History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 119: Emperor Zhaozong's ingenious plan to bring peace to the world

Wang Xiancheng said: "Pengzhou originally belonged to Xichuan. It was ceded to Yang Sheng by Tian Lingzi three years ago. He established the Weirong Army to expand his power and fight against the imperial court. Now, the rebellion of Tian Lingzi and Chen Jingxuan has been quelled, and only Yang Sheng, the 'remnant of Tian eunuchs', is still separatist.

In the minds of the people of Pengzhou, they still belonged to Xichuan, and Wang Jian, the governor of Xichuan, was their real leader. So when the army first arrived, people did not enter the city to defend it, but temporarily took refuge in the mountains and forests, waiting for Marshal Wang to issue a decree to pacify the people.

But the army had been here for half a year, and instead of the people's soldiers, the people were raped and robbed, just like the Japanese invaders entering the village. The people were separated from their wives and children, and their families were destroyed.

They originally did not recognize Yang Sheng's leadership, so they refused to obey Yang Sheng's orders. If Marshal Wang does not show mercy and comfort them, I am afraid they will turn to recognize Yang Sheng. "

At first, Wang Zongkan was just being polite or showing respect for others, and he didn't take the soldier in front of him seriously. As Wang Xiancheng talked, Wang Zongkan couldn't help but look at him with new eyes, and repeatedly moved his chair closer to him. Before he knew it, the two of them were already talking to each other.

Wang Xiancheng continued, "Losing the hearts of the people is not the most serious thing. Every day, each camp will send out a team of six or seven hundred people to 'eliminate the invaders'. They go out early in the morning and do not return until dusk, leaving the camp empty. Fortunately, Yang Sheng has no talented people around him. If there were a think tank to give him advice, he would first bury a thousand elite soldiers in the city after the 'eliminate the invaders' team went into the mountains, and then send out a hundred archers and stone cannons to attack the camp, and then send out five hundred engineers to throw wood, mud, sand and stones into the trenches to block the road, and then set fire to the camp... I think we would all die without a burial place!"

Wang Zongkan was shocked as if he had heard a bolt from the blue. "Oh no! This is not impossible. What should we do then?"

Wang Xiancheng gave the solution:
First, recruit and accommodate refugees who have fled to the mountains;
Second, "plundering" was strictly prohibited, and warning signs were set up seven miles away from the camp. Anyone who dared to go beyond the camp to cut firewood or herd sheep would be beheaded;
Third, set up "recruitment camps" that could accommodate thousands of people to receive and accept the people who were recruited;

Fourth, the work of recruiting the people should be led by one person, and it is recommended that Comrade Wang Zongkan be in charge;
Fifth, all the villages were ordered to hand over the captured men, women, old and young, so that the refugees could recognize each other, reunite as families, register and send them to the "recruitment camp". Anyone who dared to hide them would be beheaded.

Sixth, set up a temporary county government in the "recruitment camp", select young and strong men, go into the mountains to call on the villagers, and convey the Xichuan Army's people-loving policy and spirit;
Seventh, encourage the resumption of production.

To sum up, we need to change our attitude, treat the people of Pengzhou as the people of Xichuan rather than as slaves of a defeated country, and strive to win the hearts of the people of Pengzhou.

After drafting, submit it to the headquarters.

The next day, the headquarters sent back an approval document and ordered all the armies to strictly implement it.

Sure enough, three days later, the people in the mountains, bringing their elderly and children, rushed to the "recruitment camp". As there were too many refugees, the "recruitment camp" had to continue to expand. Gradually, streets and markets were formed, and this temporary stronghold had become a new city.

Soon, under the unified deployment of Wang Zongkan, the local living order was restored, and it seemed that there was no war at all. Under the guidance of the temporary county magistrate, the refugees gradually returned to their homeland, and work and production resumed in various places. The "Zhaoan Camp" closed down amid cheers.

However, the siege of Pengzhou continued.

【Li Maozhen's Fangs】

After conquering Xingyuan Prefecture, Li Maozhen recommended his son Li Jimi to be the acting mayor of Xingyuan (acting in charge of Xingyuan Prefecture affairs), and then submitted a petition to the court requesting that Gu Yanhui be awarded the imperial seal again.

Li Maozhen wanted to become the regional overlord, establish a new regional order, and flex his muscles, so he took the initiative to ask for flags and seals for Dongchuan Gu Yanhui (they were previously confiscated by Yang Shouliang) and took Dongchuan Gu Yanhui as his new younger brother.

Afterwards, Li Maozhen proposed that the Fengxiang and Dongchuan armies unite to kill Wang Jian of Xichuan.

After Li Maozhen swallowed up Yang Shouliang's Shannan West Road, Fengxiang's forces officially bordered the Liangchuan forces. Fengxiang Li Maozhen was ambitious and wanted to take advantage of the victory of swallowing up Shannan West Road to intervene in the affairs of Liangchuan and compete with Wang Jian. In the big PK between Fengxiang and Liangchuan, Dongchuan Gu Yanhui could only survive in the cracks and had no dominance.

Now, Li Maozhen intervened forcefully, and Gu Yanhui had no choice but to submit and was forced to accept the proposal of a joint attack on Xichuan.

Li Maozhen sent his son Li Jimi to lead troops to Zizhou and jointly invaded Xichuan with Gu Yanhui, but was defeated by Wang Jian. Gu Yanhui turned to Wang Jian, apologized, and expressed his willingness to sever ties with Li Maozhen in order to seek Wang Jian's forgiveness.

Of course, he chose to forgive him. Before he solved Pengzhou, Wang Jian was not sure enough to defeat Li Maozhen.

This battle was just a tentative attack by Li Maozhen on the Liangchuan area. After experiencing the power of Wang Jian of Xichuan, he no longer wanted to fight and focused his work on consolidating his vested interests.

Li Maozhen submitted a memorial to the court, requesting to concurrently serve as the Jiedushi of Shannan West Road.

Emperor Zhaozong of Tang was furious in the imperial palace in Chang'an City.

The biggest beneficiary of the extermination of Cai thief Qin Zongquan was the watchdog Zhu Wen; the biggest beneficiary of the removal of Li Yan’s rebellion was Li Keyong; the biggest beneficiary of the eradication of Tian Lingzi was Wang Jian; and now the biggest beneficiary of the purge of Yang Fugong is Li Maozhen...

Zhaozong's clever plan to pacify the country cost him his wife and his army. Instead of reaping the benefits, he prompted the initial integration of the feudal lords, which gradually condensed from a loose group into several powerful political and military groups. Their threat to the imperial court was growing day by day.

For example, Li Keyong used "leading troops to the imperial palace" as his catchphrase to blackmail the court; another example was Li Maozhen, who was proud of his contribution in "overthrowing Yang" and interfered in the government affairs. He not only mocked the civil and military officials, but even spoke rudely to Emperor Zhaozong.

How could the emperor of the Tang Dynasty be so weak? The unbearable humiliation further strengthened Zhaozong's determination to reduce the power of the vassal states.

He understood a truth: the iron must be strong before it can be forged. This was also the advice Kong Wei put forward when he first ascended the throne. Political power comes from the barrel of a gun, and the army is the right to speak. There must be a strong army that obeys the emperor's orders.

Since then, Zhaozong began to expand the army and prepare for war, recruiting new soldiers and incorporating them into the imperial guards. Then, he gradually took back the military power of the imperial guards under the control of the eunuchs by suppressing the two major eunuch groups of Tian and Yang.

Now, Zhaozong promoted all the commanders of the four elite troops in the imperial guards to Jiedushi, gave them the title of prime minister, and sent them to other places. This was a typical case of "promotion in name but demotion in reality", as he took back their command of the imperial guards while sending them to other places.

Letting the prime minister and the prince take control of the imperial guards was a big move by Emperor Zhaozong.

With the gun in hand, Zhaozong became more confident. Zhaozong flatly rejected Li Maozhen's request to concurrently lead Shannan West Road, and issued an edict to make Li Maozhen the governor of Shannan West Road and the governor of Wuding, and the prime minister Xu Yanruo (son of the former prime minister Xu Shang) the governor of Fengxiang.

Don't you want Shannan? I'll give it to you, but you have to move out and give Fengxiang to me.

Thanks to old friends "Pure Lsp" and "Favorite Smile" for their recommendation votes, and thanks to "Shang Jianxiu" for his reward support!

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(End of this chapter)