History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 858: Battle of Zelu 4
Zhao Kuangyin arrived outside Zezhou City and commanded a strong attack, but there was no progress for more than ten days. So he asked Ma Quanyi, the general of the imperial army, for a strategy to defeat the enemy.

Ma Quanyi was a man of both civil and military talents. He served Fan Yanguang at the age of 15. After Fan Yanguang rebelled, Shi Jingtang led his army to fight against him. Ma Quanyi voluntarily surrendered and Shi Jingtang placed him in the imperial guards. At that time, the imperial guards were basically special positions for retirement. Ma Quanyi was frustrated and thought, "The world is so big, I want to go see it" (so he escaped).

During the Later Han Dynasty, a big boss finally recognized his talent, summoned him to his camp, and entrusted him with important tasks. This boss was Li Shouzhen, the governor of Hezhong.

tragedy.

Li Shouzhen also embarked on the road of rebellion. When Guo Wei came to attack him, Ma Quanyi decided to be a loyal person and not abandon Li Shouzhen like he abandoned Fan Yanguang. So, Ma Quanyi led the death squad to repeatedly inflict heavy damage on Guo Wei, making Guo Wei suffer. At the same time, Ma Quanyi also gave Li Shouzhen advice and suggestions.

However, Li Shouzhen was "greedy but unwise, and very jealous by nature", so he always managed to avoid all the correct answers.

When the city was captured, Ma Quanyi changed his name, disguised himself, and escaped again.

After Guo Wei became emperor, he appointed Chai Rong to be the governor of Chanzhou. Ma Quanyi, who changed his vest, went to Chanzhou to seek refuge with Chai Rong. When Ma Quanyi followed Chai Rong to the court, Guo Wei recognized him at a glance as he was trying to get away with it. Guo Wei was a man of great talent and broad mind. He promoted Ma Quanyi to a mid-level general of the imperial army and specifically told Chai Rong that this man was loyal to his work and was both civil and military. When we were in Hezhong, he frustrated me a lot. You must use him!
At this time, the imperial guards were no longer a sinecure for retirement. When Guo Wei was alive, he had already begun to lay out the grand strategy of "strengthening the central government and weakening local governments". It's just that Guo Wei's reign was too short, and his career had to be carried forward by Chai Rong.

Chai Rong also admired Ma Quanyi very much and promoted him immediately after he ascended the throne. In the subsequent "Battle of Gaoping" and "Three Expeditions to Huainan", Ma Quanyi was promoted to the commander of the palace and the right general Yuhou for his meritorious service.

Now, with the tough challenge of Zezhou standing in his way, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly thought of his old subordinate and asked him for advice.

Ma Quanyi’s meaning can be summed up in one word - do it!

Ma Quanyi said that Li Yun was trapped in an isolated city. If we concentrate all our strength to attack quickly, we can win. If we hesitate and refuse to let go, we will inevitably be dragged into a war of attrition, which will be disadvantageous to our army.

Zhao Kuangyin nodded with satisfaction, "Just as I thought." He then gave the order for the entire army to attack!

Attacking a city is a life-threatening task, who wants to be cannon fodder?
The big boss has talked to you and asked you the correct answer. Do you still need the big boss to call you out for the next task? Ma Quanyi volunteered to lead a death squad of dozens of people to climb the city wall. The moment he climbed the top of the city wall, an arrow shot through Ma Quanyi's arm, causing a piercing wound, and blood immediately poured out. Ma Quanyi gritted his teeth and pulled out the arrow, continuing to slash forward, becoming more and more courageous. Zhao Kuangyin even led his personal guards to provide support. The morale of the Song army was greatly boosted, and they captured Zezhou City in one fell swoop.

Just one day before the city fell, Li Yun's concubine Liu suddenly asked him how many horses there were in the city. Li Yun was puzzled and asked in return, "Why do you, a woman, ask this?"
Liu said that our isolated city may not be able to hold out for long. If we can gather a few hundred good horses, break out with your trusted soldiers, return to Luzhou to hold out, and wait for support from Northern Han and Khitan, we still have a chance to make a comeback. If we stay in Zezhou, we can only sit and wait for death.

Liu seemed to have a God's perspective and what he said was absolutely true.

Li Yun also thought what she said made sense, so he found his confidant and did some calculations. He was delighted to find that he still had more than a thousand good horses! So, Li Yun issued the only correct order in the entire war: Break out tonight!
When one of his military advisors heard about this, he immediately whispered to him, "During the morning meeting this morning, you led everyone in shouting slogans, saying that we should work together to defend Zezhou. How come you changed your mind just half a day later? Besides, what if your soldiers kidnap you as soon as you leave the city, and then hand you over to the Song army to report your merits and ask for rewards? Your Majesty, you must be cautious!"

"You have a point!" Li Yun was confused and had difficulty making a decision. In this indecision, he spent a night of entanglement.

After dawn, Li Yun no longer had to worry because the city had been conquered and he had no choice but to commit suicide.

Li Yun chose a very traditional and popular fate - self-immolation. Like countless failed vassal states, he threw himself into the fire and died when the city was captured.

When he started his army, he thought he would pay tribute to Li Congke... Now, he finally got his wish, and Li Congke waved to him in the firelight.

When Li Yun was about to jump into the fire, his beloved concubine Liu stood beside him with tears in her eyes. She did not blame Li Yun for not listening to her, but expressed her willingness to jump into the fire with him to avoid being captured and humiliated.

This is an ideal version of Farewell My Concubine. Liu was already pregnant at the time, and Li Yun couldn't bear to let her die, so he ordered her to live a miserable life. Liu left in tears, and Li Yun sighed to the sky, then resolutely jumped into the sea of ​​fire.

Later, Li Yun's son Li Shoujie redeemed Liu, and a few months later, Liu gave birth to a boy. Ten years later, Li Shoujie died of illness at the age of 33. He had no children, so he made Liu's younger brother his heir. This is a later story.

History has maintained a fairly objective evaluation of Li Yun. Although he was the first counter-revolutionary in the Song Dynasty and simple-minded, he still had some merits, such as being "very filial to his mother." According to records, Li Yun had a cruel personality. Whenever he was angry and wanted to kill someone, his mother would call him in the back hall. Once he heard his mother calling him, he would immediately run over. When he ran to her, his mother would say to him, "I heard that you are going to kill someone again. Can you spare that person? I am doing this to help you accumulate virtue." Then Li Yun would pardon and release that person.

According to the rules summarized before, generally speaking, anyone who mentions someone being filial to his parents is usually a good person, and vice versa is a bad person. However, Li Yun has both the labels of filial piety and "bad person", so the historians used their brains a little bit. Let's open the "History of Song Dynasty" and get a glimpse of the wisdom of the ancients: change the position. Put Li Yun's "being very filial to his mother" at the end of his biography, instead of putting it at the beginning like a good person. The Song army recaptured Zezhou and captured the prime minister of the Northern Han Dynasty, Wei Rong.

Wei Rong was brought before Zhao Kuangyin, who was furious and asked him in a stern voice, "Why did you instigate Liu Chengjun to help Li Yun betray me?"

Wei Rong's next words almost made Zhao Kuangyin so angry that he had a cerebral infarction:
"A dog barks when it is not its master. I, a servant of 40, have received good food and clothing from the Liu family, and I cannot bear to betray them. Even if Your Majesty does not kill me, I will not serve Your Majesty, and I will eventually flee to Hedong."

Zhao Kuangyin felt the critical hit from the steely straight man.

First, Wei Rong confessed his "crime" without any attempt to cover up or make excuses, and even quoted the allusion of "barking at someone who is not his master" to express his sincerity to Liu Chengjun;
Secondly, Wei Rong clearly expressed his integrity of preferring death to surrender. Just like Guan Erye possessed, he was in Cao's camp but his heart was with Han. Even if Prime Minister Cao gave him a promotion, beauties, and gold and silver, he would still seal the throne, pass through five gates and kill six generals, and ride alone for thousands of miles to return to Liu Huangshu.

Zhao Kuangyin was furious and ordered his guards to hit Wei Rong on the head with a big hammer. The guards had received secret instructions and did not blow his head off with a hammer, but beat him to a pulp.

Wei Rong was beaten until his face was covered in blood. Instead of begging for mercy or surrendering, he shouted: "A man's death may be heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather. I have died a worthy death!"

Zhao Kuangyin sighed, "What a loyal minister!" He immediately ordered the execution to be stopped, invited the best doctors to treat his wounds, and gave him clothes, a golden belt, a saddle, a famous horse and other things, hoping that he would change his mind and serve the Song Dynasty.

However, Wei Rong practiced what he preached and was determined to learn from Guan Erye.

Zhao Kuangyin wrote to Liu Chengjun, saying that he hoped to exchange prisoners of war, and exchange Wei Rong for Zhou Guangxun and others. Zhou Guangxun was originally the military supervisor of Luzhou. When Li Yun rebelled, he was tied up and taken to Taiyuan as a token of surrender.

Zhao Kuangyin's goodwill fell on deaf ears, and he did not receive any response from Liu Chengjun. So Zhao Kuangyin gave Wei Rong the title of Taifu Qing, and rewarded him with a mansion in Bianzhou. Later, he was promoted to Sinong Qing, and then appointed as the prefect of Chen, Shu, and Huang. In the sixth year of Kaibao (973), Wei Rong died of illness.

After the Song army conquered Zezhou, they announced that Zezhou would be exempted from rent and taxes this year, buried the remains of soldiers killed on both sides, and then pushed the front line northward and began to attack Luzhou.

The one who stayed behind in Luzhou was Li Yun's son Li Shoujie. He had originally been very opposed to Li Yun's rebellion. Now that Luzhou's armed forces had been almost wiped out, the mastermind Li Yun had committed suicide out of fear of punishment, and the royal army was at the gates of the city, how could Li Shoujie not surrender?

Li Shoujie surrendered voluntarily, and Luzhou was peacefully liberated. Zhao Kuangyin pardoned Li Shoujie, and then upgraded Shanzhou to Tuanlianzhou, and appointed Li Shoujie as Shanzhou Tuanlianshi.

While the whole country was celebrating, the former Prime Minister Li Gu died of illness and fright.

This gentleman has been introduced in the previous article. He had already made his debut in the Later Tang Dynasty. In the Later Zhou Dynasty, he was highly valued by Guo Wei and was promoted to prime minister. He served Taizu and Shizong. At the beginning of Shizong's expedition to Huai River, he appointed Prime Minister Li Gu as the commander. As a result, Li Gu failed to deeply study, deeply understand, and implement Comrade Chai Rong's iron-blooded spirit of "being indifferent to life and death, and fighting if you don't obey", and acted too conservatively, so he was dismissed and gradually marginalized.

Later, Li Gu suffered from rheumatism and asked for a long sick leave. He repeatedly petitioned for retirement, but Chai Rong refused. Later, when he was too ill, Chai Rong allowed him to work only one day a month, and he would see Chai Rong in the side hall in a sedan chair. He had to clock in one day every month.

After Chai Zongxun ascended the throne, Li Gujian requested to return to Luoyang to retire, and the court agreed.

As fate would have it, Li Gu’s departure finally resulted in his “honor being ruined in his later years”.

Actually, it was nothing. It was just that halfway from Bianzhou to Luoyang, there was a governor who was a big fan of Mr. Li Gu. He respected him as a famous prime minister of the time (in the last years of Chai Rong's life, he built the Pavilion of Meritorious Officials in the palace in imitation of the "Painted Lingyan Pavilion" of the Tang Dynasty. Famous officials such as Li Gu, Wang Pu, and Zheng Renhui were awarded the honor of the Pavilion of Meritorious Officials), so he gave him a small gift to show his respect.

This small gift was 500,000 coins and other objects. What is the concept of 500,000 coins? When Li Gu left Bianzhou, the court paid him a one-time pension of 300,000 coins in appreciation of his contributions and efforts over the years. Therefore, this 500,000 coins was not only suspected of bribery, but also crossed the red line of usurpation.

Li Gu accepted this small gift, thinking that he could leave more property to his descendants after he passed away in a few days. However, this 500,000 yuan cost him his life. This was because this crazy fan was Li Yun, the governor of Zhaoyi Army in Luzhou.

When the news of Li Yun's rebellion came, Li Gu was extremely frightened and died in grief and anger at the age of 58. He left us prematurely.

(End of this chapter)