After the meeting, Zhang Shaodi sighed with great sadness: "A big mistake was made today, and a disaster will come from today." Tuoba Heng also claimed to be ill and never left home again.
Ma Xiguang waited for his brother to receive a consoling edict from Liu Zhiyuan. On July 11, Liu Zhiyuan of the Later Han Dynasty named Ma Xiguang the general of Tiance, the governor of the Wu'an Army in Tanzhou, the governor of all the roads in the south of the Yangtze River, the official secretary of the Central Committee, and the king of Chu.
As expected, the rewards became more and more grand.
At the same time, Ma Xiguang also waited for an uninvited guest-Ma Xihe.
Ma Xi'e's half-brother, Ma Xichong, who was the Zuo Sima of Tiance Mansion at the time, was a cunning man. He wrote to Ma Xi'e, falsely claiming that Ma Xifan's will was originally for his brother to succeed him, but Liu Yanxin and others tampered with it. The legacy is to abolish the elder and establish the young. Actively encourage Ma Xi'e to seize power.
Ma Xi'e and Ma Xichong are like the typical villains in cartoons. Ma Xi'e has a fiery nature but a simple mind, while Ma Xichong is cunning and full of bad intentions. Ma Xi'e is like a powder keg that will explode if Ma Xichong touches it.
Ma Xi'e led his troops from Langzhou to Tanzhou for a grand reason - to attend a funeral.
Ma Xiguang, who has a cowardly personality, panicked all of a sudden and hurriedly asked Liu Yanxin for advice.
Liu Yanxin said that this was easy to handle, just like when Cao Zhang came to attend the funeral after Cao Cao died, we should also learn from Cao Pi. So Zhou Tinghui, the commander-in-chief of the guards (the commander of the guards), was sent to lead the surface troops upstream to intercept Ma Xi'e.
Zhou Tingjie got straight to the point and asked a sharp question first, "Are you here to attend a funeral, or are you here to seize power?"
Of course Ma Xi'e said he was here for a funeral.
Go to the funeral, that's fine, then please leave the troops outside the city, and the accompanying officers and soldiers must also take off their armor and hand in their weapons before entering the city.
Ma Xi'e had no choice but to disarm and enter Tanzhou City accompanied by several unarmed personal guards. However, even so, he could not enter Tiance Mansion immediately. Instead, he first stayed at Bixiang Lake, changed into mourning clothes, and then lined up with his brothers to join the vigil in the order of seniority and juniority. This also meant that Even the few bare-handed guards could no longer accompany him.
After Ma Xifan was buried, Ma Xihe asked Ma Xiguang for permission to return to Langzhou.
At this time, Zhou Tingjie and Zhang Shaodi advised Ma Xiguang: "Your Majesty, you can either give up your position to Ma Xi'e, or take this opportunity to kill him. Otherwise, there will be endless troubles!"
Ma Xiguang cried and said, "He is my brother. How can I bear to kill my brother? I would rather divide Nanchu into two parts. I will rule Tanzhou and he will rule Langzhou." At the same time, he sent a very rich gift to Ma Xi'e. Give him a reward, comfort him, and ask him not to think wildly. We are brothers and I will not harm you.
Ma Xichong acted as an internal agent and secretly reported all Ma Xiguang's every move to Ma Xi'e.
Even so, Ma Xi'e still "left angrily."
Ma Xiguang was cowardly, indecisive, and kept his reputation as a woman, laying a time bomb for his and Nanchu's fate. "Don't hurt my brother" has also become a classic saying during the Southern Chu Civil War.
After Ma Xi'e returned, he began to plan to seize power by force.
In August 948, Liu Hongxi of the Southern Han Dynasty sent people to Nanchu to propose marriage in order to improve relations between the two countries. There was a tradition of intermarriage between the two countries. It was 30 years ago, in 918, that Ma Yin's daughter married Liu Yan. In terms of seniority, Ma Xiguang is Liu Hongxi's uncle.
Faced with Liu Hongxi's request to get married, Ma Xiguang refused.
Liu Hongxi was very angry and immediately asked the proposal envoy: "Can the Ma family still invade the land in the south?"
The answer was: "The Ma family brothers are fighting among themselves and have too much time to take care of themselves. How can they still have the energy to invade us?"
Liu Hongxi nodded happily and said: "Zhenghe Guyi. That Ma Xiguang is cowardly, incompetent, and stingy. His troops have long forgotten what war is. This is our opportunity! Little pony, just wait and see!" "
Ma Xiguang offended his neighbor in the south, and his own Ma Xi'e made some small moves in the north.
Ma Xi'e made a request to the Later Han Dynasty, saying that he was willing to pay tribute to the Later Han Dynasty (for each of his posts) like Ma Xiguang, and at the same time asked the heavenly kingdom to appoint another official and title for him (to grant him a title, a residence, and a vassal title).
In other words, Ma Xi'e should be on an equal footing with Ma Xiguang on the international political stage and have the same political status. It would be a fait accompli that the division of Southern Chu into two parts and the separate governance of the country would be a fait accompli. In other words, to create "two Chu states, one Chu and one Lang", the national separatists are working independently.
Regarding Ma Xi'e's separatist activities, Ma Xiguang adopted the suggestions of counselors Ou Honglian and Zhang Zhongxun. In fact, it was not a clever move, it was just one word: bribery. He bribed high-ranking officials of the Later Han Dynasty, such as Su Fengji and others, with heavy sums of money to ask them to support the principle of "one Chu state".
The emperor of the Later Han Dynasty at this time was Liu Chengyou. As mentioned earlier, under the manipulation of Su Fengji and other powerful officials, the politics of the Later Han Dynasty was in darkness, and money could make the world go round. After receiving a heavy bribe from Ma Xiguang, Su Fengji and others actively promoted the international consensus of "One Chu State" and rejected Ma Xihe's request.
In September, Liu Chengyou issued a reconciliation edict to Ma Xiguang and Ma Xi'e, educating them that brothers and sisters should live in harmony and not quarrel, suspect, or create divisions. In the future, if Comrade Ma Xi'e wants to pay tribute to the Central Plains to show his loyalty, he should be attached to Ma Xiguang. After the comrade's name.
Comrade Ma Xiguang expressed that he was enlightened and very enlightened by the Celestial Empire's persuasion; while Ma Xi'e angrily refused.
Although Ma Xi'e's plot to split the Chu State failed, the conflict between Tan and Lang was already quite acute, and they were close to openly rebelling. Liu Hongxi of the Southern Han Dynasty couldn't wait for the civil war in Southern Chu to break out, so he couldn't wait to send out his army to avenge his rejected marriage proposal.
In December, Liu Hongxi of the Southern Han Dynasty appointed Wu Huaien, the chief eunuch (constant servant) to take charge of the expedition. It is not surprising in the Southern Han Dynasty to send eunuchs to take command. When I open a special topic on the Southern Han Dynasty in the following article, I will talk about this interesting "eunuch country".
The Southern Han army attacked Hezhou (now Hezhou City, Guangxi).
Ma Xiguang sent generals Xu Zhixin and Ren Tinghui to lead an army of 5,000 to help. Before they could reach Hezhou, Hezhou had been captured.
The eunuch Wu Huai'en may not understand military tactics, but he understands conspiracy and conspiracy. His expedition left a miracle in Chinese military history:
Wu Huai'en dug many large pits outside the city of Hezhou. They used bamboo leaves with leaves to make lids as camouflage, spread a thin layer of soil on top, and dug holes underneath. All the large pits were connected with a machine shaft. It is directly connected to the city through holes.
When reinforcements from Xu Zhixin and Ren Tinghui arrived, they couldn't wait to launch a siege. The Southern Han army adhered to the principle of "Don't pull strings until you see the enemy." After the Nanchu army entered the ambush circle, the engine was turned off, and "crash--" an incredible scene happened. Five thousand people fell into the trap one after another. The Southern Han army The army then came out of the city to fight back, and the Nanchu army was almost completely wiped out.
