Chapter 219 Chapter 218 Zhuang Zong Li Cunxu

Li Cunxu was the eldest son of Li Keyong, born in Jinyang on October 22, the first year of Guangqi (885 A.D.). He fought with his father from the south to the north at the age of 10, and grew up among the soldiers and horses.He finally defeated his father's old enemy, Zhu's Back Liang, and unified the chaotic northern lands.The Later Tang Dynasty was established. In the first month of the fifth year of Tianyou (908 A.D.), Li Keyong died of illness, and 24-year-old Cunxu Shao succeeded to the throne.At this time, there are powerful enemies outside Jin, and hidden worries inside, the people's hearts are fluctuating, and the army's morale is unstable.The original Tang Empire was divided into nine parts of the world, and Zhu Liang has already occupied seven of them.Moreover, the annexation offensive is still being launched frequently, and the towns in Hebei have attached themselves one after another.Although Cunxu is the king of Jin, the power of soldiers and horses is completely in the hands of his uncle Li Kening. Li Kening colluded with Li Keyong's adopted son Li Cunhao and conspired to force him to abdicate.After Cunxu learned of this situation, he called Zhang Chengye, the supervisor of the army, and said, "Since Ji's father is like this, I want to take the initiative to abdicate, so as not to kill the flesh and blood, and the disaster will happen again." Chengye wept and said: "The king ordered me to assist the king The words are still ringing in my ears, Cun Hao and his group of villains want to take refuge in Zhu Wen, if they are not killed immediately, the consequences will be disastrous." So they called in generals Wu Gong, Li Cunzhang and others to discuss countermeasures together.

On February 9th, Zhang Chengye held a reception in the mansion, and invited Li Kening and other generals to attend.In advance, Li Cunzhang and Wu Gong led soldiers to hide behind the curtain.All the generals sat down, after drinking for three rounds, Chengye raised his glass and threw it down. The soldiers behind the tent rushed up, pulled Ke Ning and Cun Hao from their seats, and tied them together.Jin Wang Cunxu strode in, and asked sharply: "I used to hand over all the power of the military government to my uncle, but my uncle didn't dare. Now that I am the throne, the general situation is set. Why do you want to usurp the throne again? You want to take me and my mother away?" Hand it over to Zhu Liang's enemy?" After finishing speaking, he ordered the sergeant to launch the beheading, all the generals at the banquet were dumbfounded, and their legs trembled slightly.Zhang Chengye said loudly: "From now on, everyone must devote themselves to the king's career. Whoever dares to have bad intentions will be killed without pardon."

After stabilizing the interior, Li Cunxu turned his attention to Luzhou (prefectural government Shangdang, now Changzhi City, Shanxi), which had been besieged by Liang Bing for a long time.Luzhou Shangdang is an important portal of Hedong. In June of the fourth year of Tianyou, Liang soldiers stormed Shangdang and built fortifications outside the city to cut off internal and external connections.At that time, Li Sizhao, the envoy of Zhaoyi Jiedu in Jin Dynasty, led the people to stand firm and endured for a year.The King of Jin sent Zhou Dewei, the commander of the Han capital, to lead a heavy army to rescue the siege.

On April 29th of the fifth year of Tianyou, the Jin army arrived at Huangnian Village, 45 miles away from Shangdang.On the night of the 30th, heavy fog filled the air, and the Jin army took advantage of the favorable opportunity to quickly approach the Liang army camp that besieged Shangdang.In the early morning of May 1st, the fog was getting heavier and the soldiers of the Liang army were still asleep. The King of Jin ordered Zhou Dewei and Li Siyuan to divide the troops into two groups, cut off the pass and burn the village, and broke into the Liang army camp.Inexplicably, some sergeants became victims of the sword, and the surviving soldiers soon came to their senses and fled southward one after another.Liang general Tang Huaizhen saw that the situation was not good, and led more than a hundred cavalry from Tianjing Pass to Kaifeng. When Zhu Wen heard the news of Liang Jun's defeat, he was shocked at first, then sighed deeply, and said: "You should be like Li Cunxu when you have a son." , Just like his father, my sons are like pigs and dogs!"

Although the siege of Shangdang has been lifted, King Cunxu of Jin is still frowning. After all, the land in Hedong is too limited.After two years, the opportunity finally came.In November of the fourth year of Kaiping (910 A.D.), Liang Bing attacked Zhao in a big way. Zhao Wang Wang Rong and Yiwu Jiedu envoy Wang Chuzhi asked Jin for help.The king of Jin resisted all opinions and ordered Zhou Dewei to lead his army to station in Zhaozhou (now Zhao County, Hebei) to wait for an opportunity to rescue Zhao.In December, the King of Jin personally led 50,000 cavalry and marched into Zhaozhou with the Yiwu Army. He joined forces with Zhou Dewei, and then led the army to approach the Liang army camp. Stand still and watch its decline." King Jin nodded in agreement.The next day, the army retreated ten miles, divided the troops to guard the main roads, and cut off the supply of food and grass for the Liang army.In the early spring of the next year, the Liang army's food and fodder were wiped out, and they poured out of the camp. The king of Jin sent Zhou Dewei to lead them into the wild river valley and defeated them in one fell swoop.Taking advantage of the victory, they captured Beizhou, Bozhou and Chanzhou.The King of Zhao paid a visit to the King of Jin, rewarded the officers and men, and sent his adopted son Zhang Wenli to accompany the King of Jin in the conquest.

So far, the land of Hebei is basically owned by Jin.This year was the first year of Fengli (AD 913), and it happened that Zhu Youzhen, the last emperor of the Later Liang Dynasty, was the emperor of Yougui in this era. After conquering Youzhou, Jin Wang Cunxu immediately started to organize a full-scale attack on Houliang, but was always blocked by Yang Shihou, the envoy from the north of Houliang and the envoy of the Tianxiong Army Jiedu.Shi Hou led the soldiers of the three towns of Weibo and stationed in Weizhou (now Hebei Daming), which became a huge obstacle for the king of Jin to go south.Moreover, in the past two or three years, the Khitan in the north has also become stronger and stronger, and sometimes invaded Jin territory.The king of Jin fought on both sides, with little gain.In March of the fifth year of Qianhua (AD 915), Yang Shihou died, and a mutiny broke out in Weizhou. Zhang Yan, the leader, asked the King of Jin for help.Cunxu made a prompt decision and decided to go north to the Khitan, focusing on attacking the Houliang.In June, he led his troops into Weizhou.

In the fourth year of Zhenming (AD 918), the king of Jin led various soldiers and horses to cross the river from Yangliu, and held a stalemate with Liang Jiang Xie Yanzhang in Puzhou (north of today's Juancheng, Shandong). The generals sent all the old and weak back to Weizhou, and then ordered all the armies to advance together, bypassing the Liang army's barracks, and went straight to Kaifeng, the capital of Houliang.Liang Jun general Xie Yanzhang led his troops to follow behind.When they arrived at Huliupi in Linpu County (now southwest of Juancheng, Shandong), the two armies were already facing each other from a distance.Zhou Dewei asked the king of Jin to stand still first, and led his troops to harass the Liang army to exhaust them before attempting to attack. The king of Jin refused, and led his own army to leap into the enemy's position.The Liang army was mighty and mighty, forming an array for dozens of miles. The king of Jin attacked from left to right, and went back and forth for more than ten miles.Liang Bing took advantage of the situation and captured the Jin army's food and grass. The Jin army was in chaos and Zhou Dewei died in battle.At noon, the King of Jin rushed out of the enemy's position and collected scattered soldiers. All the generals asked to collect troops and return to camp, and fight again tomorrow.The King of Jin roared: "Contracting troops at this time is tantamount to surrendering the enemy. Now the situation is like this. You can advance but not retreat. Success or failure depends on one action." Fortunately, King Jin's cavalry has not suffered much loss. The several hills in the mountains were condescending, and cavalry took turns to attack Liang Jun.In the evening, Liang Jun retreated in defeat.In this fierce battle, both Jin and Liang lost two-thirds of their soldiers, and both sides suffered losses.The king of Jin also realized that it was impossible to attack Houliang in one fell swoop, so he led his troops back to Weizhou, leaving Li Cunshen to stick to the towns in Henan that he had acquired.

In the two or three years after the Huliu War, Jin and Liang fought for cities and land along the Yellow River, but there were no major battles.Jin Wang Cunxu proclaimed himself emperor in Weizhou in April of the third year of Longde (AD 922) amidst the persuasion of the generals and feudal towns. In the second month after Cunxu proclaimed himself emperor, Lu Shunmi, the guard general of Yunzhou in the state of Liang, went to Weizhou and reported to Cunxu that the defenders of Yunzhou (now Yuncheng, Shandong) were less than a thousand, and the generals were unpopular and could be attacked.Cunxu immediately ordered Li Siyuan to lead five thousand elite soldiers across the river from Yangliu, and took advantage of the darkness of the sky to reach the city of Yunzhou.The next morning, they attacked Yunzhou and opened the gateway to Kaifeng.

On October 3rd, Cunxu's army set out from Yunzhou and went straight to Kaifeng. Li Siyuan was the vanguard. The next day, he wiped out Wang Yanzhang's army who had come to besiege Yunzhou, and captured Yanzhang alive.Yanzhang is a mighty general in the back beam. He is good at wielding two iron spears. He is known as Wang Tieqiang.So far, the area from Yunzhou to Kaifeng has no Liang army.That night, Li Siyuan led the vanguard and marched forward, followed by Cunxu's army, destroying all the way, like a broken bamboo.On the morning of October 10, Master Liang was killed by a servant.When Li Siyuan entered Kaifeng, Yin Wangzan of Kaifeng opened the door and asked to surrender, and Hou Liang died.

After the capture of Kaifeng, Liang Guo's Jiedu envoys and governors surrendered one after another.Li Cunxu ordered Liang Qian's Jiedu envoys, observation envoys, defense envoys, regiment training envoys, governors, and generals and schools to retain their original posts. As for the generals and schools of the Jin army who followed the expedition, they only received some regular rewards.Most of the heroes and veteran generals were cut off from their military power, and they were often suspected by Li Cunxu.Not long after breaking the beam, he moved the capital to Luoyang, full of arrogance, and indulged in singing and dancing all day long.

Li Cunxu liked music, singing and dancing since he was a child, and he raised a group of actors.In the tense years of war, there was not much time for this kind of entertainment. After Luoyang was established as the capital, these actors immediately became popular.Li Cunxu often also appeared on stage in person, acting with actors, and even took the stage name "Li Tianxia". Every time he travels, he also brings actors with him.These actors can come and go in and out of the palace at any time, and they can often tell Li Cunxu what they have seen and heard. Li Cunxu also wants to use them as his eyes and ears.Therefore, some actors can interfere in the government.The generals and ministers are also afraid of them, and there are also some smart people who collude with actors and officials to seek high officials and generous salaries. In the third year of Tongguang (AD 925), at the time of Qingming, Li Cunxu, Ling Guan and some generals of the imperial army came to the newly opened court in the palace to compete in wrestling.When it was Li Cunxu's turn, his opponent was General Li Cunxian of the Forbidden Army. After several rounds of competition, Cunxian lost again and again.Li Cunxu said to him: "If Li Cunxian can beat me, I will give him the Lulong Jiedu Envoy." While having fun, Guo Chongtao sent news of the Khitan's massive invasion, and Li Cunxu shouted to the group of people on the field: "Here Wait for me, go and come back." Then when they came to the main hall, the officials were already waiting at the steps, Li Cunxu asked impatiently: "Who can resist Khitan?" Chongtao stepped forward and said: "If your majesty leads the army to march , Khitan will definitely run away." Li Cunxu immediately said: "I am busy with state affairs, who can go for me?" Guo Chongtao replied: "The balance of balance makes it possible for Li Siyuan." Li Cunxu nodded in agreement.Chongtao said again: "Your Majesty, please give him Lulong Jiedushi again, so that he can lead the army to attack." Lulong is a neighbor of Khitan, so Guo Chongtao had this suggestion.But Li Cunxu said: "The Lian has already used Lu Long as a wrestling pledge. You can't give it to others." After finishing speaking, he hurriedly retreated to the court and returned to the court to continue wrestling with Li Cunxian.However, this time Li Cunxian threw Li Cunxu to the ground without much effort.After Li Cunxu was lifted up, he immediately said: "I will not break my promise. You can serve as Lu Long's Jiedu envoy, and I will take up the post in three days." After a while, he played a game of tug-of-war with these people again. Throw it out of the sky. The actors around Li Cunxu tried their best to encourage him to go out and travel around.At the end of April, Li Cunxu led a group of ministers, officials and actors to Weizhou in a mighty way, hunting and having fun all the way, trampling the wheat fields.Wherever they go, local officials want to spend extravagantly and supply endlessly.If there was a slight failure, their posts were cut or their heads were beheaded. Many state and county officials along the way abandoned their posts and fled.After arriving in Weizhou, the actor Jing Jin and others were ordered to look for beautiful women everywhere.Jing Jin sent people as far away as Taiyuan, Youzhou and other places to rob civilian women. In less than a month, 3,000 beauties were gathered in Weizhou, many of whom were the wives and daughters of general officials.These women were loaded into bullock carts and pulled back to the palace first.Li Cunxu himself led hundreds of officials and actors to hunt while traveling.In June, travel to Zhongmou.Zhongmou is between Kaifeng and Luoyang, and the summer grain is almost unharvested. After the autumn sowing, the weather is beautiful, and there are a few light rains. The young crops in the ground are growing very gratifyingly. , The actor galloped forward and back, chasing the prey, the peasants could only watch from afar and weep.At noon, Zhong Mou Ling, who was accompanying him, couldn't stand it any longer. He stopped Li Cunxu's horse and advised him: "Your Majesty is the parents of the people. How can you bear to trample on the young crops and cut off the livelihood of the people?" After beheading, Ling Guan Jing Xinmo stepped forward, grabbed the county magistrate, pushed him to Li Cunxu's horse, and asked loudly: "You are the county magistrate, don't you know that our emperor is good at hunting? Why let the common people grow crops?" , Interfering with the Emperor Chipin? You should be killed, you should be killed!" After finishing speaking, he immediately pressed the county magistrate's neck and beheaded him.Seeing this scene, Li Cunxu couldn't stop laughing, and then let go of the county magistrate. In the spring and summer of the third year of Tongguang (925 A.D.), Li Cunxu decided to attack Shu under the advice of his advisers.On the one hand, it can obtain the wealth of the Land of Abundance, and on the other hand, it can provide the soldiers under their command with a battlefield and an opportunity to make a fortune and support their families, so that they can temporarily settle down to avoid chaos.So he appointed the prince Jiji as the commander of the four-sided camp in Xichuan, and Guo Chongtao as the recruiting envoy of the camp, presided over military affairs, selected simple soldiers, and prepared to attack Shu. Not long after Ping Shu, Li Cunxu heard the news that Shu people asked Guo Chongtao to stay in Shu, his suspicion and uneasiness suddenly intensified, and he immediately ordered Guo Chongtao to lead his army back to the court.Chongtao sent an envoy to explain to Li Cunxu: "Chengdu has already been captured, but there are still many separatist supporters in various parts of Xichuan. If the army retreats, these people will take the opportunity to counterattack. Therefore, it is necessary to dispatch troops to conquer. You're done, and you'll naturally lead your teachers back to the imperial court." Li Cunxu ignored it at all, and hurriedly appointed Meng Zhixiang, who was left behind in the northern capital, as Xichuan Jiedu envoy, and on the other hand immediately sent his confidant eunuch Xiang Yansi to Xichuan to summon Chongtao's class teacher.Soon, the plan was to kill Guo Chongtao. Li Cunxu was afraid that if Guo Chongtao died, someone would take the opportunity to make trouble, so he sent actors out to investigate. Anyone who was a little abnormal, or who offended the actors and eunuchs, would be immediately slandered as Guo's party, and everyone would be executed.For a time, people in the ruling and opposition parties were in panic. At the beginning of February, there was a mutiny in Beizhou (now west of Qinghe, Hebei), and the rebel army led by Zhao Zaili occupied Yedu (that is, Weizhou).Roughly at the same time, Li Shaochen, the commander of the Mabu Army, the vanguard of the Shu attack, also supported the army and rebelled, claiming to be the Jiedu envoy of Xichuan.Regarding the Beizhou mutiny, Li Cunxu had no choice but to send someone to appease him, but it failed.Under such circumstances, the ministers strongly recommended Li Siyuan to lead the army against Yedu. Just as Siyuan led his army to Yedu, the army was in chaos and asked Li Siyuan to stand on his own. Li Siyuan was framed, so under the instigation of his generals, he supported troops and went south to rebel. Li Cunxu was shocked when he heard the news. On the one hand, he sent people to rush to Xichuan to recall the Jiji army, and on the other hand, he ordered all the roads to come to help quickly. On the 20th, Li Siyuan crossed the south of the river, and the defender of Huazhou surrendered without a fight.Li Cunxu led his army to leave Luobei to conquer Siyuan himself.Before leaving, he took money and silk from the inner treasury to reward the troops, and princes, ministers, actors and eunuchs also donated a large amount of money and silk.The actor Jing Jin alone donated 300,000 guan in "military aid money".When the soldiers received their rewards, they cursed continuously: "Our wives and children have died of cold and starvation, what do we need these belongings for?" When Li Cunxu arrived in Xingze on the 26th, Li Siyuan had already captured Bianzhou.Li Cunxu sent Yao Yanwen, the commander of Longxiang, to lead 3000 horses to challenge, and Yanwen immediately raised his army to defect to Siyuan; he sent the commander Pan Huan to lead the army to guard the grain and grass, and he simply transported the grain and grass to the rebels.Li Cunxu led his army to barely reach Wansheng Town, and more than 10,000 people defected from the army.In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Li Cunxu specially said to them: "The king of Wei sent another 500,000 gold and silver from Xichuan, and I will reward you when they arrive in the capital." The soldiers replied one after another: "It is too late for your majesty to reward. I don’t appreciate the grace of God.” After hearing this, Li Cunxu sobbed and burst into tears, feeling overwhelmed with grief.The next day, when we arrived at the stone bridge in the east of Luoyang City, Li Cunxu set up a banquet with wine, summoned the generals, and said sadly: "You have been with me for decades, sharing weal and woe, and sharing prosperity. What is a good strategy to defeat the enemy?" Hundreds of generals cut off their hair one after another, and promised Li Cunxu that "serve the country with death", but no one said a strategy to defeat the enemy, and the monarchs and ministers looked at each other and cried.Entering Luo City that night, Li Siyuan immediately followed and occupied Sishui Pass.Soon, there were more and more rebel soldiers in the city, and the ministers and generals scattered. Li Cunxu was shot and fell to the ground by the rebels.At this time, there were no ministers or soldiers around him, and the kind and friendly people from Yingfang helped him to Jiangxiao hall, and drew out the arrow.Li Cunxu was thirsty and begged for water, and his good friend ran to Empress Liu. Empress Liu sent an eunuch to deliver a cup of cheese, and Li Cunxu died immediately after drinking it.The ancients believed that if you are injured by an arrow and you lose too much blood, you can live if you drink water, but you will die if you drink drunk.Li Siyuan took the throne after entering the city, and Li Cunxu was buried in Yongling Mausoleum in Xin'an County, Henan Province.The posthumous title is "Emperor Minxiao, the God of Light", and the temple name is "Zhuangzong".