History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 735: Tanlang Division
The great leader's evaluation is "morality like a fool." It hits the nail on the head.

Ma Xiguang was simply a replica of Duke Xiang of Song, "admiring the empty words of Duke Xiang of Song", which led to the disaster of Yuan Tan. So it was natural for him to die and his country to be destroyed (a gentleman said that it was appropriate for him to die and his country to be destroyed).

In the twelfth month of 950 AD, Ma Xi'e won the civil war in Southern Chu and took control of Tanzhou. At the same time, Guo Wei proclaimed himself emperor and established the Later Zhou Dynasty, changing the reign title to "Guangshun".

The change of color in the Central Plains was a great thing for the new Ma Xi'e regime. Because the Later Han regime overthrown by Guo Wei was a "pro-Guang faction" and had never recognized Ma Xi'e's political status, and even attempted armed intervention. In terms of politics and diplomacy, Ma Xi'e was the opposite of the Later Han.

Guo Wei was also an opponent of the Later Han Dynasty, and the troops sent by the Later Han Dynasty to support Ma Xiguang were transferred back by Guo Wei. In theory, Guo Wei was a natural ally of Ma Xi'e. Now that the two of them had almost taken up leadership positions at the same time, it was appropriate to take this opportunity to recognize each other and restore friendly diplomatic relations.

However, Ma Xi'e still maintained hostility towards the newly born Later Zhou regime in the Central Plains and continued to pay tribute to Huainan. He sent his chief aide Liu Guangfu to visit Huainan, pay tribute to Huainan, and use Huainan's reign title "Bao Da 9th Year" to show that he was loyal to Huainan and could not coexist with the Central Plains dynasty Later Zhou.

This is a big failure of Ma Xi'e.

After Ma Xi'e took control of Tanzhou, he became complacent and lost all ambition, and began to live a licentious and immoral life.

He fought for three years and took control of Tanzhou, but he only lasted less than a year. This is very surprising, because generally speaking, the "second generation curse" only happens to pure second generation, and once the second generation usurps power through a long civil war, in theory, he also won the world with his own strength like his father and brother, and usually has the temperament of a founder and pioneer, such as Zhu Di, the Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty.

But the speed at which Ma Xi'e fell into corruption and degeneration was simply jaw-dropping. He explained to us what it means to be a "villain who succeeds."

After seizing power, Ma Xi'e immediately launched a purge and expanded it. Not only did the "pro-Guangdong faction" suffer a counterattack, but anyone who had offended Ma Xi'e before, or anyone he hated or disliked, was put on the death list.

Historical records record that he "relied on old grudges and killed without restraint." People with confidence are tolerant, while people with low self-esteem are cruel. Ma Xi'e had a low self-esteem.

Secondly, he indulged in alcohol and debauchery. In this regard, his perversion was simply unbearable to watch, and his every move was restricted.

He had a household servant named Xie Yanyong (also known as Xie Yanze and Xie Yanqin). The young man had a sleek, powdered face and was a typical handsome guy, and was deeply loved by Ma Xi'e.

Comrade Xie Yanyong took advantage of this favor to act tyrannically, disregard the rules and regulations, and behave recklessly. The more he did this, the more Ma Xi'e liked him, and he was promoted to a minor gatekeeper.

According to the rules, when the king was entertaining his ministers, the job of the gatekeeper was to stand guard at the door with weapons in hand to protect the dignitaries in the room. But Ma Xi'e called him to take a seat, and his seat was above the generals, who felt insulted.

Comrade Xie Yanyong was so carried away that he even behaved frivolously and spoke licentiously to Ma Xichong, which made Ma Xichong very angry. Ma Xi'e devoted himself to debauchery and had no time and energy to care about state affairs, so he handed over the military and political power to Ma Xichong. Ma Xichong also had a special liking for corruption and depravity, so he subcontracted the military and political power to his subordinates. As a result, the politics of Southern Chu was dark and full of corrupt officials.

Since the treasury of Tanzhou had been looted by the rebels, Ma Xi'e had to order the people to be plundered in order to reward the soldiers. Ma Xi'e believed that allowing looting was already an administrative appropriation, so he was careless about the details of the reward. Not only did the amount not meet the soldiers' expectations, but there was also a serious problem of uneven distribution of the spoils. The soldiers were full of complaints, and even the direct troops of Langzhou were full of complaints, so much so that they had second thoughts.

The people were dissatisfied, the army was dissatisfied, the civil and military generals were dissatisfied...this was evident from Ma Xi'e's short-lived rule.

Because the palace had been burned down by fire during the Battle of Tanzhou, Ma Xi'e ordered his most trusted men - Langzhou Commander Wang Kui and Deputy Commander Zhou Xingfeng - to lead more than a thousand men to rebuild it.

The project was time-sensitive, the tasks were heavy, and it was voluntary labor, with no reward. The soldiers were extremely dissatisfied and complained privately: "Only pardoned death row prisoners would do this kind of hard labor. We followed the king and survived many deaths. We finally captured Tanzhou. Even if we have no merit, at least we are not criminals, right? We are treated like animals every day, but the king is obsessed with luxury and does not understand our hardships at all!"

After hearing these remarks, Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng also discussed privately, "The people are full of resentment. We must make plans early, otherwise disaster will come!"

In the early morning of March 3, Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng led their troops and fled back to Langzhou overnight.

Ma Xi'e was already drunk at this time, and none of the attendants dared to wake him up. It was not until the next day when Ma Xi'e woke up from his hangover that the attendants reported to him the news that Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng had returned without permission. Ma Xi'e hurriedly sent Tang Shizhu to lead more than a thousand people to chase them, and they chased them all the way to Langzhou.

Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng set up an ambush in advance and almost wiped out the pursuing troops. Tang Shizhu fled back to Tanzhou alone.

After returning to Langzhou, Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng dismissed Ma Guangzan, the governor of Langzhou, and supported Ma Guanghui as the acting governor, and then supported him as the governor of Langzhou. Ma Guanghui was the son of Ma Xizhen, the eldest son of Ma Yin.

Less than three months after Ma Xi'e took over Tanzhou, a rebellion broke out in the revolutionary base of Langzhou. Ma Xi'e sent a request for assistance to the suzerain state of Huainan, asking them to help quell the rebellion.

But Huainan has his own problems and his own ideas:
First, the war to conquer Fujian had emptied the national treasury, leaving the country short of money;

Second, Huainan actually got less than half of the Min Kingdom. The richest Fuzhou was occupied by the Wuyue Kingdom, and Quanzhou and Zhangzhou were occupied by Liu Congxiao. The only two states that really fell into Huainan's pocket were Jianzhou and Tingzhou.
Third, Huainan fought with Wuyue to recapture Fuzhou, but failed, and its commander, Cha Wenhui, was captured alive by Wuyue.
Fourth, Huainan suffered a rare famine, and a large number of hungry people were forced to flee to the territory of the Later Zhou Dynasty to beg for food, which has been mentioned in the previous article. Under the glamorous surface, there was a dilemma of being stretched to the limit;
Fifth, Guo Wei completed the integration of the Central Plains. The Later Zhou Empire was in the ascendant and in full swing, while the Khitan to the north was in a relatively weak position. There was a possibility that the Later Zhou would march south to conquer the Huai River.
Sixth, Huainan had just launched a tentative attack on the Later Zhou Dynasty, resulting in heavy losses.

The seventh point is Huainan’s real intention: they intend to annex Southern Chu. This will be discussed later.

(End of this chapter)