History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 156: Press the gourd and lift the ladle

[Jianghuai competes for supremacy]

Yang Xingmi won a great victory in the "Battle of Qingkou", but he could not expand the victory. On the one hand, Zhu Wen was stationed in Suzhou, which formed a strong strategic depth; on the other hand, there was Qian Liu behind him.

Qian Liu and Zhu Wen had the same idea. They both hoped to let the other side pin down Yang Xingmi so that they could gain an advantage on the front battlefield.

Therefore, Qian Liu joined forces with Hongzhou Zhong Chuan, Ezhou Du Hong (both of whom faced threats from Yang Xingmi), and Qingzhou Wang Shifan, and jointly submitted a petition to the court, requesting that the court allow Comrade Zhu Wen to take the lead and eliminate the destabilizing factor in the region - Yang Xingmi.

After Yang Xingmi defeated Zhu Wen's military campaign to the south, he dispatched troops to deal with Qian Liu in Hangzhou, sent General Zhou Ben to aid Suzhou, and sent another general Qin Pei to lead 3,000 troops to capture Kunshan.

Qian Liu's general Gu Quanwu had besieged Suzhou for more than a year. The city was out of ammunition and food and was in danger. The reinforcement Zhou Ben was repelled by Gu Quanwu. The Huainan general Tai Meng who was trapped in the city had no choice but to abandon the city and flee. Gu Quanwu pursued and killed him hard and captured many people. Afterwards, he led more than 10,000 people to besiege Kunshan.

Outside the city were Gu Quanwu's victorious troops of more than 10,000, and inside the city were Qin Pei's 3,000 exhausted defenders.

Qin Pei showed no fear at all and took the initiative to attack repeatedly, defeating Gu Quanwu's offensive.

After all, the odds were very different and Qin Pei suffered serious injuries in the battle, but this did not shake his tenacious will. Qin Pei asked the old, weak, sick and disabled to wear armor and hold spears to guard and confuse the enemy, while the strong ones were asked to shoot arrows to maximize the firepower coverage.

Gu Quanwu sent people to persuade Qin Pei to surrender, saying that even if you have a few small victories, you will still fail in the end, so it is better to surrender early.

Qin Pei agreed to surrender and sent an envoy to bring a secret letter, saying that it was to discuss surrender.

Gu Quanwu was very happy and summoned all his men to open the seal in person to witness the miracle moment together and share the joy of victory.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Gu Quanwu opened the envelope, and inside was a Buddhist scripture.

It turned out that Gu Quanwu had been a monk in his early years. Qin Pei was deliberately disgusting him.

The atmosphere was very awkward. Gu Quanwu's face turned red with embarrassment and he said angrily: "Does Qin Pei really want to die? How dare you humiliate me like this!" So he sent more troops, intensified the attack, and opened the city to flood Kunshan.

Not long after, the city walls that were soaked by floods collapsed on a large scale, and the food in the city had been eaten up. Qin Pei was unable to resist and had no choice but to surrender.

This time it was real surrender.

When Qian Liu heard the news of Kunshan's surrender, he was very happy and ordered to prepare hot meals and hot dishes for the surrendered soldiers to win their hearts. Based on the battle situation, Qian Liu and Gu Quanwu estimated that there should be 1,000 soldiers in the city, so they ordered to prepare meals for 1,000 people.

But after the defenders came out, Qian Liu and Gu Quanwu were surprised to find that there were less than a hundred old, weak, sick and disabled people in the city.

Qian Liu was furious and said to Qin Pei, "You only have so few men under your command. How dare you challenge my military might? Do you think you have no one in Liangzhe?"

Qin Pei replied, "Mr. Yang has been very kind to me, and I cannot bear to let him down. Today, we are out of ammunition and food, and the city walls have collapsed. We are powerless to resist, so we have no choice but to surrender. I do not really want to surrender! I have made it clear that you can kill me or chop me up, whatever you want."

Qian Liu was deeply moved and secretly praised Qin Pei as a loyal and righteous man.

Gu Quanwu also put aside his personal grudges and took the initiative to plead for Qin Pei, saying that he was chivalrous, loyal and brave, and asked him to be pardoned.

Qian Liu readily agreed.

Success or failure does not determine a hero. Outside Kunshan City, Qian Liu, Gu Quanwu, and Qin Pei are three heroes.

After a period of repeated tug-of-war with Qian Liu, Yang Xingmi saw the truth and admitted that Qian Liu was no longer the same as before. He was no longer a small governor of Hangzhou, nor was he Dong Chang's lackey. Qian Liu's position in the Liangzhe area was difficult to shake. Yang Xingmi was already caught in a crisis on both the north and south fronts, with Zhu Wen in the north and Qian Liu in the south. He had to adjust the focus of his work in time to avoid being attacked from both sides.

Therefore, Yang Xingmi took the initiative to send back the former Suzhou governor Cheng Ji who was captured by him, and reconciled with Qian Liu. That year, Qian Liu was fully engaged in the encirclement and suppression of Dong Chang of Yuezhou, and Yang Xingmi launched an attack on Qian Liu to tie down his energy. The Changshu garrison opened the city and surrendered, and presented Suzhou governor Cheng Ji to Yang Xingmi.

Yang Xingmi inspected Cheng Ji's home and found that his house was full of books and medicines. He thought that Cheng Ji was a man of noble character and integrity, so he brought him to Yangzhou and entrusted him with an important task.

Cheng Ji burst into tears, knelt down and bowed to Yang Xingmi, saying: "More than a hundred men, women and children in my family are all with Qian Liu. I lost Suzhou and failed to die in battle. I am already quite ashamed. How dare I ask for wealth and glory? I am willing to use my life to exchange for the lives of more than a hundred people in my family!"

After saying this, he drew his sword and was about to commit suicide by slitting his own throat.

Yang Xingmi immediately rushed forward, hugged his arm, stopped him, and no longer forced him to serve in Huainan. He arranged a house for him to live in in Yangzhou City.

There were all kinds of weapons in Cheng Ji's yard and room, but Yang Xingmi often visited him alone and drank with him alone without any guard, showing his immense trust in Cheng Ji.

Although Chengji had a noble character, he could not be used by Huainan after all, just like Xu Shu in Cao Ying. So now Yang Xingmi took the initiative to return him to Qian Liu to show his goodwill to Qian Liu.

Qian Liu also returned Wei Yue and other captives from Huainan in response.

As a result, the conflict in the Jianghuai area was temporarily put on hold.

【The Battle of Jin and Bian】

Zhu Wen's invasion of Huai River failed, and his own strength was weakened to a certain extent. His "fence-sitters" could not help but vote with their feet and flirt with Yang Xingmi of Huainan. For example, Zhao Kuangning, the loyal and righteous governor of Xiangzhou (son of Zhao Dezhen. Zhao Dezhen was a general under Qin Zongquan and surrendered to Zhu Wen at the end of the "harvest" period), Cui Hong, the governor of Fengguo Army of Caizhou, Wu Yu, the governor of Anzhou, and so on.

Snobs are usually short-sighted and easily blinded by the small gains in front of them. Unlike Li Keyong's loss of Youzhou, Zhu Wen suffered the "Qingkou Defeat" but was not seriously injured, he just did not get any advantage.

Therefore, these deserting brothers received the necessary lessons in time.

After the "Battle of Qingkou", Zhu Wen's group formulated an eight-character policy: consolidate the east, defend the south, disturb the west, and expand the north.

Donggu was to digest and absorb the fruits of the victory of "Looking East" and consolidate the vested interests since the "Eastern Expedition", with the focus on Xuzhou Wuning Army, Yunzhou Tianping Army, and Yanzhou Taining Army, making them "directly governed" vassal towns like Huazhou Xuanyi Army. As for Qingzhou Pinglu Army, it needed a sweet date in one hand and a big stick in the other to make him dare not be indecisive.

To defend the south, we must take a defensive stance against the Huainan region, unite with Qian Liu of Hangzhou and the surrounding small vassal states, and contain Yang Xingmi of Huainan so that he dare not cross the river to the north rashly.
To disturb the west is to create trouble in the Guanzhong area and launch a war on the external front.

For example, the "Hezhong inheritance dispute case" continued to ferment, and another example was to let the "healing master" Zhang Quanyi do decoration in Luoyang, the eastern capital. He secretly or openly intervened in the power struggle in Guanzhong, because this is the core interest of Hedong Li Keyong, and the chaos in Guanzhong will greatly attract and contain the energy of Hedong Li Keyong.

With the instigation and support of Zhu Wen, Wang Gong of Shanzhou constantly attacked Wang Ke of Hezhong, forcing Wang Ke to ask for help from Li Keyong of Hedong; and the construction of Luoyang was even more of a creation of political bargaining chips "out of nothing".

The northward expansion was to further enhance Zhu Wen's voice in Hebei Province, and through political division and military intervention, to seize Li Keyong's territory east of Taihang Mountain, such as Dongzhaoyi, and to compress the Hedong forces back to the west of Taihang Mountain.

If all goes well and Dongzhaoyi is captured, the next step will be to digest and absorb the entire Hebei region, and then form a siege on Li Keyong in Hedong. Zhu Wen will gain the position of overlord in the Central Plains with an overwhelming advantage.

The rebellion of Liu Rengong of Youzhou gave Zhu Wen hope of victory. He actively tried to win over Liu Rengong and recommended him to serve as prime minister remotely, thus forming a fragile "anti-Li Keyong alliance."

Luo Hongxin of Wei Bo also took advantage of Li Keyong's disastrous defeat to launch an attack on Hedong.

Zhu Wen believed that the time was ripe, so he immediately led his army across the Yellow River from Huazhou to the north, passed through Wei Bo, and attacked Dongzhaoyi.

Knowing shame and then being brave, General Ge Congzhou needed a victory to wash away the shame of the defeat in Huainan. It took only one day to capture Mingzhou.

Thanks to old friends "Pure lsp", "Favorite Smile" and "Bedroom King" for their recommendation votes and support!
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(End of this chapter)