[Meng Chang ascends the throne]
After unexpectedly gaining the Shannan West Road and Yangzhou Wuding Army, Meng Zhixiang was overjoyed, so he came to Dexianmen and announced a general amnesty for the world and a change of Yuan Dynasty, changing the "Fifth Year of Changxing" to the "First Year of Mingde".
AD 934 is a very interesting year because the Central Plains Dynasty changed three era names in this year. The fifth year of Changxing (Li Siyuan), the first year of Yingshun (Li Conghou), and the first year of Qingtai (Li Congke).
The principles for using era names in this book are: 1. Only the era names of the Central Plains Dynasty are used; 2. If there is a change of Yuan Dynasty, the old era names will still be used when describing the previous stories according to the actual time node of the Yuan Dynasty.
For example, when describing the story of 923 AD, Li Cunxu established the Later Tang regime in April and changed the Yuan Dynasty to "Tongguang". However, he did not invade Bianzhou until October and overthrew the Later Liang. Therefore, according to the first two iron laws, before October It is still called "the third year of Longde" (Zhu Youzhen's year), and after October it is called "the first year of Tongguang".
But 934 is rather annoying. It is obviously the same year, but it is divided into three year numbers. It is easy for people to mistake it for three different years, which can easily lead to unclear expressions and confusion. For convenience, I just use the AD year.
Meng Zhixiang's change to "Mingde" in the Yuan Dynasty seems to be calling on the feudal officials of the Later Tang Dynasty to abandon the dark side, join the bright side, and submit to the rule of virtue.
Shannan West Road is located in the south of Qinling Mountains, like an arrow ready to be fired. Going south and breaking through Mantian Pass is Lizhou. After Lizhou is Jianmen Pass, Jianmen Pass is the lifeline of Shu. Therefore, the Shannan West Road is not only a sharp arrow aimed at itself, but also an important strategic depth for Shu. If Shu wants to sit back and relax, it must advance the defense line to Dashan Pass, not Mantian Pass, let alone Jianmen Pass. .
The people of Shu were not allowed to go to the west road of Shannan, so they did not sleep well and were always in a passive defensive posture.
If all the land south of the Qinling Mountains is obtained, then Shu will be truly impregnable, with the Qinling Mountains as the north city wall and Dashan Pass as the north city gate. After Dashan Pass, there is Fengxiang, and further east from Fengxiang is Chang'an.
Fengxiang is not only the west gate of Chang'an, but also an important strategic stronghold to contain Dashan Pass. If Shannan West Road is a sharp arrow ready to be fired, then Fengxiang is the bottom line of the Central Plains Dynasty's attitude towards Shu. Just like Youzhou treats the Khitan.
If you can't stop the Shu people in Xingyuan Mansion (Shannan West Road), you can only stop them in Fengxiang; if you can't stop the Shu people in Fengxiang, you can only stop them in Chang'an; if you can't stop the Shu people in Chang'an, then... Shu people all over the country Vie.
Li Congke raised his troops in Fengxiang and headed east. The war did not last long, but it still caused a very obvious siphon effect, leaving a political and military vacuum in the Shannan region.
Meng Zhixiang took advantage of the opportunity and entered.
When Li Congke and Fengxiang raised his army, he sent people to lobby Liu Suiqing (the nephew of Liu Wei and cousin of Liu Suiyong), the governor of Xingzhou. Liu Suiqing thought about it, but still rejected Li Congke's invitation and maintained a wait-and-see attitude.
So, he saw his cousin Liu Suiyong surrendering Chang'an to Li Congke, saw the imperial army being invincible, saw Li Congke enter Luoyang smoothly, and received amnesty in Yuan Dynasty...
Liu Suiqing felt regretful in his heart. He hated himself for being blind and blind, and he was so stunned that he had played the good card of the "Founding Father" to pieces. So he quickly led his troops to Luoyang, expressed his surrender, and asked for punishment.
It doesn't matter if he leaves now, he will withdraw all the troops stationed in Sanquan, Xixian, Jinniu, and Sanglin, making many military fortresses west of Xingyuan Mansion into undefended tourist attractions.
How could Meng Zhixiang remain indifferent? He made a prompt decision and sent troops to receive them one after another. Without spending a single soldier, a single shot or a bullet, the Shu people captured all the towns south of Dashan Pass.
Li Congke met Liu Suiqing and wanted to cut this guy into pieces with a thousand knives to blame him for losing his land. But for the sake of the overall situation, I still chose to forgive him.
Zhang Ye, the general of Later Shu, led his troops to Xingyuan Mansion and Yangzhou. The remaining cities west of Shannan West Road were left alone. Faced with the increasing military investment of Later Shu, Zhao Cheng, the governor of Jiezhou, also surrendered.
With the surrender of Jiezhou, Wenzhou to the south of Jiezhou was embedded in Houshu and became an isolated city, so commander Cheng Yangui surrendered to Houshu.
In addition, Chengzhou was also taken over by Hou Shu.
Previously, Zhao Tingyin had suggested that Meng Zhixiang take advantage of the victory to attack the Shannan area and advance the battle line to Dashanguan to ensure that the Shu region would sit back and relax. Meng Zhixiang refused on the grounds that he had just signed a peace ceasefire agreement with Later Tang and the people were in dire straits.
Now it's easy and peaceful to take over. Li Congke rebelled, and Meng Zhixiang became the biggest winner.
The two great heroes, Zhang Qianzhao and Sun Hanshao, moved their families to Chengdu to meet Meng Zhixiang.
Meng Zhixiang received the two heroes ceremoniously and held a grand dinner. Zhang Qianzhao and Sun Hanshao toasted Meng Zhixiang and offered them to him for his longevity. But a scene that shocked everyone happened at the scene: Meng Zhixiang's "hands were too slow to lift the glass" and he could no longer hold up the wine glass.
Meng Zhixiang was terminally ill. Since I fell ill last year, I have experienced some relief, but I have never recovered. Now my condition has worsened again.
Meng Zhixiang set up the Yongping Army in Yazhou and ordered Sun Hanshao to be the military envoy. Zhang Qianzhao was appointed to remain the military governor of Shannan West Road and was given the title of prime minister. Zhang Qianzhao resolutely refused and refused to go to Shannan West Road.
A few days later, it will be the seventh day of July, the Chinese Valentine's Day. Meng Zhixiang came to Danxia Tower to hold a Chinese Valentine's Day dinner. The maids held a talent competition, and "the palace watchers begged for cleverness." During the banquet, Meng Zhixiang's condition worsened again, and "the illness became more severe." His physical condition deteriorated sharply, and he was about to die.
Meng Zhixiang knew that the end was approaching, so he hurriedly appointed his son Meng Renzan as the prince to supervise the regency of the country. He also urgently summoned Zhao Jiliang, Li Renhan, Zhao Tingyin, Wang Chuhui, Zhang Gongduo, and Hou Hongshi, and asked these founding fathers to act as trustees and important ministers to assist Meng Renzan.
That night, Meng Zhixiang died of illness at the age of 61. The palace blocked the news and asked Tuogu elders to discuss the transfer of power.
Wang Chuhui urgently met with Zhao Jiliang in the middle of the night to secretly report the news of Meng Zhixiang's death. He cried while talking until he broke down in tears.
Zhao Jiliang put on a straight face and said seriously: "Why are you crying! Now, the veteran generals hold heavy troops and wait and see, waiting for opportunities to change. We should quickly support the crown prince's accession to the throne and put an end to these people's evil thoughts. Cry, just ignore it. For eggs!”
Wang Chuhui wiped away his tears and apologized to Zhao Jiliang.
Later, Zhao Jiliang asked Wang Chu to go back to Li Renhan, but not to tell him the news of his lord's death in a hurry, but to secretly observe Li Renhan's attitude before deciding whether to tell him the truth.
Wang Chu went back to visit Li Renhan and found that Li Renhan was heavily guarded. He was indeed disobedient, so he did not dare to reveal the news of his lord's death.
Subsequently, under the operation of Zhao Jiliang, Meng Zhixiang's legacy was announced, and Prince Meng Renzan was ordered to change his name to Meng Chang (pronounced the same as "Chang") and ascend the throne.
With the strong assistance of Zhao Jiliang and Wang Chuhui, Meng Chang, who was only 16 years old, ascended to the throne of emperor and became the second generation leader of Hou Shu.
The meritorious veteran Li Renhan had other ideas after learning that Meng Zhixiang was critically ill, and none of this escaped Zhao Jiliang's eyes.
In order to ensure the smooth transition of the supreme power of Later Shu and consolidate Meng Chang's rule, Li Renhan became the first veteran to be eliminated.
