The Song army sounded the charge, and Shengzhou was captured.
When Shengzhou was captured, what were the emperors and ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty doing? If you are making a movie, you can use a set of long shots to express it, which is very artistic:
The camera takes aerial shots from outside Shengzhou, passing through the streets and alleys, and finally entering the palace.
The first thing that occupies the c position is the smoke-filled city wall. The Song army surged up the city wall like a tide, which was unstoppable. Some Southern Tang defenders still resisted desperately, and at the edge of the camera, the main force of the Song army can be seen breaking through the city gate and pouring into the street. ;
The camera quickly swooped from the fierce battle at the top of the city to the main road in the city. Here, the Southern Tang generals Yan Yan, Ma Chengcheng, and their younger brother Ma Chengjun led hundreds of warriors to persist in street fighting, but were soon outnumbered and all died;
Passing by the corpses of the Mon Yan and Ma brothers, the camera rose again, and was flapped and blocked by the flag of the Song Army several times. Under the flag were the topless Yin Chongyi and other 45 senior officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty. They were topless. , knelt on the ground and shouted that he was willing to surrender, and accepted a body search by the soldiers of the Song Army;
The camera did not stop, and continued beyond a courtyard wall, entering the home of Zhong Qian, a bachelor of Qinzheng Palace. Zhong Qian was wearing court clothes and sitting in the middle of the courtyard. His family was being massacred by rebels, but he remained unmoved until The rebels cut off his head;
The camera passes through the wall. This is the home of Liao Cheng, a veteran of three dynasties. Someone advised him to surrender quickly and save his life. Liao Cheng held a wine glass in his hand and said that he was righteous and not greedy for life. Then he drank the poisonous wine in one gulp and committed suicide.
The camera soared into the sky again, passing over the thousands of households in Shengzhou City, and speeding towards the palace. On the ground was a crowded street fight, and the background sound was the "ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-dong" of gold and metal clashing and shouting. Gradually, in the background, From weak to strong, the sound of two men arguing appears. Finally, when the camera reaches the palace, we can clearly hear the content of the argument;
The fierce quarrel broke out between the hawks of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Chen Qiao and Zhang Jie. Previously, whenever Li Yu was disheartened and planned to surrender and negotiate peace, the two men would try their best to dissuade him and expressed their willingness to die to serve the country. Chen Qiao even killed his entire family to show his unselfishness. Now, when the city is destroyed, Chen Qiao and Zhang Jie make an appointment to come to the palace.
Chen Qiao knelt down and cried: "I owe you to your majesty. Please, your majesty, kill me."
Li Yu glanced at him dejectedly, "The matter has come to this, and it is useless for you to die. You and I, the king and my ministers, surrender together and go north."
Chen Qiao said: "If Emperor Song is held accountable for war crimes, how should Your Majesty respond? Why don't you kill me now? By then, Your Majesty will put all the blame on me."
Li Yu looked up to the sky and sighed, and left dejectedly.
Chen Qiao burst into tears and turned to look at Zhang Ji, "Let's go, sacrifice your life for charity and sacrifice your life for righteousness, now." Chen Qiao asked Zhang Ji to commit suicide together and die for the country.
"No appointment!" Zhang Jie suddenly regretted it and said that if we both die, who will defend the master in the future? Let's do this, you die first, I will accompany the master north, and I will be the master's defense lawyer...
Chen Qiao was furious and immediately had a fierce quarrel with Zhang Jie. This was the background sound just now.
As the camera moves from far to near, the two figures gradually come to the C position. Chen Qiao is seen walking out, and the camera follows him to the political hall. Chen Qiao called out to the two grassroots clerks, "Come on, you two, use a rope to strangle me to death."
The two of them refused.
Chen Qiao's eyes widened angrily, "This is an order!" Then he took off his belt, "When you're done, please help me collect the body, thank you."
The two dug a shallow pit in the open space under the corridor, removed the door panel of the office, and buried Chen Qiao's body hastily. In order to prevent destruction by the enemy, the two did not raise a grave or leave any mark, leaving Comrade Chen Qiao to sleep forever in this land he loved deeply.
While the two were burying the soil, the camera moved again, through the corridor, to the inner hall. If you pay careful attention, you will find that the corridor is filled with firewood, but the camera does not stop, nor does it give a close-up, it just moves quickly pass by.
What is incredible is that the tranquility and peace here are in sharp contrast to the noisy and disordered outside, because there is only one quiet and beautiful man here, his name is Li Yu.
Li Yu's expression is one of loneliness and calmness after a sudden rain, and of indifference and calmness after despair. He is holding a pen and continuing the literary and artistic creation that was just interrupted.
The camera slowly moved down from his face and illuminated the manuscript on the desk. This was widely praised by later generations.
The camera continued to slowly move down, disappearing into the bookcase, and the camera was completely blocked.
At this point, the long shot ends and the screen switches. The Song army is already lined up outside the palace, led by Song generals Cao Bin, Pan Mei and others.
Li Yu, accompanied by hundreds of civil and military officials, left the palace and surrendered in accordance with the letter of surrender. Seeing Pan Mei first, Pan Mei returned the courtesy; then meeting Cao Bin, Cao Bin slightly clasped his fists and said, "I'm sorry, I'm wearing armor, but I can't return the courtesy." Then Cao Bin sent more than a thousand elite men to guard the palace gate, stipulating that no one was allowed to enter or anyone who dared to trespass. , shoot without mercy.
While the soldiers were taking action, Cao Bin suddenly whispered to Li Yu: "Hurry back to the palace and pack your things. You can take as much gold, silver, fine stuff, etc. as you can. If you take it out, it will be considered your personal property. If my soldiers get there first, Register it and it will be considered as the spoils of our army. Go quickly!"
Li Yu thanked him profusely, and then returned to the palace to rob him.
According to prior information, Li Yu piled firewood in the palace and prepared for the self-immolation of his entire family. When Cao Bin asked Li Yu to return to the palace to pack his luggage, the generals tried to dissuade him, saying that if he burned himself in the fire, how would you explain to the emperor?
Cao Bin smiled but didn't answer. The generals Liang Jiong and Tian Qinzuo were so anxious that they wanted to disobey their military orders and rush into the palace to take Li Yu back.
"Don't worry, Li Yu doesn't have the courage!" Cao Bin sneered mockingly.
According to historical records, when Li Yu negotiated peace for the first time, Cao Bin, Pan Mei and others were waiting on a boat outside the city, and then invited Li Yu to come to the boat to drink tea. There was a narrow wooden board connected to the bow of the boat, and Li Yu lingered on the dock. Before he dared to move forward, Cao Bin ordered two attendants to help him to the boat. So Cao Bin told his generals that Li Yu didn't even dare to walk on a single-plank bridge, which showed his cowardly nature of being greedy for life and afraid of death. Besides, the Holy One had promised to spare his life, how could he commit suicide at this time? All the generals praised Cao Bin for his courage.
According to other records, at the beginning of the war, Li Yu told people around him many times that once the Song army came to the city, he would put on his armor, climb the city wall in person, and fight with the soldiers behind the city to protect the country. If he really couldn't defeat him, then he would Just gather firewood and burn the whole family to death. The king will die in the country and will not be taken as a prisoner! After Zhao Kuangyin heard about it, he smiled scornfully and said that this was just a fool to please himself. He just used his mouth to deceive others into being cannon fodder. It is just words and no ambition. If they really have such courage, how can Sun Hao and Chen Shubao do it? Will he become a prisoner?
Can you speak out what's on your mind? Could what you said be true to your heart? Despicable!
Sure enough, after Li Yu packed up his belongings, he left the palace as promised and headed north to Bianzhou under the escort of 500 elite Song troops.
When the city was breached, there was a ten-foot-high pavilion in Shengyuan Temple. There were several hundred people hiding inside, including the families of scholar-bureaucrats, wealthy people and wealthy businessmen. The Wu Yue soldiers who invaded the city set fire to the downstairs and burned it to the ground, killing hundreds of people. It turned into ashes amidst the screams and cries that echoed through the sky.
After Li Yu surrendered, Cao Bin asked him to order armies from various places to lay down their weapons and accept the management of the Song Dynasty occupying army. All states surrendered one after another, but Jiangzhou generals Hu Ze and Song Deming refused to comply and persisted in resisting. Cao Bin then sent the vanguard commander Cao Han to pacify the army. The city of Jiangzhou was dangerous and fortified, easy to defend but difficult to attack. It took Cao Han more than half a year to conquer the city and capture the two rebel generals after suffering heavy casualties.
The mastermind Hu Ze was already seriously ill at the time and was tied to the bed and carried to Cao Han. Cao Han sternly accused him of refusing his life. Hu defended himself by saying that "a barking dog is not its owner." This is a common saying of captured generals, which means that everyone is doing his own thing. Cao Han cut Hu Ze in half, killed Song Deming, and then ordered the massacre of the city. According to historical records, "tens of thousands of people died, and hundreds of millions of gold and silk were taken away."
On December 1, 975, good news came back to Bianzhou: Li Yu was captured alive and the Southern Tang Dynasty was destroyed!
In this battle, a total of 19 states, three armies, 108 counties, and 655,065 households were captured.
The ministers came to the court to congratulate, but Zhao Kuangyin burst into tears, "Yuxian was divided, and the people suffered from it. During the attack on the city, some people will be killed. This is really sad!" Everyone admired Comrade Zhao Kuangyin's broad mind. and awareness.
In the first month of the ninth year of Kaibao, the conquered king Li Yu arrived in Bianzhou, and then Cao Bin sent "Ping Jiangnan Lubu", which is often called "good news", but this kind of good news does not need to be encrypted or sealed, it is to let more people people, know the good news earlier.
In this "Pingjiang Nan Lubu", there are phrases such as "treacherous officials in the isolated city" and "fake officials in the department", as well as "Qiongmin helps the obedience, and the mountains and seas know the return", "When the Holy Ming comes to the emperor, it is a confusion of literary styles." day" and other praises.
At the discussion on the prisoner presentation ceremony, some people advocated applying the prisoner presentation ceremony of Liu Yuan of the Southern Han Dynasty.
However, Zhao Kuangyin finally decided not to treat Li Yu with the rite of national subjugation and "do not make an announcement." Li Yu and others only had to wear white clothes and gauze hats to wait for the crime downstairs in Mingde, and then Zhao Kuangyin issued an edict to acquit him. After all, the Southern Tang Dynasty once served Zhengshuo. From a legal point of view, the Southern Tang Dynasty can no longer be regarded as an "enemy". Ceremonies such as declaring proclamations and offering prisoners are only for enemy countries. It is obviously inappropriate to use them on Li Yu and is not conducive to national unity.
Zhao Kuangyin granted Li Yu the title of Doctor Guanglu, Grand Tutor of the School, General You Qianniuwei, and the title of Marquis of Disobedience.
After Zhao Guangyi, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, came to the throne, he changed the title of Li Yu to the title of Duke of Longxi County.
During the Chinese Valentine's Day in the third year of Taiping and Xingguo's reign, Li Yu died in Bianzhou at the age of 41. He left us prematurely.
Li Yu is the most well-known historical figure in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The following will give an in-depth reconstruction of this subjugated king who is both familiar and unfamiliar to us from three perspectives:
