It is conceivable that the army that Liu Rengong put together by temporarily grabbing strong men could not be said to have any combat effectiveness at all. Liu Rengong also knew well and did not dare to go south to fight the Bian army. Instead, he defended the strategic location - Waqiao. At the same time, he asked Li Keyong of Hedong for help.
Zhu Wen built a camp around Cangzhou, with three floors inside and three floors outside, like an iron barrel. Even birds and mice were not allowed to pass through. When the food in the city ran out, the soldiers and civilians could only survive on dirt, and then, as expected, there would be tragedies of cannibalism.
Zhu Wen sent envoys to persuade them to surrender, saying that you were in such a difficult situation and had no reinforcements, why didn't you surrender quickly?
Liu Shouwen climbed to the top of the city and shouted to Zhu Wen personally, "Youzhou and I have a father-son relationship. Your Majesty, you rule the world with benevolence and filial piety. If your son betrays his father, will you look down on me?" He was confident and confident, neither humble nor arrogant.
Zhu Wen felt a little ashamed and admired Liu Shouwen, so he suspended his offensive to show that heroes cherish heroes.
Liu Rengong asked Li Keyong of Hedong for help, and more than a hundred envoys were sent to him. Li Keyong, however, had deep hatred for Liu Rengong's previous betrayal and scolded him for being capricious and unwilling to rescue him.
Faced with Liu Rengong's urgent request for help, Li Ke refused with stern words, "You deserve to have this day too!"
However, his son Li Cunxu tried hard to persuade him, saying that Zhu Wen had controlled 70 to 80% of the world's territory, and even the three powerful Hebei feudal lords, Wei Bo, Yiwu, and Chengde, had bowed to him (these three towns have been under control since the "An-Shi Rebellion"). "After that, it became so powerful that even the central court was unable to restrain it, so the "hereditary feudal lordship" also started from here). In the area north of the Yellow River, the only ones who can compete with Zhu Wen are us and the Liu family and his son. Now, the Liu family and his son are in trouble. Lips are dead and teeth are cold. Although he is a scumbag and has hurt your feelings, we must retaliate with kindness, show our broad mind, revive the glory of Hedong, and gain both fame and fortune!
Li Cunxu's political talent was once again demonstrated. He got rid of the fetters of personal emotions and broke away from low taste.
Li Keyong had an epiphany, so he agreed to rescue the Liu family and his son, and made a plan to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao, sending troops to attack the Zhaoyi area.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Li Keyong asked Liu Rengong to send troops to Taiyuan, in the name of assisting defense, but in reality they were also used as hostages in return for Hedong's rescue of Cangzhou.
Liu Rengong sent 30,000 troops to Taiyuan Prefecture. Li Keyong then sent generals Zhou Dewei and Li Sizhao to lead their troops south to attack Luzhou.
At the same time, Zhu Wen fell into the dilemma of being surrounded by enemies on all sides:
First is the Kansai region.
Fengxiang Li Maozhen sent his son Song Kan to Chengdu Mansion to be a hostage, and formed a close strategic partnership with Wang Jian of Xichuan. Subsequently, the Kansai Group, which had no worries, began to challenge Zhu Wen's authority in the Kansai region. Li Jihui of Pizhou gathered troops from the four towns of Fengxiang, Baosai, Zhangyi, and Baoda to attack the Xiazhou Dingnan Army.
Followed by the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
Lei Yangong of Langzhou continued to invade Jingnan, but He Gui, who was newly appointed to stay in Jingnan, always closed the city and defended it. Zhu Wen was very dissatisfied with this, and ordered his grandson Gao Jichang to replace He Gui, and sent another 5,000 troops to Jingnan. South.
Jingnan was ravaged by war. It was first divided and plundered by Lei Yangong of Langzhou and Ma Yin of Tanzhou, and then recaptured by Zhao Kuangning brothers of Xiangzhou. Later, it was captured by Zhu Wen, who ordered He Gui to take charge, while Lei Yan of Langzhou However, Yan Gong never gave up on his evil intentions and never stopped beating, smashing, looting and burning in the Jingnan area.
The Jingnan that He Gui took over was a mess riddled with holes. What's more, when He Gui took office as a new official, he was born in a distant place, had a shallow foundation, and was weak in strength. He chose to avoid the enemy's edge and hold on to the city. Therefore, it cannot be arbitrarily determined that he was afraid of the enemy. War, cowardice.
He Gui was a general, but not a commander. He only saw the tactical level and did not rise to the strategic level. His eyes were focused on Jingnan, while Zhu Wen was focused on the world.
Jingnan plays a decisive role in geopolitics. It is the face of Zhu and Wen’s forces in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the anchor of the sea. It borders Xichuan to the west, Huainan to the east, and controls Guangdong and Guangxi in the south. It is the beachhead for Zhu and Wen’s great cause of reunification. If you don't have enough troops, you can add more; if you don't have enough money and food, you can transport it; if you lose a battle, you can win it back... But you can't lose on momentum. In a word, you can't be timid!
He Gui was also a descended general (under Zhu Xuan of Yunzhou), and his handling principle was to be low-key, cautious and unassuming. Therefore, when faced with difficulties, his strategy was to digest it himself rather than ask for it from his superiors, so as not to arouse dissatisfaction and frame-up by his colleagues and the suspicion of his lord. . This is the rule for all surrendered generals to settle down and live their lives.
Fortunately, Langzhou Lei Yangong is indeed just a clown. After Gao Jichang took over, he implemented the instructions of the top decision-makers to "don't give in" and "just do it". Lei Yangong's gang fled Jingnan and fled.
The Kansai battlefield also achieved impressive results. General Liu Zhijun faced strong enemies and was not afraid of danger. He first fought a beautiful self-defense counterattack and conquered Fangzhou within the jurisdiction of Baoda Army. He annihilated 3,000 enemy troops and captured the governor of Fangzhou alive. . Later, he and Kang Huaizhen faced off against the main force of the Kansai Group and defeated the 60,000 troops of the Kansai Group with 5,000 soldiers and horses. Afterwards, they pursued the victory and jointly conquered the five Kansai states. The Kansai Group came in force, lost the city and the territory, and never recovered from the fall.
The dangers in the west and south directions have been resolved without any danger. At present, only the Liu family and his son in the northeast and Li Keyong in Hedong in the north are left. Among them, the Liu family and his son have become turtles in a urn, with no food supply, living on dirt, hiding in the northeast and playing in the mud, and surrender to Bianzhou is almost a foregone conclusion.
What Zhu Wen never expected was that the most fatal blow to him would come from Li Keyong from the north.
[Ding Hui descends to Jin]
Luzhou is the capital of the Western Zhaoyi Army, and it is also a strategic location that the Shanxi-Bian forces have repeatedly fought for. If you control Luzhou, you will control the Zhaoyi area; if you control the Zhaoyi area, you will have the initiative in the Shanxi-Bian struggle for hegemony. In order to control this area, the two sides launched a long-term tug-of-war and paid a heavy price. Now, both the East and West Zhaoyi armies are under the control of Zhu Wen. The one in Luzhou is Zhu Wen's direct descendant, Ding Hui.
Ding Hui is the direct descendant of Zhu Wen. Huang Chao was born in the Cao Army. He was Zhu Wen's subordinate in the Cao Army. Later, he rebelled against Qi and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty with Zhu Wen. He has been following him to this day. He is a proven old revolutionary comrade.
When the news of Zhaozong's murder reached Luzhou, Ding Hui was filled with grief and anger. He ordered the entire army to stay silent and wept bitterly, which could not be calmed down for a long time.
Now, Li Sizhao led his army to attack Luzhou, and Ding Hui led the army and people in the city to surrender without a fight.
After Ding Hui saw Li Keyong, he cried and said: "I, Ding Hui, are not unable to defend the city. It's just because King Liang bullied the Tang Dynasty. Although I was favored by his knowledge and support, I really couldn't tolerate his rebellious behavior, so I defected." "
Li Keyong praised his loyalty, treated Ding Hui favorably, and placed himself above the other generals.
At this time, Zhu Wen had ordered Li Maoxun to reinforce Luzhou, and he was gathering siege equipment to prepare for a general attack on Cangzhou. The news that Ding Hui had surrendered without a fight was like a bolt from the blue, causing Zhu Wen to immediately abandon Cangzhou and retreat.
Previously, Zhu Wen mobilized grain and grass supplies within the territory, marched by land and water, and transported them to the foot of Cangzhou City, where they were piled up like mountains. Now Zhu Wen returned to the army in a hurry and had no time to move the food and baggage, so Zhu Wen ordered it to be set on fire. In an instant, thick smoke billowed and flames shot into the sky, and the fireworks could be seen clearly from miles away; anything that could not be unloaded on the ship was scuttled.
Liu Shouwen wrote to Zhu Wen, pleading: "Your Majesty has a good life, and because of his pity for the people of Cangzhou, he forgives my sins and lifts the siege. Our soldiers and civilians in Cangzhou will never forget your kindness. Now, tens of thousands of people in the city have The people have been without food for months, so rather than turning the food into ashes and sludge, it is better to give alms to the hungry people in the city."
Zhu Wen was moved by Liu Shouwen again. His loyalty, filial piety and justice were most vividly reflected in him. He felt compassion for Liu Shouwen, so he ordered several warehouses to be reserved for Liu Shouwen. The people of Cangzhou were able to live a difficult life.
After Li Keyong appointed Li Sizhao as Zhaoyi Liu, he continued to advance south and attacked Zezhou. Zezhou controlled Tianjing Pass, which was an important checkpoint for entering and exiting the Taihang Mountains. Under the stubborn resistance of the Bian Army, Li Sizhao returned without success.
Ding Hui's surrender to Jin was an important political event in the struggle between Jin and Bian for hegemony. Its political impact is extremely far-reaching, far beyond the gains and losses of one city or one place. This is also the main reason why Li Keyong treated Ding Hui favorably.
Zhu Wen was deeply psychologically hit. From then on, he became more suspicious and no longer trusted the people around him. It can be said that Ding Hui's surrender to the Jin Dynasty was the beginning of the demise of the Later Liang Dynasty. Although Zhu Wen had not yet established the backbone at this time, Ding Hui had already planted the seeds of his destruction. We will also detail the subsequent fermentation of "Ding Hui descending to Jin" later.
