History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 736 Tanlang Divide 2
Li Jing of Huainan did not send troops to support, but instead sent envoys with rich gifts to Langzhou for negotiations. He promised high positions and generous salaries to Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng in the hope of peacefully resolving the Langzhou mutiny.

Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng accepted all the gifts and sent the envoys back to Huainan. As for peace talks, they were sorry, they were not interested.

Huainan, who was tricked, was very magnanimous and did not pursue the matter.

Not long ago, Ma Xi'e sent his chief strategist Liu Guangfu to pay tribute to Huainan. Li Jing treated Liu Guangfu warmly, and Liu Guangfu secretly reported to Li Jing that the people of Southern Chu were "tired and the ruler was arrogant, and they could be taken", and they were selling out their master for glory. So Li Jing ordered Bian Hao, the governor of Xinzhou, to station troops in Yuanzhou (now Yichun City, Jiangxi Province), ready to wait for an opportunity to invade Hunan.

From this we can also see that Ma Xi'e's failure in diplomacy and his refusal to submit to the Later Zhou Dynasty and to Huainan was indeed a major strategic mistake of Southern Chu. What is even more horrifying is the team building of Ma Xi'e's group, with his direct advisers betraying their masters for fame and fortune and his direct generals separatist and hegemonic powers. It would be a miracle if Ma Xi'e could last long.

But Ma Guanghui, the eldest grandson of Langzhou, had the characteristics of his two uncles: he was cowardly and incompetent like Ma Xifan, and indulged in wine and sex like Ma Xi'e. In just three months, he lost the support of all the generals and was deposed by Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng in June.

The two thought that Liu Yan, the governor of Chenzhou, was brave in battle and famous among the surrounding barbarian tribes, so they recommended him as the new leader. Liu Yan was originally a general under Peng Gan, the governor of Jizhou, and followed Peng Gan into Chu. He was appointed as the governor of Chenzhou during the reign of Ma Xifan.

Liu Yan did not want to be involved in this dispute, but he was in the Jianghu and had no choice. He told his subordinates that Wang Kui and others were arrogant and difficult to control. If he did not agree, they would definitely mobilize their troops to attack him. If I don't go to hell, who will? So he went to Langzhou alone, and was recommended by Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng as the governor of Langzhou. Then he submitted a petition to the suzerain state Huainan, requesting a formal letter of appointment.

Just half a year after the unification of Southern Chu, the political problem of "two Chu states, one calm and one bright" emerged again. Huainan did not recognize it and insisted that Ma Xi'e was the only legitimate ruler of Southern Chu.

As a result, Wang Kui and others turned to the Later Zhou Dynasty and submitted to it.

Ma Xi'e's unfair rewards and punishments caused dissatisfaction among the generals, one of whom was Xu Keqiong, who betrayed Ma Xiguang. According to records, after Ma Xi'e conquered Tanzhou, he did not give Xu Keqiong any reward.

The solution to this problem was simple, that is, to reissue the reward. However, Ma Xi'e sent Xu Keqiong to be the governor of Mengzhou to guard against a possible coup by Xu Keqiong.

At the same time, Commander-in-Chief Xu Wei and others were sent to set up camp in the northwest of Tanzhou to guard against attacks from Langzhou.

These troops also did not receive any rewards, and the soldiers complained, their morale was low, and they were even planning a mutiny. Ma Xi Chong learned of the mutiny plot, but kept silent, preparing to use this mutiny to achieve his own small life goals.

On September 9, Ma Xi'e held a banquet for civil and military officials, but Xu Wei and others were not among the invited. Just like Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng's troops, Xu Wei and others were furious. They were not there when they enjoyed themselves, but they were indispensable when they were treated like dogs and animals. Xu Wei and others decided to launch a mutiny.

Ma Xicong received the news in advance. He was among the invited guests, but he lied that he was ill and did not attend the banquet.

Xu Wei and others first sent people to drive more than a dozen fierce horses to the outside of the headquarters. These carefully selected fierce horses were not easy to deal with. They were the problem children and irritable youths in the horse world. They would kick and bite other horses when they were not satisfied. These seemingly useless fierce horses had a place to use today.

There was toasting and drinking in the headquarters building, while at the same time, a dozen horses outside broke out into a fierce fight that the guards were unable to control.

At this time, Xu Wei and his trusted subordinates, holding axes and sticks, claimed to be here to drive stakes and tie horses, and were naturally let into the headquarters by the guards. Afterwards, Xu Wei led his subordinates straight into the banquet hall, swinging axes, chopping anyone they saw, killing anyone who stood in their way.

Ma Xi'e tried to escape by climbing over the wall, but was captured alive by Xu Wei. His "boyfriend" Xie Yanyong was also captured alive, and the soldiers sliced ​​him into pieces on the spot.

Afterwards, Xu Wei and others supported Ma Xichong to succeed him. Obviously, Ma Xichong was the mastermind of this mutiny.

Ma Xicong ordered Peng Shihao to place Ma Xi'e under house arrest in Hengshan County.

When Liu Yan of Langzhou heard the news of the mutiny in Tanzhou, he immediately led his army south, claiming that he was attacking Ma Xichong, who had usurped the throne. Traitors attack traitors.

Ma Xichong was terrified and sent 2,000 troops to meet the enemy. At the same time, he sent envoys to communicate and proposed that he was willing to divide the country and govern it separately, and live in peace.

Liu Yan summoned his subordinates to discuss the matter.

His chief strategist Li Guanxiang said: "There can't be two suns in the sky, and there can't be two rulers in a country. The road of two Chu countries is not feasible. Ma Xichong doesn't have his own direct troops. The generals and soldiers in Tanzhou are basically Ma Xi'e's direct troops, so... come over and whisper, this is this, this is this."

Li Guanxiang proposed a vicious plan to Liu Yan: first express his willingness to accept the peace talks, but Ma Xichong must show his sincerity, that is, to kill all of Ma Xi'e's direct generals and use their heads as a token of surrender. In this way, Ma Xichong will have two choices, to kill or not to kill.

If we don't kill him, then we can justifiably capture Tanzhou.

If we kill him, there will be two results. One is that he successfully completes the massacre, then the combat effectiveness of Tanzhou will be completely destroyed, and we can take advantage of the opportunity and take it down in one blow. The other is that his massacre will trigger a mutiny again, and the combat effectiveness of Tanzhou will be greatly affected, and we can still easily take it down.

Liu Yan's supporters were Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng, who were Ma Xi'e's direct subordinates.

Wang Kui was originally a soldier in Langzhou. He gradually rose from an ordinary soldier to the commander of Langzhou. In the Battle of Tanzhou, Wang Kui was the vanguard of the siege. Zhou Xingfeng's background was even worse. He was originally a ruffian in Langzhou. He was idle, had no job, and was not filial to his parents (he was a scoundrel and did not work for his family). He also broke the law and was sent to exile as a prisoner. Later, he was gradually promoted to the deputy commander of Langzhou because of his bravery in combat.

Although Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng were from the "direct line of Langzhou", their reputation and status were not high in Ma Xi'e's team. And the Liu Yan they promoted was a surrendered general. To put it bluntly, he followed Peng Gan to live under someone else's roof and asked Nan Chu to take him in.

Therefore, most of Ma Xi'e's civil and military veterans looked down on the three of them and found it difficult to lower their posture and coexist peacefully with them. That's why Li Guanxiang proposed this vicious plan.

Ma Xichong was a typical person who was good at civil wars but not good at foreign wars. He was brave in private fights but timid in public wars. He overthrew Ma Xi'e through conspiracy and trickery, but he obeyed Liu Yan's lies and did not think there was any problem at all. After receiving Liu Yan's request, he immediately arrested Ma Xi'e's meritorious old subordinates:
The great strategist Yang Zhongmin, Liu Guangfu and more than ten other generals were all beheaded and their heads were packed and sent to Langzhou.

Recently, my child suddenly had a fever. After checking the nucleic acid, it was not COVID-19, so don’t worry too much, but I have to take him to get an IV drip every day. The update is unstable, so I apologize to all the book friends! I will try to catch up in a while.

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(End of this chapter)