History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 829: End of Peace Negotiation
[End of Peace Negotiation]

1. The whole area of ​​Jiangbei

According to the armistice agreement between the two sides, the Southern Tang "surrendered all the counties and prefectures north of the Yangtze River that had not been conquered", or to put it more bluntly, ceded all the land north of the Yangtze River.

Ezhou is located south of the Yangtze River, but Hanyang County and Chachuan County under Ezhou's jurisdiction are located north of the Yangtze River. Therefore, Li Jing requested to preserve the integrity of Ezhou's administrative territory, that is, to allow the two counties to still belong to the Southern Tang.

Chai Rong: "Please help me translate, what does 'the entire territory north of the Yangtze River' mean? Translate it for me, what the fuck is 'the entire territory north of the Yangtze River'? Translate it for me, what the fuck is 'the entire territory north of the Yangtze River'? Translate it, what the fuck is 'the entire territory north of the Yangtze River'?
"They also gave it as a sacrifice" - "Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms"

There is a Hailing Salt Inspectorate in Hailing County, Yangzhou, which can boil 600,000 shi of salt every year. At that time, salt and cloth (silk, etc.) could also be used as currency, so the Salt Inspectorate was the economic lifeline of a regime and a national pillar industry, and salt was a necessity of life and an important strategic material, so the importance of the Salt Inspectorate to a regime is self-evident. One of the important reasons why the Huainan forces were able to compete with the Central Plains for a long time was that they controlled the Hailing Salt Inspectorate.

When Li Jing proposed to retain the Hailing Salt Administration, think about what Chai Rong would say.

"I begged for the Hailing Salt Administration to be in the south. It was not granted." - "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals"

However, after the Southern Tang's pleading and sympathetic behavior, Chai Rong finally agreed to allocate 300,000 shi of salt every year, as a New Year's gift from a grandfather to his grandson.

2. Request to give up the seat

At the beginning of the peace talks, Chen Jue came to discuss peace, one of the terms of which was that Li Jing requested to give up the throne to his son Li Hongji.

According to historical records, Li Jing felt that ceding territory in exchange for peace and being stripped of his imperial title was a great humiliation, and he planned to shift the blame for this humiliation to his son, Li Hongji, and let him sign this humiliating treaty.

Maybe that is the meaning, but there is another meaning, which is to gain the initiative in the peace talks.

First of all, before the war, the Later Zhou Dynasty issued the "Exhortation to Conquer the Huai River", listing the "eight major crimes" of the Southern Tang Dynasty, which became the moral guidance for the Later Zhou Dynasty's expedition to the Huai River. The one who committed these "eight major crimes" was Li Jing, and had nothing to do with Li Hongji.

In other words, if the negotiating partner was Li Jing, then the Later Zhou would have sufficient reasons to put the Southern Tang on trial and hold it responsible for the war, and it would be possible to ask for a high price from the Southern Tang. However, if the negotiating partner was Li Hongji, who had a clean record, then the Later Zhou would not be able to impose punitive conditions on Li Hongji.

Secondly, it disturbs audiences, confuses concepts, and praises the Later Zhou Dynasty to the point of being criticized.

The Later Zhou Dynasty's attack on Huainan was a punitive strike, only to avenge Li Jing's "eight major crimes", and had no intention of interfering in other countries' internal affairs. It was only to teach Li Jing a lesson, not to drive him out of power and support a pro-Zhou puppet.

The strategic goal of the Later Zhou Dynasty was to strip Li Jing of his imperial title and cede the entire territory of Jiangbei. However, Li Jing took the initiative to add a condition of abdication as a condition for peace talks. His "buy two get one free" move was actually to mislead international public opinion, create the illusion that the Later Zhou Dynasty was trying to overthrow the Zhou Dynasty, win international sympathy, and cause other regimes to fear and hostility towards the Later Zhou Dynasty, and regard the Later Zhou Dynasty as a strategic imaginary enemy.

"Everyone see, it's me today and it will be you tomorrow!" Do you think you can compete with Chai Rong with just this little trick?
Chai Rong replied:
"I have read your letter and have written down your intentions, describing your intentions of passing on the throne today and your noble aspirations..."

——I read your letter. You seem to be able to act like a grandson. As for what you said about giving up your position to your son...

“Although the ancients also took the blame on themselves and felt fear due to disasters, nothing could surpass this.”

——No one has done this since ancient times.

"Moreover, you are young and vigorous, you are very old, you are a wise ruler, and you are loved by the people..."

——What's more, you are in your prime (Li Jing was 42 years old at the time), strong and healthy, very capable, and very much supported and loved by the people.

"To uphold high principles from beginning to end, to make plans for the future, to leave a good reputation and bring joy to the country, isn't that beautiful!"

——Don’t forget your original intention, and you will achieve your goal. Experience +3, isn’t that wonderful?

In a word, don't try this on me. I won't allow you to abdicate.

3. Turn over a new leaf and start a new life
Li Jing changed his name to "Li Jing" to avoid taboos. Because the great-grandfather (grandfather's grandfather) of Guo Wei, the founder of the Later Zhou Dynasty, was called Guo Jing. Now, Li Jing has four names: Xu Jingtong, Li Jingtong, Li Jing, and Li Jing. We still call him "Li Jing";
He gave up his imperial title and called himself "Lord of the State". He followed the Zhou dynasty and adopted the reign title of the Later Zhou Dynasty - Xiande.
All the ceremonies of the Son of Heaven were abolished, and the etiquette of the "Lord of the State" was followed.

Before this, the Southern Tang was an empire, so Xu Wen and Xu Zhigao both enjoyed imperial temple names, such as Xu Wen was "Yizu" and Xu Zhigao was "Liezu". Because Li Jing had also been an "emperor" during his lifetime, he was also able to enjoy the temple name "Yuanzong" after his death. However, the ruler of the Southern Tang after Li Jing (Li Yu) no longer enjoyed the temple name.

Some historical books call Xu Zhigao "the first lord", Li Jing "the middle lord", and Li Yu "the last lord". This is how the title "Li Yu, the last lord of Southern Tang" came about.

4. Learn from the pain
Although the Southern Tang suffered heavy casualties, ceded territory, paid indemnities, and was demoted, the war was not entirely useless for the Southern Tang. One of the - perhaps the only - positive impacts was that Li Jing finally made up his mind to personally eradicate the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" counter-revolutionary group that was bringing disaster to the country and the people.

However, eradicating this cancer at this moment cannot be said to be a revival, at least it is ineffective. It all came too late.

Thanks to my old friend "江湖留白" for the monthly ticket support! I've been busy recently and have been postponing it. I will definitely make up for it in the future. Thank you for your support!

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(End of this chapter)