History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 84 Wang Jian Enters Sichuan
Eunuchs' meddling in government affairs and separatist regimes were two huge burdens weighing on the Tang Empire, and were also Emperor Zhaozong's top priority in reviving the Tang.

The two memorials successively provided a breakthrough for the ambitious Emperor Zhaozong.

One was a memorial from Gu Yanlang, the governor of Dongchuan, requesting the court to pardon Wang Jian and transfer Chen Jingxuan to stabilize the two Sichuans;
The other was a memorial from Wang Jian, expressing his willingness to attack Chen Jingxuan to atone his sins, and requesting to be appointed as the governor of Qiongzhou.

Both memorials were directed at Tian Lingzi's brother Chen Jingxuan, which was exactly what Emperor Zhaozong wanted, so he decided to use this as a breakthrough point and sacrifice Tian Lingzi.

The feud between Wang Jian and Chen Jingxuan started with Tian Lingzi's "retreat to advance".

Tian Lingzi absorbed the "Eight Zhongwu Commanders" that originally belonged to the "Yang School" and reorganized them into the "Five Suijia Commanders", and adopted Wang Jian as his son. Tian Lingzi became Wang Jian's godfather, and Chen Jingxuan became Wang Jian's godfather.

Before Zhu Mei was busy manipulating Li Yan to usurp the throne, the old fox in the political arena, Tian Lingzi, keenly sensed the danger, so he took a step back and voluntarily withdrew from the central government, and surrendered to his brother, Chen Jingxuan, the governor of Xichuan, and showed goodwill to the "Yang faction".

After Yang Fugong came to power, he purged and suppressed the "Tian faction".

Yang Fugong's actions were tinged with revenge and were a bit ugly. The struggle was seriously expanded. Not only were the direct descendants of the "Tian faction" purged, but even the former "Yang faction" members who had newly joined the "Tian faction" were not spared. "Following the Emperor to the Five Cities" was a typical example.

Yang Fugong expelled Wang Jian and others from the court and demoted them to the southwestern border as governors. Among them, Wang Jian was the governor of Lizhou (now Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province).

Lizhou was under the jurisdiction of Shannan West Road, and its governor was Yang Shouliang, the adopted son of Yang Fugong. Yang Shouliang knew Wang Jian was brave and good at fighting, and was very afraid of him. He also understood his godfather's good intentions, so he wanted to eliminate the trouble forever through a Hongmen Feast, so he repeatedly summoned Wang Jian on the pretext of official business.

We are all old Chinese doctors, please don’t prescribe me some folk remedies. Wang Jian always finds various excuses to refuse.

An ugly daughter-in-law will have to meet her parents-in-law sooner or later, and hiding from them is no good.

A man named Zhou Xiang analyzed the current situation for Wang Jian and gave him advice. He pointed out that the demise of the Tang Empire was inevitable. The world was in turmoil, but there was a lack of a truly wise and capable leader, so it was impossible to quell the crisis and revive the country. This was also a great opportunity for heroes like you to build a career!

Zhou Xiang's view is very accurate. The Tang Dynasty was hopeless, but looking around the world, there is really no one like the Qin Emperor, Han Wudi, Tang Zongzong, and Song Zu. Zhu Wen and Li Keyong, to put it bluntly, are all generals among a pile of dwarfs. In other words, even if the Tang Dynasty perished, it would not be replaced by a unified dynasty. In all likelihood, it would enter a situation of disputes among princes and warlords, such as the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty and the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Twenty years before the fall of the Tang Dynasty, Zhou Xuang accurately predicted the emergence of the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms". This is truly admirable.

As a result, Zhou Xuang was highly regarded by Wang Jian and became an important adviser to Wang Jian.

Under the guidance of Zhou Xiang, Wang Jian gave up the idea of ​​using Lizhou as his base, because Lizhou was located in a plain area with no strategic location to defend; instead, he chose Langzhou as his birthplace.

Langzhou is located in a remote area, but it is prosperous and wealthy, and is a real potential stock. Yang Maoshi, the governor of Langzhou, is a confidant of Tian Lingzi and Chen Jingxuan. He relies on the power of the "Tian faction" and never pays tribute to the central government.

Therefore, Wang Jian only needed to submit a memorial to the court, pointing out the fact that Yang Maoshi of Langzhou was rebellious, and he could annex the city with justification.

Wang Jian readily accepted the suggestion, and he recruited soldiers and horses, recruited local tribal heroes and barbarian youths, assembled 8,000 people, went south along the Jialing River, drove away Yang Maoshi, settled in Langzhou, proclaimed himself a defense envoy, and then used Langzhou as a revolutionary base, recruited surrenders and traitors, and took in fugitives from all directions. His military force became increasingly powerful, and gradually he got rid of Yang Shouliang's control.

【Wang Jian enters Sichuan】

Wang Jian was open to public opinion, accepted advice with an open mind, and cherished the people's strength, becoming a clear stream in the warlord world.

However, the act of annexing Langzhou caused panic among its neighbors. Gu Yanlang, the governor of Dongchuan, was afraid of being harmed by Wang Jian and kept trying to make friendly gestures.

Gu Yanlang and Wang Jian had served in the same Shen Ce Army and had a colleague relationship. Therefore, Gu Yanlang often sent envoys to pay tribute and greet Wang Jian, present gifts and military rations, etc., under the pretext of visiting old colleagues and exchanging feelings. Later, he married Wang Jian's children to his own. As a result, Wang Jian stopped harassing the Dongchuan area.

The close interaction between Dongchuan Gu Yanlang and Wang Jian made Xichuan Jiedushi Chen Jingxuan quite uneasy. He was worried that the two would unite to deal with him, so he discussed countermeasures with his younger brother Tian Lingzi.

Unlike Chen Jingxuan's worried look, Tian Lingzi looked relaxed. He laughed, patted his chest and said, "Turtle, my son!"

Wang Jian was the eighth child in his family. Because he was a scoundrel, he was known as "Thief Turtle" in his hometown. After Tian Lingzi adopted Wang Jian as his son, he also nicknamed him "Turtle".

In Tian Lingzi's view, Wang Jian was implicated by himself and was ostracized and suppressed by the "Yang faction", so he had no choice but to stir up trouble in the two Sichuans. Isn't it easy to feel at ease? Just write a letter and you can summon the thief to your side.

Moreover, after the new ruler ascended the throne, he was ready to make a move against Tian Yan's party. Wang Jian was brave and strong, which was just right for increasing the strength of Xichuan. Summoning Wang Jian to Xichuan would kill two birds with one stone. Wang Jian was overjoyed to receive the letter, and hurried all the way west, first to Zizhou (Dongchuan headquarters) to find Gu Yanlang, entrusted his wife and children to him, and said that his godfather asked him to go to Chengdu, so he would serve him without stopping, and by the way, he would pay a visit to his uncle (Chen Jingxuan) and ask him to change me to a bigger state, and I would be satisfied.

Afterwards, he led two thousand elite soldiers, including his nephew Wang Zonghui, adopted sons Wang Zongyao, Wang Zongbi, Wang Zongkan, and Wang Zongbian, and set off for Chengdu.

When Wang Jian arrived at Lutou Pass, Chen Jingxuan's staff officer Li Yi reminded him: "Wang Jian is like a tiger, with the eyes of an owl and the back of a wolf. Why did you call him here? Isn't this inviting a wolf into the house? It's easy to invite a god, but it's hard to send him away!"

Chen Jingxuan was awakened by this. He beat his chest and stamped his feet, regretting his stupid behavior. He immediately sent someone to convey an emergency order: close all the checkpoints and strictly prohibit Wang Jian from entering Sichuan! He also sent heavy troops to station in various military fortresses to increase the level of combat readiness.

Wang Jian acted decisively and ordered a strong attack immediately. He defeated all the enemies along the way and killed everyone who stood in his way. "My godfather asked me to come here. Who dares to stop me?"

They forcibly broke through the Lutou Pass defense line, and then went to Mianzhu, Deyang, Hanzhou, Xindu, and advanced all the way to Xueshe Mountain (now north of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province). In the blink of an eye, they had arrived at the city and threatened Chengdu Prefecture.

Chen Jingxuan sent an envoy to reprimand him, "You bastard, you bastard, are you rebelling?"

Wang Jian argued, "My godfather asked me to come. Now that I'm at the door, why don't you open the gate and let me in? And the governor of Dongchuan, Gu Yanlang, has become suspicious of me (obviously Wang Jian's excuse). I'm stuck now and have no way out. I can only explain myself to my godfather in person."

Tian Lingzi had no choice but to go up to the city wall himself and explain to Wang Jian that he had no intention of harming him and asked him not to believe the rumors as it was a misunderstanding.

Wang Jian hurriedly led all the generals to kneel on Qingyuan Bridge (the bridge over the moat outside the South Gate Tower in Chengdu), shaved their heads, and kowtowed. "Godfather! We are homeless now. We shave our heads today to show our determination. From now on, we will completely become bandits. We bid farewell to you, Godfather!"

Gu Yanlang of Dongchuan sent his younger brother Gu Yanhui to be the governor of Hanzhou to divide up the fruits of Wang Jian's victory, and then sent troops to assist Wang Jian in attacking Chengdu.

Wang Jian and Gu Yanlang launched a fierce offensive against Chengdu. The two sides fought fiercely for three days but failed to capture it, so Wang Jian retreated to Hanzhou to rest.

Chen Jingxuan quickly reported Wang Jian's rebellion to the central government.

The court sent eunuchs with imperial edicts to mediate, and ordered Fengxiang Jiedushi Li Maozhen to write a letter to mediate.

Wang Jian didn't buy Li Maozhen's account.

Who do you think you are, Li Maozhen? You rose from a small soldier to the high position of Jiedushi by taking advantage of suppressing the rebellion of Zhu Mei and Li Yan. Do you really think you have joined the circle of feudal lords? A sworn brother to someone - who do you think you are? A magic foot in the bed - what rank do you think you are?
In fact, Li Maozhen still has a say.

From a public perspective, he was a local vassal, so it was reasonable for him to step forward and act as a peacemaker between neighboring vassal states; from a private perspective, he had even more reason to intervene, because Li Maozhen was also Tian Lingzi's adopted son.

It is said that Li Maozhen served in the Shen Ce Army and was not tolerated by the generals. Someone spread rumors to Tian Lingzi and advised Tian Lingzi to kill him. But when Tian Lingzi saw Li Maozhen, he thought that this man was extraordinary and would achieve great things in the future. Not only did he not kill him, he also adopted him as his son and gave him the name "Yanbin" (whether it should be called "Tian Yanbin" is not recorded; Tian Lingzi's sons and nephews were ranked with the character "Kuang", such as Tian Kuangyou).

This is interesting. Wang Jian, Li Maozhen and Xizong were all Tian Lingzi’s godsons, and Chen Jingxuan was the godfather of these three.

The chaos in the two Sichuan provinces is actually a family affair: the nephew is the one who deals with his uncle, and the brothers come to mediate.

"Your uncle..."

"Your uncle!"

"Our uncle..."

Li Maozhen tried to mediate the dispute but failed. Wang Jian invaded Xichuan on a large scale, and none of the 12 states under Xichuan's rule could escape his clutches. Chen Jingxuan was in great pain.

Thanks to my old friend "驰风程雨游无限兮" for the generous 5 recommendation votes!

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(End of this chapter)