Shi Shucong dug deep trenches outside the city, built earthen walls, and built solid fortifications. He also wore wide robes and long sleeves every day and walked leisurely on the front line, showing the defenders that he was confident and dismantling the Hedong soldiers. Fighting spirit.
After thirty years of hard work, we returned to before liberation overnight. All the achievements made by Li Keyong since his return to the Central Plains were taken away by Zhu Wen. Heshuo, Hezhong, Zhaoyi... even Taiyuan Prefecture in Hedong, the revolutionary base, are also in danger.
Li Keyong summoned the generals to discuss countermeasures. At the meeting, Li Keyong could not hide his sadness and told everyone that he was ready to abandon Taiyuan, retreat to Yunzhou, and then look for opportunities to make a comeback.
Li Sizhao, Li Siyuan, and Zhou Dewei firmly opposed it and said, "Your Majesty, please don't say such depressing words. We are here and we vow to live and die with Taiyuan!"
Li Cunxin supported escape, "Coexist or perish? I'm afraid we can only perish together. Now, the vast territories of Guandong and Hebei are all occupied by Zhu Wen, with well-equipped soldiers and millions of troops under his command, but we have few troops and limited territory." They are small and trapped in an isolated city, and then look at them building fortresses and digging trenches outside the city, and they are consuming it for a long time. If we hesitate any longer, we will really be unable to escape, trapped alive and dead, and both jade and stone will be burned. As the saying goes, if we stay, we will be trapped. The green hills are here, so we don’t have to worry about running out of firewood. Why don’t we shift our strategy to the north for the time being, and Xu plans to make a comeback and make a comeback!”
Li Keyong nodded frequently after hearing this, "Why don't a good man suffer the loss in front of him? Why do he have to fight with Zhu Wen in Taiyuan?"
Li Sizhao, Li Siyuan and others tried their best to dissuade him, "Taiyuan is the foundation of our generation. Don't act rashly!"
The two sides continued to argue, and Li Keyong always tended to run away and return to the starting point of his life.
While hesitating, Li Keyong thought of a person whose opinion would become his final decision. This is Li Keyong's wife, Mrs. Liu.
Li Keyong's wife, Mrs. Liu, was smart, resourceful, knowledgeable about military affairs, and skilled in both civil and military affairs. She often taught Li Keyong's concubines to practice riding and archery. In the "Shangyuanyi Incident", it was precisely because of Mrs. Liu's outstanding performance that Li Keyong was able to turn danger into safety and avoid being destroyed. Therefore, Li Keyong respected Mrs. Liu's opinions very much, and many major military and state affairs would ultimately come to her for decision-making.
Li Keyong told her that we were preparing to abandon Taiyuan Prefecture and retreat to Yunzhou.
When Ms. Liu heard this, her eyebrows stood up and her almond-shaped eyes widened, "Who came up with the idea?"
"Keep your faith."
Mrs. Liu cursed loudly, "Li Cunxin, a shepherd boy from Daibei, he knows nothing! Don't you always make fun of Wang Xingyu? When Wang Xingyu abandoned the city and lost power, he was at the mercy of others. Your analysis is very clear and thorough. Why do you want to follow in his footsteps today?" ? Besides, you also took refuge in the Tatars in your early years, narrowly escaped assassination, and escaped death many times. Fortunately, the country was in trouble, and you had the opportunity to return to the Central Plains. Now that we have suffered repeated defeats and the morale of the army is weakened, you now propose to flee beyond the Great Wall. , how many people are willing to follow you? Not to mention Daibeirongdi’s profit-seeking and dangerous situation, do you really think you can reach the outside of the Great Wall safely? "
Li Keyong woke up with a sudden realization, and then made up his mind to live and die with Taiyuan.
A few days later, soldiers and horses from all walks of life in Hedong gathered towards Taiyuan Prefecture, and the defeated troops who had been scattered before gradually gathered together.
Li Keyong's younger brother Li Kening had just been appointed as the governor of Xinzhou. Halfway there, he heard the news that the Bian army was encircling Taiyuan. He immediately turned his horse around and returned to Taiyuan. He told the people around him: "Taiyuan is my burial place." !" Greatly improved the morale of the defenders.
Li Sizhao and Zhou Dewei divided their troops day and night to attack, behead generals and seize flags, which made the Bian army overwhelmed, exhausted and miserable.
At this time, another plague broke out in the Bian army outside the city, and their combat effectiveness was sharply reduced.
The imperial court also sent a special mediator to order Zhu Wen and Li Keyong to reconcile.
Zhu Wen borrowed the donkey from down the slope as a favor, accepted the edict of reconciliation, and headed to the river.
Zhu Wen's strategic goal was to go to Fengxiang to seize the emperor. This siege of Taiyuan was completely unplanned. For Li Keyong in Hedong, Zhu Wen only needed to make a defensive posture to ensure that the forces in Hedong could not interfere with Fengxiang's core battlefield. However, he did not expect that Shi Shucong and Zhu Youning's self-defense counterattack had achieved amazing results. Under Taiyuan City, if we can capture Taiyuan in one go, everyone will be happy. Once they are blocked, they can take action and consolidate their vested interests without any regrets.
Shishu Cong was ordered to retreat. After dealing with Li Sizhao and Zhou Dewei for a long time, he expected that they would pursue them, so he deliberately left a few war horses and military flags on the high hill as a trick to deceive the enemy.
As expected, Li Sizhao and Zhou Dewei led their troops in pursuit. They also believed that Shi Shucong had an ambush behind Gaogang and did not dare to pursue them again.
Uncle Cong was able to safely withdraw to Luzhou.
Taking advantage of the retreat of the Bian army, Hedong Li Keyong recaptured the three states of Ci, Xi and Fen.
The third siege of Taiyuan was successfully resolved, but it dealt a huge blow to the forces in Hedong and severely damaged their vitality. For several years after that, Li Keyong was unable to compete with Zhu Wen for hegemony.
The psychological blow to Li Keyong was almost fatal, and even caused Li Keyong to fall into a crisis of faith. In today's terms, he was beaten to the point of doubting his life.
After the war, Li Keyong held a meeting and pointed out the need to save food, repair armored soldiers, and strengthen defenses to deal with threats from Bianzhou. .
Counselor Li Xiji expressed tit-for-tat opposition, pointing out that the prosperity of a country does not depend on whether the warehouses are sufficient, and the strength of the army does not depend on the number of people. The people are only willing to surrender to virtuous people. Harsh government and excessive taxation will only undermine the people's hearts and shake the foundation.
Li Keyong's suggestions seemed quite reasonable, including hoarding grain and grass, recruiting troops and horses, and building fortifications. However, the horses and horses and the troops must be recuperated after recuperation. Now that the war has been defeated and all industries are waiting to be prospered, it is not appropriate to prepare for war and engage in an arms race. Hoarding grain and grass means increasing taxes on the people. Raising an army means plundering labor from the people. Building cities means recruiting people's strength.
Therefore, Li Keyong's suggestion is tantamount to imposing excessive taxes, increasing the burden on the people, and thus intensifying internal conflicts.
Nothing can exist independently of the external environment. There is also no "one panacea" for the country's major policies, and there is no panacea that can cure all diseases. Whether it is focusing on agriculture and suppressing business, or being closed to the outside world, it must be judged in a specific historical environment.
Therefore, Li Xiji quoted classics and refuted Li Key's policy of "harmonizing horses and strengthening troops".
Later, Li Xiji gave his own opinion, saying that reform is not as good as cultivating talents, and reform is not as good as following old rules. For example, Han Jian had accumulated countless money and grain, and was the richest among the Kansai Group, but he was the first to surrender to Zhu Wen; Wang Ke also continued to reform, but finally surrendered to Zhu Wen; Wang Chuzhi of Dingzhou had a tall city, and Surrendered to Zhu Wen; Qin Zongquan's large army in Caizhou was also wiped out.
Whether it is a reform or reform, it will inevitably touch the interests of some people, and these people are often highly powerful vested interest groups, causing them to violently backlash and resist. From ancient times to the present, there has been countless bloodshed and sacrifices behind the reforms. For a political power, reform is equivalent to major surgery. As for the current Li Keyong, his Hedong Group is already riddled with all kinds of diseases and dying, and it is difficult to withstand the torment, so Li Xiji advocates that it is better to stay still than to move and to follow the old system.
Li Xiji was not opposed to all changes. He pointed out that we should promote frugality from top to bottom, give up extravagance, care for the people, reduce corvee labor, encourage farmers to teach farming, and develop the economy; military officers should be used to quell chaos, and civilian officials should govern the people. A strict system should also be established for the allocation and withdrawal of money and grain, and the judicial system should also be strengthened and standardized, without excessive rewards and punishments, and corruption and perversion of the law should be eradicated.
Li Xiji was also "reforming", but he directed the reform at the top circle of Hedong forces-the Shatuo nobles.
Li Keyong's personal guards were all composed of Shatuo and a few other barbarian tribes. They were often brutal and lawless. They often bullied others, killed, set fire, raped and looted. They committed all kinds of evil, causing great suffering to the people of Hedong.
If you want to change the law, you must first treat them.
In addition to counselor Li Xiji, Li Keyong's son Li Cunxu also disliked these Shatuo nobles and advised Li Keyong to restrain them.
Li Keyong disagreed, and justified these "Eight Banners disciples": "They have followed me for decades, and they have worked hard without merit. Now, the treasury is empty, unable to afford military pay, and they even have to sell war horses to survive. And all the vassals and towns are hiring warriors with high salaries. If I enforce the law too strictly, they will disperse and go their separate ways. Once the momentum subsides, we can slowly improve military discipline."
Li Cunxu had no choice but to say things that Li Keyong liked to hear, such as whether he would be able to succeed in peace, and Zhu Wen, who developed by relying on brute force and power, has a bad reputation, but our family has been loyal for generations, and although it is temporarily in decline, it will be defeated sooner or later. The thief Zhu Wen.
Li Keyong was very happy after hearing this. He thought what his son said was very reasonable, so he looked at him in a new light.
