Five generations and ten countries is a process of big fish eating small fish, but there is a "small fish" living freely, this "small fish" is very small, but it has become one of the ten countries, this is Jingnan (or Nanping).
In 907 (the first year of Later Liang Kaiping), Gao Jixing was appointed as the envoy of Jingnan Jiedu.
In 924 (the second year of Later Tang Tongguang), Gao Jixing was made King of Nanping and established the capital Jiangling (江陵, in modern Jingzhou, Hubei), known historically as "Nanping" or "Jingnan".
Jingnan was the smallest of the Ten Kingdoms, and when it was destroyed by the Northern Song Dynasty, there were only 3 prefectures and 17 counties. The three prefectures are Jiangling Prefecture (near Jingzhou City, Hubei Province), Xiazhou (near Yichang City, Hubei Province), and Guizhou (near Zigui County, Yichang City, Hubei Province).
At the beginning of the Five Dynasties, the Yan State in northern Hebei and the Qi State in western Shaanxi were far stronger in area and strength than Jingnan, and were not eligible to be included in the Ten Kingdoms. The main reason why Liu Shouguang's Yan State and Li Maozhen's Qi State were not included in the Ten Kingdoms was that they perished too early. The State of Yan died in 914, and the State of Qi became a vassal of Later Tang in 923.
Although Jingnan is small, like a flat boat on the sea blown by the wind and waves, the people "lived" long and survived until 963.
If we talk about the length of existence, the Dingyan Army (the predecessor of Western Xia) that divided the northern Shaanxi Plateau can also be regarded as one of the Ten Kingdoms, but it did not. The Dingyan army was about the same size as Jingnan, and even longer than Jingnan, and lived until 982 when it was annexed by Emperor Taizong of Song Zhao Guangyi (the clan member Li Jiqian disobeyed the Song and established the predecessor of Western Xia). The long-lived Dingyan army did not enter the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and Jingnan was one of the Ten Kingdoms, which was related to geographical location and population.
Located on the Loess Plateau in the northwest, the Dingyan Army has almost no participation in the competition for the Central Plains, and its presence is not strong, and its population is not large. Jingnan, on the other hand, is located in a densely populated place in the middle of the world, between several major powers, a place of four wars, and its strategic position is prominent.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms are a chaotic era in which the sky is shattered, and there are many forces separatized.
First of all, in the north, in the early days, Houliang divided the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, that is, Henan, Shandong, central Shaanxi, north of the Huai River and other areas. The Jin state ceded Shanxi, and later captured the Yan state, occupying Hebei. In 923, Later Tang destroyed Later Liang and unified the Central Plains, and after that, the north was basically under the control of a dynasty (excluding the Khitan and Dingyan armies, etc.), including Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou.
And in the south, there are countless separatist forces. In the west, there was the state of Shu (Wang Jian founded Former Shu, Meng Zhixiang established Later Shu), and in the east there was Yang Wu (Yang Xingmi established the state of Wu, later Wu in the Southern Tang Dynasty). In the southeast of Yang Wu, there was the state of Wuyue (Zhejiang, Southern Jiangsu, Shanghai) established by Qian Yong, and the state of Min (Fujian) established by Wang Xunzhi in the southern part of Wu Wu. Yang Wuzheng was the Southern Han Dynasty founded by the brothers Liu Yin and Liu Yan. East of the state of Shu and west of Yangwu, there is the Machu (Hunan, northern Guangxi) founded by the carpenter Ma Yin.
Not counting the northernmost Khitans, there were only four forces capable of chasing the Central Plains at that time: the Five Dynasties (Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou) in the north, Shu (Former Shu, Later Shu) in the west, Yang Wu (including Southern Tang) in the east, and Ma Chu in the south. To the east of the state of Shu, west of Yangwu, north of Machu, and south of the Five Dynasties is Jingnan. In other words, Jingnan is sandwiched between the four great powers of the Five Dynasties, Yang Wu, Shu, and Ma Chu.
Generally speaking, small countries next to big countries often become cannon fodder for great powers to compete for hegemony. For example, the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania was sandwiched between Germany and Russia, and as a result, it was divided three times between Tsarist Russia, Prussia, and Austria. For example, Zheng Guo in Spring and Autumn was sandwiched between the State of Qin (west) and the State of Chu (south), and I don't know how much splint gas he received, so he had to "go towards Qin and Chu".
As far as Jingnan is concerned, the four big countries of the Five Dynasties, Shu, Yang Wu, and Ma Chu, pick out which one at will, standing in front of Jingnan, are like a fierce tiger standing in front of a fat cat, which is really disproportionate. The state of Shu wanted to destroy Jingzhou, send troops to serve the festival, and attack Jingzhou down the river, making the most of its geographical advantage. Ma Chuxiong has 100,000 soldiers, and if he wants to fight Jingnan, he can go north along the Xiang River. Yang Wu attacked Jingnan, sent troops from Wuchang, and traced Jiangxi was not a problem. Not to mention the Five Dynasties, there is no need to raise the troops of the whole country and transfer the troops of two jiezhen (jiedu envoys) to cripple Jingnan.
Jingnan's greatest luck is that it is sandwiched between four major powers, and can maintain a delicate balance with external forces, somewhat similar to Europe's landlocked country Switzerland. Switzerland covers an area of 41,300 square kilometers, which is about 1/13 of the 551,700 in mainland France, 1/9 of Germany's 357,400, and 1/7 of Italy's 301,300. As a buffer zone between major powers, no one wants Switzerland to be annexed by another power.
The Five Dynasties, Shu, Yang Wu, and Ma Chu, whoever wants to swallow Jingnan alone, will provoke a strong backlash from several other powers. If the Five Dynasties Dynasty destroyed Jingnan, Shu would worry that the eastern portal would be blocked, Ma Chu would worry that the northern portal would be opened, and Yang Wu would worry that Wuchang, the gateway to the western front, would lose its strategic barrier.
Jingnan is not something that anyone can move if they want to, and Gao took advantage of this geographical advantage to dance back and forth on a few eggs. Strong countries rely on the military, weak countries rely on diplomacy. Jingnan not only made vassals to the Five Dynasties, but also to Shu and Yang Wu to obtain strategic benefits.
Jingnan was similar to the Western Liang of the late Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the two kingdoms had almost the same territory, both ruled small areas such as Jiangling, and became vassals to the great powers of the Central Plains. The difference was that Western Liang was a puppet supported by Northern Zhou (formerly Western Wei), while Jingnan was more independent.
In 951, the Southern Tang destroyed Ma Chu, and a few years later, the former Ma Chu general Zhou Xingfeng controlled Hunan again, and was the de facto king of Chu, but his strength plummeted, and part of Guangxi was also eaten by the Southern Han, and it was no longer possible to compete with the Central Plains. During the Chai Rong period of Emperor Shizong of Zhou, the Later Zhou army annihilated the Later Shu elite, and then the Southern Tang elite, and the situation around Jingnan changed drastically.
In 960, the Later Zhou army marched to Chen Qiaoyi, northeast of Bianjing, and the people put yellow robes on Zhao Kuangyin, supporting him as emperor. The first battle in which Zhao Kuangyin was unified was to take Jingnan.
In 963 (the fourth year of Emperor Taizu of Song's reign), the Song army captured Jiangling City, Gao Jichong surrendered, and Jingnan died.
Jingnan lasted from 924 to 963, thirty-nine years after the founding of the state, and thirty-nine years after the founding of the capital Jiangling.