The Battle of Luzhou ended with Later Liang's defeat. Affected by its negative impact, within a short period of time thereafter, the market price of the Houliang Empire showed an overall downward trend.
In addition to the three major threats of Li Maozhen in the west, Li Cunxu in Hedong, and control of Heshuo, there were also minor twists and turns within the Later Liang Empire.
In place:
A tomb robber appeared in Huayuan (now Yaoxian County, Shaanxi Province). This thief was named Wen Tao. He gathered people to rob the Guanzhong area and dug up almost all the imperial tombs of the Tang Dynasty. Wen Tao thus became a famous veteran in the history of tomb robbing;
Wang Xingsi, the general of Danzhou, rebelled and drove away the governor;
Li Chou, the governor of Shangzhou, rebelled and led the people to the west. He wanted to surrender to Fengxiang Li Maozhen, but was suppressed in time and Li Chou was killed;
Xiangzhou mutiny, surrendered to former Shu King Jian, and defected to attack Jingnan;
The governor of Fangzhou rebelled and surrendered to the former Shu king Jian, who was put down in time;
Xiazhou mutinied, killing Jiedu envoy Li Yichang, and supported his uncle Li Renfu. Li Maozhen and Liu Zhijun joined forces with Zhou Dewei to besiege Xiazhou, but were later repulsed;
Feng Xingxi of Xuzhou was seriously ill, and Shangshu asked for someone to take over. The two thousand Ya soldiers in Xuzhou were all the former members of the Qin Zongquan, the Cai thieves. Once they lost control of Feng Xingxi, these people were likely to launch a rebellion. Zhu Wen hurriedly sent lobbyists to appease them, and finally successfully completed the transfer of power and ordered the demolition. The old department of Qin Zongquan was solved and hidden dangers were eliminated.
In the center:
General Kou Yanqing came to Beijing for an audience. When passing by the Tianjin Bridge, a civilian named Liang Xian failed to give way in time. Kou Yanqing ordered the guards to throw him off the bridge, causing his death. Zhu Wen thought that Kou Yanqing had worked hard and made great achievements, but he was unwilling to pursue his legal responsibility. He only asked him to pay a large amount of compensation and divorced the families of the victims.
Cui Yishangshu, the imperial censor, impeached Kou Yanqing, saying that he killed someone in front of the palace gate and deserved a heavy punishment.
Zhu Wen was in a dilemma, "Kou Aiqing, make up a story for Yan Guan... No, give me a reason."
Kou Yanqing argued that he ordered the guards to lift the man outside the guardrail, and his intention was just to scare him. Unexpectedly, the man struggled so hard that the guards failed to hold on, and he unexpectedly fell under the bridge.
The deceased was a victim, and I, Kou Yanqing, was the victim.
Cui Yi argued hard, firstly pointing out that although Kou Yanqing was a high-ranking official in the central government, he had no intention of taking human life lightly; secondly, Tianjin Bridge was opposite the main entrance of the palace, which was the way for the emperor to travel, not a place for heroes to show off their power; finally, even if Liang Xian did not If you avoid it in time, you will be punished with a few whippings at best, but it will not lead to death!
Zhu Wen loved Kou Yanqing from the bottom of his heart, "Well, since you say he is guilty, what crime should Kou Yanqing deserve? You tell me."
Cui Yi first quoted from the "Law of Dou Jing": "The first crime is the power of the father, and the perpetrator will be reduced by one level." This means that the one who gave the order is the principal criminal, and the thugs who execute the order are only accomplices, so Kou Yanqing is the principal criminal.
It also quoted the "Fighting Article": "Those who do not fight, so they beat and injure others, will be charged with an additional level of injury." This means that if the victim does not fight back and the perpetrator commits unilateral violence, the crime will be increased with an additional level.
It can be seen that the laws at that time were not much different from the laws now.
Zhu Wenli had no choice but to demote Kou Yanqing.
This was already taking good care of Kou Yanqing, but Kou Yanqing made harsh words and put out a huge sum of 10,000 yuan to put a reward on Cui Yi's head.
The most taboo thing for rulers is for "veterans" to take credit and be arrogant. Zhu Wen was furious and sent someone to warn Kou Yanqing: If Cui Yi loses a hair, I will kill your whole family!
Cui Yi was born in the Cui family's family in Boling. His elder brother was Cui Hang, the prime minister of the Xizong Dynasty; his father was Cui Xuan, the prime minister of the Wuzong and Xuanzong dynasties; his grandfather was Cui Yuanlue, the military governor of the Yicheng Army; his uncle was Cui Yuanshi, the prime minister of the Xuanzong Dynasty; and his great-grandfather was Cui Xuan, the minister Youcheng.
Note: In a certain character entry, it is said that Cui Yuanlue is Cui Yuanshi's younger brother, and at the same time, Cui Yuanshi is Cui Yuanlue's younger brother. According to the "New Tang Book: Genealogy Table of Prime Ministers", Cui Yuanlue is the elder brother and Cui Yuanshi is the third younger brother.
In addition, Cui Yi's elder brother Cui Hang is also the origin of the idiom "Hangyiyiqi".
At that time (875, the second year of Emperor Qianfu of Emperor Xizong), Cui Hang was the chief examiner (Zhi Gongju). He was reviewing the examination papers all night. Suddenly he found a talented examinee. He couldn't help but praise him and immediately said "IWANTYOU". This examinee's name was Cui磣, title on the gold list. As a rule, successful candidates will visit the examiner's home. From then on, they will form a close teacher-student relationship and take care of each other in the future officialdom. This year, the names of Cui Hang and Cui Xun happened to form the word "Hang Xun", which originally meant water vapor and fog at night. So, someone jokingly said in front of the list, "The master's disciples are colluding together."
At that time, "hang collaborating" was just a homophone and did not have any derogatory connotation at all. There is no corruption in this program. Later, Cui Xun rose to prominence with his outstanding talent. While his colleagues were envious and jealous, they also unreasonably suspected that he had obtained connections through backdoors and obtained the position through improper means, so they began to use "collusion" to smear and slander the teacher. Give birth to two people. As time goes by, this word has been artificially given a derogatory tone.
What needs to be mentioned in particular is that Cui Hang was an upright official. He was persecuted by the "Baoyan Party" and was involved in the "Wei Yinyu Case". Cui Hang was Wei Yinyu's uncle, so he was demoted.
After the collapse of the "Baoyan Party", Cui Hangcai re-entered the central government. When Huang Chao invaded Chang'an, he was killed by Huang Chao because he was unwilling to help the emperor, and he died for the country.
This Cui Yi is very upright and kind. During the Zhaozong Dynasty, he was responsible for drafting the imperial edict (Zhizhigao). On one occasion, he was writing together with Yan Zhen and Qian Jue. Yan Zhen and Qian Jue were both famous poets with great talents and profound knowledge. , chatting and laughing happily, while Cui Yi concentrated on writing.
After a while, half-hearted Yan Zhen and Qian Jue had already drafted dozens of essays while talking and laughing. They not only ensured quantity, but also guaranteed quality. They were all rated as perfect compositions. However, Cui Yi could not compare with them in terms of quantity or quality. Cui Yi felt deeply ashamed, so he took the initiative to apply for resignation to the prime minister, saying that he had little talent and little knowledge, and he was really ashamed. Therefore, he was appointed as a doctor of admonishment.
The admonishment officer is in charge of discussions, which is what we usually call the admonishment officer and admonishment officer. He specializes in finding faults with the emperor and ministers. From Cui Yi's voluntary resignation, we can get a glimpse of his upright, upright and selfless character. If you are so strict with yourself, let alone supervising others. It's no wonder that he was placed in the position of admonishing the doctor, and he can be regarded as the director of employment.
It is precisely because he is doing this job that there is today's petition to impeach Kou Yanqing.
Through either bloody (Wang Zhongshi) or gentle (Kou Yanqing) methods, the "Conglong Heroes" of the Houliang Group were deterred to a certain extent, and their arrogance and domineering situation was curbed to a certain extent.
After basically calming the situation in the country, Zhu Wen's condition improved slightly. At this time, Liu Shouguang, a problem child in Hebei area, gave Zhu Wen an opportunity in time for his Northern Expedition plan.
Annexing the Heshuo area has always been the grand ambition of Liu Rengong and Liu Shouguang's father and son. In November of the fourth year of Kaiping (910), Liu Shouguang gathered his troops and prepared to go south to attack the Dingzhou Volunteer Army.
Every time Youzhou invades the south, it is an opportunity for Zhu Wen to get involved in Heshuo. This time is no exception.
Zhu Wen sent eunuchs Du Tingyin and Ding Yanhui to lead 3,000 Weibo troops to Shenzhou and Jizhou under the control of Chengde's army in Zhenzhou, claiming to be helping Heshuo resist Liu Shouguang.
Shenzhou guard Shi Gong immediately warned Wang Rong secretly that they must be refused entry, saying that this was inviting wolves into the house.
Wang Rong, however, disagreed and ordered the city gates to be opened to welcome friendly troops into the city to assist in defense. He also transferred Shi Gong, who was not very friendly to Zhu Wen, away from Shenzhou and ordered him to be stationed outside the city to avoid any unpleasantness with Zhu Wen's troops.
Shi Gong walked out of Shenzhou City in tears, turned around, pointed at the city gate, and cried: "Even a three-year-old child knows Zhu Wen's sinister intentions, but the lord is obsessed with it, thinking that by virtue of political marriage (Wang Rong's son Wang Zhaozuo married Zhu Wen's daughter) You can get a peaceful and prosperous age. The plan is broken! Alas, this city is about to fall into the hands of thieves!"
Some officials from Houliang who defected fled to Zhenzhou and revealed Zhu Wen's conspiracy to Wang Rong. Wang Rong was greatly frightened, but he did not dare to turn against Zhu Wen, so he adopted a compromise method and sent people to Tell Zhu Wen: Liu Shouguang has reconciled with Dingzhou and restored old friendship, and the army has withdrawn. The people of Shenzhen and Hebei were all frightened when they saw Wei Bo's army suddenly entering the city, and asked your Majesty to recall them.
Zhu Wen sent envoys to Zhenzhou to appease and explain, saying that he had no other intention and was really just helping you strengthen your defense. At the same time, the eunuch Du Tingyin closed the gates of Shenzhou City, then massacred the Chengde garrison and took control of Shenzhou.
Wang Rong woke up from a dream and quickly ordered Shi Gong to counterattack. It was too late. Shi Gong wanted to kill the thief but was unable to save his life.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Wang Rong immediately sent envoys to ask for help from Liu Shouguang in Youzhou and Li Cunxu in Hedong. The Heshuo area once again staged the script of exchanges between enemies and friends.
When the envoy arrived in Youzhou, Liu Shouguang was hunting. When Sun He, the think tank, heard that the envoy from Zhenzhou came to ask for help, he shouted "God has given me this". He hurriedly galloped to the hunting ground and reported the good news to Liu Shouguang excitedly.
Unexpectedly, Liu Shouguang behaved extremely coldly, in sharp contrast to the extremely excited Sun He.
Sun He explained: "The close integration between Zhenzhou Wang Rong and Zhu Wen has always been our biggest worry in Youzhou. Now, they are divided internally and hostile to each other. King Zhengyi took the opportunity to extend his sphere of influence to Zhenzhou and Ding, forming the Heshuo area. Overlord! This opportunity must not be missed, the time will never come again, if you hesitate even a little, you will be snatched away by Li Cunxu from Hedong!"
Liu Shouguang remained stubborn, saying that Wang Rong was capricious and had no credibility at all. Why should I try to pull chestnuts out of the fire for him? The snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman gains. This is the time for me to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and then go down the mountain to pick up the leaks.
Envoys from Zhenzhou came to Youzhou one after another to report the urgent need. Sun He also expressed his interest in sending troops, but Liu Shouguang always refused.
After the Zhenzhou envoys asking for help arrived in Taiyuan Prefecture, envoys from Wang Chuzhi of the Yiwu Army in Dingzhou also arrived one after another. Zhen and Ding simultaneously asked for help from the Hedong Group and expressed their willingness to surrender to Li Cunxu, hoping that under the leadership of Li Cunxu, they could jointly resist Zhu Wen of the Later Liang Dynasty.
Li Cunxu held a high-level meeting to discuss, and the generals unanimously opposed sending troops to help Heshuo. The reason was the same as Liu Shouguang's, believing that the town and city were capricious, and they supported watching the fire from the other side and reaping the benefits.
The truth is often in the hands of a few.
On the key issue of whether to "resist Bian and aid the town", Li Cunxu always maintained a clear mind and once again demonstrated his outstanding political wisdom.
