History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 774: The Second Battle of Fuzhou
【Second Battle of Fuzhou】

First is the issue of “swing states”.

During Li Jing's Northern Expedition, Liu Congxiao of Quanzhou joined forces with his brother Liu Congyuan, the deputy governor of Zhangzhou, to poison Dong Sian, the governor of Zhangzhou. Li Jing was unable to control the situation, so he set up Qingyuan Army in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, with Quanzhou as the capital, and Liu Congxiao as the governor of Qingyuan Army. At this point, Liu Congxiao officially ruled over Quanzhou and Zhangzhou.

The problem in Fuzhou is even more serious:

Li Renda of Fuzhou sent a spy to Jianzhou and told Cha Wenhui, the commander of the Yong'an Army of Jianzhou, that there was an internal conflict between the Wuyue reinforcements and the Fuzhou soldiers, and that Li Renda of Fuzhou was killed by the Wuyue reinforcements, who then abandoned the city and left. Fuzhou was left empty-handed. We are willing to invite you to take over Fuzhou and be our commander-in-chief.

Cha Wenhui was very stupid and naive. He immediately sent his confidant Chen Hui to lead the navy downstream to Fuzhou, while he himself led the cavalry and infantry to provide assistance by land.

At that time, it happened to be raining heavily for several days in a row. Chen Hui's fleet was even more powerful. They traveled 700 miles in one day and rushed to the city of Fuzhou. They fought with the Wuyue army and captured the Wuyue reinforcements, Ma Xianjin and Ye Ren'an. A few days later, Zha Wenhui arrived late.

Chen Hui told Cha Wenhui that the people of Fujian were very deceitful and this time they might be deliberately fishing for fish. It would be better for them to build a camp outside the city now, check the authenticity and make plans later.

"A woman with bound feet!" Cha Wenhui sneered. "What do you know? The enemy is surrendering secretly. If we delay, something bad will happen. We must act with lightning speed and under heavy pressure so that the spies inside can take advantage of the chaos to open the door and surrender. This is called fishing in troubled waters." So Cha Wenhui ordered a quick attack on Fuzhou City.

As expected, the Southern Tang army was defeated. In the melee, Zha Wenhui fell off his horse and was captured alive by the Fuzhou soldiers. Chen Hui, who had been prepared for this, fought and retreated, temporarily maintaining his position, and then gathered the remaining troops and retreated to Jianzhou. In this battle, more than 10,000 Southern Tang soldiers died and countless were injured.

Cha Wenhui was taken back to Hangzhou, and Qian Hongchu held a prisoner-taking ceremony in front of the ancestral temple to comfort the spirits of his ancestors. Li Jing proposed exchanging prisoners of war, using Ma Xianjin, Ye Ren'an and others to exchange for Cha Wenhui.

At the farewell dinner, Qian Hongchu poisoned the wine, and the poison took effect only after Cha Wenhui returned to Shengzhou. According to historical records, Li Jing ordered the imperial physician to treat him, "The doctor put a pearl in his mouth, and after a while, the pearl turned black", so the imperial physician shook his head and said, "It's hopeless (the disease cannot be cured)."

Although sentenced to death by the imperial physician, Cha Wenhui lived for a full ten years before he died. However, during these ten years, Cha Wenhui had been suffering from the sequelae of poisoning, one of which was laryngeal disease. Since returning to Southern Tang, Cha Wenhui has become unable to speak due to poisoning.

Compared with the physical pain, the greatest torture for Cha Wenhui was the loss of power. Although Li Jing did not hold him responsible for the defeat, Cha Wenhui retired as Minister of Works because he could not speak and lost all his power. For a man who once had great power and desire for power, this was the greatest punishment for him.

Ten years later, Cha Wenhui, 70 years old, finally passed away.

Cha Wenhui's life was a life of sin, a life of harming the country and the people, and a life of eternal infamy. However, surprisingly, he had a good son, Cha Yuanfang.

Cha Wenhui had five sons, and Cha Yuanfang was his eldest. Cha Yuanfang served Li Yu, the last emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and later surrendered to the Northern Song Dynasty with Li Yu. After returning to the Song Dynasty, he was neither humble nor arrogant, and neither betrayed nor insulted his former master as flattery. He was able to maintain the unity and stability of the Song Dynasty, and was highly regarded by Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, and became a famous official in the early Song Dynasty. This is a later story.

Chen Hui, a subordinate of Cha Wenhui, replaced Cha Wenhui and became the governor of Jianzhou Yong'an Army because of his meritorious service in combat.

(End of this chapter)