History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 778 From prosperity to decline
【From prosperity to decline】

The Southern Tang's annexation of Southern Chu may sound impressive at first, but the actual situation is the same as the annexation of Min Kingdom. There are very few areas that are actually controlled by the Southern Tang. In the south, Guizhou and other Lingnan areas were stolen by the Southern Han, while Langzhou in the north was occupied by the gangs of Liu Yan, Wang Kui, and Zhou Xingfeng.

After Bian Hao took over Tanzhou, Li Jing sent Zhang Luan to Guizhou and Li Jianqi to Yiyang, south of Langzhou, in preparation for a one-shot victory over the entire Southern Chu region. However, things did not go as planned, and in the end, even Tanzhou was not saved:

1. The Fisherman Gains Profits - Southern Han

The land occupied by Southern Chu was a place of war on all sides. It was a place that was always fought over by military strategists, and a single move could affect the entire body. During this time of civil unrest, not only the neighboring Southern Tang to the east but also the neighboring Southern Han to the south were eyeing Hunan.

Taking advantage of the civil strife in Southern Chu, Southern Han sent troops to occupy Gui, Yi and other states under the jurisdiction of Southern Chu. Even after Bian Hao took over Tanzhou, Southern Han showed no intention of stopping.

Li Jing appointed Zhang Luan as the governor of Quanzhou and the commander of the Guizhou Recruiting Camp, preparing to swallow up the remaining power of Southern Chu and recapture Guizhou in one go.

Before Zhang Luan could make any progress, the Southern Han continued its northern expedition and attacked Chenzhou. Bian Hao sent troops to stop them, but they were defeated by the Southern Han, so Chenzhou was occupied by the Southern Han again.

The southern territory of Southern Chu (the entire Lingnan) was occupied by Southern Han.

2. Gained and Lost Again - Tanzhou

The war to annex Min emptied the treasury of Southern Tang, while conquering Southern Chu provided a timely blood transfusion for Southern Tang. Children saw candy, goddesses belonged to hooligans, and Southern Chu welcomed Southern Tang.

The plunder of Southern Chu by the Southern Tang was jaw-dropping. The greed was unprecedented in ancient times and exceeded human imagination. Money, food, pots and pans... these routine operations need not be elaborated. According to records, "Tang took all the gold, silk, treasures, grain, ships, pavilions, flowers and fruits in Hunan, and moved them all to Jinling."

Li Jing also specially appointed Yang Jixun and others to come to Hunan to collect rent and taxes. "Jixun and others were harsh in their duties, and the people of Hunan were disappointed."

We don't want sustainable development, we don't want to exhaust all the resources and kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Li Jing had a seemingly legitimate reason for plundering Southern Chu, which was to supply and reward the army.

Let us not discuss the role and merits of the so-called "army" in the war to pacify Chu. If it can really subsidize military expenses as he claimed, there is nothing wrong with it. After all, when the cannons sound and gold is abundant, the soldiers fight on the battlefield, just to grab money, food and women.

However, when distributing military pay and rewards, the leaders of the Southern Tang's occupation forces treated them differently. The purebred Southern Tang's regular troops received the most, while the Southern Tang's surrendered soldiers and generals received very few.

For example, Sun Lang and Cao Jin, former subordinates of Xian Shilang. This was in 494 AD, when Li Jing sent Huangfu Hui and others to recruit rebels on a large scale in the Huaibei area, and Xian Shilang, the defender of Mengcheng in the Later Han Dynasty, led his troops to surrender. Now, the two led their troops to follow Bian Hao into Chu.

Sun Lang and Cao Jin were treated unfairly, and they gathered together to complain, saying that we had made contributions, but not only were we not rewarded, but our wages were also reduced. Is there still the law? Is there still law?
So, the two of them conspired to launch a military rebellion, kill Bian Hao, seize Tanzhou, and rebel against his mother.

The two were very impulsive and naive, thinking that they could kill Bian Hao in one fell swoop and take control of Tanzhou by setting fire at night and raising their arms. They thought the mutiny was too simple, which led to their hasty preparations.

While organizing resistance, Bian Hao ordered the sounding of horns and drums to send signals to the garrison outside the city.

Sun Lang and Cao Jin were guilty and fell into despair after the failure of the first wave of offensive. When they heard the drumbeats, they thought it was the night watchman announcing the time and mistakenly believed that dawn was approaching, so they immediately gave up the attack and fled to Langzhou in panic.

Wang Kui of Langzhou met with Sun Lang and asked him about the strength of Tanzhou. He said, "In the past, I followed Ma Yin to fight against the Huainan soldiers many times. I'm not bragging, I have won every battle and the Huainan soldiers were vulnerable. Now, I plan to use Langzhou as a revolutionary base, restore the territory of Southern Chu, and expel the Huainan occupying forces. Do you think it's possible?"
This is a free point question.

Sun Lang assured solemnly: "I have been in Southern Tang for several years and I know the situation there very well. In one word, it is garbage!"

According to historical records, Sun Lang accurately summarized the strengths and weaknesses of the Southern Tang Dynasty with a sixteen-character comment: there were no wise ministers in the court, no good generals in the army, no distinction between loyal and treacherous, and inappropriate rewards and punishments.

Finally, Sun Lang issued a military order to Wang Kui, saying that if you really have the ambition to restore Southern Chu, I am willing to act as the vanguard and drive out the Huainan soldiers, as easy as grass!
Wang Kui was very happy and treated Sun Lang, Cao Jin and others well.

When Bian Hao took over Tanzhou, Li Jing sent out two groups of troops. One was led by Zhang Luan, whose goal was to recapture Guizhou; the other was led by Li Jianqi, whose goal was to attack Langzhou.

However, the two armies were not strong enough, suffered heavy casualties, and made no progress. Li Jing was worried, so he summoned his ministers and said that he planned to stop the war. Since the Southern Han occupied Guizhou and other places, it was a fait accompli, so he should let them go; Langzhou was also actually occupied by Liu Yan, Wang Kui, Zhou Xingfeng and others, so he simply went with the flow and recognized it.

Sun Sheng of the "Qingliu Party" agreed; Feng Yansi of the "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" opposed.

Feng Yansi's view is that it is detrimental to international image. Simply put, we got the substance but lost face. We did not move our main force, but only let a young general (Bian Hao) lead a second- or third-rate detachment to destroy Southern Chu and shock the world! Now, Hunan is divided into three parts, and we only occupy one of them. Where is our face?
Feng Yansi grasped Li Jing's psychology, face is more important than substance.

Therefore, Li Jing adopted Feng Yansi's suggestion and continued to send troops to the two battlefields.

Hou Xun was sent to lead 5,000 reinforcements to support Zhang Luan. As soon as the 5,000 reinforcements arrived at the battlefield, they were ambushed and almost wiped out. The main general Hou Xun was killed. Li Jing paid a heavy price for his dream of a great country.

Li Jing's continued deployment of troops to Langzhou also backfired.

Li Jing instructed Bian Hao to cooperate with Li Jianqi to capture Langzhou.

Wang Kui of Langzhou set a trap for Bian Hao. He first sent people to pretend to be Langzhou merchants or refugees to spread the news in Tanzhou that Liu Yan of Langzhou was loyal to the Southern Tang and willing to be a "traitor to Chu". Bian Hao and Li Jing were of the same character, both immersed in the illusion of destroying Chu, so they believed it and did not strengthen Tanzhou's defense.

In September, Li Jing summoned Liu Yan of Langzhou to the court to test Langzhou's sincerity.

Liu Yan was terrified and hurriedly discussed with Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng, saying that if I went, I would probably become a hostage and never come back; if I didn't go, it would prove that Langzhou was plotting a rebellion. What should I do?
Wang Kui was confident that Langzhou was in a strategic location, easy to defend but difficult to attack, and with tens of thousands of elite soldiers, how could it be controlled by others? Although Bian Hao had a large army, he could not control the four directions, and the people were not loyal to him, so he could be captured in one battle.

Liu Yan was still a little hesitant, and Zhou Xingfeng told him that the Southern Tang had summoned him to the court. If he hesitated, it would show that he had the intention to rebel, and they would strengthen their vigilance. Now that things had come to this, he had no choice but to rebel, and he had to do it quickly! So Liu Yan promoted ten of his confidants to be column commanders, gathered the troops, and divided them into several groups to attack Tanzhou.

The Langzhou soldiers first killed Li Jianqi, which dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Southern Tang army, and then defeated Bian Hao's reinforcements.

Bian Hao hurriedly sent a letter to the court, asking for additional troops and support.

Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Two days later, the vanguard troops of Langzhou had arrived at the city of Tanzhou. Bian Hao was terrified and fled the city that night. Later, Wang Kui entered the city to take over, claiming to be the deputy envoy of Tanzhou Jiedushi and the acting governor of Tanzhou Military Office.

He Jingzhen, a general from Langzhou, chased after Bian Hao, but Bian Hao ran faster than a rabbit. He Jingzhen only killed 500 defeated Southern Tang soldiers before withdrawing his troops. Another general from Langzhou, Pu Gongyi, attacked Yuezhou, and the governor of Yuezhou, Song Dequan, abandoned the city and fled. Yuezhou was then peacefully taken over.

When the other Nan Tang occupying forces heard the news of the loss of Tanzhou and the escape of Bian Hao, they also abandoned the city and fled. Liu Yan of Langzhou sent his men to take over everywhere. For a time, Liu Yan recovered the entire territory of Nanchu (except the Lingnan area occupied by Nanhan).

Quietly, Nan Tang came, and quietly, Nan Tang left again, waving his sleeves without taking an inch of land with him. It is easy to swallow, and easy to spit out.

Liu Yan then submitted a petition to the Later Zhou Dynasty, pledged his allegiance, and resumed Ma Yin's old path, continuing to maintain the Central Plains dynasty, while being irreconcilable with the Huaiyi.

3. The thief is still determined - another northern expedition

When Li Jing was stuck in the quagmire of Southern Chu, Murong Yanchao of Yanzhou formally rebelled against Later Zhou and sent a request for help to Li Jing.

Before, Li Jing had been repeatedly taught a lesson by the Later Zhou Dynasty, and he almost no longer dared to covet the Central Plains. But after annexing Southern Chu, Li Jing's arrogance was unprecedented, and he believed that he could control all the countries in the world. If there was no egg to hold him back, he would have ascended to heaven long ago.

When Murong Yanchao sent him a letter for help at this time, it opened a window for him, allowing his restless little pride to soar into the sky.

Li Jing immediately dispatched 5,000 elite troops to attack Xia Pi, intending to attack Xuzhou and contain the pressure of the Later Zhou on Yanzhou.

The Later Zhou Dynasty had been well prepared for Murong Yanchao's rebellion, and its elite soldiers and brave generals had been ready to fight and make contributions to the country.

The rebels in Shandong area colluded with Huainan, and Huainan sent troops to Xuzhou. This is an old routine. Since the time of Zhu Wen, a correct response measure has been explored, which is to first deal a heavy blow to the Huainan soldiers who came from afar, and after dealing with the Huainan reinforcements, then deal with the Shandong rebels.

The Later Zhou Dynasty remained calm and anticipated the enemy's prediction. The Xuzhou side took advantage of the situation and the Huainan soldiers fell into the trap.

The 5,000 Huainan soldiers were indeed severely damaged, with more than a thousand killed and their commander Yan Jingquan captured alive.

The situation of the Later Zhou Dynasty was also very difficult, so after the victory, they did not pursue Yan Jingquan relentlessly, but sent the captured soldiers such as Yan Jingquan back to Huainan with courtesy, and wrote a letter to Li Jing, explaining to him the reason and emotion, saying that the traitors were the public enemy, and as the leader of a great country, how could you help the traitors of another country to overthrow another country? Don't do this next time.

Guo Qiong, the Yingzhou general of the Later Zhou Dynasty, also wrote a letter in his own name to Liu Yanzhen, the Shouzhou governor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, blaming him for continuously recruiting surrenders and rebellions on the border, which was unbecoming of a great country.

Li Jing was so ashamed that he sent the Central Plains people he had previously recruited from the Huaibei area back to Huaibei as a gesture of reconciliation with the Later Zhou Dynasty.

The "Five Demons and Four Evils" are still chattering about the Northern Expedition. Failure is the mother of success. Don't give up just because of a little setback. Stay calm, we can turn the tables!
Han Xizai of the "Qingliu Party" strongly opposed it.

This time, Li Jing finally adopted Han Xizai's suggestion and decided not to launch a northern expedition.

After the Northern Expedition failed and Southern Chu was lost again, Li Jing finally woke up from his dream of becoming a great power and began to change the national policy, focusing on recuperation.

Bian Hao was stripped of his official title and exiled to Raozhou;

Previously, a man named Ouyang Guang from Jizhou had submitted a memorial to the court, analyzing that Langzhou was within reach, but the Tanzhou garrison chose to attack Guizhou first, which showed that the generals were unwise, and that the generals and generals in our army were not in harmony, the morale of the army was unstable, and the laws were changed every day... In short, he asked the court to deepen reforms. Now, Li Jing ordered Ouyang Guang to be appointed as the county magistrate of this county. Ouyang Guang refused to accept it.

The "Five Ghosts and Four Evils" of the pro-war faction were extremely smart. They sensed the change in the political direction in time, so they took the initiative to submit a memorial to make a profound self-examination and request the emperor to punish them.

The two prime ministers Feng Yansi and Sun Sheng submitted a petition to plead guilty, but Li Jing magnanimously said that he would not pursue the matter.

But Sun Sheng was determined to defeat the "Five Demons and Four Evils" even if it meant injuring 1,000 enemies and 800 of his own men. Sun Sheng insisted that the emperor punish him, so Li Jing dismissed Sun Sheng and Feng Yansi from their positions as prime ministers and ordered them to return to their respective posts.

Some people wanted to comfort Li Jing by saying that we should learn from King Goujian of Yue, who slept on firewood and tasted gall, and would not resort to military action within ten years.

Li Jing smiled bitterly and said, "I will never use it again, so how can I use it for decades?"

Li Jing is really humorous, and fate is so playful. Maybe Li Jing really wants to retire, but if you hit someone, you must be on guard against a kick. You have repeatedly taken advantage of the situation to rob and harass the Central Plains. Sooner or later, you will pay for your misdeeds.

So far, we have sorted out in detail the context of the Huainan forces during the Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou (Guo Wei) periods, with its own regime changes (Southern Wu-Southern Tang) as the main line and foreign strategies as the supplement.

Yang Xingmi, a man of great talent and strategy, started from scratch and, with the "Thirty-Six Heroes" as the core, gradually became the overlord of the Huainan region. His son was cowardly and incompetent, and was gradually sidelined by the powerful official Xu Wen. Later, Xu Wen's adopted son Xu Zhigao "plotted for his country externally and his family internally", and eventually forced Yang to abdicate and established the Southern Tang.

Xu Zhigao was worthy of being a wise ruler. He developed the Huainan Group and left a powerful and prosperous Southern Tang Empire for Li Jing. Li Jing was ambitious but lacked talent. He squandered his father's foundation over the years, which severely damaged the Huainan Group and made it unable to resist the threat from the north (Later Zhou). As a result, the Southern Tang was finally destroyed by his son, Li Yu, the last emperor of the Southern Tang.

This is something.

(End of this chapter)