History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 775: Hunan’s Dream (Part )

【Hunan Dream】

By 950 AD, of the five states of Min, Southern Tang only controlled Jianzhou and Tingzhou. Fuzhou was returned to Wuyue, while Quanzhou and Zhangzhou were left to follow the separatist regime. In the second battle of Fuzhou, Southern Tang suffered heavy losses, with its commander, Cha Wenhui, captured and more than soldiers killed. Southern Tang suffered greatly in the south.

In several battles with the northern Central Plains forces, the Southern Tang was in a situation of complete defeat.

This was not enough to wake Li Jing from his dream of becoming a great power.

In September 950, a letter from Ma Xi'e of Nanchu rekindled Li Jing's passion.

This has been described in detail in the previous article on the Southern Chu topic, so I will just briefly mention it here: After the death of Ma Xifan of Southern Chu, the generals supported Ma Xiguang to succeed the throne, but Ma Xi'e, who was older than Ma Xiguang, was indignant about this. At the instigation of his staff, he started a rebellion and fought with his brother Ma Xiguang for the throne, but was defeated in the battle. Ma Xi'e then wanted to split Southern Chu and create "two Chu states, one Tan and one Lang", but was rejected by the central government (Later Han Dynasty). Ma Xi'e, a "Lang independence" activist, was unwilling to accept this, so he contacted Southern Tang and asked to submit.

In the letter, Ma Xi'e asked Li Jing to "preserve the old friendship of the previous king and strengthen the military power of the great country" to save him from danger... In return, Ma Xi'e became a vassal of the Southern Tang.

I wonder if Li Jing laughed out loud when he read “The former kings were good in the past.”

We have mentioned the delicate relationship between Huai and Chu many times in the previous article. Huainan Yang Xingmi wanted to form a "Huai-Chu alliance" from the beginning to the end, and sincerely proposed to Ma Yin many times to form an alliance, but Ma Yin always adhered to the strategy of "respecting the Central Plains". After Ma Yin's death, his successor also adhered to the concept of governing the country by respecting the Central Plains and drawing a clear line with Huaiyi.

It's like a short, poor and ugly man who has been a dog to a goddess for many years. Suddenly one day, the goddess fell from the altar. The phoenix with feathers removed is worse than a chicken. She ran to the short, poor and ugly man and begged him to take over. You ignored me at first, but now I am out of your reach.

"You have come to this day!" This is probably Li Jing's inner monologue.

Li Jing readily accepted Ma Xi'e's request for vassalage, appointed Ma Xi'e as co-prime minister, and granted him this year's Ezhou taxes to help him out of his urgent need. At the same time, he sent He Jingzhu, the commander of the Chuzhou militia, to lead his troops to reinforce Ma Xi'e.

Southern Tang officially intervened in the Southern Chu civil war.

He Jingzhu was a ruthless man, short and ugly, but strong and vigorous. He was orphaned since childhood and was taken in by Li Jian (one of Yang Xingmi's "36 heroes"), the then governor of Chuzhou. Li Jian was cruel by nature, and his subordinates would be sentenced to death if they made even the smallest mistake.

One day, He Jingzhu got drunk and wrestled with his comrades for fun. By chance, a man passed by holding Li Jian's beloved inkstone. Someone in the crowd deliberately made trouble and provoked He Jingzhu, saying, "Do you dare to throw it?"

Alcohol made the coward daring, and He Jingzhu said, "Why not?" He stepped forward, snatched it away, and threw it to the ground, smashing the inkstone into pieces.

The next day, Li Jian heard that his beloved inkstone was broken, and he was furious, and ordered He Jingzhu to be brought in. Everyone around him was either happy or worried, saying that He Jingzhu was doomed.

Li Jian's wife had always had a crush on He Jingzhu, so she secretly hid him. After more than ten days, they failed to capture He Jingzhu. Li Jian thought he must have fled for fear of crime, so he stopped pursuing him. A few days later, a supernatural incident suddenly occurred in Li Jian's house: a nasty crow chased Li Jian and cried at him desperately. The cry of a crow has been regarded as an ominous sign since ancient times, so Li Jian tried to avoid it. However, this crow seemed to have facial recognition capabilities, and no matter where Li Jian hid, it would chase him.

Li Jian was originally hot-tempered and would kill people at any time, but at this moment he had no way to deal with the crow above his head. In anger, Li Jian sighed: "I only regret that He Jingzhu is not here. He Jingzhu is an expert in archery and never misses his target. With him here, why should I be teased by this beast!"

Before he could finish his words, He Jingzhu suddenly appeared with an iron bullet in his hand. He first knelt down before Li Jian, then stood up, aimed at the crow, and killed it with one shot.

Li Jian was overjoyed and immediately pardoned He Jingzhu for the crime of destroying the inkstone.

It is said that Li Jian once invited Dong Shaoyan, a famous physiognomist at the time, to read his son's face. Dong Shaoyan looked at all of Li Jian's sons and said to Li Jian, "Your sons are all good, but none of them can surpass you." Then he raised his hand and pointed at He Jingzhu who was standing beside him, saying, "This child has the appearance of a noble person. I'm afraid he will surpass you in the future."

After that, Li Jian loved He Jingzhu even more.

According to unofficial historical records, many years later, one day, He Jingzhu was resting in a pavilion, and a crow was circling above his head, looking at him and calling. He Jingzhu was thoughtful, and then suddenly realized: "It was you who saved my life the other day?" Then he took some food and put it on his palm. The crow immediately flew down, pecked at the food as if no one was around, and then flapped its wings and flew away into the sky.

After Li Jian's death, He Jingzhu became Xu Zhigao's deputy general. During the Battle of Jianzhou, He Jingzhu was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the infantry and followed Cha Wenhui to fight against Jianzhou Wang Yanzheng.

In the Jianzhou Campaign, He Jingzhu not only showed his bravery and bravery, but also showed his broad mind to the world. According to historical records, He Jingzhu made the most contributions in the Jianzhou Campaign, but he gave the credit to Wang Jianfeng. Even so, He Jingzhu was promoted to Chuzhou Tuanlianshi for his merits.

He Jingzhu has a special feeling for Chuzhou, because the former governor of Chuzhou was his benefactor Li Jian. He Jingzhu was diligent and caring for the people during his tenure in Chuzhou, and regarded the people of Chuzhou as his own family. After work, his biggest hobby was to visit incognito and understand the sufferings of the people. Even when receiving guests, as long as someone beat the drum to complain or file a lawsuit, he would go to court to try the case as soon as possible, without partiality or favoritism. Every dispute of the people could be mediated and arbitrated in a timely and proper manner, and the people praised him highly.

Now, Ma Xi'e asked for help, and He Jingzhu was ordered to lead the team to support Langzhou.

After Ma Xi'e clung to the Southern Tang, Ma Xiguang realized the seriousness of the matter, so he also sent a request for help to his backer, the Later Han.

Ma Xiguang cried and exaggerated the danger of Southern Chu, saying that the "Lang independence" element Ma Xi'e had united with Jingnan, Southern Tang and Southern Han to divide up the land of Hunan, and he begged the king to send down the heavenly soldiers and generals!

Liu Chengyou of the Later Han Dynasty felt the same way, but he could do nothing to help because it was already October 950 AD, one month before the "Xiao Qiang Incident" and two months before the demise of the Later Han Dynasty.

It is said that Liu Chengyou did arrange a rescue force and wanted to transfer Wang Lingwen, the governor of Anzhou Anyuan Army, to rescue Tanzhou. However, before he could set off, the Later Han Dynasty perished.

Two months later, in December 2 AD, Guo Wei took control of Bianzhou and established the Later Zhou Dynasty. Almost at the same time, Ma Xi'e took control of Tanzhou and unified Southern Chu.

(End of this chapter)