Chapter 6 The Sui Empire was in turmoil

From the thirteenth year of his great career, Li Mi began to enter the peak stage of his life.Since then, Wagang Village has become famous all over the world and entered a heyday of rapid development. In the spring of this year, the rebel militias south of Zhao Wei (approximately present-day Henan Province) and north of Jianghuai respected the banner of Wei Gong, such as Meng Rang in Qi County, Hao Xiaode and Wang Deren in Pingyuan County (now Shandong Ling County), Ji Fang Xianbo of Yin County (now Dingtao County, Shandong), Wang Junkuo of Shanggu County (now Yi County, Hebei), Li Shicai of Changping County (now Jincheng City, Shanxi), and Wei Liuer of Huaiyang County (now Huaiyang County, Henan) , Li Deqian, Zhang Qian, Tian Heishe, and Tian Baishe of Qiaojun (now Bozhou City, Anhui), Zhang Qingte of Jibei County, Zhou Bitao (tao) of Shangluo County (now Shangzhou, Shaanxi), and the donkey thief And so on, they all belonged to Wagang.

Li Mi granted all officials and ranks, and ordered them to still control the original tribes, and at the same time set up the "Roster of Hundred Officials" to lead the ministries remotely.In addition, small groups of rebels and young people from far and near also defected to Wagang, and the number of tribes increased to hundreds of thousands.The Wagang Army became the most powerful anti-government armed force at that time, and Li Mi also became the most powerful figure among the heroes of the Quartet. Due to the surge in the number of troops, Li Mi ordered people to urgently build a Luokou City (to the east of Gongxian County, Henan Province) with a radius of 40 miles as the seat of the Marshal's Mansion and a new base.Later, he sent his troops to expand Fang Yanzao to the east, successively conquering Anlu (now Anlu City, Hubei), Runan (now Runan County, Henan), Huai'an (now Biyang City, Henan), Jiyang (now Northeast of Nankao County, Henan) and other counties.For a time, all the counties and counties south of the Yellow River fell into the hands of the Wagang Army.Next, Li Mi naturally turned his attention to the biggest and final goal - Luoyang, the eastern capital.

In April of this year, Li Mi ordered Meng Rang, who was newly attached to him, to lead his troops to raid Dongdu, looting Dongshi all night, and did not rush away until dawn the next day.By the time the Sui army came to their senses, the originally prosperous Dongshi business district had already been razed to the ground. Although this operation was just a raid and did not occupy the Eastern Capital, it caused great panic to the remaining imperial court and surrounding counties in the Eastern Capital.A few days later, Yang Xiaohe, the magistrate of Gong County, surrendered Li Mi.Soon, Pei Renji, who was in charge of guarding Hulao Pass (now west of Xingyang City, Henan Province), also surrendered to Li Mixian Pass.Li Mi was overjoyed, and immediately named him Shangzhu Kingdom and Hedong Duke.

Li Mi was delighted not only to get Hulaoguan and Pei Renji, but also to get a fierce general under his command——Qin Shubao. Qin Shubao, named Qiong, lived in the world with characters.A native of Licheng, Qizhou (now Licheng District, Jinan, Shandong), in the early years, he was under the nurse's tent in the future of the Sui Dynasty, and was appreciated by the nurse.When Qin Shubao's mother passed away, Lai Nuer specially sent envoys to express condolences, which surprised the left and right: "There are so many people in the family who have funerals, and the general never asks. Why do you mourn for Qin Shubao's mother alone?" The son replied: "This man is brave and ambitious. He must seek wealth for himself. How can he be treated in a humble way!"

Almost at the same time that Qin Shubao joined Li Mi, another legendary figure also came to Wagang.In the Romances and Storytellings of the Sui and Tang dynasties, this person has always had a high reputation, and it is not an exaggeration to describe him as "known to all women and children". This person is Cheng Yaojin. To this day, Chinese people are still familiar with and enjoy talking about the proverbs such as "Cheng Yaojin killed halfway" and "Cheng Yaojin's three axes".But in the official history, the weapon Cheng Yaojin used was not a clumsy axe, but a flexible spear; he used the funny name "Cheng Yaojin" for a short time, and soon after he joined Wagang, he changed it to a very serious one. His first name—Cheng Zhijie, has been used in the world ever since.However, the name Cheng Yaojin is basically known to every household, but "Cheng Zhijie" is rarely known among the people.

Although the lives of Qin Shubao and Cheng Zhijie were not as colorful as described in the romance, they were indeed well-known figures in the magnificent history of the late Sui Dynasty and early Tang Dynasty.For a long period of time thereafter, the names of Qin Shubao and Cheng Zhijie were always tied together, and they jointly performed scenes of the growth process of heroes in troubled times-in the 14th year of Daye (618 AD), Wagang was destroyed, and they surrendered together Wang Shichong; Later, they were dissatisfied with Wang Shichong's behavior, and they surrendered to the Tang Dynasty and served Qin Wang Li Shimin; in the ninth year of Wude (AD 626), they followed Li Shimin and participated in the Xuanwu Gate Change; ), they entered the ranks of "Lingyan Pavilion Twenty-Four Heroes" together.

After Qin Shubao and Cheng Zhijie came to Wagang, Li Mi immediately appointed them as generals of hussars, commanding the most elite 8,000 "internal army" under his command.Li Mi often boasted to others: "My eight thousand elites are enough to withstand an army of one million!" In the thirteenth year of the great cause, Li Mi's troops are strong and talented, but what he wants to win is not an easy bone.Because, at this time, Dongdu was still stationed with more than 200,000 well-equipped and well-trained regular troops of the Sui Dynasty.How easy is it to eliminate them?

However, in Li Mi's view, these more than 200,000 defenders are certainly a strong capital for staying in the eastern capital, but they are also a huge burden.The reason is simple - more than 200,000 people have to eat every day. For several years, this large army has been relying on the two major military food storage bases near Dongdu: Xingluocang and Huiluocang (now north of Yanshi County, Henan).Now, Xingluocang has already been occupied by Li Mi. In the next step, as long as Li Mi takes Huiluocang down again, he will be able to trap the more than 200,000 troops in Dongdu to death!

This is the best strategy to capture the Eastern Capital, Li Mi thought. The enemy's main point is our main point.In the early summer of Daye Thirteen, the Wagang Army and the Sui Army launched a fierce battle around Huiluocang: On April 13th, Li Mi ordered Pei Renji and Meng Rang to lead 20,000 troops to attack back to Luocang and quickly conquer it.The Sui army in Luoyang immediately sent troops to counterattack and defeated Pei Renji. After Pei Renji retreated, Li Mi immediately led the army to repel the Sui army, occupied Huiluocang again, and then divided his troops to attack Yanshi (now Yanshi County, Henan) and Jin Yong (northwest of the old Luoyang).Li Mi's plan is to occupy these two cities in one go, and then form a strategic defense corner with Huiluo, and at the same time achieve the goal of clearing the periphery of Luoyang and tightening the encirclement.

However, the Wagang Army encountered stubborn resistance from the Sui Army in Yanshi and Jin Yong.Seeing that these two cities were difficult to conquer in a short period of time, and there was no danger to defend Huiluocang, Li Mi had no choice but to give up Huiluo on April 15 and withdraw to Luokou. Li Mi's withdrawal of troops is undoubtedly a great boon for Dongdu, because at this time Luoyang City has been out of food for several days.Yue Wang Yang Tong made a prompt decision, taking advantage of Li Mi's return to Luokou to catch up and rest, and ordered the army to go back to Luocang to transport grain.

In order to prevent the Wagang Army from raiding, Yang Tong sent a total of nine troops to guard against death on the way from Luoyang to Huiluocang, and finally transported part of the grain from Huiluocang back to Dongdu.When the long motorcade returned with a full load, Yang Tong heaved a sigh of relief.With these life-saving food, he will be able to stick to the Eastern Capital and fight a protracted war with Li Mi! Li Mi was very annoyed that the Sui army had brought back the grain under his nose.On April 19th, Li Mi personally led 30,000 troops to occupy Huiluocang again, dug trenches, built city walls, and vowed not to let the Sui army get any more grain from here. Yang Tong urgently ordered Guanglu doctor Duan Da and others to lead an army of 70,000 to attack Li Mi.On April 21, the two armies fought in the north of Huiluocang. The Sui army was defeated and withdrew to Luoyang. Seeing that Dongdu was in danger, Yang Tong hurriedly dispatched Taichang Chancellor Yuan Shanda to Jiangdu to express his urgency to Yang.Yuan Shanda did not disgrace his mission, went through many obstacles and arrived in Jiangdu, finally met the emperor Yang Guang, reported the serious situation in Dongdu tearfully, and asked Yang Guang to return Dongdu quickly. When Yang Guang heard this, he was very displeased. The close minister Yu Shiji noticed Yang Guang's gloomy expression.He knew that the emperor didn't want to hear the news that thieves were rampant.In the past, he also made admonitions in this regard, but without exception, he offended Longlin. Later, Yu Shiji learned to be obedient, and only wanted to please the emperor wholeheartedly, so the relationship between the monarch and his ministers became very harmonious. This time, Yu Shiji certainly knew what to do.He said lightly to Yang Guang: "Young King Yue was deceived by these people! If the situation is really so serious, why did Yuan Shanda end up here?" Yang Guangguang was furious: "Yuan Shanda, this kid, dares to be a court bully!" So he immediately ordered him to go to Dongyang County (now Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province), nominally to collect food and grass, but actually to send him to die.Soon, Yuan Shanda was killed by the militiamen on the way.From then on, no one dared to mention the situation in Dongdu to the emperor. If no one comes to report worries, the world will naturally be peaceful.The unhappiness brought by Yuan Shanda was thrown out of the blue by Yang Guang in a blink of an eye, and the Li Palace in Jiangdu was still singing and dancing. Just when Yang Guang was immersed in the gentle countryside, and he did not want to think about Shu, in Hedong, Longxi, Hexi, Jiangnan and other places, separatist regimes rose rapidly one by one: they were Liu Wuzhou, Liang Shidu, Guo Zihe, Xue Ju, Li Gui, Xiao milling. This is the second wave of power that intends to overthrow the Sui Dynasty. Compared with the anti-Sui wave from the seventh to the twelfth year of Daye, the wave in the thirteenth year of Daye is obviously more dynamic and more violent.Moreover, the energy and appeal of these core figures are far greater than those of the mob before! Liu Wuzhou, a native of Mayi (now Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province), was "brave and good at archery and a traffic hero" when he was young. He followed the army to conquer Korea and was awarded Jianjie Captain with his military merits. He was later transferred to Yingyang Mansion, Mayi County.Wang Rengong, the prefect of Mayi County, regarded him as a hero and made him the captain of his own army.Soon, Liu Wuzhou had an affair with Wang Rengong's concubine due to his position, and because he was worried that the matter would be leaked, he gathered heroes from the same county to assassinate Wang Rengong, then claimed himself as the prefect, and took refuge in East Turkic.In late March of the thirteenth year of Daye, Liu Wuzhou ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, and changed his Yuan to Tianxing. Liang Shidu, a native of Shuofang, Xiazhou (now Hengshan County, Shaanxi), has been a noble family in the county for generations, and he himself served as a general in the Sui Army.In the spring of the thirteenth year of Daye, Liang Shidu led dozens of disciples to assassinate Tang Zong, the governor of the county.In March of the same year, Liang Shidu ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, the country was named Liang, and the capital was Shuofang, which was changed to Yonglong. Guo Zihe, a native of Pucheng (now Pucheng County, Shaanxi Province), Tongzhou, served in the imperial army of the Sui Dynasty, and was relegated to Yulin County (now Tuoketuo County, Inner Mongolia) for his crimes. So he secretly made friends with eighteen brothers who were not afraid of death, attacked the county city, captured the county magistrate Wang Cai alive, beheaded him for the crime of disrespecting the people, and opened a warehouse to provide food. The capital is attached to the East Turks in the north. Xue Ju, a native of Fenyang, Hedong, moved to Jincheng (now Lanzhou City, Gansu Province) with his father.In April of the thirteenth year of Daye, Xue Ju and his son Xue Renguo launched a mutiny, occupied the county seat, claimed to be the Overlord of Western Qin, and changed their Yuan to Qin Xing.In the summer of the same year, Xue Ju successively conquered Baohan (now Linxia City, Gansu), Minshan (now west of Zhouqu County, Gansu), Xiping (now Ledu County, Qinghai), and Piaohe (now Guide County, Qinghai) and other counties. , as far as the land of Longxi, the number of tribes increased to 130,000.In July of the same year, Xue Ju ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Li Gui, a native of Wuwei Guzang (now Wuwei City, Gansu), was originally the Sima of Yingyang Mansion. In the thirteenth year of his great cause, he and his friends Cao Zhen, Liang Shuo and others launched a mutiny. , set up a hundred officials, and ascended the throne the following year and proclaimed himself emperor. Xiao Xian, a descendant of the royal family of the Liang Dynasty, was poor in his early years and barely made ends meet by copying books for others.After Yang Guang ascended the throne, the Xiao family was established as the queen, and Xiao Xian became the county magistrate of Luochuan (now east of Xiangyin County, Hunan Province) by virtue of his foreign relatives.In the thirteenth year of Daye, under the support of Dong Jingzhen, Lei Shimeng and other young military officers, Xiao Xian started an uprising according to Baling County (now Yueyang City, Hunan Province), calling himself King of Liang and changing his name to Fengming.In April of the following year, Xiao Xian proclaimed himself emperor, the country was named Liang, and all laws and regulations followed the old system of Liang Dynasty. The big Zelong Fang stings, the Central Plains deer is fat! In 617 AD, the mountains and rivers of the Sui Empire fissioned, and the universe was reversed. One after another, heroes in troubled times rushed to the surface of history.Obviously, the purpose of these military officers, rich people, nobles, and relatives from within the empire is completely different from the low-level people who rebelled in the early stage-they are not fighting for the right to survive from the imperial court, but to fight for the right to rule from Yang Guang!Therefore, once they raised their troops, they would eagerly divide the territories, proclaim themselves emperors and kings, and launch a strong challenge to the legitimacy of the Sui Dynasty's rule. In addition, these new waves of rebels, who already possessed certain political and economic resources and possessed considerable military strength, performed far better on the battlefield than the previous peasant army.In other words, the peasant uprising between Daye 7 and Daye 12 was, at best, the prelude to the demise of the Sui Dynasty. It was only the people from within the imperial system who overthrew the Sui Dynasty, rebuilt imperial politics, and determined the direction of history. Elite! In the thirteenth year of the great cause, the Great Sui Empire has been in turmoil, and the lost Sui deer is waiting for a new owner. In May of this year, a powerful frontier official who supported the army, after patiently dormant for several years and calmly surveyed the general situation of the world, finally made a slow but firm move. He is Li Yuan.