar tribal chiefs to drink and eat.

After drinking, Li Keyong suddenly burst into tears. The Tatar chiefs hurriedly asked him what was on his mind that made a seven-foot-tall man cry.

Li Keyong said: "My father and I have always been devoted to serving our country, but we were slandered and forced to go into exile here. Now, I heard that the bandit Huang Chao has crossed the Huai River and will be a great threat to the Central Plains in the future. By then, the court will surely pardon my sins and allow my father and I to make up for our crimes. By then, my father and I will join hands and go south to build our careers! Who wants to live in the desert all their lives?"

He beautified his actions and expressed two meanings in a tactful way: I will not covet the Tatars, my ambition is to go to the Central Plains; when we go south to fight the bandits, we can rob them with a legitimate reason.

As a leader, you must learn how to hold meetings, both large and small. In large meetings, you talk big, about morality, and national justice; in small meetings, you talk small, about thieves, prostitutes, and personal interests.

Gentlemen are concerned with righteousness, while villains are concerned with profit. After all, moral models, saints and gentlemen who truly break away from vulgar tastes and do not seek personal gain but only benefit others are rare.

So as an individual who only cares about himself, of course you can just talk about righteousness, but if you are a team leader, you have to take the feelings of ordinary people into consideration.

After hearing these heartfelt words, the Tatar chiefs felt relieved.

Sure enough, within a few months, Huang Chao invaded Chang'an and proclaimed himself emperor.

Emperor Xizong fled to Sichuan and asked Zheng Ting of Fengxiang to take on the important task of stopping Huang Chao and recovering the capital. Zheng Ting issued a letter to all directions, calling on the vassal states to raise troops to defend the emperor.

(End of this chapter)