Chapter 35 8. Going to Jiangdong against customers

After crossing the Huai River, Hou Jing and his remnants of defeated generals entered the territory of Liang State.When he was at a loss, Liu Shenmao, the nearby horse head garrison, came to offer advice and persuaded him to take Shouyang City and make it a temporary place to stay. Liu Shenmao and Wei Ansu, who guarded Shouyang City, have always been at odds, and they intend to use Hou Jing to take revenge on Wei An.Hou Jing was at the end of his road, and he couldn't think too much, so he first occupied a piece of land and then made any calculations.So he led his troops to the city of Shouyang and called to the city.

Guard Wei An is the youngest son of the famous general Wei Rui, but he doesn't look like his father at all.He also said at the beginning that he had not received the imperial edict and would not accept it.Hou Jing sent people to threaten him with the identity of the Henan king granted by Emperor Wu of Liang, claiming that if Hou Jing made any mistakes, the court would definitely investigate and punish those who were negligent.Wei An was afraid, so he opened the door to welcome Hou Jing.Hou Jing was not polite, kicked Wei An aside as soon as he entered the city, and seized the military and political power in Shouyang.

Hou Jing finally had his territory again, but after all, he had just escaped from a dangerous situation and his strength was weak, so he dared not act presumptuously.He submitted a form to Jiankang and asked Emperor Wu of Liang to punish him for his defeat. Emperor Wu of Liang had enough reasons to punish or even arrest Hou Jing.The land of the thirteen prefectures promised by Hou Jing has not been fulfilled at all, and there are only a negligible 800 troops left, and they are regarded as enemies by the Eastern and Western Weis at the same time.Tolerating Hou Jing not only has no benefits, but will also become an obstacle to the restoration of friendly relations with the Northern Dynasties and bring diplomatic troubles. (After defeating Hanshan, Emperor Wu of Liang sent someone to secretly contact Gao Cheng, intending to restore diplomatic relations.)

However, Emperor Wu of Liang did not add insult to injury to Hou Jing. Instead of punishing Hou Jing, he directly appointed Hou Jing as the governor of Nanyu Prefecture. Why did Emperor Wu of Liang get "dizzy" and gave Hou Jing such a weird title), Xiao Fan, the king of Poyang who was originally going to be sent to Shouyang as the governor of Southern Yuzhou, was changed to be the governor of Hezhou (ie Hefei).He Jingrong, Xiao Jie and other ministers came forward to remonstrate that it was inappropriate, but Emperor Wu of Liang refused to listen.In view of Hou Jingxin's defeat and insufficient supplies, he sent a large amount of military supplies to Hou Jing.

The series of favors offered by Emperor Wu of Liang were not surprising to him. What he was thinking about was: taking in a traitor from the Northern Dynasty like Hou Jing could send a signal to the people of the Northern Dynasty. Jing Jing has rich military experience and is good at fighting against the army of the Northern Dynasty. He can also help Liang Guo train a powerful army.What's more, Emperor Wu of Liang's way of being a king has always been like this. As an official under him, no matter how big a mistake is made, it will be turned into a small one.What he did to Hou Jing was just a manifestation of this inertia, not to mention special grace, at most a little pity.

But how did Hou Jing pass through this?Since his debut, Hou Jing has been licking blood with knife edge, intrigues, the living stepping on the corpses of the dead, trying to survive in the hail of guns and arrows.Among the leaders he served, Er Zhurong was the best to him; Gao Huan had fellowship with him, but he couldn't treat each other with sincerity; Yu Wentai took away his territory even more insidiously.Hou Jing is in the environment of wolves, he believes in the laws of wolves, and his thinking can only be the pattern of wolves.Now that Emperor Wu of Liang treated him generously and kindly, how could he not be caught off guard?

A person who has never received love has been deceived and used all his life.One day someone suddenly shows love to him, his first reaction is often doubt and resistance.Because he didn't dare to trust others easily, past experience told him that if he believed in others' love, he would only be hurt more. Emperor Wu of Liang wholeheartedly favored Hou Jing, hoping that Hou Jing would be more loyal and be used by him, but unexpectedly, the opposite happened. The more kind he was, the more suspicious Hou Jing became.The two sides will not talk about this delicate mood, just like a room full of gunpowder, which is in danger of exploding at any time!

Someone threw a flame into the room, which ignited the powder.This person is called Gao Cheng. Xiao Yuanming, the nephew of Emperor Wu of Liang, became a prisoner of the Eastern Wei Dynasty and was sent to Yecheng.The Eastern Wei Dynasty treated him well, letting him eat and drink as usual, and let him get drunk.Gao Cheng thought that it would not be a problem to keep such a worthless person all day long, so he had to let him use his spare energy.He found Xiao Yuanming and said to him: "Our country has been reconciled with your Liang country for more than ten years, and it has become an enemy for no reason. Why bother? I don't think this is your emperor's original intention. It was all instigated by Hou Jing. .If the two countries restore the old relationship, then I will send you home."

Xiao Yuanming wrote a letter to his uncle, Emperor Wu of Liang, saying, "Gao Cheng is a good man. As long as the two families get along well, he will send me back to China." He sent his confidant Xiahou Sengbian to deliver the letter to Jiankang. After reading his nephew's autograph letter, Emperor Wu of Liang cried, crying with tears.Although some ministers thought that something was wrong, he still replied without hesitation, promised to make peace with the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and troubled Xiahou Sengbian to make another trip to send the letter to the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Xiahou Sengbian went to Shouyang, but was stopped by Hou Jing, who interrogated him for all the details.

Hou Jing understood that this matter was no small matter.He played a performance for Emperor Wu of Liang, and analyzed for Emperor Wu of Liang: Gao Cheng accidentally won the victory, so he came to seek peace, because he was worried that the Western Wei Dynasty would take advantage of the false attack; when the Northern Wei Dynasty was strong, Liang Guo was beaten to death in Zhongli, and now Wei Guo is the tail of a rabbit. , is nothing to worry about, once the peace is reached, it will be too late to regret in the future. The memorial was handed over, but it didn't work.It was important for Emperor Wu of Liang to save his nephew, so he ignored Hou Jing's opinion, and instead sent envoys to the Eastern Wei Dynasty to mourn Gao Huan.Hou Jing was in a hurry, and played again, directly clarifying the words: "The minister and the Gao family have the same hatred. Now that your majesty has made peace with the Gao family, where will the minister be placed?"

Emperor Liang Wu comforted Hou Jing in return, saying: "I have established a great friendship with you, how could I accept you and sell you? The country has plans for the country, so you don't need to bother." Lord, don’t break your promise, you don’t have to worry anymore!” Hou Jingxin said: You treat me as a three-year-old child, and I believe you if I give you a piece of candy?The more Hou Jing thought about it, the more he felt that Emperor Wu of Liang was hypocritical, so he forged a letter from the Eastern Wei Dynasty and sent someone to Emperor Wu of Liang. After Liang Guojun and his ministers read the "Eastern Wei Guoshu", most people, including Xie Ju and Zhu Yi, did not realize the seriousness of the problem.Anyway, Hou Jing is the general of the defeated army, since he can change back to Xiao Yuanming, let's change it.Only Si Nongqing Fu Qi thought: "Hou Jing returned from defeat, and it would be bad luck to abandon him. What's more, he has gone through hundreds of battles, how can he be tied up?" Emperor Wu of Liang refused to listen, and wrote back: "As long as Xiao Yuanming arrives in the morning, Hou Jing arrives at night." be repatriated." The envoy of the "Eastern Wei" returned to Shouyang with a letter from Emperor Wu of Liang.Hou Jing got solid evidence and said to the left and right: "I knew that Old Man Xiao is a thin-hearted man!" Wang Weijin said: "Now sitting in Shouyang is death, and rebellion is also death. I hope that the king will make a plan early!" Hou Jing had decided against it. In order to expand his armaments, he forced the residents of the cities he belonged to to serve as soldiers, and collected commercial supplies for military use. If there is a rebellion, it is best to have an internal response.After careful observation, Hou Jing found that the emperor's nephew Xiao Zhengde who was a "bandit" was very suitable.Xiao Zhengde had long harbored unreasonable thoughts, hoping that one day he would get back everything that belonged to him.Hou Jing wrote a letter saying that he wanted to embrace him as emperor. Xiao Zhengde was overjoyed and immediately said: "Now I am responding internally, and the public is attacking externally. Why worry about the big trouble! Time is not waiting for me, I hope to raise troops quickly!" Things have gone so bad that Emperor Wu of Liang is still in the dark.Xiao Fan, the king of Poyang who was stationed in Hefei, secretly reported Hou Jing's rebellion. Emperor Liang Wu said: "Hou Jing is like a baby waiting to be fed. How could he rebel? Why did the king of Poyang not allow the court to accommodate such a guest as Hou Jing?" Hou Jing The general Yang Yaren rebelled together, and after obtaining the evidence, Yang Yaren notified Emperor Wu of Liang, but Emperor Wu of Liang was still obsessed with it.What's more, Hou Jing kept urging the court for property, and Emperor Wu of Liang always gave the green light and responded to every request. With the continuous "support" of Emperor Wu of Liang, in August of the second year of Taiqing (548 A.D.), Hou Jing set up an altar in Shouyang to drink blood. At this time, Gao Cheng must be the one who laughs the happiest. The "Xianbei children" were lucky enough to use only one hostage and a letter to abolish Liang Guo, which had dreamed of reaping profits.In addition to Gao Cheng's keen political sense, the reason why this trick can be successful, there are three other important factors, if one thing is missing, Gao Cheng's game is useless. First of all, Hou Jing's suspicious character was the driving force behind his rebellion.Hou Jing was used to being fooled by his wolf clan compatriots in the Northern Dynasties, and by default everyone was his enemy. He never believed that anyone would treat himself with sincerity, and of course it was impossible to treat others with sincerity.Emperor Wu of Liang treated him well, and he accepted all the orders. If Emperor Wu of Liang wanted to harm him, he raised troops to protect himself. Secondly, Liang Guo's unfavorable situation is also critical.After the disastrous defeat of Hanshan, the strength of the Liang State could hardly resist the Eastern Wei army's long drive southward. If the friendly relationship with the Eastern Wei Dynasty could be restored and the war would be redirected to the Western Wei Dynasty, Liang State could continue to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.Regardless of Hou Jing's repeated opposition, Emperor Wu of Liang was eager to make friends with the Eastern Wei Dynasty, which objectively angered Hou Jing. In the end, Liang Guo fully exposed his military weakness before and after the Battle of Hanshan, which was the decisive factor that led Hou Jing to rebel against Liang Guo.Hou Jingyi saw Liang Guo's "handsome and foolish generals" in the Battle of Hanshan with low combat power. He once boasted: "Although I can't defeat Hebei, I have no problem fighting Jiangnan!" Finally, he dared to take the risk of losing everything and resolutely rebelled. When Emperor Wu of Liang received the news of Hou Jing's rebellion, he didn't take it seriously. He said nonchalantly, "What can Hou Jing and these soldiers do? I can beat him with a single stick." Xiao Zhengbiao, the governor of North Xuzhou, was the governor of the North Road, Liu Zhongli, the governor of Sizhou, was the governor of the West Road, Pei Zhigao, the regular attendant of Tongsanqi, was the governor of the East Road, and Xiao Lun, the sixth son of Shaoling King, was the governor of the East Road. Hou Jing's momentum was much stronger than when he first arrived in Shouyang, but facing the encirclement of Liang Guo's several armies, he felt a little guilty.Wang Wei offered a plan and said: "Xiao Lun came to attack, the enemy is outnumbered, and our army will be surrounded. It is better to abandon Huainan, lead the light cavalry to advance eastward quickly, and surprise Jiankang. At that time, with Xiao Zhengde's internal support, the king will attack Jiankang , the world can be settled, and great things can be accomplished.” Hou Jing used Wang Wei's strategy to leave the Chinese military governor Wang Guixian with a few soldiers to guard Shouyang, pretending to go hunting in the city, and to avoid the main force of the Liang army without anyone noticing.Hou Jing first took Qiaozhou (now Chuxian, Anhui), and then attacked Liyang (now Hexian, Anhui). Liyang prefect Zhuang Tie surrendered Hou Jing when his younger brother was killed. Zhuang Tie suggested to Hou Jing: cross the Yangtze River with lightning speed and go straight to the quarry in the upper reaches of Jiankang.Hou Jing dared to take risks, and immediately marched to the north bank of the Yangtze River. The garrison on the river detected Hou Jing's movements and reported to Jiankang.General Yang Kan asked to take 2,000 people to guard the quarry in case of any eventuality, and then ordered Xiao Lun to capture Shouyang, which would put Hou Jing's army in a dilemma.Zhu Yi thought: "Hou Jing will definitely not cross the river." Emperor Wu of Liang did not send Yang Kan to support the quarrying, but sent Xiao Zhengde out of Danyang (now northeast of Dangtu, Anhui).Xiao Zhengde prepared dozens of large ships, under the pretext of transporting firewood, and drove to the north bank to meet Hou Jing.It happened that there was a mistake in the handover of the defense of Caishi. Chen Xin, the general who changed defense, did not arrive at the scheduled time, and Wang Zhi, the former defender, had already led his troops away. Hou Jing was overjoyed, let out a long roar, jumped on the big ship first, led his troops across the Yangtze River, and quickly occupied the quarry.Although Hou Jing only had hundreds of horses and eight thousand soldiers (more than ten times the number when he was just defeated), the morale of the troops was strong and their fighting spirit was high. And the deadly part of the weak fat sheep. Further on, there is Jiankang, the capital of Liang State.There are countless gold, silver, jewels, fine wines, and beauties, where the roads are wide, where the towers are majestic, where the palaces are splendid, where the emperor is old, and where Hou Jing dreamed of.