5. Pizhou Jingnan Army
Mao Zhang, the governor of the Jingnan Army in Pizhou, was originally a low-level officer in Cangzhou. During the Later Liang Dynasty, he was Dai Siyuan Buqu, the military governor of the Hengjun Army in Cangzhou.
Li Cunxu took over Wei Bo. Dai Siyuan knew that Cangzhou was difficult to defeat, so he abandoned the city and fled. Before leaving, Mao Zhang took the initiative to ask to stay in Cangzhou, swearing that he would be in the city. Dai Siyuan was very moved, "The time has come for you to be tested organizationally!" After Dai Siyuan escaped, Mao Zhang immediately surrendered to Li Cunxu and was granted the title of Governor of Beizhou and later moved to Liaozhou.
Mao Zhang was a ferocious and cruel man, but also very courageous. He was a bastard with both wisdom and courage. During the confrontation between Liang and Jin in Jiahe, Mao Zhang mercilessly wielded the butcher knife against his former comrades, and made many military exploits for Li Cunxu. After destroying Liang, he was awarded the title of military governor of Huazhou Town for his numerous achievements. During the expedition against Shu, he was ordered to follow the army southward. After Shuping was defeated, the Jingnan Army was moved to Pizhou.
Li Jiji was forced to commit suicide on the way to escort the trophies of former Shu. The soldiers fled. Most of the assets and beautiful concubines who came with the army were plundered by Mao Zhang.
Mao Zhang was stationed in Pizhou on the northwest border of the empire. He thought that the sky was high and the emperor was far away. He also got the foreign wealth from the spoils of the former Shu and suddenly became rich, so he became disloyal. Mao Zhang used the money to recruit soldiers and horses, repair fortifications, hoard food and grass, make weapons and armor, and train soldiers...
When Li Siyuan heard about this, he sent Li Chengyue to serve as the deputy envoy of the Jingnan Army in Pizhou to monitor Mao Zhang. Then, before he became a problem, he moved the town and changed his post to Luzhou. Zhaoyi Army Jiedushi.
Mao Zhang wanted to resist the imperial edict and refused to obey it. Li Chengyue and Mao Zhang's staff jointly persuaded him, and finally Mao Zhang reluctantly accepted the appointment and went to suppress Luzhou.
Among the trophies that Mao Zhang plundered while taking advantage of Li Jiji's death were Wang Zongyan's "dragon robe" and other items used by the emperor, the emperor's guard of honor, etc. Mao Zhang actually wore Wang Zongyan's "dragon robe", hugged Wang Zongyan's concubine on his left and right, and ordered the dancers from Qianshu to perform for him the music he performed for Wang Zongyan. During this period, Mao Zhang drank heavily to pay tribute to Wang Zongyan, the fallen king.
When the news reached Luoyang, Li Siyuan was furious and immediately used the old-fashioned method of ascending and descending secretly to deceive him. He was recruited as General Jinwu Guard and controlled the capital.
Later, Mao Zhang became the victim of a political struggle in Shu. This is a story later.
6. Mutiny of Lutai Army
The Lutai Army was located north of Weizhou and south of Youzhou, and was divided into east and west villages along the Yongji Canal. It was an important strategic depth for the defense of the Khitans in the north. Fang Zhiwen, a minister of Conglong meritorious service, was ordered to station here to prevent the Khitans from invading south.
This incident starts with Wu Zhen, who replaced Fang Zhiwen:
Wu Zhen was orphaned when he was young. He joined the army at the age of 15 and served Wang Rong of the Chengde Army in Zhenzhou. He was gradually promoted to a junior general and subordinated to General Fu Xi.
Zhang Wenli killed Wang Rong and rebelled against Zhenzhou. Wu Zhen followed Fu Xi to attack him. More than ten members of Wu Zhen's family were in Zhenzhou, and were taken hostage by Zhang Wenli, who used them to instigate rebellion against Wu Zhen.
Wu Zhen was unmoved, and Zhang Wenli was so angry that he cut off the wrists and noses of more than a dozen Wu Zhen's mother, wife, children, etc. The most cruel thing about him was that he did not completely cut off their wrists and noses. It was not completely stripped from the body, but only a little bit of flesh was left connected to the body, and then sent to Fu Xi's camp on the front line for Wu Zhen to visit.
"The viewer cannot bear to look at it". After Wu Zhen saw it, he "stopped in mourning" and then turned his grief and anger into strength. He took the lead and risked his life, becoming the vanguard to defeat Zhang Wenli. Zhang Wenli originally wanted to disintegrate the will of Wu Zhen and other soldiers to fight, but unexpectedly it had the opposite effect. The rebel army shared the same hatred, and everyone worked bravely and took the lead to conquer Zhenzhou in one fell swoop.
Wu Zhen was promoted to the governor's position after his meritorious service, and served successively as the governor of Shenzhou and Zhaozhou. According to records, Wu Zhen was simple and kind, good at reading, especially "Spring and Autumn", capable of writing poems, proficient in calligraphy, an honest official, loving the people like a son, and had a good reputation. Later, he also served as the transportation director of the Northern Route Army, responsible for transporting grain and grass supplies to Youzhou on the front line against the Khitan.
At that time, the Khitan besieged Youzhou and used the strategy of exhausting the enemy. They chose to besiege Youzhou City instead of attacking it. Instead, they surrounded the city for reinforcements and specifically attacked the logistics supply team leading to Youzhou. This caused Youzhou City to be short of food and wages, and strived to Achieve victory without fighting. Wu Zhen was ordered to conduct a dangerous and arduous "breaking attack" to tear apart the enemy's defense line and deliver strategic materials into Youzhou.
Wu Zhen lived up to his trust and successfully transported supplies to Youzhou several times, successfully shattered the plot of the Khitan invaders, won the final victory in the war of attrition, and forced the Khitan people to return without success.
In recognition of Wu Zhen's achievements, Li Siyuan promoted him to deputy commander-in-chief of the Hebei Front Army (deputy commander of Hebei Province) and the military governor of Xuanzhou Ningguo Army (an empty title, Xuanzhou Ningguo Army was under the control of Huainan). The previous deputy commander-in-chief of the Hebei Front Army was Fang Zhiwen, and Li Siyuan ordered Fang Zhiwen to return to the town (Jiedu Envoy of the Taining Army in Yanzhou).
Fang Zhiwen was very unhappy and believed that he had been treated unfairly. After all, he had the merit of serving his life. When Li Siyuan raised troops in Weizhou, Fang Zhiwen and Huo Yanwei were the first vassal towns to respond.
In fact, Li Siyuan had already rewarded Fang Zhiwen for his service and promoted him from the governor of Beizhou to the military governor of Yanzhou Taining Army. But the appointment of his replacement as "deputy commander-in-chief" still made him very dissatisfied. He's going to cause trouble.
Li Siyuan's next operation was a bit confusing: deploying 3,500 Weizhou Ya Army to garrison the Lutai Army.
Previously, in order to weaken the Weizhou rebels, Li Siyuan had transferred the core rebel members Huangfuhui, Zhao Jin, Zhao Zaili and others out of Weizhou, and then sent the prince Li Congrong to take charge of Weizhou, and sent General Fan Yanguang to escort him to his post. Another task of Fan Yanguang is to be responsible for the mobilization and defense change of the Weizhou army. In fact, it is to disintegrate the Weizhou rebels in a planned and step-by-step manner.
The core composition of this group of Weizhou rebels is the prestigious Wei Boya Army. This Yajun is not that Yajun. The earliest Wei Boya Army was founded by Tian Chengsi, the first Weibo Jiedushi envoy. After a hundred years of professional and arrogant soldiers, it was child's play to abolish the Jiedushi envoys. Many Jiedushi envoys died under their hands. It was not until the Luo Shaowei period that the army With Zhu Wen's intervention, Wei Boya's army was completely eradicated.
Later, when Yang Shihou was in charge of Wei Bo, he carefully selected brave and tough men from all armies and formed the "Silver Spear Effectiveness Army", which became the new generation of Wei Boya Army. Although this unit has no genetic relationship with the Wei Boya Army before Luo Shaowei, it has inherited the glorious tradition of the Wei Boya Army's arrogance and uncontrollability.
The reason why Li Cunxu was able to destroy Houliang was because he got Wei Bo, and the reason why he was able to get Wei Bo was because of the rebellion led by this "Silver Spear Effective Army"; and the reason why Li Siyuan was able to ascend the throne and become emperor was also because of this army. The rebellion of the troops (Huangfu Hui and Zhao Zaili).
Therefore, this new generation of Wei Boya Army created by Yang Shihou is far more powerful than the old Wei Boya Army before Luo Shaowei. The influence of the old Yajun was limited to the internal affairs of Wei Bojun, replacing the Jiedushi, while the new generation of Yajun directly affected the safety of the empire and replaced the emperor.
