Chapter 3 3. Civil servants wronged the country
Emperor Zhaozong liked civil servants and Confucian scholars, and hoped to achieve restoration and revival through them, and it would be best to find the feeling of "Three Emperors and Five Emperors".Scholars in the court seem to have a way of talking about grammar, but some scholars want to start a war.This battle ruined the new situation that Zhaozong had dreamed of.
Emperor Zhaozong liked to discuss state affairs with well-known and highly educated Confucian officials, thinking that they were loyal, upright, and knowledgeable.
On this day, Emperor Zhaozong discussed with Prime Minister Zhang Jun how to deal with chaos in ancient and modern times.Zhang Jun said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, you are young and strong, and you have the ambition to revive and rule the country. However, both the government and the vassals are restricted by powerful officials, so that your majesty cannot fulfill your ambitions, and government orders are difficult to implement. This is my humble minister day and night." It is the most important thing for which the night grieves."
Hearing what Zhang Jun said, Emperor Zhaozong felt that it was right in his arms.That's right, I am an emperor who is dedicated to his duties and is very energetic. It is these rebellious ministers who hold powerful and powerful soldiers who are disobedient and get in the way, so that they cause chaos in the world.Zhaozong thought of this, and asked Zhang Jun: "Zhang Aiqing, you are loyal to the country, what do you think should be the most urgent task now?"
Encouraged by the emperor, Zhang Jun felt that he suddenly grew taller, as if he had shouldered the responsibility of the whole world.Zhang Jun straightened his back and said with great emotion: "The most important thing now is to establish a strong central army. Only with a strong army and a large army can the world be deterred, and anyone who refuses to accept will be punished."
Li Ye, Emperor Zhaozong, nodded frequently in agreement: "A few years ago, although there were many feudal towns, they lived in peace with each other. Now it is really out of order. The feudal towns are fighting against each other at every turn, and the court's mediation doesn't work. Centralization of power is necessary."
Zhaozong had the qualities of an angry youth, and he did what he said, and immediately issued an order to expand the army and prepare for war in the capital on a large scale.Royal recruitment, isn't that a great job?Within two or three months, an army of 100,000 people was established.
The emperor wants to do things, and there are really many things delivered to his door.
Last year, Wang Jian and Gu Yanlang asked the court to conquer Chen Jingxuan.Now, Zhu Quanzhong and Li Kuangwei asked the imperial court to send troops to Hedong to conquer Li Keyong.Two memorials were placed on the emperor's Longshu case.Zhaozong was full of excitement and excitement, and felt more and more that he was undertaking the glorious mission of ZTE. This is really a great mission from heaven!Otherwise, how can I have someone to help me in whatever I want to do?Excitedly, Li Ye called all the civil and military officials for a meeting to study the crusade against Li Keyong.
When everyone heard that Li Keyong was going to be crusaded, all of a sudden there was a fire in the Tai Chi Hall, and there were a lot of discussions. Most people expressed their opposition, thinking that this was an impossible task.Minister of the Ministry of War Du Rangneng (the one who chased Emperor Xizong barefoot in the middle of the night) and Minister of the Ministry of War Liu Chongwang both thought it was not feasible.Yang Fugong was calmer, and his analysis was more in-depth. He said without haste: "The exile of the first dynasty and the ruin of the capital were due to the domineering and domineering warlords of the feudal towns and lack of royal power, but there were also reasons why the ministers of the court did not handle things properly. Now , the emperor has just ascended the throne, his foundation is not stable, and he does not have the conditions to launch a war."
Zhang Jun originally advocated weakening the vassals. In addition, he had a bad relationship with Li Keyong and Yang Fugong, and he had a long-standing grudge in his heart. In order to squeeze out Yang Fugong and attack Li Keyong, Zhang Jun strongly advocated sending troops.Zhang Jun stood up, clenched his fists with both hands, and made an impassioned statement: "Emperor Xizong was forced to withdraw from the capital because Li Ke used this Shatuo beard to force him. I have always been worried that Li Keyong colluded with the three towns of Heshuo. The imperial court poses a threat that cannot be eradicated. Now Zhu Quanzhong, Li Kuangwei and other feudal towns want to attack Li Keyong. Li Keyong is surrounded by enemies, and he can be defeated in less than a month. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I would like to invite you to command the army. Suppressing thieves. This is a god-sent opportunity, and the time will never come again. The time has come to establish the court's majesty."
Zhaozong looked at Zhang Jun, then turned to look at Kong Wei.Kong Wei, the official censor and Tongping Zhangshi, said: "Master Zhang's words are very true." Kong Wei has a lot of experience, and like Wei Zhaodu and Du Rangneng, he followed Emperor Xizong and suffered a lot.Kong Wei belonged to the faction that advocated restoring the governance order of the former Tang Dynasty, and he hated the eunuchs and towns extremely.
Emperor Zhaozong said hesitantly: "Li Keyong made outstanding achievements in the process of destroying the Huangchao and revitalizing the Tang Dynasty. Now that he is in danger and conquering him, will the people of the world laugh at me?"
Kong Wei shook his head and said: "What your Majesty said is just a short-term expedient consideration. Even if some people don't like it, the rumors and rumors will dissipate sooner or later. Now Zhang Jun's proposition is the strategy for the country that will benefit the future. When we sent troops to attack Xichuan last year, we had made overall calculations, and the food, grass, and money were enough to support the military expenditure for two years. These are not problems, the key is that Your Majesty must make up his mind."
Emperor Zhaozong Li Ye saw that the two prime ministers he valued had the same idea and coincided with his inner impulse, so he immediately decided to conquer Li Keyong.However, in the end Li Ye played a trick and said, "This matter is left to Zhang Jun and Kong Wei, two lovers, to handle it. Don't embarrass me."
The military incident in the southwest has not stopped, and the war in the northeast has begun.
In 890 AD, Zhang Jun took command and set off.
Who is Zhang Jun, the commander-in-chief of the imperial army?What kind of Confucian officials influenced Zhaozong's decision-making?
Zhang Jun, courtesy name Yuchuan, was born in Hejian.His ancestors were also high officials.Zhang Jun is suave and uninhibited, dabbles in literature and history, and likes to talk loudly. People around him can't understand his pretentious and over-the-top style, and they stay away from him and don't associate with him.Zhang Jun was indignant and frustrated, and felt that his talents were not met, so he simply hid in Jinfeng Mountain and became a hermit.During the period of seclusion, Zhang Jun devoted himself to studying Guiguzi's vertical and horizontal techniques, determined to use the vertical and horizontal strategy to gain wealth.
During the Qianfu period, the privy envoy Yang Fugong met Zhang Jun by chance. Seeing that he had some talents, he recommended Zhang Jun, who was still Baiding, to the imperial court and became a doctor of Taichang.
When Huang Chao was approaching Chang'an, Zhang Jun felt that the situation was not good, so he pretended to be sick and asked for leave to go home, and hid in Shangzhou with his family.Within a few days, the capital fell and Emperor Xizong fled, lacking clothes and food on the way.When the emperor and his entourage were helpless and worried, Li Kang, the county magistrate of Hanyin, came to offer hundreds of baskets of dry food.Emperor Xizong asked Li Kang: "As a county magistrate, why do you have such thoughts?" Li Kang replied: "I am only a mere official, how can I have such insight? Even if I know that your majesty is in trouble, I dare not rush to ask your majesty for help." Offering food and drink, this is what Zhang Jun instructed me to do." Xi Zong was very surprised that there was such a high-ranking person hiding among the people, so he ordered Zhang Jun to be found and appointed as a doctor of the Ministry of War.
Later, in Wang Duo's army, Zhang Jun and Li Keyong, who had just entered the pass to rescue Chang'an, formed a team. In the name of admonishing the doctor, Zhang Jun came forward to say that he had surrendered the official army who had surrendered to Huang Chao.Zhang Jun made his fortune because of Yang Fugong. Later, Yang Fugong was squeezed out by Tian Lingzi. Zhang Jun took advantage of the wind, left Yang Fugong and joined Tian Lingzi's family.
After Tian Lingzi lost power, Yang Fugong came back, hated Zhang Junxian, and dismissed him from office.
After Emperor Zhaozong came to the throne, he heard that Zhang Jun had the ability to manage the world, so he worshiped Zhang Jun as the prime minister, the judge, and the financial power.
After Zhang Jun became prime minister, he often compared himself to Xie An and Pei Du, took the world as his own responsibility, and determined to turn the tide and help the building to collapse.In fact, Zhang Jun has a very bad reputation, including Li Keyong, who doesn't think highly of him. He thinks that he is ostentatious. Apart from talking and boasting, he has no real skills.It is precisely because Li Keyong looks down on Zhang Jun that Zhang Jun wants to retaliate.
Kong Wei, Zihuawen, a native of Qufu, Ludi, is the descendant of Confucius with authentic roots.His grandfather, Kong Jian, was a minister of the Ministry of Rites. He came from a famous family and belonged to a real "famous brand".Kong Wei's father passed away when he was very young, and he was dependent on his uncle's house.He had a lot of friends since he was a child, and all the people he met were celebrities, so he became famous very early.This person has a very strict self-cultivation of morality, likes elegance and purity, lives and behaves strictly according to the rules, hates evil like a hatred, and tolerates flawed people.In his official career, he successively served as the third minister of the household department, the military department and the official department.Later, he served as the supervisory censor, responsible for the court's laws and regulations, and no one inside or outside dared to mess with him.
Master Kong regarded himself as a noble character, which most people would not pay attention to.Therefore, I have had conflicts with many colleagues, and it is difficult for me to work together.This caused Kong Wei to be very unpopular, and he could not hold any position for long, and was excluded.Kong Wei's brilliant experience is mainly that he has overcome all difficulties and dangers to follow Xi Zong to escape, and saw through the evil intentions of Zhu Mei and others early.Therefore, Emperor Xizong returned to the court, added officials to Kong Wei, and gave him an iron coupon to avoid death.Kong Wei held the most positions as ceremonial officials and admonishing officials. He was very persistent in the establishment of court etiquette and laws, and he refused to give up an inch. He required strict compliance from the emperor to the officials.For officials who have power and lawlessness, we will try our best to impeach them and never tolerate them.It seems that Xi Zong and Zhao Zong are not as complete as bastards yet, knowing that Kong Wei is suitable for serving as a ceremonial officer and an admonishing officer, he put him in a job position that can give full play to his expertise.
Good morality is one aspect, and governance is not necessarily expert.How could Kong Wei, a very stubborn person with extreme moral cleanliness, be able to cope with the complicated, turbulent and treacherous political environment of the late Tang Dynasty?How to deal with administrative affairs with high political strategy and technical content?
Du Rangneng is the son of Du Shenquan, the chief chancellor of the Yizong Dynasty, and the descendant of Du Ruhui, the famous prime minister in the early Tang Dynasty.Du Rangneng has a brilliant and complete resume. In addition to his noble background, he has high qualifications and academic qualifications. He was born as a Jinshi; he has rich experience in grassroots and court work. After entering the official career, he later held official positions in several vassals and towns. In the central government, he successively served as Shi Yushi, Qiju Lang, Rites, Yuanwailang of the Ministry of War, Zhongshu Sheren, Hanlin Bachelor, Minister of Rites, and Minister of the Ministry of War.Du Rangneng has done a lot of well-known events. He chased Emperor Xizong barefoot in the middle of the night and let the emperor see his loyalty; Du Rang was able to guard the emperor alone; he stated his interests and fought hard with reason, and saved many people who had been officials in Zhu Mei's puppet court.After Emperor Zhaozong came to the throne, he granted Du Rang Neng Kai Fu Yi Tong Sansi, Shang Shu Zuo Pushe, Jin Guogong, and gave him an iron coupon to avoid death. Later, he was granted the title of Taiwei.
Liu Chongwang, courtesy name Xitu.His ancestors were from Daijun in Beidi, who migrated to Luoyang with Emperor Wei Xiaowen.Liu Chongwang’s seven-generation ancestor, Liu Zhenghui, once assisted Tang Taizong Li Shimin to raise troops in Jinyang. Later, the Li Tang Dynasty was established.Liu Chongwang was similar to Du Rangneng. He came from a famous family and was also a Jinshi, one class later than Du Rangneng.After Liu Chongwang became an official, he worked with Wang Ninglian, Pei Tan, and Cui Anqian.Later, he worked as an advising doctor in the fugitive Emperor Xizong's court, and was ordered to go to Hezhong to persuade Wang Chongrong.Emperor Zhaozong ascended the throne and granted Liu Chongwang the Minister of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Officials.Liu Chongwang is a man who is resolute and upright when things happen.
Objectively speaking, none of the ministers and Confucian ministers whom Emperor Zhaozong relied on were treacherous and evil. Most of them still had integrity and standpoints, and some of them were not lacking in political talents.Unfortunately, quantity does not determine quality.When a large number of capable people get together, it may not necessarily become a more capable group, but may even become a worse group.What's more, there are no extraordinary talents among these people, and it is barely enough to keep things in a prosperous age, but in a troubled world, it is impossible for these people to settle the messy military affairs.For a complex collective to play an effective role, the key lies in how to allocate these people, make the best use of their talents, perform their duties, and coordinate and complement each other.This issue can only be solved by the supreme leader Zhaozong, but Zhaozong couldn't solve this problem.Although he likes "famous brands", Zhaozong doesn't know how to match famous brands.Therefore, a bunch of famous brands are draped on the body indiscriminately, but it is messy and at a loss.Emperor Zhaozong's biased listening and partial belief allowed laymen to dominate experts, and allowed personal grievances to take advantage of policy loopholes, which eventually led to a series of mistakes in the decision-making of the entire imperial court.
Just when Zhang Jun was actively preparing for the war, raising food and grass, and furiously mobilizing his troops, news came that Zhaoyi had mutinied.The new Zhaoyi Jiedu envoy Li Kegong is violent and harsh. Luzhou people don't like him very much, but they never forget Li Kexiu.The person who sent a letter to Li Keyong to invite him to send troops on behalf of Qi Shen, the supervisor of Luzhou Army, was named An Jushou. The name sounds like a pet in today's cartoons.Although Meng Fangli died, but after Meng Fangli's younger brother Meng Qian surrendered to Li Keyong, he was reused by Li Keyong.Now, An Jushou is very uncomfortable, because he is worried about being killed by Meng Qian one day, so he is worried every day, neither living nor useful.One day, Li Ke used 500 of Zhaoyi's brave and skilled soldiers to conscript Taiyuan, but the Luzhou people were unwilling to go, and mutiny occurred on the road.The small school Feng Ba made a rebellion and returned to Luzhou with these elite soldiers.An Jushou in Luzhou City took advantage of the chaos and killed Li Kegong who was not fortified, and then An Jushou recruited Feng Ba. Unexpectedly, Feng Ba refused to accept An Jushou and set up another hill himself.An Jushou saw that she was not supported, and only then did she know that there is something more frightening in the world.People who speculate and make bad things generally can't do big things, and they pee their pants when they encounter catastrophe. Anjushou is a typical example.
The helpless An Jushou thought of Zhu Quanzhong.So he sent a letter to Zhu Quanzhong expressing his intention to surrender Luzhou City.Zhu Quanzhong immediately sent Heyang general Zhu Chongjie to go there, but before Zhu Chongjie arrived in Luzhou, Anju couldn't bear the mental pressure and couldn't stay in Luzhou any longer, so he decided to leave the city.As soon as he left home, An Jushou was killed by rioters in the mountains.This Anjushou is really ridiculous and pitiful, little unlucky bastard, so desperate.Zhu Chongjie successfully occupied Luzhou.This is undoubtedly great news for the officers and soldiers. Li Keyong lost Zhaoyi before the troops were dispatched, which is a good start!The atmosphere of joy and victory seemed to permeate the city of Chang'an.
In May, the imperial court decreed to deprive Li Keyong of all his official titles and kick out Li's clan.He ordered Zhang Jun to be the envoy of the recruiting system for the camp capital in the east of the river, Jingzhao Yin and Sun Kui to be the deputy envoy, Han Jian, the Jiedu envoy of Zhenguo, to be the Marquis of Duyu and the envoy to supply the army food, Zhu Quanzhong to be the envoy to recruit from the south, and Wang Rong to be the envoy to the east. Li Kuangwei is the recruiting envoy from the north, and He Lianduo is the deputy envoy to the north.
Zhang Jun recommended Niu Hui to be the judge of the camp in the matter. Unexpectedly, Niu Hui was very good and refused to buy Zhang Jun's account. He refused, saying: "The country has suffered from chaos and its power is exhausted. At this time, it is time to be a hero. Extraordinary event, untimely challenge a powerful feudal town, sow dissension between princes, I think this matter will undoubtedly fail." This Niu Hui is the Niu Dang of the two famous opposing party groups in the late Tang Dynasty "Niu Li Erdang" The grandson of the leader Niu Sengru.Without the support of the surname Niu, Zhang Jun was still very good. He led the 52nd Battalion and about 50,000 Hu Han soldiers in the prefectures of Ping, Ning, Ping, and Xia, and set off with great fanfare.
Before leaving, Emperor Zhaozong Li Ye personally held a farewell banquet for Zhang Jun at Anxilou.Zhang Jun took the opportunity to dismiss the left and right people, and whispered to Emperor Zhaozong Li Ye: "Wait for the humble minister to get rid of the external troubles of the feudal town first, and then get rid of the internal troubles for your majesty."
Zhang Jun's so-called internal troubles refer to the eunuch group headed by Yang Fugong.Zhaozong kept nodding in satisfaction, feeling that his plan was being implemented item by item in an orderly manner.Yang Fugong's power spread all over the court and the public, and the cronies who were placed beside the emperor overheard Zhang Jun's words.Yang Fugong got the secret report at the first time. Before Zhang Jun sent troops, he also established a deadly enemy for himself, which shows the shallowness of his political strategy.
The Tang Dynasty sent out soldiers and made a lot of ostentation, and the emperor had to send them off by the chief of the forbidden army after sending them off.Lieutenants of the Left and Right Shence Army hosted a banquet to see Zhang Jun off at Changle Ban. During this time, Yang Fugong toasted Zhang Jun.Zhang Jun deliberately excused himself by saying that he was drunk and refused to drink Yang Fugong's wine.Yang Fugong maintained a high degree of rationality and restraint, and joked to Zhang Jun: "Mr. Zhang went out to fight according to the order, and the military power is in his hands. Is it because of affection? I'm sorry?" I'm sorry!" Yang Fugong felt very unhappy, and his hatred for Zhang Jun was even deeper.
In July, Zhang Jun joined forces with Xuanwu, Zhenguo, Jingnan, Fengxiang, Baoda, Dingnan and other armies in Jinzhou.At this time, the rising political star Zhu Quanzhong, who was being highly valued by the imperial court, expressed his position at the first time, expressing his support for the government to send troops.Zhu Quanzhong dispatched Xiao general Ge Congzhou to lead a thousand cavalry from Huguan to the city of Luzhou at night, broke through the siege and entered the city, and joined forces with Zhu Chongjie.While occupying Luzhou, Zhu Quanzhong sent Li Yun, Li Chongyin, and Deng Jiyun to Zezhou to attack Li Hanzhi, and Zhang Quanyi and Zhu Youyu were sent to the north of Zezhou to support Ge Congzhou.Zhu Quanzhong personally supervised the division stationed in Mengjin.
Although the troops sent by the officers and soldiers are massive this time, they are not of the same mind. They each have their own ghosts, share different dreams, and all want to use the hands of others to destroy their enemies.
Seeing that the Bian army had already occupied Luzhou, Zhang Jun was worried that Zhaoyi would fall into Zhu Quanzhong's hands, so he quickly sent his deputy Sun Kui to act as the acting envoy of Zhaoyi, and led 2,000 people to Luzhou.
Li Ke was attacked from all sides.The tiger was no match for the pack of wolves. Li Keyong did not dare to be careless, so he took the command from the center. He sent Kang Junli, Li Cunxiao, and Li Hanzhi to the south to rescue Ze Lu, Li Siyuan and Li Cunxin to the north to resist Li Kuangwei and Helian Duo, and Xue Zhiqin and Li Hanzhi to the west. Li Chengsi met Zhang Jun.
In other words, Mr. Sun Kui set off from Jinzhou in early August.Sun Kui didn't practice military affairs, how could he fight?With the feeling of bringing 2,000 people as if he brought 20,000 people, Sun Kui believed that the royal army was the army of justice, and they should have the arrogance and arrogance.The flags are fluttering, the trumpet fluttering, the brocade clothes, the fragrant car and the treasure cover, the style is luxurious, and the front and back are hugged along the way, just like traveling and vacationing.Sun Kui's itinerary was discovered by Li Cunxiao's reconnaissance.Li Cunxiao led 300 cavalry in ambush in the eldest son Xigu. When Sun Kui's team entered the ambush position, Li Cunxiao suddenly rushed out, without any effort, and captured Sun Kui and the Chinese envoy Han Guifan who was carrying the imperial edict alive. All destroyed.Li Cunxiao tied Sun Kui and Han Guifan Wuhua with white cloth strips, took them to the foot of Luzhou City, and shouted to the city: "The imperial court uses Sun Shangshu to guard Luzhou. General Ge, you can go back to Bianliang." After intimidation by the Bian army, Sun Kui and Han Guifan were imprisoned and sent to Jinyang to be dedicated to Li Keyong.
Li Keyong first locked up Sun Kui and gave him a psychological threat, and then planned to recruit him, and promised him to be the deputy envoy of Hedong Jiedu.Sun Kui, who had been imprisoned in Hedong prison, sternly rejected Li Keyong: "I am an important minister of the imperial court in a huge country. It is my duty to die when I am defeated. How could I be wronged and serve the envoy of a town!"
When Li Keyong heard this stubborn old man Sun Kui say such words, he felt greatly insulted, and became angry from embarrassment, and ordered Sun Kui to be sawed to death.
There are many kinds of criminal laws in ancient China, and the torture is even more unimaginable, reaching the abnormal triple-A level.Sawing people with a wood-sawing iron saw is also an extremely cruel method. Sawing people does not mean sawing people horizontally on the neck. That is not cruel. Once the neck is broken, people will die.Li Ke used the saw to make people unable to die for a while. He used a big saw to cut various parts of the human body until he died of blood loss and pain.
I don’t know if you still remember that when Li Ke used his troops to attack Yunzhou, Duan Wenchu, who was defending Yunzhou, was delayed, and his bones were trampled to pieces. How cruel!Several military academies who executed the execution were not skilled workers. They saw Sun Kui's fat and strong body a few times, but the iron saw could not cut into the meat. Sun Kui became a veritable "hob meat".Sun Kui yelled: "Damn dog slave! Saw people should be clamped with wooden boards, how do you idiots know!"
These execution military schools were very obedient. They found two door panels, tied Sun Kui between the wooden boards, made sandwiches, and then sawed them into several sections together with the wooden boards and Sun Kui with a big iron saw.
Sun Kui was not afraid of being executed, and he kept cursing until he died, preferring death to surrender.Although Sun Kui didn't know how to use soldiers, the minister's iron bones and awe-inspiring integrity were enough to shock the world.Sun Kui did not die from Li Keyong, but from Emperor Zhaozong Li Ye and Zhang Jun who were not good at employing people!In the dilapidated late Tang Dynasty, how many officials with both ability and political integrity were killed by the court's useless policies and actions!
In September, after capturing Luzhou, Zhu Quanzhong dispatched his generals Li Xuan, Li Chongyin, and Deng Jiyun to surround Zezhou.But after arriving in Zezhou, Li Xuan decided to capture Zezhou first and then march.Li Xuan, Li Chongyin, and Deng Jiyun were all well-known warriors in the Bian army, and they were all promoted and reused by Zhu Quanzhong.Although Li Hanzhi, the governor of Zezhou, was strong, he was a little guilty and timid in the face of the more powerful Bian army, and he dared not fight after closing the city.
Li Hanzhi urgently asked Li Keyong for help.Li Keyong sent General Li Cunxiao to lead five thousand cavalry to help Zezhou in the starry night.Li Cunxiao is a famous general among the new generation of generals in Hedong, and the adopted son of Li Keyong.Bian general Deng Jiyun also often regarded himself as brave, felt unambiguous, and had the heart to despise Li Cunxiao.The two armies lined up to fight, and Deng Jiyun went out to fight.Helplessly, Deng Jiyun's skills were not as good as others, and he was still inferior to Li Cunxiao in martial arts, so he was captured alive by Li Cunxiao.After the defeat of the Bian army, Li Xuan and Li Chongyin withdrew their camp overnight.Li Cunxiao and Li Han chased and killed them all the way, and the Bian army lost more than 10,000 people.Li Cunxiao took advantage of the victory to attack Luzhou, but Ge Congzhou and Zhu Chongjie were unable to defend their isolated city, so they had to abandon Luzhou and return to Bianliang.
Zhu Quanzhong was very annoyed after losing the battle.Victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs. What Zhu Quanzhong was angry about was that Li Xuan did not follow Zhu Quanzhong's established arrangements, which delayed the fighter plane, and fled after losing the First World War. For the frontier, the joint imperial court conquered Li Keyong's plan.In a fit of rage, Zhu Quanzhong beheaded Li Di and Li Chongyin according to military law.This is a rare situation in which Zhu Quanzhong killed a general in the early days, and he killed two senior generals at one time, which shows the importance of the Battle of Zelu to Zhu Quanzhong's entire strategic deployment.
This battle had a decisive impact on the southern battlefield.Originally, Zhu Quanzhong was fighting with brothers Shi Pu, Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin in the east, but this alliance with the imperial court was actually an unplanned project.Although the imperial court praised Zhu Quanzhong and planned to establish a glorious image of Zhu Quanzhong, he hoped that Zhu Quanzhong would take the world as his own responsibility.But Zhu Quanzhong is indeed not Guo Ziyi, he didn't think so at all, the logic in his stomach is "If you have a gun, you are the grass-headed king, if you have land, you are the overlord of one party, and your own is the world's best." He never thought of being loyal to the court. Share worries for the emperor.Therefore, Zhu Quanzhong was preoccupied with his own affairs and did not intend to include Xuanwu Town in the overall deployment of the imperial court.However, in order to save face, Zhu Quanzhong, as a model just selected by the central court, had to participate in the imperial court's conquest action, but Zhu Quanzhong was really at a loss, so Zhu Quanzhong did not invest in the main force, nor did he invest much energy and cost.
Judging from what happened later, Zhu Quanzhong's participation in this battle was probably not out of active planning, and he was more likely to participate in the battle at the suggestion and invitation of Zhang Jun.Because Zhang Jun intends to use this to attack Li Keyong and Yang Fugong, and establish an invincible merit.Zhang Jun is proactive and active.At this time, Zhu Quanzhong, who was fighting in the east, joined the battle on the spot with half-push and half-push, and did not devote all his strength, nor was he able to invest more troops.Now Zhu Quanzhong saw that Zhang Jun's military command was indeed incompetent, so he had the idea of giving up on the conquest of Hedong, and instead focused his energy on the main battlefield of Xusi Huaiyang.
Everyone can't help but ask, isn't Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin the benefactors who helped Zhu Quanzhong defeat Qin Zongquan?Why did Zhu Quanzhong conflict with them?This matter will be discussed later.
On the northern battlefield, Li Keyong also experienced the process of turning defeat into victory.Lulong Jiedu sent Li Kuangwei to attack Weizhou and captured Weizhou governor Xing Shanyi; He Lianduo joined forces with Tubo, Kagas and other foreign vassals, and led 50,000 to 60,000 people to capture Zhelu, and Liu Huzi was defeated and killed by the Zhelu army .Li Ke sent General Li Cunxin to fend off the enemy, but was defeated by Li Kuangwei and Helian Duo.Then, Li Keyong sent Li Siyuan as the chief general and Li Cunxin as the deputy general to lead the army to support him.Li Kuangwei and Helian Duo were defeated.The Hedong army captured Li Kuangwei's son Li Renzong, the governor of Wuzhou, and He Lianduo's uncle, beheaded and captured more than 10,000 people.Everyone, please remember Li Siyuan, a fake son of Li Keyong, with a respectful and simple temperament, brave in battle, and a rising star in the Hedong army.A few years later, Li Siyuan replaced the Later Tang Tianxia established by Li Keyong's son Li Cunxu.
Li Keyong has shown a strong fighting power, the more he fights, the more brave he becomes, and the more he fights, the better he will fight.
Li Ke used his troops while fighting for political initiative.Put the envoy Han Guifan captured by Li Cunxiao back to the court, and ask him to bring Li Keyong's letter of grievance lawsuit. It is easy to decide, so that Your Majesty today crowns the crown of the sky and wears the white jade seal. It is not necessarily the power of the minister. If it is the crime of attacking Yunzhou, then Tuoba Sigong will take Yanyan, and Zhu Quanzhong will invade Xu and Yun. Don't ask for it alone? Reward the other and punish this, and the ministers have no excuses! And when the court is in danger, the ministers are honored as Han, Peng, Yi, and Lu; Those who hold the army and make meritorious service today are not afraid of His Majesty's scolding in the future! Kuang Chen committed a serious crime, and the Sixth Division recruited him, and he will have his own punishment. It is hard to let go, and 500,000 Fan and Han soldiers have been gathered, and they want to go straight to Pu and Tong, and fight with Jun; if they cannot win, they are willing to take it away. The seat, received the imperial edict in the temple of the first emperor, and then imprisoned himself, and respectfully served the axe."
Li Ke used this letter to a very high level, reasonable, legal and compliant, well-founded, question-and-answer, citing classics, revealing the reality, penetrating three points, and penetrating the back of the paper. It is definitely not from an ordinary person.Li Ke used to block all the excuses and rhetoric of the court, laying a strong foundation for future political initiatives.
The Tang Dynasty army led by Zhang Jun left Yindiguan, and the vanguard arrived in Fenzhou.Li Keyong sent Xue Zhiqin and Li Chengsi to lead 3,000 cavalry to camp in Hongdong County, and Li Cunxiao led 5,000 troops to station in Zhaocheng to support each other and fight against the official army.Zhen Guo Jiedu envoy Han Jian sent 300 death squads to attack Li Cunxiao's camp at night, but Li Cunxiao saw through it.Li Cunxiao will do his best, wait for work with ease, and set up an ambush to wait for the arrival of the officers and soldiers.None of the 500 men sent by Han Jian came back, and they were wiped out by Li Cunxiao.
The sneak attack failed, and the soldiers of Jingnan and Fengxiang towns neither rescued nor fought. The town's army, which left Han Jian behind, withdrew on its own, and the official army camp collapsed without a fight.
Veteran Xue Zhiqin and Major General Li Cunxiao led the Hedong soldiers to pursue the victory and pursue them all the way to the west gate of Jinzhou.The coach Zhang Jun personally opened the city to meet the enemy, and his general Zuo and Li Cunxiao were defeated after a few battles.
The coach failed to beat the Hedong army, which was a great blow to the officers and soldiers, and the morale of the army was shaken.The soldiers and horses of the four towns of Jingnan, Fengxiang, Baoda, and Dingnan left Jinzhou without saying hello to Zhang Jun, and crossed the Yellow River to go home.Zhang Juncheng fought alone, leading thousands of forbidden troops and three thousand tooth troops sponsored by Zhu Quanzhong to close the city and refuse to fight.
Zhang Jun urgently requested assistance from the imperial court, and the imperial court issued an order to dispatch food and reinforcements to Chengde and Weibo towns, but these two towns did not buy into the imperial court's account at all. Although they had a bad relationship with Li Keyong, they also I don't want to be an accomplice of the court.Therefore, the two towns remained neutral and watched from the sidelines.
Yang Fugong and Li Keyong have always supported each other between the government and the opposition, and they have been both external and internal.When Zhang Jun attacked Li Keyong, Yang Fugong's first objection was due to his own interests.Seeing that Zhang Jun was in trouble, Yang Fugong took the opportunity to spread his words in the court, denouncing Zhang Jun's behavior of sending troops.Zhang Jun fell into political isolation in the court.
Li Cunxiao adopted a lenient strategy, and instead of rushing to attack Jinzhou, he captured the nearby Jiangzhou first.In November, Li Cunxiao turned back and attacked Jinzhou again. After a symbolic attack, he took the initiative to retreat fifty miles.
Zhang Jun and Han Jian believed that this was a window of war, so they seized the opportunity to abandon the city and flee.Li Cunxiao defeated the menacing main force of the official army at the least cost, and easily captured Jinzhou and Jiangzhou.Zhang Jun and Han Jian rolled and climbed over Wangwu Mountain to Heyang. They removed the beams and door panels of the common people and made them into rafts to cross the Yellow River and fled back to the capital.In this battle, the 50,000 people brought by Zhang Jun were completely lost.
When Zhang Jun ran back to Chang'an, Han Guifan also arrived in the capital at the same time.
When the news of the failure of the conquest spread to the capital, the whole court was shocked. Some were afraid of being punished, some were gloating, some were sneering, some were shirking responsibility, some were scolding, and some were crying.All of a sudden, the entire city of Chang'an was in chaos, there were many discussions, and people were impetuous.Those who opposed the army at the beginning immediately cheered up, condemning Zhang Jun repeatedly for harming the country and the people, demanding that the main fighters bear all the responsibilities, and wanted to take this opportunity to kill the main fighters.
Emperor Zhaozong and Li Ye also panicked, fearing that there would be another scene where soldiers from the feudal town came to the capital and forced the palace to drive him away, so he beheaded Ma Su with tears and let Zhang Jun and Kong Wei be the scapegoats.
It seems that creatures like scapegoats are absolutely inexhaustible, they can be found in any dynasty, any crisis occurs, and they can be picked out and killed at any time.
At this time, the emperor still couldn't forget his defense, which was not only to wash away his own responsibility, but also to make a feeble protest.Zhaozong quoted the old events of the Han Dynasty, saying that his original intention was to revitalize Gangji, restore order, and lead the common people to bring peace. Unexpectedly, Zhang Jun, who was well-known, would fail the expectations. Get into such a big trouble.Zhaozong didn't think Zhang Jun was wrong at this time, the only fault was that his opponent was too strong.Under the protection of Li Ye, Zhang Jun was spared his death, and was demoted to be an observer of Wuchang Jiedu and governor of Ezhou, and Kong Wei was demoted to be an envoy of Jingnan Jiedu.
Seeing that the imperial court favored Zhang Jun and others, and had no intention of repentance, Li Ke used his heart to dissipate his resentment. It is very rebellious to invite someone to take personal fame for a while. He knows that there is a deep blood feud between Chen and Zhu Quanzhong, so he deliberately colluded with Zhu Quanzhong in private and colluded with him to deal with him. I don’t have any official titles, and I’m still listed as a sinner by the court. How dare I continue to work in the Hedong Township? I’d better go to live in the middle of the river. Please let your Majesty know what to do.”
Zhaozong felt that Li Keyong was aggressive.Li Keyong said that he was going to stay in the river temporarily, but what he said implied that he was going to lead troops to Beijing!If it doesn't work out, Li Ke will arrest the emperor and take him to Taiyuan.In desperation, Emperor Zhaozong downgraded Kong Wei and Zhang Jun again.Kong Wei was demoted to be the governor of Junzhou, and Zhang Jun was demoted to be the governor of Lianzhou.Pardon Li Keyong's crimes, restore his reputation, title and work, and let him continue to be the governor of Hedong.
Li Ke made an extra effort, but still expressed dissatisfaction.In order to further stabilize Li Keyong, so as to avoid extraneous problems, the imperial court added officials to Li Keyong in order to keep the order of the book, and then demoted Zhang Jun to Xiuzhou Sihu.
At this time, Zhu Quanzhong, the backstage of Zhang Jun's feudal town, stood up and spoke.Zhu Quanzhong said that he would uphold justice, saying that Zhang Jun and Kong Wei were really wronged.With Zhu Quanzhong's support, Zhang Jun and Kong Wei had the bottom line in their hearts, refused the court's order, did not go to the place where they were relegated, and went to hide with Han Jian in Huazhou.The imperial court couldn't choose between Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong. Both sides were unbalanced, so they had to let it go and suffer on their own.
This large-scale, vast territory, and numerous participating forces ended in a complete failure, and it lasted less than half a year.Hastily dispatched troops, hastily failed.Its prosperity is also vigorous, and its death is also sudden.After the first battle, the biggest winner was Li Keyong.
The aftermath of this battle was far-reaching.The imperial court was disgraced in front of Li Keyong.Since then, Li Keyong has gone his own way and expanded around without any scruples.The relationship between Li Keyong and the imperial court also changed from cooperation to complete breakdown.
This war also directly affected Wei Zhaodu's war against Xichuan. The imperial court was simply unable to fight on two fronts, so it had to suspend work on the Xichuan battle, which might have been successful, and give Wang Jian the fruits of victory in front of him, leaving room for Wang Jian's separatism .
The succession of defeats in the war was due to the weakness of the court, but also due to the lack of proper personnel. The people who were recruited to command were all scholars who did not understand military affairs and had selfish motives.The failure of Zhaozong's ambitious plan to cut down the vassals by force was an inevitable result, and Li Ye's enthusiasm for taking office was also hit to a certain extent. In particular, his confidence in using force against the vassals was greatly shaken since then.The mutual suspicion and confrontation between the feudal town and the imperial court started from concealment and became public.In the past, the vassals and towns were still secretive and shy towards the imperial court, so at least they had to be polite before stretching out their hands and feet.Now, the feudal towns don't take the imperial court seriously at all, not only the powerful feudal clans are like this, but even the small towns in the border area can do whatever they want, act recklessly, and do what they want.The vassals and towns with heavy troops in their hands began to move towards the road of blatant expansion of expanding their territory by force and annexing and swallowing small vassals and towns.
The area of the feudal towns in the late Tang Dynasty was originally small. Even the three towns of Heshuo, an old warlord, did not have the same territory as a province today. county.朝廷之所以敢于几次兴兵讨伐藩镇，也正是由于这一点，并且有时候也取得了胜利。朝廷依靠手中的合法王牌，故意将藩镇分拆划小，目的是为了分而治之，也让藩镇之间形成一种互相牵制的关系。那时候，诸侯之间虽然征战不断，但是吞并事件极为少见，因为缺乏朝廷的合法手续，得不到承认，还没有人冒着政治孤立的风险去这么做。
这次朝廷讨伐李克用失败后，诸侯不再将朝廷的合法手续视为必要条件，奉行实力至上武力至上的风气愈演愈烈。藩镇兼并开始遍地出现，人人争着做大做强，最好进入天下前五强，登上胡润排行榜。天下陷入了更大规模更大范围更高频率的混乱和战乱。立志要补天的皇帝李晔，其实连补锅的技术都没有，不仅没有将天补好，反倒将窟窿捅得更大。（注：我认为唐朝中央政府对天下完全失去统治力，应以此为标志点，以前朝廷对天下还有些形式上的政令，此后政令不出长安城。）