History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 832 The conspiracy of "Lai Sandai"
[The conspiracy of the "Lai Sandai"]

The Huai River Conquest Campaign officially came to an end, and Chai Rong was the Qin Shi Huang's model - he won.

The account book of the Later Zhou Dynasty recorded: Huainan was pacified, and 14 states, 60 counties, and 226,574 households were obtained.

After the Battle of Gaoping, the Later Zhou Dynasty won an even more glorious victory in Huainan, which raised its international reputation to an unprecedented level and shocked all the vassal states.
Gao Baorong of Jingnan wrote to Meng Chang of Hou Shu, urging him to know the current situation and to submit to Hou Zhou as soon as possible. Meng Chang replied that he had just had a private chat with Hou Zhou, and the man surnamed Chai blocked him. Four months later (October), Gao Baorong wrote to Meng Chang of Hou Shu again, earnestly urging him to submit to the Central Plains.
Liu Congxiao, the governor of Qingyuan Army in Quanzhou of Southern Tang, sent his confidant Cai Zhongyun to disguise himself as a businessman and hide a "belt watch" in his belt, secretly declaring himself a vassal of Later Zhou.

Quanzhou was nominally the territory of Southern Tang, and Li Jing of Southern Tang had just returned to the Central Plains. If Li Jing's power was poached at this juncture, it would obviously make Li Jing fall into great fear, and Later Zhou would also lose the trust of the world. Therefore, Later Zhou politely declined Liu Congxiao's offer of allegiance.

As for Jingnan Gao Baorong, he applied the fine tradition of "Gao Laizi" to perfection. He borrowed the power of the tiger to write a letter to Hou Shu, in order to show his loyalty to Hou Zhou and to sow discord between Hou Zhou and Hou Shu so as to reap the benefits.

When the Central Plains attacked Shu, Jingnan took the opportunity to expand westwards and annex the upper reaches of the Yangtze River controlled by Shu. As early as when the Later Tang Dynasty destroyed the Former Shu, Gao Jichang did this. Now, his grandson Gao Baorong is repeating the same trick.

After receiving Gao Baorong's second letter of persuasion, Meng Chang of Later Shu summoned his ministers to discuss the matter. All the civil and military officials of Later Shu were unanimously opposed to surrendering to Later Zhou, believing that Meng Chang was wise and brave, the land of Bashu was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the soldiers were loyal. There was no reason for him to surrender. Why should he be scared by a letter? All the ministers were willing to die for the country!

Meng Chang was very pleased, so he replied with a letter with a very tough attitude, "strongly rejecting it."

This move was exactly what Gao Baorong wanted and successfully sowed discord between Later Zhou and Later Shu.

In October, Chai Rong really began to plan to attack Shu. He appointed Gao Fang, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, as the water and land transport envoy of the southwest, and Li Yu, the right minister of praise, as the judge, in charge of transporting food and other supplies to Fengzhou. As the saying goes, food must be sent before troops move. Li Hui of Bingzhou moved his garrison to Fengxiang, and troops gradually gathered in the southwest.

When Gao Baorong of Jingnan heard about it, he was overjoyed and immediately expressed his loyalty again: please lead the navy to the Three Gorges.

Chai Rong was very pleased with this, so he issued an edict to praise Gao Baorong.

Gao Fang and Li Yu's job was to "transport by land and water", which was equivalent to today's logistics support department, responsible for transporting strategic materials to the front line on time and in sufficient quantities to ensure the needs of subsequent wars. However, the victory of Pinghuai made Li Yu arrogant and eager to make achievements.

After Li Yu arrived in Chang'an, he heard rumors that the Gui'an Town of Hou Shu was 300 miles south of Chang'an, and the defenses were empty, so it was easy to capture. Li Yu sent a formal letter to Wang Yanchao, the governor of Chang'an, asking him for 200 elite soldiers, intending to attack Gui'an Town.

Wang Yanchao said that Gui'an Town was in a strategic location, easy to defend but difficult to attack, and that we should not act rashly.

Li Yu was furious and used the imperial edict to scare him, falsely claiming that he had received the emperor's secret order.

Wang Yanchao had no choice but to "obey the imperial edict" and allocate troops to Li Yu.

Li Yu went there happily, but the result was predictable. Li Chengxun, the garrison commander of Gui'an Town, set an ambush in a dangerous place, and Li Yu was tragically wiped out, with no one surviving.

Fear can give rise to two completely opposite results. One is to kneel down and sing the song of conquest, allowing oneself to be slaughtered; the other is to fight back in a desperate situation, so as to survive in the face of death.

The previous "War between Qin and Feng" did bring infinite fear to the people of Shu. However, the shame of being defeated and ceding land aroused the fighting spirit of the people of Shu. Knowing the shame made them braver. The people of Bashu were still resentful about the "War between Qin and Feng". Gao Baorong of Jingnan's two letters of persuasion to surrender completely ignited the anger of the people of Shu. The people of Bashu were united, shared the same hatred of the enemy, and were ready for war.

In contrast, in the Later Zhou Dynasty, compared with the expedition to Huai River, Chai Rong did not make any preparations for the attack on Shu. To a certain extent, he could be seen as being kidnapped by the "patriotic traitor" Gao Baorong.

After the Battle of Gui'an, Hou Shu was more convinced that Hou Zhou was about to attack Shu, so it actively deployed troops and stationed troops at strategic locations, with Zhao Chongtao as the commander of the northern expedition; Meng Yiye as the commander-in-chief of Lizhou and Wenzhou (the commander of Zhaowu and Wenzhou); Zhao Sijin as the commander of the eastern expedition; and Han Baozhen as the commander of the northern expedition. A total of 60,000 elite troops were stationed at strategic locations to prepare for the Zhou army.

Let's take a look at the Hou Shu national team lineup:
Zhao Chongtao, his father was Zhao Tingyin, a founding hero of the Later Shu. According to records, Zhao Chongtao showed extraordinary courage and bravery at an early age, and was very much like his father. He was worthy of the saying "a tiger father has a dog son", and was highly regarded by Meng Chang.
Meng Yiye, whose origin is unknown, but Meng Chang had a half-brother, who was recorded as "Meng Yiye" in the unearthed "Epitaph of Princess Fuqing". It is unknown whether they are the same person. Even if Meng Yiye was not the emperor's brother Meng Yiye, he was also a well-known figure - the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guards (the commander of the Fengluan Suwei), the governor of Suizhou Wuxin Army, and the minister of the Central Secretariat;
Han Baozhen, his father was Han Zhaoyun, who was a direct confidant of Shu Taizu Meng Zhixiang who entered Sichuan and assisted Meng Zhixiang in becoming emperor. When the Later Shu took advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains to get involved in Fengxiang and Chang'an, Han Baozhen's shadow was there. Meng Chang also valued Han Baozhen very much and married his children to him. Han Baozhen's son Han Chong then happily married Meng Chang's daughter.

From the perspective of military deployment, it was to defend against the Later Zhou in the north and the southern part of Jing in the east. It can be said that the Later Shu had made sufficient preparations for the upcoming war. The soldiers and civilians of the Later Shu bore the "shame of Qin Feng" and were closely united under the leadership of Comrade Meng Chang, vowing to defend their country to the death.

"Come here!"

Let’s look at the Later Zhou Dynasty.

On the first day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of Xian De (959), Chai Rong received congratulations in Chongyuan Hall. This was a year of joy and peace, a year worth celebrating. He had pacified Huainan and conquered the world. The Kingdom of Goryeo and the Kingdom of Jurchen sent envoys to pay tribute. However, in the first month of the year, Chai Rong also received bad news: An Shenqi, the governor of Pinglu Army in Qingzhou, was killed by his subordinates.

An Shenqi was a native of Shatuo and a descendant of a military family. His father was An Jinquan, a hero of the Hedong Shatuo Group and a famous general under Li Keyong. An Shenqi was decisive and brave, good at riding and shooting. He followed Li Cunxu since he was young. Both his father and son were famous generals of the Later Tang Dynasty. From the Later Tang Dynasty to the Later Zhou Dynasty, An Shenqi conquered Shu in the west, Khitan in the north, and Jingnan in the south. He made many military achievements for the Central Plains Dynasty and was once known as a "fierce general". There was Feng Dao in literature and An Shenqi in military.

After the establishment of the Later Zhou Dynasty, An Shenqi's title was first promoted from Duke of Qi to Prince of Nanyang, and later to Prince of Chen. He served in Shannan East Road for more than ten years. During his tenure, he was strict but not cruel, powerful but not violent, and the local people were very grateful for his kindness.

During Chai Rong's expedition to Huai, An Shenqi moved to Qingzhou. Chai Rong respected this "old man of the country" very much, treated him with great courtesy, and personally visited his home to express his condolences to show the court's favor.

An Shenqi was in a state of panic because one of his concubines was having an affair with the servant An Youjin. The concubine was worried that the affair would be exposed, and after much thought, she thought that the only way to solve the problem was to kill An Shenqi, so she asked An Youjin to plot against her husband, a Five Dynasties version of Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian.

An Youjin was still sober enough. He knew that the crime of murdering an imperial official and a provincial governor was far more serious than being the old man next door, so he planned to refuse politely.

Unexpectedly, the concubine was so strong-willed and courageous. She said, "If you don't do it, I will report you!"
An Youjin was forced to take part in the plot.

On the night of the seventh day of the first lunar month, the concubine got An Shenqi drunk. While he was sleeping, the concubine stole the sword hanging on the wall and gave it to An Youjin, saying, "It's up to you."

An Youjin then assassinated An Shenqi and killed all the other maids present.

This concubine was brave but not wise. So many people died at once, and it was obviously murder. Are the public security officers just there to do nothing? A little investigation will surely reveal the truth.

A few days later, An Shenqi's son An Shouzhong found out the truth, captured An Youjin and others alive, and executed them by slow slicing.

In the first month of the year, An Shenqi died tragically; on March 3, Comrade Wang Pu, an important think tank of Chai Rong, the originator of the strategy of "first south then north, first easy then difficult", and the Privy Councilor, unfortunately fell ill and died at the age of 3.

At that time, Wang Pu was in good health and enjoyed eating. After the court was dismissed, he felt refreshed and came to visit the former prime minister Li Gu. The two had a good personal relationship and were having a pleasant conversation when suddenly, Wang Pu fell down without any warning and lost consciousness. The medical staff's rescue efforts were ineffective and they could only announce that Wang Pu had unfortunately died of sudden death.

When Wang Pu's obituary arrived, Chai Rong was in so much pain that he wished he was dead. When Wang Pu was buried, Chai Rong personally attended the memorial ceremony, knocked the ground with his jade axe, and cried several times, almost unable to control himself.

Afterwards, Wang Pu's family was given a huge pension, and jobs were arranged for Wang Pu's sons. Wang Pu was posthumously awarded the title of Shizhong, and his portrait was painted in the Pavilion of Meritorious Officials.

Wang Pu’s death was a huge blow to Chai Rong. Some people even said that if Wang Pu had died a few years later, there might not have been Zhao Kuangyin’s "Chenqiao Mutiny".

After a calm analysis, Chai Rong decisively canceled the plan to attack Shu. Stopping losses in time is also a kind of profit.

According to Comrade Wang Pu's strategy, Chai Rong set his next target of expedition in the north - the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun.

(End of this chapter)