History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 146: Accepting He Gui
【En Shou Congratulations】

Li Keyong left quietly, just as he came quietly. He waved his sleeves and took the emperor's wife away.

Later historians called this period the "Age of Donkeys", referring to the fact that there were many warlords but few strategists during this period, and wise strategists were even rarer. Most of the so-called strategists and think tanks were stupid donkeys!
When commenting on the "Zizhi Tongjian", Mr. Bo Yang, a master of humanities, lamented Li Keyong's decision and said frankly that Li Keyong had lost a golden opportunity. He pointed out that Li Keyong only needed to cross the Wei River and take two more steps to hold the emperor hostage to control the princes. He could be as powerful as Cao Cao or as weak as Yi Yin or Huo Guang.

It was probably because of a woman's kindness and seeking fame that he eventually made a big mistake. From then on, Hedong Li Keyong began to go downhill and gradually lost the upper hand in the confrontation with Zhu Wen.

After returning to Hedong, Li Keyong no longer had the power to challenge the throne.

Li Keyong was granted the title of King of Jin, obtained the emperor's beautiful and talented concubines, and received a reward of 300,000 strings of cash, but he lost his country and his people.

In addition, a large group of his younger brothers were also promoted. For example, Wang Ke of Hezhong was officially appointed as the Jiedushi of the Hezhong National Protection Army; Liu Rengong of Youzhou was promoted from the governor of Lulong to the Jiedushi of Lulong; Yang Fugong was also cleared of his injustice and posthumously named Duke of Wei.

Also rehabilitated were former prime ministers Du Rangneng, Wei Zhaodu, Li Xi, and eunuch Ximen Junsui.

The "Hezhong inheritance dispute case" developed into the "Three Towns Invading the Palace", which was the top-level design of chief architect Zhu Wen. The purpose was to use this external war to tie down the energy of Li Keyong of Hedong and the central court, so as to strangle the "Pig Killing Alliance" advocated by Yang Xingmi of Huainan in the cradle.

He did it.

When Li Keyong personally led his army to Chang'an to fight a decisive battle with the Guanxi Group, Zhu Wen finally breathed a sigh of relief and boldly transferred the main force to the northeast to continue to reap the two Zhus in Yan and Yun.

Zhu Wen personally led the army and defeated Zhu Xuan at the foot of Liangshan Mountain. Zhu Xuan retreated to his old nest in Yunzhou in a panic; the general Ge Congzhou surrounded Yanzhou.

Zhu Qiong, the governor of Qizhou, offered his city to surrender. Zhu Qiong was Zhu Jin's cousin.

In order to ease the pressure from Yanzhou, Zhu Xuan of Yunzhou sent generals He Gui and Liu Cun, together with Hedong reinforcements Xue Huaibao, to lead 10,000 people to attack Caozhou.

After Zhu Wen received the news, he hurriedly led his troops to rescue overnight.

As fate would have it, Zhu Wen took the wrong road in the dark and strayed from the intended battlefield. He realized it only at dawn. Before he could change his route, he encountered He Gui and his 10,000-man Yunzhou army.

When two enemies meet on a narrow road, the bravest one wins. Zhu Wen acted decisively and ordered thousands of elite cavalry to charge forward.

The encounter was beyond the intelligence, and such a decisive charge... He Gui and others mistakenly thought they were ambushed, and they collapsed without fighting. The Bian army was chasing them closely behind, charging left and right, as if they were in an empty space, chopping melons and vegetables, and the Yunzhou soldiers were facing a catastrophe.

He Gui saw that the situation was hopeless, so he climbed up a hill covered with thorns and shouted loudly: "I am He Gui, the commander of the cavalry and infantry of the Tianping Army. I am willing to surrender. Please don't hurt me!"

Dozens of generals including Liu Cun and He Huaibao were captured alive, 3,000 soldiers surrendered or were captured, and several thousand were killed.

Zhu Wen planned to send the 3,000 surrendered soldiers to the Yanzhou front to reinforce Ge Congzhou's forces, but problems arose during the escort.

Because this was an unplanned encounter, Zhu Wen only brought a few thousand cavalry, but now he had to guard and escort three thousand surrendered soldiers. Management was difficult, and the surrendered soldiers always looked for opportunities to escape.

In addition, escorting the surrendered soldiers would greatly slow down the advance. What if Zhu Xuan of Yunzhou got the news and sent troops to intercept and kill them again?
At this time, a sandstorm suddenly blew up (the wind was blowing and the dust was boiling). Zhu Wen took advantage of people's feudal superstition that heaven and man were connected, and said: "The heaven is angry, because we haven't killed enough people!" So he ordered that all the 3,000 surrendered soldiers be killed.

What is incredible is that after the Bian army massacred 3,000 surrendered soldiers from Yunzhou, "the trend stopped."

After getting rid of the burden, Zhu Wen marched quickly and arrived at the Yanzhou front that afternoon. The next morning, the Bian army strung the captives He Gui, Liu Cun, Xue Huaibao and others together with ropes and led them to the city of Yanzhou for the defenders to watch. They shouted to Zhu Jin, "Your brother Zhu Qiong has surrendered. Look at these people again. Do you recognize them? They are the men of your brother Zhu Xuan, and we have also captured them. What are you still holding on to? Hurry up and surrender."

After careful consideration, Zhu Jin expressed his willingness to surrender.

Zhu Wen was overjoyed and personally came to the city to discuss surrender with Zhu Jin across the suspension bridge. Often at this time, the commanders of the two armies would pretend to have forgiven their past grudges, like two old friends, greeting each other, reminiscing cordially, and chatting and laughing in a sanctimonious manner.

After a while of talking and laughing, Zhu Jin made one last request, "I hope someone I trust can come to the city to hand over the official seal of Yanzhou. Since my foolish brother Zhu Qiong is already at your place, I hope he can complete the handover procedures."

"That's no problem."

Zhu Wen immediately ordered General Liu Han to accompany Zhu Qiong.

When the two of them came to the side of the suspension bridge, Zhu Jin waved at them and said, "Please let my brother come alone. I have a few household matters to tell you."

So Liu Han stayed at the bridgehead and let Zhu Qiong ride alone across the bridge into the city.

At the two ends of the suspension bridge were Liu Han and Zhu Jin. Zhu Qiong was walking on the bridge slowly, and when he was about to approach Zhu Jin, a strong man suddenly jumped out from under the bridge, pulled Zhu Qiong off the horse, and took Zhu Qiong into the city in the blink of an eye. Then, Zhu Jin turned around and entered the city, closed the city gate, and pulled the suspension bridge.

After a while, Zhu Jin reappeared on the city gate tower, threw Zhu Qiong's head off the city wall, and then cursed Zhu Wen.

Zhu Wen was furious and beheaded dozens of captured generals including Liu Cun and Xue Huaibao to vent his anger, leaving only He Gui.

He Gui was so grateful to Zhu Wen for not killing him that he expressed his willingness to serve Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen had heard of He Gui for a long time and knew that He Gui was a rare general, so he used this method to win his heart. As he expected, He Gui really became one of the rare generals in the Bian army.

At the same time, Li Keyong defeated Wang Xingyu, Zhaozong returned to Chang'an, and Li Keyong returned to Hedong.

After hearing the news, Zhu Wen left Ge Congzhou to continue the siege of Yanzhou, and led his troops back to Bianzhou to guard against Li Keyong. Zhu Jin was more determined to win, and was always ready to welcome the reinforcements from Hedong and counterattack the Bian army.

Li Keyong, who was withdrawn from Guanzhong, sent generals Shi Yan and Li Chengsi to lead thousands of Shatuo cavalry to pass through Wei Bo and rush to the battlefield of Yanyun.

In order to preserve the vitality of the Bian army, Ge Congzhou announced a retreat, and then the main force quickly assembled and withdrew to Bianzhou. However, late at night, Ge Congzhou led the main force to secretly return to the Yanzhou front.

As expected, Zhu Jin, who had been hiding in Yanzhou City, thought he could finally show off his power, so he led his army out of the city to launch a counterattack against the "old, weak, sick and disabled" outside the city. However, he was ambushed by Ge Congzhou and the commander-in-chief of Yanzhou was captured alive.

Zhu Jin fled back to the city, and waited obediently for reinforcements from Hedong, not daring to send any more soldiers. Ge Congzhou was able to retreat calmly.

In order to save the two stupid teammates in the Yanyun battlefield, Li Keyong sent Li Cunxin to lead 10,000 cavalry to reinforce the south through Wei Bo. Li Cunxin led his troops to station in Shen County (now Shen County, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province), forming a horn with the two Zhus in Yanyun.

Thanks to my old friend “纯正lsp” for the generous 12 recommendation votes!

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(End of this chapter)