History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 127 The End of Time
【The End of Time】

Zhu Wen originally thought that the war in Xuzhou was over and was planning to deal with the two Zhus in Yan and Yun in the north. However, when he heard about the unexpected change, he became furious and reported to the court again, requesting that the court revoke its decision and make sure Shi Pu was kicked out of the vassal circle.

In dealing with the Hedong issue, the court's "imperial edict" was like toilet paper. If it was unreliable again after a year, the court would lose face. Therefore, it sent envoys to Bianzhou to appease Zhu Wen and ask Zhu Wen to save some face for the court.

Zhu Wen did not follow Li Keyong's example and did not threaten to lead his troops to Chang'an to confront the emperor face to face. Instead, he chose to swallow his anger and no longer forced the court to revise the edict.

Of course, it was not that Zhu Wen was magnanimous and merciful, but Xuzhou had basically become a cooked duck, and it was only a matter of time before Zhu Wen annexed Xuzhou. Whether the edict was changed or not was just a superficial matter. So let's save some face for the court.

This favor was not given for nothing. In exchange, the court secretly granted Zhu Wen the ownership of the Xuzhou Ganhua Army. This was the "Munich Agreement" between Zhu Wen and the court.

"Shi Pu is definitely in my grasp. Even Jesus can't stop him, I say!" - Zhu Wen.

Afterwards, Haozhou and Sizhou surrendered in Ganhuajun territory, and Xuzhou became an isolated city in name only.

However, Shi Pu, who was at the end of his rope, was unwilling to let it end like this, and he wanted to make a last-ditch struggle.

Shi Pu continued to ask for help from the two Zhus of Yan and Yun. If one is alone, the other will be in trouble. My today is your tomorrow.

Zhu Wen divided his troops to contain the reinforcements from Yanyun, and sent his eldest son Zhu Youyu to lead an army of 100,000 to attack Puzhou.

The army in despair will surely win. Zhu Youyu's troops worked together to avenge the previous defeat and quickly captured Puzhou.

Huo Cun, the general stationed in Caozhou, received a tip-off that Zhu Jin was personally leading an army of 20,000 to Xuzhou. Huo Cun immediately assembled 3,000 soldiers and joined forces with Zhu Youyu to rush to the outskirts of Xuzhou.

When Shi Pu saw the reinforcements from Yanzhou arriving, he led his troops out of the city to attack the Bian army, and joined forces with Zhu Jin of Yanzhou to attack Zhu Wen from both inside and outside.

Huo Cun fought hard and repelled the Yanzhou reinforcements, and Zhu Jin led the remnants to escape back to Yanzhou.

Although Huo Cun crushed the plan of joining forces between Yan and Xu, he was unfortunately killed in the battle.

Zhu Wen was in great grief over the loss of his beloved general. A letter of accusation with real name added fuel to the fire, making Zhu Wen so angry that his liver and lungs exploded and his teeth broke.

The person reported in the letter was Zhu Wen's eldest son Zhu Youyu. The reporter accused him of serious dereliction of duty during the battle, standing idly by and not taking any action, which led to Huo Cun's death in a lone battle, and watching Zhu Jin escape without sending troops to intercept him. This shows that Zhu Youyu was disloyal and had ulterior motives!
Reporter: Zhu Yougong (adopted son of Zhu Wen).

Zhu Wen was furious and ordered Pang Shigu to take over the command of Zhu Youyu (Pang Shigu was truly a capable successor, having taken over the command positions of Zhu Zhen and Zhu Youyu successively), and ordered the arrest of Zhu Youyu for investigation and interrogation.

As fate would have it, the courier delivered the letter to Zhu Youyu by mistake.

Zhu Youyu knew his father's temper and was immediately frightened out of his wits. He immediately led his 2,000 cavalrymen and fled into the deep mountains and forests and hid himself.

One of his trusted men advised, "Don't panic. You and the Marshal are biological father and son. What misunderstanding can't be resolved?"

Zhu Youyu shook his head and sighed, "It is precisely because we are father and son that I understand the old man's personality and temper. If he is falsely accused of treason, his own son will surely die!"

Is he going to be a bandit for the rest of his life? The confidant rolled his eyes and came up with a plan, "I have a plan, but I don't know if I should tell you or not."

"But there's no harm in talking."

"Your uncle."

"Fuck you! If you curse me again, I'll hear you!"

The confidant hurriedly explained, "I mean, your uncle. I'm afraid he's the only one in the world who can plead with the old marshal. Even if he can't, he can always take you in, at least keep you alive." The authorities are confused, but the bystanders are clear. Zhu Youyu regained some of his sanity, so he fled back to his hometown in Dangshan overnight and hid in his uncle Zhu Quanyu's house. He told him the whole story without reservation and asked his uncle to come forward to save him.

Zhu Quanyu sighed for a long time. It was obvious that the godson was alienating his biological son and fighting for the family property. How could the third brother be so confused? After thinking hard, he finally thought of a breakthrough.

"Nephew, I'm afraid there is only one way to save you."

"Please give me some advice, uncle."

"Your mother!"

"Uncle, let's not curse the idle street."

Zhu Quanyu refers to Zhu Wen's wife, Zhang Hui.

Zhu Youyu finally woke up from his dream, abandoned his entourage and close confidants, and returned to Bianzhou alone, asking for forgiveness.

Zhu Wen was furious. When he saw Zhu Youyu kneeling in the courtyard, he ordered his attendants to grab his hair, hold his neck, and chop off his head on the spot.

Zhang Hui ran down the stairs in big strides. Her movements were so flustered that it could not be considered "running", but "rolling". As the wife of a military governor, she did not care about her dignity at this moment. She rolled and crawled, rushed forward, hugged Zhu Youyu, blocked the butcher's knife with her body, and cried, "Son, you abandoned the army, left your personal attendants, and returned alone. This is enough to prove that you have no second thoughts. How can your father be so confused!"

Zhu Quanyu also sent a message, which was plain and to the point, explaining the truth that blood is thicker than water, and scoffing at the tradition of "fake sons" that originated from the Hu people and was carried forward by warlords and eunuchs.

"It's good to have someone else's wife, but it's good to have your own son. Wouldn't it be the best for Yougong to kill Youyu? It's obvious that your godson framed your own son and was planning to do something bad to steal your inheritance. Are you stupid?"

Zhu Wen then came to his senses and appointed Zhu Youyu as the acting governor of Xuzhou and dropped all charges against him.

Pang Shigu, who succeeded Zhu Youyu, lived up to expectations and captured the commanding heights west of Xuzhou. From then on, the defenders of Xuzhou could no longer go out of the city to fight, and the Bian army surrounded Xuzhou like an iron barrel.

Shi Pu continued to fight stubbornly, hoping for a miracle.

The six-month-long siege also made Zhu Wen suffer from exhaustion. His troops were old and tired, and gradually became a spent force.

The interpreter Zhang Tao wrote to Zhu Wen, saying that he had calculated that the day chosen for the expedition was unlucky, which was why they were stuck in a quagmire and lost many generals. It would be best to withdraw the troops first and choose an auspicious day next year before making plans.

Zhu Wen was about to waver, but his adviser Jing Xiang hurriedly stopped him, saying that the siege had lasted for months, and although we had spent a lot of money and resources, Xuzhou was already on the verge of collapse, so how could we give up all our efforts? If the soldiers heard such nonsense as the day being unlucky, they would probably lose morale and something bad would happen!
Zhu Wen quickly burned Zhang Tao's letter and ordered all the troops to maintain a high pressure and not to slack off. Afterwards, Zhu Wen personally led the army to the city of Xuzhou to supervise the battle.

With the Marshal's personal presence at the front, the morale of the Bian army was greatly boosted. Everyone fought bravely and took the lead, and in one go they captured the outer city of Xuzhou.

Shi Pu knew that the situation was hopeless, so he arranged for people to move the looted gold, silver, and treasures as well as the entire family to the Swallow Tower, and then ordered people to set fire to it, and the entire family burned to death.

On April 893, 4, the second year of the Jingfu reign of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Wen entered Xuzhou City and appointed his confidant Zhang Tingfan as the temporary governor of Ganhua Army. He also submitted a petition to the court requesting that another senior official be appointed to take over Xuzhou.

Asking the court to send someone to take over Xuzhou was just a gesture of "loyalty". As mentioned earlier, the court and Zhu Wen reached a secret agreement in private. As long as Zhu Wen gave the court some face, the court would acquiesce to Zhu Wen's taking over Xuzhou.

The court fulfilled its promise and no longer appointed a high official to take over Xuzhou. Instead, it appointed Zhang Tingfan as the governor of Xuzhou Wuning Army. The predecessor of "Ganhua Army" was called "Wuning Army". Because of the rebellion of "Silver Knife Soldiers", Wang Shi killed all of them. "Wuning Army" was subsequently abolished by the court. After the "Pang Xun Rebellion", it was re-established and renamed "Ganhua Army". Now, after being annexed by Zhu Wen, it has restored its old name "Wuning Army".

Zhu Wen climbed up the north gate tower of Xuzhou and gazed at the northern sky. Now that Shi Pu was dead, would the days of the two Zhus in Yan and Yun be long?

Thanks to old friends "feitian", "book friend 151023051918540", "favorite smile", and "Feitian Shenlongzhan" for their recommendation votes and support!


(End of this chapter)