In the beginning of hell mode, Liu Zhiyuan worked hard to balance the forces of all parties and walked a tightrope amidst the surging undercurrents.
The living must take care of everything, and even the dead must be exposed to rain and dew. A large number of influential figures in the Later Tang and Later Jin Dynasties received posthumous gifts, many of whom were controversial or even criticized, such as Guo Chongtao, An Chongjie, Zhu Youqian, Zhu Shouyin, Sang Weihan, Jing Yanguang, Yang Guangyuan, Feng Yun , Kang Yicheng, Wang Sitong, Yao Yanchou, An Zhongjin, An Chongrong...
In short, no matter which dynasty or generation you are from, you are still my father, Liu Zhiyuan.
During the campaign against Weizhou, Liu Zhiyuan established the candidates for the "Four Prime Ministers of the Early Han Dynasty": Su Fengji, Su Yugui, Dou Zhengu, and Li Tao. "Er Su" is Liu Zhiyuan's direct descendant, and Dou Zhengu is Liu Zhiyuan's old colleague. The two worked together under Shi Jingtang and had a very good relationship. When deciding on the candidate for prime minister, "Er Su" and Dou Zhengu were directly selected by Liu Zhiyuan. He asked Su Fengji: "Apart from Dou Zhengu, who else can be prime minister?"
Su Fengji was good friends with Li Tao, a Hanlin scholar, so he recommended Li Tao to Liu Zhiyuan, "In the past, in the 'Big Case of Zhang Yanze', only Li Tao did not hesitate to commit the crime, contradicted the emperor, and insisted on the death of Zhang Yanze. His Majesty was in Taiyuan at the time, and he also expressed his great admiration. Him? In my opinion, Li Tao has great literary talent, outstanding talent and learning, and is upright and loyal, so he can be qualified to serve as prime minister!"
Liu Zhiyuan pondered for a moment. Although Li Tao was quite prestigious, his rank was too low. It would not be suitable for him to be promoted to prime minister suddenly. At this time, discordant sounds came from the Weizhou front line.
Gao Xingzhou and Murong Yanchao led troops to attack Weizhou. Murong Yanchao advocated attacking the city immediately, while Gao Xingzhou advocated siege without attacking. The two were at loggerheads, refusing to give in to each other, and neither could convince the other.
Gao Xingzhou and Du Chongwei were related to each other, and Gao Xingzhou's daughter married Du Chongwei's son. Therefore, Murong Yanchao used this as an excuse to say that Gao Xingzhou had abandoned his official position for personal reasons, threw himself into the enemy's arms, deliberately indulged the enemy, and refused to attack the rebel Du Chongwei.
There was a quarrel between the two commanders on the front line. Liu Zhiyuan was very anxious and planned to take charge of the expedition himself. Coincidentally, Li Tao came to Shangshu at this time and suggested that Liu Zhiyuan lead the expedition in person.
Liu Zhiyuan was immediately overjoyed, "It turned out to be the same as what I thought!" He concluded that Li Tao had an overall view and was a prime minister.
Therefore, Li Tao was appointed prime minister by Liu Zhiyuan. Later, Liu Zhiyuan issued an edict and ordered the imperial commander to personally conquer the area!
Liu Zhiyuan left the crown prince Liu Chengxun to stay in Bianzhou, and he led the army to the front lines of Chan and Wei.
After arriving at the front line, Liu Zhiyuan moved into Gao Xingzhou's camp. Because Murong Yanchao is Liu Zhiyuan's half-brother and belongs to the "own family". His own family has quarrels and conflicts with outsiders (Gao Xingzhou). Of course Liu Zhiyuan has to be close to outsiders on the surface and maintain a high profile.
Gao Xingzhou analyzed the battlefield situation to Liu Zhiyuan and said that the city of Weizhou was tall and solid and was not suitable for a forceful attack. There were still grain and grass reserves in the city, and the fighting capacity of the defenders should not be underestimated. If he rushed to a forceful attack now, his soldiers would die in vain. It is better to besiege without attacking. When the food and grass in the city are cut off, it will inevitably collapse on its own.
Liu Zhiyuan thought it was reasonable, so he decided to adopt Gao Xingzhou's suggestion.
However, Murong Yanchao used the excuse that he was the emperor's younger brother and always looked for opportunities to give Gao Xingzhou his own shoes and kept bullying him.
Gao Xingzhou cried out to the prime ministers about his experience, and even picked up dung in his hands and stuffed it into his mouth to express his miserable situation and difficulty in speaking.
Su Fengji, Yang Bin and others secretly reported this situation to Liu Zhiyuan.
With his younger brother on one side and his beloved general with great hard work and merit, Liu Zhiyuan could only reconcile the conflict and let Su Fengji, Yang Bin and others help mediate and mediate.
Before the siege, Du Chongwei declared: As long as Liu Zhiyuan comes to the city, I will surrender.
Now Liu Zhiyuan is here and sends people to discuss the surrender. Du Chongwei broke his promise and returned, refusing to allow the envoys to enter the city. This made Liu Zhiyuan very angry.
Murong Yanchao took the opportunity to add fuel to the fire, "Fuck him! My brother, can't you see? Gao Xingzhou and Du Chongwei sang and harmonized, and they were playing tricks on us! He and Du Chongwei are in-laws, we can listen to him Is that so? The night is long and we have many dreams, so let’s not cause trouble, we can’t afford to wait, think of a way to fuck him!”
Liu Zhiyuan's will was shaken, but he finally accepted Murong Yanchao's main battle idea and ordered a strong attack.
Unexpectedly, the Weizhou defenders were extremely tenacious and unleashed an astonishing combat effectiveness, repeatedly thwarting Liu Zhiyuan's attacks.
Liu Zhiyuan personally supervised the battle and ordered the generals to launch a strong attack from multiple directions. It started at four in the morning and lasted until eight in the morning. During the four hours of fierce fighting, more than 1,000 soldiers of the Later Han Dynasty were killed and more than 10,000 were injured, resulting in extremely heavy losses. It was disastrous and failed to achieve any results.
Only then did Murong Yanchao close his mouth, tuck his tail, droop his ears, and slide against the wall, becoming a little transparent.
Why do the Weizhou defenders have such high combat effectiveness? The story begins when Liu Zhiyuan entered Bian.
When Xiao Han withdrew from Bianzhou, he left behind 1,500 Youzhou soldiers to help Li Congyi defend Bianzhou and to prevent Li Congyi from defecting to the enemy.
After Liu Zhiyuan entered Bianzhou, he was very worried that these Youzhou soldiers would rebel, so he gathered them in Fantai (in Bianzhou City) and massacred them collectively. Now, Zhang Lian, who was formerly Zhao Yanshou's subordinate, led two thousand Youzhou soldiers to Weizhou to assist in defense on Yeluma's orders. Liu Zhiyuan sent people many times to induce surrender, promising that as long as Kaicheng surrendered, he would be pardoned.
Zhang Lian snorted contemptuously and asked: "Fantai's fifteen hundred Youzhou soldiers, what crime have they committed? Don't say anything, we would rather die than surrender!"
Liu Zhiyuan had no choice but to adopt Gao Xingzhou's strategy again, encircling them without attacking, cutting off the Weizhou grain road supply line, and trapping them alive.
When the time entered November, Weizhou's grain and grass reserves were basically exhausted.
Du Chongwei was trapped in the isolated city, with no reinforcements from outside and no food and grass inside. He had no choice but to surrender. Previously, when he decided to rebel, his aide Wang Min cried and persuaded him. Now, Du Chongwei sent Wang Min to surrender out of the city with a letter of surrender.
Later, he sent his son Du Honglian to Liu Zhiyuan's camp in person; the next day, he sent his wife Shi Shi (sister of Shi Jingtang), the eldest princess of Song Dynasty, to Liu Zhiyuan's camp. This shows his sincerity in surrender.
Liu Zhiyuan detained Du Honglian and released Shi back to the city.
On November 27, Du Chongwei opened the city gates and walked out of the city to surrender.
According to historical records, by the time Du Chongwei surrendered, nearly 80% of the people in Weizhou had starved to death, a shocking figure! The living people are all skin and bones, like breathing skeletons.
As for the recalcitrant Zhang Lian, he still planned to resist and refused to surrender. Liu Zhiyuan solemnly promised that as long as they surrendered, he would release them back to their hometown in Youzhou. Sending this Youzhou soldier home was a red-headed document from the Later Han regime, an official edict from Liu Zhiyuan.
