History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 722: Destroying Fujian Ripples 1
In desperation, Li Renda changed his name again to "Li Da" (to avoid the taboo of Wuyue King Qian Hongzuo) and sent envoys to Wuyue to express his loyalty and request troops to rescue.

Historians have a very low opinion of Li Renda, "He was fickle, paying homage wherever he went, and changing his name frequently... Han Lu Bu and Jin Liu Laozhi considered Renda to be close to him." Li Renda is comparable to Lu Bu, the famous "slave of three surnames", a typical wolf cub who only cares about whoever feeds him and calls him dad everywhere.

Not only did later historians call him a capricious villain, but there were many people at that time who despised his shameless behavior. For example, in the Wuyue Kingdom, Li Renda was notorious. After receiving his request to submit, all the civil and military officials in the court almost unanimously opposed it.

Not long ago, Wuyue was invited by Jianzhou Wang Yanzheng to go south, but was killed by Wang Yanzheng outside Jianzhou City, which made Wuyue look like Zhu Bajie looking in the mirror, neither inside nor outside. With the lesson of the last battle of Jianzhou, the ministers of Wuyue were more cautious about the invitation to Fuzhou this time.

If we lose, we will definitely lose money and have to pay for our journey; but if we win, will Wuyue Kingdom benefit? Li Renda surrendered to Huainan, but ended up going to war with Huainan. If he asks Wuyue Kingdom for help in a critical moment, who can guarantee that Wuyue Kingdom will not be the next Huainan? No, no, no help.

Furthermore, Huainan had already annexed four of the five states of the Min Kingdom, leaving only Li Renda of Fuzhou lingering on. The outer city had already been conquered and its fall was imminent. From a military point of view, it would be extremely difficult to assist Fuzhou.

The risk is high and the return is small, so aiding Fuzhou is a losing deal and cannot be done.

However, at the critical moment, a man named Shuiqiu Zhaoquan spoke up. He rejected all objections and firmly advocated helping Li Renda in Fuzhou.

Shuiqiu Zhaoquan has a higher realm, a bigger pattern and a longer-term vision. It is precisely because Fuzhou is in danger that we must resist the Huai River and aid Fujian at all costs!
Throughout the civil war in Min, the "Jianghuai Twins" continued to interfere. Now Huainan has controlled 80% of Min, and only Fuzhou is still resisting. If Fuzhou falls, it means that Huainan will swallow up the entire Min, and it also means that Wuyue will become a "country within a country" in Huainan. Looking at the map, Wuyue is surrounded by Huainan on the north, west, and south, and only on the east is adjacent to the sea. This is very dangerous for Wuyue.

Since Fuzhou is willing to resist and serve as the front-line battlefield against the Huai River, it is worthwhile for us to provide money, equipment and troops. After all, the war has to be fought in someone else's home, but we can have a celebration banquet at our own home.

In addition, Fuzhou paid tribute to us. Regardless of whether it was sincere or not, at least it paid tribute to us. If we did not help it, who would be willing to pay tribute to us in the future? What image would Wuyue Kingdom have on the international political stage?
In short, Shuiqiu Zhaoquan’s proposal to “resist the Huai River and aid Fujian” is similar to our original resistance to the US and aid Korea.

Great minds think alike. At this time, the King of Wu Yue was Qian Hongzuo, who was only 18 years old. At the age of 18, he was full of vigor and was ready to do something big.

Qian Hongzuo was very much like Sun Quan during the Battle of Red Cliffs. His original intention was to send troops to resist Huai and aid Fujian, but he did not expect that the court officials would oppose it. Just when Qian Hongzuo was sulking, Shuiqiu Zhaoquan's words hit the mark. Seeing Shuiqiu Zhaoquan arguing with the scholars and making a thorough analysis, he immediately announced:

"When the lips and teeth are gone, the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period does not allow us to stand by and watch others die. Since I am the Grand Marshal of the Army of the World, if I can't even relieve the disaster of my neighbor, what kind of 'Marshal' am I? I have made up my mind to resist Huai and aid Fujian. Anyone who dares to dissent will be killed!"

So he sent 30,000 troops by sea and land to rush to Fuzhou for assistance.

The timely arrival of the Wuyue reinforcements gave Li Renda in Fuzhou a shot of adrenaline. Li Renda could not wait to join forces with the Wuyue reinforcements to launch a counterattack against the Huainan occupation forces in the south city, but failed, resulting in Fuzhou being completely surrounded and cut off from contact with the outside world. The situation became even more serious.

Seeing that Fuzhou was about to fall, Huainan dispatched troops to the front in two batches. First, Dong Sian and Liu Congxiao were recruited; later, Wang Jianfeng, the governor of Xinzhou, was recruited. In the stalemate stage, the Huainan army did not gain any advantage. The commander-in-chief of Huainan on the Fuzhou front was Wang Chongwen, but whether it was the "Four Evils" Chen Jue, Feng Yanlu, and Wei Cen, or the surrendered general Liu Congxiao and Wang Jianfeng, the "first to ascend the city", they did not obey Wang Chongwen's orders. Each army fought on its own and competed for credit. Although there were many people, they were scattered and did not take care of each other, and the soldiers became alienated.

The Battle of Fuzhou began in August 946 and ended in November when Wuyue sent troops. The situation was stalemate and Huainan was stuck in the quagmire of Fuzhou until March 8. During this period, Yelu Deguang won the third Jin-Liao War, entered Bianzhou, and the Later Jin Dynasty was destroyed.

Chen Jue forged an imperial edict to send troops and forced a rebellion, which started a wrong war at the wrong time and in the wrong place. This disrupted Li Jing's established policy of uniting with the Khitan and attacking the Later Jin Dynasty, and made Huainan miss the best opportunity to get involved in the Central Plains.

But what did Huainan get?

Huainan suffered a huge fiscal deficit, and the huge military expenditure far exceeded Li Jing's budget.

Du Changye of Huainan was once the Minister of War and the Judge of Provincial Affairs in Huainan. The "Judge of Provincial Affairs" was responsible for the daily operation of the government and had access to the state's account books. Later, he was sent to Jiangzhou as an inspector. In November 946, he was transferred to the central government as the Minister of Personnel and the Judge of Provincial Affairs. When Du Changye reviewed the relevant files, he shook his head and sighed, saying that he had only been away for a few years, and half of the national treasury had been consumed. How could this be possible!

As soon as the Fuzhou battlefield entered a stalemate, Huainan's treasury had been depleted by more than half. "Annexing the Min Kingdom" brought Huainan management costs, including huge military expenditures. This was a long-term investment, and in the short term it would lose money.

The key lies in whether Huainan can survive the "short-term" cold period in a healthy manner and embrace long-term benefits.

The deadlock in Fuzhou also shook Huainan's control over other areas of the Min Kingdom.

For example, Zhangzhou.

After the battle of Fuzhou broke out, Zhangzhou general Lin Zanyao launched a mutiny. Quanzhou governor Liu Congxiao sent troops to suppress it and then let Dong Sian temporarily take over as Zhangzhou governor.

Li Jing formally appointed Dong Sian as the governor of Zhangzhou. Dong Sian's father was named Dong Zhang, and "Zhang" violated his father's taboo, so he refused the position. Li Jing changed the name of Zhangzhou to "Nanzhou", still appointed Dong Sian as the governor, and then recruited Liu Congxiao and Dong Sian to support the front line in Fuzhou.

This incident also marked that Liu Congxiao had actual control over Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. After the battle of Fuzhou ended, Liu Congxiao poisoned Dong Si'an and established his own regime in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. Li Jing was unable to control them and could only compromise and appease them. He set up the Qingyuan Army with Quanzhou as its headquarters and Liu Congxiao as the governor of the Qingyuan Army. This is a later story.

(End of this chapter)