As the saying goes, there are no cases that cannot be solved, only cases that cannot be solved. The real culprit behind the "Shangyuanyi Incident" was not Zhu Wen, but the central court!
This central court was not that of Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty, but that of Tian Lingzi. In other words, the mastermind behind the scenes was the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi.
As analyzed above, getting rid of Li Keyong will do Zhu Wen a hundred harms but no good. Zhu Wen has no motive for committing the crime at all.
If we look at it from the perspective of "who benefits and who is suspected", the biggest beneficiary of Li Keyong's removal is Tian Lingzi.
Although Tian Lingzi was far away in Chengdu and far away from Huang Chao's disaster, he did not stay out of it. On the contrary, during the entire "Huang Chao Rebellion", especially during the period when Huang Chao withdrew from Chang'an, Grand Eunuch Tian was very busy jumping up and down.
Among the heroes who suppressed Huang Chao, they were mainly "Er Zheng", Commander-in-Chief Wang Duo, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Cui Anqian, and Chief Military Eunuch Yang Fuguang. The rest were outstanding generals such as Wang Chongrong, Li Keyong, and Zhu Wen.
Therefore, if he wants to usurp the credit and steal the fruits of victory, Tian Lingzi must get rid of them.
As mentioned above, Tian Lingzi first removed "Er Zheng" through conspiracy and tricks, and then removed Wang Duo and Cui Anqian on the pretext of "in vain against thieves". In order to be popular and forced by the objective situation, Tian Lingzi had to support his political opponents, the "Yang faction" eunuch forces, and credit Yang Fuguang, Li Keyong and others for the recovery of Chang'an.
While Tian Lingzi was thinking hard about how to bring down Yang Fuguang, Yang Fuguang suddenly died of illness. According to historical records, the entire army cried bitterly for it and the whole world felt sorry for it, but Tian Lingzi was the only one who was "overjoyed".
Afterwards, Tian Lingzi no longer had any worries and couldn't wait to wield the butcher knife against the "Yang faction" forces. First, he excluded and suppressed Yang Fugong; he dismissed and absorbed the "Eight Zhongwu Capitals" of the "Yang Sect" and reorganized them into the "Five Capitals of Suijia" for his own use; he also competed with Wang Chongrong for salt and profit, and even did not hesitate to fight with him...
These are all things for later, and we will expand on them one by one in the following articles. Here, we only need to understand one truth: Tian Lingzi declared full war on the heroes who conquered the thieves. Of course, this kind of declaration of war is operated quietly and behind the scenes, and it is all a shady conspiracy.
As Yang Fuguang said, he and Li Keyong were family friends. Speaking of which, Li Keyong should still call Yang Fuguang uncle. Li Keyong's meritorious service in quelling the thieves, and his transformation from an A-level wanted criminal in the imperial court to an imperial vassal town, was also due to Yang Fuguang's strong recommendation. Li Keyong and Yang Fuguang have formed a strategic partnership, with both prospering and losing.
Therefore, Li Keyong is also a thorn in Tian Lingzi's side.
The relationship between Li Keyong and Wang Chongrong is not ordinary. Li Keyong still has an in-law relationship with Wang Chongrong's son Wang Ke, but of course that's a story later. In short, Li Keyong and Wang Chongrong both made meritorious service under Yang Fuguang and were comrades in the trenches.
The two men were stationed in Hedong and Hezhong respectively, and they were entrenched in the east of Chang'an with eager eyes.
To the southeast of Chang'an is Zhuwen, Bianzhou. Zhu Wen was recruited by Yang Fuguang and Wang Chongrong, and there was a natural political alliance. Zhu Wen also recognized Wang Chongrong as his uncle, adding a layer of nephew-uncle relationship to the friendship between Zhu Wen and Zhu Wen.
Zhu Wen and Li Keyong are also good buddies who fight side by side, and they are regarded as brothers.
From this point of view, the Guandong region formed a loose political and military alliance with Yang Fuguang as the core. Although Yang Fuguang is dead, the various vassals and towns still maintain an overall friendly situation in order to safeguard their own interests.
This is what Tian Lingzi is most worried about. Government orders cannot leave Tongguan!
Finally, Tian Lingzi sensed this golden opportunity!
Li Keyong pursued Huang Chao and returned with a full load, passing through Bianzhou. If Zhu Wen could kill Li Keyong, wouldn't it be killing two birds with one stone?
"Zhu Wen, think of a way to fuck him. All the trophies he captured will belong to you, which is regarded as hard work; the Za family only wants his head."
So is Zhu Wen so obedient? Will Zhu Wen be greedy for Li Keyong's property, or will he follow Tian Lingzi's instructions? Or is it that Zhu Wen also wants to embrace Tian Lingzi's lap and take the initiative to offer a certificate of surrender?
No matter what, Zhu Wen must be very confused. From the bottom of his heart, Zhu Wen really didn't want to kill him. But if he doesn't listen to Tian Lingzi, will Eunuch Tian's next target be him?
Wang Duo, Cui Anqian, Zheng Tian and Zheng Congdan, who have been nobles for generations, can't escape Tian Lingzi's murderous hands. Is it possible for Zhu Wen, a short and poor man with three no products, to do it?
In Zhu Wen's subsequent letter to Li Keyong, he also clearly pointed out that the assassination was an act without his authorization and was carried out without authorization by the general Yang Yanhong and the eunuchs sent by the imperial court as secret envoys. This is equivalent to revealing to Li Keyong the real culprit behind the scenes: It is Tian Lingzi who wants to kill you!
In this way, it can explain our initial doubt, that is, the preparations for this assassination operation were very hasty.
After the incident, Li Keyong returned to Hedong in a panic, which seemed to reflect that he also knew who the real culprit was behind the scenes, but this person's background was too deep and he did not dare to say it.
The "Shangyuanyi Incident" was a tacit understanding between Li Keyong and the court (Tian Lingzi). They knew each other tacitly and everyone could only agree on the same caliber. Zhu Wen was the mastermind. Don't pursue this case any further. Just close the case once you find Zhu Wen.
The strange thing is that Zhu Wen, the "culprit" for "murdering the thief's meritorious service", did not receive any punishment. There was also a tacit understanding between Zhu Wen and the court.
The "Shangyuanyi Incident" became a lever for Li Keyong to blackmail the imperial court, and he continued to get into trouble.
Of course, the court under Tian Lingzi's control would not pity Zhu Wen out of guilt. The reason why he withstood Li Keyong's pressure and preserved Zhu Wen was because of other more important considerations. The same will be gradually expanded in the following chapters.
The above is the most reasonable inference about the "Shangyuanyi Incident".
The real murderer: Tian Lingzi.
Although Huang Chao died, the chaos in the world did not end. On the contrary, it became even more chaotic. The majesty of the central court was gone, and the emperor's orders became almost a dead letter.
Faced with the annexation of vassal towns and the separatism of the heroes, the central court could no longer stop it. It could only seek compromise and pursue a policy of appeasement while seeking a balance of power among the vassal towns, and even instigating fights between them in order to sit on the throne. Harvest the fisherman's profit.
After Huang Chao's death, history entered the "post-Huang Chao era."
[Li Keyong’s expansion]
After Shangyuanyi escaped from the disaster, Li Keyong actively expanded his army and prepared for war. On the other hand, he sent people to the court to accuse Zhu Wen of his poisonous conspiracy and issued military threats.
After receiving the indictment, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were greatly frightened. They unanimously stated that Huang Chao had just been destroyed and it was not appropriate to cause trouble again. The two towns should be allowed to reconcile.
The best candidate to serve as the court's peacemaker was the eunuch Yang Fugong. Yang Fugong is Yang Fuguang's cousin. Now that Yang Fuguang is dead, the most dignified person in the court with Li Keyong is of course Yang Fugong.
Face is only a prerequisite for the smooth development of reconciliation work, while lizi is the decisive factor for the success of reconciliation work.
Face was Yang Fugong, and Li Zi was granted the title of King of Longxi County, and Linzhou, Yunzhou, and Yuzhou were assigned to Hedong, and Zhaoyi Army's Zezhou and Luzhou were assigned to Li Keyong's younger brother Li Kexiu (from then on, Zhaoyi Army The rebel army was divided into two, and the west of Taihang Mountain became the "Xizhao Rebel Army", and the military governor was Li Kexiu).
This was the solution Mrs. Liu gave Li Ke, to rip off the imperial court and make the imperial court under Tian Lingzi's control suffer a loss. Li Keyong's power was greatly improved as a result.
Li Keyong's development and growth aroused the vigilance of neighboring vassals, especially the carve-up of the Zhaoyi Army, which caused strong panic among Li Keju, the governor of the Lulong Army in Youzhou (today's Beijing).
Li Keyong's forces continue to penetrate eastward, and it is obvious that the next target is his Youzhou. Wang Chucun and Li Keyong in Dingzhou (now Dingzhou City, Hebei Province) are the sons and daughters of Li Keyong, and they will definitely become Li Keyong's accomplices.
Li Keju of Youzhou decided to strike preemptively.
Therefore, Li Keju deceived Wang Rong, the military governor of Chengde in Zhenzhou (now Zhengding County, Hebei Province), saying that Yizhou and Dingzhou have been the inherent territories of Lulong and Chengde since ancient times, and now they have divided them. , neither of us will be safe.
Stare and tell lies. The two states were all separated from the Chengde Army more than a hundred years ago and have nothing to do with the Lulong Army.
Wang Rong was only 13 years old at the time. He inherited the throne from his father and became the military governor of the German army. He was only 10 years old when he took the throne. Therefore, he was successfully coaxed by Li Keju into forming a military alliance and agreed to attack the Dingzhou Yiwu Army and carve up the Yiwu Army.
To be on the safe side, Li Keju secretly colluded with Li Keyong's old enemy, Datong Defense Envoy Helianduo, and asked Helianduo to attack Li Keyong's back to contain Li Keyong in the west.
Helianduo was also coveting the northern territory of Hedong, so the two hit it off immediately. Therefore, Li Keju and Wang Rong respectively sent out large armies to launch a surprise attack on Wang Chucun of the Yiwu Army.
Wang Chucun urgently asked Li Keyong for help.
