The fifth dynasty entered the Later Jin Dynasty, and its national strength was not as good as before, and it was often threatened by the Khitan state. Wu in the Jianghuai region and the successor Southern Tang state were powerful, and they adopted the strategy of uniting with the northern Khitan state to restrain the Central Plains, and repeatedly conquered neighboring countries to increase their power, which became a major threat to the five dynasties of the Central Plains. The state of Wu was established by Yang Xingmi, the envoy of the Huainan Festival. As early as the Qin Rebellion, Qin's subordinate Bi Shiduo led an army to attack Yangzhou, and Yang Xingmi developed separatist forces in the process of resisting the enemy, and finally established the state of Wu. In 902, Yang Xingmi was made King of Wu by the Tang court and established the capital Guangling, called Jiangdufu. During his administration, he encouraged farmers and farmers, stabilized the economy, and gradually recovered the Jianghuai region. Externally, he supported the Tang court and was hostile to the Xuanwu army Zhu Quanzhong (the founder of Later Liang). In 905, Yang Xingmi died and was succeeded by his son Yang Wu. The following year, Jiangxi Zhong Chuan died, and his sons were in civil unrest, and Yang Wu took the opportunity to send Qin Pei to capture Jiangxi and unify Jianghuai. However, Yang Wu liked to have fun and was jealous of meritorious ministers, and the ministers Zhang Hao and Xu Wen launched a mutiny and killed Yang Wu. In 908, Xu Wen supported Yang Wu's brother Yang Long, got rid of Zhang Hao, who wanted to stand on his own, and completely controlled the power of Wu.
After Xu Wen seized power, he repeatedly attacked the state of Wuyue without success, and peace talks were not held until the end of Later Liang. After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the State of Wu did not recognize the suzerainty of Later Liang and continued to use the name of Emperor Tang until 919, when the State of Wu changed the Yuan Dynasty, and officially severed relations with the Tang Dynasty. Internally, the old Yang clan was gradually eliminated to stabilize its power, but the eldest son of the dictatorship, Xu Zhixun, was arrogant and arrogant, and once caused a mutiny by bullying Yang Longyan, the king of Wu, and was finally killed by his subordinate Zhu Jin. Xu Wen's adopted son Xu Zhixun calmed the chaos, and Xu Zhixun was very filial and eventually became the successor of Xu Wen's regime.
In 923, Yang Long died depressed, and was succeeded by his younger brother Yang Pu, who became emperor in 927, Emperor Wu Rui. In 927, Xu Wen died and was posthumously crowned King of Qi, and his adopted son Xu Zhixu succeeded him as the de facto ruler of the state of Wu. Xu Zhixun lived frugally, respected Emperor Wu and his generals, and was quite popular with the people. In 937, Xu Zhixu seized the throne of Emperor Wu Rui, and Wu died, establishing the state of Qi, and the capital Jinling, called Jiangning Fu (江宁府, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu). In the same year, Tang perished, and two years later, Xu Zhixu claimed to be a descendant of the Tang family, changed his name to Li Yu, and established the state of Southern Tang, that is, the ancestor of the Southern Tang Dynasty. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Li Yu adopted a policy of resting with the people and friendly with neighboring countries, so that the national strength continued to be strong. After Li Yu's death in 943, he was succeeded by his son Li Jing, Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang. In the early days of Li Jing's reign, the Southern Tang state was still strong, and after the suppression of the Later Zhou by the Liao Dynasty, the surrounding countries also adopted the method of opportunistic invasion, and successively destroyed the Min and Chu states.
In the southeast of the Southern Tang Dynasty, there were the Kingdom of Wuyue and the State of Min. The state of Wuyue was founded by Qian Hao, the envoy of Zhenhai and Zhendong Army, with its capital in Hangzhou, whose territory was about the same as that of present-day Zhejiang Province. In 907, Qian was made King of Wuyue by Later Liang, namely Taizu of Wuyue. During his reign, he promoted economic development and protected the safety of the people. Externally, the five dynasties of the Central Plains were regarded as the suzerainty, and Wu and Southern Tang were mortal rivals, and this strategy was maintained until the fall of the state. In addition, he sent envoys to canonize the kings of Silla and Bohai, and all the countries in the sea honored him as their ruler. The Min state was founded by the Fujian observer Wang Chao, who and his brother Wang Xunzhi controlled the area around Fuzhou, and later became the envoy of the mighty army, and its territory was about the same as that of present-day Fujian Province. After Wang Xunzhi reigned, he was made King of Min by Later Liang in 909, namely Emperor Taizu of Min. During his reign, he also advocated thrift, rested with the people, and became a vassal to the fifth dynasty, so that the Min kingdom developed rapidly. After the death of Emperor Taizu of Min in 925, his successors and the clan and ministers became suspicious and fought each other, causing the Min state to gradually weaken.
The civil strife in the Min kingdom attracted the covetousness of Southern Tang and Wu Yue. In 943, Wang Yanzheng, brother of King Yanxi of Emperor Jingzong of Min, was proclaimed emperor in Jianzhou (present-day Jianou, Fujian), with the state name Yin. The following year, Min Jingzong was killed by the minister, and there was great chaos in the country. In 945, Wang Yanzheng changed the name of the country to Fujian. In the same year, Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang took the opportunity to destroy the state of Fujian, captured Jianzhou, and died in Fujian. However, Wu Yue took the opportunity to intervene, and the Min general Li Renda annexed Wuyue with Fuzhou, and Quanzhou and Zhangzhou were retained by the Qing Yuan army, and Southern Tang finally only gained Jianzhou and Tingzhou (present-day northwestern Fujian), and relations with Wuyue continued to deteriorate.
Soon after, Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang took advantage of Chu's civil strife and sent Bian Ho to attack and destroy it in 951, but the following year the Chu general Liu Yan rebelled, causing Southern Tang to lose Hunan again. The Southern Tang Dynasty's continuous use of troops caused great consumption of national strength, and most of the land gained was also lost. In addition, Emperor Yuanzong of the Southern Tang Dynasty was soft, sycophant and straightforward, and the group of small people competed for progress, and political affairs became increasingly different. Later Zhou took the opportunity to send troops south to conquer the Southern Tang in 957. Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang was defeated, ceded the fourteen prefectures of Jiangbei to Later Zhou, and removed his imperial title, only calling him the lord of the Tang state, and the Southern Tang Yuan was greatly damaged. The prince Li Hongji, who was more talented in military affairs, also died after poisoning his uncle Li Jingsui, who was trying to seize the throne. Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang had to make his fifth son Li Yu crown prince, but Li Yu's bookish temperament was heavier. In order to avoid the joint invasion of Jinling by the Zhou army and the Wu and Yue armies, Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang moved the capital to Hongzhou, Nanchang Prefecture (present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi). After the death of Emperor Yuanzong of Tang in 961, he was succeeded by Li Yu, the empress of Southern Tang, and returned to Jinling Prefecture. At this point, the Southern Tang was powerless to threaten the five generations, and could only protect the territory and the people.
Civil unrest in Huguang
Location map of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms of Jingnan (deep purple), Chu (purple), Southern Han (blue) and Jiaotoe (light purple, i.e. Jing Navy) in 951
Huguang and Huguang include Jingnan, Chu and Southern Han. Jingnan was also known as Nanping and Northern Chu, and its territory was about the western part of present-day Hubei Province. The founder, Gao Jixing, was a general of Emperor Taizu of Later Liang, and in 907 he was made an envoy of Jingnan Jiedu, with the capital at Jiangling. The small country of Jingnan was weak, so it became a vassal to the surrounding countries. Its monarch Gao Jixing and Gao Congxing were greedy for tribute from various countries and intercepted and looted, and were only willing to return it when they were threatened by troops from various countries, and were called "Gao Laizi". After the fall of Later Liang, Gao Jixing changed his title to Later Tang, and in 924 was made King of Nanping by Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang, i.e. King of Wuxin. When Later Tang destroyed Former Shu, Gao Jixing expressed his willingness to assist in felling Shu, but did not take actual action, and then asked Later Tang for Former Shu land. These made Emperor Mingzong of Tang and Tang angry and sent troops to the south, but fortunately, the rainy season in Jiangnan caused the Tang army to retreat without food and grass. Jingnan's relationship with Later Tang was not reconciled until his son Wang Gao Congxuan succeeded to the throne.
The state of Chu was established by Ma Yin, the commander of the Wu'an Army. During the Qin Emperor's Rebellion, Qin deployed Sun Ru to attack the two Huai Yang Xingmi, and Sun Ru led some of Ma Yin's men and horses through Jiangxi to Hunan. After the establishment of Liang in 907, Ma Yin became a vassal to Later Liang and was made King of Chu, King Mu of Wu. Its power covered present-day Hunan and northern Guangxi Province, subordinating the five dynasties externally, pacifying the chaotic army and strengthening the clan internally, and adopting a policy of protecting the territory and the people, making the state of Chu strong. After 927, Tang made Ma Yin the king of Chu, and the capital was Tanzhou, that is, Changsha Prefecture. During the reign of King Ma Xifan of Chu Wenzhao, the territory expanded to the northeast of Guangxi Province, and the country was quite prosperous. However, after Ma Xifan's death in 947, the kingdom was in chaos, and Chu supported his second son Ma Xiguang to succeed him, causing his eldest son Ma Xiyi to rebel in dissatisfaction. In 950, Ma Xiyi successfully captured Changsha, the Prince of Chu Gongxiao. However, Ma Xiyi's indulgence in alcohol and adultery caused the Chu generals Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng to rebel against the state of Chu. They supported Ma Yin's eldest grandson Ma Guanghui as the envoy of Wuping and led his army to occupy Langzhou (in modern Changde, Hunan).
Soon, Xu Wei also supported Ma Xichong to stay for the Wu'an army, and exiled Ma Xiyi to Hengshan. Ma Xiyi, on the other hand, was once again supported by Liao Wei and Peng Shixi as the king of Hengshan in Hengshan, and the state of Chu was split into three factions, Ma Guanghui, Ma Xichong and Ma Xixuan. In the end, Ma Guanghui was deposed by Wang Kui on the grounds of cowardice, and Liu Yan was replaced by Liu Yan of Chenzhou as the queen of Wuping's army. Then Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang sent Bian Ho to capture Changsha in 951, Ma Xichong and Ma Xiyi surrendered successively, Southern Tang took possession of all of Hunan, and the state of Chu died. At the same time, Emperor Zhongzong of the Southern Han Dynasty took the area around Guizhou (present-day Guilin, Guangxi) to the north, and controlled the entire Lingnan region.
In 952, Liu Yan was unwilling to surrender to Tang after the Wuping army of Langzhou stayed, and sent Wang Kui and Zhou Xingfeng to capture Tanzhou, drive out Southern Tang and regain the Hunan region, and was officially made an envoy of Wuping by Later Zhou. Wang Kui, who supported Liu Yan, disagreed with him, so he united with Zhou Xingfeng to depose and execute Liu Yan. Wang Kui was insatiable after taking possession of Hunan, and was also killed by his subordinate Pan Shuhei, and the position of Wuping army was finally succeeded by Zhou Xingfeng. Zhou Xingfeng eliminated the bad government of the Chu state, loved the people, and advocated integrity. The generals were harshly used and decisively killed. The Hunan region returned to stability until Zhou Xingfeng's death in 962.
The Southern Han Dynasty was founded by Liu Yin, an envoy of the Qing navy, and was made King of Pengjun by Later Liang in 907, King of Nanping in 909, and finally King of Nanhai in 911, dying the same year. After Liu Yin stabilized Lingnan, he reused the local scholars, laying the foundation for the future establishment of the state. After Liu Yin's death in 911, he was succeeded by his younger brother Liu Ling. Liu Ling became emperor in 917 after unifying Lingnan, known as Gaozu of the Southern Han Dynasty. The name of the country is Dayue, the capital is Panyu, and the name is Xingwangfu. The following year, the name of the country was changed to Han, that is, the Southern Han Dynasty. Gaozu of the Southern Han Dynasty reconciled with neighboring countries and promoted the imperial examination system. However, it is cruel and extravagant, and every time he sees murder, he rejoices, spoils eunuchs, and even makes political affairs restless.
In 942, Emperor Gaozu of the Southern Han dynasty died and was succeeded by his son Liu Xuan, the emperor of the Southern Han dynasty. Emperor Yan of the Southern Han Dynasty was greedy for pleasure, and Zhang Yuxian rebelled and was killed by his brother Liu Sheng the following year. Liu Sheng proclaimed himself emperor, Emperor Zhongzong of the Southern Han Dynasty. During his reign, although he captured Rongzhou (present-day Beiliu, Guangxi) and Yongzhou (present-day Nanning, Guangxi), he advocated severe punishment and brutality, and wantonly slaughtered the imperial family and ministers and generals, leaving only eunuchs and palace maids in the Southern Han Dynasty. After his death in 958, he was succeeded by his son Liu (刘), the empress of the Southern Han Dynasty. During this time, Vietnam began to break away from Chinese rule.