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

Chapter 976: Changping Alliance to Divide Hebei, Liang Army Goes North

February of the ninth year of the Tang Dynasty

The Jin army captured Guizhou, entered Yan territory from Juyong Pass, and approached the north of Jicheng.

Three Song generals, Li Cunqian, Bai Xingjian and Cui Shaojie, led their troops from Changping to meet with Jin general Zhou Dewei.

When facing Li Cunqian, Zhou Dewei called him "Major General" and his words were full of respect for Li.

Li Cunqian and the other two realized that Li Cunxu finally did not want to become enemies with the State of Song.

"Although I am the grandson of Duke Guochang, I have long been a general under Duke Song. I am not from Hedong, so there is no need to call me Junior General. I can just call me General."

Li Cunqian corrected Zhou Dewei's title of "Major General".

As early as when Li Guochang passed through Bianzhou, he left Li Kerang to Bai Yi for appointment, which meant that the Shatuo Li family had been divided into two parts.

One part is the main clan including Li Keyong from Hedong, and the other part is the side clan including Li Kerang from Bianzhou.

The two served different masters, although Li Keyong fled to the Tatars after his defeat, and Li Keyang went north to gather the defeated Shatuo troops.

But they were just following orders; the two families no longer had any common interests.

Not to mention the two cousins ​​Li Cunxu and Li Cunqian, who are one or two generations apart.

"Just as the general says." Zhou Dewei had no objection. After all, the purpose of this meeting was to show goodwill.

The two sides then had a friendly and amicable discussion on the division of Yan State.

It was finally decided that Youzhou, Jicheng, Binhai and Yongnu would be the line, with the north belonging to Jin and the south to Song.

Unfortunately, the Song army is now entangled in Jicheng, and even if they want to stop the Jin army, they do not have the manpower.

It would be better to give them some face and help the Song State resist the troubles from the grassland.

February 8
Representatives of the Song and Jin dynasties, Li Siyuan and Bai Xingjian, jointly signed the Changping Covenant.

In addition to reaffirming the friendship between Song and Jin and jointly resisting the violent Liang, the alliance also clearly stipulated the territorial boundaries of both sides.

The Hebei region is bounded by the Sanggan River, Jicheng, Xishan, Wuhuishan, Yongle, Boye, Raoyang, Fucheng and Zhangshui.

The states of You, Yi, Mo, Ying, Cang, Jing, De, Bei, Bo, Wei, and Di to the east and south were the territory of Song.

The states to the west and north, including Gui, Dai, Xian, Ji, Yan, Shun, Ping, Tan, Xing, Ming, Ci, and Xiang, were all part of Jin territory.

Also, because the States of Beiping and Zhao submitted to Jin, they also belonged to Jin territory.

In addition, most of the Hedong region, half of the land north of the Yellow River, was under the control of Li Cunxu, not to mention the various grassland tribes that depended on him.

It can be predicted that after the demise of Yan State, the strength of Jin State will be greatly enhanced and will no longer be inferior to Liang and Song State.

February 16

The envoy of Yan State arrived in Luoyang and handed a letter asking for help to Zhu Wen.

"My dear ministers, what do you think? Should Daliang send troops?"

The Prime Minister and Minister of Personnel Li Zhen, who stood at the head of the civil officials, stepped out and said, "In my opinion, although Liu Shouguang has broken his promise to Daliang many times, the demise of Yan is not in the interests of Daliang."

"Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to put aside past grudges and send troops to rescue Yan in order to curb the expansion of Jin and Song."

Sitting on the throne, Zhu Wen, dressed in a dragon robe, heard Li Zhen's words and without hesitation, he immediately issued an imperial decree to go north to rescue the State of Yan.

And he led the army in person.

"In this battle, I want to recapture Xiangming, destroy Weizhou in one battle, destroy the Jin and Song dynasties, and enhance the prestige of Daliang."

"Your Majesty's mighty power will surely wipe out the rebellious people and bring peace to the world."

March 18

Zhu Wen personally led an army of more than 100,000 troops northward, announcing to the outside world that he had an army of 500,000. He ordered Yang Shihou to besiege Anyang and He Delun to attack Wei County.

March 23
Li Cunxu, the King of Jin, sent Li Sizhao, the Jiedushi of Zhaoyi, as the commander-in-chief, and Fu Cunshen, Shi Jianjian and other generals to lead an army of 30,000, claiming to be a hundred thousand elite troops, to resist the Liang army and support Anyang.

At the same time, Duke Baijian of Song sent Weizhou Jiedushi Kang Huaiying as the chief general, Bai Shijin and Cheng Biao as deputy generals, leading 30,000 men, claiming to have an army of 50,000, to guard Wei County.

April th
Because the Liang army arrived in a hurry, the Jin army in Anyang was not prepared. In addition, the original high walls of Xiangzhou were demolished due to the wars in previous years, so the city defense was insufficient.

The Jin army had not been in Xiangzhou for a year and had been at war year after year, so the treasury was empty and there was no money to repair the city walls.

Upon seeing this, Yang Shihou ordered an urgent attack day and night.

After Anyang was captured, Wei County had not yet been captured, so Zhu Wen ordered Yang Shihou's troops to support He Delun, leaving some troops to garrison Anyang.

After Yang Shihou arrived in Wei County, he stationed his troops west of Wei County.

Before the Liang army could take root, hundreds of elite cavalry suddenly appeared in the west, led by the Song general Bai Zisheng.

The Song cavalry attacked the Liang army's camp and set fire everywhere, which greatly reduced the morale of the army.

Kang Huaiying's troops in the city took the opportunity to attack out of the city, and the Liang army west of Wei County was defeated. Seeing this, He Delun did not dare to attack again and ordered the siege to be withdrawn.

Fortunately, the Liang army was large in number and the Song army was unable to expand its victory because the subsequent support from Bianzhou, such as Bai Shijin and Cheng Biao, had not yet arrived.

More than ten miles southwest of Wei County, Yang Shihou and He Delun gathered the defeated soldiers and sent people to report the battle report to Zhu Wen, requesting punishment.

It happened that Li Sizhao's army arrived at this time, and taking advantage of the Liang army's recent defeat, they recaptured Anyang.

Seeing that direct rescue failed and the detachment he sent to attack Luzhou and Xuzhou also failed, Zhu Wen knew that the destruction of Yan State was a foregone conclusion.

There was no point in staying here any longer, and it would only result in the loss of soldiers and generals, so he gathered his troops and retreated.

May 15th

Because he had personally led an expedition to Hebei before, and because he was old and already ill, the bumpy ride made his condition worse, so he was unable to ride in a sedan chair.

After returning to Luoyang, he fell ill.

I don’t know if it’s because a dying man’s words are good. Thinking of his experiences over the years, he said with great sadness:

"I have been managing the country for thirty years, but I never thought that the remnants of Taiyuan would be able to revive and become so rampant! I think Li Cunxu has great ambitions."

"And the soldiers from Bianzhou are always by my side. I have always regarded them as my lifelong enemies."

"Who knows that the heavens will take away my remaining years? The bandits in Taiyuan cannot be eliminated, and my sons are all rivals of the Song army. I will die without a burial place, and Daliang is in danger."

As he spoke he burst into tears and fainted. His close ministers called out to him and urgently summoned the imperial physician. After the imperial physician's rescue efforts he slowly woke up.

May 21

Zhu Wen, who had been bedridden for a long time, felt that his time was up and wanted to prepare for his final resting place.

He knew very well that his biological sons were not fit for important positions, and only his adopted son, Prince Bo Zhu Youwen, could be useful.

In addition, Zhu Wen particularly favored Youwen's wife, Wang, because she was beautiful, which made him have a better impression of Zhu Youwen.

In the past few years, he was stationed in Xiangyang and defeated the invading armies of Wu, Nanping, Chu and others many times.

May 28
Zhu Wen was seriously ill, so he asked Youwen's wife Wang to go to Xiangyang to summon Zhu Youwen to Luoyang, wanting to say farewell to him and entrust him with his affairs.

However, this matter was discovered by Zhang, the wife of Zhu Wen's third son Yougui, who also served him.

He then looked for an opportunity to leave the palace and secretly informed Zhu Yougui, the commander-in-chief of the Control Crane Army.

May 30

In order to eliminate the threat posed by Zhu Youwen's ascension to the throne, Zhu Wen summoned his trusted confidants, the Minister of War Jing Xiang and the Minister of Personnel Li Zhen, to his bedside to discuss the entrustment of his son to the care of others.

In the end, Zhu Wen adopted Jing Xiang's suggestion, believing that Zhu Yougui was the commander-in-chief of the Control Crane Army at the time, responsible for the security of the imperial palace, and his position was very important. He also had the right of inheritance and was ambitious.

Zhu Yougui was then transferred to be the governor of Laizhou.

Zhu Yougui, who already knew that Zhu Wen was going to choose Zhu Youwen as the crown prince, was frightened. When he learned that he was about to be transferred, he became even more panicked.

Besides, Zhu Youwen is just an adopted son. If he comes to power, he will definitely not have a good ending.

June 2
Zhu Yougui secretly went to the Zuo Longhu Army and discussed and planned a coup with Han Qing, the commander of the Zuo Longhu Army.

That night, Han Qing led 500 guards and followed Zhu Yougui into the palace, mixed in with the soldiers who controlled the cranes, and ambushed inside the palace.

When it was late at night and everyone was asleep, Zhu Yougui and others cut the door bolt, rushed into Zhu Wen's bedroom, and sealed it off.

Zhu Yougui ordered Feng Tingye, the groom, to stab Zhu Wen to death with a sword, and then wrapped his body in felt and buried it on the spot in the bedroom. He also blocked the news and kept the death a secret.

He then falsely issued an imperial edict and sent people to Xiangyang to sentence Zhu Youwen to death.

Because Zhu Wen had a fickle temperament and changed his orders every day, Zhu Youwen had no doubt about the authenticity of the edict.

Although he wanted to resist in his heart, he gave up when he saw the soldiers of the Control Crane Army with their hands on the hilts of their swords.

June 5th
Zhu Yougui was relieved when he received the confirmed news that Zhu Youwen was executed. He announced the funeral of Zhu Wen on the same day, and forged the imperial edict, and ascended the throne in front of Zhu Wen's coffin.

(End of this chapter)