History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 798: Clean the House and Treat Guests (Part )
[Clean the house before inviting guests]

1. Northern Defense Liao
During the "Battle of Gaoping", the lower reaches of the Yellow River flooded. From Yangliu City to Bozhou, a stretch of 120 miles, a large lake was formed due to the flooding and diversion of the Yellow River, covering an area of ​​hundreds of miles. The old ancient embankments were washed away, causing Qi, Di, Zibo and even the coastal states to suffer from floods, and countless farmlands were submerged.

In November of the first year of Xian De (954), Chai Rong sent Li Gu to inspect the disaster areas in Hebei and Shandong. Li Gu mobilized 11 men and spent days to build a new river embankment and control the flood of the Yellow River.

The Khitans demonstrated their imperialist nature in the "Battle of Gaoping" and fully exposed their strategic intention of "maintaining the status quo and obstructing unification." Although the Khitans were unlikely to move further south, historical records show that "since the Jin and Han dynasties, they have repeatedly invaded Hebei, with light cavalry going deep into the country without any barriers, and the people in the suburbs were often trapped, killed and looted."

In other words, since the "Jin-Liao War", although the Khitans did not steal towers, they continued to enter our jungle to steal wild monsters, seriously affecting our development.

Chai Rong solicited opinions from the whole society, and someone suggested dredging the Hulu River between Shenzhou and Jizhou. So Chai Rong sent Wang Yanchao and Han Tong to lead soldiers to dredge the Hulu River, and built a fortress on both sides of the river at Liyankou to station troops.

Liyankou is 100 li away from Jizhou in the south and 30 li away from Shenzhou in the north, with Hulu River on both sides as a fortress. Chai Rong set up "Jing'an Army" in Liyankou.

The person who made this suggestion was Zhang Zangying, the governor of Dezhou.

Zhang Cangying was born in Zhuozhou during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang. When he was 17 years old, a bandit leader named Zhang Judao killed his entire family. Zhang Cangying escaped alone. Zhang Cangying never forgot the hatred of his family being exterminated, and vowed not to be a human being unless he killed Zhang Judao.

Time flies, the sun and the moon shuttle, from the Later Liang Dynasty to the Later Tang Dynasty, and finally one day, Zhang Cangying found Zhang Judao in Youzhou. He wanted to avenge his hatred and kill his enemy with his own hands. In broad daylight, Zhang Cangying stabbed Zhang Judao with a knife he carried with him, but was quickly subdued by enthusiastic people and then handed over to the government.

The land of Yan and Zhao has been home to many generous and tragic people since ancient times.

Zhao Dejun, the then Jiedushi of Youzhou, not only did not punish Zhang Cangying after hearing his motive for the assassination, but he admired his heroic act very much and promoted him to work by his side.

However, Zhang Judao was only injured but not dead. Zhang Cangying did not give up hunting down his enemy and used his power to find out the whereabouts of Zhang Judao.

Finally one day, Zhang Cangying found out that Zhang Judao appeared south of Waqiao Pass, so he took the initiative to request a transfer from the Municipal Public Security Bureau to the Guannan Criminal Police Detachment. It was not easy to get promoted, so he took the initiative to request a demotion. This noble behavior was naturally highly praised by the organization and immediately approved. So Comrade Zhang Cangying was appointed as the captain of the Guannan Criminal Police Detachment (Guannan Metropolitan Inspector).

Using his power in the public security, procuratorial and judicial systems, Zhang Cangying quickly located Zhang Judao's hiding place, then changed into ordinary people's clothes, hid a big hammer in his sleeves, and quietly ambushed near Zhang Judao's hiding place, waiting for him to appear. When Zhang Judao appeared, Zhang Cangying launched a surprise attack with a big hammer and knocked his enemy to the ground.

Zhang Cangying did not blow his head off with a hammer, as that would have been too easy for him. Zhang Cangying pinned Zhang Judao to the ground, bit his ear, tore it off, and swallowed his enemy's ear alive, then kidnapped him to his own private prison.

Zhang Cangying placed his parents' spirit tablets in front of him, and offered them good food and wine. Then he brought his enemy Zhang Judao to the spirit tablet, raised his whip, and beat him hard while crying. Then he took out the sharp blade he had prepared in advance and cut his enemy into pieces.

The common people called it "cutting into pieces" and "lingchi", which sounded pleasant, but it was difficult to implement. The executioner needed excellent surgical skills to not only cut off the prisoner's flesh piece by piece, but also keep him awake as much as possible, making him suffer from the pain. Zhang Cangying had superb skills and skillful techniques. He cut Zhang Judao for three days, and only on the third day did he cut out Zhang Judao's heart to offer sacrifice to his ancestors. Afterwards, Zhang Cangying changed into clean clothes and went to the government to surrender.

The common people spontaneously pleaded for him, and the officials also admired his courage, so they released him without charge. For a time, the people of Yan and Zhao praised Zhang Zangying as "Zhang Xiaozi, the Revengeful Man".

Here, we need to popularize the basic legal knowledge at that time:

There is a clause in "Tang Law Commentary" about "Relatives killed by others and reconciled privately", which clearly stipulates that if a relative is killed and the victim's family chooses to "settle the matter privately", then the victim's family will be severely punished by law. For example, "grandparents, parents and wives are killed by others, and those who reconcile privately will be exiled for 2,000 miles." It is only slightly lighter than the death penalty.

This was the law of the Tang Dynasty, and the Five Dynasties basically followed the Tang Dynasty law. During the Five Dynasties, the government encouraged blood feuds, which is very different from today's laws.

It was not until the Song Dynasty that blood feuds were restricted. For example, in the Water Margin, there are two typical stories. One is that Wu Song avenged his brother Wu Dalang by killing three people and was sentenced to "exile to Mengzhou". It was about 600 miles from Yanggu County (now Yanggu County, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province) to Mengzhou (now Jiaozuo City, Henan Province). Although it was "exile", it was already a lenient sentence among lenient sentences;
Another is Lei Heng, the "winged tiger". Lei Heng was first imprisoned for fighting. When his mother came to visit him, she was insulted and beaten by the prostitute Bai Xiuying. Bai Xiuying pushed Lei's mother to the ground and slapped her several times. Lei Heng suddenly jumped up and killed Bai Xiuying on the spot. We only list Lei Heng's behavior from a legal perspective: he committed murder while in custody. Bai Xiuying only slapped his mother several times and did not threaten Lei's mother's life, but was killed by Lei Heng. In the end, Lei Heng was not sentenced to death.

Therefore, we cannot use today's laws to examine the cases of that era, so it is not difficult for us to understand the internal logic of Zhang Cangying's revenge for his blood relatives, slicing his enemies into pieces, not only not breaking the law, but also becoming an Internet celebrity hero. To be honest, he really did not break the law.

After the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun were ceded to the Khitan by Shi Jingtang, the Khitan promoted Zhang Cangying to be the military envoy of Lulong Army of Youzhou and the salt monopoly envoy, and the governor of Fangzhou. Although his administrative level was only that of a city-level cadre, a closer look at his "positions" revealed that they were all powerful departments. The "Lulong Military Envoy" was in charge of the Youzhou army, and the "Salt Monopoly envoy" was in charge of the salt monopoly and the anti-smuggling of salt, which were the pillars of local finances.

In 953 AD, Zhang Zangying led his entire family, more than a thousand soldiers and horses, more than salt-making households, tens of thousands of cattle and horses, and more than a hundred ships, through the Bohai Bay, returned to the Central Plains by ship, and landed smoothly in Cangzhou.

However, Guo Wei was not very confident in him, so he only temporarily placed him in the Fengchan Temple in Bianzhou and gave him a lot of rewards.

A few months later, Guo Wei died and Emperor Shizong Chai Rong ascended the throne. Chai Rong appointed Zhang Cangying as the governor of Dezhou, and soon summoned him to ask him about the strength of the Khitan and his strategy to resist the Khitan in the north.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Cangying really came prepared. Facing Chai Rong's interview, Zhang Cangying spoke eloquently. He was originally from Zhuozhou, Hebei, and had been an official in Youzhou, so he knew the mountains and rivers of Hebei very well. He suggested building a city and stationing troops at Liyankou, and took the initiative to volunteer to station there in person to resist the Liao invasion.

Don't employ people you doubt, and don't doubt people you employ. Chai Rong approved it immediately. Zhang Cangying quickly recruited thousands of elite soldiers in the local area. When building the city, Khitan cavalry harassed and obstructed, Wang Yanchao attacked and was surrounded. Zhang Cangying led his troops to rush to rescue, fighting with the Khitan for more than ten miles, and finally drove them away and rescued Wang Yanchao.

After the project was completed, "it controlled the key point, so that even if the enemy cavalry arrived, they did not dare to cross the river, and the people living on the border were able to farm and graze."

Liyankou was a thorn in the side of the Khitans. Until the Northern Song Dynasty, Liyankou also became one of the barriers for the people of the Central Plains. With Liyankou as a bridgehead and the Hulu River as a natural support, the people of the Central Plains built a "water Great Wall defense line". Some people in later generations commented that this "water Great Wall" protected the Song Dynasty for a hundred years.

(End of this chapter)