Chapter 16 Fifteen, White Robe General Chen Qingzhi

When Er Zhurong returned to Jinyang, he began to fight against Ge Rong's uprising army.At this time, Ge Rong almost controlled the entire territory of Hebei today. He captured Xindu in Jizhou (now Jixian County, Hebei), and occupied Dingzhou (now Dingxian County, Hebei), Yingzhou (now Hejian, Hebei), and Du Luozhou's army in Youzhou and other places launched a surprise attack, killed Du Luozhou, and annexed his territory and tribes. The southernmost state in Hebei is Xiangzhou, where the government is located in Yecheng (near Linzhang, Hebei today), and it is also the last gateway of the capital Luoyang.If Xiangzhou is lost again, Ge Rong's army can cross the Yellow River smoothly and threaten Luoyang.Li Shen, the governor of Xiangzhou in the Northern Wei Dynasty, vowed not to surrender. Ge Rong was annoyed and led the main force, claiming to have a million people (of course, a hundred thousand is quite good, and Ge Rong's so-called army is very "puffy", and its combat effectiveness must be marked up. A big discount), surrounded Yecheng, and some wandering soldiers had already wandered to Jijun by the Yellow River.

Er Zhurong has rich experience in suppressing the rebel army, and he is not afraid of Ge Rong, who is strong outside but capable in the middle.He asked his nephew Erzhu Tianguang to guard Jinyang on his behalf, and then selected 7,000 cavalry from his headquarters. With Hou Jing as the forerunner, he went out of Taihang Mountain from Fukou (now northwest of Ci County, Hebei) to the north of Yecheng. In front of them, set up a formation behind Ge Rong's army. Ge Rong was a little surprised by Er Zhurong's sudden appearance, but he was used to winning battles, and seeing Er Zhurong's number was small, he said to his subordinates with joy, "These people are easy to deal with. Everyone wears a long rope. Ready to catch me alive!"

He temporarily stopped his attack on Yecheng, lined up for dozens of li, spread his wings, and surrounded Er Zhurong's cavalry. Er Zhurong led the army to a nearby valley, divided his generals into three units, and each led hundreds of cavalry, running back and forth, raising dust and making noise, making it impossible for Ge Rong's army to judge how many troops there were. .Then give each person a sleeve stick and hang it on the side of the horse. When encountering an enemy, he can use the sleeve stick to hit him without taking the trouble to behead him. This move is very clever. To deal with Ge Rong's quasi-militiamen, knocking them down to the ground, whether dead or alive, is equivalent to destroying their combat effectiveness.It is said that this kind of sleeve cudgel was the predecessor of Qin Qiong's double mace in the early Tang Dynasty (Er Zhurong's strategic mind is almost an idiot, but his tactical quality is really good).

When the two armies clashed, Ge Rong's army was outnumbered, and Er Zhurong's well-equipped cavalry could not resist the charge.Er Zhurong personally led a team to the back, smashed Ge Rong's formation to pieces, and captured Ge Rong alive on the spot.The hundreds of thousands of soldiers below were also beaten to the ground by sleeve clubs, shouting and begging for mercy. Based on the lessons learned from the Six Towns Uprising, Er Zhurong did not deal with the soldiers who surrendered, but let their relatives accompany them, find their own way out, and stop being held accountable. The "evil chief" Ge Rong was escorted to Luoyang to beheaded, and some generals were recruited by Er Zhurong and moved to Jinyang with him.The Hebei Uprising has basically disappeared.

Brothers Yuwen Luosheng and Yuwentai, who had devoted themselves to Ge Rong for a long time, were also included in Er Zhurong's compilation.Er Zhurong loved and feared the two of them, and his psychology was very contradictory. What he loved was his outstanding talent, and what he feared was his high reputation.Not long after, Er Zhurong found a crime and arrested Yuwen Luosheng and killed him. He was about to kill Yuwentai again, but Yuwentai appealed for justice with a generous statement. Er Zhurong was very moved when he heard it, and not only changed He made up his mind and appointed him as the commander of the army.

Er Zhurong has always acted inconsiderately, and has the characteristics of a nomadic people, so it is obviously difficult to achieve great things; while Yu Wentai is flexible and flexible, and he has shown his leadership qualities at a young age (only 22 years old at the time).He lost his father and three older brothers in the chaos in the north, but learned a forbearance that is rare in others, which is really terrifying.Yu Wentai, who was not very happy, finally got a small group of people from Er Zhurong, and had a chance to show his skills. Er Zhurong made outstanding contributions, was promoted to the great prime minister, and was granted the title of general of the Zhu Kingdom. His two sons, Er Zhu Wenshu and Er Zhu Wenchang, were both promoted to be kings.

Although Ge Rong was eliminated, there were still many rebellions in the Northern Wei Dynasty, among which Xing Gao in Qingzhou and Wanqi Chounu in Guanzhong were the strongest.However, Er Zhurong's biggest headache should be the regular army of the Southern Dynasty. The north was in chaos, and Emperor Wu of Liang in the south was not idle. He saw a new hope of revitalizing the Central Plains.From five years to seven years (AD 524-526), ​​he continuously sent troops to attack the occupied area of ​​the Northern Wei Dynasty in the lower reaches of the Huai River, with the primary goal of taking Shouyang.

After many years, Wei Rui, Cao Jingzong, Ma Xianqin and others who made great contributions to the war against Wei in the past have all passed away. Only Pei Sui, the governor of Yuzhou, is still supporting the famous generals of the older generation. Some are stretched.Ordinary five years, he invited Pei Sui to sit in the town and supervise the conquest of various military forces.This operation was relatively smooth, and many cities in the northeast of Shouyang were easily captured.Pei Sui's main force had almost captured Shouyang, and was forced to retreat south due to lack of backup.

In the sixth year of ordinary life, Pei Sui captured Xincai and Zhengcheng (now Yingshang, Henan) to the west of Shouyang, and the situation was very good.However, at a critical moment, the aged Pei Sui died of illness in the army. Emperor Wu of Liang replaced Pei Sui with Xia Houdan, the central guard, in charge of attacking Shouyang.Xia Houquan is the son of Xia Houxiang, the founding hero of the Southern Liang Dynasty. Although he is talented and learned, he is not good at fighting. The offensive and defensive battle of Shouyang turned into a stalemate for a while. Good news came from Pengcheng in the north. Yuan Faseng, the governor of Xuzhou in the Northern Wei Dynasty, failed to rebel and led his troops to defect to Liang Guo.Emperor Wu of Liang was overjoyed. He readily accepted the surrender and sent troops north to meet him. He also ordered his second son Yuzhang Wang Xiaozong to lead his troops to Pengcheng.The most noteworthy list of generals is General Chen Qingzhi of Wuwei.

The reason for attracting attention is not all because of his subsequent amazing performance.Just judging from the records in the early years, Chen Qingzhi is an outlier in the history of Liang Guo and even the Southern Dynasties. We know that the criteria for judging a person in the Southern Dynasties were first of all his family background, secondly his conduct and knowledge, and thirdly his appearance and behavior.People who are all three are ordinary, not to mention being an official, even in society, no one will look down on them.As for Chen Qingzhi, his family is untested, his character and learning are unknown, his appearance is not amazing, and his martial arts are terrible. According to historical records, he "can't shoot through a sword, and his horse is not convenient", he can't even shoot an arrow, and he can't ride a horse well (compared to sitting on a horse). Wei Rui in the small car is miserable), there is nothing that can attract attention.If we say that Wei Rui's low-key of the older generation has its introverted factors, then Chen Qingzhi's low-key posture is completely "it is so".

He came from a humble background (either his parents died, or his family was poor), and he followed Emperor Wu of Liang since he was a child, which was equivalent to a small servant.Emperor Wu of Liang was good at chess, and he often played chess with others all night. Others couldn't stand it. Only Chen Qingzhi could play with Emperor Wu of Liang all night without sleep.Emperor Wu of Liang loved him very much. After he ascended the throne, he put him by his side as the chief secretary (director). Before the Northern Expedition, apart from this civilian position, Chen Qingzhi had never done anything in the army, let alone led troops to fight.Emperor Wu of Liang knew him well, trusted his prudence, and made him a miscellaneous general under Xiao Zong.Just after that, Chen Qingzhi, who was not confused, went to the front line just like that. "A piece of mouse droppings ruins a pot of porridge." Emperor Wu of Liang hoped to use Pengcheng as his base to expand the scale of his northward march. Whoever wanted to act encountered an accident, so angry that he almost didn't hit the wall.His beloved son Xiao Zong does not recognize him as his father, and even regards him as an enemy. When Emperor Wu of Liang attacked Jiankang against Qi, he took Wu Shuyuan, the favorite concubine of Xiao Baojuan, Marquis of Donghun, as his concubine, and gave birth to Xiao Zong seven months later.When Xiao Zong grew up, he heard about it from his mother, so he dug up Xiao Baojuan’s tomb and tested his relatives by dripping blood (this is equivalent to the ancient version of DNA testing. The process of testing is to drip his own blood on Xiao Baojuan’s On the bones, if it infiltrates, the two are blood relatives. The ghost knows whether there is scientific reason. In fact, Qi Liang and Xiao Xiao are relatives separated by only four or five generations. Descendants of the Southern Qi royal family.He seized the opportunity when the Liang and Wei armies faced each other in Pengcheng, fled overnight into the Wei army camp and surrendered. Liang Jun lost his commander in a very funny way, and immediately collapsed, Pengcheng was lost again, and tens of thousands of troops were killed or injured.Frustrated, Chen Qingzhi made Liang Wudi, who was worried about a good general, brighten his eyes: his army had strict orders, and the whole division retreated to Jiankang. So when Liang Guo attacked Shouyang again a year later, Chen Qingzhi was awarded the false festival and the general knowledge of military affairs.Xia Houdan and Yuan Shu attacked Shouyang from the north and the south.The main force of the Northern Wei Dynasty was suppressing in Hebei and could not effectively support Shouyang.Shouyang City was destroyed, and Emperor Wu of Liang finally got his wish.Chen Qingzhi was promoted to the Zhige of the East Palace, responsible for the defense of the Prince's East Palace, and bestowed the title of Marquis of Guanzhong.In just one year, Chen Qingzhi became a grand marquis from a young master. Although Emperor Wu of Liang intended to promote his cronies, Chen Qingzhi's military exploits were enough to surprise many battle-hardened veterans. Seizing Shouyang is just the beginning.Liang Jun took advantage of the victory and advanced, winning consecutive battles in Huaibei, and attacked Guoyang (now Mengcheng, Anhui), the governor of Southern Yanzhou in the Northern Wei Dynasty.The main force of the Liang army was Cao Zhongzong, and Chen Qingzhi supervised the army.The reinforcements from the Northern Wei Dynasty approached Guoyang. He personally commanded two hundred cavalry to attack the unsteady forward of the Wei army, which caught the Wei army by surprise. The two armies faced each other in Guoyang City, fighting continuously from spring to winter, and the veterans were exhausted.Cao Zhongzong was worried about being attacked by the enemy, so he planned to retreat.Chen Qingzhi resolutely opposed it. He stood at the gate of the barracks with a stick in his hand and shouted: "The army has been here for a year, and it has consumed a lot of food and grass. All the troops have no fighting spirit and want to retreat. They don't want to make any fame. It's obvious. It’s just taking the opportunity to plunder property. I heard that ‘let them die and live later’, now is the time to defeat the enemy! I have a secret decree from Your Majesty, and anyone who violates my order will be severely punished!” (Our army is exhausted, isn’t the enemy army not Are you tired? A general who has the determination not to fear a powerful enemy can achieve an invincible record.) Cao Zhongzong and others were blushed by the words, so they had no choice but to obey.Chen Qingzhi didn't attack by force either. Taking advantage of the darkness, he led his army to sneak attack the Wei army strongholds around Guoyang City, capturing four of them in one night.After dawn, Chen Qingzhi ordered the Wei soldiers and captives to line up and rush to the front, while Liang Jun followed closely and attacked the remaining nine strongholds of the Northern Wei Dynasty.Liang Jun captured Guoyang City, and then entered the city father of Yuzhou, not far from Sizhou, the ruling center of the Northern Wei Dynasty. In the battle of Guoyang, the bravery of Chen Qingzhi's army became a nightmare for the soldiers of the Northern Wei Dynasty.He himself and the soldiers under his command all wore white robes, and Wei people called him "White Robe General", and "White Robe" became the most feared term after "Wei Hu". (Personally, I think that white is the most visually stimulating color on the battlefield. Once it is stained with blood, it can greatly shock the enemy. Using a white robe as a battle robe contains the great spirit and belief of a fighter I even speculate that the design of Zhao Yun, Li Chang Banpo’s white-robed teenager, may also have been inspired by the “White-robed General.”) Emperor Wu of Liang decided to give Chen Qingzhi a chance to perform alone.After the Heyin tragedy, the clans of the Northern Wei Dynasty defected to Nanliang one after another, and the "revolutionary situation" was very good.In the second year of Datong (528 A.D.), Emperor Wu of Liang named Yuan Hao, king of Beihai in the Northern Wei Dynasty, the king of Wei, ordered Chen Qingzhi to be General Biao Yong, and escorted Yuan Hao to the north to proclaim himself emperor, in order to achieve the purpose of controlling the Northern Dynasty.What is intriguing is that he only gave Chen Qingzhi less than 10,000 troops, but he almost turned the world upside down.