History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 941: Southern Tang 4
Zhu Lingyun withstood the pressure from Li Yu and analyzed the battle situation to the generals around him, saying that our significance in Hukou is far greater than that in Shengzhou, because as long as we stay in Hukou, the Song army outside Shengzhou city will not dare to act rashly. Once we abandon Hukou, the Song army upstream (Jingnan) will occupy this place, cutting off our retreat and putting us in an awkward situation of being attacked from both sides. We will be unable to advance or retreat, and then our entire army will be wiped out. More importantly, Shengzhou will be completely doomed.

However, Li Yu sent envoys to urge the troops to move forward one after another. Zhu Lingyun could not withstand the pressure and was forced to compromise. He requested that Liu Kezhen, the governor of Hongzhou, lead his troops to Hukou to replace the vacancy before he dared to set out to defend the king.

Liu Kezhen refused to come to Hukou on the grounds of illness. Zhu Lingyun knew the importance of Hukou and was determined not to move a single step towards Shengzhou. Shengzhou, Hongzhou and Hukou were in a stalemate until July 975, when Shengzhou was besieged for more than half a year.

During the past six months, the Song army continued to win victories on the periphery, and good news came in frequently. Every time good news came back from the front line, officials of the Song Dynasty forced Li Congyi to come to the court to congratulate him.

Pan Shenxiu, who followed Li Congyi to pay tribute and was detained, said to him: "The country is about to perish, and you should be punished. Why celebrate?" Li Congyi suddenly realized, so in the Golden Palace, all the civil and military officials of the Song Dynasty celebrated, but Li Congyi knelt on the ground and presented a letter to apologize.

Zhao Kuangyin was very moved and sent people to send generous gifts to comfort him. A few days later, Zhao Kuangyin finally played the "emperor brother card" and released Li Congyi to return to the country, and asked him to take a letter, which basically advised Li Yu to come to the emperor to apologize, and promised to delay the attack on Shengzhou.

As mentioned above, the reason why the Song army delayed attacking the city was not to give Li Yu a chance, but because of the 15 elite navy at Hukou. Defending Hukou was to save Shengzhou.

Li Congyi returned to Shengzhou, took out Zhao Kuangyin's edict, and advised Li Yu to surrender as soon as possible.

Li Yu hesitated. If he surrendered, he would be at the mercy of others; if he did not surrender, not to mention that the Song army would launch a general attack, even the peace advocates within the Southern Tang would probably unite to support the pro-Song Li Congyi, who was Zhao Kuangyin's "brother card". After thinking it over, Li Yu said that for the sake of the people of the Southern Tang, he was willing to go to Bianzhou, sacrificing himself for the happiness of thousands of families.

At this time, hawkish leaders Chen Qiao and Zhang Li all expressed their opposition.

Chen Qiao has always been a hawk. As early as the first time Zhao Kuangyin asked Li Yu to come to the court to assist in the sacrifice, Chen Qiao said that we were entrusted by the late emperor and swear to assist Your Majesty until death. Once we enter Bian, we will be detained and the country will fall into the hands of others. How will Your Majesty face the late emperor in the underworld a hundred years later?

When the war broke out, Chen Qiao was still a determined advocate of war. Now that Runzhou had fallen and Shengzhou was under siege, Li Yu had the idea of ​​surrendering and began to doubt the hawkish faction's tough stance. So he controlled Chen Qiao's family to prepare for both situations: on the one hand, he could kill them to vent his anger, and on the other hand, he could pass on the blame and surrender to the Song army.

Chen Qiao was filled with grief and indignation, saying, "Your Majesty, do you still doubt me?" As the saying goes, "When a country is destroyed, the family is ruined. If the country is destroyed, what is the use of family?" So he "took all his parents and wives and beheaded them", expressing his determination to live and die with the Southern Tang by destroying his entire family.

Zhang Li also said that Shengzhou was impregnable and that there were 15 elite navy troops in Hukou, so the Song army would definitely return empty-handed. He also repeatedly stated that if the motherland needed him, he would be willing to die for his country.

Seeing the two confidants so brave, Li Yu regained his courage and planned to use a delaying tactic. On the one hand, he sent people to negotiate with the Song army, and on the other hand, he urgently summoned Zhu Lingyun to rush to Shengzhou. Li Yu believed that as long as Zhu Lingyun's 15 navy was deployed on the battlefield, the Song army would not be able to capture Shengzhou, so he had to agree to a settlement.

The one who was ordered to go deep into the dragon's den and deal with the Song army was Xu Xuan, a big name in Southern Tang culture and famous for his eloquence.

When Li Yu was giving Xu Xuan a farewell party, he said that he wanted to temporarily suspend the plan to send reinforcements from Hukou to Shengzhou to avoid provoking the Song Dynasty.

Xu Xuan was extremely shocked and said that I am not confident that I can persuade the Song army to retreat with my words. At best, it is just a delaying tactic. What we can really rely on is the 15 navy in Hukou. We must let them support Shengzhou!

Li Yu was entangled and said, "I sent you to ask for peace, but secretly gathered troops. If the Song army knew about it, wouldn't our friends be shocked? Your life would also be in danger!"

Xu Xuan was full of righteousness and made an impassioned speech: "You should put me aside!" This is a heroic spirit that fires at me, and it is the supreme declaration of heroic sons and daughters.

Li Yu was moved to tears, and then he wrote a "memorial" of more than ten pages, which was his own appeal and defense, and gave it to Xu Xuan's deputy Zhou Weijian, and asked Zhou Weijian to find an opportunity to reveal to Zhao Kuangyin the news that he intended to "abdicate". Of course, this was also Li Yu's delaying tactic.

In October, Cao Bin escorted Xu Xuan and Zhou Weijian to Bianzhou. When they heard that Xu Xuan was coming to negotiate, all the civil and military officials of the Song Dynasty became nervous and told Zhao Kuangyin that Xu Xuan was knowledgeable and eloquent, and that he would definitely debate with the scholars this time... Otherwise, Your Majesty should not see him and just coax him away.

Zhao Kuangyin laughed loudly, waved his hand and said, "Just let him come, you don’t understand."

As expected, Xu Xuan really held his head high, walked with a step that did not recognize his relatives, and with his own domineering background music, he looked down upon the officials and ministers, and his temperament was very controlled. The officials of the Song Dynasty did not dare to respond, and all avoided his eyes, fearing that they would become the target of Xu Xuan's version of the debate with the scholars and become a laughing stock in history.

Xu Xuan said in a loud voice, word by word: "Li Yu is innocent, Your Majesty has no legitimate reason!" Then he looked around to see who dared to respond.

All the civil and military officials looked at each other with their eyes, their noses at their mouths, and their mouths at their hearts, thinking that Zhao Kuangyin had taken over the job and it was time for them to step out and take charge.

Just one sentence "there is no justification for the attack" shocked all the officials of the Song Dynasty. Although Xu Xuan felt proud, he also felt it was a little unbelievable. How could he kill five people with just one basic attack? No way?
Zhao Kuangyin acted politely and waved to him, saying, "Come, come closer. Please continue."

Xu Xuan was so elated that he completely let himself go. He danced with joy, spitted everywhere, and gave an impassioned speech, "which lasted hundreds of words."

Among them is the sentence "Your Majesty is like the sky and like a father. The sky can cover the earth, and the father can protect the son." It means that Li Yu serves the court like a son serves his father, always respectful and without any violation of etiquette. Today, he is just unable to enter the court due to illness, but you have invited war. As a father, you are too unreasonable!

Zhao Kuangyin only said one sentence, leaving Xu Xuan speechless, "Do you think that father and son are two families?"

Seeing that Xu Xuan had lost his fire, Zhou Weijian hurriedly handed over a memorial to help Xu Xuan attract fire.

Zhao Kuangyin glanced through it, put it aside, and said, "What a mess this is! I don't understand it!"

Small countries have no diplomacy. Xu Xuan and Zhou Weijian were at their wits' end and returned empty-handed. Later, Li Yu offered another tribute of 50,000 taels of silver and 50,000 pieces of silk to ask for reconciliation.

While Xu Xuan was visiting Song, Li Yu sent Chen Daya to Hukou to recruit Zhu Lingyun to Shengzhou.

At that time, Shengzhou was under siege and breaking out was a dangerous task with a high risk of death. Li Yu asked Chen Daya if he was willing to go through fire and water for the country.

Chen Daya's answer made Li Yu happy and depressed. "For the country, I will die for it. But the situation is beyond human control. I am worried that even if I go, it will be useless."

Li Yu sighed and said, "You usually only focus on reading books of sages and are oblivious to what is happening outside. You don't understand military affairs, let alone politics. In short, as long as Zhu Lingyun can rush to help Shengzhou, we have hope of victory, so just go."

Chen Daya said again: "Who, Zhu Lingyun? This person is stubborn and self-righteous, and has no long-term vision. He is just a piece of trash."

Li Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Don't worry about it, just go."

That night, Chen Daya broke through the encirclement at night and rushed to Hukou, telling Zhu Lingyun to rush to Shengzhou immediately. The envoys urging Zhu Lingyun to go to the rescue had not stopped, but Chen Daya was the Minister of the Imperial Guards, a third-rank official, and Li Yu's confidant. His status was extraordinary. If Zhu Lingyun did not obey the edict, his clan would be exterminated.

After receiving the imperial edict, Zhu Lingyun was disheartened and said to Chen Daya: "I am not afraid of death. I am willing to sacrifice my life for the country. However, abandoning Hukou and supporting Shengzhou is a self-destructive act! If you follow me in the army, you will only be buried with me. So, please go back to Shengzhou first and tell His Majesty that I will prove my innocence with my death!"

Chen Daya braved the arrows and stones and sneaked back to Shengzhou, and relayed Zhu Lingyun's original words to Li Yu. Then the emperor and his minister hugged each other and cried bitterly.

At this point, Zhu Lingyun was determined to fight to the death and ordered the abandonment of Hukou and the entire army to go downstream to rescue Shengzhou.

Thanks to my old friend "Yang Kui" for the monthly ticket support!

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(End of this chapter)