History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 872 Restoration Movement
【Restoration Movement】

Ma Xichong's massacre of veterans was indeed unpopular, and even his direct subordinates lost hope in him. In order to avoid becoming the next person to be surrendered, they conspired to sell out their master for fame and fortune, intending to kill Ma Xichong and surrender to Southern Tang, but the news leaked accidentally.

Ma Xi Chong was greatly frightened and hurriedly sent people to ask for reinforcements from the Southern Tang.

The Southern Tang had long ago sent Bian Hao to garrison on the border, just waiting for an opportunity and a reason. After receiving Ma Xicong's invitation, the Southern Tang had a legitimate reason to attack, so it ordered Bian Hao to lead his troops to Tanzhou.

Ma Xichong invited the wolf into the house, and the Southern Tang easily took control of Tanzhou, and the separatist regime of Southern Chu, one of the "Ten Kingdoms", was declared dead. However, the political structure of this region was not fully integrated as a result, but became more and more fragmented, and overall it showed a three-legged situation:

Liu Yan of Langzhou, Ma Xi'e of Hengshan, and Bian Hao of Tanzhou (Southern Tang).

Bian Hao sent troops to urge Ma Xi'e to surrender to the emperor. Ma Xi'e was powerless to resist and could only obey. The Hengshan faction was out, leaving only Langzhou Liu Yan.

When the Ma brothers were fighting among themselves, Southern Han took advantage of the situation and occupied the lands of Southern Chu including Mengzhou, Guizhou, Yizhou, Lianzhou, Wuzhou, Liuzhou, Yanzhou, Fuzhou, Zhaozhou, Xiangzhou, and Gongzhou. However, they were still not satisfied and continued to send troops to attack Chenzhou.

Bian Hao sent troops to rescue, but they were defeated by Southern Han, which then captured Chenzhou again.

Nanchu was like an old lion, once the overlord of the grassland, but now he was at the end of his life. Not far away, a spotted hyena was drooling. The old lion gradually fell down, barely breathing. At this time, the spotted hyena could not wait to pounce forward and bite the delicious meal. When the spotted hyena was feasting, it found a vulture as an uninvited guest. When the spotted hyena tried to drive the vulture away, it was pecked in the eye by the vulture.

This is the current relationship between Southern Chu, Southern Han, and Southern Tang.

Bian Hao immediately appealed to the Southern Tang court for help, demanding that the governors of Quanzhou and Daozhou (Quanzhou and Daozhou bordered Hezhou, Zhaozhou and Guizhou, all of which were already controlled by Southern Han) be appointed immediately to fill the power vacancy, organize defense, and prevent Southern Han from further seizing the fruits of victory.

Obviously, the Southern Han's momentum of expansion to the north disrupted the Southern Tang's position.

On the one hand, the Southern Tang plundered the wealth of Southern Chu, dug deep into the ground, and exhausted the pond to fish. On the other hand, it also had to make emergency strategic deployments to the Lingbei area to compete with the Southern Han for the land of Southern Chu. The heavy work fell on the ordinary soldiers. A large amount of gold and silver treasures were transported to the rear. The soldiers could only watch helplessly, feeling extremely lost. In order to meet military needs, the Southern Tang garrison in Tanzhou was also withheld from food and wages. The long-suppressed anger was finally ignited, and Sun Lang and Cao Jin, who were former surrendered generals, launched a mutiny.

This mutiny was also ridiculous. The two men bundled some hay and piled it outside the palace gate at night. Their plan was to burn down the palace gate, rush into the Chu Palace, behead Bian Hao, and then occupy Tanzhou and declare themselves vassal states of the Central Plains Dynasty.

As a result, the grand plan got stuck at the first step - the fire was not lit.

The noise outside the door alarmed Bian Hao. Learning that someone was plotting a rebellion, he immediately organized resistance, beating drums and sounding gongs to call for assembly.

Sun Lang and Cao Jin were guilty and mistook the drum sounds for the night watchman's drum to open the city gates at dawn, so the mutinous troops dispersed. The two of them ran all the way to Langzhou and took refuge with Liu Yan of Langzhou.

Wang Kui, who supported Liu Yan, asked the two about the strength of Tanzhou. The two gave a classic sixteen-character comment - "There are no wise ministers in the court, no good generals in the army, no distinction between loyal and treacherous, and inappropriate rewards and punishments", and asserted that Tanzhou would be easy to take.

Wang Kui was very happy and rewarded Sun Lang and Cao Jin generously. He began to plan a "restoration movement" in his heart. He sent a large number of spies disguised as merchants to Tanzhou to spread rumors and create public opinion, saying that Liu Yan of Langzhou was extremely loyal and a good citizen. Bian Hao believed it and did not pay enough attention to the power of Langzhou.

Southern Tang summoned Liu Yan to the court. You are a good citizen, so come and see the lady.

Of course Liu Yan refused to go. He discussed with Wang Kui and others, saying that the Southern Tang would certainly not tolerate our separatist rule over Langzhou and would take action against us sooner or later. What do you think we should do?
The leader Wang Kui said: "Langzhou has dangerous rivers and lakes, and there are tens of thousands of elite soldiers. How can we surrender and be controlled by others? Bian Hao is incompetent and the people have no support. We can capture him in one battle!" Liu Yan was still hesitant, because once they raised the army, their enemy would not just be a small Bian Hao, but the huge Southern Tang Empire behind Bian Hao.

Zhou Xingfeng also expressed his opinion: "Speed ​​is of the essence in war. At this point, we can only do it once and for all and march south to Tanzhou at lightning speed. Only then will we have a chance to turn the tables!"

The only way out is to take over Tanzhou, unify Southern Chu, and then use Hunan as a vassal of the Central Plains, draw the Central Plains in, and balance Southern Tang.

As mentioned above, although Liu Yan was the nominal commander of Langzhou, he was just a puppet. The real person in charge was the "Ten Brothers" group headed by Wang Kui. These people unanimously demanded to go south, and Liu Yan had no choice but to agree.

The "Ten Brothers" are Wang Kui, Zhou Xingfeng, He Jingzhen, Zhang Qi, Pu Gongyi, Zhu Quanxiu, Yuwen Qiong, Peng Wanhe, Pan Shusi, and Zhang Wenbiao. Among them, Zhou Xingfeng is famous for his strategy, Pan Shusi is famous for his courage, and Zhang Wenbiao is famous for his bravery and good fighting skills. These three brothers are the smallest group among the ten brothers and have the deepest feelings.

Among these ten people, except for the eldest brother Wang Kui and his deputy Zhou Xingfeng, you only need to remember the last tenth brother Zhang Wenbiao, who will be of great use later.

All ten men were appointed as commanders by Liu Yan, and each led their troops to attack the defenseless Tanzhou overnight.

In October of the second year of Guangshun in the Later Zhou Dynasty (952), Wang Kui led the surrendered generals Sun Lang and Cao Jin as the vanguard to attack Tanzhou and quickly conquered the first line of defense of Tanzhou, the Yiyang line. Yiyang County was an important hub between Tanzhou and Langzhou, and a battleground in the civil war in Southern Chu. Bian Hao gathered heavy troops here, ready to seize the opportunity to conquer Langzhou, but was counterattacked by Langzhou.

Bian Hao was attacked from both sides and hurriedly asked the court for help. However, before the court could respond, the Langzhou soldiers had already arrived at the city. The next morning, Bian Hao abandoned the city and fled.

Wang Kui stationed in Tanzhou and proclaimed himself as the deputy envoy of Tanzhou and acting prefect. He then appointed He Jingzhen as the military commander to be responsible for hunting down Bian Hao. He used Pu Gongyi to attack Yuezhou. The Southern Tang garrison in Yuezhou abandoned the city and fled. The important city of Yuezhou was then controlled by the Langzhou Group. Wang Kui then appointed Pu Gongyi as acting prefect of Yuezhou.

When the news of Bian Hao's escape came, the Southern Tang garrison in Hunan quickly abandoned the city and fled. The Langzhou Group took over separately, and in just a few days, it almost restored the old territory of Southern Chu (except for Lingnan occupied by Southern Han and Chen and Lian states in Lingbei).

Wang Kui personally led an army of 50,000 to attack Chenzhou, but was defeated by the Southern Han. The army returned in disgrace, with corpses strewn across an area of ​​80 miles.

The "Restoration Movement" achieved a phased victory.

Wang Kui's group immediately expressed their allegiance to the Later Zhou. In the letter, they claimed that Southern Chu had been a vassal of the Central Plains dynasty since ancient times, but was conquered by the neighboring invaders (the evil Southern Tang) in recent years. They did not have time to ask the Heavenly Dynasty for instructions, so they gathered the volunteers on their own, recovered their homeland, and returned it to the embrace of the motherland...

Later Zhou Dynasty gladly accepted it.

Later, Liu Yan of Langzhou submitted another petition, saying that Tanzhou had been in ruins after years of war, and requested that the power center be moved to Langzhou, and hoped to restore contributions and reopen tea trade, and everything would be like the story of the Ma family, and requested to be conferred a title. The Later Zhou approved it.

Moving the seat of government from Tanzhou to Langzhou was as significant as moving the capital; it was an important step for Liu Yan to break free from the control of Wang Kui's group.

In the first month of the third year of Guangshun in the Later Zhou Dynasty (953), the imperial court issued an edict, appointing Liu Yan as the military governor of Wuping Army in Langzhou, "in charge of the military affairs of Wu'an, Jingjiang and other places", and co-prime minister; appointing Wang Kui as the military governor of Wu'an Army in Tanzhou; appointing He Jingzhen as the military governor of Jingjiang Army in Guizhou; and appointing Zhou Xingfeng as the military commander of Tanzhou.

(End of this chapter)