History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 73 Huang Chao's Opportunity 3
【The bow is hidden after the bird is gone】

Every upheaval is a redistribution of wealth and power. In the dangerous political game, various forces take turns to appear on the stage, wrestle with each other, and win and lose. Only one person always hides behind the scenes. Compared with him, all the characters on the stage are puppets, and he is the only real puppeteer who does not show his face.

The big boss behind the scenes was the eunuch Tian Lingzi.

Tian Lingzi possessed a unique political advantage. He was the emperor's most favored eunuch and the emperor's godfather. Emperor Xizong of Tang was his pseudonym in this political game.

Before and after the recovery of the capital, Tian Lingzi kept whispering in front of Emperor Xizong of Tang, boasting about his own achievements, such as persuading Emperor Xizong to flee to Shu and safely transporting the spirit of the previous emperor...

Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty recognized Tian Lingzi's contribution and gave him corresponding rewards. But no matter how he argued, Tian Lingzi was at most responsible for protecting the emperor, and the credit for the recovery of Chang'an could not be attributed to Tian Lingzi.

So how do we talk about the credit for the recovery? Commander-in-chief Wang Duo, deputy commander-in-chief Cui Anqian, eunuch Yang Fuguang, the chief military officer, and the generals of various vassal states.

Tian Lingzi was a shrewd and calculating man. After weighing the pros and cons, he believed that it was better for the credit to go to the eunuchs rather than the civil servants. So he vigorously promoted Yang Fuguang's contributions and belittled Wang Duo and others.

As soon as Chang'an was recovered, the commander-in-chief Wang Duo, deputy commander-in-chief Cui Anqian and others were dismissed on the grounds of "failure to defeat the enemy."

After recovering Chang'an and driving away Huang Chao, the commander-in-chief actually "failed to defeat the enemy". Kang Chengxun, who thought "what achievement did you make", should have smiled knowingly.

Tian Lingzi had a reasonable explanation for this. Chang'an was recovered by Li Keyong. Li Keyong had the merit of recovery, while Yang Fuguang had the merit of recommendation.

As a result, Yang Fuguang wrote the victory memorial. The two eunuchs, Yang Fuguang and Tian Lingzi, worked together to package Li Keyong as a great hero who liberated Chang'an.

In fact, within the eunuch forces, Tian Lingzi and Yang Fuguang had conflicting interests. The struggle between the "Tian faction" and the "Yang faction" has a long history and will continue for a long time in the future.

In order to maximize his own interests, Tian Lingzi did not hesitate to take the initiative to please Yang Fuguang and form a united front of eunuchs with him. He can be regarded as a shameless person with a long-term vision and a big picture mindset.

In terms of awards, Tian Lingzi also worked hard. Although he was "the first in Fuguang's merit", he "rewarded him lightly". Yang Fuguang received the following awards: Kaifu Yitong Sansi, Tonghua Zhizhishi, Hongnong County Duke, and the title of "Zi Zhonghui Wukuang Guoping Nangong Chen". Almost all of them were honorary titles such as "Excellent Class Cadre", "March 8 Red Flag Bearer", and "Model Worker".

Before toppling Prime Minister Wang Duo, Tian Lingzi had already toppled Prime Minister Zheng Ting and Prime Minister Zheng Congdang.

The contributions of Zheng Ting and Zheng Congdang are clearly recorded in the Old Book of Tang: "Guangming was the first to stand up for justice and cut off the head and tail of the rebels. The rebels were called the 'two Zhengs'. The restoration of national prestige was the work of the two Confucian generals."

This is the final conclusion: "The restoration of national prestige is the work of the two Confucian generals." However, the experiences of these two people are also sad.

The New Book of Tang also clearly pointed out that if there had been no hunting by Zheng, Emperor Xizong would have died long ago (Without hunting, the emperor would have died). After the "Great Victory at Longweipo", Emperor Xizong also lamented that "stupidity has limited my imagination (I know that hunting is endless, but the courage of Confucian scholars is just that)!"

Zheng Ting was impartial and just in enforcing the law, which made him a thorn in Tian Lingzi's side.

Tian Lingzi planned to use the opportunity of escorting the emperor back to Luan to use his connections to insert one of his minions into the court, but was rejected by Zheng Ting. Li Changyan, who launched the "Fengxiang Mutiny" to expel Zheng Ting, was also worried that Zheng Ting would settle accounts with him. Therefore, Tian Lingzi secretly instigated Li Changyan to threaten the court, forcing the court to dismiss Zheng Ting and exile him and order him to retire.

Xizong was in a dilemma.

Zheng Ting was aware of the overall situation and knew when to advance and retreat. He took the initiative to find Emperor Xizong and expressed his willingness to resign in order to avoid intensifying the conflict between the court and the Guanxi warlords.

So Zheng Ting handed over all his real power, retired and died of illness shortly afterwards at the age of 63.

I have a bold guess: maybe the "Fengxiang Mutiny" was Tian Lingzi's doing from the beginning. Even if it wasn't Tian Lingzi's mastermind, Li Changyan's mutiny to expel Zheng Ting just happened to be in Tian Lingzi's interest, and Tian Lingzi couldn't help but take the initiative to clean up Li Changyan's mess afterwards.

Zheng Congdang’s tragic experience was closely related to Tian Lingzi.

Zheng Congdang was stationed in Hedong and put down the rebellions of the Shatuo Li Guochang and Li Keyong, driving them into the northern Tatar tribes in one fell swoop, stabilizing the Hedong region and making outstanding contributions.

However, Tian Lingzi nitpicked and found two major "crimes" of Zheng Congdang - forming a "small court" and unclear law enforcement.

When Zheng Congdang first arrived at the town, he was given the privilege of "appointing his own generals and assistants", which allowed him to recruit his own team to cope with the ever-changing war situation. This is reasonable and not an isolated case. For example, Zheng Ting also had the privilege of "acting at his own convenience", and Wang Duo also had this privilege when he took command to recapture Chang'an.

The staff group formed by Zheng Congdang was full of talented people, including Liu Chonggui and Liu Chonglu, the seventh-generation grandsons of Liu Zhenghui, a founding hero of the Tang Dynasty.

Tian Lingzi instructed his subordinates to create public opinion, flattering Zheng Congdang and praising his team as the "small court". On the surface, he was praising them for their many talented people and hidden talents, but in fact, he was leading him into the ditch, which was insidious and vicious.

All under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the land are his subjects. Under the rule of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, how could there be tolerance for a "small court"?
In addition, the former Hedong Jiedushi Kang Chuangui died in a mutiny, and Zheng Congdang not only pardoned the general Zhang Yanqiu who participated in the mutiny, but also reused him.

Facts have proved that Zheng Congdang was right. Zhang Yanqiu was a brave and resourceful general, and he was not the one who started the mutiny. Zhang Yanqiu was grateful to Zheng Congdang for not killing him, and from then on, he devoted all his loyalty and wisdom to repeatedly make military achievements.

Of course Tian Lingzi would take things out of context.

Furthermore, Zheng Congdang could barely be considered a remnant of the "Niu Party". Because the former prime minister Linghu Tao was a student of his father Zheng Han, Linghu Tao also helped Zheng Congdang many times. Linghu Tao has been introduced many times in the previous article, and he and his father Linghu Chu are both leaders of the "Niu Party".

Look, the remnants of the "Niu Party", re-employing the rebel general who killed the Jiedushi, and even forming a "small court"... playing power games with Tian Lingzi, you, Zheng Congdang, are a scum.

Afterwards, Zheng Congdang was given military power and was asked to allocate a part of the Hedong soldiers to Zhuge Shuang, who would lead them south to fight.

Therefore, the main force of Hedong followed Zhuge Shuang to the south. Li Keyong also seized this opportunity and took advantage of the situation to invade Hedong under the banner of "fighting the enemy in accordance with the imperial edict" and plundered Hedong. This is the "Hedong Doubt" mentioned earlier, and Li Keyong went south for the first time to face the danger.

After Chang'an was recovered, Tian Lingzi appointed Li Keyong as the governor of Hedong with ulterior motives to replace Zheng Congdang.

Li Keyong's hands were stained with the blood of the people of Hedong, and he had a deep hatred with Zheng Congdang (two large-scale armed conflicts broke out), but Li Keyong was sent to Hedong. It is estimated that Tian Lingzi wanted to see a dog-eat-dog fight.

As mentioned above, Li and Zheng had a clear distinction between public and private affairs, especially Zheng Congdang, who was very righteous, and the two old rivals had long since reconciled. When Li Keyong arrived in Hedong, he and Zheng Congdang were heroes who appreciated each other, reminisced happily, and successfully completed the transfer of power before parting with tears.

Li Keyong's generosity disappointed Tian Lingzi, but it did not prevent Tian Lingzi from continuing to use his political skills. Tian Lingzi promoted Zheng Congdang in name only, demoted him in reality, gave him the empty titles of Sikong and Situ, and deprived him of his real power. A few years later, Zheng Congdang retired as the Prince's Grand Tutor and died of illness soon after.

Tian Lingzi single-handedly eliminated almost all the heroes of the "anti-pornography and anti-crime" campaign within the civil service group.

The imperial court loves to betray people; when they use you, they give you high positions and generous rewards; when they don’t use you, they treat you like a worn-out shoe; when the rabbit dies, the dog is cooked; when the bird is gone, the bow is put away…

In the process of fighting for power and profit, Tian Lingzi's greed was so ugly that he seriously distorted people's values, undermined the spiritual pillar of the Tang Dynasty's revival, toppled the powerful leader of the "war faction", and cleared the way for Huang Chao's comeback.

Outside the imperial court, the actual situation of local warlords was also powerful enough to support Huang Chao.

[No strong enemy in the north or south]

Since Huang Chao's rebellion, the vast land south of the Yellow River has suffered greatly, with numerous civil and military rebellions.
Wang Xu, a pig butcher in Shouzhou, and his brother-in-law Liu Xingquan (whose name tells us he is a tough guy, with a shooting star fist) led 500 local thugs to first attack Shouzhou, then capture Guangzhou, and establish their own territory. Wang Xu made use of the three brothers Wang Chao (Wang Shenqi and Wang Shenzhi), and a few years later the three brothers established their own territory in Fujian, and formed the Min Kingdom, which became part of the "Ten Kingdoms" in the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms";

Linhai rebel Du Xiong captured Taizhou;

Zhu Bao, a soldier and civilian of Yongjia, captured Wenzhou;

Lu Yue, a rebel from Suichang, captured Chuzhou;

When Jiangxi General Min Xu passed through Tanzhou, he expelled the governor and proclaimed himself the regent.
Wuling barbarian Lei Man seized control of Langzhou and plundered southern Jing;

Zhou Yue, a native of Zouxi, established his own regime in Hengzhou;
Zhong Chuan, a native of Gao'an, seized control of Fuzhou and Hongzhou, and was later appointed by the imperial court as the governor of Jiangxi. After Zhong Chuan left, the rebel brothers Wei Quanfeng and Wei Zaichang seized control of Fuzhou and Xinzhou;
The army in southern Jing was in chaos, and the eunuch Zhu Jingmei, the military supervisor, killed the governor Duan Yanmo;

The E-Yue Road army mutinied, and General Du Hong expelled the governor of Yuezhou and proclaimed himself governor;

The Guizhou army rebelled and expelled the governor Zhang Congxun;
During the Pinglu Rebellion, General Wang Jingwu expelled the Jiedushi An Shiru and proclaimed himself the regent.

The Zhaoyi army was in chaos, Meng Fangli established his own regime, and Li Keyong used military force for years to fight for the three states (Xing, Ming, and Ci) within the Zhaoyi jurisdiction.
Han Jian, the governor of Weizhou Army, ignored the central government, expanded the territory, and brazenly launched a war of annexation of the vassal states, attacking the Tianping Army. Cao Quanzheng, the governor of Tianping Army, was killed in the battle. Cao Quanzheng fought hard against Huang Chao's army, but did not die on the frontal battlefield against Huang Chao, but was sacrificed in the war between the vassal states;

Hezhou Governor Qin Yan expelled the Xuanshe Road Surveillance Commissioner and established his own regime...

The real highlight is still in the Huainan and Liangzhe areas:

First, Wang Ying rebelled, and then Cao Shixiong (a general under Huang Chao) attacked. The court had no choice but to allow local militias to recruit soldiers for self-defense. As a result, Zhou Bao, the governor of Zhenhai Army, recruited the "Eight Commanders of Hangzhou" on his own. The commander of "Shijing Commander" was Dong Chang, and his deputy was Qian Liu.

Although the "Eight Commanders of Hangzhou" were not regular troops in the strict sense, they were the original inhabitants of the area and shouldered the heavy responsibility of protecting the territory and the people. Therefore, they were determined and brave in battle and made many military achievements. Among them, the "Shijing Commander" performed the most outstandingly.

Gao Pian, the governor of Huainan, intended to lure and kill Zhou Bao, the governor of Zhenhai, in the name of going to Beijing to defend the king, but failed. Then, he followed the same method and deceived Dong Chang, the "Shijingdu". Dong Chang was stupid and naive and almost fell for it. Thanks to the timely reminder of his deputy Qian Liu, he escaped the disaster and occupied Hangzhou halfway and proclaimed himself the governor.

Liu Hanhong, the governor of eastern Zhejiang, was originally a general of Jingnan and stationed in Jiangling. Before the arrival of Huang Chao, he personally looted the city of Jiangling. After that, he announced his debut and officially became a bandit. He plundered Song, Yan, Shen, Guang and other states, then accepted the amnesty and became the governor of Suzhou, and was promoted to the governor of eastern Zhejiang.

Now, Liu Hanhong's ambition swelled again, and he planned to unify the Liangzhe region in one fell swoop, so he sent a large army to attack Hangzhou. From then on, the war to unify Liangzhe began.

During this period, Hangzhou general Qian Liu seized a batch of letters of appointment for the promotion of Liu Hanhong, which were addressed to the Huang Qi regime, proving that Liu Hanhong's group had secretly surrendered to Huang Chao.

By the time of the "Three Hundred Days of Chenzhou", the Liangzhe region was still in a fierce tug-of-war.

Huainan was even more lively. The governor of Huainan, Gao Pian, was a complete bastard. He was used by evil villains, alienated his subordinates, and was sidelined by the villains.

Gao Pian favored treacherous and corrupt officials, not only becoming suspicious of his former heroes, but even going so far as to kill his own nephew Gao Xun.

A military mutiny broke out in Luzhou, which was under his rule, and the general Yang Xingmi proclaimed himself the governor of Luzhou.

In short, Gao Pian and Liu Hanhong made great contributions to the chaos and separatism in the south of the Yellow River and the Jianghuai region. The court almost lost its jurisdiction over the south of the Yellow River, which also became one of the opportunities for Huang Chao to make a comeback.

At this point, we can see that Huang Chao still had the opportunity to make a comeback after withdrawing from Chang'an.

The precarious Tang Dynasty's Chengdu exile government, the court's corrupt eunuch Tian Lingzi, Qin Zongquan of the Fengguo Army who openly surrendered to the rebels, Liu Hanhong of eastern Zhejiang who secretly surrendered to the rebels, and the numerous military and civil uprisings in various places all provided Huang Chao with opportunities to turn the tables.

Unfortunately, history cannot be assumed, let alone repeated.

Huang Chao chose to fight to the death in Chenzhou, and lost nearly a year of precious time. He was finally defeated in the "Battle of Wangmandu" and finally died in Langhu Valley.

The words are divided into two parts.

However, Li Keyong personally led the Shatuo cavalry, chasing Huang Chao all the way, but lost the target at the last moment, and he himself was at the end of his strength, so he retreated in disappointment and returned to Bianzhou to rest and reorganize.

In the "Battle of Wangmandu", Li Keyong saved Zhu Wen of Bianzhou at a critical moment, and gave Bianzhou a new life. Therefore, Li Keyong regarded himself as the savior of Bianzhou, and entered the territory of Xuanwu Army with a proud attitude, "Tell Zhu Wen, I am here."

Zhu Wen should indeed thank Li Keyong.

Li Keyong did not just save Bianzhou from danger. In the "Battle of Wangmandu", Caojun generals Li Tangbin, Huo Cun, Ge Congzhou, Zhang Guiba, Zhang Guihou, Zhang Guibian and others led their troops to surrender to Zhu Wen. These people were all rare talents and became the capital for Zhu Wen's future dominance. Their stories will be presented one by one in the following text.

Zhu Wen prepared fine wine and delicious food to welcome his friend, benefactor and comrade-in-arms, Li Keyong, and to show his hospitality.

Thanks to old friends "Chifengchengyuyouqianxi", "Feitianshenlongzhan", "feitian", "book friend 151023051918540" for their continued support, and welcome new friend "Zuiaiyixiao" for your recommendation votes!
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(End of this chapter)