History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 716: Three States Uprising
“Brothers killing each other is against the will of heaven and against morality, for one thing;
The second reason is that taxes are heavy and labor service is unrestrained.

The third is to mobilize the people to serve as soldiers and make them feel sad and resentful when traveling.

Yang Sigong imposed heavy taxes and levied heavy taxes, but the people blamed the emperor for his hatred.
The territory is narrow, too many prefectures and counties are set up, and the increase of officials makes the people suffer.
Only greedy to go south, but let the back fall into the threat of Liangzhe and Huainan, six;
Extorting rich families and throwing those who could not pay the rent and taxes into prison, seven;
Fish, rice, and vegetables were also taxed, and although the money collected was not much, the people were quite dissatisfied.

Neighboring Liangzhe and Huainan, but since ascending the throne, he has not sent envoys or established diplomatic relations.
The decoration of the palace is too extravagant, tenth. "

These ten points are slightly repetitive, but their meanings are very common and easy to understand. To put it simply, they are about warmongering, pretentiousness, and ostentation.

For example, upgrading Jiangle County and Yongping Town to "zhou" is a small move that is actually very costly. As Pan Chengyou pointed out, by upgrading counties and towns to zhou, the county magistrate and town magistrate became mayors, officials at all levels were upgraded on the spot, and the corresponding government agencies and institutions were also upgraded, which means that the government's various expenditures also rose to a new level out of thin air. This is the so-called increase in officials and burden on the people.

Pan Chengyou tried hard to persuade and remonstrate with Wang Yanzheng, but Wang Yanzheng became furious again and stripped Pan Chengyou of all his official positions. He ordered him to retire and go home to reflect on his mistakes.

Upon hearing the news that Zhu Wenjin had killed the emperor and established himself as the emperor, Wang Yanzheng immediately sent the commander-in-chief (military commander) Wu Chengyi downstream to attack Fuzhou, but failed again.

It has to be said that Wang Yanxi’s upgrade of Fuzhou’s city defense system was very thorough.

After half a year of rest, Wang Yanzheng made a comeback and sent Chen Jingjian to lead 3,000 troops to station in Youxi County and Gutian County, and sent Lu Jin to lead 2,000 troops to station in Changxi.

This military action was well thought out. There was no rush to capture Fuzhou, but rather to first control the strategic locations and create momentum.

Although Wang Yanzheng was a rebel during Wang Yanxi's period, compared with Zhu Wenjin today, Wang Yanzheng is a legitimate heir, the son of Taizu, and a member of the royal family of the Yan generation.

Wang Yanzheng's group had an advantage in politics, but was at a disadvantage in military, economic, etc. Therefore, the correct thinking of Wang Yanzheng's group should be to avoid war rather than seek it, and Zhu Wenjin should seek a decisive battle to achieve his goal in one battle.

Under Wang Yanzheng's momentum, the situation turned around: Quanzhou, Zhangzhou and Tingzhou all expressed their allegiance to Wang Yanzheng of Jianzhou.

【Quanzhou】

The biography of the commander of Quanzhou, Comrade Liu Congxiao, begins with the words "serving his mother and brother with filial piety and respect for elders". Old drivers all know what that means. Liu Congxiao is a good comrade.

Liu Congxiao privately gathered his close friends Wang Zhongshun, Dong Sian, and Su Guanghui, and said, "Zhu Wenjin slaughtered the Wang royal family and sent his trusted minions to rule the states. His Sima Zhao's intentions are known to the world. We have been blessed by the Wang royal family for generations. At this critical moment, how can we betray ourselves and follow the enemy? Moreover, once Wang Yanzheng takes control of Fuzhou, how can we face Wang Yanzheng? Even if we die to apologize, we will be ashamed of our ancestors in the afterlife!"

Everyone unanimously agreed to keep Liu Congxiao's idea and secretly discussed the next plan.

After discussion, everyone gathered their best friends and gathered 52 trustworthy leaders. Liu Congxiao invited everyone to his home for a drink under the pretext of a colleague dinner.

After three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, Liu Congxiao held the wine glass and scanned the crowd, deceiving everyone: "I just got the news that Wang Yanzheng has conquered Fuzhou and is going to issue an edict to us to kill Huang Shaopo (the governor of Quanzhou appointed by Zhu Wenjin). I observed your appearance, each of you is dignified and extraordinary, not like those who have lived in poverty for a long time. Listen to me, wealth and glory are in front of you; otherwise, disaster is imminent!"

After an impassioned speech, the fifty-two warriors were so excited that they expressed their willingness to kill Huang Shaopo and swear allegiance to Wang Yanzheng on the spot.

So, they climbed over the wall and broke into Huang Shaopo's house at night with sticks in hand, captured Huang Shaopo alive, and then beheaded him. Liu Congxiao packed Huang Shaopo's head and asked Chen Hongjin, the deputy commander of the war (deputy military commander), to deliver it to Jianzhou overnight and present it to Wang Yanzheng. At the same time, Liu Congxiao took the official seal of the prefecture and went to Wang Jixun's house to ask him to come out and preside over Quanzhou affairs; Liu Congxiao called himself the commander-in-chief of the bandit suppression (the general commander of the bandit suppression).

Wang Jixun's father was Wang Yanmei, his grandfather was Wang Shengui, and Wang Shenzhi was his great-uncle. Because his blood relationship was relatively distant, he was not on Zhu Wenjin's massacre list.

Chen Hongjin carried Huang Shaopo's head to Youxi and encountered thousands of Fuzhou soldiers. The Fuzhou soldiers blocked his way. Chen Hongjin shouted at them: "The army of justice has killed Zhu Wenjin. I have been ordered to travel day and night to Jianzhou to welcome our new king. What do you mean by stopping me? When our new king, Comrade Yan Zheng, comes, how will you explain it?" After that, he held up Huang Shaopo's head.

The Fuzhou soldiers did not care whether the head belonged to Huang Shaopo or Zhu Wenjin, they all fled in a hurry. Several leading generals took the initiative to join Chen Hongjin's team and went with him to Jianzhou to report their achievements and ask for rewards.

When Wang Yanzheng received the news of the Quanzhou uprising, he was very happy and immediately appointed Wang Jixun as the governor of Quanzhou and concurrently the minister of the court; Liu Congxiao, Chen Hongjin, Wang Zhongshun, Dong Sian and others were all promoted to the commander-in-chief.

Under the demonstration effect of the Quanzhou Uprising, Zhangzhou and Tingzhou also put order and joined the camp of Wang Yanzheng of Jianzhou.

【Zhangzhou, Tingzhou】

After Zhangzhou general Cheng Mo received the news of the Quanzhou uprising, he executed the governor Cheng Wenwei and supported Wang Jicheng to temporarily take over the post of governor.

Wang Jicheng's background is unknown. Historical records only say that he was Wang Yanzheng's "nephew", perhaps a nephew or an adopted son. If he was a nephew, he might be similar to Wang Jixun, whose grandfather was Wang Chao or Wang Shenqi, not Wang Shenzhi.

In short, the rebel generals did not dare to presume to claim to be the governor, and could only support a member of the Wang clan.

Tingzhou governor Xu Wenzhen also promptly submitted a memorial expressing his allegiance to Jianzhou Wang Yanzheng.

At this point, Wang Yanzheng controlled four of the five prefectures of Min Kingdom, leaving only Fuzhou.

【Fuzhou Uprising】

When Zhu Wenjin heard the news of the Quanzhou uprising, he panicked. The rapid change of situation in the three states meant the collapse of Zhu Wenjin's puppet regime and his doomsday was approaching.

Zhu Wenjin was unwilling to give up. He wanted to make a last-ditch effort to reverse the situation.

He took out a large amount of money and recruited 20,000 motley crowd, led by Lin Shouliang and Li Ting'e, to counterattack Quanzhou. The sound of war drums could be heard for hundreds of miles, and the momentum was huge. Wang Yanzheng sent General Du Jin to lead 20,000 people to rescue.

The Quanzhou defender Liu Congxiao went out of the city to fight, defeated the Fuzhou soldiers, killed Lin Shouliang, and captured Li Ting'e alive.

I wish all my book friends a happy New Year’s Day. A new year brings a new beginning. Choudan announces a change of era name and general amnesty…

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(End of this chapter)