History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 118: "Anti-Yang Movement"

After Yang Fugong was expelled from the court, Yang Shouli regarded himself as "the first person to overthrow Yang" and "the hero to overthrow Yang". He became more and more arrogant and domineering. He had more than 300 personal bodyguards. He paraded around the city, shouting and yelling, and became a rising star in the world of bastards.

He forgot the principle of "after the rabbit dies, the dog is cooked". He forgot that Yang Fugong was not only the stepping stone for his rapid rise to fame, but also the soil on which he depended for survival.

Zhaozong conspired with the generals of the imperial guards to lure Yang Shouli into the palace and assassinate him secretly.

This was followed by a bloody purge of Yang Shouli's remaining forces, such as his close comrade Jia Desheng. Yang Shouli's troops immediately mutinied, smashing, looting and burning in Chang'an, and then scattered like birds and beasts; Jia Desheng's cavalry of more than 1,000 people fled to Fengxiang and defected to Li Maozhen.

The tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop. Emperor Zhaozong thought that the "anti-Yang movement" could end here, but he did not know that he had inadvertently opened Pandora's box. The subsequent development of the story would be completely out of control, and the fruits of victory of the "anti-Yang movement" would be spit out with interest.

Not long ago, Dongchuan Jiedushi Gu Yanlang died in Zizhou, the headquarters of Dongchuan, due to illness. The army recommended his younger brother Gu Yanhui as the governor of Dongchuan. The court appointed Gu Yanhui as the Jiedushi of Dongchuan and sent someone to deliver the flag and seal.

From Chang'an to Zizhou, Shannan West Road is the only way. Yang Shouliang detained the imperial envoys who were delivering the imperial seal and attacked Dongchuan. Gu Yanhui asked Wang Jian of Xichuan for help. Wang Jian had long wanted to unify the two Sichuans, so he secretly instructed the generals who came to help to kill Gu Yanhui at the celebration banquet after driving away Yang Shouliang in order to annex Dongchuan.

At the critical moment, Wang Jian's adopted son Wang Zongbi could not bear it and secretly leaked the conspiracy to Gu Yanhui, causing Wang Jian's Hongmen Banquet to fail. The situation in the two Sichuans became more and more delicate.

Li Maozhen of Fengxiang also wanted to expand southward, so he joined forces with Jingnan Jiedushi Wang Xingyu, Zhenguo Jiedushi Han Jian, Kuangguo Jiedushi Wang Xingyue, and Tianxiong Jiedushi Li Maozhuang to jointly submit a petition to the court, accusing Yang Shouliang of Shannan West Road of hiding the rebel Yang Fugong and requesting that Li Maozhen be appointed commander-in-chief to send troops to fight.

In the memorial, Li Maozhen stated that this military operation did not require the court to allocate food and military pay, nor did it require the court to dispatch a single soldier. All he needed was the court's nod, so that Li Maozhen could have a legitimate reason to launch his campaign.

Zhaozong refused outright and refused to allow the troops to be sent.

In the Guanzhong, Guanxi, and Liangchuan areas, Yang Fugong, Li Maozhen, and Wang Jian were allowed to check and balance each other, which was the most favorable situation for the central government. In this way, after thoroughly digesting the results of the "anti-Yang movement", Zhaozong could continue to use the trick of killing three men with two peaches to instigate disputes among the vassal states, and then profit from it, erode the power of the vassal states, and then realize the great rejuvenation of the empire.

How could Li Maozhen miss such an opportunity? He ignored the imperial edict and sent troops to attack the rebels without authorization, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of evil along the way.

Seeing that the matter was done, Zhaozong had no choice but to grant Li Maozhen the title of "Shannan Recruiting Envoy", hoping that he would be bound by the laws of the country and protect the people of Shannan West Road.

Li Maozhen was unstoppable and won victory after victory, and captured Xingyuan Prefecture in one breath. Yang Fugong, Yang Shouliang and others fled to Langzhou, so there is no need to elaborate on them.

The brakes of the "anti-Yang movement" failed, and Zhaozong lost the initiative. The "later anti-Yang movement" was forcibly started by Li Maozhen of Fengxiang.

In the "Post-Anti-Yang Movement", Yang Fugong and his Yang Family Clan became supporting roles, while the protagonists were Wang Jian of Xichuan and Li Maozhen of Fengxiang.

This is the charm of political games.

[Siege of Pengzhou]

After the failure in the battle against Dongchuan, Yang Shouliang became concerned about Xichuan, so he reached a secret agreement with Yang Sheng, the governor of Weirong, and joined forces to attack Xichuan. The result was still a disastrous defeat. Wang Jian launched a counterattack and surrounded Pengzhou, the headquarters of the Weirong Army.

Yang Shouliang ordered his three adopted sons, Yang Zishi, Yang Ziqian and Yang Zizhao, to come to the rescue. In terms of seniority, the three should be Yang Fugong's grandsons. These three grandsons were too grandsons, and they surrendered to Wang Jian with more than 20,000 troops.

Yang Sheng of Pengzhou wrote a letter to Yang Shouzhen, Yang Shouzhong and Yang Shouhou to give them advice, asking them to attack Dongchuan Zizhou, besiege Wei to save Zhao and relieve the pressure on Pengzhou.

This is the subtlety of the relationship between the two rivers. Xichuan is both the biggest enemy of Dongchuan and the closest comrade-in-arms.

The reason is also very simple:
Wang Jian of Xichuan had long coveted Dongchuan and tried every possible means to annex Dongchuan. Gu Yanlang, the former governor of Dongchuan, was his old colleague, old friend, and father-in-law, and was extremely submissive to him, which created a great psychological barrier for Wang Jian, making him embarrassed to directly target Gu Yanlang.

After Gu Yanlang's death, Gu Yanhui succeeded him. Gu Yanhui and Wang Jian had no direct friendship, and Gu Yanhui made no secret of his contempt for Wang Jian. Wang Jian therefore threw away all his psychological burdens and began to formally plan the annexation of Dongchuan. For example, when he went to aid Zizhou last time, he wanted to seize Dongchuan through the despicable means of the Hongmen Feast.

Wang Jian was the quasi-master of Dongchuan, so when external forces (such as Yang Shouliang and Li Maozhen) came to seize Dongchuan, Wang Jian would support Dongchuan without hesitation.

Wang Jian was like a dog guarding its food, baring his fangs at anyone who approached Dongchuan, "My, don't move!"

Dongchuan Gu Yanhui also understood the pros and cons, so whenever someone invaded Dongchuan, he would immediately ask Wang Jian for help and request Wang Jian to send troops to help. While repelling the foreign enemies, he could also consume Wang Jian's strength. Dongchuan Gu Yanhui killed two birds with one stone.

That is why Yang Sheng, who was besieged in Pengzhou, came up with the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao.

The three thought this plan was brilliant, especially Yang Shouhou, who had previously used a large amount of money to successfully incite a defender in Zizhou City to rebel. By then, with the support of both inside and outside forces, Zizhou City would be captured.

Yang Shouhou, who was stationed in Mianzhou, was closest to Zizhou, while Yang Shouzhen and Yang Shouzhong were relatively far away. When Yang Shouhou came to exchange secret codes with the traitor, he found that the traitor had been found by Gu Yanhui of Dongchuan.

Yang Shouhou was horrified and hurriedly led his troops to retreat. In his haste, he did not have time to inform Yang Shouzhen and Yang Shouzhong of the follow-up troops. As a result, the two who followed were in an awkward situation of being unable to advance or retreat, and were beaten everywhere like a headless fly, suffering heavy losses.

The plan of besieging Wei to save Zhao ended in failure.

The Xichuan army surrounded Pengzhou but could not capture it for a long time. The people fled to the valleys to hide. The Xichuan army camps would go into the mountains to plunder every day, stealing money, food, and women, and they happily called it "Taolu".

There was a soldier named Wang Xiancheng in the Xichuan Army. He was originally a scholar, but was forced to join the army due to circumstances. He secretly observed the generals and found that only the general of Beidaying, Wang Zongkan, was a good candidate, so he recommended himself and wanted to have a talk with General Wang Zongkan.

Wang Zongkan treated this unusual soldier with courtesy and respect.

"What advice do you have, sir?"

Thanks to old friends "最爱一笑", "feitian", "飞天神龙战" for their recommendation votes. Special thanks to "书友20181011091051586" for his reward support!

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(End of this chapter)