Chapter 44 17. Brothers fight against the wall

Soon after Wang Sengbian and others invaded Jiankang, they persuaded Xiao Yi who was far away in Jiangling to advance.Xiao Yi resigned: "The long whale in Huaihai today is awarded the head; the short fox in Xiangyang has not completely changed its face. Taiping Yuzhu, you can discuss it." "Huaihai Long Whale" refers to Hou Jing who rebelled from Shouyang in Huainan. discuss. In fact, Xiao Xi is not the only obstacle standing in Xiao Yi's way to proclaim himself emperor.First of all, Xiao Dong, the deposed emperor who was locked up by Hou Jing in Jiankang City, is a troublesome one.

When Wang Sengbian sent troops from Jiangling, he once asked Xiao Yi: "After the Hou Jing is pacified, how should we treat the successor (Emperor Jianwen)?" Xiao Yi instructed: "Within the six gates, you must have your own military power." There are six gates in Taicheng, Xiao Yi blatantly asked Wang Seng to demonstrate his military power, and he will kill anyone who is not good for him. Wang Seng argued cunningly, heard Xiao Yi's implication, and replied: "It is the task of the minister to attack Hou Jing. As for what Cheng Ji did, please let others do it." He does not recite.

Xiao Yi had no choice but to secretly order General Xuanmeng Zhu Maichen to take charge of this "dirty job".When Liang Jun arrived in Jiankang, Emperor Jian Wen was dead, but Xiao Dong and his two younger brothers Xiao Qiao and Xiao Chen were still alive.The three supported each other out of the secret room, and someone removed the shackles for them.Both Xiao Qiao and Xiao Chen said: "Today we can avoid a sudden death!" Xiao Dong said with a sad face: "Future and misfortune are unpredictable, I am afraid it will be bad." Sure enough, the brothers Xiaodong who had regained their "freedom" met Zhu Maichen on the road.Zhu Maichen invited them to board the boat for a drink, and before the banquet was over, all three of them sank into the bottom of the river.Xiao Dong didn't die at the hands of Hou Jing, but when his uncle (Xiao Huan, the father of Xiao Dong's brother, is Xiao Yi's nephew) took him into account, he didn't know whether he should be "lucky" or cry bitterly.

Xiao Yi previously killed his nephew Xiao Yu in Changsha; then expelled his sixth brother Xiao Lun, which indirectly caused Xiao Lun to be killed by the army of the Western Wei Dynasty;But Xiao Yi felt that it was not enough, so he had to kill him, because at the same time Hou Jing was destroyed, his eighth younger brother, Xiao Ji, the king of Wuling, had already proclaimed himself emperor and changed Yuan Tianzheng. Xiao Ji has been operating in Yizhou for seventeen years, and he has done a good job in domestic and foreign affairs.Yizhou includes most of Sichuan and Chongqing today. It has been known as the land of abundance since ancient times, and it is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.Emperor Wu of Liang entrusted this strategically important land to his youngest son for defense, which can be described as entrusting him with a heavy responsibility.Xiao Ji saw the chaos in the east and no one had time to take care of Bashu, so he couldn't restrain his ambition, and he couldn't wait to ascend the throne of emperor in Chengdu.

Seeing that Xiao Ji had proclaimed himself emperor, Xiao Yi's ministers persuaded him again, but Xiao Yi refused. It's not that Xiao Yi doesn't want to be emperor, it's just that the timing is wrong.Xiao Ji proclaimed himself emperor in the west, and now he proclaimed himself emperor, wouldn't he and his younger brother form a situation similar to the confrontation between the Eastern and Western Wei?After a long time, who is orthodox can still be figured out?Xiao Yi doesn't want to share the family property with Lao Ba, he wants to take it all. As Xiao Ji of Yizhou, there is nothing wrong with becoming an emperor on his own, but survival is the first priority, and only based on his own safety can he talk about development and growth.To the north of Yizhou is Hanzhong, Liangzhou, which is the barrier of Yizhou. If Hanzhong is gained, Shu will be safe, and if Hanzhong is lost, Shu will be in danger.But a year ago, when Xiao Yi was fighting with Hou Jing, in order to gain the support of the powerful enemy in the north, he sent an envoy to the Western Wei Dynasty and promised to cede the land of Hanzhong.Yu Wentai sent generals Da Xiwu and Wang Xiong to lead troops into Hanzhong respectively.Although Xiao Xun, Marquis of Yifeng guarding Liangzhou, was unwilling to hand over the land to others and asked Xiao Ji for help, the morale of the Liang army was low and it was difficult to resist the dripping attack of the Western Wei army. After several rounds, their strength was completely lost.Da Xiwu sent people to persuade him to surrender, Xiao Xun had no other way out, and Hanzhong belonged to the Western Wei Dynasty.

As a result, the situation in Yizhou was very embarrassing. The Jiange was adjacent to the Western Wei Dynasty in the north, and Badong (now Fengjie East, Chongqing) was bordered by Xiaoyi in the east, and the two ends were blocked by the enemy.Xiao Ji is a guy who is good at literature but not good at martial arts (a common problem of Liang Guo nobles), he is not aware of the potential danger, but thinks that there is no future for sticking to it.Because he didn't know that Hou Jing's rebellion was over, he appointed Xiao Yi, Marquis of Yongfeng, as the governor of Yizhou, and stayed in Chengdu.

Xiao Ji came to fight from the empty country, Xiao Yi was not sad but happy.On the one hand, he tore off the veil of hypocrisy in November of this year, accepted the opinions of the officials, ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor in Jiangling, and changed his name to Yuan Chengsheng. He sent someone to send a letter to Yu Wentai again, saying that Xiao Ji was going to the east, hoping that the Western Wei Dynasty could help him seek Shu. From these two incidents, it can be seen that Xiao Yi failed as a politician, and as an emperor, he was unqualified and even deserves to be reviled.His idea is that Xiao Ji's all-out attack is equivalent to showing his cards. At this time, proclaiming himself emperor is the best countermeasure, and he can be eliminated in one fell swoop with justification.However, since you have refused to become emperor one after another before, and kept saying that you must first clarify your homeland before you rule the world, then choosing such a time to become emperor now is tantamount to slapping yourself in the face. At least, it also shows strategic thinking mess.As for reporting to the Western Wei Dynasty, it was completely a traitorous face of "preferring gifts to allies rather than domestic slaves", which directly produced extremely bad consequences.

Yu Wentai was very happy when he received the information.Yu Wentai knows people, and through many contacts with Xiao Yi's envoy, he concludes that the brothers of the Xiao family are good at harming his own family, but they don't know how to count outsiders. "Taking Shu to make beams is all in one fell swoop." He sent his nephew and general Wei Chijiong to attack Shu. In May of the second year of Chengsheng (553 A.D.), Xiao Ji arrived in Badong and learned that Hou Jing had died for almost a year.He complained about the prince Xiao Yuanzhao who concealed the news, and Xiao Yuanzhao argued: "Although Hou Jing is peaceful, Jiangling is not convinced." He proposed that Xiao Yi should be attacked by force.

Xiao Ji is in a dilemma. The Western Wei army has broken through Jiange and surrounded Chengdu, the old nest in the rear. In front is Xiao Yi, who turned his face and refused to recognize his brother.One country does not tolerate two monarchs. Xiao Ji, who weighed the pros and cons, did not listen to the advice of the soldiers and decided to continue marching and eat Jiangling first. Commander Xiao Ji's subordinates are mostly from Yizhou, Chengdu is precarious, and the banner of playing Hou Jing is not worthy of the name. These people are all homesick, so there is no fighting power.The Yizhou army fought with Xiao Yi's guard Lu Fahe on the river, and they were defeated repeatedly.Only then did Xiao Ji think of retreating, and wrote to Xiao Yi to ask for peace.Xiao Yi's various anti-insurgency troops have basically wiped out the sporadic rebellions in the southeast states and counties, solved their worries, and are in an overall advantage.He refused his younger brother's entreaties, and even sent Hou Jing's generals Ren Yue and Xie Daren to reinforce Lu Fahe.

In July, Ren Yue and others launched a general offensive, and the Yizhou army was defeated at the first touch, and even completely collapsed.Xiao Ji's way of retreat was cut off, and he took a few cronies along the river to the east, and was surrounded by the guerrilla general Fan Meng on the river. Xiao Yi issued a secret order to Fan Meng: "Letting Xiao Ji alive is a failure!" He wanted Xiao Ji to die, and his younger brother not to live. Xiao Ji loves money, so he made the gold and silver in the treasury into cakes weighing one catty, a total of 10,000 catties of gold and 50,000 catties of silver, and carried them with him.Every time he fought, he hung gold and silver in front of the camp to show off, claiming to reward meritorious soldiers, but he never fulfilled his promise, so the soldiers did not fight desperately.Now that his life was hanging by a thread, Xiao Ji suddenly thought of this batch of gold and silver. Fan Meng jumped on Xiao Ji's big boat and hacked over. Xiao Ji quickly threw a bag of gold cakes to Fan Meng and said, "Please accept this bag of gold, Please send me to see Lao Qi!"

Fan Meng sneered: "Why does the Son of Heaven allow you to see it so easily? If you kill your step, don't all the gold belong to me?" Saying that, Fan Meng beheaded Xiao Ji and his fifth son Xiao Yuanyuan with his own hands. (It's ridiculous that the rich and powerful in the world, whose brain is blocked by money, and who doesn't cry when he sees the coffin, is there more than one Xiao Ji?) When the news of Xiao Ji's death reached Chengdu, Xiao Pu surrendered to Yuchi Jiong, and the Western Wei Dynasty had a full meal at the smallest price.A person of Yuwentai's level can be called a master of the game field. Liang Yuan Emperor Xiao Yi revoked Xiao Ji's royal status and changed his surname to "Gao Tie Shi", and put Xiao Ji's prince Xiao Yuanzhao and his brothers in prison without food.Xiao Yuanzhao and others endured 13 days of hard work and starved to death. They were still gnawing on the flesh on their arms before they died. The internal strife in the Xiao family is coming to an end (it is said that the internal strife is flattering, which princes of the Xiao family treat their uncles, nephews and brothers as their own family?), Emperor Liang Yuan almost wiped out the surname Xiao, thinking that he is finally a meritorious deed Consummation, had the last laugh. He forgot the principle of turning from strong to weak, Liang Guo is currently in the weakest link in the competition among the three countries.Although the Northern Qi Dynasty and the Western Wei Dynasty were also affected by the Hou Jing Rebellion, they never shook the foundation of the country. On the contrary, the Northern Qi Dynasty had all Huainan, separated from Jiankang by a river; Hanzhong, Yizhou and other places were surrendered by Xiao Xi.The land that Emperor Liang Yuan worked hard to obtain was less than two-thirds of that in the era of Emperor Wu of Liang.From the perspective of the world, Liang Guo's loss is undoubtedly the biggest. Even if the two-thirds of the country, Emperor Liang Yuan could hardly hold on.He originally wanted to restore Jiankang, but the ministers thought that Jiankang had been looted by Hou Jing, and it was in a state of depression, and it no longer looked like a national capital. Besides, Jiankang's Jiangbei is the Northern Qi, which is not conducive to defense, and the gentry under him lived in Jiangling for a long time, and they also opposed it. Moved east.Emperor Liang Yuan accepted the opinion and made Jiangling his capital. This is a fatal decision. Xiao Yi not only failed in politics, but also had to make up the military exam.Jiankang is close to the Yangtze River. After all, it is in the south of the Yangtze River. There are natural dangers to defend, and there are many strongholds in the upper reaches; It's too late. In March of the third year of Chengsheng (554 A.D.), envoys from the Northern Qi Dynasty and the Western Wei Dynasty came to Jiangling at the same time.Emperor Liang Yuan was not as friendly to the envoys of the Western Wei Dynasty as he was to the envoys of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and even asked the Western Wei Dynasty to return the land, which made Yu Wentai very dissatisfied.The Western Wei Dynasty expanded its territory year after year, with strong troops and horses, and just solved internal problems. Emperor Liang Yuan's unreasonable actions gave Yu Wentai a good excuse to raise troops and destroy Liang.