【Snowy Night Sliding in the State】
Opportunity awaits those who are prepared.
A mutiny broke out among the Yicheng Army in Huazhou, and the young general Zhang Xiao expelled Jiedushi An Shiru. This is the second time that An Shiru was expelled. Four years ago, he served as the military governor of Pinglu Army and was expelled by Wang Jingwu.
Don't be afraid of thieves stealing, just be afraid of thieves missing you. The Yicheng Army has long been remembered by two neighbors, one is the southern neighbor Zhu Wen of the Xuanwu Army of Bianzhou, and the other is the eastern neighbor Zhu Xuan of the Tianping Army of Yunzhou. The two neighbors reacted simultaneously and took advantage of the situation.
Dry food without an owner is on a first-come, first-served basis, and if you are slow, there will be nothing left.
Zhu Wen sent his most trusted direct general Zhu Zhen.
Zhu Zhen, with a "grass thief" background, was already a subordinate of Zhu Wen when he was in Huang Chao's army. Zhu Zhen participated in important events such as "Rebellion from Qi and surrender to Tang", taking control of Bianzhou, and "Shangyuanyi Incident". It can be said that Zhu Zhen is a direct descendant of Zhu Wen and is deeply trusted.
Zhu Wen's trust in Zhu Zhen was not entirely based on the relationship between superior and subordinate. Zhu Wen valued Zhu Zhen's strategy and military management skills more.
Zhu Zhen was "good at managing the army and selecting soldiers", and was "very good at selecting generals and training troops". Not only was he good at fighting and could be called a general, he could also train soldiers. Zhu Wen's new recruits and surrendered soldiers were all handed over to Zhu Zhen, who was responsible for training and reorganizing them. What's even more valuable is that Zhu Zhen also has unique insight and is a rare Bole. He selected more than 50 soldiers from among the soldiers, and "all of them can be used" after being promoted.
The appointment of Zhu Zhen to rob Huazhou shows that Zhu Wen attaches great importance to this matter.
Zhu Zhen lived up to Zhu Wen's expectations.
Not far after the Bian army set out, it snowed heavily and the roads were blocked. In that era when there were no asphalt roads, rain and snow were natural roadblocks.
The roads were extremely muddy, making walking difficult. Walking on foot was extremely painful, and the heavy supplies of food and grass made it even more difficult to walk. The weather was so cold that the soldiers' hands and feet were frostbitten. The chapped wounds turned yellow and turned black. The yellow mud and white snow mixed with blood dried and solidified on the exposed skin, and slowly formed scabs.
Morale was low, combat effectiveness was sharply reduced, and supplies were insufficient. If they continued to attack for a long distance, the division's veterans would be exhausted; while the defenders were clinging to the city and waiting for work.
Marching in the snow is tantamount to death. It's common sense, everyone knows it.
However, Zhu Zhen did the opposite. Instead of stopping the army to rest, he ordered an urgent march to Huazhou. If you can't keep up with the food, grass and baggage, then don't follow. Everyone is traveling light and simple, traveling through the night. Anyone who dares to neglect will be killed!
In Huazhou City, all the soldiers of Yicheng were hiding in their houses warming themselves by the fire, eating hot pot and singing songs. There were not even soldiers standing guard on the city walls.
Zhu Zhen galloped two hundred miles in the snowy night, and divine soldiers appeared on the city top like they were descending from the sky. The Yicheng army was stunned, gave up resistance, and surrendered collectively.
After Zhu Zhen completed the city defense deployment, Zhu Xuan's Tianping Army arrived belatedly. The Tianping army was also impressed by Zhu Zhen's courage, looked at Huazhou City, sighed, and returned angrily.
"Going down the river on a snowy night" has become one of Zhu Zhen's legendary stories. Zhu Wen captured the Yicheng Army without a fight and officially served as the military governor of the Yicheng Army.
Quietly, General Zhu Wen led the troops in the two towns, and his power nearly doubled.
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In the "collection" war, Zhu Wen always maintained a clear mind and would not cheer for one or two small victories, nor would he be complacent because of a big victory. There is still a huge disparity between the two sides.
If you want to protect yourself, you must seek allies, organizations, and shelter. Hug together for warmth.
"Uncle" Wang Chongrong couldn't count on him. Not only did he not help Zhu Wen collect vegetables, but he betrayed Zhu Wen's interests when competing with Tian Gong for salt profits; "good brother" Li Keyong didn't even think about it. "Shangyuanyi Incident" "A deep hatred was formed.
Plastic brothers, glass nephew and uncle.
Fortunately, Tian Lingzi disrupted the situation in time and met with Wang Chongrong and Li Keyong. Otherwise, there would have been peace in Guanzhong, and Zhu Wen would not have been able to escape the fate of being used as a political bargaining chip. It was very likely that Tian Lingzi, Wang Chongrong, and Li Keyong would dismember and divide him into political A victim of gaming.
Due to the "Shangyuanyi Incident", in the confrontation between the Kwantung Military Alliance (Wang Chongrong, Li Keyong) and the Kansai Group (Tian Lingzi, Zhu Mei, Li Changfu), Zhu Wen could only turn to the Kansai Group. A natural ally of the Kansai Group.
However, under the attack of the Kanto Military Alliance, the Kansai Group quickly collapsed, and the speed of its collapse was jaw-dropping.
First, Zhu Mei and Li Changfu took the lead in defecting and openly broke with Tian Lingzi; then Zhu Mei and Li Changfu parted ways again, and the group split for the second time; Zhu Mei's subordinates also quickly defected to the enemy and launched a mutiny, and Wang Xingyu defeated his superiors. The Kansai Group was completely shattered into pieces.
Zhu Wen sides with the Kansai Group, which is subtle and embarrassing. Its original motive was to use the Kansai Group to contain Li Keyong, and its deeper appeal was to use the Kansai Group to fight against Qin Zongquan.
Coincidentally, containing Li Keyong and containing Qin Zongquan was also Zhu Wen's value to the Kansai Group.
This is embarrassing.
Due to many objective reasons, although the two sides share enemies, they do not share dividends, let alone share alliance obligations.
The core demand of the Kansai Group is to control the imperial court, but Zhu Wen is not interested in this; Zhu Wen's core demand is to establish a firm foothold in the Central Plains and become a regional hegemon. The Kansai Group is not only not interested in this, but has conflicts because The imperial court did not want to see any local warlord dominate the country and dominate the country.
Therefore, although the enemies are the same, there are incompatible differences in dividing the spoils.
Well, if both sides can be far-sighted and seek common ground while reserving differences, then "not sharing dividends" will not be a fatal obstacle.
In fact, what is embarrassing is that both sides are "unwilling to share alliance obligations." Everyone wants to work without putting in any effort, everyone wants to sit back and enjoy the benefits, and take advantage.
Zhu Wen said to the Kansai Group: Help me fight Qin Zongquan!
Kansai Group: You help us kill Li Keyong first, and then I can help you kill Qin Zongquan!
Zhu Wen: You guys help me kill Qin Zongquan first, then I can free myself to kill Li Keyong.
The father is dead and the mother is married, and the individual takes care of himself. This is the true portrayal of Zhu Wen and the Kansai Group.
All the two sides can do is to provide "support" at no cost.
But Zhu Wen's "Shangyuanyi Incident" is really disgusting, and no matter how strong the rhetoric is, it can't be justified. Any "support" is unreasonable, so the Kansai Group's "support" must also be strategic, avoid talking about the "Shangyuanyi Incident", avoid the important and ignore the trivial, and use Zhu Wen's resistance to Qin Zongquan as the reason.
Therefore, as mentioned above, under the control of the Kansai Group, the imperial court not only failed to hold the people responsible for the "Shangyuanyi Incident" accountable, but instead promoted Zhu Wen to higher positions and titles on the grounds that he "had meritorious service in harvesting vegetables."
Zhu Wen and the Kansai Group were seemingly inseparable, but Zhu Mei's act of usurpation completely severed the fragile alliance between the two parties.
Zhu Mei supported Li You as emperor and sent the "Edict" to Bianzhou, hoping to get strong support from her ally Zhu Wen. Unexpectedly, Zhu Wen's approach was exactly the same as Li Keyong's: imprisoning envoys, burning false edicts in public, and publicly condemning Zhu Mei for treason.
There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.
Zhu Mei believed that she had been favored by Zhu Wen for promotion and title, so she regarded herself as a comrade-in-arms and benefactor, and had full confidence in Zhu Wen's declaration of submission. This is Zhu Mei's wishful thinking. He is too immature. He covets power but knows nothing about power games.
It was the imperial court and Xizong of the Tang Dynasty who gave Zhu Wen an official position and title. Although it was the operation of the Guanxi Group, the legal principles for all Zhu Wen's official positions and titles originated from Xizong of the Tang Dynasty. To deny the legitimacy of Xizong is to deny his own legitimacy. If Zhu Wen gives up his allegiance to Tang Xizong and becomes loyal to Li You, it means that he will have nothing.
Of course, Li You also gave Zhu Wen a higher official title, but Li You's legitimacy itself has been questioned.
Therefore, from the moment Zhu Mei abandoned Tang Xizong and supported Li You, she was no longer Zhu Wen's "benefactor". As for "comrades-in-arms", there is even less talk about them.
Facing the oppression of Qin Zongquan, Zhu Wen had too much time to take care of himself. How could he have time to help Zhu Mei conquer the world? On the contrary, public loyalty to Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty is tantamount to having political blessing, and any military action against Zhu Wen will be stigmatized as "betraying the imperial court."
Vote with your feet, and Zhu Wen also knows which boat to step on.
The burning of Li You's fake edict marked Zhu Wen's formal withdrawal from the military and political alliance led by the Kansai Group.
