Chapter 12 The three prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty who were assassinated

Wu Yuanheng, courtesy name Bo Cang.A native of the Gou family (now southeast of Yanshi, Henan).Great-nephew of Wu Zetian.In the fourth year of Jianzhong (783), Dezong became a Jinshi.The calendar officer supervises the censor, the county magistrate of Huayuan, the Bibu member Wailang, the right secretary doctor, and the censor Zhongcheng.After Xianzong came to the throne, he served as the prime minister. He was hated by the feudal clan because of his efforts to cut down the feudal clan.In the early morning of June 3rd in the tenth year of Yuanhe, he was assassinated by an assassin. Another prime minister, Pei Du, was assassinated on the same day as Wu Yuanheng and survived.Pei Du, courtesy name Zhongli, was born in Wenxi, Wenxi (now Shanxi).His grandfather, Pei Youlin, was once the magistrate of Puyang, Puzhou.His father, Pei Xu, was the Chancellor of Mianchi in Henan Province.In the fifth year of Zhenyuan (789), Pei Du was a Jinshi and ranked first, Denghong Ci, and a supplementary school scholar.Later, the virtuous and upright, outspoken and extremely admonishing subjects should be promoted, the countermeasures should be high, and Heyin county captain should be awarded.Soon after, he was promoted to supervisory censor. Because of his negligence in discussing power and luck, and his fierce words and disobedience, he was demoted as Henan government meritorious Cao and joined the army.Wu Yuanheng is in charge of Xichuan, and plays Pei Du, the secretary of Jiedu Mansion.He was also called to be a housekeeper.In the sixth year of Yuanhe (811), he became a doctor in the department and soon transferred to the doctor of the department.Pei Du was an important official in the late Tang Dynasty, and served in the four dynasties of Xian, Mu, Jing and Wen.During the Xianzong Dynasty, he put down the Wu Yuanji rebellion in Huaixi, which was the greatest achievement in his life.

Things have to start when Xianzong ascended the throne.After the failure of Yongxin Reform, Tang Xianzong Li Chun came to the throne, but he had the will to revitalize the Tang Empire.At that time, Tang Xianzong was quickly established as emperor in an extremely unusual way, which was entirely the result of the eunuchs and feudal towns uniting to oppose Yongxin Reform.However, no one would have thought that since the Anshi Rebellion, the stubborn tumor that had dominated the feudal town since the Anshi Rebellion would be resolved in the hands of Xianzong.Historians of later generations compared Tang Xianzong with the famous Tang Taizong and Tang Xuanzong. Tang Taizong had the rule of Zhenguan, Tang Xuanzong had the prosperity of Kaiyuan, and the reason why Tang Xianzong was able to get a higher evaluation was entirely because he won the Yuan Dynasty and the reduction of the vassal. huge achievements.Judging from the history of Xianzong's ascension to the throne described above, this seems a little unbelievable.

Xianzong's original name was Li Chun, and he was the eldest son of Shunzong. After he was established as the prince, he changed his name to Li Chun.Li Chun was quite witty and clever when he was a child.Once, his grandfather Dezong held Li Chun in his arms and deliberately teased him: "Whose child are you, why are you in my arms?" Li Chun replied: "I am the third emperor." Everyone was shocked.Li Chun is the eldest grandson of Emperor Dezong. According to the order of ancestor, father and son, he is indeed the "third son of heaven".However, such a statement is unheard of, and it is extraordinarily novel and interesting to say it from a child.As a result, Dezong favored Li Chun even more.In the early days of Dezong's accession to the throne, he tried to revive the Tang Dynasty and flatten the feudal towns, but failed embarrassingly.Since then, the imperial court has blindly tolerated the Fanzhen and responded to every request.Unexpectedly, the ambition of the grandfather was realized in the hands of the grandson.

Li Chun encountered the famous "Jingyuan Mutiny" when he was young. Emperor Dezong was forced to flee Chang'an, and Li Chun was also in the fleeing team.Although he was young at that time, it was just when he was ignorant, but it was obvious that Zhan Luan had left a deep impression on him, and the seeds of deep hatred for the feudal town must have been planted in his young heart.Therefore, as soon as Xianzong became emperor, he immediately began to spare no effort to eradicate the separatist forces in the feudal towns. By the way, Xianzong's empress Guo is the granddaughter of the famous general Guo Ziyi, born to Princess Shengping (the daughter of Daizong) and Guo Ziyi's youngest son Guo Ai (the protagonist of the famous "Da Jin Zhi").In fact, in terms of seniority, Xianzong is a generation lower than Queen Guo.However, the atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty was open, and no one cared about these things.

In the first month of the first year of Yuanhe (806), just a few days before Xianzong changed the Yuan Dynasty, Liu Pi, the deputy envoy of Xichuan Jiedu (that is, the one who was almost killed by Wang Shuwen before), took advantage of Xichuan Jiedu envoy Wei Gao (the aforementioned Mo Daohuohuo) died of a sudden illness, and took over the affairs of Xichuan without authorization.In this way, Liu Pi was still not satisfied, and wrote to Xianzong, requesting to be concurrently the envoy of Sanchuan Jiedu.Xianzong did not agree.Liu Pi simply planned to use force to solve the problem. He sent troops to Zizhou (now Santai, Sichuan), conquered Zizhou, arrested Dongchuan Jiedu envoy Li Kang, and planned to appoint his confidant Lu Wenruo as Dongchuan Jiedu envoy.

After hearing the news, Emperor Xianzong was furious, and immediately wanted to send troops to attack Liu Pi.But at this time, he was newly ascended to the throne, his foundation was not stable, and he still had many concerns, so he did not dare to use troops lightly.During the court meeting, the officials also believed that Sichuan's terrain was dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, so troops should not be sent lightly.Only Prime Minister Du Huangshang (Wei Zhiyi's father-in-law) resolutely took the lead in the battle, and said impassionedly: "Liu Pi is just a crazy scholar, and the imperial court takes it like weeds. I know that the magic strategy army makes Gao Chongwen brave, and I hope your majesty will use it exclusively The military committee, don't set up a prison army, and Liu Pi will definitely be defeated." Li Jifu, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, also strongly advocated against Shu.

Xianzong was very encouraged by hearing this, because deep in his heart, he could never forget the scourge of the war in the feudal town.Therefore, the Tang court sent Gao Chongwen, the military envoy of Zuo Shence, with 5,000 troops as the vanguard, and Li Yuanyi, the military envoy of Shence Jingxi, with 2,000 troops. Together with Yan Li, the envoy of Shannan Xidao, the three armies jointly attacked Liu Pi. Gao Chongwen was training in Changwu City (now northwest of Changwu, Shaanxi).He manages the army well, and is always ready. He sets out immediately after an edict. He is full of equipment, food and grass, which is amazing.On the twenty-ninth day of the first lunar month, Gao Chongwen left Xiegu (now Taibai, Shaanxi), and Li Yuanyi left Luogu (now Foping, Shaanxi), and they marched into Zizhou together.

In February, Shannan Xidao Jiedu envoy Yan Liqi won the victory, conquered Jianzhou (now Jiange, Sichuan) first, and beheaded Wen Dezhao, the governor of Liu Pi's side. In March, Gao Chongwen led his army from Langzhou (now Langzhong, Sichuan) to Zizhou.During the march, a soldier accidentally broke the owner's chopsticks while eating in a restaurant. Gao Chongwen beheaded the soldier to show the public.This shows Gao Chongwen's strict requirements for military discipline.Because of this, his army can maintain good combat effectiveness. Liu Pi's confidant general Xing Yi was stationed in Zizhou at that time.Seeing the strength of the Tang army, and hearing about the strength of Gao Chongwen (Gao Chongwen fought with Xia Sui Jiedu envoy Han Quanyi when he was young, he defeated the Tubo army with 3000 men and killed more than half of the Tubo army), so he immediately left without fighting. escape.Gao Chongwen's soldiers entered Zizhou without bloodshed.

With the previous two victories, Liu Pi also began to get scared, and wanted to make peace with the Tang court, and released Li Kang, the Dongchuan Jiedu envoy who had been arrested by him before, and asked Li Kang to go back and speak more good words for him, "in the future Ask for snow."After Li Kang returned to Zizhou, he did say a few good words for Liu.Probably because Li Kang was so spineless, Gao Chongwen was angered.Gao Chongwen beheaded Li Kang for public display on the grounds that Li Kang was captured after losing the city and that he was the general of the defeated army.

The Tang court immediately appointed Wei Dan as the new envoy of Dongchuan Jiedu.After Wei Dan arrived in Hanzhong, he observed the situation and wrote a letter to the court, saying: "Gao Chongwen led his troops far away, and he has no resources. If he is with Zizhou, he will be able to make merit." So the Tang court appointed Gao Chongwen as Dongchuan Jiedu deputy. Envoy, know how to save things.The battle began immediately. Seeing that there was no hope for peace, Liu Pi built a city at Lutouguan (now east of Mianzhu, Sichuan), with eight fences and more than 10,000 troops.But this line of defense was quickly breached by Gao Chongwen.Liu Pi set up fences in Wanshengdui, Guandong, and Gao Xiayu was breached by Gao Chong's Ministry of Culture.Gao Chongwen wins every battle and is invincible.On September 21, Gao Chongwen conquered Chengdu.Liu Pi and his confidant Lu Wenruo fled westward with only a few dozen riders, planning to go to Tibet.Gao Xiayu led the army of the Ministry of Culture of Gao Chong in pursuit, Liu Pi was captured alive, and Lu Wenruo committed suicide by throwing himself into the water.

After Gao Chongwen entered Chengdu, he rested his soldiers, but Qiu did not commit any crimes.Moreover, only Liu Pi's general Xing Yi and Guanyi inspector Shen Yan were killed, and the rest of the officials were not charged, so people's hearts are at peace.Liu Pi was sent to Chang'an to be executed and his family exterminated.The rebellion, which lasted eight months, was successfully put down. After that, Emperor Xianzong ruled Zizhou (now Zizhong, Sichuan), Jianzhou (now Jianyang, Sichuan), Lingzhou (now Renshou, Sichuan), Rongzhou (now Rongxian, Sichuan), Changzhou (now Rongchang, Sichuan), Luzhou (now Sichuan) Luzhou, Sichuan) and other six prefectures belonged to Dongchuan, with Gao Chongwen as Xichuan Jiedu envoy, and Yan Li as Dongchuan Jiedu envoy. In March of the same year, Xia Sui Yang Huilin rallied troops to resist the appointment of the new Xia Sui Jiedu envoy appointed by the imperial court.Previously, when Han Quanyi, the former envoy of Xia Sui's festival, entered the court, he used his nephew Yang Huilin as Xia Sui's heir.Prime Minister Du Huangshang thought that Han Quanyi was futile and arrogant, so he dismissed him and appointed a new envoy of Xia Sui.But Xia Sui's Yang Huilin was confident that she had a team in her hands, and she refused to hand over power.The Jiedu envoy of Hedong made a request to conquer Yang Huilin, and the army was still being dispatched, and Xia Sui's officers and men felt great military pressure.Soon, a mutiny broke out in Xia Sui, Yang Huilin was killed, and his head was sent to the capital.Xianzong solved Yang Huilin's rebellion without any effort. Since the end of the Anshi Rebellion, the separatist regime of the feudal towns has been formed, and it has lasted for more than a hundred years by the time of Emperor Xianzong.Unexpectedly, as soon as Xianzong ascended the throne, he sent troops to quell the rebellion in Xichuan and Xiasui. Dezong failed to cut down the feudal town that day because Dezong was too impatient.However, the imperial court itself did not have the military strength to deal with the feudal towns, so it could only use the feudal vassals to cut down the vassals.Dezong rushed into battle, making the feudal towns worry that they would be defeated one by one, so they united to resist orders.However, Xianzong's cutting of the feudal clan still did not follow the routine of cutting the feudal clan with the feudal clan, but his actions were more stable, and there was no two-front battle, so he avoided the lessons learned by his grandfather.At this time, the vassal town did not form a union to fight against the imperial court like it did when Dezong slashed the vassal town.In addition, Dezong was famous for his frugality and stinginess. The emperor was stingy and could save a lot of financial revenue. Therefore, when Xianzong first ascended the throne, he still had enough military expenses for the court to spend.These two points are the two fundamental reasons why Xianzong was able to flatten Xichuan and Xiasui in one fell swoop. The Zhenhai Festival made Li Qi feel uneasy, and he also asked to come to the pilgrimage to see him.At that time, the prestige of the central court could not reach the southeast. Emperor Xianzong believed that this was a good opportunity. If Li Qi entered the court, the prestige of the court could be greatly improved, so he agreed to allow Li Qi to enter Beijing.However, Li Qi did not come to Beijing in good faith, so he repeatedly delayed his trip, and finally asked to re-enter the court at the end of the year under the pretext of illness. Prime Minister Wu Yuanheng was deeply dissatisfied with this, and said to Xianzong: "If Li Qi asks to come to Beijing for an audience, he is allowed to have an audience, and if he asks not to come, he is allowed not to come. If things go on like this, how can we give orders to all the soldiers and horses in the country?" Xianzong thought this was reasonable, so he issued an edict to recruit Li Qi to Beijing.Seeing the court's repeated urging, Li Qi felt even more frightened, fearing that he would be murdered as soon as he arrived in Chang'an, but he had nothing to do, so he finally rebelled. Xianzong was planning to send Huainan Jiedu envoys to crusade. Li Qi's subordinate Zhang Ziliang and others thought that Li Qi would fail and did not want to be involved, so they conspired to capture him and escort him to Chang'an.Both Li Qi and his son were executed.The Zhenhai rebellion ended. Li Qi is a descendant of the clan, who has dominated the southeast for many years, expropriated violently, and has countless family properties.After the Tang court confiscated his home, they planned to transport all these treasures to Chang'an.Li Jiang, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, had great foresight, and said to Xianzong: "Li Qi stripped the people of the six prefectures to make himself rich. Now it is better to give these properties to the people in western Zhejiang to replace their taxes this year." Shi Zheng was determined to forge ahead and immediately agreed to Li Jiang's suggestion.When the people in Zhenhai heard about it, they were overjoyed.Since then, people have been grateful to the Tang court. After pacifying Li Qi, the Tang court directly dispatched Jiedu envoys, which changed the old local practice of supporting a commander in chief.The pacification of the three towns of Xichuan, Xiasui, and Zhenhai greatly enhanced Xianzong's confidence and determination to further flatten the feudal towns.At that time, Prime Minister Wu Yuanheng and Yushi Zhongcheng Pei Du were representatives who advocated the removal of vassals and towns and the suppression of separatist forces.Afterwards, there were winners and losers in the battle. In the fourth year of Yuanhe (809), Chengde Jiedu envoy Wang Shizhen (the eldest son of Wang Wujun) died, and his son Wang Chengzong stayed behind.Emperor Xianzong decided to abolish the hereditary system of vassals and towns, and decided to launch an army crusade, but appointed the eunuch Tushi Chengcui as the commander-in-chief.Since the Anshi Rebellion, it has become a common problem for the emperors of the Tang Dynasty to be jealous of their generals.Because of the lessons learned by Yu Chaoen and others, the ministers, headed by Bai Juyi, rallied against it.Emperor Xianzong was stubborn and once again made the mistakes his ancestors had made.The result can be imagined, the generals refused to accept Tutu Chengcui, did not listen to his orders at all, and the battle situation was completely passive.As a result, Xianzong suffered the first major setback in the struggle to reduce the vassals. The 200,000 Tang troops who attacked Wang Chengzong returned without success, and the Tang court was forced to appoint Wang Chengzong as Chengde Jiedu envoy. After Tutu Chengcui returned to the capital, Li Jiang, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, and others fought hard to demand that Tutu Chengcui be punished.Xianzong had no choice but to demote Tutu Chengcui as a military envoy.Soon, Tutu Chengcui was exposed for accepting bribes and demoted to Huainan Supervisor. In the sixth year of Yuanhe (811), Emperor Xianzong appointed Li Jiang as prime minister.Li Jiang is capable and upright, and the court has a new look, with a refreshing atmosphere.At that time, Tian Ji'an, the envoy of the Wei Bo Festival, died of illness, and Tian Huaijian, Tian Ji'an's son, was only eleven years old.Some courtiers advocated taking the opportunity to use troops against Wei Bo, but Li Jiang firmly opposed it.He believed that Tian Huaijian was too young to preside over the military administration, and internal strife would soon occur in Weibo Town.After the new round of power struggle is over, the bloggers of the new Wei Dynasty will take the initiative to surrender to the court.Sure enough, the next year, there was internal strife in Weibo town, and the soldiers supported Tian Xing as the heir.Tian Xingju submitted the land of six prefectures in Weibo Town to the Tang court.Tang Xianzong was overjoyed, and thus trusted Li Jiang even more.But not long after, Xianzong began to doubt Li Jiang's intelligence again.In the ninth year of Yuanhe (814), Li Jiang dismissed his chancellor, and Emperor Xianzong recalled Tutu Chengcui again. In the ninth year of Yuanhe (814), Wu Shaoyang (Wu Shaocheng's brother-in-law) died, and his son Wu Yuanji took the post of heir.The town of Huaixi consists of only three prefectures: Cai (now Runan, Henan), Shen (now Xinyang, Henan), and Guang (now Huangchuan, Henan), surrounded by prefectures and counties of the Tang Dynasty.Huaixi has always been disobedient to the Tang court.In the more than 30 years since Wu Shaocheng, Huaixi rebelled and surrendered repeatedly, rebelling more than ten times.Xianzong could not tolerate it for a long time, so he rejected Wu Yuanji's request to succeed Huaixi Jiedushi.Wu Yuanji then sent troops to plunder and openly challenged the Tang court.The three prefectures in Caizhou (now Runan, Henan) occupied by Wu Yuanji are not large, but they are close to the eastern capital Luoyang, and their status is very important: advancing from the northeast of Caizhou, they can also control Bianzhou (now Kaifeng, Henan) and cut off the canal traffic , threatening the water transport of the Tang Dynasty.Therefore, this rebellion became a serious problem for the Tang court.In addition, the attitudes of the feudal towns in various places towards the Tang central court were ambiguous, hovering between submission and rebellion. Therefore, how the imperial court treated Wu Yuanji would directly affect the attitudes of other feudal towns towards the Tang court. In the ninth year of Yuanhe (814), Emperor Xianzong took Yan Shou, the Jiedu envoy of Shannan Dongdao, as the marshal, led sixteen troops, and raised the banner of crusade against Huaixi.However, Yan Shou was very selfish and did not want to make progress against the enemy. He bribed eunuchs at home and became domestic aid. As a result, the Tang army fought for a year without any achievements at all.Wu Yuanji also resorted to duplicity, resisting resolutely, and sent envoys to ask for help from Li Shidao (a descendant of Li Zhengji) and Wang Chengzong, the military governor of Pinglu, and asked them to write to the imperial court to pardon Huaixi. Although Li Shidao and Wang Chengzong were at odds with Wu Yuanji in the past, they also clearly realized at this time: If the Tang court destroys Huaixi, the next target is likely to be themselves.For their own benefit, they immediately made a statement, "Please pardon Yuanji."But at this time Xianzong's determination has been made.Therefore, Li Shidao and Wang Chengzong supported Xianzong's crusade against Huaixi on the surface, but secretly began to support Wu Yuanji.At that time, there were aides in various feudal towns. According to the advice of the aides, Li Shidao sent 2,000 troops to Shouchun (now Shouxian, Anhui), claiming to help the officers and soldiers, but actually to assist Wu Yuanji.In order to support Wu Yuanji, Li Shidao sent people to recruit hundreds of villains, stormed into the Heyin Transit Yard, burned more than 300,000 pieces of money and cloth, and more than 30,000 hu of grain, which caused great difficulties for the Tang army's supplies and caused panic among the people. Li Shidao sent people to sneak into the capital again, premeditated to assassinate Wu Yuanheng, the most powerful prime minister in the court, and Pei Du, the imperial censor who was familiar with the battle in Huaixi.If these two people die, other courtiers will not dare to speak of using troops again. In the early morning of the third day of June in the tenth year of Yuanhe (815), before the sky was bright, Wu Yuanheng went out to court.Just after walking out of the east gate of Jing'anfang, suddenly a famous assassin hid in the dark and shot Wu Yuanheng with an arrow, Wu Yuanheng's entourage rushed away.The assassin stepped forward and led Wu Yuanheng's horse for more than ten steps, then calmly killed him, chopped off his head and left. Later, the assassin entered Tonghuafang to assassinate Pei Du.Pei Du was stabbed in the head, but he was wearing an official hat at the time, which played a certain protective role, and the wound was not deep.When the assassin was about to chase him down, Pei Du's follower, Wang Yi, hugged the assassin from behind and shouted for help.The assassin turned around and cut off Wang Yi's arm before going after Pei Du.Just at this time, Pei Du fell into the ditch. The assassin thought that Pei Du was dead, so he stopped chasing and fled calmly.Pei Du thus survived. In one day, two important officials of the court died and one was injured. This is a unique and shocking case in the history of the Tang Dynasty, which is appalling.The capital was shocked when they heard the news.Emperor Xianzong urgently issued an edict that in the future, the prime minister will be escorted by Jinwu cavalry when he enters and exits. Pedestrians must avoid the places where the prime minister passes.Even so, the atmosphere of terror quietly enveloped the whole city, and the courtiers dared not go out before dawn. What is especially ridiculous is that the assassin was so bold that he left notes in Jinwuwei, Jingzhaowannian, and Chang'an counties, threatening: "Don't arrest me, I will kill you first." ("Zi Zhi Tong Jian Volume 200") Thirty-nine") means, don't rush to arrest me, or I will kill you first.The officials in charge of solving the case were actually intimidated by this and did not dare to act rashly.When Xu Mengrong, the Minister of the Ministry of War, saw Xianzong, he cried and said: "Since ancient times, there has never been a case where a prime minister was killed by a roadside and a thief was unable to capture it. This is a disgrace to the court!" Xianzong was deeply moved and immediately issued an edict , Anyone who captures an assassin will be rewarded with 10,000 coins, and will be awarded a fifth-rank official. Those who dare to hide will be punished by the clan. Immediately, a large-scale raid was launched in the capital, no matter whether it was a public official or a noble relative, anyone with a double-walled or double-layered home was without exception.Sure enough, under the heavy reward, there must be a brave man.Soon after, General Shence Wang Shize and others captured five assassins, all of whom were beheaded for public display. Shortly after the assassination, a soldier under Li Shidao suddenly went to Luoyang, the eastern capital, to inform him that Li Shidao had secretly sent people to sneak into Luoyang to plan a rebellion.It turned out that Li Shidao had already sent people to sneak into the Eastern Capital and the surrounding areas one after another, and bought the minorities and the remnants of Anshi everywhere, "planning to burn the palace and kill and plunder."After learning of the news, Lu Yuanying, who stayed behind in Dongdu, led troops to arrest him urgently.As a result, thousands of Li Shidao's henchmen were arrested within a few days. After the assassination incident, everyone in the DPRK was in danger, and they dared not say anything about Pinghuai.Someone in the court offered advice to Xianzong, suggesting that Pei Du should be dismissed from his official position in order to appease Li Shidao and Wang Chengzong.Xianzong was furious and said: "If you dismiss the official, it is a treacherous plan. How can the court be promoted? I use one person to break the two thieves!" So far, Xianzong relied more on Pei Du and worshiped him as prime minister. Pei Du lay in bed for more than 20 days before the wound healed.Unswervingly determined, he still advocated the war, and said to Xianzong, "Huaixi, the heart disease, has to be cured. And the court has already dealt with it, and those who are domineering in Lianghe Town will regard this as superior and inferior, and cannot be suspended." Xianzong Zong agrees.Pei Du also asked Xianzong, in order to flatten Wu Yuanji, please allow him to recruit talents from all directions at home and brainstorm.Xianzong also allowed it.In the early days, Dezong was often suspicious and jealous of his ministers. For the hundreds of officials in the court and the central government, the Jinwu Guard all scouted information and reported it to Dezong, and the prime minister did not dare to summon guests in his private residence. Xianzong immediately replaced Yan Shou, who had been fighting for a year without merit, with Han Hong. At the same time, he attributed the crime of assassinating Wu Yuanheng to Chengde Jiedu envoy Wang Chengzong, and ordered the use of troops against Chengde. In the eleventh year of Yuanhe (816), the Tang army attacked Chengde.Due to the lack of a supreme commander, it was difficult for the various Tang armies to coordinate their actions, so they were defeated one by one by Wang Chengzong.This scene had already been staged during the Dezong Dynasty.However, the Tang army in the Huaixi theater can only fight on its own because the coach Han Hong has deep selfishness and self-respect, and cannot respond to each other.The Tang Army on the East Road defeated the Huaixi Army and captured Jiashan (now Qiudong, Henan).The Tang Army on the North Road defeated the Huaixi Army in a row.The Tang army on the South Road also broke through the outer city of Shenzhou.The Tang army on the west road first defeated the Huaixi army at Langshan (now Queshan, Henan), but then was defeated in Tiecheng (now southwest of Suiping, Henan). At this time, the world was shaken, and memorials from the imperial court to resist the war came like snowflakes.But Xianzong decided to continue to use troops.It was against this background that Li Yan stepped onto the political stage of the Tang Empire and performed the eternal legend of entering Caizhou on a snowy night. Li Yan, character straight, the son of the famous general Li Sheng (Li Sheng once saved the Tang Empire from danger in the Dezong Dynasty, see the article "Jingyuan Mutiny"), has strategy, and is good at riding and shooting.Li Yan was very kind and filial since he was a child. After his father died, among the fifteen brothers, he and his elder brother Li Xian were the only ones who insisted on keeping their father's tomb for three years. After being persuaded by the emperor to return, they ran back to guard the tomb the next day.Li Yan was formerly the Prince Zhan Shi.Temporarily appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Tang Army on the West Road, it can be said that he was ordered in a crisis. In the twelfth year of Yuanhe (817), the war against Huaixi entered a critical year.The Tang court has been using troops for four years, and the supply is exhausted and the people's strength is exhausted, which is a serious problem.Xianzong also understood that he could not delay any longer, and ordered to stop using troops against Chengde, determined to concentrate his forces and put down Huaixi first.At this time, Li Guangyan of the North Road led the Tang army from the towns of Heyang, Xuanwu, Weibo, Hedong, and Zhongwu to cross the Weishui River and enter Yancheng, defeating 30,000 Huaixi soldiers and annihilating 23 out of 10.Yancheng ordered Dong Changling and guard Deng Huaijin to descend from the city to Tang Dynasty.Wu Yuanji was very panicked when he learned that Yancheng was not defending, and transferred all his soldiers and Caizhou defenders to the northern line to reinforce Dong Zhongzhi's defensive defense.In this way, the main force and elite of the Huaixi Army were attracted to the northern front.This created conditions for Li Yan on the West Road to surprise Caizhou.In June of this year, Wu Yuanji saw that many of his subordinates had descended to the Tang Dynasty, and the army was weak. He made a plea for guilt, claiming that he was willing to return to the court with his body tied.The envoy of the Xianzong faction issued an imperial edict, allowing him to be spared the death penalty.However, Wu Yuanji was coerced by his leftist and general Dong Chongzhi, and could not return to the court.Huaixi has reached the end of the road and is at the end of the day. Li Yan fought bravely and resourcefully.After arriving in Tangzhou (now Biyang, Henan), he pretended to be cowardly and lazy, and the imperial army was lenient to paralyze the enemy. He also said to the soldiers, "The emperor knows that I am weak and incompetent, so he sent me to appease you." I can't take on such things as siege and war." These words spread to the Huaixi Army. Because the Huaixi Army had repeatedly defeated the Tang Army on the West Road, they saw that Li Yan's name was humble and his actions were so unbearable. He didn't take any precautions. At that time, Tangzhou's army had just been defeated by Wu Yuanji, their morale was low and there were many wounded soldiers.At the beginning of his tenure, Li Yan visited the soldiers in person to comfort the wounded and sick, so as to stabilize the morale of the army.Seeing that morale was starting to improve, Li Yan asked the court to send more troops, preparing to attack Wu Yuanji's old lair, Caizhou.The court gave him another two thousand cavalry. Li Yan knew that in order to defeat Huaixi, he had to win over the surrender of Huaixi soldiers who were familiar with the inside information of the rebel army.Every time he got a soldier who surrendered, he personally went to inquire about the health and wellness, so he had a very clear understanding of the enemy's terrain, roads, and military strength.Once, Li Yan's subordinates captured the brave general Ding Shiliang alive.Many people in the Tang army had suffered from Ding Shiliang and asked him to have his heart cut open.Li Yan saw that Ding Shiliang was a good man, so he untied him personally and accepted him as a general.Ding Shiliang was grateful, and offered a plan to capture Chen Guangqia, the leader of Wu Xiulin's tribe in Wenchengzha (southwest of Suiping, Henan today), and recruit 3,000 people from Wu Xiulin's tribe.Because of the high morale of the Tang army on the west road, they went down to many cities in succession, and there was an endless stream of descendants from Huaixi. Li Yan sought Caizhou and asked Wu Xiulin for advice.Wu Xiulin thought Li You was the only one who wanted to capture Caizhou.Li Yan planned to capture Li You alive to save him from death, and appointed him as the general of his tooth team-the military envoy of the Sixth Academy.Li You is a famous brave general in Huaixi. Tang Jun was defeated by him many times and wanted to kill him, but Li Yan tried his best to protect him.Li You was very grateful for Li Min's kindness and determined to help him capture Caizhou. At that time, Wu Yuanji used his main force to deal with other officers and troops, so Li You suggested to Li Min: "The elite soldiers in Caizhou are all in Huiqu (southwest of Shangshui, Henan Province) and the borders on all sides, and the guards in Caizhou are only old and weak soldiers. , you can take advantage of the emptiness and go straight to Caizhou." Li Yan deeply believed. At this time, Prime Minister Pei Du personally went to the front to supervise the battle, and before leaving, he wrote to the emperor: "Please go to supervise the battle yourself, and swear not to live with thieves." It showed considerable determination and courage.Just at this time, he received Li Yan's plan to attack Caizhou. Pei Du appreciated it very much and agreed to send troops. On the tenth day of October in the twelfth year of Yuanhe (817), the weather was extremely cold due to heavy wind and snow.Li Yan suddenly ordered Li You and Li Zhongyi to lead 3,000 people to form a commando. As the vanguard, he and the eunuch sent by the court to supervise the army led 3,000 people as the central army, and another general led 3,000 people as the rear team, and left the camp. .The actions of the army are very secretive. Except for a few generals, the whole army does not know the destination of the march and the mission of the troops.Someone ran to ask Li Yan.Li Yan just said: "March east." The army traveled 30 kilometers eastward and arrived at Zhangchai Village at night. Taking advantage of the unpreparedness of the defenders, they wiped out the defenders including the soldiers responsible for the beacon alarm.After the whole army rested and ate, Li Min left 500 men to guard the city gate to guard against enemies in the direction of Langshan, and another 500 people cut off the bridges leading to Huiqu and other directions, and ordered the whole army to move out immediately.The generals asked where the army was heading, and Li Yan announced, "Enter Caizhou and take Wu Yuanji directly." At this time, the night was cold, the wind and snow were blowing, the banners were broken, and the people and horses froze to death looked at each other.The road to the east of Zhangchai Village was unknown to Tang Jun, and none of them had ever walked it. It was very difficult to march in the dark, and everyone thought they would die.But everyone was afraid of Li Yan, and no one dared to disobey the military order.In the middle of the night, the snow fell harder and harder. The Tang army marched for thirty-five kilometers and finally arrived in Caizhou. Li Yan saw a pond of chickens and ducks near the city, so he made a plan and ordered people to drive away the geese and ducks with sticks.As soon as the geese and ducks were chased away by the stick, they all croaked and croaked, covering up the sounds made by the people and horses.Li You and Li Zhongyi led the vanguard troops, dug ridges on the city wall, and climbed to the top of the city.It has been more than 30 years since Wu Shaocheng resisted the order of the court, and the Tang army had not arrived at the city of Caizhou, and the defenders of Caizhou were unsuspecting.The guards on the city were all killed before they woke up.Only the night watchmen are left, and let them beat the watchman to report the watch as usual, so as not to alarm the enemy.After the outer city was breached, Li You and others opened the city gates to welcome the Tang army.Then, Li You and Li Zhongyi followed the old method and attacked the inner city. When the cock crowed, the heavy snow had stopped.Li Yan walked into the city and went all the way to Wu Yuanji's outer house.At this time, someone noticed that the situation was different, and hurriedly called Wu Yuanji, saying: "The officers and soldiers are here." Wu Yuanji was still lying down, and replied with a smile: "The prisoners are making trouble, and they should be killed after dawn." Then, someone reported that "The city has fallen." Wu Yuanji still said nonchalantly, "This must be the son of Huiqu's defenders asking me for cold clothes." After waking up, Wu Yuanji heard the Tang army's order, and nearly ten thousand people responded, so he was afraid. The rate left and right Deng Yacheng resisted. After Li Min entered the city, he sent people to attack Yacheng, caressed Dong Chongzhi's family members, and sent his son to surrender.Dong Zhongzhi surrendered in front of Li Min's army alone, and Wu Yuanji lost the hope of Huiqu's defenders returning to help.When the Tang army attacked Yacheng again, the people of Caizhou scrambled to carry firewood to help the Tang army burn the south gate of Yacheng.At dusk, the city gate was burnt out, and Wu Yuanji surrendered.More than 20,000 soldiers from Shenzhou, Guangzhou and Zhuzhen also descended to Tang Dynasty one after another, and Huaixi was flattened. Wang Jianyou's poem "Giving Li Yan Pu She" is written in twenty-eight characters to enumerate the battle of Pingcai. It is vividly written and vividly records this surprise attack: