History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 810 Breaking Defense
[Break Defense]

Zhao Kuangyin conquered Chuzhou and penetrated deep into the heart of Southern Tang, directly threatening the capital of Southern Tang, Shengzhou, and also cutting off the main artery of Southern Tang's blood transfusion to Shouzhou. The loss of Chuzhou greatly shocked the Southern Tang government and Li Jing's defense was broken.

On February 2, Li Jing sent Wang Zhilang, a general from Sizhou, to deliver a letter seeking peace to Chuzhou (both "Zizhi Tongjian" and "Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms" record it as "Xuzhou", which is illogical and inconsistent. According to the comparison of the context and normal logic, "Xuzhou" here should be "Chuzhou", which is a typo).

Chai Rong unfolded the letter and took a look. It was so insincere!
The letter was addressed as "The Emperor of Tang writes to the Emperor of Great Zhou", which was a trap for Chai Rong.

Chai Rong took it as his mission to restore the country and his people, and was determined to annex the territory and unify the writing system and the wheels. Based on this principle, it would be impossible for the Great Zhou Dynasty to recognize the legitimacy of separatist regimes such as Huai, Shu, You, and Jin. This is the same as the "one China" principle that we adhere to today.

Therefore, it was impossible for Chai Rong to make any reply to this letter. As expected, "the letter was not replied" and no statement was made; Li Jing also asked his younger brother Li Jingsui to write letters to Zhao Kuangyin and other generals on the front line of the Later Zhou Dynasty in the name of his younger brother, but it also fell into the sea and received no reply.

With the opening sentence "The Emperor of Tang presents this letter to the Emperor of Zhou", Chai Rong could have thrown this letter aside. However, we still have to pick it up and read its contents in order to understand the psychological dynamics of the Southern Tang monarch and his ministers:
"I hope that you will always be happy with your neighbor. If you look down upon my distant plans and make friends with small countries, I will deploy all my troops to pacify the country and celebrate the good news of the chickens and dogs. I will also be a good friend of yours. I will report the benefits of the mountains and lakes every year and help the army. I will wait for the newspaper to respond to your order. The road will be smooth in the morning and the gifts will be sent in the evening."

The general idea is that Li Jing and Chai Rong agreed to be brother countries, Later Zhou was the big brother, Southern Tang was the younger brother, and the younger brother was willing to pay protection fees to the big brother every year.

But in the eyes of Chai Rong, an outstanding politician and emperor of all ages, the meaning of this sentence can be translated as: recognize two Chinas, one Bian and one Huai.

It seems that Li Jing, the public enemy, separatist, and leader of the "Huai Independence" movement, has not given up his fantasy and will not cry until he sees the coffin. Since he is so stubborn, we have no choice but to use military reunification.

Chai Rong ordered an intensified offensive, using progress on the battlefield to force Li Jing to make concessions at the negotiating table.

First, in the Shouzhou battlefield, Hou Zhang and others were ordered to attack the Shouzhou water fort. Hou Zhang breached the northwest corner of the Shouzhou moat, diverted the Fei River, and drained the moat, leaving only a dry trench outside the city, greatly weakening Shouzhou's defenses.
Secondly, on the Chuzhou front, Chai Rong ordered Han Lingkun and others to use Chuzhou as a springboard and raid Yangzhou to the south, bringing great panic and deterrence to the soldiers and civilians of Southern Tang. Before leaving, Chai Rong warned Han Lingkun and others to strictly enforce military discipline and not harass the people. In addition, Yangzhou was the heart of the former Southern Wu regime, where the tombs of Li Jing's ancestors were located, and special personnel should be sent to guard them together with the Li family's tomb keepers and not to destroy them.

All units received the order and started the operation around February 2.

For the Southern Tang, Shouzhou had become an isolated city and was in imminent danger. The gateway to the two capitals (Shengzhou as the capital and Yangzhou as the eastern capital) - Chuzhou - had also been opened, and the Later Zhou had already launched a surprise attack on Yangzhou, and the situation escalated sharply.

Li Jing was completely defeated and dared not wait and see any longer. He hurriedly sent Hanlin scholar and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Zhong Mo and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works and Scholar of the Academy of Arts and Sciences Li Deming to Shouzhou to present a memorial and ask for peace again. Compared with the last time, this time he was full of sincerity. Let's first take a look at Li Jing's sincerity:
One thousand taels of gold, five thousand taels of silver, one thousand ingots of brocade and satin, imperial clothes, rhinoceros belts, tea and medicine, etc., as well as five hundred cattle and two thousand dan of wine as rewards for the troops.

You see, after a beating, his attitude has improved a lot. A few days ago, it was just a dry letter. Although he said he would pay protection money, he didn't specify the amount, nor agreed on a deadline. He just said "I'll send it to you later" (gift money evening trip). Are you going to the grave to burn newspapers, fooling the ghosts?
This time, along with the letter came carts full of gold, silver, valuables, live cattle and fine wine.

Of course, our Great Zhou is a righteous army, using justice to defeat injustice, in order to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the motherland. We are not bandits, and we are not here to smash, loot, and burn. It is said that if you do not reciprocate, it is impolite. Reciprocity is the way of life.

On the same day (February 2), Chai Rong gave Zhong Mo, Li Deming and others 19 pieces of brocade, silk and satin, taels of silver, formal clothes, gold belts, saddled horses, etc.

Li Jing sent Zhong Mo and Li Deming because they were both famous for their eloquence. Their verbal battles were well known and even Chai Rong had heard of them. When Chai Rong heard that they were the leaders of the group, he knew that they would definitely persuade him to withdraw his troops.

Chai Rong sneered inwardly, thinking that the story of Jiang Gan going to Eastern Wu was about to be repeated.

Chai Rong arranged a grand guard of honor to show the might of the royal army. The soldiers of the Later Zhou Dynasty were in neat formation, with shining helmets and armor, and high morale. They strung their bows and drew their swords. They stared at Zhong Mo and Li Deming with their eyes wide open, as if they wanted to eat them alive on the spot, full of murderous intent.

Before Zhong Mo and Li Deming met Chai Rong, their self-confidence in achieving their goal had already disappeared, and was replaced by endless fear.

Led by the interpreter and the protocol officer, the two men moved tremblingly to the front of the central army tent and formally paid their respects to Chai Rong.

But Chai Rong was furious. After meeting him, he did not exchange pleasantries. He immediately attacked him with a rage:
"Since your master claims to be a descendant of the Tang Dynasty, he should know more about etiquette and righteousness. You and I are only separated by a river, but you have never sent an envoy to visit. Instead, you have crossed the ocean to collude with the Khitan, abandoning the Chinese and communicating with the barbarians. Where is the etiquette? Where is the righteousness? Did you send you two here to persuade me to stop fighting? I am not the foolish ruler of the six countries, and you are not Su Qin or Zhang Yi. Go back and tell your master to quickly roll over, kneel down, kowtow and sing "Conquer" (come to see me quickly and thank me again), then everything will be fine. Otherwise, I will personally go to Shengzhou and use the treasury of Shengzhou to reward my soldiers. When the time comes, don't let him regret it!"

Zhong Mo and Li Deming were so frightened that they dared not utter a word and were shaking like a sieve.

In fact, Li Jing had already made concessions this time, and had agreed to pay tribute to the Later Zhou and "please withdraw the troops." However, this concession was in name only, and Chai Rong did not want "unification on paper," so he still refused.

(End of this chapter)