China's Southern Tang Dynasty, 937-976 by Kurz Johannes L.;

Author:Kurz, Johannes L.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2011-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

They gathered their followers and, on the night of 1 February 952, tried to burn down Bian Hao’s residence, but the fire died quickly. Bian Hao called for his troops, and the rebels fled to Langzhou, about two hundred kilometres north-west of Tanzhou. There they allied with Wang Kui, a former Chu general, and Sun Lang, who became his commander, promised him that he would expel the Southern Tang forces from Chu. 48

In the summer of 952, Li Jing recognized the danger of the situation in Hunan. He was faced, first, with a local uprising in Langzhou, second, with an experienced military leader north of the Yangzi, and, last, with the continuing threat from the Southern Han in the south. He explained to his two chancellors, Feng Yansi and Sun Cheng, that the people in Chu had expected him to bring peace. Now, the maladministration of the Southern Tang officials in Chu had increased their worries. In order to improve the lot of the people, he wanted to end the war with the Southern Han and negotiate a peace with Liu Yan, the newly risen strong man of Chu, to whom he was willing to grant independence. Sun Cheng did not object to this plan, and Feng Yansi advocated a thorough inspection of the troops and officers stationed in Chu in order to solve the problems of command. General Hou Xun received orders to combine his forces with those of Zhang Luan in Quanzhou2 and to retake Guizhou. The Southern Han army ambushed these advancing forces, and, in the ensuing massacre, only Zhang Luan managed to escape, with several hundred soldiers, to Quanzhou2. 49

The ineffectiveness of Bian Hao deepened the crisis in Hunan. One official complained in a memorial to the throne about Bian: ‘Hao does not have the abilities of a marshal, and he will certainly lose Hunan. An able marshal should be selected and the number of troops be increased in order to avoid defeat.’ Li Jing did not heed this warning and gave Bian Hao the order to take Langzhou and end the rebellion. Li Jing tested Liu Yan’s loyalty by summoning him to Jinling for an audience, which the latter refused. Liu turned to Wang Kui for advice, because he was afraid of an attack by Bian Hao, but Wang Kui assured him of the strong military position of Langzhou. He depicted Bian Hao as an incompetent protégé of Li Jing and a military leader lacking strategic understanding as well as support from both the gentry and the common people. In the autumn, Liu’s forces converged on different routes on Tanzhou. On 26 October, they attacked and captured Yuanjiang. On 28 October, the fortifications at Yiyang fell to Liu Yan, and Bian Hao urgently asked for reinforcements. None arrived in time, and Bian Hao had to defend the city walls with only the few garrison troops he had under his command. Faced with superior forces, he abandoned the city in the night of 1 November 952, and with him went all those clerks and officials that could.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.