3. Nanchu
Ma Yin was born in the sixth year of Dazhong in the Tang Dynasty (852), and his birthplace was Xuzhou, Henan. That year, Luzhou gave birth to Yang Xingmi, and Songzhou gave birth to Zhu Wen.
All three of them were born into poor families. Two generations of Zhu Wen's father and ancestors were poor teachers and craftsmen; Yang Xingmi had been working as a farmer for generations; and Ma Yin was born in a family of carpenters.
Without exception, they are all in poverty, without exception, they are unsatisfied with the status quo, and without exception, they have chosen to become bandits or thieves. Without exception, they have achieved great success.
Ma Yin joined the Xuzhou Zhongwu Army. His immediate superiors were Liu Jianfeng, the commander of the Longxiang Army, and Sun Ru, the commander of the Decisive Army. His superiors were Qin Zongquan, the governor of Caizhou.
After Qin Zongquan proclaimed himself emperor, he sent his younger brother Qin Zongheng to lead his troops to attack Huainan, including Sun Ru, Liu Jianfeng, Ma Yin and others. It happened that Zhu Wen of Bianzhou launched a large-scale attack on Caizhou's home base and won consecutive battles. Qin Zongquan was defeated, so he transferred the Huainan expeditionary force back to Caizhou to aid Caizhou. Sun Ru took the opportunity to mutiny, killed Qin Zongheng, broke away from Caizhou forces and stood on his own. He led Liu Jianfeng, Ma Yin and others to continue to attack Huainan, and once drove Yang Xingmi out of Huainan.
Caizhou Qin Zongquan inherited Huang Chao's mantle, and also inherited the shortcomings of Huang Chao's grass army's insufficient logistics. Sun Ru, who left Qin Zongquan, was even less likely to have sufficient logistics. Therefore, Sun Ru fought all the way and emptied Huainan. His body, like this, was not enough to maintain his huge army. In desperation, he had no choice but to order Liu Jianfeng, Ma Yin and others to plunder food and grass farther away.
During this period, Yang Xingmi launched a counterattack, and Sun Ru was defeated and killed.
Liu Jianfeng, Ma Yin, Zhang Ji and others fled south like bereft dogs. Everyone elected Liu Jianfeng as the commander-in-chief, Zhang Ji as the military adviser, and Ma Yin as the vanguard. They traveled to Hunan and finally settled down. Liu Jianfeng's subordinate Yiying was assassinated by Chen Fan for having an affair with his subordinate Chen Fan's wife. Everyone elected Zhang Ji as the new commander-in-chief. Zhang Ji found it difficult to control Ma Yin, so he voluntarily abdicated the throne in favor of a worthy man and supported Ma Yin as commander-in-chief.
There are two interesting points here:
When Chen Fan killed Liu Jianfeng, it is generally recorded that he used an iron hammer or iron whip (iron whip) hidden in his sleeve, and took advantage of his unpreparedness to hit the head with one blow. Some specifically pointed out that it was an iron caltrop, and also said that Ma Yin Dang After taking command, he ordered the ban on caltrops to comfort the spirit of the boss in heaven;
Zhang Ji was originally an aide to Qin Yan, the observation envoy to Xuanzhou. Qin Yan was the one who later conspired with Bi Shiduo and imprisoned Gao Pian. Zhang Ji disliked Qin Yan's behavior, so he abandoned his official position and fled. When passing through Caizhou, he was retained by Qin Zongquan as a marching commander. Just when he came out of the tiger's mouth, he fell into the wolf's den again. Zhang Ji went to Liu Jianfeng privately and said that Qin Zongquan had evil intentions and was suspicious, and following him would not lead to good results. So the two of them tried to find a suitable opportunity to break away from Qin Zongquan's control. I am afraid that there were many people who had this idea at that time, so Sun Ru raised his arms and almost the entire army rebelled.
At that time, the Wu'an Army in Tanzhou was under the jurisdiction of seven states, but Ma Yin and the others only controlled Tanzhou, and then captured Shaozhou. The general Yao Yanzhang recommended Li Qiong to take command, and recovered the remaining five states in one go, shocking Lingbei.
Later, Tanzhou Ma Yin expanded rapidly with astonishing combat effectiveness. First, Li Qiong created the miracle of "seven thousand Hunan troops pacified Guangxi". With only 7,000 troops, he captured the five prefectures of Gui, Yi, Yan, Liu, and Xiang, and captured Jingjiang alive. Liu Shizheng, the military governor. Powerful Lingnan.
Li Qiong was invincible in bravery and unparalleled in courage. Within one year, he helped Ma Yin capture the six prefectures of Wu'an Army in Hunan, and then swallowed up the five prefectures of Jingjiang Army. According to records, this gentleman had Fan Kuai's eating appearance and Lian Po's appetite. He ate more than ten kilograms of meat for each meal, and all of them were large pieces of meat. People gave him the nickname "Li Laohu", and historical records rated him as "the master of dry rice". (Good diet). When children in Guangxi are playing, they often play a game of "Here comes the tiger". The children suddenly shout "Here comes the tiger!" Then the other children laugh and run away. After "Tiger Li" 7,000 people defeated Guangxi, People say this is God's will.
Then it extended to Guangdong, and fought with Liu Yin, the military governor of the Qing Dynasty in Guangzhou, for more than ten years, and took over six states. It was not until Liu Yin died of illness and Liu Yan came to the throne that he turned the hostility into friendship through political marriage (Liu Yan married Ma Yin's daughter), and they married strategic alliance.
Ma Yin occupies Hunan and has unique geographical benefits: due to the existence of Yang Xingmi in Huainan, Hunan has become the only land transportation hub between the Central Plains and South China, so it has become a target for neighbors to win over.
Zhu Wen, Yang Xingmi, and Ma Yin, the three brothers born in the same year, staged a political game of falling in love and killing each other:
If Ma Yin turns against Yang Xingmi in Huainan, "the sheep and the horses will destroy the pigs", the two men's sphere of influence will extend from the coast of the East China Sea to the land of Sichuan and Shu, dividing the Chinese territory into two, completely blocking the Central Plains and the southern vassals. Contact, blocking Zhu Wen to the north of the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River, and forming a north-south pincer attack with Li Keyong in Hedong against Zhu Wen, forming a thousand-mile front from the East China Sea to Sichuan and Shaanxi;
If Ma Yin turns to Zhu Wen, "the pig and the horse will destroy the sheep", then Zhu Wen's sphere of influence will theoretically form a three-sided encirclement of Yang Xingmi in Huainan (leaving only the East China Sea), Huainan's power will be completely suppressed, and the southern vassals will have to Surrender to the forces of the Central Plains.
Ma Yin has become a favorite, and his attitude will determine the trend of Chinese history to a large extent.
Finally, under the strong advice of general Xu Dexun, counselor Gao Yu and others, Ma Yin chose to side with Zhu Wen. Because Zhu Wen held the emperor hostage to order the princes, he had an undisputed political advantage.
This choice has a profound impact on Mayin Group:
Dongmian: He abused Huainan thousands of times, but Yang Xingmi still treated him like his first love. Although Ma Yin stuck out his cold butt, Yang Xingmi still tried every means to greet him with a warm face, and Ma Yin Group made countless profits;
South: Lingnan Liu Yan is Ma Yin's son-in-law. He was beaten by Ma Yin's group and doubted his life. Moreover, Liu Yan has long had the desire to separatism and dominance, so he must do his best to please Ma Yin and use Hunan as a barrier to Lingnan;
These two directions are Ma Yin's automatic teller machines, a good business with no capital and huge profits, and guaranteed profit without loss. There is no need to operate irrigation, and the abuse is over.
To the north is Zhu Wen, but between them are problem children - Langzhou Leiman and his son, "Gao Laizi" Gao Jichang. The existence of these two people has successfully attracted hatred for Ma Yin. They are not only Ma Yin's barrier, but also Ma Yin's initiative. Cash machine.
Political games have always been guided only by self-interest. Ma Yin's attachment to Zhu Wen was also half-hearted.
When Huainan attacked Duhong in Ezhou, Zhu Wen ordered Chengru in Jingnan, Lei Yanwei in Langzhou, and Ma Yin in Tanzhou to send troops to rescue him. As a result, Lei Yanwei of Langzhou and Ma Yin of Tanzhou attacked Chengrui in Jingnan, plundered Jiangling, and forced Chengrui and Du Hong to death.
In addition, Ma Yin also secretly communicated with Zhu Wen's mortal enemy, the Hedong Group.
This is Ma Yin's "loyalty" to Zhu Wen. However, as Zhu Wen's repeated attempts to plot Huainan failed, the importance of the two lakes areas to the Bianzhou Group became increasingly prominent. Faced with Ma Yin's "loyalty", Zhu Wen felt dissatisfied, but he always smiled on his face.
