This was Li Congke's mistake again. It wasn't that he couldn't kill, but that he shouldn't kill so early. These people can be completely controlled, put into prison first, used as hostages, blackmail Shi Jingtang, and use them as bargaining chips in future negotiations, leaving themselves room for maneuver. Just like Li Cunxu refused to kill Li Siyuan's son Li Congshen.
Hostages are valuable only when they are alive, not when they are dead.
All Shi Jingtang's family and relatives in Luoyang were killed, which strengthened his determination to rebel, and there was no possibility of reconciliation with Li Congke.
After An Yuanxin and An Shenxin surrendered to Shi Jingtang, Zhenwu general An Chongrong, who was stationed in Daizhou, also led 500 people to surrender to Shi Jingtang.
Sang Qian, commander-in-chief of the Yunzhou infantry, conspired to rebel and responded to Shi Jingtang, so he reported to the central government and falsely accused Yin Hui, the military governor of Yingzhou Zhang, to expel Sha Yanxun, the military governor of Datong, in response to Shi Jingtang, and used this as an excuse to accuse Sha Yan Xun launched an attack. Sha Yanxun reported the truth to the central government, saying that the evildoer Sang Qian complained first and slandered others. He teamed up with Yin Hui to counterattack Sang Qian, captured him alive, and sent him to Luoyang to be beheaded.
There was also a mutiny in Wei Bo's army in the important town of Heshuo. General Zhang Lingzhao expelled Jiedushi Liu Yanhao and responded to Shi Jingtang.
Liu Yanhao was Li Congke's brother-in-law. He was placed in the strategic town of Wei Bojun and became a wedge between Hebei and Hedong. He was one of Li Congke's important arrangements.
However, Liu Yanhao relied on his popularity and his status as the emperor's brother-in-law to be arrogant and lawless in Weizhou. He behaved wildly and indulged in drinking and having fun every day. He also deducted military rations and pay, which caused dissatisfaction among the army. Therefore, general Zhang Lingzhao incited the dissatisfaction of the sergeants, launched a mutiny, took control of Weizhou, and Liu Yanhao escaped.
Later, Zhang Lingzhao went to Li Congke and said that Liu Yanhao's leadership was incompetent and provoked a mutiny. Fortunately, I intervened to stop it, calmed the mood of the rebels and restored order. Now the army has elected me to temporarily act as Wei Bo's military governor. I request the imperial court to comply with the military sentiment and public opinion and formally appoint me as the leader. Wei Bo Jiedushi.
Li Congke promoted Zhang Lingzhao to his official position in the Forbidden Army and asked him to temporarily replace Wei Bojun, but later issued an edict appointing him as Qizhou Defense Envoy.
Zhang Lingzhao originally wanted to use the important town of Weibo as a bargaining chip to fight between Shi Jingtang and Li Congke to see who had the higher bid. After receiving Li Congke's transfer order, he politely declined, saying that the three armies were enthusiastic about staying, and it was hard to refuse the kindness, and he really couldn't get away.
Li Congke sent envoys to communicate and persuade, but Zhang Lingzhao directly killed the envoys.
Before the Hedong rebels were resolved, Wei Bo rebelled again. Li Congke then ordered Fan Yanguang to lead the expedition against Wei Bo's army; he ordered Zhang Jingda to lead the expedition against Hedong, with general Yang Guangyuan as his deputy.
Attack from both directions.
Fan Yanguang captured Weizhou and beheaded Zhang Lingzhao and his accomplices Xing Li and Li Gui. Thirteen others, including Mi Quan, were captured alive and all were executed in Ling Chi. Li Congke appointed Fan Yanguang as the military governor of Wei Bojun.
Zhang Jingda mobilized the Imperial Army stationed in Huaizhou and followed him north. Commander Zhang Wandi led 500 cavalry to defect to Shi Jingtang. Li Congke ordered that Zhang Wandi's entire family be killed.
Li Congke usurped power through mutiny, but never received enough recognition. This political disadvantage was fully demonstrated in this war. Almost no one was willing to work for him. From An Yuanxin to Zhang Wandi, officers and soldiers of the Central Army continued to defect and surrender. Shi Jingtang, Li Congke frantically massacred all their family members.
Although the mutiny of Wei Bo and Zhang Lingzhao was quickly suppressed, it also illustrates the same problem. These Forbidden Army soldiers either defected directly to Taiyuan and took refuge with Shi Jingtang, or they took advantage of this chaos to separatist rule.
In short, he just didn't want to serve Li Congke.
Zhang Jingda and Yang Guangyuan led the army to approach Taiyuan, and Fan Yanguang also calmed Heshuo. The pressure on the front line in Taiyuan was increasing. Shi Jingtang sent his staff Zhao Ying to ask for help from the Khitan, but no results were obtained. So he sent his chief adviser and eloquent Sang Weihan to the Khitan to urgently ask for help.
Sang Weihan and Shi Jingtang discussed the conditions for the Khitan and finally settled on the "three major conditions":
1. Shi Jingtang proclaimed himself a minister to the Khitan and "son" to Yelu Deguang, and was willing to treat him as a father;
2. Give some gold, silver, silk and satin every year as a son's filial piety to his father;
3. Cede Lulongjun in Youzhou and all the land north of Yanmen Pass to the Khitan.
It was this last item that made Shi Jingtang notorious for thousands of years and was scolded by the people of the Central Plains for more than a thousand years.
It is said that Shi Jingtang’s favorite general Liu Zhiyuan raised objections:
First of all, it is enough to call yourself a minister, why bother to call yourself a son? Shi Jingtang is ten years older than Yelv Deguang. Isn't it too despicable to consider someone ten years younger than him as his father?
Secondly, it is absolutely forbidden to cede land. Even if you give him more money, you can give him money, but you can't cede the land.
However, Shi Jingtang did not adopt Liu Zhiyuan's advice in the end, so he followed Sang Weihan's idea and immediately sent an envoy to Khitan to pray to the heavenly kingdom (Khitan) to send heavenly soldiers and generals to help him.
Zhang Jingda built a long wall outside Taiyuan City and physically surrounded it, hoping to trap Shi Jingtang to death in Taiyuan. Li Congke sent Lu Qi to express condolences to the laborers on the front line in Taiyuan. Deputy Commander Yang Guangyuan pointed to the bustling construction site and confidently said to Lu Qi: "Please tell the emperor, please rest assured and don't worry about this trivial matter. It will be sooner or later that Taiyuan is conquered." thing."
Lu Qi asked him what he would do if the Khitan went south to help Shi Jingtang.
Yang Guangyuan laughed "haha" and said: "Lure the enemy deep and stew it with a spoonful!"
After Li Congke heard this, he was very happy. However, according to reliable intelligence, the Khitan had agreed to Shi Jingtang's request and agreed to send troops southward in mid-autumn, so Zhang Jingda and Yang Guangyuan were ordered to step up their offensive and strive to capture Taiyuan before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Zhang Jingda organized multiple rounds of fierce attacks.
Shi Jingtang ordered Liu Zhiyuan to lead An Chongrong, An Yuanxin, An Shenxin, Zhang Wandi and other surrendered generals to resist. These people had a hatred for Later Tang, and Liu Zhiyuan was a skilled soldier. He did not discriminate against the surrendered soldiers and generals, but treated them honestly and won the trust and support of the surrendered soldiers and generals. We all share the same hatred and work together.
Shi Jingtang also personally climbed up the city wall, braved flying rocks and arrows, to comfort the front line, and shared the joys and sorrows with the grassroots soldiers.
Liu Zhiyuan said that Zhang Jingda and the others only knew how to build forts and dig deep trenches for the purpose of long-term siege and to use defense instead of attack. This was a negative battle strategy, which showed that they had low fighting spirit, lack of confidence, were lucky, and were extremely easy to deal with. Commander, please hurry up and contact all reinforcements, and cooperate with each other internally and externally. As for city defense, leave it to me, Liu Zhiyuan, alone!
Shi Jingtang held Liu Zhiyuan's hand tightly, caressed his back, and praised him deeply. I wonder if he, like Li Cunxu, said to Li Siyuan, "I should take turns being emperor with you and your son." If so, that would be very interesting.
Zhang Jingda's attack on Taiyuan City was fruitless, but his wall could never be repaired because whenever he carried out earthwork work, there would always be violent storms.
As Li Congke's intelligence said, Khitan Shi Jingtang persuaded and indeed sent troops. In response to this, Zhang Jingda and Yang Guangyuan had already set up a flag, saying that they would lure the enemy in, close the door and let the dogs go.
Can they succeed?
