This article is written with reference to historical sources and personal opinions, and relevant literature sources have been marked at the end of the article.
(Later Zhou Shizong Chai Rong portrait)
After Zhou Shizong Chai Rong, the first time he conquered the Southern Tang Dynasty, he suffered a big loss.
Not to mention the emperor's gathering of heavy troops, Minfu alone requisitioned 100,000 people, and attacked Shouzhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty day and night, but he couldn't capture it alive or dead.
There's no way, Chai Rong has been fighting for so many years, what situation has he not seen, what situation has he not experienced? The Khitans let him chase the chickens and dogs, and he disappeared, but he was stopped by Liu Renzhen, the general of the Southern Tang Dynasty in Shouzhou City, forcing Chai Rong to have no choice, and he actually came to Shouzhou City in person to persuade Liu Renzhen to surrender with the body of the emperor.
What do you mean by "thanksgiving"? That is to say, this Liu Ren is not anxious or annoyed, nor does he blush with Chai Rong, nor does he quarrel, but he humbly refuses Chai Rong's kindness.
When you encounter such an opponent, you really can't help it.
He did not rush forward, did not underestimate the enemy, did not be proud, but has always been cautious, relying on the favorable terrain to resist step by step, tens of thousands of troops have nowhere to exert their strength, can only look at the city and sigh.
Chai Rong was very anxious to get angry, because after all, he was the attacker, the attacker had no progress, the defender would definitely be triumphant, Chai Rong couldn't stand it, after all, he was not a professional soldier, he was the emperor, and there were many things that he needed to deal with in the Later Zhou, and he couldn't always stand on the front line, so after the persuasion was fruitless, Chai Rong returned to Kaifeng, the capital of the Later Zhou, leaving Li Chongjin to continue the siege.
Chai Rong left, but Liu Renzhen did not breathe a sigh of relief, because his situation was not optimistic.
In the more than a year of stubborn resistance, the food in Shouzhou City gradually ran out, and soldiers continued to starve to death, of course, the Southern Tang Dynasty would not let Liu Renzhen sit and eat empty, so he naturally had to send troops to support, at least to transport grain and grass to Shouzhou City, and this task of transporting grain fell on the younger brother of Li Jing, the emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Jingda, the king of Qi.
Li Jingda is the king of Qi, of course, it is impossible to transport grain in person, he is only supervising, and the actual people who transport grain are the Southern Tang generals Bian Hao, Xu Wenzhi and Zhu Yuan.
Liu Renzhen can hold for more than a year without food, if the Southern Tang Army sends the grain, Liu Renzhen is full of food and drink, he dares to take the initiative to attack, so Hou Zhou Li Chongjin immediately gathered troops to attack the grain transportation team of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the attack was successful, so the grain was not delivered.
(Portrait of Li Jingda, King of Qi)
The food was not delivered, Liu Renzhen felt that this time he couldn't hold it, so since he couldn't hold it, there was no need to continue to defend it, it was better to vigorously fight with the Hou Zhou army, so Liu Renzhen immediately reported to Li Jingda, the king of Qi, and said that since you are here, then don't go, you let Bian Hao defend the city for me, let him take over the defense of Shouzhou, and I, simply lead the soldiers out of the city and fight to the death with the Hou Zhou army.
Liu Renzhen is skilled in using soldiers, and his combat effectiveness is also very strong, if he really wants to take the initiative to attack, he may not be able to open a breakthrough, but who would have thought, Li Jingda, the king of Qi, gave a death order, not allowing him to take the initiative to attack, only allowing him to defend the city.
As soon as this order came, Liu Renzhen was worried and angry, he was worried that Shouzhou would be broken if he continued to defend without support in this situation, and he was angry that he had been passively defending for more than a year, and how much he had suffered, but his boss still didn't trust him and didn't allow him to take the initiative to meet the enemy.
Under this kind of sad and unbearable emotion, Liu Renzhen actually had a serious illness, and his physical condition dropped sharply, and he was about to be unable to hold on.
Bian Hao and others commanded by Li Jingda, the king of Qi, were actually not only here to transport grain, but also the main army of the Southern Tang Dynasty in their hands, Li Jingda thought that he could repel the Hou Zhou army with his own command, so why did he need the old general to go out?
However, Li Jingda and others miscalculated the strength of the Later Zhou army, and in the follow-up battles, the 50,000 troops of the Southern Tang Dynasty were killed and captured by the Later Zhou army, and there were 40,000 people, Zhu Yuan surrendered, and Bian Hao and Xu Wenzhi were captured, which can be said to be a solid fiasco.
This battle, which was won by the Zhou Dynasty, is called the Battle of the Purple Mountain, and it can be said that this is a very classic case of encirclement and reinforcement in history.
In this battle, a person named Zhao Kuangyin in the Later Zhou Army was the vanguard of the army, and his performance was very eye-catching, and in the future, we will tell the story of this person.
Liu Renzhen has been asking Li Jingda for instructions to take the initiative, because he has long seen the intentions of the Later Zhou army.
Li Jingda and others were defeated, the main force of the Southern Tang Dynasty was annihilated, and this time the foreign aid of Shouzhou City was completely cut off.
Before, if Li Jingdaken gave Liu Renzhen a chance, maybe Nantang still had the strength to fight, but now it's too late to say anything.
As night fell, Shouzhou City was slowly swallowed up by a thick layer of darkness, as if time was frozen here.
The moonlight was thin and sprinkled on the city walls, adding a cold silver glow to the lonely fortress, and occasionally there was the chirping of a night bird or two, which echoed in the empty city, adding to the loneliness and unease.
Liu Renzhen in Shouzhou City really said that he had the intention to kill the thief, and he had no power to return to the sky, so he could only sigh sadly, he was full of grief, and his physical condition was extremely bad, and he had reached the point where he had no way to deal with military affairs.
Since ancient times, beauties sighed in the twilight, and heroes were not allowed to see their white heads, Liu Renzhen knew that the general trend had gone.
(Liu Renzhen image)
However, he still did not surrender and continued to resist whatever he said.
Knowing that you can't do it, knowing how it will end and persevering, knowing that what to do is futile and useless, but you don't look back, you just don't give up, generally this kind of behavior will be evaluated as hitting a stone with an egg, shaking a tree, and picking up rafters in the next house, in the eyes of many people, such behavior is also unreasonable and anti-thinking.
However, let's not forget that there is a saying, which goes like this:
A woman is a person who pleases herself, and a person who is a confidant dies.
Liu Renzhen was ready to live and die with the city, but he was helpless, he was too sick and had lost the command of the Shouzhou Army of the Southern Tang Dynasty, as a result, Liu Renzhen's subordinates Sun Yu and Zhou Tinggou simply surrendered directly to Hou Zhou in the name of Liu Renzhen.
Hearing that Shouzhou had surrendered and surrendered, Zhou Shizong Chai Rong was quite happy, because for Chai Rong, Liu Renzhen was not only a difficult opponent, but also a respectable enemy, so as soon as he heard that Liu Renliang had surrendered, Chai Rong quickly came to Shouzhou City and prepared to surrender in person.
Poor Liu Renzhen, at that time he was already on the verge of death, and he was slightly at the end of the day, he didn't know it, he was carried out of the city on the bed, and surrendered in a daze.
Seeing Liu Renzhen, who was already so haggard, Chai Rong was really embarrassed, he couldn't imagine that Liu Renzhen was dragging such a sick body to resist his powerful attack.
Chai Rong admired Liu Renzhen very much, so he rewarded Liu Renzhen with a bunch of official positions, and also gave him a very preferential treatment and asked him to return to the city to recuperate.
In this way, Liu Renzhen can be regarded as a good death, but unfortunately he was already sane and unconscious at that time, and soon after, Liu Renzhen died of illness at the age of fifty-eight.
Holding the pearl in the palm of your hand, it comes from the blue sea and autumn. Recalling the old Wolong Gong, Longzhong is hidden in the domain.
Pang Tong Huai Qice went all the way to Jingzhou. Chibi relied on Zhou Lang, and Dongwu relied on Lu Mou.
Heavy pupils respect the father, and Liu Ji travels with a sword. But if you have heroic aspirations, how can you ask old grudges?
Leaning on the window late at night and sighing, the heart of the ancients rested. Huafa has been clustered, who is not white-headed.
Whoever is virtuous knows that the situation is worried. Feng Tang sighed that the phoenix died, and Li Guang was trapped in the grassy hills.
When the ambition is not rewarded, the water will be collected together. The machine luck is not to be treated, there are green cattle on the riverside.
Cuizhu folds and hates, and the plum blossoms are lazy and have not been harvested. The dangerous bridge lost the jade chariot, and the gold chariot was broken.
The past is like a dream, the Buddha tasted bitter porridge, the husband is not afraid of death, and his life is not romantic.
(Portrait of Zhao Kuangyin)
When the people of Shouzhou heard that Liu Renzhen was sick and died, they all wept, and there were dozens of soldiers in the army who had followed Liu Renzhen, and when they heard that Liu Renzhen was dead, they actually agreed to commit suicide and were willing to be martyred for Liu Renzhen.
However, the fall of Shouzhou and the fall of famous generals were only the beginning of a nightmare for the Southern Tang Dynasty.
After Shouzhou was taken, Zhou Shizong's next strategic goals were Chuzhou and Yangzhou, Chuzhou was attacked by the general Zhao Kuangyin, and Yangzhou was attacked by the general Han Lingkun.
There are two flowers, and we will each show one branch.
If Zhao Kuangyin wants to take Chuzhou, then he must first break through the Qingliu Pass to the west of Chuzhou.
This Qingliu Pass is a strategic place, an important pass, to the north is the Jianghuai, to the south is the Yangtze River, if the Central Plains sends troops to Nanjing, then this Qingliu Pass is the only way.
The importance of Qingliu Pass, which everyone knows in their hearts, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu and Chu frequently used troops here, when Chu and Han fought, Xiang Yu was defeated, he was the Qingliu Pass, only to kill himself after arriving at Wujiang, Wei and Wu also fought a bad battle here during the Three Kingdoms period, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Hou Jing of the Southern Dynasty launched a rebellion, and the army also crossed the Qingliu Pass, and finally broke through Jianye.
At that time, the Qingliu Pass, the guard general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was a person named Huang Fuhui.
Huang Fuhui, at the beginning, he was not a soldier of the Southern Tang Dynasty, but served in the Later Tang Army, the second regime in the Five Dynasties, and was subordinate to the Weizhou Army of the Later Tang Dynasty.
The Weizhou army was stationed in Wei County, Hebei Province, and later Zhuangzong Li Cunqiao sent the Weizhou Army to garrison Waqiao Pass in Xiongxian County, Hebei Province, so that they could guard against the Khitans.
(Huang Fuhui image)
Originally, the Weizhou army should return to Wei County, but when the army just walked back to Xingtai, Hebei, it was ordered by the imperial court not to return to Wei County for the time being, and to let the Weizhou army open up wasteland and farm land in the local area, and fight when there is a war, and plough the fields when there is no war.
Huang Fuhui was in the Weizhou army, so his task in Beizhou at that time was naturally to reclaim the fields.
Huang Fuhui is a brave person, there are still two sons on the battlefield, but he is naturally casual, does not like to work, and is a bit of a scoundrel, such a person, you let him go to war, he has no choice but to go hard, but if you let him farm honestly, he will definitely not want to do it.
Therefore, Huang Fuhui doesn't like farming very much, he is always lazy during the day, he hides wherever he wants, and he sleeps for a day, and when he comes to the spirit at night, he pulls a group of soldiers in the army to play money.
However, his gambling skills are not good, his gambling luck is even worse, and he always loses when he gambles.
It can be said that Huang Fuhui is a person who has no ideals, no beliefs, and lives in troubled times.
He doesn't see hope, he doesn't have a sense of existence, he doesn't be happy, he's not very happy.
After the gambling game dispersed, the night was quiet in the Bayzhou barracks, only the crackling fire was burning.
Huang Fuhui looked at the bright moon in the sky, and he said, "There is a rising wildfire in my heart, but people passing by shake their heads at me, because they only see smoke."
Resources:
"Records of Zhou Shizong"
History of the New Five Dynasties ·Volume 12· Zhou Benji 12
Zizhi Tongjian · Volume 292· Later Zhou Ji III