History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 971: Starting a business is difficult and full of challenges (Part )
3. Huzhou Rebellion

In October 909, Gao Li of Huzhou rebelled. Qian Liu sent his brother Qian Biao to suppress the rebellion. In February 10, Gao Li, desperate, colluded with the forces of Huainan and entered the country to support him. Qian Liu also sent Qian Yuanlang to lead troops to reinforce. Huainan was unable to defeat Qian Biao and Qian Yuanlang, uncle and nephew, so it gave up Huzhou and fled back to Huainan with Gao Li, a stray dog ​​from his home. Huzhou was recaptured by Qian Liu.

Key figures: Qian Biao, Qian Yuanling.

4. Self-defense counterattack against Huai River
In March 913, Huainan sent Li Tao to lead an army of 3 to attack Hangzhou via Qianqiu Ridge. At that time, Xu Wen had just sidelined Yang Wei, and then used both kindness and force to become the actual controller of the Huainan Group. He needed to launch a foreign war to divert domestic conflicts, establish personal prestige, and train his own troops; at the same time, the central court had just experienced the turbulent times of Zhu Yougui's regicide and Zhu Youzhen's restoration of order, and had no time to look south for the time being. Under such circumstances, Xu Wen decisively launched a decapitation operation against the Qian Group and headed straight for Hangzhou.

Qian Liu appointed Qian Yuanguan as the northern support envoy to engage in a head-on battle with the Huainan soldiers outside the city of Hangzhou; he also appointed Qian Yuanlang as the commander-in-chief of the campaign to recruit and recover the enemy, using the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao and leading the navy to attack Dongzhou (affiliated to Changzhou, Huainan).

"I'm hiding from the elite!"

Qian Yuanguan did not go straight up to start the fight, but instead made full use of his home advantage and his familiarity with the terrain. He first cut down trees in the valley of Qianqiu Ridge to block the mountain road and cut off the Huai Army's way back. He then set up a pocket formation and "waited for them three times."

During the battle, Qian Yuanguan, armed with a sharp weapon, rushed towards a big fish. This big fish was Xu Wen's adopted son, Xu Zhigao. Xu Zhigao was like Cao Cao in Tongguan, who was killed and had to cut off his beard and discard his robe. Historical records show that Qian Yuanguan pressed him so hard that he "almost captured him", forcing Xu Zhigao to "change clothes and escape on a white mule".

The Huainan Corps was defeated immediately, and more than 8,000 soldiers including Commander-in-Chief Li Tao were captured. A total of 20,000 soldiers came, and more than 8,000 were captured, nearly half.

It is said that during the battle, there was "an aura like a dragon and a tiger" in Qian Yuanguan's camp, and the people of Huainan looked at it and said, "This is the aura of a hegemon."

Qian Yuanliang from another group also brought news of victory, capturing alive the enemy general Li Shiyu and more than 3,000 others.

Some historical materials confuse the two battlefields, saying that Qian Yuanguan captured Li Tao and more than 3,000 people at Qianqiu Ridge. This is related to Guan Yu's beheading of Hua Xiong with a warm wine and his seven trips to Changbanpo.

Xu Wen of Huainan failed to steal the chicken and lost the rice. He was a big man and showed his big eyes. He endured for a while and everything was calm. He took a step back and thought that he would lose more. So he made a comeback in May and sent Hua Qian, the deputy commander of Xuanzhou, to station troops in Guangde Town, preparing to attack Hangzhou again with Wo Xin, the commander of Guangde Town.

Close the door and put Qian Yuanguan in.

Qian Yuanguan acted decisively and did not wait in Hangzhou, but took the initiative to attack Guangde Town. Offense is the best defense.

When attacking the city, there were soldiers from Huainan standing on the top of the city wall cursing and using vulgar language. Qian Yuanguan was furious and said, "Boy, if you have the guts, just wait for me!" He then ordered a violent attack.

In June, Guangde City was conquered. What about the guy on the city wall who was spewing shit? No more nonsense, just massacre the city, even if it means killing 6 people by mistake. According to records, Qian Yuanguan killed more than people with his own hands. More than people including Huainan's main general Hua Qian and Wo Xin were captured alive and sent back to Hangzhou.

The Qian Group won victory after victory, while Xu Wen of Huainan was like a man grinding a mill with his bare buttocks - going around in circles in disgrace.

Key figures: Qian Yuanliang and Qian Yuanguan.

5. Win or lose, Wuxi
After the great victory in Guangde Town, Qian Liu decided to launch a retaliatory military strike against Huainan. In September, he sent the three brothers Qian Chuanying, Qian Yuanluo and Qian Yuanguan to lead troops to attack Changzhou and stationed troops in Wuxi County (now Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province).

The three brothers came with great momentum and were determined to win, but their opponent was the experienced Xu Wen. Xu Wen could not afford to lose any more.

Xu Wen first stabilized the army's morale, saying that the Zhejiang people were arrogant, underestimated the enemy, and were cowardly and afraid of fighting, and would be easily defeated by us. This is called strategic contempt for the enemy. Then, the generals doubled their speed and rushed to support the Wuxi front, which was tactically respecting the enemy.

A deputy general named Chen You from Wuxi volunteered to lead his troops to act as a death squad and attack the enemy from behind; Xu Wen led the main force to meet the enemy head-on.

In this way, the three Qian brothers were defeated.

Interestingly, this battle was recorded in the "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" and "Zizhi Tongjian" and other historical books, but the "Wuyue Beishi" did not mention it at all, because the "Wuyue Beishi" was written by the descendants of the Qian family. Let me lay the groundwork here. In the description of many subsequent events, all the failures of Wuyue were either not mentioned at all, or glossed over, or whitewashed. Therefore, the battles in which Wuyue suffered a setback were mainly referred to in the "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" and "Ten Kingdoms Chronicles".

The following month (October), Qian Chuanying died of depression. In September of the following year (10), Qian Liu sent Qian Yuanguan to attack Wuxi County in Changzhou to avenge the defeat of the previous year. Qian Yuanguan fulfilled his mission, conquered Wuxi County, captured the main general Zhu Chao and more than 914 people, and returned in triumph.

Key figures: Qian Chuanying, Qian Yuanling and Qian Yuanguan.

6.Whose bride is this?
The Wuyue History records that in February 909, Zhu Wen selected Qian Chuanying as his consort. It also says that in February 2, Zhu Youzhen selected Qian Chuanying as his consort and married his eldest daughter, Princess Shouchun, to him.

There is a huge controversy here. But - this book gives the truth:

The New History of the Five Dynasties records that Zhu Youzhen's eldest daughter, Princess Shouchun, married Luo Shaowei's son Luo Zhouhan. Luo Shaowei, the governor of Weizhou, had a close relationship with Zhu Wen's family. Luo Shaowei's eldest son, Luo Tinggui, married Zhu Wen's two daughters, his second son, Luo Zhouhan, married Zhu Youzhen's eldest daughter, Princess Shouchun, and his third son, Luo Zhoujing, married Zhu Youzhen's third daughter, Princess Jin'an.

Princess Shouchun was really busy. One moment she married Qian Chuanjin, and the next moment she married Luo Zhouhan.

Who is it? Don't worry, let's look through other historical materials. You see, there are benefits to looking through two more books, it's even more confusing——

The "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" records that in September 906, Emperor Ai of Tang chose Qian Chuanying as his son-in-law to marry Princess Shouchang. At that time, Qian Chuanying's performance in the "Xu and Xu Rebellion" won the recognition of Emperor Ai of Tang. Emperor Ai of Tang "heard about it and praised him, and appointed him as the deputy ambassador of Liangzhe", and then chose him as his son-in-law. The "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" also recorded this imperial edict of Emperor Ai of Tang, which can be said to be well-cited.

Moreover, the "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" clearly pointed out that the record in the "Wu Yue Bei Shi" was wrong, saying that it mistakenly recorded the third year of Tianyou (906) as the third year of Kaiping (909), and thus mistakenly recorded Emperor Ai of Tang as Zhu Wen. It also said that Comrade Qian Chuanying was obsessed with his own Princess Shouchang, and one day he dreamed of meeting the dead Princess Shouchang offline, and when he woke up, he got a "ghost disease" and died of illness soon after.

From this perspective, "Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms" is well-reasoned and serious.

However, in the Complete Tang Poems, there is an imperial edict written by Zhu Youzhen titled "The Imperial Edict to Grant Qian Liu's Third Son the Title of Imperial Concubine Ying to Qian Liu", which is not exactly the same as the so-called imperial edict of Emperor Ai of Tang quoted in the Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals, but at least it is highly consistent, and all the key words and sentences are exactly the same:
The heading of the edict was "Emperor Qian Liu, King of Wuyue", and in the text it said "I respectfully acknowledge that the late emperor and you have always had an alliance", and at the end it said "I now appoint Chuan Ying as the Jiedushi of Datong, the Acting Taifu, the Co-Prime Minister of the Secretariat, the Commandant of the Imperial Concubine's wife, and add an additional fief of 800 households".

Obviously, the "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn Annals" which criticized the "Wu Yue Bei Shi" for its fallacies also failed. Whether it was the address at the beginning, the polite reminiscence in the text, or the official title at the end, all pointed out that the imperial edict was 100% from Zhu Youzhen.

As early as 906, Qian Liu was not even named the King of Wuyue, and he did not have any revolutionary comradeship with Emperor Ai of Tang's predecessor, Emperor Zhaozong of Tang.

Let's change the angle and infer from the records of several prospective fathers-in-law and princesses:

Emperor Ai of Tang, who was only 906 years old in 15 and 907 years old when he died (16), had no daughters at all; what about sisters? Emperor Zhaozong of Tang had 11 daughters, among whom Princess Pingyuan married Li Maozhen's son (but was soon ordered to return by Zhu Wen), Princess Yongming died early (usually died before adulthood), and the details of the remaining 9 princesses are unknown, and only their titles are recorded in history books, and there is no "Princess Shouchang" among them;
Zhu Wen had five daughters. Princess Anyang and Princess Jinhua married Luo Tinggui respectively; Princess Changle married Zhao Yan; Princess Puning married Wang Zhaozuo; Princess Zhenning, unknown;
Zhu Youzhen had three daughters: Princess Shouchun, who married Luo Zhouhan; Princess Jin'an, who married Luo Zhoujing; and Princess Shouchang.

"Wu Yue Bei Shi" records that Qian Chuanying "was appointed as the son-in-law of the princess by Emperor Taizu of Liang...but he died before the princess could surrender at the age of 36, and was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Tutor."

If it was really Emperor Taizu Zhu Wen who appointed him as the son-in-law of the emperor, then Princess Zhenning should be married to him; and if it was Emperor Last Emperor Zhu Youzhen who appointed him as the son-in-law of the emperor, then it should be Princess Shouchang.

The imperial edict of Zhu Youzhen in "Complete Tang Poems" is an indisputable piece of evidence, so it can be basically confirmed that Qian Chuanying, who was married to Princess Shouchang of Zhu Youzhen, was the one who was given the imperial edict.

Is it possible that the Complete Tang Poems mistakenly took Zhu Wen's edict as Zhu Youzhen's? No, the author may be confused, but the content of the text is generally not tampered with, especially the sentence "Respectfully, the former emperor and you have always been in alliance", which can only come from Zhu Youzhen, because Zhu Youzhen's "predecessor" Zhu Wen and Qian Liu were good friends who fought side by side.

朱友贞是915年9月23日封次女为寿昌公主，而钱传瑛同志于913年10月就病逝了。所以合理的解释是朱友贞选他为驸马时，还没给女儿封号。

"Liang Taizu was appointed as the Duke of the Imperial Concubine's wife" is probably a typo and should be Liang Modi.

At this point, we can roughly infer a reasonable explanation: In February 913, the Later Liang Dynasty experienced two bloody palace coups in half a year, and Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne. In order to consolidate his regime, Zhu Youzhen actively wooed the Qian family of Liangzhe and wanted to marry his children to Qian Liu, and promised to marry his second daughter to Qian Chuanying. However, before the wedding could be planned, Qian Chuanying died in October; so in February 2, Zhu Youzhen let Qian Chuanjin be the son-in-law, completing the political marriage between the Zhu and Qian groups, and on September 10, he named his second daughter Princess Shouchang. Finally, in the first month of 915, under the escort of General Du Jianhui, Qian Chuanjin finally prepared the betrothal gifts and came to the capital to get Princess Shouchang.

Therefore, the statement in "Wu Yue Bei Shi" that Qian Chuanjin went to the capital to marry "Princess Shouchun" should also be a typo for "Princess Shouchang".

Key figures: Qian Chuanying, Qian Chuanjin
(End of this chapter)