History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 1043: The End of Shu Nihen

On May 5, Zhenzong issued another decree, reiterating the court's policy of appeasement, emphasizing that anyone who had been coerced into following the bandits would immediately have their civilian status restored and would be forgiven if they were able to surrender.

During this period, Wang Jun launched several attacks, but was repelled by the government troops. In desperation, Wang Jun destroyed the suspension bridge and blocked the city gate, determined to defend the city until the end of time.

After a few months of rest, Lei Youzhong used his ultimate weapon in August - the cave house and the ladder. Obviously, Lei Youzhong was ready for a strong attack.

Under the command of Lei Youzhong, the government troops attacked the city from hundreds of directions, and a fierce battle began. The bandit army resisted stubbornly, and their "founding hero" Zhao Yanshun was killed in the battle.

What made Lei You the most mad was that God was partial to him. Whenever he attacked the city, it would rain heavily, making the walls slippery and making it difficult for ladders and other climbing equipment to work. The enemy army also dug tunnels to control the caves of the government army. The government army suffered heavy casualties and had to temporarily give up the attack and retreat to rest.

The rebels in the city celebrated their victory with a big banquet, eating hot pot and singing. It is said that the sound of the banquet reached outside the city. Amid the singing and dancing of the clowns, the government troops suffered from an epidemic due to the hot and humid summer, resulting in a shortage of medicines. Lei Youzhong had to go to other states and counties to buy medicines urgently.

After all, Wang Jun is a clown, a monkey in human form. His strategic vision and political acumen are far inferior to Huang Chao. Although he has temporarily won a small victory over the government troops, he is trapped in an isolated city and will be defeated sooner or later. Therefore, his best solution is to cash out and escape in time, and cash in on the military advantage politically. For example, now, he can completely request a negotiation and accept the amnesty. This is the best strategy;

Or they could concentrate their forces, seize the opportunity to attack, control Jianmen Pass in the north, control Kuizhou and other waterways into Sichuan in the east, and then gradually encroach on Sichuan and Shu, truly establish their own territories and restore the foundations of "Former Shu" and "Later Shu". This is the middle strategy;
Wang Jun chose the worst strategy and continued to hide in Chengdu City, fighting stubbornly and waiting for his demise.

In view of the severe situation on the front line in Chengdu, the court sent reinforcements, led by the eunuch Qin Han. After Qin Han arrived at the front line, he held a meeting with Lei Youzhong, and then they discussed a strategy to defeat the enemy. In fact, the method was very traditional, that is, to build a high platform.

Build an artificial hill outside the city, that is, a mountain higher than the city wall. This way, you can be in a commanding position and suppress the defenders with firepower, greatly reducing the advantage of the city wall.

The government troops built a dirt hill in the north of the city and then conquered the outer city. Using the outer city as a base, the government troops continued to advance inwards, using the same simple tools as the cave houses.

The defenders set up a tent outside the city wall, which was a wooden beam extending outward from the battlement of the city wall. Then, they used it as a support and built a "small balcony" with wooden boards, hanging outside the city wall. This could effectively prevent the attackers from setting up ladders and directly attack the cave house. The defenders gave this tent a festive name, "Xi Xiang Feng Lou".

Of course, this kind of enemy tent also has unavoidable flaws. For example, the attacker can build a fire underneath it and let the defenders act like roasting duck in a hanging oven.

The next month (September), the government troops really set fire to the enemy's tent. The enemy's previous complacency immediately disappeared, and they smelled a breath of destruction in the smoke.

Wang Jun still did not give up, and repaired the inner city's city walls and continued to resist. Because he still had a piece of black technology, a biochemical weapon - drug arrows. In fact, it was an arrow coated with some kind of poison. It was said that anyone shot by it would die.

From ancient times to the present, countless wars have told us a simple truth: it is foolish to think that you can turn a losing situation around with an advanced weapon. Don't mention the atomic bomb. When we didn't have it, we still beat back the 17-nation coalition led by the Eagle Sauce on the peninsula, and drove the Russian bear crazy.

The battle had entered a white-hot stage, and Lei Youzhong blew the horn for a general attack. The government troops used traditional methods - digging tunnels, recruiting death squads to break into the tunnels, and burning the defenders' defense equipment, clearing the way for the upcoming decisive battle.

The government troops attacked the city from three sides - this was the mistake Zhao Guangyi suffered when he attacked Youzhou. Don't besiege the city from all sides, but make sure to leave one side open - attack from the east, west and south at the same time. Lei Youzhong and Shi Pu led the way, following the two cave houses to attack.

The commander-in-chief is already pressing forward in the cave house, so what reason do we have to hide in the trenches? The morale of the government troops was greatly boosted, and they rushed to the city wall like a tide. Soon, Shi Pu made progress and successfully dug a big hole in the city wall with the cave house, allowing him to enter the city. However, the defenders immediately took up their spears and halberds and blocked this exit tightly.

At this suffocating moment, two soldiers volunteered to step forward and fight for the army. Shi Pu promised them a big reward. Afterwards, the two of them risked being stabbed into sieves, charged forward with their spears, and actually disrupted the enemy's gun formation. The subsequent government troops immediately seized this opportunity, poured in one after another, finally tore open the gap, and finally controlled the city gate tower.

Lei Youzhong climbed up the city gate tower to overlook the battlefield, and this sight made him break out in a cold sweat. He saw that the bandits had converted the famous scenic spot, Tianchang Temple, into a fortress, and what shocked him was that the bandits were preparing to use their most powerful weapon - the cannon, which was an absolutely heavy weapon in the cold weapon era, such as catapults and trebuchets. Not just one or two, but "secretly set up", long-range weapons were born with the "volley" skill. The bandits were going to rain a round of huge stones on the government troops who had just occupied the city, a cold weapon version of Katyusha.

At the critical moment, General Gao Jixun asked the logistics team leader (transportation envoy) Ma Liang for straw, oil and other flammable materials, and then personally led the death squad to charge with long spears and huge axes to clear the way. The follow-up troops held up torches and successfully burned the cannon that was in the skill cooling period.

The enemy's formation was thrown into chaos, and Yang Huaizhong took the opportunity to capture the Tianchang Temple stronghold and chased them all the way to the next checkpoint - Da'anmen, killing more than 3,000 enemies.

After a day of fierce fighting, the government troops' encirclement was further reduced, and the rebels retreated into the last inner city. That night, Wang Jun led his troops to break through and escape.

Once bitten by a snake, you will be afraid of the rope for ten years. Lei Youzhong suffered a loss last time, and this time he suspected that Wang Jun was faking defeat to lure the enemy, so he did not dare to chase and kill easily, and only ordered his men to set fire to the streets in the city. When the sun rose, the two highest commanders, Lei Youzhong and Qin Han, climbed up the city wall. After confirming that the bandits had really broken through and fled, they started a bloody purge: killing "Song traitors" and "traitors".

All the puppet soldiers and puppet officials who accepted Wang Jun's appointment were arrested and "burned to death". The specific method was to tie the person up, fix him to the ground, make him stand, then pile firewood around him and set it on fire, so that the prisoner could die at the slowest speed and suffer the greatest pain.

Within one day, hundreds of people were "burned to death", and the scene was horrific.

Only Li Jichang had always maintained strict military discipline. He strictly ordered his subordinates not to harass the people, and placed the elderly, the weak, women and children in the temple, and sent soldiers to guard it. When the battle was over, they were sent back home.

In October, Wang Jun, who escaped from Chengdu, took the common people and fled to Fushun Prison (Fushun County, formerly known as Fushi County, was renamed Fuyi County in the Tang Dynasty to avoid the taboo of Li Shimin, and was promoted to Fuyi Prison in the early Song Dynasty. It was changed to Fushun Prison to avoid the taboo of Zhao Guangyi), destroying bridges, blocking roads, and burning warehouses along the way to delay the pursuit of the government troops.

Lei Youzhong ordered Yang Huaizhong to lead the elite imperial guards as the vanguard in pursuit. Two days later, he sent Shi Pu to reinforce, and the main force followed soon after.

Wang Jun hurriedly made bamboo rafts and other boats in Fushun Prison, preparing to travel by water. Yang Huaizhong chased them to Yangjia City, six or seven miles away from Fushun Prison, where a part of the bandit army was responsible for cutting off the rear.

Yang Huaizhong sent people to scout the terrain, saying that if the bandits escaped by boat, it would bring great difficulties to the subsequent suppression of the bandits, and they must not let the tiger go back to the mountain! So they lined up along the river.

The bandits' morale was already low, and they soon scattered and fled. Some of them wanted to escape by boat, but Yang Huaizhong ordered his men to shoot them with strong bows and crossbows, causing countless casualties.

Afterwards, Yang Huaizhong entered the city with flags and drums raised, announcing to the rebel army on the verge of collapse: the royal army and heavenly troops have arrived.

Wang Jun was shocked to hear that Wang's army had entered the city, and was about to organize a resistance, but he did not expect that his close subordinates had already drunk themselves to death. In despair, Wang Jun hanged himself.

Yang Huaizhong's subordinates chopped off Wang Jun's head, seized a large amount of supplies, and captured more than 6,000 bandits. The "Wang Jun bandit gang" was completely wiped out.

After settling the city defense affairs, Yang Huaizhong returned triumphantly with Wang Jun's head out of the north gate, and met Shi Pu who came to reinforce him. Shi Pu snatched Wang Jun's head, and then rushed back to Chengdu and hung the head in the north city. Then, Lei Youzhong reported to the court: The Chengdu mutiny has been quelled by me!

Zhenzong was very pleased and gave generous rewards to the soldiers. Lei Youzhong, Qin Han and others were promoted. Not long after, Zhenzong found out the truth about the suppression of the bandits. The first credit for the suppression of the bandits should be Comrade Yang Huaizhong, but Lei Youzhong and Shi Pu dared to conceal the report and steal the credit. So Zhenzong promoted Yang Huaizhong and began to dislike Lei Youzhong and his people.

In the first month of the following year (1001), Ma Liang, the transport envoy of Xichuan and the deputy minister of the Ministry of War, was summoned to Beijing to report on his work and the situation in Shu in detail. Ma Liang personally participated in the suppression of the rebellion, ensured the supply of materials, and provided sufficient fire starters when burning the artillery positions of the bandits. During the entire suppression of the rebellion, the commander-in-chief Lei Youzhong was always cruel and ruthless, such as using the method of "lighting sky lanterns" to torture prisoners. Of course, this also inevitably killed innocent people, but Ma Liang always tried his best to persuade him, and many people who were forced to follow the bandits survived. Affected by the war, the price of rice in Chengdu soared to a sky-high price of a dou of rice and a thousand coins. Ma Liang, who was responsible for logistics and material transportation, opened the granary and sold the reserve grain at a low price, which quickly dropped the price of grain to a range acceptable to the people, and also saved countless people.

After Ma Liang arrived in the capital, he happened to see that the relevant departments were sending 89 "bandit soldiers" in chains. The relevant departments (the Privy Council) had a very clear opinion on how to deal with the situation: kill them all.

When reporting his work to Emperor Zhenzong in person, Ma Liang pleaded for these people, saying that they were not the "remnants of bandits" but the "remnants of the rest who will not be questioned". They were good citizens who were coerced, and these people were only a small part of them (one or two out of a hundred). Nearly 99% of them temporarily fled to the mountains and forests to hide. If the court implemented the policy of "only executing the main culprits and not questioning the rest", they would go home with peace of mind and continue to engage in production. However, if these people were executed, it would be tantamount to forcing the other 99% of them to become bandits and bring disaster to the local area. Your Majesty, please consider which is more serious.

Zhenzong suddenly realized the truth and immediately released the 89 people without charge.

After Ma Liang returned to office, he released hundreds of people who had been detained for tax arrears. He also abolished unreasonable tax items and waived more than two million yuan in official loans to the private sector.

When the Shu region rebelled, the imperial court recruited the barbarians from Shi, Qian, Gao, and Xizhou. As a result, these people became familiar with the surrounding mountains and rivers, and saw the colorful world outside. It turned out that there was so much fun outside the mountains! As a result, they no longer helped the imperial court to suppress the rebellion, but instead attacked the surrounding counties, took men and women captive and brought them into the mountains, causing trouble for the people.

Finally, the imperial court sent Ding Wei to comfort the people. Ding Wei adopted the strategy of winning the hearts and minds of the barbarians and influenced the barbarian chief. After friendly negotiations, the imperial court successfully rescued more than 10,000 captive civilians at the price of one piece of silk for one hostage.

The "Wang Jun Rebellion" finally ended in March of the fourth year of Xianping (1001). In addition to the immeasurable material losses caused by this civil strife, the more important impact was that it tied up the energy of the court, putting the Song Dynasty in an extremely unfavorable passive position in dealing with the Liao issue.

(End of this chapter)