History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 875: Fight with Wang Kui (Part )
Having dealt with the Han people in the Central Plains for many years, Fu Yantong also learned a lot of traditional culture from them, such as "descendants of Liu Sheng, King Jing of Zhongshan".

Fu Yantong stayed up late to look through history books and finally found his own family tree. According to him, he was a descendant of Fu Hong. Fu Hong was the crown prince of the Former Qin Dynasty and the legitimate son of Fu Jian of the Former Qin Dynasty. According to historical records, after the fall of the Former Qin Dynasty, Fu Hong fled to the Eastern Jin Dynasty and was placed in Jiangzhou by Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Later, he followed Huan Xuan, a powerful official of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, to attack the Jing and Xiang areas, and then disappeared from the records.

Therefore, Fu Yantong insisted that he was a descendant of Fu Hong. Some sources show "Fu Yantong", while others show "Fu Yantong". The dispute is not the point, the point is that Fu Yantong's ancestors were also rich.

After Wang Qianlang arrived, he was unsurprisingly impressed by Fu Yantong's show of force: burly and strong men armed to the teeth lined up on both sides, looking ferocious, with shining swords and axes, and flags all over the mountains, showing Wang Qianlang how powerful the barbarians were.

Wang Qianlang was mentally prepared and remained calm, elegant and graceful, without bringing disgrace to the country.

When the two sides formally met, Fu Yantong acted cold and arrogant, "You Han people can rule your own country, and we barbarians can also rule our own country."

Wang Qianlang rebuked him sternly: "Since you claim to be a descendant of Fu Qin, you should know etiquette and righteousness, which is different from barbarians! In the past, when the Ma family ruled Hunan, your father and grandfather bowed their heads and served them. Now Comrade Wang Kui has taken over all of the Ma family's territory and restored the country. Why don't you go to pay your respects and wait for me to come to you first? Now that I'm here, you still don't treat me with courtesy, and you're playing this game with me? Aren't you worried that you'll regret it in the future?"

The implication is of course a military threat. If they surrender, that's fine. Otherwise, we can only arrange for heavenly soldiers and generals to convince them with reason.

Fu Yantong was immediately frightened and ran over quickly. He shook Wang Qianlang's hand affectionately, apologized, and said that he was uneducated and uncultured. Please don't take it seriously. It was purely unintentional and it was just a misunderstanding.

Wang Qianlang took the opportunity to show him a way out: "The land of Xidong has been Chinese territory since ancient times. Both the Sui and Tang dynasties set up counties here, and it was under the jurisdiction of Qianzhong Road. Now, although you control this area, it is not legitimate because you have no imperial decree above you and no order from the envoy's office (referring to the capital of Hunan, Tanzhou) below you. It is an utterly illegal separatist regime, lacking the legal basis for rule. Although you call yourself a 'king', you are actually just a barbarian chieftain. Now, while Wang Kui has just established himself, as long as you give up the title of king and express your allegiance to Wang Kui, then Wang Kui will definitely report to the court and officially appoint you as a military governor, making you a recognized vassal of the world. You and Wang Kui will each get what you want, and it will be a win-win situation, isn't it wonderful?"

The territory remained unchanged, the money, food and army remained unchanged, everything remained unchanged, but he was able to be reborn, come ashore and wash his clean, and transform himself from a bandit into a secretary.

Fu Yantong was overjoyed and announced that he would give up his title of king on the same day. He also asked Wang Qianlang to present several bronze drums to Comrade Wang Kui. In the local area, bronze drums are a symbol of the power of the chieftain. Offering or confiscating bronze drums symbolizes submission or conquest.

Wang Kui praised Wang Qianlang highly, saying, "One word is worth more than tens of thousands of soldiers. You are truly a patriot!" He then appointed Fu Yantong as the governor of Qianzhong in the name of the Emperor of Central Plains. From then on, Wang Qianlang was highly valued by Wang Kui, entered the core power circle, and began to participate in decision-making.

Later, Wang Kui appointed Liu Tang as the deputy governor of the Hongzhou Zhennan Army and the general of the Western Border. Liu Tang's tough attitude towards the barbarians and his ruthless methods made the barbarians in the west wary. When Wang Kui launched the "Restoration Movement", he listened to Zhou Xingfeng's advice and did not collude with the barbarians, but he was also worried that they would take advantage of the situation to rob, so he appointed Liu Tang as the governor of Jinzhou and the general of the Western Border to deter the barbarians. Now that Hunan is basically stable, Wang Kui appeased Liu Tang with the empty title of deputy governor (Hongzhou is still under the control of the Southern Tang) to prevent him from colluding with the barbarians to cause chaos.

After a series of operations, Hunan was basically stabilized, and finally bid farewell to the endless wars since the "horses fighting for the trough".

Although the war had stopped, the years of war had brought a wound to Hunan that was difficult to heal in a short period of time. In that year (954), a great famine broke out in Hunan, and the people had to eat tree bark and grass roots to survive.

Zhou Xingfeng of Tanzhou ordered the opening of the granaries to release grain to help the victims, "saving many lives". According to records, Zhou Xingfeng was born in a poor family, so he was particularly sympathetic to the suffering of the people, worked hard to govern the country, was honest in his official duties, and paid out of his own pocket to help the poor. Some people laughed at him for being too simple and not knowing how to enjoy life, but he said that the father and son of the Ma family were extravagant and did not sympathize with the people. What was the result? "My descendants beg for food from others", do you want me to learn from them?

In the first month of the third year of Xiande of the Later Zhou Dynasty (956), the imperial court issued an edict to Wang Kui, appointing him as the commander-in-chief of the Zhengnan Army Group (the commander-in-chief of the southern camp) to attack Ezhou, which was controlled by the Southern Tang. At that time, it was during Chai Rong's "Three Expeditions to Huainan".

As mentioned in the previous article, Chai Rong ordered Wang Kui to lead the Hunan troops to attack Ezhou, and ordered the Wu Yue Kingdom to attack Changzhou, attacking from the east and west, and by land and sea.

Ezhou is an important town repeatedly fought over by Southern Chu and Southern Tang. It is a transportation hub for the two lakes, Huainan and Central Plains. The Gao family of Jingnan, the Ma family of Southern Chu, Huainan and Central Plains fought over it repeatedly for decades, and it was eventually taken over by the Huainan forces. It is currently commanded by Huainan general He Jingzhu.

Wang Kui gladly obeyed the imperial edict and immediately led the main force to the front. To go from Langzhou to Ezhou, one must pass through Yuezhou. The commander of the Yuezhou militia was Pan Shusi, one of the "Ten Brothers". When the eldest brother came, Pan Shusi served him very respectfully.

As the saying goes, it is easy to see the King of Hell, but hard to deal with the devils. Wang Kui's minions took advantage of their power and blatantly demanded bribes from Pan Shusi, who tried his best to satisfy them. However, these people were greedy and demanded endlessly, like a bottomless pit, and Pan Shusi could not satisfy all of them.

Those who were not satisfied ran to Wang Kui and offered slanderous accusations, saying that Pan Shusi showed signs of rebellion.

Wang Kui sent people to investigate, but after searching for a long time, they could not find any solid evidence.

But the investigation frightened Pan Shusi, who could only repeatedly express his loyalty to his elder brother. However, Wang Kui was furious and scolded Pan Shusi.

When Wang Kui was about to leave, these bribe-seeking villains threatened Pan Shusi with a smug look on their faces, "Do you know how powerful we are? This matter is not over yet. Just wait, we will come back to deal with you!"

Pan Shusi was terrified to the extreme.

Everything will turn into its opposite when it reaches its extreme. In his extreme fear, Pan Shusi really had the idea of ​​​​rebellion.

It is said that Wang Kui marched forward with great force and conquered Changshan Stronghold, the first line of defense of Ezhou. Changshan was located in the south of Ezhou, where the Southern Tang Dynasty established a military stronghold to guard against Hunan.

Next, Wang Kui will face the fat piece of meat in Ezhou. What he doesn't know is that the fat piece of meat is too hot and burns his mouth.

At that time, Southern Tang suffered heavy losses from the Later Zhou and was in an absolute disadvantage. At this time, the east-west attack from Hunan and Liangzhe made the situation even worse for Southern Tang. In order to preserve its strength, Li Jing of Southern Tang ordered He Jingzhu, the governor of Wuchang Army in Ezhou, to move all the people in the territory into the city, using the passive and conservative tactics of scorched earth to tire the enemy and hold on for help.

He Jingzhu has been introduced in detail in the previous article. He is a tough guy and a real man of steel. He refused Li Jing's order and ordered "clear the land for the battlefield", and then replied to Li Jing, saying "If the enemy arrives, I will die here with the soldiers and civilians!"

Behind Wang Kui there was the threat of Pan Shusi, and in front of him there was the danger of He Jingzhu, a famous general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who would "fight to the death with you".

Pan Shusi secretly gathered his confidants and said, "I have crossed mountains and seas, and walked through crowds of people. Everything I did to serve my elder brother was gone in a flash. I was lost and disappointed, and I lost all direction until I realized that rebellion was the only answer."

In "The Road to Rebellion", Pan Shusi emphasized that his elder brother Wang Kui is no longer the elder brother he once was. He has become irritable, suspicious, cruel, and murderous, and he also believes in slander. If we wait for him to come back from Ezhou, he will definitely kill me, and you will not be able to escape the blame. You may be classified as "Pan Shusi's followers" and be killed. Should we sit and wait for death, or give it a try and seize Langzhou to the west?
The generals were indignant and unanimously expressed their willingness to support Pan Shusi in seizing the revolutionary base in Langzhou and rebelling against him. It's just a rebellion, we have done it before, we are familiar with it.

So, Pan Shusi led the direct line of Yuezhou to raid Langzhou and seize Wang Kui's lair.

Wang Kui was about to fight a decisive battle with He Jingzhu of Ezhou, but when he heard about the riot in the rear, he hurried back to rescue and fought with Pan Shusi outside the city of Langzhou. In the fierce battle, Wang Kui was killed. This is the reason why the Hunan troops on the western front suddenly withdrew in the "lame assist" in the previous article "Emperor Shizong's expedition to Huai"

(End of this chapter)