[Mingzong enters Luo 2]
Yuan Xingqin rushed back to Luoyang from Weizhou, and Li Cunxu personally went out of the city to express condolences and inquire about the latest news from the front line. The answer made Li Cunxu quite sad:
The Weizhou rebels had extended eastward, occupied Bozhou, controlled what is now western Shandong Province, and planned to cross the river to attack Yunzhou and Bianzhou (in fact, when Li Cunxu heard these two place names, he had already thought of "left hook"). "), now that their morale is low and their military morale is low, please go to Guandong (Sishui Pass, located between Bianzhou and Luoyang) in person to appease them, so that they will surrender!
Li Cunxu accepted this suggestion. This day is March 18, the fourth year of Tongguang (926). It was on this day that Li Cunxu ordered the execution of Wang Zongyan and his party. The reason was Li Siyuan's rebellion.
The actor Jing Jin gave Li Cunxu some advice, saying that Kang Yanxiao had just been pacified, and the Shu region was in ruins. Many remnants of the "main war faction" had not been wiped out, and they were still hoping that the old master Wang Zongyan could make a difference, and the Wang Zongyan family and the His followers are no longer a handful, numbering in the thousands. Now that the Central Plains is in chaos, if they hear that His Majesty is leading the Eastern Expedition and are tired of the rebellion in the East, they will definitely have some ideas... It is better to take a preemptive strike and eliminate future troubles!
Li Cunxu believed this, and then ordered the massacre of thousands of Wang Zongyan's family and the accompanying generals and ministers from former Shu.
The next day (March 19), Li Cunxu set out from Luoyang and arrived at Sishui Pass on March 21. This is the place where Mr. Guan Erye warmed wine and killed Hua Xiong. Now, another important thing is going to happen here.
Li Cunxu sent Yuan Xingqin to lead the cavalry to patrol eastward along the Yellow River to recruit surrender and appease the soldiers and civilians on both sides of the river. Theoretically, the number of people in this team should increase as they go, and more and more people should follow under the king's banner. However, the actual situation is that there are fewer and fewer people leaving, because there are a large number of relatives and party members of Li Siyuan among the troops accompanying the army, and most of them are waiting for opportunities to slip away and defect to Li Siyuan's organization.
Some people advised Li Congshen to flee quickly, but Li Congshen always followed Li Cunxu and never left him. Li Cunxu talked to Li Congshen many times, hoping to let him be a reconciliation envoy to communicate with his father Li Siyuan and eliminate the misunderstanding between the emperor and his ministers. However, Li Congshen firmly refused and said that if Li Cunxu pushed him further, he would have doubts about his loyalty, and then he would commit suicide in front of Li Cunxu to show his loyalty.
At that time, Li Siyuan's "Left Hook" operation was still in the planning stage and was not implemented immediately. There was still the possibility of negotiation and reconciliation between the two parties.
So Li Cunxu talked to Li Congshen again and said a lot of heartfelt words, and finally persuaded Li Congshen to cross the river and go north to negotiate peace with Li Siyuan.
As a result, Li Congshen walked halfway and met Yuan Xingqin. Yuan Xingqin refused to listen to the explanation and had him killed.
After Li Congshen's death, it was no longer possible for the two parties to eliminate the misunderstanding, and the "misunderstanding" could only continue to increase.
Bianzhou now became the top priority of the war, and both sides realized its importance. Whoever wins Bianzhou wins the world. Li Cunxu continued eastward, heading to Bianzhou to appease the people and strengthen their belief in resistance; Li Siyuan also officially launched the "Left Hook" operation.
When Li Siyuan was crossing the river, he happened to encounter several banknote ships carrying tribute. God help me, I have publicly declared a rebellion, why are I still afraid of robbing the emperor? Li Siyuan seized all the silk and satin from several ships, and then rewarded them all to the army. The soldiers jumped for joy and the mountains shouted long live.
For Li Cunxu, this was a drain on his salary. He finally got the emergency money, but was intercepted by the rebels.
Li Siyuan successfully crossed the river and arrived in Huazhou. He sent someone to summon Fu Xi, the envoy of Qingzhou Pinglu Army, who was in a dilemma.
During the mutiny in Qingzhou, the eunuchs in charge of the army rejected Fu Xi's class division and ordered him to go to Weizhou to quell the rebellion. However, the Qingzhou generals killed the eunuchs in charge of the army. Li Siyuan on the Weizhou front also openly rebelled, so Fu Xi became a lonely ghost and could neither return to Qingzhou nor go to Weizhou. Fu Xi's situation is quite embarrassing. He wants to be a loyal minister, but he can't, and he wants to be a rebellious minister. We are at a loss, internal and external dilemmas.
Li Siyuan wants to unite all forces that can be united, and Fu Xi is obviously the comrade who needs to unite with the North.
Before going south, Li Siyuan also sent letters to Wang Yanqiu, Duan Ning, Fang Zhiwen, An Shentong (nephew of An Jinquan) and others stationed in Hebei to win their support.
Now, An Shentong led his troops to join forces and support them with strength.
Kong Xun, who was guarding Bianzhou, sent an envoy to express his support for Li Siyuan and asked him to enter Bianzhou as soon as possible and take charge of the overall situation. It is worth mentioning that Kong Xun was a typical two-faced man. While sending a memorial to Li Siyuan, he also sent someone to send a memorial to Li Cunxu, expressing his firm support for Li Cunxu and asking him to come to Bianzhou quickly to maintain stability.
Kong Xun prepared two identical sets of welcoming ceremonies, one at the north gate for Li Siyuan and the other at the west gate for Li Cunxu. Grasp with both hands, both hands must be hard. Bet on both sides to ensure that you will always be invincible. Kong Xun told his subordinates: "Whoever comes first, we will support him. By the way, remember to deal with the other set in time when the time comes, and don't cheat."
(Kong Xun, the envoy of Bianzhou Jiedu, had two ambitions. He made the north gate welcome Ming Zong and the west gate welcome Zhuang Zong. Therefore, the accountants piled up as one and said: "Whoever comes first can enter.")
At that time, Caozhou Governor Xixi Yezheng led Caozhou soldiers stationed in Bianzhou. He said to Kong Xun: "When the emperor destroyed Liang, he had a favor for you not to kill him (Kong Xun was Zhu Wen's confidant and grandson, and Dong Zhang and Gao Jichang are both the adopted sons of Zhu Yourang. They are insidious and treacherous. They have framed and killed Jiang Xuanhui, Zhang Tingfan, Liu Can, Queen He of Zhaozong, etc.), why do you still deliberately support Li Siyuan now?"
Kong Xun was speechless, but he still went his own way.
At that time, Li Siyuan's daughter, who was also Shi Jingtang's wife, was in Bianzhou, so Dongfang Ye wanted to kill her in order to coerce Kong Xun of Bianzhou to be loyal to Li Cunxu and become Li Siyuan's enemy. Unexpectedly, Kong Xun had already hidden her at home to protect her, leaving Western Ye unable to attack her.
Shi Jingtang took the lead and rushed into Bianzhou. Kong Xun immediately welcomed him and gave him a warm welcome. Shi Jingtang sent an envoy to urge Li Siyuan to come to Bianzhou as soon as possible.
In the west, Ye was outnumbered, so he led his 500 cavalry to break out from the west gate and join forces with Li Cunxu. The monarch and his ministers met at the Si River. Dongfang Ye sobbed and reported the incident in Bianzhou. Li Cunxu felt a lot of emotion and sighed.
On the same day, Li Siyuan officially entered Bianzhou to take over; Li Cunxu sent Longxiang Army commander Yao Yanwen and 3,000 cavalry as the vanguard to recapture Bianzhou, and said to them: "You are all from Bianzhou. The reason why you did not send other troops is I am afraid that the people of Bianzhou will be afraid. Go, Bianzhou soldiers, and recruit my people."
Li Cunxu gave them generous rewards and promised that they would be rewarded even more if they succeeded.
