Chapter 31 Thirteen, The Knot of the Stone Tiger

When Huan Wen conquered Chengdu, Shi Hu, the emperor of Later Zhao, was busy fighting Zhang Chonghua, the king of false Liang who had just ascended the throne. This Zhang Chonghua is the eldest son of Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun has been guarding Liangzhou for a long time. Zhao's attention was still focused on the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and at the same time he had to deal with Qianyan in the northeast. The political situation in Qianliang was the most stable among the several separatist regimes at that time.Zhang Jun seized the opportunity to conquer the Western Regions and won the victory. All the countries in the Western Regions sent envoys to surrender. Zhang Jun followed the method of the Han Dynasty and set up the Protectorate in the Western Regions. Qianliang seemed to be the suzerain of the Western Regions.

In the first year of Yonghe, Emperor Mu of the Jin Dynasty (345 A.D.), Zhang Jun called himself the false king of Liang (Zhang Jun did not dare to call himself the king of Liang because the area he controlled was relatively small and his power was weak, so it would be better to show a Since then, Qianliang has become a de facto independent kingdom in the northwest. Zhang Jun died in the second year of becoming king, and Zhang Chonghua, who was only 16 years old, took over the seat of the fake Liangzhou king. The new owner of Liangzhou looks like a child, and he usually likes to find a bunch of children together Playing, made Zhang Jun's former ministers very worried.As soon as Zhang Chonghua ascended the throne, he sent envoys to Later Zhao. Shi Hu heard that Zhang Jun was dead and that a young boy succeeded him. He suddenly became excited because of his long-term stalemate with the former Yan and the Eastern Jin Dynasty, so he decided not to buy it. For Zhang Chonghua's account, teach him a lesson.

Ma Qiu, a well-known general under Shi Hu, was the governor of Liangzhou at that time, so he ordered his generals Wang Zhuo and Ma Qiu to invade Qianliang territory together. The situation in the state is looking tense. Zhang Chonghua mobilized all the soldiers in the territory, led by Pei Heng, the general who conquered the south, to defend against the enemy.Pei Hengguang kept his guard and did not fight, and confronted Hou Zhao's army for a long time.Zhang Chonghua knew that the national strength of the former Liang was not as strong as that of the later Zhao, and it was inevitable that things would change over time.Zhang Chonghua's Sima Zhang Dan recommended Xie Ai to Zhang Chonghua, and Zhang Chonghua appointed Xie Ai without hesitation.

(Zhang Dan’s recommendation of Xie Ai’s words is also well-founded, and people have to admire: "I heard that the country is strong with soldiers, and the generals are the main ones. The leader of the generals is the chance of survival. Good or bad luck. Therefore Yan Ren Le Yi, Ke Ping Quanqi; It may not necessarily be the best of talents. Moreover, Han Xin’s move is not the old name; Rangju’s trust is not the old general; Lu Meng’s advancement is not the old honor; Impermanent people, if they are talented, they will be given great things. Today, the strong bandits are in the suburbs, and the generals will not enter. The human relationship is turbulent, and the crisis is a little bit imminent. Master Xie Ai, who is both civil and military, has a good understanding of military strategies. If you give him an axe, Entrusted with special conscripts, he will surely be able to fight against insults and wipe out murderers." The master book was originally a role like the chief of staff in the shogunate, and he had no experience in war. Zhang Dan knew Xie Ai's talent and dared to recommend him, which shows that at that time Liangzhou's rise was not accidental due to a group of scholars who moved from the Guanzhong area due to the war; Zhang Chonghua also regarded Xie Ai as a person like Han Xin and appointed a newcomer when he didn't know much about him. There is indeed something inappropriate for his age in every move.)

Xie Ai was indeed "a blockbuster", and he made a promise in front of Zhang Chonghua that he only needed to give him 7,000 people to defeat Zhao Jun.Zhang Chonghua was overjoyed. He thanked Ai as the backbone general and gave him five thousand cavalry. Xie Ai sent troops from Zhenwu to attack Ma Qiu's army.Ma Qiu and Pei Heng's army had a stalemate for a long time, unexpectedly "Cheng Yaojin" appeared in the middle of the road, and Xie Ai beheaded more than 5,000 Zhao soldiers in the first battle. Ma Qiu felt humiliated, and the next year relied on Shihu's reinforcements to make a comeback. Zhang Chonghua's general Song Qin led 20,000 households to surrender to Ma Qiu. Later Zhao's army was extremely powerful and fought all the way to the bank of the Yellow River.

At this time, Xie Ai had been appointed by Zhang Chonghua as Chi Jie, with full authority to command the battle with Hou Zhao.Xie Ai rode in a small carriage, wearing a white turban, and came to fight with drums. Seeing it from a distance, Ma Qiu said angrily: "Xie Ai is just a young scholar, how dare you dress up like this, you really underestimate me!" Immediately ordered three thousand elite cavalry to charge, Xie Ai's left and right Sure enough, the two armies began to be confused.Xie Ai's subordinates advised him to ride on horses instead, but Xie Ai shook his head and refused, and even got out of the chariot to direct the battle, calmly; the army of Hou Zhao thought that there must be an ambush in Qianliang, so they dared not move forward.The Liang army led Zhang Hao to stealthily attack Zhao Jun behind him, and the latter Zhao Jun lost his position. During the retreat, Xie Ai's army took advantage of the situation and rushed to kill him. There were countless casualties. .

The war between Hou Zhao and Qian Liang was an event at the end of Shi Hu's reign.Later, Shihu sent troops to attack the important town of Qianliang twice Hanhan (now Linxia, ​​Gansu), and again suffered a disastrous defeat in front of the Qianliang defenders commanded by Xie Ai.In the end, Shi Hu had no choice but to say in frustration: "I used a partial army to pacify the northern Kyushu, but now the Kyushu army can't take down a small Fanghan. Liangzhou is really a hidden dragon and a crouching tiger, so it's hard to deal with. (Cao Cao lamented at the beginning that "having a son should be like Sun Zhongmou", so it feels like this.)

Later Zhao fought east and west during Shi Hu's reign. It seemed extremely powerful, but in fact it became weaker and weaker.Shihu amassed money crazily, practiced in the palace, and then Zhao Guoli became weaker and weaker.A damned monk named Wu Jin suggested to Shi Hu that the national fortune of the Hu people will decline, and the Jin people will be revived. The only solution now is to use hard labor to suppress the strength of the Jin people.Shihu admired Buddhism and obeyed the words of "Buddhist disciples", so he ordered the people to be forced to serve, and built royal gardens and long walls with a radius of tens of miles in the north of Yecheng day and night. There were tens of thousands of corpses strewn across the field; he also collected wartime supplies across the country, and those who did not hand in them would be shot to death.So far, the cruelest and darkest side of Hu people's rule has been fully exposed.

Shi Hu was no longer able to continue to wage war, and the battle for the position in the Eastern Palace had exhausted him physically and mentally.His prince Shixuan was not inferior to the original prince Shi Sui in terms of lewdness and cruelty. Sun Zhen, the steward of the East Palace, got an eye disease, and asked Cui Yue, the attendant, for any cure. Cui Yue joked, "It can be cured by soaking in urine." Sun Zhen asked him in wonder, "How can the eyes be soaked in urine?" ?” Cui Yue replied, “Your eyeballs are sunken, just enough to be soaked.” Sun Zhen got angry when she heard this, and told Shi Xuan about it.Shi Xuan was a man with a full face and dark eyes. When he heard this, he was furious and killed Cui Yue and his son.

Shi Xuan likes to have fun, so he proposed to Shi Hu to go to famous mountains and rivers to pray for blessings, but in fact he went hunting in this name.When he traveled, he drove out of Yecheng in a magnificent cart with a canopy on the top and banners behind him, accompanied by hundreds of thousands of soldiers.When he came to a hunting place, Shi Xuan ordered his generals and soldiers to form a large circle of nearly a hundred miles and drive the birds and beasts into the middle.At night, the soldiers lit torches, and hundreds of hunting masters rode on tall horses to shoot in circles.Shi Xuan held the beauty in his arms, and watched from a distance on the chariot until all the birds and beasts disappeared (this scene is like an ancient Roman arena).If any bird or beast escaped from the encirclement, the guards should be held accountable, and those with ranks would have their horses confiscated, and those without ranks would be whipped a hundred times.What's worse is that the soldiers couldn't bear such a large-scale torture at all, and tens of thousands died of starvation and freezing on the way.Shi Xuan passed through three prefectures and fifteen counties, looting everywhere, making people's livelihood difficult.

However, Shi Hu felt that such a big ostentation was very enjoyable, so he asked his other beloved son, Qin Gong Shitao, to do the same and go hunting in Bingzhou, Qinzhou and Yongzhou in the west.Shi Xuan thought that a little prince could get the same treatment as himself, and he was very jealous in his heart, suspecting that Shi Hu would abolish him and set up Shi Tao.At this time, Shi Tao was building a hall in the mansion again, and named it "Xuanguang Hall", and the girder was built to be nine feet long, which was against the regulations at the time.Shi Xuan came to the hall and saw that the word "Xuan Guang" was obviously alluding to him. He was so angry that he drew his sword and chopped off the craftsman, and cut off the beam.Shi Tao was not a vegetarian either, so he immediately ordered the rebuilding of the girder, adding it to ten feet.Seeing that Shi Taoming was posing against him, Shi Xuan began to secretly cultivate killers, waiting for opportunities to act. That night, Shi Tao and his bureaucrats held a banquet in Dongming Temple, drank to their heart's content, and got so drunk that they couldn't go back to the mansion, so they stayed overnight in the Buddhist hall.Shi Xuan's killer quietly entered the room over the wall and assassinated Shi Tao. Shi Xuan thought he did it without anyone noticing, so he reported it to Shi Hu when he went to court the next day.Shi Hu was distraught when he heard the news, so he wanted to find out what happened. Sikong and Li Nong advised him: "I am afraid that the one who killed Duke Qin is within the Xiaoqiang Wall. Your Majesty must not act easily." The Wudian set up a mourning hall and sent heavy troops to guard it. Shi Xuan came to the mourning hall with a thousand followers, but he didn't cry, he just laughed. He uncovered the quilt, saw his brother's body, laughed triumphantly and left. Such behavior aroused Shi Hu's suspicion. He pretended that Empress Todu was too sad and his life was dying, so he summoned Shi Xuan into the palace and detained him. After some confession, the culprit was finally found out.Shi Hu was furious, locked Shi Xuan into a pigsty, locked his jaw with an iron ring, and fed him with pig food.Shi Hu wanted to avenge Shi Tao, but he killed one son for the sake of another son. He set up a firewood pile at the north gate of Yecheng, and ordered Shi Tao's former favor to pull out Shi Xuan's hair, pull out his tongue, and drag him onto the firewood pile. , Then cut off his limbs, gouged out his eyes, cut open his stomach, and then burned him alive. Shi Hu was also deeply stimulated by this father-son and brother-in-law fight, and has since fallen ill.On the next issue of choosing the prince, he did not choose the older Yan Gong Shi Bin and Peng Cheng Gong Shi Zun, but established the young Qi Gong Shi Shi.He said to the officials: "I really want to wash my intestines with three dendrobiums of pure ash. Maybe my stomach is too dirty, so I only have evil sons. I want to kill my father when I am over twenty. Now Shishi is only ten. When he is twenty years old, I will already be old." Shi Hu's belly is not dirty, but there is an inextricable knot there, which has been tied since the day he abolished Shi Hong, and it dragged the Hou Zhao Empire into the abyss step by step.When this knot disappeared with Shi Hu's passing, the country behind him also disappeared.