In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, a rebellion broke out in Xuzhou. Wang Zhixing was successful in putting down the rebellion and was rewarded for his achievements. Later, he gradually occupied Xuzhou.
When Wang Zhixing was in Xuzhou, he recruited 2,000 local warriors and formed seven armies, named "Silver Knife Army", "Diao Flag Army", "Door Gun Army", etc. as his own private army. After that, the Silver Sword Army and others became the legacy of Xuzhou and became a hot potato for subsequent town marshals.
The Xuzhou Silver Sword Army (referring to the seven armies including the Silver Sword Army) is notoriously arrogant and difficult to control. Because they are "ya soldiers" (or "yamen soldiers"), they do not belong to the regular national army, but are private armed forces. It is an armed force privately recruited by generals such as Jiedushi, and its equipment, military pay, etc. are also paid for by Jiedushi himself. Therefore, they were only responsible to Jieduzhi himself and did not obey the orders of the court.
Most of the Jiedushi envoys after Wang Zhixing were civilian officials and could not do anything to the Silver Sword Army. The Silver Sword Army did not take them seriously and often drew their swords to threaten and intimidate them, so that subsequent Jiedu envoys had a back door in the government office as an emergency escape route.
Tian Mou, the former Jiedushi envoy, even stood shoulder to shoulder with them, called them brothers, and even sang for them in person to cheer them up. Hitting the knot and hitting the board is the most despicable. Tian Mou has condescended to the point of disregarding his integrity.
At the same time, Tian Mou gave tens of thousands of rewards to the Silver Sword Army. Even so, it was not enough to satisfy the greedy Silver Sword Army. They often gathered in crowds to make noises and often used force to force each other to ask for more rewards.
After Tian Mou's death, Wen Zhang took control of Xuzhou.
Wen Zhang also adopted a gentle and appeasement attitude toward the Silver Sword Army, offering comfort and comfort. However, the Silver Sword Army was very afraid of Wen Zhang, who was known for his strict law enforcement and selflessness. Wen Zhang gave them food and wine, but they never ate a bite or touched a drop. They were so jealous.
In July of the third year of Xiantong (862), the Silver Blade Army finally launched a mutiny and expelled Jiedushi Wen Zhang.
The actions of the Xuzhou Silver Sword Army have touched the red line of the imperial court and cannot be tolerated any longer. The current situation in Xuzhou needs to be changed urgently. This important historical task was placed in Wang Shi's hands.
At that time, Wang Shi had just put down the Qiu Fu Rebellion in East Zhejiang Province, restored regional stability and economic development, cleared the imperial tribute road, and guaranteed the central finance. His martial arts skills are obvious to all.
So the imperial court appointed Wang Shi as the governor of Xuzhou, the military envoy of Wuning Army, and the observer envoy of Xu Sihao. He replaced Wen Zhang, the former military envoy of Wuning Army in Xuzhou, and immediately went to the town.
Wang Shi was ordered to cross the Huaihe River to the north with three thousand elite troops from Zhongwu and Yicheng who had followed him to pacify Qiu Fu.
News of the personnel transfer reached Xuzhou, and the Silver Sword Army was frightened to death.
There is not much time left for the Silver Sword Army. Wang Shi led the Second Town Army to quickly arrive outside Xuzhou City and stationed at Dapeng Pavilion.
The Silver Sword Army came to greet him with great reluctance and fear, shouting "Welcome, welcome, warm welcome", but in their hearts they wanted to find out Wang Shi's attitude towards the Silver Sword Army.
Wang Shi's kind words and consolation are not much different from those of the previous Jiedushi.
The Silver Blade Army said tentatively: "The divisions of Zhongwu and Yicheng returned from the rebellion and made great military exploits. Of course, we are exhausted. Although we are not as brave as the divisions of the second town, we can barely maintain local security. , I don’t dare to say that we don’t pick up things on the road, the people can still live and work in peace and contentment after all, and there is no need to trouble the Second Town’s troops... Otherwise, my lord, you can dismiss the Second Town’s soldiers... This will save the court a lot of military expenses!"
Wang Shi nodded frequently, and first said to the Silver Sword Army, "Thank you for your hard work, comrades." He also said that he had this intention originally. The task of the Second Town Division was only to escort him to his post. Since he had been sent to Xuzhou, logically he would not After staying for a long time, they will be sent home after being rewarded.
The Silver Blade Army was delighted and relaxed a little.
Wang Shi rewarded the three armies at the garrison.
Three days later, as agreed, Wang Shi assembled the divisions of the second town, put on armor and picked up weapons, and then surrounded the Silver Sword Army station with lightning speed.
The Silver Sword Army was confused. Aren’t you going back to your hometown in Henan? Don’t you know the way?
Wang Shi didn't give them time to react, and the military order was very simple, just one word: Kill!
"Xu died more than 3,000 people, and they were all executed on this day, so all the murderers died." - "Old Book of Tang"
In society, you are like a brother. People are ruthless and don't talk much.
It has to be said that Wang Shi is a relatively unique Confucian scholar. He has never been superstitious about moral preaching. When it comes to rebels, he behaves more like a military general who was born in the army and directly eliminates them physically. Isn’t it said that Xuzhou’s soldiers are arrogant and difficult to control? If it's difficult to control, don't control it. Kill everyone, kill them all. Simple, crude, and effective.
His fierceness and decisiveness were vividly displayed when he put down the Qiu Fu Rebellion. Qiu Fu and his core members came to surrender, but he showed no mercy and even ordered the execution of more than 20 key members regardless of battlefield discipline.
Treat the enemy as cruelly as the harsh winter.
He treats the people as warmly as spring.
At the beginning of the war, he issued explicit provisions more than once to strictly enforce military discipline. All prisoners who were coerced, coerced, or unable to make a living and surrendered to thieves would be released on the spot, and their past crimes were not allowed to be investigated. Wherever the army went, it did no harm to the people, and did not take a single step from the masses.
It only took Wang Shi three days to quell the military rebellion in Xuzhou.
Suppressing Annan, pacifying Qiu Fu, and defeating the Silver Sword Army became the three most glorious achievements in Wang Shi's life and will be recorded in history forever.
At the same time, Datang suffered repeated defeats in the "Annan War" with Nanzhao. Datang was forced to change commanders many times. Cai Xi, Cai Jing, Kang Chengxun, Zhang Yin... still could not withstand Nanzhao's powerful offensive.
In May of the fifth year of Xiantong (864), the imperial court came up with a clever trick that killed three birds with one stone: it ordered the training envoy of the Xu Si regiment to select 3,000 Xuzhou soldiers and go to Yongzhou (now Nanning, Guangxi) to guard the border.
After the Silver Sword Army was massacred by Wang Shi, the fish that escaped the net fled and scattered all over the country, becoming rogue bandits. The imperial court issued edicts many times, saying that they were allowed to go home and farm, and let bygones be bygones. But they were always afraid and did not dare to bring the case to justice. They kept gathering in the mountains and forests to make a living by robbing homes and homes.
Xuzhou is famous all over the world for its strong local customs and strong military personnel. The remnants of the Silver Sword Army and bandits in Xuzhou were even more troublesome for the court.
Since the fighting power of the Xuzhou soldiers is beyond the limit, instead of spending manpower and material resources to suppress it, it is better to turn the enemy into one's own use and let them fight against Nanzhao.
At that time, according to the system, the soldiers sent to the frontier to garrison were replaced every three years. But this time it was different. The imperial document clearly stated: "After the situation outside the mountain is settled, it will be returned with a replacement." No specific period for switching defenses was given.
This laid a big time bomb for the future.
In July of the same year, Xiahouzi, who had a keen eye for beading, recommended a talent to Tang Yizong who could defeat Nanzhao - Gao Pian.
Gao Pian was born in the Bohai Gao family. His grandfather was Gao Chongwen, a famous general in the Tang Dynasty and the prince of Nanping County. Gao Pian had performed outstandingly in the war with the Dangxiang Qiang people and made great achievements in the western frontier of the motherland.
However, what Tang Yizong did not expect was that after Gao Pian took command and went on the expedition, he would not receive news from the front line for a long time. In such an important war, the coach actually lost contact, and the court was out of control about the war.
Tang Yizong then asked Li Weizhou, the frontline supervisor, to learn about the situation, but received a shocking news: Gao Pian was holding back his troops, playing with his own dignity, and had evil intentions!
Tang Yizong was furious and immediately sent General Wang Yanquan to the front line to replace Gao Pian. He urgently summoned Gao Pian back to the court, intending to severely demote him.
Tang Yizong was still angry, but he received another completely opposite report from the front: the victory of Jiaozhi!
The person who reported the victory was Gao Pian's cronies, and what came with the victory was the head of Nanzhao Grand Marshal Duan Zongbang.
It turned out that Li Weizhou, the supervisor of the army, was jealous of the famous Gao Pian. As early as when Gao Pian first arrived at the front line, Li Weizhou had the idea of killing someone with a borrowed knife. He repeatedly urged Gao Pian to send troops to attack, and made an agreement with Gao Pian that Gao Pian would lead the vanguard with 5,000 soldiers, and Li Weizhou would follow up with the main force. But when Gao Pian led 5,000 troops and horses to the expedition, Li Weizhou did not send a single soldier and wanted to use Nanzhao's hand to kill Gao Pian.
Unexpectedly, the fierce Gao Pian Leng used these 5,000 men to surprise Nanzhao's 50,000 men and seized a large amount of rice to use as military rations.
If one plan fails, try another.
After that, Gao Pian fought against Lian Jie, but the document to show off Jie was intercepted by Li Weizhou. This is the reason why Gao Pian lost contact.
When the court inquired about it, Li Weizhou accused Gao Pian of being passive and lazy in fighting and playing tricks on the enemy, implying that Gao Pian was planning to rebel.
In fact, Gao Pian had compressed all the remaining forces of Nanzhao into Jiaozhi City and besieged them for more than ten days. They were "extremely trapped". It was at this time that he killed the commander-in-chief and generalissimo of Nanzhao's invading army. Duan Zongbang.
Just as they were about to annihilate the Nanzhao invading army and achieve brilliant results, the imperial court sent an order to the front line, relieved Gao Pian of his military power, and ordered him to return to the capital immediately to accept organizational investigation.
Gao Pian looked up to the sky and sighed. He took only more than a hundred followers and returned north under the imperial edict.
The military level of Wang Yanquan and Li Weizhou is not the same as that of Gao Pian. The tight siege on the Jiaozhi front line was lifted, and most of the Nanzhao army, which was originally at the end of its rope, took the opportunity to escape.
Fortunately, the confidants sent by Gao Pian to report the victory to the court were quick-witted. They saw a fleet flying flags from a distance on the sea, so they asked local fishermen and learned that it was the fleet of Wang Yanquan and Li Weizhou. They hurriedly hid among the islands. It was not discovered by Li Weizhou and others. After that, he paid a visit to the capital and went up to heaven to listen.
Only then did Tang Yizong understand the truth of the matter, scolded Li Weizhou for wronging the country and me, and quickly revoked the order, allowing Gao Pian to continue to lead the army in the crusade.
After being re-appointed, Gao Pian returned to the front line of Jiaozhi, conquered Jiaozhi City in one go, killed more than 30,000 Nanzhao invading troops, killed the Tuman chief who was leading the way for Nanzhao, captured tens of thousands of Tumans and surrendered... Annan returned to the embrace of his motherland.
The report of the recapture of Annan flew to the capital, and hundreds of officials came to the court to congratulate him. Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty was overjoyed, and he granted amnesty to the whole world, and the whole world celebrated. Chang'an City is crowded with people, gongs and drums are noisy, and firecrackers are blasting...
The death knell of the Tang Empire quietly sounded at this moment.
