History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 802: Lambs to be Slaughtered (Part )

[Lamb to be slaughtered]

Compared with the prosperity of the Later Zhou Dynasty, the situation of the Southern Tang Dynasty was simply terrible.

1. Natural disasters

In the second year of Guangshun (952), there was a severe drought in Huainan;

In March of the third year of Guangshun (953), a serious fire broke out in Shengzhou, the capital of Southern Tang. According to historical records, the fire lasted for more than a month and "almost all the houses and barracks were burned down." Lu You recorded in "History of Southern Tang" that "thousands of government offices, temples and civilians' houses were burned down."

From June of this year (953) to March of the following year (6), not a drop of rain fell and the entire Southern Tang Dynasty was hit by a severe drought. "The wells and springs dried up, and only the Huai River could be waded through." The Huai River, the first natural barrier in Huainan, was non-existent. People who could not swim could roll up their trouser legs, walk barefoot on the beach, and wade across the river easily.

As usual, a continuous drought would inevitably lead to a locust plague, and then a great famine would follow, followed by plague. The people in Huainan were destitute, so they fled north in large numbers and fled into the territory of the Later Zhou.

In fact, the great famine in Huainan was also mentioned in the previous article when talking about Guo Wei. Guo Wei said that people from the Central Plains and Huainan are all Chinese, and in the spirit of humanitarianism, they sold affordable grain to Huainan.

2. Foreign aid cut off

This was a very sensational political assassination, but there are only a few records of it in historical books, and there are major errors in the time:

"In the twelfth year of Baoda (954)... in July, the Khitan sent his uncle to propose marriage. They held a banquet at Qingfeng Posthouse at night. The thieves cut off his head and fled. They could not be captured. Some people thought that he was sent by the Zhou general Jing Hanru." - "Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms"

"(In the sixth year of Xiande, 959)...the Khitan leader sent his uncle as an envoy to the Tang. Jing Hanru, the commander of the Taizhou militia, recruited a guest to kill him. The Tang people feasted the Khitan envoy at Qingfeng Posthouse at night. He got drunk and got up to change his clothes. He did not return for a long time. When they looked at him, they found that his head was missing." - "Zizhi Tongjian"

"In the ninth year of the Yingli reign (959)... in the ninth month of autumn, the Liao emperor sent his uncle as an envoy to the Tang. The Chinese were suspicious, so Jing Hanru, the commander of the Taizhou militia, recruited assassins to kill him. The Southern Tang held a banquet for the Liao envoy at Qingfeng Posthouse at night. He got drunk and got up to change his clothes. He did not return for a long time. When they looked at him, they found that his head was missing." - "History of the Khitan State"

To summarize:

The location of the crime was undoubtedly in Qingfengyi, which was located in the Southern Tang capital of Shengzhou, which is today's Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. The assassin sneaked into the Southern Tang capital to assassinate the Liao envoy.

There is no dispute about the mastermind of the murder. The "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" is more cautious, only saying that the Later Zhou general Jing Hanru is a major suspect, while the "Zizhi Tongjian" and "Qidan Guozhi" categorically declare that Jing Hanru is the mastermind behind the murder and that he recruited the assassin to kill.
The process of the crime was also undisputed. In Qingfeng Posthouse, the Liao envoys were drinking heartily. The Khitan relative who served as the leader of the delegation went to the toilet during the trip. He did not come back for a long time. When everyone went to check, they found that he had been beheaded and the murderer fled with the head.

As for the time of the incident, there is huge controversy. The "Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms" said that the incident occurred in July 954 AD, while the "Zizhi Tongjian" and "History of the Khitan State" said it was 7.

What is strange is that there is no mention of this in the Old History of the Five Dynasties and the New History of the Five Dynasties. As for the biography of Jing Hanru himself, there is no relevant record of this matter in the History of Song Dynasty: Biography of Jing Hanru. And the most authoritative history of the Liao Dynasty, the History of Liao, also has no relevant records.

In early 954, the "Battle of Gaoping" took place; and in 959, as will be discussed later, Chai Rong launched a northern expedition, with the main target being the Khitan. Therefore, at these two time points, the Khitan had sufficient reasons to send high-level envoys to the Southern Tang, seeking with the utmost sincerity to attack the Central Plains from both north and south, thereby playing a role in containing the Later Zhou.

In addition, I have seen some documents with very rough translations, directly translating "叔" into "叔叔", that is, directly saying that the victim in this case is the uncle of Emperor Muzong of Liao. When I described it above, I used the term "Khitan foreign relatives" with special caution, because it involves a little historical common sense. The "叔" in the literature is not necessarily the uncle, but may also be the eldest brother-in-law, the younger brother-in-law, and sometimes may refer to the uncle or the fifth uncle... In short, translating it into foreign relatives is 100% correct, but if it is not "叔叔", relevant evidence must be provided, otherwise it is just a literal interpretation and a low-level mistake.

Regardless of whether the victim was Liao Muzong's uncle or his elder brother-in-law or younger brother-in-law, in short, it was the royal relatives and nobles of the Liao Dynasty who were assassinated in the capital of Southern Tang. The murderer was at large, which put Southern Tang in a very passive situation and could not be explained clearly.

Therefore, the three historical books reached a consensus on the outcome and impact of the incident: "Since then, Khitan and Tang have severed ties." In order to sow discord between Khitan and the Central Plains, Huainan assassinated the Khitan envoy (Gao Ba) in the territory of the Later Jin Dynasty and put the blame on the Later Jin Dynasty. Sooner or later, you will have to pay for what you have done. The Later Zhou Dynasty finally assassinated the Khitan envoy in the territory of the Southern Tang Dynasty and put the blame on the Southern Tang Dynasty, which also successfully alienated the relationship between the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty.

Envoy from Liao: You two are fighting, who the hell did I offend?
3. Forced labor is on the rise

Since there had been no rain since June 953, the Southern Tang Dynasty had suffered a severe drought across the country, leading to serious famine. So Li Jing followed the public opinion and issued an edict in October to build the Baishui Pond in Chuzhou to irrigate farmland. The decree was not limited to Chuzhou, but also to other places. "All abandoned ponds in prefectures and counties should be repaired."

The motive was pure, the process was brutal, and the result was fatal.

In the previous article on the Southern Tang Dynasty, we mentioned the story of how Liu Yanzhen of Shouzhou used the construction of Anfengtang to complete land annexation, which was a microcosm of the dark politics of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Under the manipulation of the "Four Evils and Five Demons" political group, officials at all levels used water conservancy projects to enrich themselves and exploit the people. "As a result, forced labor was rampant, especially in Chuzhou and Changzhou."

Why are Chuzhou and Changzhou so important? Because the two places were under the jurisdiction of Li Jing's two trusted eunuchs, Che Yangui and Fu Hong.

After arriving at the place, the two eunuchs conspired with local officials and devoted themselves to studying ways to get rich by exploiting the people. They succeeded in making the people live in dire straits (Jianghuai Saoran).

The people could no longer make ends meet, so naturally it was the familiar scenario of officials forcing the people to rebel. So bandits gathered in Chuzhou and other places, and the government was worried. The people who were a little more law-abiding used bamboos several meters long as bases, burned incense on the road, looked up to the sky and prayed, denouncing their grievances and hoping that God would open his eyes.

Xu Xuan, the Imperial Edict Director, reported the matter to the emperor.

Li Jing was very unhappy and said, "Do we have to let hundreds of thousands of soldiers go to the battlefield hungry?" "Why would anyone oppose farming and irrigation, which are beneficial to the country and the people?" "What's going on?"

Therefore, Li Jing sent Xu Xuan to inspect Chuzhou for an on-site investigation.

After Xu Xuan arrived in Chuzhou, he immediately found the root of the problem and pointed out that it was the eunuchs who colluded with local officials under the pretext of military farming and other projects to exploit the people. He then returned all the illegal gains of Che Yangui's criminal group to the people.

Che Yangui and others were terrified and fled for fear of punishment, but Xu Xuan was eager to catch them.

We will talk about the political struggle between the brothers Xu Xuan and Xu Kai and Song Qiqiu and his "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" later, so let's just briefly mention it here. In short, the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" group of powerful officials in the court had always regarded Xu Xuan as a thorn in their side and a thorn in their flesh. This time, Xu Xuan acted vigorously and impartially in Chuzhou, which greatly frightened the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" counter-revolutionary group, making them both fearful and angry.

At this time, Xu Xuan captured a bandit leader and executed him in front of the army without reporting. As a result, the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" group made a big fuss about this, and finally put the big hat of "specializing in killing" on Xu Xuan, and then slandered Xu Xuan for "using power to bully others".

Li Jing was furious and ordered Xu Xuan to return home immediately. He planned to scold Xu Xuan and then throw him into the Yangtze River to drown him. Fortunately, when Xu Xuan returned to Beijing, Li Jing had calmed down and regained some reason. He did not kill Xu Xuan, but exiled him to Shuzhou.

Xu Xuan, who stood up for the people, was exiled, the "Four Evils and Five Demons" who were in power in the court continued to abuse their power, and the Baishuitang irrigation project in Chuzhou was eventually abandoned halfway. It did not play any role in saving agriculture and revitalizing the economy, but only fattened corrupt officials.

The struggle between the "Two Xus" (Xu Xuan and Xu Kai) and the "Two Fengs" (Feng Yanji and Feng Yanlu) is a microcosm of the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" wielding power and abuse of power. We will elaborate on this in the following text. Although we have already seen the methods of the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" in the previous text, that was just the tip of the iceberg. Otherwise, Li Yu, the last emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, would not have become a poet of a fallen country.

(End of this chapter)