Chapter 23 The difficult years of repeated battles in the north

After more than a year of operation, Jinyang City "recovered a little bit of exile, and the sound of chickens and dogs resumed".In the place where tigers and wolves fought, the nearby Han people finally found a fairly safe enclave where they could live, produce, and fight correctly, and it began to take shape.Liu Kun's parents also came from Luoyang to be with their son at this time, and scholars and refugees from far and near also rushed to attach themselves to Liu Kun.However, "(Liu) Kun is good at caressing, but not good at controlling. In a day, although thousands of people return, those who leave also follow one after another."Brother Young Master's temperament, after all, he can't change completely. "(Liu Kun) is luxurious and extravagant, addicted to sensuality. Although he is self-indulgent for a while, he often returns to indulgence."Beautiful women play tricks and spend money like water. It is estimated that Liu Kun inherited this kind of character from the distant ancestor Zhongshan King Jing Liu Sheng who was lustful, wealthy and profligate.

For example, on the day of singing and dancing, there is nothing to blame for Liu Kun's extravagance.However, at that time, Jinyang was surrounded by enemies on three sides, with Xianbei in the north, Xiongnu in the south, and Wang Jun in the east. In October 308 AD, Liu Yuan proclaimed himself emperor in Puzi.During this period, the Han general Shile was trapped in Julu (Ningjin, Hebei), Changshan (Zhengding, Hebei), and Jizhou (Jixian, Hebei), and more than 100 local Wubao armed forces surrendered to Shile.Soon, Liu Cong, Liu Yuan's son, and Han generals Wang Mi and Shi Le joined forces to attack Huguan again. The Jin generals sent by Liu Kun were killed one after another, and the Shangdang prefect of the Western Jin Dynasty surrendered.

The house leaked and it rained all night.Not only did news of defeat come from everywhere, but also Liu Hu, the right sage king of the Xiongnu and Baibu Xianbei who were originally attached to the Jin Dynasty, also surrendered to Liu Yuan one after another, posing a serious threat to Liu Kun's Jinyang base.After judging the situation, Liu Kun had no choice but to send an envoy with a generous gift to implore Yilu, the chief of the Tuoba tribe of Xianbei, to send troops to fight with Liu Yuan with him. Tuoba Yilu was very loyal and sent his nephew Tuoba Yulu to lead 20,000 Xianbei cavalry to help in the battle.Liu Yuan's Xiongnu soldiers were very capable of fighting, but they were always afraid of the bravery and desperation of the Xianbei people.Not only the Xiongnu Liu Hu's army was defeated, but the Baibu Xianbei also lost a lot of troops, all defeated by Liu Kun and the Xianbei coalition forces.

After the victory, Liu Kun and Tuoba Yilu held a high wine meeting, and the two sworn brothers.Thanks to the help in times of need, Liu Kun went to the imperial court and asked Tuoba Yilu to be the grand chanyu, and appointed him as the acting duke.At that time, Shidai County belonged to Youzhou, which was ruled by General Ningshuo Wang Jun of the Jin Dynasty who had a heart of disobedience.Of course Wang Jun refused, and sent troops to attack Tuoba Yilu, but was defeated by Yilu's army.As a result, the conflict between Liu Kun and Wang Jun also began to surface. The rising Tuoba Yilu really wanted to take the opportunity to enter the Han land to develop its power, so he led more than ten thousand families from the tribe into Yanshan Mountain from Yunzhong, and asked Liu Kun for the land of Xingbei. "(Liu) Kun couldn't control it, and wanted to rely on it for help, so he moved the people of Loufan, Mayi, Yinguan, Fanwei, and Gu counties (the area north of Dai County in Shanxi today) to Xingnan. And Yilu".

At the end of 311 AD, Liu Kun and Wang Jun had a direct conflict over the issue of state residents. Wang Jun, courtesy name Peng Zu, was the son of Prince Shen of Boling County in the Western Jin Dynasty.This Wang Chen was not a good guy at first, Cao Mao, the young emperor of Cao Wei, led troops to attack Sima Zhao, and before leaving, he summoned Wang Shen and Wang Ye to tell the truth.These two disloyal villains turned their heads and ran away, telling Sima Zhao quickly, which bought the powerful minister of Cao Wei valuable time, and finally led to the murder of the young emperor Cao Mao.

Wang Jun inherited his father's title and left the town of Xuchang during the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin Dynasty.Sima Yu, the crown prince of Minhuai, was imprisoned by Jananfeng. Wang Jun accepted the decree and murdered the prince with eunuch Sun Li. He was moved to the general of Ningbei, and soon moved to the general of Ningshuo and the military governor of Youzhou. Seeing that the imperial court was in disarray and thieves swarmed up, Wang Jun knew that the world was in chaos, so he made friends with the leaders of the surrounding ethnic minorities for his own safety.He married one daughter to Wu Wuchen, chief of the Xianbei, and the other to Su Nuyan, the chief of the Hu people.Zhao Wanglun usurped the throne, and the three kings of Sima raised troops. Wang Jun led the two sides of the rat and waited and watched with troops.Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu, wanted to flatten him at that time, but the civil war was so busy that he had no time to care about him.Out of anger, Sima Ying took Sima He as the governor of Youzhou, and secretly asked him to kill Wang Jun and lead his troops.

Holding the secret edict of Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu, He Yan first secretly met Karasuma Chanyu Shendeng, got verbal support from the other party, and together plotted to execute Wang Jun.When the new official took office, He Yan and Wang Jun agreed to have a banquet at the clear spring in the south of Jicheng (now Beijing).At that time, there were two galloping roads in Jicheng, one for He Yan and one for Wang Jun.He Yan wants to take advantage of the opportunity to kill Wang Jun when the two guests meet with the guard of honor and bow to each other immediately.Unfortunately, it rained heavily and the weapons were all wet, making it inconvenient to bow and knives. The murder of Wang Jun failed.

Shendeng Shanyu of the Karasuma tribe was very superstitious. He murmured to his tribe: "Heyan wanted to kill Wang Jun, and when he was about to succeed, it suddenly rained heavily. It must be God who helped Wang Jun. It is against the ominous omen, so we should not stand Let's go with Yan." So Shendeng Shanyu informed Wang Jun that Heyan wanted to kill him.Frightened, Wang Jun hurriedly summoned soldiers to attack and kill Heyan together with Shendeng. After controlling the local situation, Wang Jun summoned Wu Wuchen, Xianbei's son-in-law, and led a Xianbei coalition force of 20,000 people to attack Sima Ying and Yecheng, killing tens of thousands of Han scholars.The Xianbei knights robbed many Han beauties in the city.On the way back to the army, Wang Jun was afraid that he would miss the battle, so he gave the order to "cut anyone who kidnaps Tibet".At that time, the Xianbei cavalry were still very afraid of the generals of the Jin Dynasty, so they pushed the stolen beauties into Yishui one after another, drowning more than 8,000 people. "Qianshu was poisoned, and it started from then on."

After Emperor Huai of Jin succeeded to the throne, he granted Wang Jun the title of General of Hushi, Sikong, Captain Karasuma, and his son-in-law Wu Wuchen as Grand Chanyu and Prince of Liaoxi County.Wang Jun took advantage of the situation in Hebei, led a large group of Xianbei mercenaries, and fought against Liu Yao's general Shi Le, winning and losing each other. Liu Kun sent Liu Xi, a member of his tribe, to go to various places in Zhongshan to carry out activities, and "people from the three counties of Daijun, Shanggu, and Guangning all belong to (Liu) Kun."Seeing that Liu Kun was fighting for territory with him, Wang Jun didn't bother to fight Shi Le, swung his horse's head, and led his army to fight Liu Kun's subordinate army.Wang Jun's Xianbei coalition forces were very powerful, and they attacked and killed Liu Xi.

Due to the fighting between Jin generals Liu Kun and Wang Jun, the Liu family of the Huns repeatedly succeeded.In the fifth year of Emperor Huai's Yongjia reign, after Shi Le wiped out more than 100,000 people in Sima Yue, Han Emperor Liu Cong's army captured Luoyang, captured Emperor Huai of Jin, killed tens of thousands of Han soldiers and civilians, and returned with a full load. In distress, Tuoba Yilu, an old buddy of Xianbei, sent his son Tuoba Liuxiu to help Liu Kun and guard Xinxing (Xin County, Shanxi) for the Jin Dynasty. Together with Tuoba Liuxiu, Liu Kun's general guard Xing Yan found several pieces of fine jade and presented them to Liu Kun.In order to thank the Tuoba Xianbei people for their help, Liu Kun transferred these jade stones to Tuoba Liuxiu.The Xianbei prince was greedy for money, not to mention the benefits he got, he asked the Jin general Xing Yan in Xinxing City for more jade.Xing Yan said that all the jade he got had been donated to Liu Kun.Tuoba Liuxiu didn't believe it, so he arrested Xing Yan's wife and children and imprisoned him, forcing him to ask for jade. Xing Yan was furious, and led his troops to attack Liuxiu, beat off the Xianbei soldiers, and surrendered to the Xiongnu Liu with Xinxing City. "Invite troops to attack Bingzhou".

The situation is so critical and complicated, Liu Kun, who thinks he has the air of a general, is still at ease.In the sixth year of Yongjia (312) of Emperor Huaidi of Jin Dynasty, he moved to the prefectures and counties under his jurisdiction, saying that in November he would join the army in Pingyang (Linfen, Shanxi) to attack the Han Dynasty. Xu Run from Henan is a musician. Liu Kun regarded him as a colleague and a bosom friend, so he favored him so much that he promoted this buddy who wrote lyrics and composed music as Jinyang Ling. Xu Run is arrogant, greedy for money and goods, and interferes in political affairs.Liu Kun's guard general, Linghu Sheng, was an upright soldier. He urged Liu Kun to kill Xu Run many times, but Liu Kun refused to listen. Knowing this, Xu Run secretly hated Linghu Sheng.Once, when Liu Kun was in the midst of drinking and enjoying music, he suddenly "reported" that Linghu Sheng was going to lead the crowd to embrace Liu Kun and proclaim himself emperor.Liu Kun, who had always taken it as his duty to be loyal to the Jin family, was furious, and without carefully examining the reasons, he immediately sent someone to kill Linghu Sheng.In fact, after careful deduction, it is very likely that Liu Kun has always been jealous and wary of Linghu Sheng, and he took this opportunity to vent. Liu Kun's mother is a wise and sensible old lady. After learning about this, she severely reprimanded Liu Kun: "You can't make a big plan and control heroes. You just want to get rid of people who are stronger than yourself, so how can you be safe?" How about accomplishing the great cause? If things go on like this, the disaster will reach me!" Knowing the son is like his mother, Liu Kun's disaster is indeed not far away. Knowing that his father had been murdered in vain, Linghu Sheng's son Linghu Ni hurriedly fled to Liu Cong of the Han Kingdom of the Huns, telling the truth about Liu Kun.Generals Liu Can and Liu Yao of the Han Dynasty led fine cavalry to attack Bingzhou with Linghu Ni as their guide.When Liu Kun heard the news, he went eastward and withdrew his troops everywhere in order to fight against the Han soldiers.Liu Can and Linghu Ni succeeded in raiding Jinyang, killing Liu Kun's parents and the family members who stayed in Jinyang.The armies of the Jin Dynasty were defeated. Hearing that Jinyang fell and his parents were killed, Liu Kun, weeping with blood, had to flee to Changshan with more than a dozen horsemen and horses. At the critical moment of defeat, it was Xianbei Tuoba Yilu who came to help again. In November 313 AD, Tuoba Yilu led tens of thousands of troops to attack Jinyang with his son Tuoba Liuxiu as his generals, and he himself led an army of 200,000 to the rear.On the other hand, Liu Kun, at this time, there are only thousands of scattered soldiers of the Han nationality recruited recently, who are caught in the Xianbei army to serve as guides. Liu Yu, the King of Zhongshan of the Liu Clan of the Xiongnu, quickly called out his army and confronted the Tuoba Liuxiu Army on the east bank of Fenshui, and the two sides fought.When the Xiongnu met Xianbei, they were like a wolf to a tiger, always fearful. Not long after the battle, the Han army was defeated. Liu Yao himself was wounded seven times and almost died in the battle.After he fled into Jinyang City, he "plundered the people of Jinyang and returned across Mount Meng" with Liu Can and others overnight. Tuoba Yilu led an army to pursue, and defeated the Han army again in Langu (southwest of Mengshan Mountain), "burying corpses for hundreds of miles".In fact, most of the corpses that lay down for hundreds of miles are probably the people of Jinyang who were kidnapped by the Han army. The real Xiongnu soldiers will have horses and weapons.The most pitiful thing is that these innocent Jin people, even if they were lucky enough to survive under the knife of the Huns, their heads would be chopped off by the Xianbei people who caught up. Liu Kun walked in from the gate of the camp to thank you, and please enter.Tuoba Yilu politely declined, saying: "I didn't come early, and I am ashamed to hurt your parents. Now that you have returned to the state, I have come from afar, and the soldiers and horses are exhausted. I will move them later." He presented Liu Kun with a military chariot Hundreds of chariots, more than a thousand horses, cattle, and sheep were used as military resources, and two generals who were originally from Jin were left behind to assist Liu Kun in guarding Jinyang. Now, Jinyang, which Liu Kun has been running for several years, has turned into ruins and can no longer be rebuilt.Reluctantly, Liu Kun moved his army to Yangqu (north of today's Taiyuan). Although he was still conscientious and recruited and scattered, the situation became more and more unfavorable for him as the times changed. In the second year of Jianxing (314), Emperor Min of Jin Dynasty, Shi Le suddenly sent a letter to make peace with Liu Kun, and expressed his willingness to lead troops to conquer Wang Jun in order to serve the Jin court.Liu Kun was overjoyed, thinking that Shi Le could get rid of a strong enemy around him.In fact, Shi Le's real purpose is to concentrate his efforts to kill Wang Jun, and to stabilize Liu Kun with a humble resignation first, so as not to be attacked by the enemy. Unlucky Wang Jun is at the peak of self-expansion.His father, Wang Shen, said that he far-fetchedly believed that their royal family should be "Dang Tu Gao" and had the destiny to call the king the emperor (it is almost the same virtue as Yuan Shu in the Three Kingdoms period).His subordinate officials advised him that he was either released or killed.Wang Jun also favored harsh villains, became more and more arrogant, ignored government affairs, and the people under his jurisdiction were oppressed and fled to the neighboring Murong Xianbei tribe one after another. Wang Jun's outstanding strength in the "Eight Kings Rebellion" was all due to his Xianbei and Wuhuan mercenaries. At this time, these people left him one after another, causing him to lose the biggest trump card in his hand.Coupled with natural disasters and man-made disasters, Wang Jun's strength is not as good as before, and he is getting weaker and weaker. Shi Le wanted to get rid of Wang Jun, but he didn't know the reality of the other party, so he sent an envoy to greet Wang Jun in advance. The main purpose was to observe his military and political strength.Most of Shi Le's staff suggested that Shi Le go to see Wang Jun with the same respect as Yang Hu and Lu Kang did when the enemy generals fought and respected each other.Zhang Bin, Shi Le's chief of staff, expressed his own disagreement: "Wang Jun's name is Jin Chen, but he actually wants to abolish Jin and stand on his own. He is afraid that heroes from all over the world will not follow him. Therefore, he is too eager to get your support." Your mighty reputation in the world, humble speeches and generous gifts, and serious matters are the only way to make Wang Jun trust you." Shi Le called it good, and sent someone to bring several cars of precious and rare goods, and presented it to Wang Jun, saying: "(Shi) Leben Xiaohu, suffered from hunger and disorder, fled Tun'e, and fled to Jizhou. Life. Now Jin Zuo is a barbarian, there is no master in the world, who is the emperor, not the public! I hope that your majesty will obey the heavens and people, and ascend to the emperor as soon as possible. His Highness Le Fengdai is like the parents of heaven and earth. Like a child." When Wang Jun got Shi Le's letter, he almost fainted.Originally, I was trying to hold on with my airs, but Shi Le, the former formidable enemy, actually acted like a son, calling himself His Majesty and His Highness for a while, and wanting to embrace him as the emperor, can he be so unhappy? Of course, Wang Jun was not an idiot either. When he was happy, he asked Shi Le's envoy: "Mr. Shi Le was a hero for a while, and he took over the land of Zhao and Wei. Why did he call me a vassal?" Wang Jun put on a big hat and said, "Your Majesty, you have great prestige in Zhongzhou, and you are majestic in Yixia. Since ancient times, the Hu people have not been able to be emperors. General Shi firmly believes that emperors have their own history, which cannot be achieved by intelligence. Although Xiang Yu is strong, he will eventually belong to the Han Dynasty. Yes. General Shi has seen the history before, so he obeyed the order of heaven, and wanted to return to His Highness, climb the dragon and attach to the phoenix, thinking that he would assist the famous minister." Wang Jun had no choice but to believe what he said.Overjoyed, he even "canonized" the two envoys sent by Shi Le as Liehou, and gave Shi Le an even thicker gift.In order to gain Wang Jun's further trust, Shi Le also beheaded Wang Jun's subordinates who defected to his camp.Wang Jun firmly believed that this man with a javelin beard was extremely loyal to him, and he no longer doubted Shi Le's motives. Wang Jun's envoy came to Xiangguo, Shile's base, "Shile hid his strong soldiers and fine armor, and the master's empty mansion showed it, and he worshiped the envoy in the north and received the letter."Wang Jun presented Shi Le with a stag tail, and Shi Le hung it on the wall. The treasures are endless, and he proposed to go to Youzhou to meet Wang Jun in person in mid-April, and enshrine Wang Jun as emperor. Wang Jun was so proud that he took no precautions against Shi Le. Shi Le sent Wang Jun's envoy away, and asked his own envoy about Wang Jun's truth.The envoy reported: "There was a flood in Youzhou last year, and the people had no food to eat. Wang Jun accumulated millions of grains and could not provide relief. The punishment and administration were harsh, the taxes and duties were heavy, the loyal and virtuous were separated from the inside, and the barbarians and the di were rebelled from outside. However, he himself is very calm, without the slightest fear, and he has appointed hundreds of officials, and repaired the pavilions, claiming that he is better than Emperor Gaozu of Han and Emperor Wu of Wei." Shi Le laughed, knowing that Wang Jun was already in his pocket. In April 314 AD, Shi Le led an army to Yishui.Sun Wei, Wang Jun's general, sent a messenger to report, ready to send troops to resist.Wang Jun's generals spoke one after another, thinking that the Hu people were "greedy and untrustworthy, so there must be tricks", and hoped that Wang Jun would order to meet Shi Le. If the sky does evil, it can still be violated; if people commit evil, they cannot live.Wang Jun was furious and reprimanded the generals loudly: "Duke Shi came here just to honor me, and anyone who dares to speak against General Shi will be killed without mercy!" The generals dare not speak any more. Shi Le's army approached Jicheng, urging the guards to open the gate.Because Wang Jun was ordered, the gate army hurriedly opened the city gate.Wang Jun was unsuspecting, but Shi Le was extra vigilant.Fearing that he would encounter an ambush after entering the city, he first sent troops to drive in thousands of cattle and sheep, and threatened to offer gifts to block the passages in the city.Even if Wang Jun had ambushes, with so many cattle and sheep blocking the way, he would not be able to send troops. "(Wang) Jun began to be afraid, and sat or stood up."After Shi Le entered the city, his troops looted. Wang Jun's subordinates begged to send troops to resist, but Wang Jun still refused.If troops were sent out at this time, even if Shi Le could not be defeated, at least Wang Jun and his generals would still have a chance to escape.Seeing that the commander still refused to give orders at a critical moment, the generals dispersed for a while. Wang Jun waited for a long time, but he didn't see Shi Le coming to see him. Instead, he heard soldiers running out of breath to report that Shi Le had already sat high in the atrium of the government office and was giving orders.Finally realizing that he had been fooled, Wang Jun ran away. Without any guards, Wang Jun was caught by Shile soldiers before he ran far and sent to the mansion. Finally saw Shi Le.Wang Jun's arms were tied, and he saw this big Hu chief who had always pretended to be his grandson sitting at the head of the hall, holding his wife in his arms, shaking his hands while smiling at him. Wang Jun yelled: "Hu Nu, you actually lied to my uncle (Tiao Nai Gong), it's too vicious!" Shi Le replied: "Your Majesty, you sit on the Guanyuan Terrace, hold strong soldiers, sit and watch the dynasty overthrow, and want to be the emperor, you are a rebellious person... You also harmed the people, appointed treacherous and corrupt villains, and poisoned the entire country. Sergeant, the crime is really not small!" After saying this, Shi Le changed his face, sent five hundred elite cavalry to escort Wang Jun to Xiangguo, and captured and killed more than 10,000 elite soldiers under Wang Jun's command. At the last moment, Wang Jun was like a man. When he was beheaded in the busy city of Xiangguo, "he didn't feel wronged, but cursed to death."Even so, what good is it! Liu Kun sat and waited for Wang Jun to be killed by Shi Le.Today, Shi Le not only did not return to the Jin Dynasty, but instead mobilized soldiers to prepare to attack Liu Kun without any worries. In the third year of Jianxing Emperor Mindi of Jin Dynasty, Liu Kun was worshiped as Sikong, and he was the governor of the military forces of Bing, Ji, and Youzhou. Although his official title was magnificent, the situation around him was very worrying. The house leaked and it rained all night.In the fourth year of Jianxing Emperor Mindi of Jin Dynasty (316), Tuoba Yilu, the Xianbei chieftain who had been Liu Kunyi's fundamental support, was killed. Tuoba Yilu was proclaimed Dai Wang by the Jin Dynasty in the third year of Emperor Min Jian'an.Xianbei people have the habit of pampering their youngest sons.The Dai Wang Tuoba Yilu wanted to make his youngest son Biyan his heir, so he sent his eldest son Tuoba Liuxiu to Xinping City, deposed his mother, and put him in the cold palace.Liuxiu has a horse that travels five hundred miles a day, and Dai Wang Yilu also snatched it and gave it to his youngest son.Tuoba Liuxiu was ashamed and angry, and left without telling.Yilu was furious and led his army to attack Liuxiu, but was defeated by his son instead.The old Xianbei hero changed into rags and fled the battlefield, but was recognized by a country woman on the way, and reported to Tuoba Liuxiu. The rebellious son galloped to him and stabbed his father in the chest. The old hero died of hatred. Liuxiu established himself as acting king, but was soon attacked and killed by his cousin Pugen. "Pu Gendai is established, the country is in chaos, old and new suspicions, one after another are punished."In the chaos, the Jin generals Wei Xiong and Ji Dan, who had been attached to Xianbei for many years, led the Jin soldiers and Wuhuan soldiers under their command, with a total of more than 30,000 families and 100,000 horses, cattle and sheep. Zun, return to Liu Kun together. As a result, Liu Kun's momentum was revived.Even so, Tuoba Xianbei's elite soldiers and fierce generals will no longer be his backup allies in times of crisis. At the end of this year, Emperor Min of Jin was captured by the Han army of the Liu family of the Xiongnu in Chang'an. On Shile's side, soldiers were suddenly sent to attack Leping (Xiyang, Shanxi), where Jin Chen and Han Ju were located. As soon as Liu Kun got a new soldier, he wanted to lead his army to rescue.When Emperor Min was captured and the situation was declining, Liu Kun was indeed loyal and brave, and his ambition was commendable. Jin generals Ji Dan and Wei Xiong who had just returned from Xianbei remonstrated and said: "The soldiers we brought from the Xianbei tribe, although they belong to the Jin people, have lived in a foreign land for a long time, and have never known your kindness, Lord Ming. Controlling the imperial system. The current plan is to take in the surplus food of Xianbei, and steal the cattle and sheep with beards and beards outside. Time spent, and then send them to fight, you can make meritorious service." Liu Kun was eager to win the battle, and instead of following the two generals' discussions, he poured out his troops.He ordered two generals to be the vanguard, 20,000 generals to go first, and he led the army to follow. Upon hearing the news, Shi Le set up an ambush circle in the mountains, first pretending to be defeated, and then encircled the Jin army on all sides, defeating the Jin army.The two generals Jidan and Weixiong had only a thousand remnants left, and they broke through the encirclement and fled.Jin general Han heard that he was defeated, so he also hurriedly abandoned the city and fled.