History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 750 Good neighborliness
【Good neighborliness】

1. Anzhou "Ball Game" - Central Plains (Later Jin Dynasty)

In May 940, Li Jinquan, the governor of Anzhou and Anyuan Army of the Later Jin Dynasty, rebelled and returned to Huainan, requesting support. Xu Zhigao ordered Li Chengyu, the governor of Ezhou, and others to lead the army to support. Before leaving, Xu Zhigao reiterated the purpose of this action, which was also a political tacit understanding between the great powers, that is, they could recruit and accept the rebels, but they could not occupy the land.

For example, when Lu Wenjin defected to Huainan, the then Later Jin Dynasty not only did not stop him, but also gave him a green light. However, when Li Jinquan defected to Huainan this time, a small accident occurred. Huainan general Li Chengyu and others broke the rules of the game and attempted to take the opportunity to occupy Anzhou. After a contest, Li Chengyu was captured alive, and Huainan lost more than 4,000 people, which put Xu Zhigao in an extremely passive position in diplomacy.

In order to ease the conflict, Shi Jingtang of the Later Jin Dynasty released more than 500 captured Huainan soldiers and gave them resettlement allowances, repaying evil with kindness and sending them back to Huainan with courtesy.

This was a favor for Xu Zhigao, so he chose to refuse. He wrote a letter to Shi Jingtang, blaming the action on the personal behavior of border generals such as Li Chengyu, claiming that he was not aware of it, and therefore refused to accept the so-called "prisoners" and denounced them as traitors.

In other words, Xu Zhigao did not acknowledge this favor and sought diplomatic initiative for himself.

Xu Zhigao sent more than 500 "traitors" back to the Later Jin Dynasty, which then wrote letters to appease them and sent them back to Huainan. Huainan directly dispatched its navy and refused to accept them by force.

The essence of the two countries' passing the buck to each other is a struggle for the initiative in post-war diplomacy.

In the end, these 500 people were taken in by Shi Jingtang, and the confused 500 people finally had a home. They were survivors of the military action but victims of the diplomatic action.

After Li Jinquan, the instigator of the plot, arrived, Xu Zhigao treated him very badly.

In general, due to the existence of a strong opponent in the north - Khitan, the Later Jin Dynasty had to find ways to maintain friendly relations with Huainan.

During the period of Xu Zhigao, although Huainan and the Central Plains (Later Jin) were always at odds with each other, they were basically able to maintain a hypocritical harmony on the surface.

2. A superfluous move - Khitan

As mentioned above, the main reason why the Central Plains was willing to compromise and take the initiative to maintain friendly neighborliness with Huainan was that the Central Plains was restrained by the Khitan.

Huainan could also shamelessly say that this was a victory for its own diplomatic strategy, because Song Qiuqiu had already formulated a grand strategy for Xu Zhigao to strengthen his alliance with the Khitan and contain the Central Plains. However, this was a bit self-indulgent, because even if Huainan remained indifferent, the Khitan would threaten the Central Plains, and the Central Plains would still win over Huainan.

Therefore, in terms of diplomatic relations with the Khitan, Xu Zhigao's actions could be said to be a waste of time and effort.

3. Not being the big brother for many years - Min Kingdom

Also in 940, civil strife broke out in the neighboring Kingdom of Min to the south. Wang Yanzheng rebelled in Jianzhou and went to war with the Min Emperor Yanxi. Wang Yanzheng asked for help from the Wuyue Kingdom, but before the reinforcements from Wuyue arrived, Wang Yanzheng repelled Wang Yanxi alone, and the two brothers shook hands and reached a ceasefire agreement.

The reinforcements from Wuyue State were plotting something bad, so Wang Yanzheng and Wang Yanxi turned enemies into friends, turned the tables, and drove the reinforcements away. It was at this point in time that the mediator sent by Xu Zhigao appeared.

Therefore, the historians of Southern Tang recorded this regional arbitration with confidence and without losing their arbitrariness, allowing Southern Tang to make its presence felt in Fujian in a high-profile manner as the highest arbitrator of regional affairs. It was believed that it was due to the intervention of Southern Tang that the brothers King Yanxi and Wang Yanzheng of Fujian reached a reconciliation in front of the tomb of their father Wang Shenzhi and turned hostility into friendship.

In fact, as analyzed in detail in the previous article, the ceasefire in the Fujian Civil War had nothing to do with foreign forces. The two brothers were both considering their own interests. Even without the mediation of the Southern Tang, the two would still shake hands and make peace. The Southern Tang was still being too sentimental.

We already know what happened later. When civil strife broke out again in Min, Southern Tang also came to Min with full confidence to save face and mediate. However, it was badly slapped in the face, especially by Wang Yanzheng, who directly exposed its shortcomings and cursed it.

Nan Tang, apparently so ordinary, yet still so confident.

4. Unwavering Western Front Strategy - Southern Chu

In 941 AD, Liu Yan of Southern Han sent envoys to make an agreement with Southern Tang to jointly send troops to attack Southern Chu and then divide up the land of Southern Chu.

The attitude of Huainan towards Southern Chu has always been "I originally turned my heart to the bright moon". As detailed in the previous article, since Yang Xingmi occupied Huainan, he has actively planned his relationship with Ma Yin of Tanzhou, trying to build a "Huai-Chu Alliance". However, Ma Yin was between the two major camps of Huainan and Central Plains, and he knew that he should hold on to the thigh of Central Plains tightly. This delicate relationship between the two lasted for decades.

Objectively speaking, Huainan certainly coveted Southern Chu and had launched exploratory attacks on Southern Chu more than once. Southern Chu's military strength had also made Huainan realize the reality more than once, leading the Huainan Group to finally reach a consensus: if they wanted to take over Chu territory, they had to wait for the foals to compete for the stable.

To take a step back, even if it is really necessary to annex Southern Chu, it should be done by Huainan alone, or led by Huainan. If it is led by Southern Han, then Huainan is likely to fish in troubled waters for Southern Han.

Of course, according to later historians, Comrade Xu Zhigao loved peace and had no intention of provoking war or chaos.

For various reasons, Xu Zhigao finally rejected the enthusiastic invitation from Liu Yan of Southern Han.

5. Inseparable relationship - Wuyue Kingdom
Also in 941 AD, a strange fire occurred in the Wu Yue Kingdom - the "Lichunyuan Fire".

According to historical records, in July of the sixth year of Tianfu (941), a fire broke out in Lichunyuan. The fire quickly spread to the palace, almost razing the treasury and palace to the ground.

The supreme leader of the Wuyue Kingdom, Comrade Qian Yuanguan, was frightened and went mad (fear-induced madness), and died on August 8. The 24-year-old Qian Yuanguan was frightened to death.

The description of this fire in historical records is almost unanimous, and the words are very limited. Even the "Wu Yue Bei Shi", which describes the history of Wu Yue in the most detailed way, is the same. As mentioned above, it only has one sentence. This is a bit incredible. This accident not only reduced the "imperial palace" of Wu Yue to ashes, but also directly led to the death of the highest leader of Wu Yue. Such a shocking accident is so understated. The shorter the words, the more information it contains.

What was the cause of the fire, why did it spread so quickly to the palace, why was Qian Yuanguan frightened, and why did he go crazy?
Qian Yuanguan was not a cowardly wimp. He first appeared on the historical stage during the "Xu Wan and Xu Zaisi Rebellion". At that time, Tian Yu, a general under Yang Xingmi of Huainan, sent troops to assist in the rebellion. After negotiations, Tian Yu proposed to take Qian Liu's son as a hostage. This was a life-threatening job, and none of the disciples were willing to take the risk. At this time, Qian Yuanguan, who was only 16 years old, took the initiative to volunteer and go deep into the tiger's den.

During his time as a hostage, Tian Yu also rebelled in Huainan, and Qian Liu, for practical benefit and to repay Yang Xingmi's favor, sent troops to besiege Tian Yu and support Yang Xingmi. Tian Yu was furious and wanted to kill Qian Yuanguan many times. During the last breakout, he left a will: If this breakout fails, Qian Yuanguan must be killed!

Fortunately, Tian Yu's mother was a sensible and kind old lady who tried her best to save Qian Yuanguan, which enabled Qian Yuanguan to finally return to Hangzhou safely.

Later, in the war with Huainan, Qian Yuanguan led his troops to battle and inflicted a heavy defeat on Huainan, forcing it to make peace with Hangzhou.

Since ancient times, heroes have emerged from youth. A heroic young man like Qian Yuanguan was actually frightened to death by a fire at the age of 55.

Do you believe it?

The details of this fire, the change of supreme power in the Wu Yue Kingdom and the complicated clues involved will be presented in the following text.

When a fire broke out in Wuyue State and Qian Yuanguan became mentally ill, the civil and military officials of Huainan (led by Song Qiuqiu) urged Xu Zhigao to take advantage of the situation, believing that this was a good opportunity to annex Wuyue State in one fell swoop.

Xu Zhigao had a serious expression, showing a little disappointment and unhappiness. He was silent for a long time before speaking to Song Qiqiu at a very high level:
——"Although the territory is divided, the rule is one person."

Although they belong to different separatist regimes, they are all Chinese after all, and Chinese people do not fight against Chinese people.

——"... the slaughter is rampant, which I cannot tolerate."

God is merciful and kind. How can you see that I am a perverted murderer?
——"Provide disaster relief and make peace with neighbors, and follow the ancient way of governance,"

Humanitarian rescue has always been a code of conduct advocated by wise rulers and sages since ancient times.

——"I swear to leave my descendants to heaven, and I don't want to work hard for them."

God is watching what we do. I want to leave some virtues for future generations, and I don’t want to challenge the heavens, traditions, and moral bottom line with my mortal body.

——"Grand Minister, please do not say anything more."

Shut the fuck up!

As soon as these words came out, Xu Zhigao's great, glorious, and correct image immediately jumped out of the paper, making future generations respect him with awe. However - have you done enough bad things?

Song Qiqiu, the same mean, dirty, and shameless man, had recently given Xu Zhigao an equally despicable and shameless plan to kill Gao Ba, a member of the Khitan envoy group, and pin the blame on the Later Jin Dynasty. Didn't Xu Zhigao readily adopt it?
Not to mention the cruel treatment of the Yang clan.

This is the fascinating charm of history. Historical materials at different levels can present completely opposite truths.

Xu Zhigao severely criticized Song Qiuqiu. Not only did he not take advantage of the situation to rob Wuyue, but he also provided Wuyue with a large amount of money, food and other relief supplies to help Wuyue overcome the difficulties, which demonstrated the spirit and responsibility of a great power.

The reason why Xu Zhigao remained silent for a long time and finally rejected Song Qiuqiu's proposal may of course be that Xu Zhigao really had a kind heart and did not want the people of Jianghuai to suffer tragically, but there was another meaning behind it that was not convenient to make public.

First of all, Wuyue was not a lazy and lazy country. A sudden fire would cause very limited damage to the entire Wuyue. Qian Liu of Hangzhou and Yang Xingmi of Huainan almost simultaneously ruled Jianghuai, half a century ago. Although Wuyue was not as strong as Huainan, it was still a strong opponent that should not be underestimated. Since Yang Xingmi, the two sides had fought numerous conflicts, big or small, and were evenly matched. Annexing Wuyue was not a small project, and Xu Zhigao was not sure enough.

Secondly, even if Huainan really swallowed up the Wuyue Kingdom, Xu Zhigao might not be able to digest it.

In the previous article, we have sorted out Xu Zhigao's path to usurping power. It is not difficult to find that Xu Zhigao is significantly different from other usurpers. He did not rely on the central imperial guards to force the emperor to abdicate or the rebellion of local warlords. In other words, he did not rely on the power of the army. This is fundamentally different from Zhu Wen, Li Cunxu, Li Siyuan and others.

After Xu Zhigao came to power, he needed to spend a long time digesting, or taming, the military system, establishing prestige in the army and cultivating his own people. Before this task was completed, he did not dare to send the army to the battlefield, especially to foreign wars of aggression, because the army would take advantage of the war to quickly seize power.

The army had enough say and annexed the Wuyue Kingdom. Then the next scenario was that the meritorious generals would split the Wuyue Kingdom and become the hegemon, and even turn around to overthrow Xu Zhigao. This kind of plot can be seen in Guo Wei's overthrow of the Later Han Dynasty and the establishment of the Later Zhou Dynasty.

Third, the core figure of the "war faction" this time is Song Qiqiu. Song Qiqiu had long been suspected by Xu Zhigao and excluded from the core power circle. Now he is "reentering the palace for the second time". If he leads this military action, the above-mentioned threat to Xu Zhigao will be multiplied.

Therefore, after a long period of silence, Xu Zhigao resolutely gave up the war of aggression against the Wuyue Kingdom, severely reprimanded Song Qiuqiu's narrow-minded, despicable, and wrong views, and also brought up ancient rituals, heaven, and other tight hoop curses to criticize Song Qiuqiu to the ground, criticize him to the ground, and step on him with millions of feet so that he would never be able to stand up again.

So far, we have briefly analyzed the diplomatic history of Southern Tang during the period of Xu Zhigao. It is not difficult to find that after Xu Zhigao founded the country, he was not in a hurry to expand outward or flex his muscles. Instead, he behaved extremely humbly, and his attitude towards his neighbors, at least on the surface, was "you are good, I am good, and everyone is good." Throughout his lifetime, Xu Zhigao never launched a foreign war.

It was precisely because of Xu Zhigao's peaceful foreign policy that some people with ulterior motives accused him of being without ambition and being content with small gains. For example, Feng Yansi, one of the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils", ridiculed him as a "country bumpkin".

(End of this chapter)