A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 966: Lai Sanxin's attitude towards the King of Jin, the actors amuse the emperor
February 3, the second year of the Tang Dynasty

"Ahem, hahahaha, this servant Liu Rengong also asked me for help. If I had known this would happen, I would not have done it in the first place. I should have suffered this disaster today. Die well."

Because of his advanced age, long-term exposure to bitter cold, and long years of military battles, Li Keyong finally fell seriously ill and lay in bed, discarding the letter for help from Yan Wang Liu Rengong in his hand as if it were a piece of trash.

Other civil and military officials and adopted sons all congratulated Li Keyong on his prosperous military career, except his eldest son Li Cunxu and adopted son Li Sizhao, who remained silent.

Finally, Li Cunxu decided to speak out what was on his mind, stepped out of the crowd, clasped his fists and said:
"Father, forgive me for being blunt. The Liang and Song families are the leaders of the world today, and Zhu Liang was the first to risk the wrath of the world, but he benefited from it."

"As a result, 70% to 80% of the princes in the world submitted to Liang, and all the stronger separatist forces such as Zhao, Wei, and Zhongshan obeyed Liang."

"Although Duke Song is holding them back in Henan, it is precisely because the two armies are equally matched that there will be minor skirmishes but no chance of a decisive battle."

"On the other hand, in Hebei, the only people Liang fears are us and King Yan Liu Rengong."

"If Yan and Jin form an alliance, it will definitely not be a good thing for Liang."

"I heard that you have to pay no attention to small details when fighting for the throne. Father is a hero and he must understand this. So I think this is our chance to get back on track."

Li Keyong was silent for a moment, but then said with relief: "Cunxu is right, let's do as he says."

He then ordered troops to attack Luzhou in order to lift the siege of Youzhou.

He also contacted the Wei Bo army, and after the Jin army captured Luzhou, he attacked Mingzhou from both sides and opened up the passage to the Song army again.

After resolving the issue in Hebei, Li Keyong took out another letter from Chengdu, shook it at his subordinates and said disdainfully:

"Wang Jian's words are nice. He is the first to oppose Liang. He just wants to be the leader of the anti-Liang alliance."

"Jin is a great country. When my king was ruling the world, Wang Jian was just a lieutenant under Du Shenquan. How dare he occupy such a high position? I despise him."

After that, he handed the letter to the official standing beside the bed and said, "Don't pay attention to him. Tell the messenger that the king is ill and can't do anything. I hope he can take care of himself."

"Here."

When the official went to deliver the message, Li Keyong took out a letter from the desk beside the bed and said to everyone:

"This is a letter sent by Duke Song, inviting me to join forces with him in Hebei to eliminate Zhu Wen's influence in Hebei. What do you think?"

Chief strategist Bai Zelu said: "No matter what, Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty and the whole country fought against him. This is public knowledge. Now the vast land of Hebei only has Liu Rengong and I."

"Moreover, Liu Rengong is suspected of being fickle. Not only can we not trust him completely, but we need to keep enough of him to be on guard. He cannot be our comrade-in-arms."

"But if we can bring the Song army into the game, and with the help of your sworn brother Yelu Abaoji, it will greatly increase the possibility of our army recovering Zelu, Jinci and other territories."

"Your Majesty." As soon as Bai Zelu finished speaking, Li Keyong's general Zhou Dewei quickly took over the conversation and said:

"Zhu Liang was a tiger and a wolf; Bai Song was not a good person either. They destroyed Yunyan, swallowed up Zibo and Qingzhou, and attacked Huainan, all of which showed their ambitions."

"To conspire with Bai Song is nothing more than inviting a wolf into the house. And..." Zhou Dewei glanced at Bai Zelu, then said firmly: "There are many old Bai family members in Jin State. Zhu Wen is just an external threat. We can resist him by relying on the danger of Taiyuan."

"If it was Bai Song, I'm afraid we would be captured by him within a few months."

Bai Zelu had a stern face, but did not respond directly. He questioned: "You said that we could use our strong forces to stop the enemy. Now we have lost several states including Zelu, and even the enemy has invaded Taiyuan City. Have we stopped it?"

Zhou Dewei was speechless, and Bai Zelu continued, "If the situation is really hopeless, Zhu Wen or Bai Jian, which one would you choose?"

"When the time comes to make a choice, I'm afraid only Bai Jian can keep the king's family rich and prosperous." "I really don't know what General Zhou meant by what he said just now. Are you also deceived by Zhu Liang's high position and generous salary?"

"I don't have any, please understand, Your Majesty."

Even though Zhou Dewei was good at commanding troops and fighting, how could he win over Bai Zelu, a scholar who graduated from Jinbai Academy and was trained in debate, when it came to words?

Seeing Zhou Dewei kneeling on the ground, unable to defend himself, Li Keyong rubbed his head, coughed a few times, and said:
"Alright, I know how loyal you are. General Bai is right. The most urgent task is to drive the Liang army back to Taihang Mountain."

"I don't want to see Liang soldiers committing violence under the city of Taiyuan again. Otherwise, how can I face the support of the people of Taiyuan for me?"

"Pass on this king's order, ordering Cao Yuan and Linghu Pusheng of the royal palace to go to Bianzhou as envoys to form an alliance with Jin and Song, to jointly resist Zhu Liang's tyranny, to clear the world, and to restore the Tang Dynasty."

"No one is wiser than Your Majesty." After the civil and military officials in the hall saluted, they slowly left the room.

September of the second year of the Tianyou reign of the Tang Dynasty

Wang Jian's manifesto spread to all towns in the country, but no one responded.

In the Palace of King Shu, Wang Jian felt like an actor, being made fun of in front of the gods. A feeling of humiliation arose spontaneously and rushed to his forehead.

"Okay, you all look down on me, don't you?"

On the throne, Wang Jian had a ferocious look on his face, and he made a decision that no one expected.

September 24
King Wang Jian of Shu led officials and people to set up a tablet for Li Ye in Chengdu and cried for three days.

Afterwards, an official said, "The Tang Dynasty is now doomed. This is fate. Although Your Majesty is loyal to the Tang Dynasty, the demise of the Tang Dynasty is a foregone conclusion. Your Majesty should not cry and hurt yourself."

"Besides, it is said that Chengdu has the aura of an emperor, so many Tang emperors stayed here. Your Majesty was named the King of Shu and made Chengdu the capital. Isn't this destiny?"

"Zhu Wen is a usurper, lacking in virtue, how can he have the Mandate of Heaven? I ask Your Majesty to take the throne and use it to unite the heroes of the world and fight against Liang Xingdao."

Wang Jian refused, and did so three times a day before he agreed.

September 25
Wang Jian built a high platform in the southern suburbs of Chengdu to offer sacrifices to heaven, ascended the throne, named the country "Da Shu", changed the era name to "Wucheng", made "Chengdu" the capital, and conferred titles on all officials and sons, and made his second son Wang Zongyi the crown prince.

Wang Jian's declaration of emperorship shocked the world once again. However, because Shu was too remote, the princes of Jin, Song and other states only expressed their opposition but did not take any substantial action.

But for Zhu Wen, it was a great thing.

Because of his claim to be emperor, many allies rebelled one after another, and he was extremely busy.

Now Wang Jian has come to help me attract some of the firepower, which can be said to be God’s help.

The third year of Tang Tianyou

Li Keyong, Prince of Jin, led troops to attack Luzhou on behalf of Yan, while Bai Jian, Duke of Song, led troops from Weizhou to attack Mingzhou. The retreat of Liang's army that was besieging Yancheng was cut off, and they had to retreat and protect each other with Wang Rong, Prince of Zhao. The crisis in Youzhou was resolved.

Li Keyong appointed Li Sizhao as governor of Luzhou, and Bai Jian appointed Kang Huaiying as governor of Mingzhou.

After Mingzhou was captured, it connected with Luzhou in the west and Weizhou in the east, directly cutting off the retreat route of the Liang army attacking the Yan State, forcing them to return to the capital.

(End of this chapter)