【Taking office】
Li Congke had great achievements and had long been targeted by those in power. An Zhongjie had spared no effort to kill him. Now, he has become the target of those in power again.
His son Li Chongji was released and his daughter was taken hostage. Immediately afterwards, he received an order to move the town from the Privy Council.
When he saw that it was Li Congzhang who came to Fengxiang to replace him, Li Congke couldn't help but gasp.
Li Congzhang is Li Siyuan's nephew. He is cruel and bloodthirsty. Not long ago, he went to Hezhong Mansion to replace An Zhongjie, and while An Zhongjie was saluting him, he killed him with a headshot. Now, he is coming to Fengxiang to replace him... When Li Congke saw the three words "Li Congzhang", he seemed to see the impermanence of black and white.
Li Congke is in a dilemma, just because he is too weak. After being framed by An Zhongjie, his vitality was severely damaged. Although he is currently in Fengxiang, he has few troops, money and food, and he is unable to confront the imperial court head-on. So the think tank’s opinions were sought.
The nerd Ma Yisun (also known as "Ma Yinsun") quoted the Analects of Confucius and said: "When the king calls you, you don't have to wait for the ride." It means that when the king summons you, don't talk nonsense and go quickly!
As soon as these words came out, they immediately aroused unanimous opposition from the generals. They all pointed out that the current emperor is young and ignorant, and the military and political power is controlled by Zhu Hongzhao, Feng Yun and others. It is obvious that they want to harm your life, my lord. How can you do it yourself? Fall into a trap?
The nerdy Ma Yisun advocated obedience; the other generals advocated disobedience.
Resistance, although hopeless, still has a glimmer of hope. Li Congke finally made up his mind and refused to accept the throne. That night, Li Congke ordered the chief think tank Li Zhuanmei to draft a memorandum to ask for help from all walks of life in the name of "Qingjun Side".
In the complaint, Li Congke accused Zhu Hongzhao, Feng Yun and others of taking advantage of the late emperor's serious illness to abolish the elders and establish younger ones, assassinate Li Congrong and support Li Conghou, thereby controlling the government. Now they are sowing discord among the royal family, destabilizing the vassal towns, and will bring the empire to the forefront. He entered the abyss of eternal destruction, so he had to raise troops to serve the king and clear his side.
From Fengxiang to Luoyang, Chang'an is the only way to go. At this time, the person guarding Chang'an was Wang Sitong, who stayed in Xijing. Li Congke was eager to win over Wang Sitong, so he sent his cronies Hao Xu and Zhu Tingyi as envoys to Chang'an, bringing ten beauties who were good at singing and dancing as a meeting gift to state Wang Sitong's interests.
Before leaving, Li Congke secretly told the two of them that if Wang Sitong refused, they would find an opportunity to kill him!
Wang Sitong is the grandson of Liu Rengong, the "Liu Kutou". His uncle Liu Shouguang imprisoned his father to usurp power. Wang Sitong defected to Hedong Li Keyong. He went through Li Keyong, Li Cunxu and Li Siyuan. He is now the guard of the Western Capital and guards Chang'an. He was infinitely loyal to the Later Tang Dynasty and had a firm stand. He immediately arrested and imprisoned lobbyist Hao Xu and others, and reported the news of Fengxiang Li Congke's rebellion to the central government.
The envoys Li Congke sent to other military towns to lobby were basically arrested or expelled. Only Longzhou Defense Minister Lijin clearly expressed his support for Li Congke and sent his aide Xue Wenyu to Fengxiang to discuss important matters.
Li Conghou held an imperial meeting to discuss putting down the rebellion of Fengxiang Li Congke.
Kang Yicheng strongly recommended Wang Sitong to take command because Kang Yicheng currently holds the command of the Forbidden Army. If he takes command of the Western Expedition, the central power will fall into the hands of the "Rocket Faction" who stayed in the palace. In the "Li Congrong Rebellion Case", Kang Yicheng's leader Both ends have been exposed. On the surface, Kang Yicheng has reached a cooperative relationship with the "Rocket Faction" and Li Conghou, but once he, the "remnant of Li Congrong," leaves the central government and loses military power, he will become a piece of cake on the chopping board.
Kang Yicheng also promoted Hou Yi, the general of the imperial army, to be the "supervisor" of the expedition against Fengxiang (Marquis Yu, the capital of the camp and horse infantry army). However, Hou Yi retreated and resigned, claiming to be ill, and resolutely resigned, so he was demoted to the governor of Shangzhou and was released to the outside world. The reasons for Hou Yi's resolute resignation will be mentioned later.
Li Conghou also sent Chu Kuangzuo to Bozhou to arrest Li Congke's son Li Chongji and take him to Songzhou Prison.
On February 21, the central government completed the deployment of the Fengxiang war: Wang Sitong took command as the commander-in-chief, Yao Yanchou served as deputy commander, Chang Congjian served as the "supervisory army", and the Forbidden Army generals Yin Hui and Yang Siquan led the Forbidden Army to support; later, An Yanwei was sent As the commander-in-chief of the army.
In March, Kang Fu and other five feudal governors, Shangshu, expressed their support for the central government's decision and requested to send troops to conquer Fengxiang.
Fengxiang Li Congke was in a desperate situation at the beginning:
The only exit to the east was firmly blocked by Wang Sitong of Chang'an, while Kang Fu, the military commander of the Jingnan Army in Pizhou, Zhang Congbin, the military commander of the Changyi Army in Jingzhou, Zhang Qianzhao, the military commander of Shannan West Road in Xingyuan Prefecture, and Wuding Military Commander of Yangzhou Du envoy Sun Hanshao and others led their armies to approach Fengxiang from three directions: north, west and south, and staged the "Siege of Fengxiang".
Li Congke had a small army, few generals, lack of money and food, and was isolated and helpless.
On March 15, various armies met outside Fengxiang City, and then launched siege battles in the east and west directions, capturing the east and west outer cities in one go. The Fengxiang defenders suffered heavy casualties.
The next day, the siege troops gathered again, preparing to invade the inner city in one fell swoop and capture Li Congke alive.
The walls of Fengxiang City are thin and short, the trenches are shallow, and there is a lack of defensive equipment. Once the siege troops sound the charge horn, the city will fall in an instant. Facing the siege troops that were preparing to attack, the defenders were shaken and fearful.
Faced with a desperate situation that was about to end at the beginning, Li Congke made a desperate move and climbed onto the tower in person, crying to the siege troops with snot and tears:
"When I was less than 20 years old, I followed the late emperor in the north and south. I was born and died, and I was covered with swords and wounds. I finally conquered this world. Many of you are my brothers who fought side by side with me in the past, and there are many more. They are my former subordinates, and you have seen today that the traitors in the court are in power, bewitching the Holy One, and killing their own flesh and blood. Tell yourselves, what crime have I committed?"
After saying this, he burst into tears and said, "Whoever hears this will be saddened." As a result, the situation in Fengxiang City underwent dramatic changes.
The Fengxiang defenders fought with their last resort, and were inspired with amazing fighting spirit in the face of death, resisting to the death. The soldiers attacking the city were frightened, but Zhang Qianzhao, the military governor of the southwest, ordered the soldiers supervising the battle to keep urging. The soldiers who supervise the battle do not kill the enemy, but kill their own people. Those who dare to retreat from the battle or dare to fear the enemy will be killed without mercy.
In front of the siege soldiers, there was a desperate resistance from the enemy, but in the back they were urged by their own butchers wielding knives. Their mentality collapsed, and they turned to curse Zhang Qianzhao. They mutinied in front of the formation and returned to attack Zhang Qianzhao.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhang Qianzhao turned around and ran away.
Yang Siquan, the general of the Forbidden Army, took the opportunity to say to everyone: "Li Congke is our true dragon emperor!" Then he led his troops to surrender in an organized manner and entered the city from the west gate.
Yang Siquan was the former general of the Hou Liang Imperial Army. When Li Congrong wanted to fight with Li Conghou, Yang Siquan advised Li Congrong to recruit troops and strengthen his strength. He also said to Li Congrong, "The public has soldiers, and Si Quan is there, so why bother." In other words, Yang Siquan also belonged to the "Li Congrong Party Members" and was squeezed out by the "Rocket Faction" Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun. He was promoted overtly and secretly. He was summoned from Taiyuan Prefecture to the Central Committee and thrown into the ranks of the Forbidden Army.
After Yang Siquan saw Li Congke, he handed over a piece of paper and asked: "Commander, you see, in times of crisis, I will be the first to switch sides and support you. I am loyal, right? If you defeat the capital, I will be the number one hero of Conglong. I hope you won’t just give me a small official position as a defense envoy or regimental training envoy, but please give me a military envoy, thank you!”
Li Congke then wrote on this small piece of paper with a stroke of his pen: "Appoint Comrade Yang Siquan as the military commander of the Jingnan Army in Pizhou." Yang Siquan was a native of Pizhou. He was given the military governor of Pizhou and allowed him to return home in glory. Home scenery. But this piece of paper is just a blank check, a white note written by Li Congke.
After Li Congke became emperor, he did not default on his debts.
When Yin Hui, who was deployed in the east city, heard about it, he shouted: "The troops in the west of the city have entered the city to receive rewards. What are we waiting for?" Then he gathered people into the city and surrendered to Li Congke.
The siege force collapsed instantly.
