【January 2nd Town】
Wei Bo, Wei Bo, Wei Bo.
It is not difficult to see from Zhu Wen's Eastern Expedition that whether it was Xuzhou Shipu or Yanyun Erzhu, their combat effectiveness was not the same as Zhu Wen's. In the years of fighting, Yan Yun Erzhu won the reputation of "the turtle at the beginning", and his soldiers also upheld the tradition of "falling into a box".
The reason for the back-and-forth going on for several years was that Huainan and Hedong were constraining Zhu Wen.
Among them, Hedong Li Keyong borrowed the power from Wei Bo without exception. Wei Boluo Hongxin was defeated by Zhu Wen twice, forming an alliance and then worshiping him, but each time he would open the border for Zhu Wen's strong enemy Li Keyong.
Zhu Wen's strategic target was Yanyun, but what really caused him a headache was Hebei Weibo.
Coincidentally, Li Cunxin's military discipline was corrupted, and he burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil in Weibo, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among Weibo's military and civilians. Zhu Wen sensed an opportunity and sent envoys to alienate Wei Bo and Hedong.
The envoy was ordered to popularize the idiom story of "false roads to attack Guo" to Luo Hongxin, starting from the simple to the deep, using the past to satirize the present, "(Hedong) On the day of returning to war, your noble road will be in trouble!"
Under the envoy's eloquent persuasion, Luo Hongxin remembered Zhu Wen's generosity and kindness. At that time, he betrayed Zhu Wen and offended Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen personally led his army across the river to conquer the city and captured the territory. However, when he expressed regret, Zhu Wen generously withdrew to Henan and returned the Weibo land and prisoners of war he had occupied. The masses work hard. Looking at the Hedong Army again, the comparison between the two shows the superiority and inferiority.
Moreover, Zhu Wen showed respect for Luo Hongxin in his dealings with others. Whenever Wei Bo's envoy visited Bianzhou, Zhu Wen would always bow to Luo Hongxin in the north in front of envoy Wei Bo, and then respectfully accept the gift from Luo Hongxin with both hands, and tell the envoy, He said, "Sixth brother is a generation older than me. How can our friendship be the same as that of ordinary neighboring vassals?"
Luo Hongxin was fifteen or sixteen years older than Zhu Wen. The two had previously become sworn sworn brothers, and Zhu Wen called him "Sixth Brother". In order to further please Luo Hongxin, Zhu Wen talked about his age. Although he treated him as a brother, he treated him as an uncle.
After weighing the left and right, Luo Hongxin finally made up his mind to move closer to Comrade Zhu Wen. Therefore, 30,000 troops were sent to raid Li Cunxin's camp at night and submit a petition to Zhu Wenna.
Li Cunxin was caught off guard and lost 20 to 30% of his troops. At the same time, all the food, weapons and baggage fell into Wei Bo's hands. Li Cunxin led the remaining soldiers to defeat and was forced to flee back to Hedong.
The incident of raiding Li Cunxin marked the formal break between Wei Bojun and Hedong Li Keyong. From then on, Wei Bojun closed its territory to the Hedong Army, and Shi Yan and Li Chengsi, who had previously gone to Yanyun to aid, were trapped in Yanyun and could not return to Hedong until their deaths.
Zhu Wen could finally deal with Yan Yun Er Zhu with confidence and boldness, so he marched again and surrounded Yunzhou.
When news came that Li Cunxin had been attacked by Wei Bo, Li Keyong was furious and personally led an army to attack Wei Bo's army. He killed more than 10,000 Wei Bo's troops and rushed towards Wei Bo's headquarters in Weizhou. All six states in Wei Bo's territory were robbed by the Hedong Army. Predation and invasion are unbearable.
This year, the Yellow River overflowed, and Huazhou under Zhu Wen's jurisdiction was in danger of being destroyed by the flood. Zhu Wen ordered the embankment to be broken upstream, causing the Yellow River to be divided into two, sandwiching Huazhou City in the middle. In this way, the floods in Henan are alleviated, and the floods introduced from the north enter Weibo.
Wei Boluo Hongxin was compressed into Weizhou City by Li Keyong. The soldiers suffered from floods and the situation was worrying. He repeatedly asked Zhu Wen for help.
Zhu Wen transferred Ge Congzhou back from Yunzhou to support Wei Bo, leaving deputy general Pang Shigu, the "strong successor", to continue attacking Yunzhou.
Ge Congzhou rushed to help and met Li Keyong head-on.
Ge Congzhou's wisdom and bravery were fully demonstrated during this period. He knew that the reason why the Hedong Army was invincible was simply because of the feared Shatuo cavalry.
Therefore, Ge Congzhou dug many earth pits in front of the formation in advance and used infantry as the front line to lure the enemy.
Li Keyong couldn't help but laugh when he saw the formation, and led his cavalry to charge over without any doubt. His son Luo Luo took the lead and charged forward.
Regarding Li Keyong's son, there is an extremely lack of relevant historical data. It is only mentioned as "Luoluo" but his Chinese name is not known. My personal guess is that "Luo Luo" should be his nickname, because most of Li Keyong's nephews have the word "cun", and some of his adopted sons have the word "si", such as Li Cunxu, Li Cunxiao, Li Siyuan, and Li Sizhao. Some history books directly write "Li Luoluo", which is incompatible with other scholars.
There are really few records about "Luoluo". The only relevant records are this one battle, and there are only a few of them. According to the historical view of this book, there is no need to go into details, just know that he is Li Keyong's beloved son, or beloved nephew, or beloved general.
Luoluo rushed to the front of the formation, stepped on the ridge, and his horse stumbled and was thrown off the horse. Bian soldiers immediately stepped forward and captured him alive.
Upon seeing this, Li Keyong hurriedly clapped his horse and came forward, intending to rescue him. Unexpectedly, he was also trapped when he got close. The Bian soldiers swarmed in. Li Keyong picked up his bow and fired an arrow. He shot the leader of the Bian army to death in a flash. The Bian army retreated slightly, and the attendants on the left and right were able to rescue Li Keyong.
Li Ke used the money to withdraw his troops and sent a letter to Zhu Wen, expressing his willingness to call off the war and asking Brother Zhu to raise his hand and make a condition to redeem Luoluo.
Zhu Wen smiled coldly and handed Luoluo into Luo Hongxin's hands, "Brother Six, you can do whatever you want."
Luo Hongxin beheaded Luoluo and received the largest surrender certificate.
This is all the records about Comrade Luoluo in historical materials: he rushed over, fell down, was caught, sent away, and killed. There is not a superfluous description.
With Zhu Wen's intervention, Li Keyong was unable to annex Wei Bo, so he gave up and led his army back to Hedong.
Ge Congzhou then led his army across the Yellow River south, returned to the Yanyun battlefield, and continued his offensive against Yunzhou.
Yanyun Erzhu was in a critical situation and frequently asked for help from Hedong. Li Keyong ordered reinforcements many times, but Wei Bo refused to open the border and was unable to go for reinforcements.
During this period, Li Keyong and Zhu Wen had several military conflicts in Weibo, with each winning and losing. However, Li Keyong was never able to overcome Weibo and could only sit back and watch Yan Yun and Zhu Wen disappear day by day.
In the first month of the fourth year of Qianning in the Tang Dynasty (897), Pang Shigu and Ge Congzhou joined forces and launched a new round of fierce offensive against Yunzhou. The food in Yunzhou City was cut off and morale was low, so they could only dig deep ditches and widen the moat.
Pang Shigu set up camp outside the city, laying bridges and dredging rivers and ditches. Five days later, the bridge was erected and they crossed the bridge at night to prepare for the attack.
After Zhu Xuan received the news, he immediately abandoned the city and fled toward Yanzhou in the southeast. Ge Congzhou led his elite cavalry in hot pursuit.
Zhu Xuan and his wife Rong fled to Zhongdu (today's Wenshang County, Shandong Province). They were so panicked that they hid in a farmer's pigsty. As a result, the farmer mistakenly thought he was a pig thief, so he shouted They came to the neighbors and beat them with sticks. Zhu Xuan had no choice but to reveal his identity, so he was tied up with ropes by the farmers and presented to Ge Congzhou.
Pang Shigu and Ge Congzhou launched a surprise attack at night, and it was still dark when they captured Zhu Xuan.
Zhu Wen ordered a non-stop attack on Yanzhou! Race against time.
Yunzhou and Yanzhou are about 80 kilometers apart, which is very close. The soldiers are very quick, and they must complete the blitz on Yanzhou before Yanzhou learns the news of Yunzhou's fall.
Ge Congzhou acted as the vanguard and rushed to Yanzhou City. Early the next morning, Zhu Wen led the main force to arrive and surrounded the confused Yanzhou. It was not until they heard the persuasion to surrender from the city that the defenders in the city learned about the fall of Yunzhou, and their morale was greatly frightened.
Because Yanzhou City at this time was almost an empty city. Zhu Jinzheng and Hedong aid generals Shi Yan, Li Chengsi and others went to Fengxian and Peixian counties 200 miles away to search for food due to food shortage in the city. Only Zhu Jin's second son Zhu Yongzhen and general Kang Huaizhen were guarding the city.
Upon hearing the news that Yunzhou had been lost and Zhu Xuan had been captured, the defenders in Yanzhou City were frightened and did not dare to act rashly. They could only close the city gates tightly and defend the city, waiting for Zhu Jin to lead his troops to rescue.
Zhu Jin heard the news and hurried back to rescue. However, the Bian army outside Yanzhou City seemed to be encircling for reinforcements and waiting for work. Zhu Jin tried several times to attack but failed, and there was no hope of saving Yanzhou. Zhu Jin led the remaining troops to flee to the southeast.
Zhu Jin's behavior of fleeing the battlefield made Yanzhou City completely despair. General Kang Huaizhen convened the generals for discussion, and with Zhu Yongzhen's consent (if he disagreed, he would be killed), they unanimously decided to surrender in Kaicheng.
Yanzhou City declared its surrender, and the Bian army sang a triumphant song and entered the city to take over.
From the first month of the first lunar month to the third day of the second lunar month, in just one month, Zhu Wen annexed the two towns of Yunzhou Tianping Army and Yanzhou Taining Army with lightning speed, greatly increasing his power.
The two towns are located in the west of today's Shandong Province. They are the gates to and from the Shandong Peninsula. There is also a Qingzhou Pinglu Army in the peninsula. On the day when the two towns fell, Qingzhou Pinglu Army surrendered to Zhu Wen due to military threats. The entire territory of Shandong became Zhu Wen's sphere of influence.
At this point, Zhu Wen's main mission achieved a staged victory, and the strategic goal of "Looking East" was basically achieved, and the sea was directly visible to the east. Zhu Wen's sphere of influence stretched across the Yellow River in the north, the Huaihe River in the south, the sea in the east, and Luoyang in the west, making him the undisputed most powerful vassal in the Central Plains.
After Zhu Wen entered Yanzhou City, he saw Zhu Jin's beautiful wife and wanted to take her as his concubine. However, Zhu Xuan's wife, Rong, was an old woman, so he beheaded Zhu Xuan and his wife.
Zhu Wen took Zhu Jin's wife with him to Bianzhou, and his wife Zhang Hui went out of the city to greet her. Suddenly he saw a strange woman who was as beautiful as a flower among Zhu Wen's attendants, so he asked her where she was.
"Um..." Zhu Wen scratched his head, feeling uneasy, "Um...she, hi - Zhu Jin's wife, didn't Zhu Jin leave her and run away? She was helpless. I looked so pitiful. I just took a hitchhike and brought him back (he had no one to rely on, so he lived in a baggage car)..."
Zhu Jin's wife bowed gracefully to her eldest sister Zhang Hui, knelt down and kowtowed, crying like pear blossoms and rain.
Zhang Hui also burst into tears, knelt down and kowtowed in return, then took her hand and cried, "Yunzhou, Yanzhou and Bianzhou all have the surname Zhu. They are from the same clan, and they swore an oath to each other and were sworn to Jinlan, but because of some trivial matter, There was a little conflict, a little misunderstanding, and then we got into a big fight, which made my sister humiliated today. Hey, if Bianzhou was defeated, I would inevitably be like my sister today!"
At this point, the two sisters hugged each other and cried.
Zhu Wen stood aside, very embarrassed.
After the two beauties cried for a long time, Zhang Hui made the decision to send Zhu Jin's wife to the temple and let her become a nun. Zhu Wen was notoriously henpecked, so he had no choice but to agree.
This matter has a happy ending.
[Portrait of Li Keyong]
The swallowing of two towns in January also caught Hedong off guard. At that time, Li Cunxin was leading his troops to attack Wei Bo. After hearing the news, he could only lead his troops back to Hedong.
Zhu Jin, Shi Yan, Li Chengsi and others fled to the southeast, crossed the Huaihe River in one breath, and defected to Yang Xingmi.
After Yang Xingmi heard about it, he went to Gaoyou in person to greet Zhu Jin and expressed his warm welcome to Zhu Jin.
In the past, the Huainan soldiers were only good at water warfare, but not good at horseback archery. Now, the Hedong, Tianping, and Taining field armies came in in large numbers, instantly filling the Huainan army's shortcomings and enhancing Yang Xingmi's strength. Zhu Jin, in particular, was a rare general. He was very skilled in martial arts and had a big mouth. He ranked first among the Huainan army.
In the future, there will be many stories about Zhu Jin under Yang Xing's secret account. If you look through the classics, you will find that Zhu Jin's life has just begun after arriving in Huainan.
Li Keyong from Hedong sent people to copy the path and sent a letter to Yang Xingmi, saying that he hoped to take back his beloved generals Shi Yan and Li Chengsi.
Yang Xingmi readily agreed and sent an envoy to return to Hedong, hoping to take this opportunity to get closer to Li Keyong in Hedong and lay the groundwork for a future north-south attack on Zhu Wen. It is worth mentioning that Yang Xingmi only agreed verbally, but was not actually willing to let the second general return to Hedong. Instead, he tried every means to win over the two generals and made them stay in Huainan willingly.
During this visit to Hedong, Yang Xingmi also brought private goods with him. He had long heard of Li Keyong's reputation in Hedong, and he just wished he had no chance to gain a foothold. Taking this opportunity, Yang Xingmi placed a skilled painter in the mission and gave him a secret mission: to take secret photos. Let him observe Li Keyong secretly and draw pictures.
Yang Xingmi admired Li Keyong's reputation and wanted to see his beauty, which was understandable. However, Li Keyong had congenital defects in appearance, one eye was big and the other was small. For this reason, he got the insulting nickname "One-eyed Dragon" ", so he is particularly sensitive to appearance.
When he learned that Yang Xingmi wanted to secretly photograph himself, Li Keyong couldn't help but became furious and said to the people around him, "Call the painter over and let him paint! I want to see what he dares to paint me into."
The painter was summoned, but saw Li Keyong sitting on his knees with an angry look on his face, "Yang Xingmi sent you here. You must be a well-known painter in Huainan. If today's painting does not satisfy me, this is your burial place!"
The painter first knelt down and saluted Li Keyong, then picked up the brush and painted calmly.
In that era when there were no beauty filters, artists could only use manual Photoshop, for example, to draw Li Keyong to look like Emperor Qin and Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. In this way, Li Keyong would consider this a great insult to himself; and if it is entered truthfully , Li Keyong will also be furious. Repairing the drawing or not is a dead end. Giving Li Keyong a portrait is a gift.
Because Li Keyong was bored being a model, he picked up a fan and played with it. The artist had an idea and drew a sketch of Li Ke fanning himself. The fan just blocked his disabled eye.
After Li Keyong saw it, he was very angry, "You're just going to show off this cleverness for me? I'm wearing a military saber, and you gave me a make-up with a pipa in hand to half-cover my face? How can a woman be so effeminate! I will repaint it!"
The painter wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and temples and painted another painting.
In this painting, Li Ke looks majestic, bending his bow and setting an arrow, opening and squinting his eyes, aiming attentively.
After Li Keyong saw it, he laughed "haha" and ordered the painter to be rewarded and sent out of the country as gifts. This painting has become Li Keyong's standard image.
