Chapter 8 7. Fighting against the capital

How shocking, how grand, how tormenting and stimulating people's nerves is the battle of the capital, the battle of Chang'an in the imperial capital of hundreds of years.It's an exciting time for the Wind and Cloud Conference.Everyone is waiting and watching, vying to witness this once-in-a-lifetime decisive battle scene, and vying to share the benefits from this long-awaited feast. In August of the second year of Tang Xizong Zhonghe, Li Guochang and his son left the Datar tribe and returned to Daizhou.The Tartar king finally breathed a sigh of relief.Now that the crisis of mutual trust has been lifted, it is a sign of lofty political consciousness to see each other better.In order to express the fraternal friendship and feelings of continuing to maintain friendship, and to last forever, the King of Tatar gave Li Guochang and his son 3,000 cavalry and a large amount of food and supplies.

Li Keyong adopted a strategy of cooperating with the imperial court, which led Li Guochang to lead his people back to the south, and gained the trust and support of Tatars. These strategies showed that Li Keyong's overall planning ability and vision were far superior to those of his father Li Guochang The arrogant and reckless.Li Ke thought to himself, he must do his best to enter the customs this time, and use the opportunity of saving the capital to establish a cooperative relationship with the imperial power.The past is unbearable, but the hard work is in the present. Regarding the arrival of Li Keyong, the imperial court could only temporarily put aside the previous suspicions and adopted an attitude of welcome and acceptance.Because at this time the imperial court no longer dared to pick and choose politically, as long as someone was willing to come to King Qin's rescue, this would be the imperial court's greatest comfort.On behalf of the emperor, the imperial court sent Chen Jingsi to confer on Li Keyong the governor of Daizhou and the envoy of the camp north of Yanmen.In fact, Li Keyong and his son were allowed to still occupy the original territory.In that special period, Chen Jingsi was not the only one who could exercise the power of rewards on behalf of the emperor, but also Wang Duo, Zheng Tian and others. This was a temporary mode of operation in a state of war.These people actually exercised the imperial power instead, and they had only one purpose, to win over all possible assistance forces.The emperor far away in the sky can't do much, and the commanders who are on the front line of the battle can only collect resistance by printing and distributing official documents. After all, the best incentive method in this world is to confer titles and get promoted to make a fortune.

After a short rest on the old site, in October, Li Guochang sent his son Li Keyong to lead the towns of Xin, Dai, Wei, Shuo and Datar with a total of 35,000 cavalry into Yanmen Pass, galloping all the way to rescue Chang'an. Since Li Keyong became the Jiedu envoy of the camp north of Yanmen, and took the initiative to take on the task of rescuing Chang'an, he raised the banner to do things well.For the first time, Li Ke used the power to use the political resources of the empire, but he was not sure whether this power could be used well. In order to test the effect of this power, Li Keyong issued orders. First, he notified Zheng Congyu, the envoy of Hedong Jiedu who was stationed in Taiyuan, Ask him to sponsor food and money.

Zheng Congxuan is an old bureaucrat of the imperial court who once served as a prime minister. How can he think highly of Shatuo Li Keyong who has returned from exile.Lao Zheng hypocritically only took out one thousand coins and a few bags of grain, trying to perfunctory Li Keyong.Seeing that Lao Zheng looked down on him, Li Keyong was furious, and decided to use this to establish his prestige, killing an old rooster to frighten the hozens who were quarreling and not working.Li Ke ordered his subordinates to attack Taiyuan.Taiyuan is basically an empty city without military defense capabilities, not to mention facing Li Ke's Daibei cavalry.After Li Keyong's wanton looting, the city of Taiyuan was plunged into the horror of war.Now Zheng Congxuan knew that Li Keyong was not easy to mess with, but it was too late.In order to avoid greater losses and save a little face, Lao Zheng had no choice but to donate a large amount of rice, noodles, money, food, a stick and equipment.The Lord Zheng bowed and bowed, apologized to Li Keyong again and again, and hurriedly hosted a banquet in honor of Li Keyong.Li Ke used this to barely let him go.

After replenishing equipment and supplies in Taiyuan, Li Keyong entered Jinzhou and Jiangzhou from Yindiguan without delay. In December, he arrived in Hezhong and set up camp not far from the positions of Yang Fuguang and Wang Chongrong.At this time, all the Daoqin kings' armies had gathered around the capital, but they were all afraid of the strength of the Huangchao Qi army, so they dared not fight, and most of them were waiting and watching.Li Keyong's arrival was like sending charcoal in a timely manner, injecting a boost to the princes who gathered around the periphery of Chang'an and dared not fight.

In the first month of the third year of Zhonghe (883 A.D.), Wang Duo, Duke of Jin, the former commander-in-chief of Chang'an, on behalf of the emperor, awarded Li Keyong the post of commander of the northeast camp.Li Keyong suddenly became the commander-in-chief of the several army groups in front of the formation, which shows the importance of Li Keyong's status, and also shows that the officers and soldiers have high hopes for Li Keyong. Hearing that Li Keyong came to the river from Yanmen Pass, Huang Chao's subordinates talked a lot and murmured to themselves: "The Cyclops' army is brave, don't come to my defensive position." Huang Chao also knew Li Keyong, He knew that Li Keyong had a grudge against Li Tang, and he also knew that Li Keyong was a general.Therefore, Huang Chao didn't want to be an enemy of Li Keyong, and deliberately recruited Li Keyong for his own use.

Huang Chao sent Mi Chongwei to visit Li Keyong with a lot of money and property, and wrote an imperial edict to Li Keyong, which meant to provoke the relationship between Li Keyong and the Tang court, and advised Li Keyong not to help Li Tang. Can cooperate with Daqi.With a slight smile, Li Ke accepted all the property, gold, silver and imperial edict sent by Mi Chongwei, and sent Mi Chongwei back to Huang Chao after some entertainment. After Mi Chongwei left, Li Kexiu, Li Keyong's cousin, asked Li Keyong: "Third brother, do you want to be with Huang Chao?" I waited here to do meritorious service for the suppression of thieves, and I am at odds with Huang Kou." Li Kexiu touched the back of his head, pointing at the piled property on the ground in a daze.Li Keyong ordered: "Distribute these gold and silver treasures to the soldiers, and burn Huang Chao's letter to all the troops. Everyone must work hard to kill the enemy." Only then did Li Kexiu and others understand what Li Keyong meant, and sent Don't ask for gifts for nothing, and ask for nothing if you ask for it. Not only do you not owe favors, but you have to fight more vigorously, vigorously and fiercely.

At the critical moment when the various armies of the Tang Dynasty were about to meet and suppress the Qi army, Emperor Xizong dismissed Wang Duo and Cui Anqian, the principal and deputy commanders, and Li Keyong's only temporary backer suddenly disappeared.Without the commander, Li Keyong simply fought alone, determined to use himself to replace the northern division to block the main force of Huang Chao's entire army. Li Keyong wanted to prove himself with his strength. In February, Li Ke used the Shatuo Army to cross the Wei River from Xiayang, Shaanxi to the south. It was very smooth, very trouble-free, and very enjoyable. He drove away Huang Chao's younger brother Huang Kui and stationed in Gankengdian.

After the sledgehammer test, Li Keyong ordered the soldiers and horses of the three towns of Hezhong, Yiding, and Zhongwu to gather to him and fight a big battle with Huang Chao.Because Li Ke didn't buy Huang Chao's account, Huang Chao was very annoyed.Huang Chao decided to mobilize heavy troops to defeat Li Keyong's spirit.Huang Chao ordered generals Wang Fan and Lin Yan to lead 50,000 soldiers on the left, and generals Shang Rang and Zhao Zhang to lead 50,000 people to the right. The troops, known as 150,000, marched towards Li Keyong's position. Facing the overwhelming Qi army, Li Ke used his command to charge 70,000 Panhan cavalry and infantry against the Qi army.The two armies of Qi and Tang met in Liangtianpi and fought fiercely.When he was fifty paces away from the Qi army, Li Ke used his army to unleash his bow and shoot arrows. Thousands of eagle feather arrows poured down on the Qi army's position like an overwhelming sea, and most of the sky was covered by dense rain of arrows.The Shatuo cavalry showed a great charge advantage and powerful lethality. After the arrow formation, "Aoao" shouted and brandished a saber and charged into the Qi army's position condescendingly on horseback. There was a gap in the road, and the Qi army was swept away.

With Li Ke as the backbone, the infantry of the Tang army followed the cavalry, and they were all full of energy, and seemed to be much stronger.Not to be outdone, Shang Rang, Lin Yan and others tried their best. The so-called "the chess meets the opponent, the general meets the good talent". After the hand-to-hand combat, the combat effectiveness of the Qi army was also amazing, and the advantage of the Tang army was greatly reduced.The fronts of both sides are advancing inch by inch.This battle lasted from noon to the afternoon.The battle has entered a desperate stage. Both sides are fighting for physical strength, willpower, determination, morale, bayonet, life, and the coach.Shang Rang, Lin Yan, Wang Fan, Zhao Zhang and Wang Chongrong, Yang Fuguang, Zhu Quanzhong, Kang Junli, Xue Zhiqin and others were inseparable from each other.Li Ke used to stay firmly in the middle army, closely watching the changes in the battle situation, and from time to time he used his golden back bow and sun-shooting arrows to pierce the chest of the Qi army who was approaching.

After the battle lasted for another hour, Li Keyong noticed that the Qi army was showing signs of exhaustion, so he gave a loud roar, and the prancing horse jumped into the air towards Shang Rang, the Qi army's coach.Like a tiger descending the mountain, Li Ke used his men and horses to break through a bloody path and kill Xiang Shangrang.Shang Rang is fighting Wang Chongrong, this is the second time the two have fought, neither side dare to be careless.When they were fighting with all their strength, Shang Rang shuddered, and Wang Chongrong also felt a sense of coercion at the same time.Before Li Ke's employment arrived, the murderous aura had already enveloped Shang Rang's whole body.Shang Rang raised his head suddenly, and found a young general in a fox fur hat galloping towards him on horseback.When Shangrang clearly saw someone rushing towards him, he also saw one more thing - a sun-shooting arrow coming through the air.From the sound of the wind, you can still hear the power of Li Ke's arrows. A small carved feather arrow seems to carry a thousand pounds of force.Shang Rang was startled, he had no time to think, and immediately leaned back.The sun-shooting arrow grazed Shang Rang's chest, stuck to his throat, tore a bloody gash on his chin, and flew away with a strand of beard.Shang Rang yelled and pulled his horse away. The coach is the soul of the army, the banner, the weathervane, and the lever of victory or defeat.Li Keyong showed his might, and Shang Rang left the field in a panic, which caused a huge change in the momentum of the Tang and Qi armies.The Qi army began to collapse, and the Tang army became more and more courageous.The Qi army gave up their resistance one after another and fled in large numbers.The pure killing began, and Tang Jun launched a cover-up with Qi Jun.In this battle, Li Keyong won a complete victory. He captured 30,000 Qi soldiers and killed countless people. That night, Wang Fan and Huang Kui fled to Huazhou to defend, and Shang Rang withdrew to Chang'an.Li Ke used his pursuit to Huazhou, and ordered people to dig trenches, fill them with water, and surround Huazhou.Then Li Ke used 5,000 cavalry to station in the north of the Wei River, separating Huang Kui from Chang'an, so that the Qi army could not communicate with each other and it was difficult to respond. As the siege of the princes became more and more tense, after several strategic breakouts, breakthroughs, and assaults without success, the food and grass in Chang'an City were exhausted, and Huang Chao felt increasingly destitute.After a fierce ideological struggle, Huang Chao began to plan to withdraw from Chang'an, make a strategic shift eastward, and return to his hometown in Shandong for further development. If they withdraw eastward, the threat of Li Keyong in Weibei must be eliminated. This is the only way to withdraw from Chang'an.A fierce battle is inevitable.So Huang Chao sent Shang Rang to rescue Wang Fan and Huang Kui in Huazhou to open up this traffic artery.This time, Li Ke used the tactics of "encircling the point to fight for aid". While trapping Huazhou tightly and not letting go, he took the initiative to lead his army to face Shang Rang who came to aid Huazhou.Li Keyong's Daibei Army fought side by side with Wang Chongrong's Hezhong Army, and blocked Shang Rang at Lingkou. The Daibei Army and the Hezhong Army are the most capable troops in the official army.The Qi and Tang armies were at war, and the Qi army had already developed a phobia of Li Keyong. After less than an hour of fierce fighting, the Qi army was defeated again.In the panic of retreating, Qi sent Zhao Zhang's horse stumbled and threw him to the ground.Zhao Zhang was thrown two feet away, his leg was injured and he couldn't stand up.Zhu Quanzhong immediately leaned forward and captured Zhao Zhang alive.Li Ke used the opportunity to pursue and kill, directly marched and stationed at Weiqiao, and approached the city of Chang'an. After setting up camp, Li Keyong dispatched general Xue Zhiqin to lead a surprise attack on Chang'an.Xue Zhiqin came to the gate of Chang'an and set a fire, burned all the fortifications of the Qi army outside the city, and captured dozens of Qi soldiers on duty and returned to the camp. Seeing that there was no hope of reinforcements, Wang Fan and Huang Kui in Huazhou also gave up the idea of ​​continuing to hold on, and abandoned the city and fled alone. Li Keyong defeated Huang Chao's Qi army several times in a row, and his reputation was greatly enhanced, which greatly encouraged the morale of the Tang army.At this time, Emperor Xizong's mind became active, and seeing Li Keyong's important strategic value, he immediately decreed to confer Li Keyong as Yanmen Jiedu envoy and school inspector Zuo Pushe.Li Ke used the fire wire to promote officials and was promoted three times in a row. April. The ice melts. Hundreds of flowers bloom, chrysanthemums remain. Chrysanthemums are hard to compete with a hundred flowers. After full preparations, Li Ke decided to implement the final decisive battle. Li Keyong dispatched general Yang Shouzong to lead Bai Zhiqian under Wang Chongrong in Hezhong, and Pang Cong under Zhongwu Yang Fuguang as vanguard officers to attack Weiqiao.Other princes surrounded Weibei as a sign of solidarity.The scouts of the Tang army galloped back and forth, the cavalry carrying the command flag busily shuttled between the various legions, and the guerrilla troops sent by the official army harassed the four gates of Chang'an from time to time.Chang'an City was surrounded by the atmosphere of the war. Yang Shouzong rushed to the bridgehead of the Weiqiao Bridge, and selected 500 daredevils, each of whom held a man-high iron armor shield, and charged to the bridgehead with a scimitar and hatchet.On the bridgehead, the Qi army's gray bottle rolling log rockets were fired continuously.Yang Shouzong held a sword in his hand and personally stood behind the death squads to supervise the formation. When he found that the Tang army retreated timidly, he immediately beheaded him.Under the double action of strong meritorious impulse and military law pressure, the Tang army launched three charges, and finally captured Weiqiao.As soon as the Wei Bridge was broken, the north gate of Chang'an City was immediately exposed to the swords and guns of the Tang army, before the iron horse. The leaders of the princes of the Tang Dynasty saw the collapse of the Weiqiao barrier, and they immediately regained their spirits. They all knew what was in front of them and what their actions meant. meaning.Whoever enters the city first will be the first to give orders, whoever enters the city first will grab the most treasures, whoever enters the city first may capture or kill Huang Chao, and whoever enters the city first will be named a marquis Jue has left his name through the ages.The princes Tang Jun, who had been stationed in Weibei to watch the battle, suddenly rushed up the Wei Bridge and entered Chang'an like a flood bursting a dike.Of course, Li Keyong also understands this, and he will not hand over the opportunity he bought with blood and sweat. With a loud roar, Li Ke used his crotch to get off his horse, and led Li Kexiu, Kang Junli, Xue Zhiqin and other cronies, as well as his own Shatuo Army, to cross the Wei Bridge and break into Guangtai Gate in the first batch.Wang Chongrong and Zhu Quanzhong led the Hezhong Army followed closely behind, followed by Yang Fuguang's Zhongwu Army.The Tang army completely destroyed Huang Chao's Qi army's psychological and military defense lines with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai. After Li Keyong invaded Chang'an, he did not engage in street fighting or entangle with Huang Chao Qi's army, but went straight to the palace.Li Ke used to come to the imperial palace and Zicheng, and looked at the majestic gate tower.This was the first time Li Keyong saw the imperial palace, so he couldn't help being a little excited, and at the same time felt the majesty of the imperial power.Despite the military disaster, the palace ban is still a royal atmosphere.Li Ke used orders to seal the treasury, set up checkpoints, and divide troops to guard the passages of the palace to maintain order.Li Keyong is well aware of the importance of royal property, and also understands that in the chaos of war, these properties will be easily looted or destroyed by the chaotic troops of the enemy and us.I would rather kill 10,000 fewer enemies, but also preserve the royal property.Li Keyong is very smart, he knows what the emperor cares more about.These properties will play an important role when the emperor returns to Beijing in the future.In fact, when Li Ke used to close the treasury, he also delineated his sphere of influence in the first place, and he took most of the results.Especially the preservation of the imperial palace, this is an irreplaceable result, the best contribution in the world. Seeing that the situation was over, Huang Chao set fire to the official residences, private houses, granaries and yamen in Chang'an City, and led the Central Army to withdraw from Chang'an in a hurry, ran out from Lantian, left Shaanxi via Shangshan, and went straight to the east.In order to prevent the Tang army from chasing after him, Huang Chao ordered a large amount of gold, silver, treasures, food and grass to be abandoned along the road.This trick was also used by some people before, but now it really works, still works, and must work. The chasing princes stopped to fight for these spoils, and they didn't even care about chasing the fleeing Qi army.There is no chaotic army in the world who is not greedy for money.Huang Chao was able to leave calmly when the officers and soldiers were greedy for money and took advantage of it.Huang Chao not only left Shaanxi, but basically retreated completely. The military system is still intact, and there are still 150,000 active forces. Chang'an regained and Huang Chao was defeated. This is great news. The good news arrived in Chengdu as quickly as possible and was reported to Emperor Xizong. Emperor Xizong wept with joy.An edict was issued to reward the princes of King Qin from all walks of life. Taking Wang Chongrong's initiative to fight against the enemy on his own initiative, he ranked first in meritorious service, and was granted the titles of Taiwei, Tongping Zhangshi, and Langye County King.Because Zhu Quanzhong assisted Wang Chongrong in his meritorious service, he was officially worshiped as Xuanwu Jiedu envoy.Li Keyong defeated Huang Chao and regained the capital. Officials paid homage to the inspector Sikong, Tongping Zhangshi and Taiyuan Yin, and the capital stayed behind.The 28-year-old Li Keyong is ranked as a public minister, titled a noble general, what a great honor and glory this is!Li Keyong not only led Fangzhen himself, but also his father Li Guochang was named Jiedushi by the imperial court to travel to the north of Yanmen. Later, Li Keyong's younger brother Li Kexiu was named Zhaoyi Jiedushi.Li Guochang has one school and three envoys, which can be said to be prosperous for a while, and no one can match it.Li Ke used his troops to go south to help the capital, and won the world in the first battle. The dust settled in Chang'an City, and the princes returned to their towns. Beside the Wei Bridge, under the long pavilion. In the spring breeze, the blue sky. Zhu Quanzhong held Li Keyong's hand and said sincerely: "Brother Keyong is a handsome young man. The court will rely on him as a pillar in the future." You and I encourage each other." After saying that, the two parted with each other.Li Ke used his horse to go north to Taiyuan, the township of Hedong.Zhu Quanzhong rode his horse east to Bianliang, Kaifeng, Xuanwu town. The 28-year-old Li Keyong has become a legend in the world. Thirty-two-year-old Zhu Quanzhong will also become the chief official in the hinterland of the Central Plains. It was not easy for Li Keyong to become a prince of a town. If Zhu Quanzhong wants to dominate one side, the nightmare-like ordeal has just begun. Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong have been on the stage of Chinese history since then. At this moment, no one thought of what kind of energy Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong would release in the future, perhaps just like hundreds of princes in the world, they were just as fleeting as a flash in the pan and drowned in dust, so everyone was busy with the restoration of the imperial power and the rebuilding of the imperial capital. No one cared too much where the two of them went. But the law of history is that there are talents from generation to generation.It happened that these two young princes almost dominated the dilapidated political situation in the late Tang Dynasty, the fragmented pattern of the world, and the turbulent and complicated social situation. How did Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong become the two heroes in the late Tang Dynasty?