History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 787 Battle of Gaoping
Battle of Gaoping

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period has always been mercilessly criticized by aloof and arrogant historians, such as Ouyang Xiu, one of the "Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties". He denounced this period as a dark period in which rituals and music were broken, the ruler was not a ruler, and the ministers were not ministers. The long night will eventually usher in the dawn, and the dawn is just around the corner.

During Guo Wei's reign, he worked hard to govern the country internally and made strategic plans externally. In just three or four years, he made the Central Plains rich and strong, laying a good political, diplomatic and economic foundation for Chai Rong to make great strides in the future.

Internally:

"The Punishment of the Two Kings", Guo Wei took the initiative to eliminate Wang Jun and Wang Yin, two founding heroes, thus clearing the political path for Chai Rong;

Before his death, he appointed Fan Zhi and Wang Pu as prime ministers. This was another great legacy of Guo Wei: a mature, complete, upright and virtuous group of civil servants to assist Chai Rong in governing the country.

foreign:

The two "Battles of Jinzhou" effectively curbed the Northern Han regime's attempt to "restore the country";

To pacify the northwestern border and Hou Shu;

The toughest attitude showed the determination of the Central Plains people to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity to Huainan and Khitan, and also showed the greatest sincerity to seek peace and stability. When friends come, there is good wine, but if the jackal comes, there is a hunting rifle to welcome him.

At the same time, the external environment has also undergone tremendous changes:

The Southern Tang annexed the Kingdom of Min and Southern Chu, bit off more than it could chew, and the cost of expanding territory outweighed the gain, which seriously damaged its vitality; the Liao Kingdom successively experienced the "Crossing Agreement" and the "Huoshendian Rebellion", and the current ruling group is still afraid of "going south", and all major aristocratic interest groups are almost unanimously opposed to the invasion to the south.

To sum up, these changes are all good news for the Later Zhou Dynasty.

As one dynasty grew stronger, another declined. When Chai Rong ascended the throne, it was the heyday of the Central Plains dynasty. Chai Rong's start was the best among the dozen emperors since the Five Dynasties, bar none.

As soon as Chai Rong was declared the emperor, he faced his first great test: Liu Chong of Northern Han took advantage of the mourning period to launch a comeback. The famous "Battle of Gaoping" broke out between Later Zhou and Northern Han, which had a significant impact on both sides and even affected the course of Chinese history.

In February 954 AD, upon hearing that Guo Wei had passed away and Chai Rong had ascended the throne, Liu Chong of the Northern Han was overjoyed and immediately sent envoys to contact the Khitan, requesting a joint effort to encircle and suppress the unstable new regime of Chai Rong.

It has been said since ancient times that sending troops during a mourning period is a great injustice. It is also said that those who do too much injustice will eventually perish.

During the transfer of supreme power when a new monarch ascends the throne, conflicts between the major political forces within the group usually erupt, especially during the Five Dynasties period. Therefore, during the period when a new monarch ascends the throne, the regime is usually at its most vulnerable.

Rulers have always been sanctimonious, claiming to be upright gentlemen, and usually feel ashamed to take advantage of others' misfortunes. However, Liu Chong obviously did not care about his integrity and wanted to take advantage of others' misfortunes. This was actually a manifestation of his inner weakness, because the two "Battles of Jinzhou" made him clearly realize that it seemed unlikely that he would defeat the Later Zhou in an upright way.

If you want to restore your country, you must be dirty; if you want to be glorious, your means must be despicable; if you want to be remembered in history, you must be despicable and shameless.

The Khitan also thought this was a good opportunity to take advantage of the situation, so they gladly sent Yelu Dilu to lead 10,000 Khitan cavalry, plus about 60,000 vassal troops from the Xi and other tribes, claiming to be an army of 100,000. They joined forces with Liu Chong of the Northern Han Dynasty, and then marched south to invade.

In the Old History of the Five Dynasties, Zizhi Tongjian and the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, this Khitan general was written as "Yang Gun". The name "Yang Gun" had appeared in the "Jin-Liao War", and in folk novels, this comrade Yang Gun even took the trouble to play the role in "The Romance of the Five Dynasties in the Late Tang Dynasty" and "The Prequel of the Yang Family Generals: Volcano King Yang Gun"...

In the novel, "Yang Gun" was based on Yang Hongxin and was portrayed as the father of "Yang Family Generals" Yang Jiye, and the grandfather of Yang Silang, Yang Liulang and others. He once fought against Li Cunxiao, forced Wang Yanzhang to death with the Five Dragons, and fought against Emperor Taizong of Liao... This Yang Gun is completely different from the Yang Gun of today.

Today's Yang Gun is a genuine Khitan, and he is of noble birth and a descendant of Yelu Yanmu (Yellu Abaoji's second uncle). Because his name is "Yangyin", he was originally transliterated as "Yang Yan". Some manuscripts in the Ming Dynasty mistakenly wrote "Yan" as "Gun", and then the rumor spread.

Some historical books record it as "Yelü Deler".

After multiple comparisons and textual research, it is appropriate to take the "History of Liao" as the standard, and it should be "Yelü Dilu". According to the "History of Liao", Yelü Dilu was upright and strong, and had been unknown before. During the "Huoshendian Rebellion", he stepped onto the historical stage, took the initiative to surrender to Shou'an Wang Yelü Jing, and expressed his willingness to lead troops to quell the Chaga Rebellion. A friend in need is a friend indeed. After Yelü Jing ascended the throne, he immediately promoted Yelü Dilu to the Xuanhui Envoy of the North Court. As mentioned in the previous article, the "Xuanhui Envoy" is generally held by the emperor's confidants. Afterwards, Yelü Dilu was ordered to widen Feihukou to facilitate the march. Yelü Dilu completed the task brilliantly.

Liu Chong personally led an army of 30,000, with Bai Conghui, the governor of Yicheng Army in Huazhou (remote commander), as the marching commander, and Zhang Yuanhui, the governor of Wuning Army in Xuzhou (remote commander), as the vanguard commander. With the support of the background wall of Khitan's "one hundred thousand cavalry", they marched out of Tuanbai Valley with great momentum and attacked Luzhou directly.

The Han-Liao coalition forces were stationed at Lianghouyi, while Li Yun (Li Rong, whose name was changed to avoid taboos), the governor of Xizhaoyi Army in Luzhou during the Later Zhou Dynasty, was stationed at Taipingyi, which was only 80 li away from Luzhou.

Li Yun sent his general Mu Lingjun to lead 2,000 people to take the initiative to attack, ready to give the enemy a head-on blow.

Zhang Yuanhui, the vanguard officer of the Northern Han, pretended to be defeated and fled. Mu Lingjun was eager to make a contribution, so he ordered a pursuit and killed him, and ran into an ambush circle set by the Northern Han. The ambushes were everywhere, Mu Lingjun was killed, and more than half of the soldiers were killed, almost wiping out the whole group.

When the news came, Li Yun immediately abandoned the Taipingyi defense line and retreated to Luzhou, while the Northern Han army took advantage of the victory to surround Luzhou. Li Yun sent a letter to the court, requesting support.

After receiving the report, Chai Rong summoned all his ministers to discuss countermeasures.

The military situation was urgent and Chai Rong could not afford to play Tai Chi. He went straight to the point and stated his opinion first: I want to lead the army in person. Who is in favor and who is against?
"I object."

"Against +1"

……

All the ministers were unanimous in their opposition.

All the ministers talked about the reasons why they could not lead the army in person, and the one who took the lead in expressing opposition was the evergreen in the political arena, the living fossil of the Five Dynasties, and the prime minister who was always there - Feng Dao.

Old Master Feng shook his head, stroked his silver beard, and spoke calmly, with a confident look on his face, as if he was pointing out the whole situation:
The two "Battles of Jinzhou" not only brought devastating blows to the economy and military of the Northern Han Dynasty, but also caused a huge psychological shadow on it. It was weak and demoralized, and it would not have any unreasonable thoughts of "restoring the country" in a short period of time. Now the remains of the late emperor have not been buried yet, Your Majesty has just ascended the throne, and people's hearts are not stable, so the Northern Han Dynasty deliberately bluffed in an attempt to make us lose our composure. As for the border war, Your Majesty is not in a good condition to act rashly, so just send a few warriors to resist.

Many officials liked and forwarded the article, believing that Feng Dao's analysis made a lot of sense.

Chai Rong was displeased and said, "Liu Chong took advantage of the mourning period to send troops. He thought this was a good opportunity to march south. This is definitely not bluffing, but he really wants to conquer the Central Plains!"

Feng Dao refused to give in, with an arrogant look on his face saying "no one understands politics better than me", and firmly opposed Chai Rong's personal expedition.

Chai Rong was furious and said, "When Emperor Taizong of Tang started his business, he always led the army himself. Why can't I do that?"

Feng Dao retorted: "Is your majesty comparable to Emperor Taizong of Tang?"

Chai Rong was too lazy to argue with this old man, so he changed the subject and said, "The people led by Liu Chong are just a motley crowd. If I lead the royal army, it will be like a huge rock hitting an egg or a mountain falling on one's head!"

Feng Dao retorted: "Is Your Majesty comparable to Mount Tai?"

So annoying.

Chai Rong exercised great restraint and walked away. According to records, among all the civil and military officials, only Prime Minister Wang Pu supported Chai Rong's personal expedition.

Although all the ministers were against it, Chai Rong still maintained his independent thinking and accurately judged the strategic intentions of the Northern Han Dynasty. Chai Rong ignored all the opposition, deployed troops, insisted on leading the expedition personally, and tailored the "Operation Cutting Off the Ding" for the Northern Han invaders.

(End of this chapter)