History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 992: Disharmony between Generals and Ministers
[Disharmony between generals and ministers]

The feud between Wu Cheng and Bao Xiurang started in Fuzhou, but the historians were not interested in recording it in detail, so they simply brushed it off in one sentence, saying that the two had a rift in Fuzhou.

Below we will boldly restore this previous foreshadowing:

When Li Renda surrendered to Wuyue, Bao Xiurang became the "emperor" of Fuzhou as the commander-in-chief of Fuzhou. Later, he killed Li Renda and took control of Fuzhou. However, Qian Hongzong appointed Wu Cheng as the governor of Fuzhou. Bao Xiurang planted trees for his ancestors, and Wu Cheng enjoyed the shade for his descendants.

The subsequent "Second Battle of Fuzhou" is even more worthy of consideration. We have described this battle in detail twice, but there is a small detail that has never been expanded, which is the spy who "tricked" Zha Wenhui into sending troops to Fuzhou, and the disastrous defeat of the Wuyue garrison at the beginning of the war.

A spy from Fuzhou informed Jianzhou's Cha Wenhui that the Wuyue garrison had left and the people of Fujian were eager to be rescued by the Southern Tang, so they respectfully asked Cha Wenhui to take over. Who sent this spy? Could it be Bao Xiurang?

Bao Xiurang hated Wu Cheng for stealing peaches, so when he left Fuzhou, he sent someone to tell Cha Wenhui, hoping to get rid of Wu Cheng with the help of Southern Tang. The "Wuyue garrison" mentioned by the spy should be the troops led by Bao Xiurang. Cha Wenhui, who has been a political figure for many years, believed this statement without a doubt. Despite the dissuasion of his subordinates, he still insisted on going. Did his stubbornness come from some kind of conspiracy or tacit understanding between him and Bao Xiurang?
The Southern Tang vanguard did win a great victory outside Fuzhou, capturing Wu Yue general Ma Guangjin and others alive. The Fuzhou defenders were terrified. According to records, "generals and soldiers filled the courtyards and could not be stopped." The officers and soldiers blocked the government office, and the noise was deafening. The office was crowded with people inside and outside, and they were in a panic. It seemed that a mutiny was about to break out. Everyone argued about whether to surrender or flee. At the critical moment, Wu Cheng "climbed up the threshold and scolded them, and the whole army trembled." Wu Cheng was so anxious that he climbed onto the table, glared and scolded, and scared the officers and soldiers so much that their legs trembled. Only then did they dare not make a noise, and the situation was under control.

In other versions of the narrative, it is also said that Wu Cheng "secretly revealed the strategy" and told the soldiers that this defeat was caused on purpose in order to lure the enemy deep into our territory and deliberately let them win to trick the Southern Tang, thereby stabilizing the morale of the army.

From "generals and soldiers filled the courtyard, unstoppable", to "climbing the threshold and staring and shouting, the whole army trembled", does it look like a fake defeat? There are many examples of fake defeats to lure the enemy, and no one has ever performed it to this extent. This is not a fake defeat, it is clearly a real defeat.

If Wu Cheng lost Fuzhou, who would be happy? The rulers and ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty would be happy, but who would be happy about the Wuyue Kingdom? Of course, it would be Bao Xiurang, "Look, I said Wu Cheng is not good enough, and I said Fuzhou cannot leave me." It doesn't have to be lost. As long as the situation is deadlocked, Bao Xiurang will most likely be ordered to rescue again. After driving away the Southern Tang army, Bao Xiurang will naturally take charge of Fuzhou.

Man proposes, God disposes. Wu Cheng not only stabilized his position and repelled the Southern Tang army, but also captured Zha Wenhui alive, stealing the show. And Wu Cheng may have guessed who lured Zha Wenhui here, "Ah, was it you who led the devils to the mountain?"

The above views are purely personal conjecture. In short, during this period in Fuzhou, Wu Cheng and Bao Xiurang's personal relationship deteriorated rapidly.

Not only Bao Xiurang, but another main general Luo Sheng also had a bad relationship with Wu Cheng. However, this time, Wu Cheng was the immediate superior of the two generals when they were ordered to attack the Tang Dynasty. It is said that during this period, Wu Cheng used his position to suppress Bao Xiurang and Luo Sheng everywhere. The two generals were very angry, but they could do nothing about it because a higher-ranking official could crush a person to death.

So what if Changzhou was conquered? Isn't it that I fought hard in the front, while my grandson took the credit behind? Bao Xiurang never forgot the shame of Fuzhou, and drank alone with Luo Sheng, scolding the commander Wu Cheng. At the beginning of the war, Southern Tang also did some homework, such as sending Chen Chuyao to Khitan to ask for reinforcements, and then to Northern Han to ask for help; sending Qiao Kuangshun to visit Hangzhou to lobby Wuyue Kingdom not to be accomplices to the tiger.

When a wall falls, everyone pushes it; when a drum breaks, everyone beats it. Khitan and Northern Han clearly showed their attitude of watching the dying without helping, and detained Chen Chuyao, because returning to Huainan would require crossing the entire Central Plains. If he was caught by the Central Plains people, wouldn't it be surprising for allies? Khitan and Northern Han did not want to be misunderstood by the Later Zhou; and Wuyue Kingdom also decisively rejected Qiao Kuangshun's lobbying.

On the Changzhou front, Southern Tang general Chai Kehong came up with a plan. He sent out a fleet, claiming to be welcoming Qiao Kuangshun back to the country, and hid the soldiers in the fleet.

Then a rather bizarre scene occurred. Wu Cheng did not suspect anything and said that the two countries were at war and envoys would not be killed, so he let the fleet go.

Wu Cheng was both the prime minister and the commander-in-chief, and he had experienced the baptism of war. Logically, he should not be a naive person or a corrupt scholar. However, he did not receive any notification from his superiors, did not report or verify, and did not conduct security checks on the incoming ships... He just boldly allowed the enemy fleet to sail into our important military area. It was really unbelievable.

Bao Xiurang and Luo Sheng both saw that something was wrong, but they tacitly chose to remain silent. They looked silly on the outside but were happy on the inside. "Wait for death!"

When the fleet landed, the Southern Tang death squad filed out and attacked the Wuyue barracks. An interesting scene appeared. Historical records said that Bao Xiurang did not rescue Wu Cheng because he had a grudge against him, and let him go as an actor; Luo Sheng went even further and actually acted as a guide for the Southern Tang soldiers, directing them to attack Wu Cheng's central army tent.

Fortunately, the deputy general Shao Keqian fought hard and did not even bother to look at his own son who died in front of his horse. This allowed Wu Cheng to escape from the battlefield in a panic and save his life.

The Wuyue army was defeated, and the commander Wu Cheng "only escaped with his life", tens of thousands of soldiers died, and all the previous efforts were wasted. After hearing about the defeat in Changzhou, Lu Yanzhu, who was on the front line of Xuanzhou, also led his troops to withdraw to the country in an orderly manner to prevent being cut off.

After Wu Cheng fled back to Hangzhou, Qian Hongchu demoted him for the crime of military defeat and stripped him of all his official positions. He managed to save his uncle's life, and Wu Cheng retired from politics from then on.

In August 965, Wu Cheng died of illness at the age of 8. Qian Hongchu, in appreciation of his early achievements, announced that he would be reinstated and given the posthumous title of "Zhonglie". The historian's final verdict on him can be summed up in two words, that is, "contrast". There are two key words in Wu Cheng's life: Fuzhou and Changzhou. The historian commented that he was the sixth in the battle of Fuzhou, and even the sixth in the battle of Changzhou. The contrast between the two is simply too great.

(End of this chapter)