【Small scale chopper】
In the first month of 944 AD, Li Jing sent envoys to visit Wang Yanzheng of Jianzhou and Wang Yanxi of Fuzhou respectively. He severely criticized the fraternal struggle within the Fujian Kingdom in the tone of the elder scolding the younger, the suzerain reprimanding the subordinate country, and the elder brother teaching the younger brother. Order them to reconcile immediately.
At that time, Wang Yanzheng had established the "Great Yin Kingdom" in Jianzhou and was fighting against Wang Yanxi of Fuzhou. The civil war in Fujian was at its peak. Li Jing chose this moment to intervene in Fujian's domestic affairs with a high profile.
Unexpectedly, the Wang brothers did not give him face. Wang Yanxi used the allusion of Ji Dan (i.e. Duke Zhou) of the Zhou Dynasty to kill his brother Ji Xian and exile Ji Du, and the story of Li Shimin's "Xuanwumen Incident" that killed his brothers Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji as metaphors. fight back. Although Wang Yanxi rejected Li Jing's mediation, he still gave him some face. Wang Yanzheng was not so polite and directly rebuked Li Jing for usurping the Yang family's power in Southern Wu.
Just when he wanted to appear in Fujian as his eldest brother, he was poured cold water on his face. Li Jing was very angry, and the consequences were serious. He immediately announced that he would not recognize Wang Yanzheng's "Great Yin Kingdom" and severed all contact with it.
Soon, in mid-March, a coup occurred in the Kingdom of Fujian. Zhu Wenjin and Lian Chongyu killed King Yanxi. Later, Zhu Wenjin claimed to be the emperor of the Great Fujian Kingdom. King Yanzheng of Jianzhou used the excuse to attack Zhu Wenjin of Fuzhou, but was defeated.
In order to protect himself, Zhu Wenjin sent an envoy to the Southern Tang Dynasty to request assistance.
Li Jing immediately imprisoned the envoy, and then convened a group of ministers to discuss, intending to take this opportunity to send troops to annex the country of Fujian.
The Min Kingdom has been essentially split into two countries. One is the Fuzhou Min Kingdom controlled by Zhu Wenjin, and the other is the Jianzhou "Yin Kingdom" controlled by Wang Yanzheng. However, the Fuzhou Min Kingdom and the Southern Tang Dynasty were not adjacent to each other, and the Jianzhou King Yanzheng happened to be sandwiched between them.
The reason why Li Jing sent troops to Fujian was to attack the regicide traitor Zhu Wenjin of Fujian, so the first problem he had to face was Yanzheng, the king of Jianzhou.
To put it simply, if Wang Yanzheng is deemed illegal, then the Southern Tang Dynasty will need to destroy Jianzhou first and then go to Fuzhou, which is relatively difficult; if Wang Yanzheng is deemed legal, there is the possibility of using the road to Jianzhou and jumping to Fuzhou (although this possibility is extremely high) (low), in this way, even if Fuzhou was conquered, the Southern Tang Dynasty was still trying to seize chestnuts from the fire for Jianzhou.
Therefore, after discussion, the ministers reached an agreement: King Yanzheng of Jianzhou must be destroyed first, and then the entire Fujian Kingdom should be swallowed up.
Since it was Zhu Wenjin of Fuzhou who killed the king, why did he kill Yanzheng, the king of Jianzhou? The reason is that "the rebellion in Fujian was caused by Wang Yanzheng." It was because Wang Yanzheng split the motherland that the butterfly effect was triggered, which eventually led to Zhu Wenjin's regicide. Therefore, Wang Yanzheng was the culprit of the civil strife in Fujian and should be punished first.
Therefore, Li Jing released Zhu Wenjin's envoy and began military mobilization to prepare for armed intervention in Fujian's internal affairs. It was late May of the lunar calendar. By the time the Southern Tang Dynasty was mobilizing troops, it had already entered June of the lunar calendar. That year, there was a severe heat in Huainan. Another round of plague broke out, which was not conducive to sending troops. Li Jing had no choice but to cancel the trip. Military action.
However, Li Jing had already thought of annexing Fujian, and had formulated a grand strategy: first build a state, then Fuzhou, and push forward all the way.
Zhu Wenjin, who did not receive the support of the great powers, was greatly panicked, so he took the initiative to cancel the imperial title and only called "Fuzhou Mighty Army Remains Later". He sent envoys to the Later Jin Dynasty and professed submission to the Later Jin Dynasty. The Later Jin Dynasty needed someone to help contain the Southern Tang Dynasty, so they hit it off with Zhu Wenjin and immediately recognized Zhu Wenjin's legal rule over the country of Fujian.
Under the intervention of the great powers, Wang Yanzheng could only speed up the pace of the reunification of the motherland. After his last defeat, he made a comeback and divided his troops into two groups to encircle and suppress the rebel Zhu Wenjin. The generals of the Fujian state surrendered to Wang Yanzheng one after another, and Zhu Wenjin's control area drastically increased. shrink.
Wang Yanzheng won every victory and soon advanced to Fuzhou City. He was about to complete the reunification of the motherland in one fell swoop. Zhu Wenjin quickly sent his son to Wuyue State as a hostage and asked Wuyue State for rescue. At the same time, the feudal officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty could not sit still. This person was Zha Wenhui, one of the "Five Ghosts".
Throughout the ages, whenever a big country wants to control a certain region, it must first divide it and then instigate it, and finally it can fish in troubled waters and reap the benefits. This is true for colonizers and so for hegemonists. Times have changed, and today, cold weapons have turned into torrents of steel, and colonists and hegemons have transformed into world police and world beacons, but their methods have never changed.
The unification of Fujian, whether it was the unification of Fuzhou as a state or the unification of Fuzhou as a state, was not in the interests of the Southern Tang Dynasty. What the Southern Tang needed was for both sides to be evenly matched and fight each other, causing constant internal strife. At present, King Yanzheng of Jianzhou is approaching Fuzhou with a devastating force, and is only one step away from the final reunification. The Southern Tang Dynasty can no longer stand idly by.
At this time, Zha Wenhui Shangshu reiterated the plan to fight against Fujian. The time was November 944. According to the last mobilization, less than half a year had passed.
Most of the civil and military officials in the Southern Tang Dynasty held opposing views.
Of course, there are many reasons for the opposition. For example, the Southern Tang Dynasty is not yet completely sure that it can swallow up the entire Fujian Kingdom in one go, because if the Southern Tang Dynasty really wants to annex the Fujian Kingdom, the Wuyue Kingdom will not sit idly by and ignore it. Chu's attitude is also questionable, and Fuzhou has already become a vassal of the Later Jin Dynasty. The annexation of Fuzhou is tantamount to a direct declaration of war against the later Jin Dynasty, a large country in the Central Plains. The small country of Fujian can also affect the whole body with one move, so it cannot be reckless;
For another example, the late emperor Xu Zhigao had a legacy that we should unite our neighbors, accumulate strength, and then wait for opportunities to restore the Central Plains. The Central Plains Dynasty (Later Jin Dynasty) was the imaginary enemy of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and all other neighbors should be our friends.
However, Li Jing had long forgotten the pain of biting his finger, and he was so confident in Nan Tang's strength that the above two major issues were not worth mentioning in his opinion.
Although the ministers unanimously opposed it, the emperor himself supported it. So, Li Jing played a trick of power and appointed a senior official to go to the border to investigate the feasibility of sending troops based on the principles of fairness and democracy. The imperial envoy was the deputy privy envoy - Cha Wen Comrade Hui.
After Zha Wenhui arrived at the border, he immediately submitted a confident research report, confident that it would be feasible!
Therefore, Li Jing approved the military operation against Fujian and transferred to Zha Wenhui a rookie in the military who had actual combat experience, outstanding ability, and had just made great achievements - Comrade Bian Hao.
Zha Wenhui was very ambitious, thinking that Wang Yanzheng's elite forces were all in the south, and Jianzhou, the stronghold in the north, was empty. Even if he couldn't eat the entire Fujian country in one go, he could at least secede Jianzhou, and from then on, he would prosper...
Vigorous and high-spirited, crossing the Jianyang River. Zha Wenhui advanced triumphantly, advancing all the way to a place only 12 kilometers away from Jianzhou.
