Since Du Chongwei was killed, Li Shouzhen became a frightened bird, fearful and uneasy, and stepped up her efforts to gather grass, gather grain, and recruit troops.
There was Fan Yanguang in front of him, Yang Guangyuan behind him, and looking at Du Chongwei up close, a bloody reality was placed in front of Li Shouzhen: traitors will not end well.
However, in Li Shouzhen's view, he was a military leader in the Later Jin Dynasty. He had made great achievements (pacifying Yang Guangyuan), and he had always been generous and generous. He was quite popular in the army and was deeply loved by officers and soldiers at all levels. He believed that he was full of strength and could not do anything at all. He didn't take the young and ignorant Liu Chengyou seriously.
If he breaks with the central court, he might still be able to take this opportunity to aspire to the Central Plains. After Li Shouzhen was briefly worried, she began to daydream whimsically.
While Li Shouzhen was expanding his troops, he also sent people to contact the Khitan to pay tribute to Shi Jingtang. In his opinion, the Liu family of the Later Han Dynasty and the Khitan were mortal enemies, and he and the Khitan would definitely hit it off. However, his jurisdiction was the National Guard Army in Hezhong, which was not adjacent to Khitan. Almost all the envoys who delivered the message were captured by patrols.
Li Shouzhen had a close confidant named Zhao Xiuji. He clearly opposed Li Shouzhen's troubles and patiently tried to dissuade him, but Li Shouzhen insisted on going his own way and turned a deaf ear.
Zhao Xiuji tried hard to persuade him but failed, so he resigned due to illness and returned to his hometown.
Li Shouzhen was a superstitious Buddhist and had a very happy relationship with a monk named Zonglun. This demon monk often performed close-up magic tricks for Li Shouzhen, and was worshiped by Li Shouzhen as a living god. Generally speaking, anyone who engages in feudal superstition and favors "masters" and "masters" such as demon monks and Taoists will not end well, and Li Shouzhen is no exception.
In order to speculate on Li Shouzhen's heart, the demon monk Zong Lun said that he could calculate with his fingers that Li Shouzhen could become emperor in the future. Li Shouzhen was very happy and convinced.
At a certain banquet, Li Shouzhen fully drew the bow string, aimed at the "Palm Licks Tiger" hanging on the wall, and said: "If I am destined to be extraordinary rich, let me shoot the tiger's tongue." As a result, an arrow shot out, steadily. A steady shot to the tiger's tongue. The guests on both sides applauded and congratulated. From then on, Li Shouzhen became more pretentious.
After Zhao Siwan occupied Chang'an, in order to win over the rebel forces, he sent someone to present a set of emperor's dragon robes to Li Shouzhen, and proclaimed his vassalship to him and persuaded him to join.
This was sent to Li Shouzhen's mind, "This is God's will!" Li Shouzhen immediately called himself "King of Qin", sent troops to Tongguan to support the younger brothers in the Guanxi region, and "appointed" Zhao Siwan as the governor of Chang'an.
Tongzhou is also in the Guanxi region, located to the west of Hezhong and east of Chang'an. Its military commander is the veteran Zhang Yanwei. Zhang Yanwei had long known that Li Shouzhen had evil intentions and never let down his guard. When Li Shouzhen suddenly rebelled, Tongzhou was not annexed by him and became a wedge for the central court in the Kansai region, laying the foundation for the "central flowering" strategy.
The imperial court dispatched troops and generals to suppress the rebellion in Chang'an and Hezhong. He sent Guo Congyi to take command and led the central imperial army to Chang'an to attack Zhao Siwan; he sent Shaanzhou Jiedushi Bai Wenke to attack Li Shouzhen in Hezhong.
At this time, the mastermind behind the scenes - Wang Jingchong, has not yet taken off his disguise. The imperial court moved him to Pizhou and appointed him as the Jiedushi of Pizhou; Wang Shouen, the former Jiedushi of Pizhou, was appointed as the Jiedushi of Chang'an; at the same time, Zhao Hui, the Jiedushi of Shaanzhou, was appointed as the Jiedushi of Fengxiang.
Wang Jingchong was scheming. He first used various reasons to shirk his duties and refused to leave Chang'an to take up his post in Pizhou. Privately, he frantically expanded his military power and declared to the outside world that he wanted to attack Zhao Siwan of Chang'an;
Secondly, although he refused to go to Pizhou to take up his post, he summoned the troops from Pizhou to join forces in Fengxiang in the name of Pizhou Jiedushi, and held the troops of Fengxiang and Pizhou towns in his hands.
Finally, Wang Jingchong paid tribute to "Gao Laizi" and at the same time professed his tribunalship to Later Shu and Hezhong Li Shouzhen.
Zhao Hui, who trusted Fengxiang Jiedu, went to the court to expose Wang Jingchong's treason and rebellion, and asked the court to send troops to conquer.
At the same time, Li Yiyin of Xiazhou saw the distress of the Later Han Dynasty, so he gathered his troops and used the excuse that the Qiang tribe had killed the governor of Suizhou three years ago, and now he wanted to use force to demand an explanation. In fact, it is to expand Xiazhou's party influence outwards.
The imperial court urgently called for a halt, and the reason for the mediation was even more unreasonable than the "three-year rights protection": According to observatory experts who observed the stars at night and calculated with their fingers, it was not appropriate to send troops this year. Whoever strikes first would be unlucky!
In August of the first year of Qianyou (948), less than half a year after Liu Chengyou ascended the throne, a series of rebellions in three western towns had already formed. The imperial court sent many troops to encircle and suppress the rebels, but with little success.
The reason is that the main forces of the imperial court are basically stationed in the Hezhong area. Only the troops of Guo Congyi and Wang Jun are close to Chang'an, and there are no soldiers of the imperial court near Fengxiang.
The generals were suspicious of each other and guarded their teammates more than their enemies. They were all worried about being annexed by friendly forces. Another example was Guo Congyi and Wang Jun. Their personal relationship was extremely bad, almost to the point of incompatibility. In short, the counterinsurgency army lacks unified and effective leadership and is like a group of unorganized and undisciplined rabble.
This is of course because Liu Chengyou's own prestige is insufficient, and the generals are unwilling to sacrifice their lives for him, and they all adopt a wait-and-see attitude. What if Fengxiang produces another Li Congke? What if the Khitan helped another Shi Jingtang? What if the emperor's uncle and his brothers launch a coup? What if Hou Shu invades on a large scale and plays the role of Khitan?
The worries of the generals were unfounded. At this time, an "Uncle Liu", Liu Zhiyuan's younger brother Liu Chong, was recruiting troops, surrendering and rebels, repairing city defenses, and making armor weapons in Taiyuan, Hedong, claiming to be a defense against the Khitan invasion. .
For several months, the counterinsurgency work made no progress. Liu Chengyou was worried about this and he couldn't afford it.
The solution to the problem is of course to send a highly respected military leader to supervise the battle on the front lines. After some deliberation, Liu Chengyou finally appointed Guo Wei, the Tuogu veteran who had become a general and prime minister.
Guo Wei's official position at this time was Privy Envoy and Tongping Zhangshi. Liu Chengyou appointed him as the "Comfort and Comfort Envoy in front of the Western Army" and ordered the frontline troops in Hezhong, Chang'an, Fengxiang, etc. to all be subject to Guo Wei's unified deployment.
Before Guo Wei went on the expedition, he paid a special visit to Feng Dao and asked him for advice on how to defeat the enemy.
Feng Dao revealed the secret with one word, saying that Li Shouzhen was a veteran of the previous dynasty. He had given money widely for a long time, bought the morale of the army, and won the support of the officers and soldiers. This was his only advantage; you must not be stingy with money, but give large rewards to the soldiers on the front line. Only in this way can you Take the fire out of the cauldron.
Guo Wei was convinced that the money was public money anyway, so why not borrow flowers to offer to the Buddha? So after leaving the capital, they rewarded the soldiers lavishly.
In addition to being a money-spreading boy, Guo Wei also plays the role of a "confidant elder sister". No matter how big or small, Guo Wei will listen to any complaints or accusations in a friendly manner without putting on official airs or engaging in bureaucracy. The officers and soldiers were delighted and expressed their willingness to serve Marshal Guo to the death.
