History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 811: Seeking Peace (Part )

Soon, good news came from many fronts:

1. Double attack

The Wuyue Kingdom in the east had already dispatched troops to Changzhou and Xuanzhou. Yao Yanhong, the general of Xuanzhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty, led more than 10,000 soldiers to surrender to the Wuyue Kingdom.
Wang Kui of Langzhou in the west captured Changshan Stronghold in Ezhou, killed more than 3,000 enemies, captured alive the Southern Tang general Chen Ze and others, and presented them to the imperial court in Shouzhou.

3. The Lonely City of Shouzhou

Xu Xiang, commander of the Zuo Shenwei Army in Shouzhou City, and 18 others went out of the city to surrender.

2. Bayonet Operation
Han Lingkun was ordered to attack Yangzhou. The vanguard Bai Yanyu led more than a hundred cavalrymen into the city in the early morning. The Yangzhou people were unaware of it. Han Lingkun then led the main force to cooperate with them from inside and outside. The defender of Yangzhou of Southern Tang abandoned the city and fled. Yangzhou was then taken over by the Later Zhou army.

According to the "Five Kingdoms Story", Han Lingkun used the strategy of "crossing the river in white clothes". He asked the soldiers to cover themselves with sheepskin and dress up as Xiyangyang, and then someone led horses and drove the "flock of sheep" to infiltrate behind the enemy as a businessman. That's why Yangzhou was easily captured.

According to the "Dongdu Shilue", when Han Lingkun attacked Yangzhou, the officers and officials guarding the city took the initiative to open the gates to welcome the surrender, the market was bustling, and the people were very happy.

Yangzhou, the eastern capital of the Southern Tang Empire, was almost peacefully liberated, and the Later Zhou took over the garrison without any soldiers.

During this period, Feng Yanlu, the deputy governor of Dongdu and one of the "Four Evils and Five Demons", was captured alive by the Later Zhou. According to records, when Feng Yanlu learned that the Later Zhou army was raiding, he hurriedly gave himself a haircut, shaved his head, and changed into monk's clothes in an attempt to get away with it. However, he was still arrested and discovered.

Upon learning that Feng Yanlu had been captured alive, the people of Southern Tang, who had suffered from the oppression of the "Four Evils and Five Demons", composed a few couplets to ridicule him:
"He held the imperial seal and became the commander of a large army; he put on a black robe and shaved his head, secretly becoming a wandering monk."

Then again:

"In the past, the banners and flags showed the generals sitting on the throne; today, the hair has turned into the wandering monks."

Chai Rong gave Feng Yanlu clothes and appointed him as Jieshi Zhong (some say Taichang Qing), comforted him with kind words, and then asked him about the strength of the Southern Tang.

"No one understands Southern Tang better than me." - Feng Yanlu, one of the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts"
According to records, Feng Yanlu was very knowledgeable and made clear predictions, revealing the true strengths and weaknesses of the Southern Tang. Chai Rong was delighted and immediately gave him a large amount of rewards. He placed him in Bianzhou and appointed him as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

Geng Lian, the commander of the Southern Tang Tianchang Army, led his troops to surrender and handed over more than 100 million grain and grass. Tianchang County is more than miles west of Yangzhou and is also an important gateway to Shengzhou. The war is getting closer and closer to Shengzhou.

After Han Lingkun conquered Yangzhou, he continued to attack Taizhou without stopping. The governor of Taizhou abandoned the city and fled, and Taizhou was also taken over.

Taizhou, 115 miles east of Yangzhou, was originally Hailing Town. The Southern Tang Dynasty first upgraded the town to a county, and then upgraded the county to a prefecture. The reason why this "town-level city" is so important is that it is actually a high-level prison, where the highest-level political prisoners of the Southern Tang Dynasty - the Yang clan - were imprisoned. When Yangzhou fell, Li Jing immediately sent his confidant Yin Yanfan to Taizhou to relocate the descendants of the Yang clan to Runzhou to prevent them from being captured by the Later Zhou Dynasty, and then play the "Yang clan card" in the Huainan area.

Yin Yanfan certainly understood Li Jing's intention, and after arriving in Taizhou, he killed all the more than 60 male members of the Yang clan and brought back only the female members. The Yang clan was extinct from then on.

When Li Jing heard the news, he was furious and immediately beheaded Yin Yanfan.

According to the "Jiangnan Wild History", after Li Jing beheaded Yin Yanfan, he felt extremely distressed and cried to his attendants: "Yin Yanfan is a replica of Cheng Ji. I asked him to do this, and I really had no choice!"

After the Yang clan was wiped out, Taizhou was liberated.

Li Jing sent a wax ball letter to ask for help from the Khitan, but it was intercepted by the Later Zhou Dynasty and delivered to Chai Rong.
Li Jing sent Chen Chuyao to Khitan to ask for help, but after Chen Chuyao left, there was no news, and it was unknown whether he was dead or escaped.
On March 3, Chai Rong personally inspected the front line of Shouzhou Water Fort. When passing the Feishui Bridge, Chai Rong personally held a large stone in his arms and rode to the front line for use with catapults to attack the city; the accompanying officials rushed to follow suit, each holding a stone.

The emperor and important civil and military officials took advantage of the inspection opportunity to personally move the huge stones, unwilling to leave any empty ones, which greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers of the Later Zhou Dynasty.

When Zhao Kuangyin was passing by Shouzhou City by boat, the defenders on the city wall shot him with a crossbow, and the arrow was as big as a rafter. The deputy general Zhang Huan risked his life to protect Zhao Kuangyin with a large shield. Zhao Kuangyin was unharmed, but Zhang Huan was shot in the thigh and fainted on the spot. After waking up, it was found that the arrow was deeply embedded in the bone and could not be removed. Zhang Huan drank a full bowl of wine, and then ordered people to "break the bone to get it out". Several liters of blood flowed, but Zhang Huan remained calm throughout the whole process.

Zhang Huan's bravery, comparable to Guan Erye's "scraping bones to cure poison", shocked everyone, especially Zhao Kuangyin. After Zhao Kuangyin became emperor, he appointed Zhang Huan as the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards.

Seeing that Chai Rong had no intention of stopping, Li Jing sent Sun Sheng and Wang Chongzhi to meet him again, expressing his willingness to follow the example of Liangzhe and Hunan, obey the legitimate rule of the Great Zhou and pledge his allegiance to the Great Zhou; in addition, he would pay tribute to the Great Zhou with 1,000 taels of gold, 100,000 taels of silver, and 2,000 ingots of silk.

Unlike Zhong Mo and Li Deming, Sun Sheng was already prepared to die for his country before he came.

Previously, Sun Sheng and Feng Yanji were both prime ministers, but he always despised the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" and was at odds with Feng Yanji. He even publicly described Feng Yanji and others as "gold cups and jade plates filled with dog shit", and as a result, he was ruthlessly suppressed and excluded by the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts". Today, Feng Yanji is still the prime minister, while Sun Sheng is the Sikong without real power.

Before leaving, Sun Sheng found Feng Yanji and said to him: "You are the prime minister. This job of losing power and humiliating the country and ruining your reputation should be yours. However, I have been deeply favored by two generations of the Li family. Now is the time for me to repay the late emperor. So I will bear this eternal infamy in your place."

On the way, Sun Sheng tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. He sighed at the bright moon and said to Wang Chongzhi, "It's impossible for us to return alive this time. No matter what, we can't let the late emperor down!"

Seeking peace and negotiation, especially a humiliating treaty, would naturally lead to the loss of power and humiliation of the country. Afterwards, it would be inevitable that the party would be criticized by keyboard warriors, and all the dirty water and all the black pot would be thrown on the signatory's head. In order to repay Xu Zhigao's kindness, Sun Sheng was ready to die before coming. As for how he died heroically for his country, it will be presented later.

Faced with the Southern Tang's statement of submission and tribute, Chai Rong still did not agree, because this was not his strategic goal.

(End of this chapter)