0-1 The time and space of Fujian
There is a piece of land on the southeast coast of my country, separated by a narrow strip of water from the treasure island of Taiwan, and the two places help each other across the Taiwan Strait. It is Fujian. We all know that Fujian is abbreviated as "Min", and in the history of Fujian, there once existed a separatist regime with this name as its country name. This is the "Min Kingdom" we are going to talk about next. In order to facilitate the narrative and let us have a rough impression in our minds, we first give a brief introduction to the time and space elements of Fujian. The timeline of the existence of the Fujian state can be roughly cut into the first half of the tenth century. This period is the so-called " Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" period. Of course, history is continuous, and we need to pave the way for the first half of the tenth century and also involve some events in the late ninth century. In the same way, to wrap up the story, we must also touch on things in the second half of the tenth century. There are several important time points that need to be highlighted first. The first one was in 893 (the second year of Tang Jingfu). This year, Wang Chao from Gushi County, Henan Province, after eight years of hard work, was finally appointed by the Tang Dynasty court as the Fujian Observer (the function is mainly to inspect, coordinate, and supervise state and county administration, not military affairs, power Slightly lower than Jiedushi). Although it was still three years before the Tang court upgraded Fujian to the rank of "Mighty Army" and appointed Wang Chao as Jiedushi, by this time Wang Chao had already gained control of Fujian and had actually begun to rule Fujian. The second one was in 909 (the third year after the founding of the People's Republic of China). In this year, Wang Chao's younger brother Wang Shenzhi was named King of Fujian by the Later Liang court. This announced the arrival of the era of vassal kings before the establishment of Min. This era laid a solid foundation for Fujian's subsequent development in all aspects. foundation. In my opinion, this can also be regarded as the actual starting point of the Fujian regime. The third year is 926 (the first year of Tiancheng in the Later Tang Dynasty). In this year, Wang Shenzhi's son Wang Yanhan claimed to be the King of Fujian. Although some people believed that he was the first emperor of Fujian, at least in name he only claimed the title of king and not emperor. However, this did not mean that he was the first emperor of Fujian. It does not affect the judgment that Fujian was formally established. Seven years later, Wang Yanhan's younger brother Wang Yanjun proclaimed himself emperor in Fuzhou, and the country was named Damin, officially opening the first year of the Fujian Kingdom. The fourth is 945 (the third year of Fujian Tiande). In this year, the Min Kingdom, which had experienced civil strife for a long time, was finally destroyed by the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the Min Kingdom came to an end. After that, a tripartite situation emerged in Fujian. This situation lasted until 978 (the third year of the Song Dynasty's Taiping and Xingguo). As Quanzhou, Zhangzhou and Fuzhou were successively included in the territory of the Song Dynasty, the entire territory of Fujian was officially unified in the Northern Song Dynasty. . After briefly talking about the time element, let’s look at the space element. The territory of Fujian was roughly equivalent to the current Fujian Province. Its outline is like a rectangle slightly tilted to the right. The surrounding areas are bounded by Wu and Yue to the northeast; to the southwest are the Southern Han Dynasty; to the west and north are Wu and the Southern Tang Dynasty; to the east and south are the Taiwan Strait . The land within the territory of Fujian was divided into five secondary units, called five states (Jianzhou was briefly divided into three states, which is ignored). Generally speaking, if we lay out an A4 paper, tilt it slightly to the right, and then draw a line on its left edge, starting from about one-third of the distance from the upper edge, from left to right A line that is flat relative to the upper edge (line 1). Then on the right side of this line, that is, starting from about half of the upper edge, draw another line relatively flat with the left edge from top to bottom until it intersects line 1 (line 2). So in the area formed by the intersection of line 1 and line 2, the upper one is called Jianzhou, and the lower one is called Fuzhou. The so-called "Fujian" is a combination of one word each from Fuzhou and Jianzhou. Looking at the left side of line 1, you can roughly extend line 2 downwards and parallel to the left edge until you reach the lower edge and draw a line (line 3). The upper area formed by the intersection of line 3 and line 1 is called tingzhou. Finally, in the lower area formed by the intersection of line 3 and line 1, draw a line (line 4) from left to right in the center. In this area, the left side of Line 4 is called Zhangzhou and the right side of Line 4 is called Quanzhou. Of course, these lines cannot be straight lines. As for the degree of twists and turns, it depends on your mood. If you have obsessive-compulsive disorder, take a look at the Baidu map.Okay, now that we have a general concept of time and space, let’s go to Fujian to have a look.
(Map of Fujian, selected from "Historical Atlas of China" edited by Tan Qixiang)
1 Wang Chao
1-1 In troubled times, it is better to join the army
Now please let us first turn our attention back to the late ninth century.
China in the late 19th century was the last remaining time of the once glorious Datang . The combination of the overwhelming vassal town Jiedu and the Huangchao chaos that engulfed the whole country really made the last emperors of the residual Tang Dynasty very big-headed.
htmlAt the end of 2880 (the first year of Guangming in the Tang Dynasty), Huang Chao 's army captured Chang'an . "The inner treasury was burned to beautiful ashes, and the bones of public ministers were trampled on in the streets." The then emperor Tang Xizong Li Xuan was forced to flee to Chengdu for refuge. Huang Chao, a failed scholar who was born as a private salt dealer, may still proudly recite the words "I will kill hundreds of flowers after they bloom" and "The city will be full of flowers" that he wrote after he fell into disgrace when he walked freely in the streets of Chang'an. All in golden armor.” And Li Xuan, the emperor who seemed to be on the run all the time, could only complain about his helpless fate in the unbearable summer heat in Chengdu.
Before and after this landmark event, "bandits" emerged in the prosperous Jianghuai area at that time. Some people who dared to think and dare to do it all took up banners and joined forces, hoping to seek more benefits in troubled times.
In Shouzhou of Huainan Road (today's Shouxian County, Anhui Province), there was a butcher named Wang Xu. He and his brother-in-law Liu Xingquan pulled up a team of 500 people. In 881 (Tang Dynasty) In the first year of Zhonghe (the first year of Zhonghe), he killed Yan Zhang, the governor of Shouzhou, who had already incurred the wrath of heaven and earth, and occupied the territory of Shouzhou.
Wang Xu's team expanded very quickly, and soon reached the level of ten thousand people. With more people and more swords, there is more confidence, so Wang Xu simply called himself a general. General Wang led his troops westward and occupied the neighboring Guangzhou (now Huangchuan County, Henan), which also belonged to Huainan Road. Guangzhou has always been a battleground for military strategists. "If there is something to do with Huai or Cai, there will be no one who does not engage in Guangzhou."
There is a county under Guangzhou's jurisdiction called Gushi. "Gushi" began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was named after Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu was granted the title "Marquis of Gushi". It means "if you want something to end well, you must first consolidate its beginning" , and continues to this day. There are three brothers in Gushi County, China. They are named Wang Chao, Wang Shengui, and Wang Shenzhi.
By the way, let’s talk about the eldest brother’s name. These three brothers are real brothers. According to the Chinese custom of ranking according to “Zi”, the second and third eldest brothers are both “Chen” (Chen) surnames. It seems that the eldest brother should also be of this surname. However, most historical materials refer to the boss as "Wang Chao". Although some historical materials add the sentence "also known as Wang Shenchao " in brackets after the word Wang Chao, this is never done openly and directly after all. Use the name "Wang Shenchao" to write the text. This article follows official history and calls him Wang Chao as usual.
The three Wang Chao brothers are called "Three Dragons" by the locals. Although this may be a reputation added intentionally by later generations, these three brothers are indeed well-known in the local area. Because Wang Ye, the ancestor of the Wang brothers, once served as the magistrate of Gushi County, and Wang Chao also served as the assistant historian of Gushi at this time. Zuoshi is not a formal public official, but a small figure who assists county magistrates in managing government affairs. However, precisely because Zushi is often held by local powerful men, this position also has the color of representing local power.
After Wang Xu captured Guangzhou, in order to use the power of the locals to improve his ability to gain a foothold, he recruited the three Wang brothers into the army and appointed the eldest Wang Chao as military commander. Don't underestimate this "military officer", because his job responsibility is to be in charge of the army's money and food, and even if you are a general leading troops in war, you must have a good relationship with the person in charge of logistics (although this kind of role interaction is not necessarily normal, but certainly fatal). Wang Chao was a smart man and he did this job well. Everyone respected him for his integrity and trustworthiness. As a result, Wang Chao gained widespread and highly praised popularity in the military.
Guangzhou, where Wang Xu's army was located, was located on the south bank of the Huaihe River. Caizhou (today's Runan County, Henan) on the north bank of the Huaihe River was occupied by a ruthless man at this time. The ruthless man is called Qin Zongquan . It is said that Qin Zongquan's troops were not given rations when they went to war. They used carts to pull salted corpses for the soldiers to feed on. There is a saying about Qin Zongquan's Caizhou soldiers, which is called "As far as the eye can see, there is no one inhabited, and they carry salt corpses in their cars to feed the invaders." This shows how ruthless Qin Zongquan must be.
Qin Zongquan has not surrendered to Huang Chao at this time, and he is getting ready to fight Huang Chao. Qin Zongquan, who was recruiting troops, and Wang Xu, who was seeking greater support, hit it off immediately, so Qin Zongquan petitioned the Tang court to appoint Wang Xu as the governor of Guangzhou.
Compared with Wang Xu, Qin Zongquan's family has a great cause. Qin Zongquan's desire to win over Wang Xu is nothing more than to expand his sphere of influence and let him follow him to fight Huang Chao. But Wang Xu is not stupid. If you ask me to go, I will go. Who will be responsible if my cannon fodder dies? Moreover, Qin Zongquan is greedy and always comes to ask for rent and gifts. Do you think that I, Wang Xu, am a gold mine? I still don’t have enough to eat.
html At the beginning of 2885 (the fifth year of Zhonghe in the Tang Dynasty), the conflict between Wang Xu and Qin Zongquan reached its peak. At this time, Huang Chao was dead and Qin Zongquan proclaimed himself emperor. Qin Zongquan's order to ask for food and grass became the last straw that crushed Wang Xu. Wang Xu said that there was nothing he could do about it, and Qin Zongquan liked it as much as he wanted.
As a result, Qin Zongquan became angry and turned around to send troops to deal with Wang Xu. Wang Xu retreated from Guangzhou to defend Gushi, and Qin Zongquan pressed forward step by step. Wang Xu weighed his own strength, and it was almost like hitting an egg against a stone. Okay, we can't beat him, let's run.
1-2Why is Zhangzhou
fleeing Gwangju is both forced and helpless, and it is also a rational decision. The number of combat troops who left with Wang Xu was about five thousand. This is the total combat force that Wang Xu, the governor of Guangzhou, can currently command. As for his opponent Qin Zongquan, his peak military strength at this time was about 150,000, which was a number that made people suffocate with fear.
Wang Xu had to leave. In addition to the huge disparity in military strength, the difficult years in Guangzhou in the past few years were also an important reason. The information left in the historical materials is limited. Apart from the fact that they were forced to provide money and food as explained above, there is no too detailed content. But there is a clue that cannot be ignored, which helps us understand Wang Xu's daily suffering.
We know that in 881 (the first year of Zhonghe in the Tang Dynasty), before Wang Xu took refuge with Qin Zongquan, his military strength had reached 10,000 people. But at the beginning of 885 (the fifth year of Zhonghe in the Tang Dynasty), when Wang Xu left Qin Zongquan, his military strength was reduced to 5,000. In fact, in less than four years, Wang Xu's troops were reduced by half. You can't assume that it was all non-combat attrition.
Let’s run. We must run. If we don’t run, we will lose all our money. If all the capital is discounted, it’s hard to say whether I can go back to selling pork.
Wang Xu asked his brother-in-law Liu Xingquan to serve as the vanguard general, and he followed with a large force all the way south. This army entered Jiangxi from Anhui. In Jiangxi, they followed the route of Jiangzhou (today's Jiujiang, Jiangxi) - Hongzhou (today's Nanchang, Jiangxi) - Jizhou (today's Ji'an, Jiangxi) - Qianzhou (today's Jiangxi Ganzhou) such a route continues southward.
In Qianzhou, a central city in the south of Jiangxi, Wang Xu's troops were attacked by Qianzhou local armed forces Lu Guangchou and Tan Quanbo. In a hurry, Wang Xu led the main force to quickly cross Wuyi Mountain from Qianzhou and enter Tingzhou (now Changting County, Fujian Province) in western Fujian , and then continue south, from Tingzhou into Zhangzhou (now Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province). This is Things happened in the middle of 885 (the first year of Tang Guangqi, which was changed to Yuan Dynasty in March) (there are different versions of the specific time, and logically it should be after the change of Yuan Dynasty and before August).
The other part of the army that set out from Qianzhou took many detours. They first marched southwest from Qianzhou to Qujiang, Shaozhou (now Shaoguan, Guangdong), and then turned from Shaozhou to Chaoyang (now Guangdong) in the southeast. Shantou), and finally rushed northeast from Chaoyang along the seaside to Zhangpu (today's Zhangpu County, Fujian), and joined forces with Wang Xu's large army.
So, why did this team that came out of Guangzhou go to Zhangzhou?
As soon as the sky was high and the emperor was far away, he could avoid Qin Zongquan and the war in the north. Although it was not foolproof, it was safer to stay in Zhangzhou than in Guangzhou. This is indeed an objective fact, but I think there may be another important reason, that is, the people in Gushi, Henan are no strangers to Zhangzhou, and there is a natural and inherent sense of intimacy in their psychology. Why does
say this?
Generally speaking, in history, there were four large-scale migrations of the Gushi people southward to Fujian. From a historical perspective, this unit of the three Wang Chao brothers moved southward for the third time. Prior to this, their fellow countryman, Chen Zheng, a general from Gushi, had been ordered by the emperor to go south to quell local armed conflicts in Quanzhou and Chaozhou in 669 (the second year of the Tang Dynasty).
There was a sentence in the order given by the emperor to Chen Zheng before he left: "Don't give up on illness, and I will treat you when you are sick; don't give up on death, and I will bury you in death." It can be regarded as a prophecy. The battle was very difficult. , Chen Zheng was eventually forced into the army. Chen Zheng's two brothers and his brothers' sons also died as a result, so Chen Zheng's mother, the Wei family, resolutely led her troops southward in her seventies and moved her family south.
After Chen Zheng's death, his son Chen Yuanguang took over the banner of fighting the rebellion. After finally quelling the war, he gave up the opportunity to return to the north and devoted himself to the governance of the border areas. Chen Yuanguang petitioned the imperial court to add one state and two counties, among which "one state" was Zhangzhou. Chen Yuanguang was the first governor of Zhangzhou, so he was later called the "Sage King of Zhangzhou". Chen Yuanguang's grandmother was also Chen Zheng's mother, the Wei family, named Yunxiao. It is said that Yunxiao County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, was named in memory of Mrs. Wei.
Chen Zheng's move south to quell the rebellion was the second large-scale southward migration of the Gushi people into Fujian. Most of the people who followed Chen Zheng south were local soldiers and people. The Chen family ruled the border for more than 150 years for six generations, and the Gushi people subsequently took root in Zhangzhou. The troops of the three Wang Chao brothers went south to Zhangzhou this time, probably because they had an intricate relationship or preconceived friendship with the ancestors of Gushi immigrants. After all, when choosing between a relatively familiar environment and a completely unfamiliar environment, most people will generally prefer the former.
As for the first southward migration of the Gushi people (during the period of Emperor Huai of the Jin Dynasty) and the fourth southward migration (from the late Northern Song Dynasty to the late Southern Song ), they are not related to the subject of this article, so they will not be described again. However, as the Gushi people moved south, a kind of root culture phenomenon was gradually created: "Taiwan visits ancestors to Fujian, and Zhangjiang traces its origins back to Gushi."
1-3 food or people
After Wang Xu's troops came out of Guangzhou, they kept going south until they reached Zhangpu County near the sea (Zhangpu was also established by Chen Yuanguang). When you get to Zhangpu and go further south, you will have to jump into the sea to feed the fish. But along the way, Wang Xu only knew how to burn, kill, and loot, and then continue running after looting. He never thought of running a base with peace of mind, so he reached the seaside without a foothold. Although the things
snatched did not cost money, after all, it was not up to them to decide what and how much they could grab. When General Wang's team reached Zhangpu, there was no food to fill their stomachs, so some people called this team an "armed begging army."
In this begging army, in addition to the basic combat troops of 5,000 people, there are also a large number of military family members and Gushi people. The number of the latter greatly exceeds the former, with historical records recording it as "tens of thousands."
The tens of thousands of non-combatants accompanying the army will not only consume a lot of food, but will also seriously slow down the marching speed of the combat troops.In order to solve these two thorny problems before him, Wang Xu decided to abandon the old and weak family members and other laggards who were accompanying the army, and let them find their own way out and fend for themselves. Anyone in the army who disobeyed orders would be killed.
Wang Xu’s military order made the three Wang Chao brothers very embarrassed. The three brothers brought their old mothers along with them. Now they were asked to cruelly abandon their own mothers at the beach. They would not do it. The three Wang Chao brothers came to Wang Xu to ask for a favor, hoping that General Wang would be extra merciful and give them three thin noodles.
Wang Xu, as a butcher, probably hasn't read many books. He may not know the story of Liu Bei running away with the people. Faced with the pleas of the three Wang brothers, Wang Xu insisted on his decision. He plausibly said that all armies must obey military law. There is no army in this world that can survive without military law. You three brothers violated military law. If If I don't kill you, the army I lead will be too unruly.
The three Wang brothers continued to argue with Wang Xu, hoping to convince the leader. They said that all individuals are born from their own mothers. There is no person in this world who can come to the world without a mother, so General Wang, you cannot let us abandon our mother.
Wang Xu became more and more angry after hearing this, "Hey, there are always military orders. You should execute the orders I give." You dare to disobey, which is already very out of bounds. Now you are still trying to imitate me in every way. Hmm, this is intolerable. Wang Xu said that if you don't do it, then I will help you do it. Push out your old woman named Dong and kill her, now, immediately, immediately!
The three Wang Chao brothers were also a little annoyed. They said, our three brothers treat my mother just like they treat you, the general. Now that you want to kill our mother, it is impossible for our three brothers to serve you anymore. So if we want to kill our mother, we must kill our three brothers first. Wang Xu said, OK, let’s kill them together.
As a result, everyone knows that the three Wang Chao brothers must not have been killed by Wang Xu, otherwise there would not be such a deep connection between the Fujian Kingdom and the Wang family and Fujian.
The three Wang Chao brothers were saved thanks to the intercession of the army lieutenant general. It can be seen from this incident that the three Wang Chao brothers have done quite well in the army, so at critical moments there will be a lot of people to stand up and support you. It can also be seen from this incident how unpopular General Comrade Wang Xu's decision was.
In an era when most people may only stay in one place for their whole life, these die-hards from Henan followed you all the way to Fujian with full hopes. They are unfamiliar with the place and may never go back. I'll be here for the rest of my life. When you encounter a ration problem at this time, you are ready to burn bridges and throw away the burden. This is absolutely unacceptable to most people's emotions.
General Wang made this decision. It cannot be said that there is no reason at all, but the crux of the problem is that if you ask your soldiers to leave their parents alone and force them to death, then how can you do it? Do you want your soldiers to follow you wholeheartedly and continue to work for their lives? General Wang, don’t you know that you have offended the public? It's just that not all the big soldiers can turn things around like the three Wang Chao brothers. As the majority of ordinary people, they either can't bear it but have to endure it, or they dare to be angry but dare not speak out but urgently need to express it. As a result, this undercurrent of emotion that was ready to explode spread rapidly among the military.
There are charlatans in the army who feel this change keenly. The warlock warned Wang Xu with the theory of "looking at the qi": prepare early to avoid chaos. Wang Xu's character was not only cruel, but also extremely jealous. He was already too petty to tolerate others, but now that he heard the warning from the warlock, he was even more determined to kill.
As a result, Wang Xu killed many people, including his brother-in-law Liu Xingquan (and Liu Xingquan's two younger brothers) who had started a business together with him and had made great achievements in war. There can be many reasons for Wang Xu to kill people. Generally speaking, they are just "unfounded". Wang Xu has only one criterion for killing people, and that is that he thinks that person is stronger than himself.
What should you do if your subordinates are more capable than you? Wang Xu's method is to destroy you physically. Once the killing ban is launched, everyone is afraid and the morale of the army is even more chaotic.
To be continued...
