History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 109 Isn’t Huainan attractive?

As fate would have it, Jing Xiang formulated a "look eastward" strategy for Zhu Wen, with the main tasks being Shi Pu of Xuzhou, Zhu Xuan of Yunzhou, and Zhu Jin of Yanzhou.

However, without exception, all military actions against them were abandoned halfway. Instead, the hidden missions triggered one after another in Huainan, Hebei Weizhou, and Heyang Mengluo were like wild flowers on the roadside, blooming lonely and proudly.

Zhu Wen was not upset by the failure of the main quest "The Two Zhus of Yan and Yun", but he was a little regretful, because that was Zhu Wen's extracurricular activity.

At that time, the primary threat was the thief Qin Zongquan of Cai. Due to geographical limitations, Zhu Wen had to act as the commander-in-chief in reality even though he did not have the title. He had to focus his main energy on "harvesting vegetables" and could only mobilize limited troops and use his spare time to launch a surprise attack on the two Zhus of Yan and Yun.

Now that Cai the thief had been eliminated, Zhu Wen was temporarily free of constraints; he also had the support of Hebei and Mengluo, so he had no worries; and he also had the title of commander-in-chief. Therefore, Zhu Wen had the obligation and the strength to march east to Xuzhou.

Therefore, for Zhu Wen, the defeat in Xuzhou was far more of a blow to him than just a halt to his expansion, but rather a ruthless blow and mockery of his self-confidence.

The ambition that Zhu Wen had gradually cultivated through sweeping yellow grass, mowing grass, harvesting vegetables, and the two Zhus of Yan and Yun, the courage to swallow up the mountains and rivers, and the unparalleled confidence, were suddenly hit hard by Xuzhou, making him doubt his life.

This was the source of Zhu Wen's anger. He was not angry at Zhu Zhen or the generals who begged for mercy, but at himself and at the fate that had played tricks on him.

Zhu Wen needed a victory to wash away the humiliation of defeat, regain his confidence, and heal his wounded young heart.

The thing that is least lacking in troubled times is opportunities.

The hero Li Keyong was also unwilling to be lonely. His expansion direction coincided with Zhu Wen's - East. His strategic goal was Dongzhaoyi. Different from Zhu Wen's passionate and smooth sailing, Li Keyong's expansion path was dedicated and bumpy.

Now, Li Keyong assembled all his elite forces and sent his top general Li Cunxiao and other generals across the Taihang Mountains to launch a large-scale military operation against Dongzhao Yi Meng Fangli.

Meng Fangli, the governor of Dongzhaoyi, was narrow-minded, suspicious and distrustful, and was very unpopular with the army. His generals had many complaints about him, and at this critical moment of life and death, almost all of them abandoned him and refused to work for him.

Filled with remorse and fear, Meng Fangli chose to commit suicide by taking poison.

His younger brother Meng Qian was deeply supported by all the generals and was recommended by them to be the governor of Dongzhaoyi, shouldering the important task of resisting Li Keyong.

Meng Qian knew that he could not compete with Li Keyong, so the first choice for help was of course the "fire-fighting internet celebrity" Zhu Wen, who was willing to help when needed, good at interfering in regional affairs, and proficient in forming alliances. Dongzhaoyi area was right next to Li Keyong's bed, and extending his sphere of influence there was a temptation that Zhu Wen could not resist.

However, man proposes, God disposes, and Zhu Wen has quietly lost the favor of the goddess of luck.

If Zhu Wen wanted to intervene in the affairs of East and West Zhaoyi, he had to pass through Weizhou. However, Luo Hongxin, the governor of Weizhou who had previously expressed his loyalty to Zhu Wen, suddenly broke his promise and refused to provide Zhu Wen with transit services.

As a last resort, Zhu Wen could only send an elite force of only a few hundred people, led by General Wang Qianyu (a surrendered general of Huang Chao, from the same batch as Li Tangbin), to cross mountains and ridges and take a shortcut to enter Xingzhou to assist in the defense.

Under Li Keyong's fierce attack, Meng Qian felt unprecedented pressure and fear. So Meng Qian also did something extremely shameless. He arrested Wang Qianyu, annexed Wang Qianyu's Bianzhou reinforcements, and then used Wang Qianyu as a token of surrender to surrender to Li Keyong.

At this point, Li Keyong annexed the entire Zhaoyi Army, extended his sphere of influence to the east of Taihang Mountains, and appeared in the Hebei region.

God played a little joke on Zhu Wen, closing the door of Xuzhou for him, and closing the windows of Hebei and Shanxi. Perhaps only Huainan still had a narrow gap left. [Isn't Huainan fragrant?]

After Gao Pian's death, the Huainan region fell into a long period of chaos. The imperial court intended to use Zhu Wen as a pretext to pacify Huainan, so it granted Zhu Wen the title of "Huainan Jiedushi".

Zhu Wen certainly wanted to get involved in Huainan, but the timing was not yet ripe, otherwise the court would not have been so generous.

Therefore, Zhu Wen's "Huainan Jiedushi" was an empty title with no substance, but it also provided a legitimate reason for Zhu Wen to intervene in Huainan affairs. To take Huainan into his pocket, Zhu Wen needed an opportunity.

Now, the time is ripe.

Bi Shiduo started a rebellion in Huainan in the name of killing traitors, and lured Qin Yan to settle in Yangzhou. Yang Xingmi, the governor of Luzhou, used this as an excuse to launch an expedition to expel Bi Shiduo and Qin Yan and occupy Yangzhou. Sun Ru broke away from the control of Qin Zongquan, the traitor of Cai, and also came to fight for Yangzhou. As a result, Huainan fell into war and the army continued to march.

The imperial court deliberately dragged Zhu Wen into this muddy water and appointed him as the governor of Huainan. Zhu Wen took advantage of the situation and did a favor by recommending Yang Xingmi as the governor of Huainan. He made Yang Xingmi Zhu Wen's spokesperson in Huainan and a stepping stone for Zhu Wen to intervene in Huainan.

Yangzhou had been ravaged by wars for several times, and there were only a few hundred residents left. Moreover, the city had long been out of food, and was almost an empty city. Yang Xingmi did not benefit from occupying Yangzhou, but suffered from it instead.

Yang Xingmi's situation is quite embarrassing. On the surface, he is a rising political dark horse and a glamorous new listed company, but behind the scenes he faces the risk of bankruptcy, liquidation and forced delisting.

This is because Yang Xingmi's troops were mainly supported by financing methods such as short-term loans (borrowing troops) and corporate mergers and reorganizations (recruiting surrenders and rebels such as Lu Yongzhi and Gao Ba), with high leverage and extremely high risk factors.

The income from the "Yangzhou Project" is simply unable to cover the high financing costs. The company is actually insolvent and its net assets are negative.

The world is bustling with people, all for profit; the world is bustling with people, all for profit. Based on the company's terrible financial statements, these partners may withdraw their capital at any time, cut off the cash flow, and make Yang Xingmi Group collapse overnight.

Although Yang Xingmi adopted the advice of his adviser Yuan Xi and eliminated his partners physically, he still failed to reverse the loss situation because Sun Ru, who had left the Cai thief group, posed a huge external threat to Yang Xingmi and robbed Yang Xingmi's food and supplies outside the city, making his situation worse.

There is no doubt that through a series of systematic purges, Yang Xingmi has gained absolute control over this army, and the group's strength has grown, but it is still not strong enough to compete with Sun Ru.

Yuan Xi, the strategist, offered another suggestion, suggesting that Yang Xingmi should retreat to advance, abandon Yangzhou, and retreat to Luzhou. First, protect the shell, and then make plans.

This is a difficult and painful decision. It is difficult for ordinary people to cut losses and stop losses, and they will only be trapped. Yang Xingmi is not an ordinary person.

If you keep the land but lose the people, you lose both the land and the people; if you keep the people but lose the land, you gain both the land and the people. Yang Xingmi wanted to exchange the city of Yangzhou for South China.

After a short rest, Sun Ru launched a new round of offensive against Yangzhou. Yang Xingmi retreated to Luzhou in an orderly manner according to the plan. Although he lost Yangzhou, he saved his manpower.

After Sun Ru settled in Yangzhou, he proclaimed himself the Jiedushi of Huainan.

When Yang Xingmi left Yangzhou, he couldn't help but look back at this beautiful ancient city with mixed feelings in his heart, "I will be back!"

(End of this chapter)