History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 720: Fighting in Fuzhou Again
On August 945, 8, after half a year of siege, the Huainan army launched a new round of attacks. Wang Jianfeng, the vanguard officer of Huainan, was the first to climb the wall of Jianzhou, and established the "merit of being the first to climb the wall". Jianzhou was conquered.

Wang Yanzheng surrendered to Huainan; Quanzhou reinforcement general Wang Zhongshun was killed in battle, and Dong Sian gathered the remnants and retreated to Quanzhou.

At this point, the Min Kingdom, one of the "Ten Kingdoms", was destroyed by Huainan (Southern Tang). In the last year of the Tang Dynasty (893), Wang Chao entered Fuzhou and annexed the Min area in one fell swoop. He then passed the throne to his younger brother Wang Shenzhi, and then it was inherited by Wang Shenzhi's descendants, including Wang Yanhan, Wang Yanjun, Wang Jipeng, Wang Yanxi, and Wang Yanzheng.

Although Wang Yanjun officially proclaimed himself emperor and founded the country in 933, and it has been 13 years since then, the Wang family had actually controlled the Fujian area as early as 893 and ruled the country. Therefore, it is customary to believe that the "Min Kingdom" should be counted from the time when Wang Chao ruled Fujian in 893 to the surrender of Wang Yanzheng in 945, a total of 53 years.

When the Huainan army besieged Jianzhou, the attitude of the people of Jianzhou was thought-provoking. According to records, the people of Jianzhou acted as guides, rushing to help the Huainan army cut down trees and open up roads, and welcomed the Huainan invaders as liberators.

The reason is very simple, that is, it is because of the long-term exploitation and oppression of Wang Yanzheng's group. The Wang clan has been in a long-term civil war. Wang Yanzheng used the power of one state to fight against the sky, the earth and the air, and he completely transferred all the pressure to the people, and reused "Yang Peeling" Yang Sigong to squeeze the people's bones and marrow.

The people of Jianzhou had long been unable to endure Wang Yanzheng's tyranny, so they regarded the Huainan invading army as liberators and helped them overthrow Wang Yanzheng's rule.

However, after conquering Jianzhou, the Huainan army looted, smashed, looted and burned everything. Jianzhou's palaces and people's houses were reduced to scorched earth overnight. On the night of August 8, when the city fell, it rained heavily and the temperature dropped sharply. Many Jianzhou people froze to death because they lost their houses. Historical records record that "it rained cold that night, and people who froze to death were lying on the road."

As a result, the people of Jianzhou tasted the taste of being slaves of a conquered country and were greatly disappointed and began to regret their choice.

In order to appease the emotions of the people of Jianzhou, Huainan executed "Yang Peeling" Yang Sigong.

Soon after, the Jianzhou Zhenwu Army was changed to Yong'an Army, and Wang Chongwen, the governor of Qianzhou Baisheng Army, was transferred to Jianzhou Yong'an Army. Wang Chongwen was upright, generous, and strict in law and discipline, which made him very suitable for repairing the wounds of war. It took only a short time for him to be loved and supported by the people of Jianzhou.

Wang Yanzheng moved his entire family to Huainan, and Li Jing gave him relatively generous treatment. He was first appointed as the General of the Yulin Guards (a position in the imperial army, an idle position for retirement), and later changed to the Jiedushi of Anhua Army in Raozhou. He was given the title of King of Poyang and stayed in Raozhou for nine years. Later, he was changed to King of Guangshan and posthumously named King of Fu.

After Wang Yanzheng surrendered, Tingzhou Governor Xu Wenzhen, Quanzhou Governor Wang Jixun, and Zhangzhou Governor Wang Jicheng successively offered their cities and surrendered to Huainan.

Together with Li Renda of Fuzhou, who had long since surrendered, Huainan had nominally annexed the entire territory of the Min Kingdom.

Just like Zhu Wenjin, Li Renda and Wang Yanzheng in the past, "unification" was only "in name only". The competition for interests among various forces has never stopped, which means that the final ownership of the Kingdom of Min is still an unknown.

After Quanzhou, Fuzhou and other cities were successively incorporated into the territory of Huainan, Wang Jixun, the governor of Quanzhou, wrote to Li Renda of Fuzhou to maintain relations and seek to establish friendly relations.

In Wang Jixun's view, he was a royal relative and a member of the imperial clan in the previous dynasty (Min Kingdom), while Li Renda was just a small imperial guard general. A few months ago, this kid Li Renda would have kneeled down and kowtowed to him when he saw him. But now the situation has changed and they are officials in the same dynasty (Southern Tang). He can take the initiative to humble himself and treat Li Renda as an equal, which is already a great honor to Li Renda.

However, Li Renda doesn't think so. Times have changed, and everyone should keep pace with the times.

First of all, who am I? I am "Li Hongyi", a legitimate member of the royal family, a relative of the emperor. What about you? A surrendered general of a fallen country, a dog without a home. Secondly, I am the governor of Fuzhou's Mighty Army, look at my mouth shape: Jiedushi - Dushi - Shi! You are the governor of Quanzhou, doing the work of a governor. I am three levels higher than you! Little devil.

Again, Quanzhou is under the jurisdiction of Fuzhou’s Mighty Army, which means that I am your immediate superior and your direct leader.

In short, in the previous dynasty, when I, Li Renda, saw you, Wang Jixun, I would indeed kowtow to you and pay my respects to you, but now, it’s completely the opposite. You have to kneel down in front of me and call me Master!

When Li Renda saw Wang Jixun's letter with equal courtesy, he became furious and sent his younger brother Li Hongtong (also given a name, the original name is not recorded in history) to lead an army of 10,000 to the south to attack Quanzhou.

In fact, "subordinates' impoliteness" is just an excuse. The leader may be angry, but he will not resort to large-scale military action. Through Li Renda's diplomatic efforts, it can also be seen that this person still has a certain political mind and a certain degree of scheming.

Li Renda went south to Quanzhou because Huainan had not yet formed a strong control over the four states (Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and Tingzhou). This was Li Renda's last chance to expand his power and establish his own kingdom. Finding a reason to actually control Quanzhou and other places can not only use geopolitics to contain Huainan through Wuyue, Later Jin, and Southern Han, so as to achieve the goal of establishing his own kingdom or even restoring his own country (Min Kingdom); it can also increase his political bargaining chips and bargain with Huainan Li Jing.

In short, the goal is to make the situation a fait accompli before the Huainan forces gain effective control over Fujian.

Faced with the aggressive army of Li Hongtong, a military rebellion broke out in Quanzhou.

It is "military remonstrance", not "military mutiny". A simple difference: "military remonstrance" is a commendatory word; "military mutiny" is a neutral word, and in most cases it is derogatory.

The reason was that Wang Jixun, like Wang Jichang who was killed in Fuzhou, was not popular with the army. The one who launched the military remonstration was Liu Congxiao, the leader of the "Quanzhou Uprising". Liu Congxiao was the commander-in-chief of the Quanzhou army. He said to Wang Jixun: "Li Hongtong has a strong force and is coming aggressively. The soldiers in Quanzhou are resentful of your unfair rewards and punishments and are unwilling to fight for you. You should leave your leadership position and go home to reflect on your mistakes!"

Afterwards, Liu Congxiao took over Wang Jixun's management of Quanzhou affairs. The soldiers were delighted and their morale was high, and they defeated Li Hongtong in one fell swoop.

Liu Congxiao then submitted a memorial to Li Jing, reporting the whole story and the causes of the incident, and begged Li Jing to punish him for his crime of remonstrating with his superiors.

Of course Li Jing chose to forgive him, issued an edict to appease and console him, appointed Comrade Liu Congxiao as the governor of Quanzhou, transferred Comrade Wang Jixun back to the court, and sent another army to reinforce Quanzhou.

Interpretation of Li Jing's three actions:
Fuzhou and Quanzhou were nominally the territories of Huainan. Li Renda sent troops to Quanzhou without authorization, which showed the weakness of Huainan's control over Fujian. Therefore, whether Quanzhou was a military remonstrance or a mutiny, as long as Liu Congxiao was willing to continue to be a vassal of Huainan, Huainan would definitely agree to all his requests. Liu Congxiao had actually controlled Quanzhou, and the "Quanzhou Governor" was a fait accompli.

Transferring Wang Jixun back to the central government was a way to protect Wang Jixun himself and also to keep a political pawn for Huainan, because he had the label of "a member of the royal family of the previous dynasty". In the turmoil in Fujian, this was a very valuable political asset, and it just needed a suitable opportunity.

The troops were stationed in Quanzhou, ostensibly to provide reinforcement, but in reality to monitor and control the people who stayed there.

(End of this chapter)