【Wang Shiping Qiu Fu】
After Prime Minister Xiahouzi stated his views, other prime ministers and ministers also expressed their support.
March 1, the fourteenth year of Dazhong (Yizong of Tang Dynasty had not changed the year name at this time). Wang Shi was ordered to enter the court and accepted an interview with the organization.
Tang Yizong asked him how to defeat thieves.
Wang Shi was confident and said bluntly: "As long as you give me enough soldiers, I will be able to defeat the thieves."
The eunuch next to him said angrily: "If a thousand troops move, it will cost a fortune every day!"
Wang Shi said: "It is precisely because I want to save money for the country that I have to mobilize troops. The king's troops are gathered together, and the huge rocks are used to smash the eggs. Although it seems to be a huge expense, it can destroy the rebels immediately. If there are not enough troops and horses, the battle will inevitably fall into a stalemate. During the stalemate war of attrition during the growth period, the Jiang and Huaihe areas will be deeply devastated by the war. And now almost all of the imperial court's financial sources come from this area. If thieves have been roaming around in this area for a long time, how can the imperial court's expenses be remembered? "
Wang Shi's strategic thinking is very clear, and he must fight quickly to nip the thief in the bud.
When he heard about finance and taxation, Tang Yizong immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. If Chang'an is the heart of the empire, then the Jiang and Huai areas are the lifeblood of the empire!
If you dare to use a knife on my life, how can I still do that?
Wang Shi's "do it if you don't accept it" character is also very in line with Tang Yizong's appetite. Young people should look like young people! Tang Yizong immediately agreed, "It's up to you!" At the same time, he issued an order to transfer Zhongwu, Yicheng and Huainan masters to the king's command.
Qiu Fu was busy plundering everywhere, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of evil wherever he went. The people were trapped in dire straits, and they spontaneously formed groups to practice and build fortifications to resist the intrusion of thieves.
When the news came that Wang Shi had taken command, the people rejoiced and rushed to tell each other that the thieves in eastern Zhejiang were grasshoppers after autumn - they could not jump around for a few days.
The Qiu Fu thieves are also full of confidence in this, and they also believe that their end is coming soon. So I was in panic all day long. The dog-headed strategists among the thieves all offered their suggestions and advice, which could be summed up in one word: run.
Some advocate moving to Fujian, while others advocate moving to Taiwan. In short, you can't team up with Wang Shi, otherwise you will be crushed and destroyed in minutes.
Some people also suggested that heavy troops could be used to defend dangerous locations and form a separatist force like Sun Quan.
Qiu Fu couldn't make up his mind, so he could only drink alcohol every day to relieve his worries.
An ugly daughter-in-law will meet her parents-in-law sooner or later.
In April, Wang Shi led his army to eastern Zhejiang in person. The war to quell the chaos officially began, and the two sides began to battle wits and courage.
First, Qiu Fu sent an envoy, claiming that he was willing to surrender.
Wang Shi laughed and said, "We just arrived and the thieves haven't suffered yet, so why would they surrender willingly?" It's just to spy on the reality of our army and make us careless.
A few days later, the army entered Yuezhou to hand over work with the former Zhejiang East Observation Envoy. Wang Shi ordered a farewell dinner to be held and everyone drank heavily. Drink into the evening, light the candles, and keep drinking. Someone raised concerns: What if a thief comes to attack?
In response to this, Wang Shi laughed "haha" and said that since I, Wang Shi, are here, ask them who dares to come?
The next day, the departing officials were sent to the suburbs and had another drink.
It was time to order troops. Some troops were not in good shape, so Wang Shi was about to behead the generals who led them. Many generals begged for mercy, and after a long time, Wang Shi relented and spared him.
Military discipline was tightened and discipline was announced. The person who was lying in bed and complaining of illness recovered instantly, the person who was injured after falling from a horse miraculously recovered, the person who complained about insufficient rewards before became mute, and the person who asked for promotion and salary increase also withdrew his request.
Strategically, we despise the enemy, but tactically we value the enemy. This is the significance of the two pre-battle movements of Wang Style, especially the all-night carnival before the battle, which puzzled many generals. However, Wang Shi's wonderful and mysterious operation is still to come.
The thieves will have two small leaders and lead their troops to surrender.
Wang Shi asked them to accept the certificate of submission first. Let them serve as pioneers and prove themselves with practical actions.
They scrambled to show their loyalty and killed their former comrades without hesitation. Therefore, Wang Shi rewarded him based on his merits, recruited him, and gave him corresponding official positions.
Wang Shi understood that in addition to the so-called low combat effectiveness of the official army, there was another important reason for the previous defeat of the local army, that is, "it is difficult to guard against domestic thieves." The city is filled with thieves' spies and spies, spying on intelligence and bribing many officials.
If you want to defeat the thief, you must first find out the culprit.
In just a short period of time, Wang Shi destroyed the entire spy system deployed by the rebels in the city and executed all the enemy agents. In addition to his martial arts skills, Wang Shi is also an excellent intelligence officer and is good at anti-special operations.
After clearing away the time bombs around him, Wang Shi began to formally deploy the combat mission.
First, he got a magic weapon that could defeat the enemy - the household registration book.
This is no ordinary household registration book, this is the household registration book of the local government. Datang was prosperous and developed, and many foreigners settled in Datang. Of course, these foreigners must also apply for Datang visas, green cards, etc., and register with the local government. What Wang Shi was looking for were mainly foreigners of Tibetan and Uighur origin.
The Tang Dynasty distributed the surrendered troops and generals in foreign wars and the prisoners who were not exchanged to various places, and implemented the management of "central decentralization and local unity". Among them, many Tubo and Uighur prisoners were assigned to the Jiang and Huai areas.
These people are often strong, skilled in bow and horse, and are rare elite soldiers. In fact, many of the elite troops of the Tang Dynasty were Tibetan soldiers and generals.
After these people were assigned to places, they suffered discrimination and exclusion, and were far away from their hometowns. Their lives were not satisfactory.
Wang Shi checked the roster and found more than a hundred Tibetan and Uighur soldiers. He rewarded them generously, made appropriate arrangements for their parents, wives and children, and took care of them in every possible way. These veterans (not old, but rich in combat experience) were very moved and "wept and cheered". The soldiers died for their confidants, and they all expressed their willingness to die for Marshal Wang and go through fire and water to repay Marshal Wang's kindness.
Wang Shi also illegally recruited 200 horses from Longpi Prison and rationed them to this group of Tibetan soldiers. In this way, he had the most scarce cavalry force in the Tang Dynasty. The appointment of Longpi supervisor to herd horses was suspected of violating administrative procedures, but Wang Shi was never a bookworm who followed the rules. During the war, he handled special matters and never engaged in bureaucracy or formalism.
Next, Wang Shi issued a series of incredible orders:
First, open a warehouse to store grain.
Order the counties to open their official warehouses and provide relief to the people.
The generals expressed doubts, saying that the war had just begun and the military food was in short supply. If all the food was distributed to the people, what would the army eat?
Wang Shi said: "This is not what you should ask." (Not what you know)
Second, abolish the beacon tower.
Beacon towers were the most efficient means of communication in ancient times. They could quickly convey military information and facilitate the commander's command and response. Wang Shi issued an order prohibiting its use.
The generals were even more confused about this.
Wang Shi said: "This is not what you should ask."
Third, a cowardly soldier and a good horse serve as scouts.
Select a group of people who are greedy for life and fear death, distribute them to the best horses, but not weapons and armor, and let them act as scouts to find out the enemy's intelligence.
The generals were puzzled.
Wang Shi said: "This is not what you should ask."
Finally, Wang Shi divided the army into two, the East Route Army and the South Route Army, gave their respective combat missions, and once again strictly enforced military discipline: no harassment of the people was allowed; no killing of good people for credit; and thieves were allowed to surrender. , disarm and return to the field; the captured loot can be disposed of by yourself and does not need to be turned over.
The army sets out to defeat the bandits and make great achievements!
The two armies fought against the rebels and fought against the rebels for 19 times. The score was 19:0, and the officers and soldiers won 19 times in a row.
Wang Shi implemented the policy of "beating the eggs with huge rocks" to defeat the thieves, and asked the court to recruit Zhongwu, Yicheng, Zhaoyi and other troops to help. Moreover, he had already understood the psychology of the rebel army, and arranged for people to cut off the rebel army's escape routes by land and sea in advance, and tightly surrounded Qiu Fu.
The generals were puzzled again, saying that the trapped beast was still fighting! There is a saying in the art of war: surround three sides and withdraw one side. This is called opening one side of the net.
Wang Shi said: "This is not what you should ask."
The officers and soldiers completed the strategic encirclement, and Qiu Fu became the turtle in the urn.
What followed was the most intense encirclement and annihilation battle. How intense is it? Among them, there are combat records of 83 battles between the two sides within three days. Don't talk to me about clever strategies, Sun Tzu's Thirty-Six Strategies in the Art of War, just do it!
The rebel army was defeated and defeated, and the official army was also exhausted. So Qiu Fu once again expressed his intention to surrender and asked for peace talks.
The generals were about to celebrate their victory, but Wang Shi had a serious face and said, "They pretended to surrender. Stop talking nonsense and don't ask. Just keep on doing it!"
Sure enough, the rebel army went out of the city to launch a sneak attack and was defeated by the well-prepared official army. As a result, three more large-scale battles occurred.
This time, Qiu Fu's gang couldn't hold on anymore. Qiu Fu led several core members and more than a hundred people to leave the city and surrender.
Wang Shi escorted Qiu Fu into Chang'an and waited for him to be punished. He cut in half more than 20 key members.
Some of the thieves (about 500 people) broke through and fled, and the government troops pursued them. Finally, on the ninth day of July, the remaining forces were wiped out.
At this point, the Qiu Fu Rebellion in eastern Zhejiang was declared settled.
It took about six months from Qiu Fu's uprising to his downfall.
Wang Shi took command in March, went on an expedition in April, and was completely pacified in early July, which only took 3 months.
Putting down Qiu Fu became the second of Wang Shi's three major achievements in his life.
At the celebration banquet, the generals couldn't bear it anymore, so they took advantage of the wine to ask Wang Shi for advice. "Can we ask now?"
