【Jianghuai Fighting for Hegemony】
Yang Xingmi won a complete victory in the "Battle of Qingkou", but he could not expand the results. On the one hand, Zhu Wen was stationed in Suzhou, forming a strong strategic depth; on the other hand, it was Qian Liu who was behind him.
Qian Liu and Zhu Wen had the same idea. They both hoped to let the other party contain Yang Xingmi so that they could gain an advantage on the frontal battlefield.
Therefore, Qian Liu joined forces with Zhong Chuan of Hongzhou, Du Hong of Ezhou (both of whom faced threats from Yang Xingmi), and Wang Shifan of Qingzhou to jointly request the imperial court to allow Comrade Zhu Wen to take over the task of killing the unrest factor in the region - Yang Xingmi. .
After Yang Xingmi defeated Zhu Wen's military action to the south, he mobilized his troops and generals, returned to collect Qian Liu from Hangzhou, sent general Zhou Ben to aid Suzhou, and sent general Qin Pei with 3,000 troops to capture Kunshan.
Qian Liu's general Gu Quanwu had been besieging Suzhou for more than a year. The city was running out of ammunition and food and was in danger. The reinforcements Zhou Ben were repulsed by Gu Quanwu. The Huainan general Tai Meng who was trapped in the city had no choice but to abandon the city and escape; Gu Quanwu fought hard He pursued and killed many people, and then led more than 10,000 people to siege Kunshan.
Outside the city was Gu Quanwu's victorious army of more than 10,000 men, and in the city were Qin Pei's 3,000 exhausted defenders.
Qin Pei showed no fear and actually took the initiative to defeat Gu Quanwu's offensive many times.
After all, there was a big difference between the numbers and Qin Pei's battle injuries were quite serious, but this could not shake his tenacious will at all. Qin Pei made the old, weak, sick and disabled wear armor and hold spears to take on the task of warning and confusing the enemy, while he let the strong men draw bows and shoot arrows to maximize the coverage of firepower.
Gu Quanwu sent someone to persuade Qin Pei to surrender, saying that even if you had a few small victories, you would still fail, so it was better to surrender early.
Qin Pei agreed to surrender and asked the envoy to send a secret letter saying that he was discussing surrender.
Gu Quanwu was very happy and summoned all his men to open the city in person to witness the miraculous moment and share the joy of victory.
In front of everyone's attention, Gu Quanwu opened the envelope, only to find a volume of Buddhist scriptures inside.
It turned out that Gu Quanwu had become a monk in his early years. Qin Pei was deliberately disgusting him.
The atmosphere at that time was very embarrassing. Gu Quanwu's face turned red with shame and he said angrily: "Does Qin Pei really want to die? How dare you humiliate me like this!" So he sent more troops, increased the intensity of the attack, and flooded the city. The water flooded the city. Kunshan.
Soon after, large areas of the city wall that had been soaked by the flood collapsed, and the food in the city had been exhausted. Qin Pei was unable to resist and had no choice but to surrender.
This time I really surrendered.
After Qian Liu heard the news of Kunshan's surrender, he was very happy and ordered hot meals and dishes to be prepared for the surrendered soldiers to win people's hearts. Based on the analysis of the battle situation, Qian Liu and Gu Quanwu estimated that there should be a thousand soldiers in the city, so they ordered to prepare meals for a thousand people.
But when the defenders came out, Qian Liu and Gu Quanwu were surprised to find that there were less than a hundred old, weak, sick and disabled people in the city.
Qian Liu was furious and said to Qin Pei: "You only have a few people under your command, how dare you offend our military power? Are you bullying me and there is no one in Zhejiang?"
Qin Pei replied: "Mr. Yang has treated me with great kindness, and I cannot bear to let it down. Today, because we have run out of ammunition and food, and the city wall has collapsed, we are really unable to resist, so we have to surrender. It is not that we really want to surrender! The words are left here, and I will kill or behead them." ,As you wish."
Qian Liu was deeply moved and secretly praised Qin Pei as a loyal man.
Gu Quanwu also put aside his personal grudges and took the initiative to plead for Qin Pei, saying that he was heroic, courageous, loyal and brave, and he must be pardoned.
Qian Liu readily agreed.
Don't judge heroes by success or failure. Outside Kunshan City, there are three heroes: Qian Liu, Gu Quanwu, and Qin Pei.
After going back and forth with Qian Liu for a period of time, Yang Xingmi saw the facts clearly and admitted that Qian Liu was no longer what he used to be. He was no longer the little governor of Hangzhou, let alone Dong Chang's pony boy. The status of this area has been difficult to shake. Moreover, Yang Xingmi has been caught in a crisis on both the north and south fronts. With Zhu Wen in the north and Qian Liu in the south, he must adjust his work focus in time to avoid being surrounded and suppressed.
Therefore, Yang Xingmi took the initiative to send back the former Suzhou governor Chengji who was captured by him, and reconciled with Qian Liu.
At that time, Qian Liu tried his best to encircle and suppress Dong Chang in Yuezhou, and Yang Xingmi launched an attack on Qian Liu to contain his energy. Changshu garrison Kaicheng surrendered and dedicated Suzhou Governor Chengji to Yang Xingmi.
Yang Xingmi inspected Chengji's home and found that his home was only full of books and medicine. He thought Chengji was a man of high moral character and honest, so he took him to Yangzhou and entrusted him with important tasks.
Cheng Ji burst into tears, knelt down and worshiped Yang Xingmi and said: "There are more than a hundred men, women, and children in my family, all of whom are at Qian Liu's place. I lost Suzhou and failed to die in the line of duty. I am already quite ashamed. How can I dare to ask for glory and wealth again? I am willing to use myself alone." His life was exchanged for more than a hundred lives of his whole family!"
After that, he pulled out his saber and wanted to kill himself by wiping his neck.
Yang Xingmi immediately stepped forward, grabbed his arm, stopped him, and then no longer forced him to take up a post in Huainan. A house was arranged for him in Yangzhou City for him to live in.
There are all kinds of weapons in Chengji's yard and room, but Yang Xingmi often visits him alone and even drinks with him alone without any warning, showing his immense trust in Chengji.
Although Cheng Ji was of noble character, he could not be used by Huainan after all, which meant that Xu Shu was in Cao Ying. So now Yang Xingmi took the initiative to return him to Qian Liu and showed his kindness to Qian Liu.
Qian Liu also returned Wei Yue and other Huainan prisoners in response.
As a result, the battle in the Jianghuai area pressed the pause button for a while.
【Jin-Bian Struggle for Hegemony】
Zhu Wen's invasion of Huaihe failed, and his own strength was weakened to a certain extent. The younger brothers of the "fence-riding faction" could not help but vote with their feet and had an eye-catching relationship with Huainan Yang Xingmi. For example, Zhao Kuangning, the Zhongyi Jiedushi of Xiangzhou (son of Zhao Deyi). Zhao Deyi, Qin Zongquan's general, At the end of the "Shou Cai" period, he was attached to Zhu Wen), Cui Hong, the governor of the Fengguo Army in Caizhou, Wu Yu, the governor of Anzhou, and so on.
Snobs are usually short-sighted and can easily be fooled by the small gains in front of them. Unlike Li Keyong who lost Youzhou, although Zhu Wen suffered the "defeat of Qingkou", his vitality was not damaged, but he did not get any benefits.
So these young men who deserted received the lesson they deserved in time.
After the "Battle of Qingkou", Zhu and Wen's group formulated an eight-character policy: solidify in the east, defend in the south, disturb in the west, and expand in the north.
Donggu means to digest and absorb the fruits of victory of "Looking East" and consolidate the vested interests since the "Eastern Expedition". The focus is on the Xuzhou Wuning Army, Yunzhou Tianping Army, and Yanzhou Taining Army, so that they can become as powerful as the Huazhou Xuande Army. Like the rebels, it became Zhu Wen's "directly governed" vassal town. The Qingzhou Pinglu Army needed a hand of sweet dates and a big stick to prevent him from being half-hearted.
The southern defense means taking a defensive position in the Huainan area, uniting with Hangzhou Qianliu and surrounding small vassals to contain Huainan Yang Xingmi so that he does not dare to rush northward;
The purpose of disturbing the West is to cause trouble in the Guanzhong area and launch an external war.
For example, the "Hezhong Heritage Contest Case" continues to ferment, and another example is letting "healing master" Zhang Quanyi do renovations in Luoyang, the eastern capital. Covertly or overtly involved in the power struggle in the Guanzhong area, because this is the core interest of Li Keyong in Hedong, and the chaos in Guanzhong will greatly attract and contain the energy of Li Keyong in Hedong.
With Zhu Wen's instigation and support, Wang Gong of Shaanzhou continued to attack Wang Ke in Hedong, forcing Wang Ke to seek help from Li Keyong in Hedong; and the construction of Luoyang was more of a political bargaining chip "made out of nothing."
The northern expansion is to further enhance Zhu and Wen's voice in the Hebei region, and seize Li Keyong's territory east of the Taihang Mountains, such as Dongzhaoyi, through political differentiation and military intervention. Compress the forces east of Hedong back to the west of the Taihang Mountains.
If things go well and Dong Zhaoyi is captured, the next step is to digest and absorb the entire Hebei region, and then form an encirclement situation with Li Keyong in Hedong. Zhu Wen will gain the status of overlord of the Central Plains with an overwhelming advantage.
The rebellion of Liu Rengong in Youzhou gave Zhu Wen hope of victory, and he actively attracted Liu Rengong and showed him that he was also the prime minister, forming a fragile "anti-Li Keyong alliance."
Wei Boluo Hongxin also took advantage of Li Keyong's disastrous defeat to launch an attack on Hedong.
Zhu Wen believed that the time was ripe and immediately led his army to cross the Yellow River from Huazhou to the north, taking advantage of Weibo to attack Dongzhaoyi.
Knowing shame and then being brave, General Ge Congzhou needed a victory to wash away the shame of Huainan's defeat. It only took one day to conquer Mingzhou.
