History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 122 Tian Yang's Doomsday
The imperial army was bound to be defeated in this battle, but no one expected it to be such a tragic defeat.

Before Li Maozhen launched his attack, the imperial guards fled in panic. Without a single soldier, Li Maozhen marched directly to the gates of Chang'an.

It is obvious that Li Maozhen's forces have infiltrated among these 30,000 imperial guards.

Under the instigation of Li Maozhen's followers, the people of Chang'an once again gathered outside the imperial palace, demanding the execution of Du Rangneng, the "culprit" who started the war.

Prime Minister Cui Zhaowei secretly fanned the flames, saying that Du Rangneng was the mastermind behind the war and it had nothing to do with the emperor.

Li Maozhen stationed his troops west of Chang'an and submitted a petition to the imperial court, demanding that "the emperor's side be cleared and Chao Cuo be executed" and that the "war criminal" Du Rangneng be executed to thank the world.

Inside the palace, Emperor Zhaozong was overwhelmed with emotions. He wanted to kill the enemy, but he was powerless and felt deeply distressed.

The Prime Minister Du Rangneng bowed deeply and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I have long expected this day to come. Please use my life to help Your Majesty out of this predicament."

Regret, shame, self-blame... Emperor Zhaozong burst into tears, regretting not listening to the good advice of his loyal ministers, failing to resist the humiliation and suffering the consequences, and even letting the loyal minister Du Rangneng take the blame for his life...

Zhaozong was crying for Du Rangneng, himself, and his Tang Dynasty, because this failure declared that all his efforts since he ascended the throne had gone to waste.

After this disaster, the fruits of the previous victory in the fight against eunuchs were stolen by Li Maozhen, the government would also be controlled by Li Maozhen, and Zhaozong would become a puppet of Li Maozhen.

Zhaozong was defeated, defeated miserably, and lost without a doubt. Before this, Zhaozong's real power was "Mayor of Chang'an", but now he couldn't even be a chief steward of the palace.

Zhaozong cried so hard that he beat his chest and stamped his feet, and could hardly control himself. In the end, he could only bid farewell to Du Rangneng with a sobbing voice, "I bid you farewell!"

On the same day, the emperor ordered Du Rangneng to be demoted to the position of governor of Wuzhou (now Wuzhou City, Guangxi Province), and the eunuch Ximen Daguanren (Ximen Junsui), the supervisor of the imperial guards, was exiled to Hainan Island. The other two main eunuchs were exiled, one to Hainan Island and the other to Vietnam.

The victory or defeat on the battlefield is only the first stage of the contest; the post-war settlement work is also a contest with undercurrents.

Li Maozhen immediately expressed his dissatisfaction with the verdict and asked Zhaozong to reconsider.

Zhaozong had to give in to the alliance under the city. He issued an edict to behead the three eunuchs including Ximen Daguanren, and demoted Du Rangneng to the post of Sihu of Leizhou (now Leizhou City, Guangdong Province). He also sent an envoy to plead with Li Maozhen, saying that it was the three eunuchs who persuaded him to send troops, and it had nothing to do with Du Rangneng.

Li Maozhen was of course aware that Du Rangneng was the scapegoat, but what Li Maozhen wanted to kill was not Du Rangneng, but the face of the court and the majesty of Emperor Zhaozong. I, Li Maozhen, must kill whoever I say, and the emperor cannot stop him.

In the end, Zhaozong issued an edict with tears in his eyes to execute Du Rangneng and Du Honghui (Du Rangneng's younger brother).

Du Rangneng, whose father was Prime Minister Du Shenquan during the reign of Emperor Yizong, actively rescued Sizhou and saved Huainan from bandits during the "Pang Xun Rebellion" mentioned above; his great-great-grandfather Du Yuanying was Prime Minister during the reign of Emperor Muzong; his seventh-generation ancestor was Du Ruhui, a founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, who was known together with Fang Xuanling as "Fang's counsel and Du's decision", and his portrait was hung in the Lingyan Pavilion.

During the counterattack of the "Li Yan Rebellion", Du Rangneng actively rescued the civil and military officials who were wrongly accused (see "Du Rangneng's List"). As a result, he died unjustly, but no one rescued him. It is really sad.

At this point, Li Maozhen had achieved a complete victory and completely controlled the court. Everything the court did depended on Li Maozhen's mood. Civil and military officials and eunuch groups attached themselves to Li Maozhen and used him to threaten Emperor Zhaozong. They would report to Li Maozhen if they were not satisfied with anything, and Li Maozhen would immediately insult and threaten Emperor Zhaozong.

Emperor Zhaozong issued an edict to restore Li Maozhen's title of Fengxiang Jiedushi, and concurrently appointed him as Jiedushi of Shannanxi Road. As a result, Li Maozhen suddenly owned the land of 15 states in four towns, Fengxiang, Shannanxi Road, Wuding, and Tianxiong, becoming the most powerful vassal in Guanxi.

Li Maozhen's henchman, Jingnan Jiedushi Wang Xingyu, also took the opportunity to blackmail the court, demanding an official position and title, and was granted a gold medal to avoid death. [Tian Yang's Doomsday]

There were two unfinished games in Zhaozong's initial chess game: Tian Lingzi and Yang Fugong.

Tian Lingzi and his brother Chen Jingxuan had been detained by Xichuan Wang Jian, who repeatedly petitioned the court to execute the two thieves.

Faced with Wang Jian's memorial requesting the execution of Tian Lingzi, Zhaozong not only did not approve it, but instead issued an edict to pardon Tian Lingzi and appointed him as the military supervisor of Hunan.

This is the brilliance of Zhaozong.

People with a long-term vision will not be distracted by petty gains, nor will they indulge in the pleasure of revenge. Emperor Zhaozong was wise and powerful. In the face of national interests, personal honor and disgrace were not worth mentioning.

Let's take a look at the masters' moves:
Tian Lingzi and Chen Jingxuan have lost their power and are no longer a threat to the Tang Dynasty. However, their survival serves as a restraint on Wang Jian of Xichuan. In addition, they can also be used to balance Li Maozhen of Fengxiang.

Li Maozhen kept submitting petitions to plead for Tian Lingzi.

The essence of Li Maozhen's plea for Tian Lingzi was also political fraud. The reason was simple, because I knew you would kill him, so I pleaded for him, so that you would owe me a favor after you killed him.

However, Zhaozong shifted the political cost of killing Tian Lingzi onto Wang Jian, and issued an edict to pardon Tian Lingzi and Chen Jingxuan, prohibiting Wang Jian from killing them.

Tian Lingzi and Chen Jingxuan were stumbling blocks on Wang Jian's road to dominance, so Wang Jian was the one who really had to kill Tian Yan.

Only by pardoning Tian Lingzi could Emperor Zhaozong avoid the harm of killing Tian Yan and gain the benefits of killing Tian Yan, thus killing two birds with one stone.

As expected, Wang Jian besieged Pengzhou in the northwest, guarded against Li Maozhen and Yang Fugong in the northeast, and was still thinking about Dongchuan in the east... How could he still hide Tian Yan in his arms? So he arrested Chen Jingxuan on the charge of "collaborating with the enemy and treason", and arrested Tian Lingzi on the grounds of "secretly communicating with Li Maozhen" and put him in prison.

Tian Lingzi knew that his time was up, so he tore silk into strips, tied them into a thick rope, and said to the executioner: "I used to be the supreme commander of the imperial guards, so there are rules to kill me (I once held the position of ten military commanders, so there are no rules to kill me)!" Then he patiently taught the executioner how to strangle someone.

In the face of death, Tian Lingzi showed amazing calmness and remained expressionless until his death.

Chen Jingxuan had expected this day to come. Since the day he surrendered, he had hidden a bottle of poison in his belt, ready to commit suicide at any time. However, before the execution, when he untied his belt, he was surprised to find that the poison had disappeared.

Chen Jingxuan then lamented Wang Jian's experience and viciousness. After he surrendered Chengdu, Wang Jian had spies all around him, and even his personal attendants were turned against him. He was omnipresent! This thief was really ruthless!
Not long after the death of Tian Lingzi and Chen Jingxuan, their old friend Yang Fugong also came to the end of his life.

Li Maozhen captured Yang Fugong's last stronghold, Langzhou. Yang Fugong, Yang Shouliang, Yang Shouxin and others fled in a hurry. They planned to cross Shangshan Mountain and join their old friend and comrade-in-arms, Li Keyong of Hedong.

Halfway through the journey, the food supply was cut off and he was extremely hungry, so he begged for food from the people along the way. As a result, he was met by a patrol of the Zhenguo Army and was then escorted to Han Jian, the Zhenguo Jiedushi.

Since he was captured alive, he should have been taken to Chang'an for trial. Perhaps this was Han Jian's original plan, but an accident still happened.

Thanks to old friends "Pure Lsp", "feitian", "Feitian Shenlongzhan" and "Favorite Smile" for their recommendation votes and support!
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(End of this chapter)