Chapter 6 5. Xiao Hong is timid

Liang Jun captured more than one city of Liang.From May to July of the fifth year of Tianjian, the Northern Expeditionary Army marched on two fronts, successively taking down Suyu (now south of Suqian, Jiangsu), Liangcheng, Hefei, Yangshi, Huoqiu, Qushan (now west of Lianyungang, Jiangsu), Gucheng (now east of Teng County, Shandong) and more than a dozen cities.Many of them were captured by Chengxu of the Northern Wei Dynasty at the end of Qi Dynasty and the beginning of Liang Dynasty. Now that they have been lost and recovered, the morale of Liang Jun is unprecedentedly strong. The most worth mentioning is that Hefei, the most important border town in the middle section besides Shouyang, was recovered, and the one who led the army to conquer Hefei was Wei Rui, the first general of Liangchu and the governor of Yuzhou.

Most of the famous generals of the Southern Dynasties were from the north, but their ancestors moved south as early as the Yongjia Rebellion, and they have lived and worked in the south for more than a hundred years.Wei Rui is different. In the Western Han Dynasty, the Wei family had a great scholar, Wei Xian, who was an official to the prime minister. Therefore, later generations developed in the Guanzhong and Sanqin areas and have been quite prosperous (Wei Xiaokuan, a famous general of the Western Wei Dynasty, also came from here).In the late Qin Dynasty, Wei Rui's grandfather Wei Xuan lived in seclusion in Zhongnan Mountain in order to avoid being an official.Liu Yu entered the pass to destroy Qin, admired his talent, recruited him as his assistant, and became Taiwei 掾 (掾 is a general name for assistants in Han and Jin Dynasties, the official assistant is called "掾", and the deputy assistant is called "Shu", such Shi, Zuo, Li, etc.).He seemed to have seen through the turmoil and helplessness of the troubled times, and refused to say goodbye to this promising job that came to him on his own initiative.However, according to the "Liang Shu", Wei Xuan's two sons Wei Zuzheng and Wei Zugui (one levy and one return, which is also interesting) were both called to the south and served as officials in the Liu Song Dynasty.

Wei Rui is the son of Wei Zugui.When he was born, the Wei family had only entered the Song Dynasty for more than 20 years, and there were two older brothers who were already famous.Wei Rui was eager to learn since he was a child, and he was very low-key when he was young.Uncle Wei Zuzheng went to various places to be a county guard, and he liked to take him with him as if he were his own son. Wei Rui's brother-in-law Wang Yan and aunt Du Yun were well-known in the village, so Wei Zuzheng asked him, "How do you compare yourself to Wang Yan and Du Yun?" Wei Rui shook his head modestly. unwilling to answer.

Wei Zuzheng smiled and said: "You, you may be worse than them in writing articles, but you are better than them in knowledge. When it comes to governing the country and making achievements, no one in our family can catch up with you!" Wei Rui did not disappoint later on. This prophecy. Wei Rui worked as a small official in Liangzhou and Yongzhou successively, and still maintained his low-key style. In the corrupt environment of Song and Qi dynasties, he was able to be clean and honest, and refused to accept various bribes from others. In the last years of the Southern Qi Dynasty, rebel teams followed one after another.He looked down on Chen Xianda's talent and Cui Huijing's cowardice, but he took aim at Xiao Yan, the governor of Honshu who was more than 20 years younger than him. Forget the year.Wei Rui's vision is no less than that of his uncle.

At this time, Wei Rui was already sixty years old, a full sixty years old. "Life at seventy is rare since ancient times." In Wei Rui's time, how many people could live past sixty?Not too much.Throughout the ages, how many people can find the long-awaited goal of struggle after living to sixty without accomplishing any great things, and still maintain a fiery heart to realize the great wish of "governing the country and making achievements"?Think less.But I can be sure that Wei Rui is one of them. It's not that he has no talent for life, but he suffers from political darkness and poor life.His state of mind may be the same as that of his grandfather Wei Xuan, helpless in what he wants to do but cannot do.A group of generals in Liang Chu may have felt similar emotions, and Wei Rui, the oldest among them, should feel the deepest.

The army of the Northern Expedition marched northward. As the governor, Wei Rui felt the excitement of serving the country for the first time. When attacking Xiaoxian in the east of Hefei, he led the army to patrol the fence set up by the enemy. Suddenly hundreds of people rushed out of the city and lined up outside the gate, staring at Liang Jun.Wei Rui immediately gave the order to attack, and all the generals under his command said: "We are going out with light clothes now, just for patrolling. Why don't we go back and dress neatly, and then come to meet the enemy." Wei Rui replied: "Otherwise, Xiaoxian is a small city, and there are only more than 2,000 guards in the city. If they guarded behind closed doors, they would be enough to protect themselves. Now that hundreds of people are sent out of the city for no reason, they must be their most valiant soldiers. Force our army back. If we can defeat this army, Xiao Xian will naturally attack."

Everyone was still hesitating, Wei Rui said solemnly: "The imperial court ordered me to supervise all the troops, and the talisman is in my hand. It is definitely not a decoration, and you must not disobey orders! If you fight hard, you will be able to defeat the enemy!" Under Wei Rui's command, Liang Jun All the soldiers fought bravely to be the first, and they really beat the Wei army outside the city to the ground.Liang Jun took advantage of the momentum to attack fiercely, and occupied Xiaoxian in less than half a day. Under the city of Hefei, Wei Rui also emphasized the bold use of troops, supplemented by strategies.The Northern Wei Dynasty sent General Yang Lingyin to lead an army of 50,000 to rescue.Wei Rui's subordinates felt that they were outnumbered, and hoped that Wei Rui could submit a request for additional troops.Wei Rui laughed and said: "The enemy army has already arrived at the city, and now we only ask for more troops, which will not help. What's more, our army strength has increased, and more enemy reinforcements have also come, but we still cannot gain an advantage. The ancients said: 'The master's restraint is in harmony, not in the crowd.' (The most important thing in using soldiers is unity of heart, not in numbers)" After saying that, he sent his troops to counterattack and defeated the Wei soldiers.

Wei Rui's momentum of not saying a retreat and winning consecutive battles not only frightened the enemy, but also convinced the soldiers under his command.He built tall dams on Feishui outside Hefei City, dredged the river, isolated the city, and prepared to irrigate Hefei; Wei Jun did not show weakness. They took advantage of Liang Jun's unstable defense and captured Xincheng. Then they brought tools and rushed to the barrage, intending to chisel it down.Wei Rui once again reprimanded his subordinates for their suggestion to retreat, went into battle in person, led the soldiers guarding the weir to repel the Wei soldiers, and then set up a large warship, condescending, and besieged Hefei from all sides. Ten thousand crossbows fired at him, and shot Du Yuanlun, the Northern Wei guard who supervised the battle, to death. .The psychological defense line of the Wei army completely collapsed, and Hefei City was renamed "Liang" again, and for a long time thereafter, it became the governing place of Nanliang Yuzhou.

The hero Wei Rui's reputation increased greatly. People not only said that he "uses soldiers like a god", but also praised him for "treating others like himself".There is really nothing to regret for a general who can be loved so much. There is really nothing to regret that Emperor Wu of Liang can have such a general.Unfortunately, he still had a big problem in employing people. There are many strong generals in Liang Jun's formation who can stand alone. Apart from Wei Rui, the aforementioned Zhang Huishao, Cao Jingzong, Ma Xianfeng, Chang Yizhi and others are all figures with dignity and ability.But the leader arranged by Emperor Wu of Liang, Linchuan Wang Xiaohong, is a "silver-like wax gun head", a standard dude.

Xiao Hong was the most trusted younger brother of Emperor Wu of Liang. He was "eight feet long, handsome, and handsome." A person's appearance has a certain influence on the appeal of an army.But a war is a war after all, not a beauty pageant. Victory in a war requires the courage of the commander, the strategy of the strategists, and the life of the armed forces. Without any of these, even the beauty pageant champion is useless. Wei Rui was old and frail, and he couldn't even ride a horse in battle, so he could only sit on a flat cart and give orders (I don't know if Wei Rui was influenced by the later novelists who let Zhuge Kongming ride on a four-wheel cart). Words and deeds make people feel brave.On the contrary, the dignified Xiao Hong, his "courage" was used to search for money.

"Book of Liang" justified Xiao Hong, saying that the Northern Expedition had been going on for a long time, and Emperor Wu of Liang issued an edict ordering Xiao Hong's class to return to the court.This record makes people unable to believe its authenticity anyway: let alone Emperor Wudi's determination to forge ahead, it is impossible to just look at the overall popularity of the battlefield. "Book of Liang" is a history book written by Yao Silian and his father Yao Cha. The Yao family was an official in the Southern Dynasty. Out of personal feelings, the father and son used many hidden and evil lines in the book. About Xiao Hong's retreat, Just one small part of it. Li Yanshou and his son, who were later than Yao Silian, had always been officials in the north, so they had no obligation to "be taboo for the venerable".Prince Xiao Hong's timid face was completely recorded in "Southern History·The Biography of Xiao Hong". Under the situation at that time, there was only one important town left on the southeastern border of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Shouyang, which was located in Huainan, and Huaiyang on the eastern front was located in Huaibei, which was also facing the threat of falling.In view of the tightness of the defense line, Emperor Xuanwu continued to mobilize troops to condemn the generals. He first sent Jingzhou Governor Zhao Yiping and Southern General Xi Kangsheng to rescue Huaiyang, and then appointed Yuanying as the General of the Southern Expedition. Liang Jun, then, transferred to Xing Luan, the Duzhi Shangshu who had conquered Hanzhong not long ago, and the governor Dongdiscussed all the troops, and attacked Liangcheng together with Yuanying. Finally, Anle Wang Yuanquan led all the troops to Huainan for support. This posture scared Xiao Hong into sleepless nights, especially Yuan Ying and Xing Luan, who had just caused Nan Liang a big loss, he thought it best not to provoke them.This guy who has no guts and no insight, only thinks about how to protect himself, try to accept it as soon as possible.He convened all the generals in Luokou to discuss the issue of retreat. Lu Sengzhen, who had followed Emperor Wu of Liang for many years, understood Xiao Hong's temperament, and agreed: "It's not bad to retreat when you face difficulties!" Xiao Hong nodded in approval: "That's right, that's what I think." As he was about to issue an order to withdraw troops, there was a commotion below. Liu Po ​​and Pei Sui first disagreed, saying: "Now that our army is suppressing the border, we attack and the enemy defends. Who dares to refuse to accept Wei Guo? What is the difficulty?" Ma Xianwan was even more determined: "How can the lord say 'words of subjugation'? The Son of Heaven sweeps away the enemies within the territory, and all of us can only advance one foot and die on the battlefield, and there is absolutely no reason to retreat an inch and just survive!" The one with the hottest temper was Chang Yizhi, who jumped out furiously and shouted: "Lu Sengzhen should be beheaded! How can we retreat with a million troops? How can we go back to see His Majesty the Emperor!" Zhu Sengyong, Hu Xinsheng and other partial generals threatened death and firmly refused to withdraw their troops. Fearing that the sergeant would not obey the general's order, Xiao Hong tremblingly swallowed the word "retreat", and the military meeting broke up unhappily.However, he still clearly ordered that "those who go forward will be killed", and the army is not allowed to attack Shouyang. The commander is unwilling to fight, but the generals are full of fighting spirit. Xiao Hong's non-advancement and non-retreat were seen by Xi Kangsheng, a general of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He sent his general Yang Dayan to Yuanying's camp, pointed out Xiao Hong's obvious fighting mentality, and suggested that Yuanying should enter Luoshui, which would surely make the country happy. Liang Jun was defeated without a fight.Yuanying knew that Xiao Hong's IQ was not good, but she was worried that Liang's army would be powerful and commanded by famous generals such as Wei Rui and Pei Sui, so she advocated sitting back and watching the changes. The two armies confronted each other for about half a month. One night at the end of September, a storm suddenly fell in Luokou, and the water level rose sharply.There was a riot in the Liang army stationed there. Xiao Hong, who was terrified day and night and afraid of the Wei army's attack, thought that the Wei army was really coming to attack, so he fled south on horseback with a few followers around him without saying hello to his subordinates.The generals in the camp woke up from their dreams and looked for the commander everywhere. Where is there any trace?What started as a local riot quickly turned into chaos, and soldiers from various ministries fled in all directions, and nearly 50,000 people died just by trampling on each other.Wei Jun has not dispatched at all! Yuan Ying, who was watching the fire from the other side, was overjoyed when he heard the news of Liang Jun's collapse—Xiao Hong was indeed a fool. Xiao Hong, who was timid, became the object of their teasing and teasing along the way. From then on, there was a jingle in the army of the Northern Wei Dynasty: "I am not afraid of Xiao Niang and Grandma Lu, but I am afraid of Wei Hu in Hefei." Grandma, pronounced "mother", rhymes with "tiger".Xiao Niang (Aunt Xiao) and Grandma Lu (Aunt Lu) refer to Xiao Hong and Lu Sengzhen; Wei Hu is the only Nanliang general that Wei Jun fears, Wei Rui.