History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 153 Youzhou Independence 2
[Youzhou Independence]

The right to speak is the truth.

Liu Rengong can confidently say that he has never distorted the facts and that every word he said is true. Yes, every word Liu Rengong's authorities said is true, but they just didn't say every fact, which is the essence of propaganda work.

When the three towns invaded the palace, conquered Luo Hongxin of Wei Bo, and supported the two Zhus of Yan and Yun, Li Keyong had previously mobilized the Lulong Army every time, but Liu Rengong refused to send troops on the grounds of defending against the Khitan in the north. Now, Li Maozhen invaded the palace for the second time, and Emperor Zhaozong was trapped in Huazhou. Li Keyong again asked Liu Rengong to mobilize the Lulong Army, but was still rejected.

Li Keyong knew that this was Liu Rengong's excuse, so he sent envoys one after another to urge him, "making the wheels of the carts make ruts", with the wheels connected to the wheels, exaggerating the number and frequency of the envoys going back and forth.

At first, Liu Rengong pretended to resist the Khitan in a serious manner, but gradually, Liu Rengong got tired of pretending and spoke rudely.

Li Keyong was furious and wrote a letter to scold Liu Rengong for his rudeness.

Liu Rengong threw the letter to the ground and cursed loudly. He then detained the envoy and arrested all the Hedong occupation troops stranded in Yan and put them into prison.

The letters he exchanged with Li Keyong are physical evidence, and the detained Hedong envoys and officers are human witnesses. These evidences show the great sacrifices and brave struggles made by Liu Rengong in order to prevent the people of Youzhou from becoming cannon fodder in Hedong.

"We, the people of Youzhou, will never be slaves!"

Liu Rengong suddenly became the leader of the Youzhou uprising army. From today on, the Youzhou Lulong Army is no longer affiliated with the Hedong Taiyuan Prefecture and is no longer a second-class citizen of the Hedong forces.

Relying on his understanding of the Hedong Army, Liu Rengong spent a huge amount of money to lure the outstanding generals of the Hedong Army with high positions and generous salaries to poach Li Keyong. Many Hedong generals could not resist the temptation of sugar-coated bullets and joined Liu Rengong.

When the news of Liu Rengong's rebellion came, Li Keyong was furious and immediately decided to lead an expedition to Youzhou himself.

Li Keyong's decision was quite irrational.

Youzhou was not originally Li Keyong's core interest, so it was better to take it slow rather than hasty. It should be regarded as an object to be fought for rather than conquered. He should adopt the attitude he treated towards Wei Bo, appease and utilize it, and make it a strategic ally to contain Zhu Wen or a springboard to attack Zhu Wen.

At that time, Li Keyong had completely fallen out with Wei Bo's Luo Hongxin, who also killed Li Keyong's son Luo Luo. There was almost no possibility of reconciliation between Hedong and Wei Bo. At this time, Li Keyong should have actively won over other Hebei vassal states, including Youzhou, to jointly fight against the powerful enemy Zhu Wen.

What's more, Zhaozong was forced out of Chang'an by Li Maozhen and exiled to Huazhou. Although Li Keyong lost the opportunity to hold the emperor hostage when the "Three Towns Invaded the Palace", he could completely make up for it with this opportunity.

However, Li Keyong, in his rage, still made the decision to "conquer Youzhou for the second time."

It was at this time that Prince Yan Li Jiepi came to Li Keyong and informed him of the current situation in which Emperor Zhaozong was being forced by Li Maozhen and held hostage by Han Jian, and asked him to return to the throne as soon as possible.

Li Keyong insisted on personally leading the expedition to Youzhou first, and only after killing the traitor Liu Rengong would he talk about serving the king.

Prince Yan Li Jiepi tried to persuade him but to no avail, so he could only return to Huazhou to report. After that, Han Jian massacred the Sixteenth Prince, and Prince Yan Li Jiepi was unfortunately killed.

Li Keyong led his army into the territory of the Lulong Army. The Lulong Army's general Shan Keji led the cavalry to fight.

The sentry of the Hedong Army came back to report the enemy situation, saying, "The enemy is coming!" Li Keyong was already drunk, but he still drank more wine. In a trance, he asked, "Liu Rengong is here? Where is he?"

The sentry reported again that the enemy had arrived, but Liu Rengong was not seen. The army was led by the Lulong general Shan Keji.

Li Keyong heard it clearly this time and glared in anger, "Who the hell is Dan Keji?" He then ordered an attack, and the entire combat order was issued while he was drunk and unconscious.

The Hedong Army, which had been invincible in the past, suddenly became chaotic and disorganized. There was a heavy fog that day, and visibility was extremely low. The Lulong Army set up an ambush in the bushes at Muguajian. The Hedong Army was confused and fell into the ambush circle. They were easily harvested by the Lulong Army and taken away in one wave.

Fortunately, a sudden strong wind, heavy rain, thunder and lightning forced the Lulong Army to retreat early. This allowed the Hedong Army to avoid being wiped out and only lost half of its people.

After Li Keyong sobered up, he realized that he had suffered a great defeat, with more than half of his troops annihilated. This was the biggest defeat since he returned to the Central Plains. He was furious again and called Li Cunxin and others to scold them for dereliction of duty, "I was drunk and delayed things, why didn't you stop me?" Liu Rengong won a great victory at Muguajian, not only defending the new Liu family Lulong Army regime, but also creating an impressive record of defeating Li Keyong in Hedong in one fell swoop, which greatly improved Liu Rengong's prestige.

Liu Rengong submitted a memorial to the court, accusing Li Keyong of raising troops without reason and carrying out annexation without authorization, which was an unforgivable crime. He requested an imperial decree to appoint him as commander-in-chief and form an alliance to attack Li Keyong in Hedong.

Zhaozong was in urgent need of Li Keyong's power to eliminate the threat from the Guanxi Group, so he issued an edict to reject Liu Rengong's request.

According to the old rules, if you offend Li Keyong, you have to please Zhu Wen.

Liu Rengong wrote a letter to Zhu Wen to show his goodwill, expressing his willingness to work together to deal with Li Keyong.

Zhu Wen recommended Liu Rengong to be promoted to the title of Prime Minister (co-prime minister). The two Li Keyongs were mortal enemies, so they understood each other without saying too much. Just a glance and you would understand. Li Keyong's existence was the solid foundation for the close coexistence of the two sides.

The situation in Shandong (east of Taihang Mountain) was extremely unfavorable to Li Keyong. However, Liu Rengong contacted Li Keyong privately at this time and apologized to him, claiming that he was forced to do so and offended the emperor's majesty. He has been restless ever since then and asked for forgiveness.

This Liu Kutou is very cunning.

Liu Rengong's goal was to seize control of Youzhou, and now that it had been achieved, there was no need to continue to pester Li Keyong. Similarly, after Li Keyong regained his sanity, he would realize that since Liu Rengong's occupation of Youzhou and rebellion had become a fait accompli, raising an army to attack him would also be more costly than gaining.

Therefore, after the "Battle of Papaya Creek", the two sides formed a tacit understanding: maintain the status quo and shelve disputes.

However, as the loser, Li Keyong needed a way out and some face. The well-behaved Liu Rengong promptly gave him a way out, took the initiative to admit his fault and apologized, and listened attentively to Li Keyong's scolding.

An apology is just a word of regret on a piece of paper and does not cause any substantial loss.

This is a tacit understanding among politicians.

As for the petition to the court requesting a joint attack on Li Keyong, it was a gesture to show his position and show his muscle. It can also be regarded as a token of his loyalty to Zhu Wen in exchange for his trust and support.

Liu Kutou is very cunning.

Liu Rengong was full of confidence. He was determined to eliminate the threat from Hedong in the west, to get support from Zhu Wen in the south, and to annex Heshuo. The first target of his expansion was the Yichang Army in Cangzhou.

Yichang Army, with its headquarters in Cangzhou (now Cangzhou, Hebei Province), governed Cangzhou, Jingzhou, and Dezhou. It was relatively weak, and its governor Lu Yanwei was cruel and tyrannical, ungrateful to his subordinates and rude to outsiders. When Li Kuangchou, the former governor of Lulong Army, fled to Cangzhou, he was murdered by Lu Yanwei for money.

As the two towns were adjacent to each other, friction was inevitable. Liu Rengong used the dispute over salt profits as an excuse to send his son Liu Shouwen to lead an army to suppress the rebellion.

Lu Yanwei was unable to resist, so he abandoned the city and fled with his family. He first sought refuge with Wei Bo Luo Hongxin, but was refused entry. He eventually fled to Bianzhou and sought asylum from Zhu Wen.

Liu Rengong took over Cangzhou Yichang Army at a very small cost in his first attempt, and recommended his son Liu Shouwen to be the governor of Yichang Army.

The imperial court did not approve of Liu Rengong's unauthorized annexation, refused to issue flags and seals to Liu Shouwen, and did not recognize his legitimate ruling status over the Yichang Army.

Liu Rengong had been so overwhelmed by victory that he arrogantly said to the imperial envoy: "Submitting a memorial to the imperial court is just to give the old emperor face. Who really wants the letter of appointment? If he doesn't give it to me, I will make one myself. Tell him what I said, don't be so ungrateful!"

He controlled the twelve states of Lulong, defeated Li Keyong, and annexed the Yichang Army...Liu Rengong believed that his military fortune would last long.

If God wants to destroy someone, he must first make him crazy.

(End of this chapter)