The mantis stalks the cicada while the oriole follows behind.
Many of Yang Xingmi's military supplies were plundered by Cai's thieves before they could be transported into Yangzhou. Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo, who escaped from Yangzhou, were also invited to join Qin Zongheng's team and serve as Qin Zongheng's "leading party."
At the same time, Zhu Wen's "Three Zhu Alliance" collapsed. Zhu Wen raided Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin, winning first and then losing. The main force retreated to Bianzhou.
Qin Zongquan was worried that Zhu Wen would pose a threat to Caizhou, so he hurriedly mobilized Qin Zongheng's troops to return to Caizhou, first to resist Zhu Wen, and then to attack Yangzhou.
However, the consecutive defeats on the battlefield in Caizhou caused low morale among the Cai thieves and lost their confidence in the revolution. Some generals began to desert.
For example, Qin Zongheng's general Sun Ru immediately launched a mutiny and killed Qin Zongheng after receiving the news of the withdrawal. Cai's "Huainan Expeditionary Army" split and collapsed. Sun Ru gave Qin Zongheng's head to Zhu Wen and turned to Zhu Wen of Bianzhou; another general, An Renyi, led his troops to surrender to Yang Xingmi.
Sun Ru plundered neighboring states, quickly expanded his army to tens of thousands, and accepted Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo, coveting Huainan. They first captured Gaoyou, and Zhang Shenjian led the remaining troops to break through and escape to Yangzhou.
Yang Xingmi was very disgusted with Zhang Shenjian's character and believed that Zhang Shenjian was a capricious and profit-seeking villain. Of course he did not accuse Zhang Shenjian unjustly. Zhang Shenjian fought repeatedly between Lu Yongzhi and Bi Shiduo. The dragon defeated the dragon and the tiger defeated the tiger.
When Bi Shiduo first raised his army, he made a bloody alliance with Zheng Hanzhang and Zhang Shenjian. As a result, the two men rushed to the battlefield, while Zhang Shenjian stayed in Gaoyou, watching the fire from across the bank. He was also hiding in Gaoyou, sitting on a mountain and watching tigers fight; now he was taken over by Sun Ru and Bi Shiduo, so he ran to Yang Xingmi and swore allegiance to him...
Yang Xingmi dispersed the more than 700 soldiers brought by Zhang Shenjian to various ministries, arrested them separately that night, and massacred them. In the early morning of the next day, he killed Zhang Shenjian again to avoid future troubles.
Lu Bu is a typical representative of the capricious "domestic slaves with three surnames" that we are familiar with. Under normal circumstances, such a ruthless and profit-seeking villain will not end well. Zhang Shenjian is one of them.
Facing the menacing Sun Ru, Yang Xingmi was not sure of victory. He adopted a shrinking tactic and ordered Gao Ba, who was stationed at Hailing, to lead all the troops, civilians, and baggage to withdraw into Yangzhou City, strengthen the walls and clear the fields, and fight a protracted and attrition war with Sun Ru.
Yang Xingmi and Gao Ba became sworn brothers.
Zhu Wen, Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin are still sworn brothers. In troubled times, the story of three sworn brothers in Taoyuan is rare, and the big melons who burn incense in Wagang love to hear about it.
Yang Xingmi planned to send Gao Ba to garrison Tianchang to build the first line of defense against Sun Ru.
Think tank Yuan Xi once again offered advice, saying that Gao Ba was an old subordinate of Gao Pian and was best at adapting to the changing circumstances. How could you let him garrison such an important stronghold? In my opinion, it is better to kill him!
As a result, Gao Ba, all his generals, and Hailing soldiers were all executed by Yang Xingmi.
【The fate of the traitor】
The criminal Lu Yong's gang finally got the retribution they deserved.
Lu Yongzhi was executed by Yang Xingmi. The reason was that he could not find the silver to fulfill his promise. First he cut it in half, and then gave it to the enemy. The two pieces of Lu Yongzhi were chopped off in an instant, leaving only a pile of bones.
Zhang Shouyi was also killed by Yang Xingmi.
Zhuge Yin died earlier at the hands of Bi Shiduo. At that time, he did not have time to escape and was captured alive by Bi Shiduo. Bi Shiduo held a denunciation meeting, allowing the people to scold him as much as they wanted, and pulled out his hair and beard to vent their anger. In an instant, he pulled out his hair and beard, turning him into a big bald gourd, and then strangled him to death. Some people gouged out his eyes, and more people used bricks and tiles to kill him. His body was smashed and "it became a tomb".
The rest of Lu Yongzhi's party members were also massacred.
As for Bi Shiduo and Qin Yan, they also have to pay the price for their rebellious behavior.
The two defected to Sun Ru's army, and were naturally jealous of Sun Ru. When the two came to defect, there were still more than 2,000 soldiers and horses in the headquarters, which was not a small number.
Sun Ru adopted the strategy of boiling frogs in warm water, peeling off and cannibalizing the two troops bit by bit.
A crony named Tang Hong under Bi Shiduo keenly smelled the danger. In order to protect himself, he betrayed his old commander very well.
Tang Hong told Sun Ru that Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo secretly communicated with Zhu Wen of Bianzhou and conspired to annex Sun Ru.
It is better to believe that it exists than to believe that it does not exist. Even if you believe it doesn’t exist, you still have to rely on it. Sun Ru immediately set up an ambush and summoned Qin Yan, Bi Shiduo, and Zheng Hanzhang, saying that they had important military matters to discuss.
Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo were the first to arrive. Before he could say anything, he was tied up with ropes by the soldiers and thrown in front of Sun Ru.
Sun Ru was full of positive energy and had a bright face of justice. He shouted sanctimoniously and scolded Qin Yan for plotting rebellion and killing his old master. When he was tired of scolding, he dragged Qin Yan out and beheaded him in public.
Take a break and take a breath, it's time to scold Bi Shiduo.
Unexpectedly, Bi Shiduo spoke first: "A real man stands upright. Don't use those high-sounding words. To put it bluntly, you are the winner and the loser. Why do you pretend to be a gentleman? What kind of material are you? Don't you have any bad ideas in your heart? Remember, I, Bi Shiduo, have also been in command. An army of tens of thousands of people cannot die in the hands of ordinary people, but it is worth it to die under the sword of your great thief Sun Ru."
When Sun Ru heard this, he was ashamed and angry, and cursed: "A bold and mediocre thief, do you still want to stain my hands? I let ordinary people kill you." So he asked ordinary soldiers to pull him out and behead him. Sun Ru's reading comprehension did not get full marks.
Zheng Hanzhang arrived later, saw that the situation was not right, rose up to resist, and actually killed several people. Unfortunately, his two fists were no match for his four hands, and the hero could not withstand the crowd, so he was eventually captured and killed.
Subsequently, the tribes of Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo were also purged. Only Tang Hong, the traitor who sought glory as a seller, gained Sun Ru's trust and not only saved his life, but also was reused.
[Chaos in Huainan]
Yang Xingmi drove away the traitors Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo, settled in Yangzhou, worshiped the old master Gao Pian, eliminated Lu Yongzhi and other traitors, purified the army, eradicated hidden dangers such as Zhang Shenjian and Gao Ba, and basically controlled the situation in Huainan.
The only threat is Sun Ru. This threat is not small.
The most urgent thing for Yang Xingmi now is to get official recognition and use political advantages to make up for military disadvantages.
Without the approval of the central court, there is no essential difference between Yang Xingmi's "self-proclaimed stay" and rebellion.
Therefore, when Yang Xingmi first settled in Yangzhou, he couldn't wait to inform the court about the situation in Huainan and request for official canonization.
This connects to the key node in the previous article: the imperial court appointed Zhu Wen as the military governor of Huainan.
Since Bi Shiduo launched his army in Huainan, bigwigs from various parties such as Qin Yan, Yang Xingmi, Sun Ru, etc. have successively appeared on the scene. You and I are fighting for it. Dogs bite dogs and hairy mouths. Why did the crown of "Jiedu Envoy" suddenly be given to Zhu Wen?
To rule a vassal with a vassal, to drive a tiger away from a wolf, to kill three soldiers with two peaches... This is a common trick of the imperial court, a common method used by leaders to take back power from their subordinates and balance the forces.
When we read all the imperial appointment documents, it is not difficult to see the clues:
Zhu Wen also served as the military envoy to Huainan and the commander of the "Shoucai" Southeast Front Army;
Appointed Sun Ru as deputy commander of the "Harvest Cai" Southeast Front;
Yang Xingmi was appointed deputy envoy of Huainan Jiedu.
Look, I tied you three together on purpose. I'm afraid you won't be able to fight.
Yang Xingmi licked blood with the tip of his knife. He finally defeated Huainan. Can he easily give it to you Zhu Wen?
Sun Ru gave Qin Zongheng's head to Zhu Wen, which was similar to the way Sun Quan gave Guan Yu's head to Cao Cao during the Three Kingdoms. He dragged Zhu Wen into the muddy water and diverted Qin Zongquan's revenge anger. On the surface, Sun Ru was attached to Zhu Wen, but in fact he was pretending to be a tiger. On the one hand, he diverted the pressure from the Qin Zongquan, and on the other hand, he could increase his deterrence on the Huainan battlefield.
Zhu Wen and Qin Zongquan, the thief of Cai, were fighting to no avail, and they had new enemies with Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin. To the north, they were guarding against their powerful enemy Li Keyong, and to the east, they were concerned about Shi Pu, so they were unable to get involved in Huainan.
The imperial court's clever plan to stabilize the world was precisely to take this opportunity to sow discord among the emerging vassal towns in the Central Plains, and to create geographical conflicts to balance the forces of all parties and create centripetal force towards the imperial court, thereby gradually bringing Huainan back to the central court.
To drive tigers away from wolves, we also need to prevent the dangers of raising tigers. The court was too wishful thinking.
Of course, Zhu Wen knew the court's sinister intentions. He granted the fertile and prosperous Huainan to himself for no reason, just to use Bianzhou's power to control the chaos in Huainan. This "Huainan Jiedu Envoy" is the same as the "Tongzhou Defense Envoy" originally named by Huang Chaofeng, "the order comes from him."
According to the plan of the great counselor Jingxiang, Zhu Wen's main task at this stage is to suppress the Cai thieves Qin Zongquan in the south and annex the land in the east. The main targets are Zhu Xuan of the Yunzhou Tianping Army, Zhu Jin of the Yanzhou Taining Army, and Shi Pu of the Xuzhou Reformation Army. .
At this stage, Huainan is not Zhu Wen's core interest. Zhu Wen has no intention of getting involved in the chaos in Huainan, and there is no need to act as a scapegoat, a regional arbiter or a restorer of order.
Zhu Wen asked Yu Jingxiang how to deal with the hot potato of "Huainan Jiedu" now.
Jingxiang believed that Yang Xingmi would never give up Yangzhou, and it was wishful thinking to occupy Huainan with a letter of appointment from the imperial court. The court's intention to kill people with a borrowed knife is obvious.
Zhu Wen agreed, "So, what's the plan?"
Jingxiang taught him a trick of "throwing stones to ask for directions".
Since he has been appointed by the imperial court, he might as well send administrative officials to the Huainan area to find out Yang Xingmi's attitude. Of course, the result must be that Yang Xingmi disobeyed the order and violently resisted the law. Therefore, "throwing stones to ask for directions" is actually a drunkard who does not care about wine. He cast his doubts on Huainan but asked about Xuzhou.
Zhu Wen was puzzled.
Jingxiang smiled slightly, "Commander, please come here - we are like this, like this."
After hearing this, Zhu Wen clapped his hands and laughed, shouting repeatedly, "I have Jingxiang, just like Pei Gong has Zhang Liang!"
