Half a year after capturing Qianzhou, Ma Yin attacked Gao Jichang of Jingnan. Gao Jichang asked Huainan for help. Liu Xin took command and attacked Tanzhou, and Ma Yin immediately relieved the enemy.
After that, Liu Xin became arrogant and arrogant, thinking that he was the best general in the world and could rival Han Xin. If he didn't hold on to his eggs, he could go to heaven.
Li Cunxu destroyed Houliang and sent Xue Zhaowen, an admonishing official, to visit Huainan. When he passed through Hongzhou, Liu Xin hosted a banquet in his honor. During the dinner, Liu Xin drunkenly pointed his thumb at the bridge of his nose and asked Xue Zhaowen: "Does the emperor of the Central Plains know about me, Liu Xin?"
Xue Zhaowen replied: "My lord Xinping Henan, I don't know your name."
"Hmph -" Liu Xin curled his lips and grinned, "Liu Xin in Huainan is the same as Han Xin in the Han Dynasty. Go back and tell your emperor to come to Huainan. If he doesn't know me, I will let him know me!" "
Then, Liu Xin pointed to the top of the Yaqi flagpole a hundred steps away, picked up a glass of wine, and said, "If I can hit the target with one arrow, please drink this cup." After that, he bent his bow and arrow, One hit.
Liu Xin's move was extremely inappropriate and violated diplomatic etiquette. It should be said to be a serious diplomatic accident.
Xu Wen was indeed not at ease with Liu Xin. When the Later Tang Dynasty conquered Shu, Xu Wen promoted Liu Xin to the "central government" and appointed him as a general of the Forbidden Army. In name, he was needed to protect the core area, but in reality he was He was transferred from the strategically important Hongzhou to prevent him from separatist rule while taking advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains.
In order to enhance his authority, Xu Wen constantly encouraged Yang Wei to proclaim himself emperor. Otherwise, Yang Wei's official title had always been "Jiedu Envoy", and Xu Wen and others were subordinates of "Jiedu Envoy".
In April of the fifth year of Zhengming (919), Xu Wen led the civil and military officials and local generals to force Yang Wei to proclaim himself emperor again seriously. Under pressure, Yang Wei ascended the throne, but did not proclaim himself emperor, only King of Wu. The amnesty was changed to the Yuan Dynasty, and the "Sixteenth Year of Tianyou" was changed to the "First Year of Wuyi". The royal ancestral temple was built according to the usual practice, Yang Xingmi and Yang Wo were named kings, and hundreds of civil and military officials were appointed. The palace, cultural relics system, ceremony and etiquette were all in line with the standards of the emperor. .
"Southern Wu", one of the "Ten Kingdoms", was formally established.
As a result, Xu Wen was appointed Prime Minister (the highest ranking among prime ministers), Commander-in-Chief of all Chinese and foreign military affairs, and Commander-in-Chief of all Dao Dao (these two official positions are the Chairman of the National Supreme Military Commission, in charge of the national army), Shengzhou Town Navy and Xuanzhou The Ningguo Army Jiedu Envoy (the two main vassals in Huainan), the Shou Taiwei, and Zhongshu Ling were granted the title of King of Donghai County.
This is the main reason why Xu Wen forced Yang Wei to proclaim himself emperor. It was called to enhance Yang Wei's political status, but in reality it was to enhance his own power.
After the Huainan forces annexed Qianzhou, they completely cut off the land connection between Hangzhou Qian Liu and the Central Plains Dynasty. Later Liang ordered Qian Liu to send troops to conquer Huaihe.
Qian Liu urgently needed to open up land lines of communication, so he happily obeyed the order and sent his son Qian Yuanguan to take command with 500 warships to launch an attack on Huainan.
Xu Wen sent Peng Yanzhang and Chen Fen to stop the attack. The two sides encountered each other at Langshan on the Yangtze River, and the "Battle of Langshan" broke out.
This encounter was an interesting one. Qian Yuanguan ordered each warship to carry sufficient amounts of grass ash, sand, and beans.
After the battle started, Huainan sailed down the wind, and Qian Yuanguan ordered to avoid. Soon, the two sides exchanged positions, with Qian Yuanguan occupying the upper wind, and the Huainan navy went against the wind. Afterwards, Qian Yuanguan ordered the ashes to be thrown. The Huainan soldiers did not dare to open their eyes and collectively rubbed their eyes.
Qian Yuanguan also ordered to sprinkle sand on our ships, and when the ships of the two armies approached, sprinkle beans on the Huainan ships. All Huainan soldiers slipped and could not stand. Qian Yuanguan ordered arson again, and the Huainan navy was defeated.
Peng Yanzhang fought hard and his sword was cut off, so he grabbed the wooden stick next to him as a weapon and continued to resist. He was seriously injured in more than a dozen places and was bleeding profusely. But Chen Fen stood still and refused to save him. Peng Yanzhang finally committed suicide and martyred his country, preferring to die rather than be captured.
In the Battle of Langshan, Qian Yuanguan captured 70 Huainan generals, killed more than 1,000 soldiers, and burned 400 Huainan ships.
Xu Wen beheaded Chen Fen in public, confiscated all his family property (half of which was given to Peng Yanzhang's family), and punished his wife and children as slaves. Special funds were allocated to support Peng Yanzhang's family.
Subsequently, Qian Yuanguan led an army of 30,000 troops and took advantage of the victory to attack Changzhou under Huainan.
Xu Wen personally led the main force to attack, and sent Chen Zhang to lead the surface force to bypass Qian Yuanguan's back. The main forces of both sides met in Wuxi, and the "Battle of Wuxi" broke out.
Just as the war started, Xu Wen developed a high fever and was unable to direct the battle. His crony Chen Yanqian found a stand-in for Xu Wen, who was said to have a similar figure and appearance to Xu Wen. Then he asked him to put on Xu Wen's armor and clothes, sit in the hall and give orders, but no one could recognize this knock-off. Qian Yuanguan also lost an opportunity for a "decapitation battle", and Xu Wen also got sufficient rest and medical treatment.
Soon, Xu Wen's condition improved, so he personally took charge of the battle.
It was the seventh month of the lunar calendar, close to late autumn, and the long-term drought had dried up the vegetation, so Xu Wen ordered the wind to light a fire and burn Qian Yuan Guan. Qian Yuanguan's army collapsed, generals He Feng and Wu Jian were killed, and more than 10,000 soldiers were killed. Qian Yuanguan escaped, and Xu Wen continued to pursue and kill, and made countless gains; Chen Zhang, who circled behind, also took advantage of the situation to attack and made a lot of gains. many.
Xu Wen finally avenged his humiliation in Wuxi.
Xu Zhigao proposed a strategy, saying that he was willing to lead two thousand warriors, put on the captured military uniforms, flags, and armor staff of Qian Yuanguan's army, follow the retreating Zhejiang army, and make a surprise attack on Suzhou.
Xu Wen praised this clever plan, but refused to approve it; the generals also said that the Zhejiang army only relied on the powerful navy. Now there is a severe drought and the rivers have dried up. This is God's will, and we can just use the advantages of infantry and cavalry (Zhu Wen) Jin's contribution), eliminate Qian Liu in one fell swoop! It was also rejected by Xu Wen.
Xu Wen's reasons are high-sounding. God has the virtue of good life. The world has been in war for a long time and the people have been traumatized by the war. Moreover, Qian Liu is not an idle person. It is better to dissolve enemies than to end them. It is better to use military advantages to realize political interests. , negotiate with him as a victor.
There is nothing wrong with this statement. We are concerned about the country and the people and do not want the people to be caught in the flames of war. When talking about personal interests, we use war to promote peace and use huge military victories as bargaining chips to maximize political benefits. To conquer the enemy without fighting.
In fact, Xu Wen prohibited Xu Zhigao's surprise attack on Suzhou, just like Yang Xingmi organized Tian Bo to attack Hangzhou. The fundamental reason was to suppress Xu Zhigao and prevent him from growing his own power. Now Xu Zhigao can be said to be the second in command of the group, almost able to compete with Xu Wen. If he successfully wins Suzhou, it will pose a huge challenge to Xu Wen's status.
Therefore, under Xu Wen's strategic thinking of "conquering the enemy without fighting", Huainan took advantage of the victory instead of pursuing it, sent envoys to visit Hangzhou, took the initiative to return the prisoners of war, and asked to shake hands with Qian Liu and make peace.
Qian Yi accepted the request for reconciliation. Since then, the two heroes of the Jianghuai River have enjoyed twenty years of peace, each developing their own economy and laying a solid foundation.
This is Xu Wen's political wisdom. Peace is not achieved by groveling and praying. Justice is only within the range of the cannon, and the caliber is the truth. For example, today, if there is no Dongfeng Express, which must fulfill its mission, it will be a repeat of the history of "the United States and the United Kingdom teaming up to bully others."
