History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 174 Measurements of Taiyuan (Part )

Shi Shucong dug deep trenches outside the city, constructed earth walls, and built solid fortifications. He also wore wide robes with big sleeves every day and paced leisurely on the front line to show the defenders his confidence and undermine the morale of the Hedong soldiers.

After 30 years of hard work, everything was back to the days before liberation. All the achievements Li Keyong had made since returning to the Central Plains were taken away by Zhu Wen. Heshuo, Hezhong, Zhaoyi... even the revolutionary base of Hedong Taiyuan Prefecture was in danger.

Li Keyong summoned all the generals to discuss countermeasures. At the meeting, Li Keyong could not hide his sorrow and told everyone that he was going to give up Taiyuan, retreat to Yunzhou, and then look for an opportunity to make a comeback.

Li Sizhao, Li Siyuan and Zhou Dewei firmly opposed it, saying, "Your Majesty, please don't say such discouraging words. As long as we are here, we swear to live and die with Taiyuan!"

Li Cunxin supported escaping. "Live and die together? I'm afraid we can only die together. Now, the vast territories of Guandong and Hebei are all occupied by Zhu Wen, who has well-trained soldiers and sufficient food, and has a million strong army under his command. We have few soldiers and a small territory, and we are trapped in an isolated city. Look at them, they are building fortresses and digging trenches outside the city, pretending to consume the city for a long time. If we hesitate any longer, we will really be unable to escape, and we will be trapped to death and perish together. As the saying goes, if you keep the green mountains, you will never worry about lack of firewood. It is better to temporarily shift our strategy to the north, plan slowly, and make a comeback!"

Li Keyong nodded frequently after listening. A wise man would not suffer a loss in front of him. Why did he have to fight to the death with Zhu Wen in Taiyuan?

Li Sizhao, Li Siyuan and others tried their best to dissuade him, "Taiyuan is our foundation, we must not act rashly!"

The two sides were arguing, and Li Keyong always tended to escape and return to the starting point of his life.

In his hesitation, Li Keyong thought of a person whose opinion would become his final decision. This was Li Keyong's wife, Mrs. Liu.

Li Keyong's wife Liu was smart and clever, had far-sighted strategies, and was knowledgeable about military affairs. She was both civil and military, and often taught Li Keyong's concubines to practice riding and shooting. During the "Shangyuanyi Incident", it was because of Mrs. Liu's outstanding performance that Li Keyong was able to escape danger and avoid being drowned. Therefore, Li Keyong respected Mrs. Liu's opinions very much, and many military and national affairs would eventually be decided by her.

Li Keyong told her that we were going to abandon Taiyuan Prefecture and retreat to Yunzhou.

When Liu heard this, her eyebrows raised and her eyes widened, "Who came up with this idea?"

"Keep the letter."

Liu cursed, "Li Cunxin, the shepherd boy from Daibei, knows nothing! Don't you often make fun of Wang Xingyu? Wang Xingyu abandoned the city and lost his power, and was at the mercy of others. You analyzed it very clearly and thoroughly. Why do you want to follow his footsteps today? Besides, you also took refuge in the Tatars in your early years, and you were almost ambushed and escaped death many times. Fortunately, the country was in trouble and you had the opportunity to return to the Central Plains. Now we have been defeated repeatedly and the morale of the army is low. How many people are willing to follow you when you propose to flee to the frontier? Not to mention that the Daibei Rongdi are greedy for profit and the situation is dangerous, do you really think you can reach the frontier safely?"

Li Keyong suddenly woke up, realized his mistake and stopped, and made up his mind to live and die with Taiyuan.

A few days later, troops from all over Hedong gathered in Taiyuan Prefecture, and the defeated soldiers who had been scattered before gradually gathered together.

Li Keyong's younger brother Li Kening had just been appointed as the governor of Xinzhou. Halfway through his journey, he heard the news that the Bian army had surrounded Taiyuan. He immediately turned his horse around and returned to Taiyuan. He said to the people around him: "Taiyuan is where I will die!" This greatly boosted the morale of the defenders.

Li Sizhao and Zhou Dewei divided their troops into groups and launched harassing attacks day and night, beheading generals and seizing flags, making the Bian army unable to cope, exhausted and miserable.

At this time, a plague broke out among the Bian army outside the city, and their combat effectiveness was sharply reduced.

The imperial court also sent a special mediator to order Zhu Wen and Li Keyong to reconcile.

Zhu Wen took advantage of the situation, did a favor, accepted the edict of reconciliation, and returned to Hezhong.

Zhu Wen's strategic goal was to seize the emperor in Fengxiang, and the siege of Taiyuan was completely out of his plan. As for Li Keyong in Hedong, Zhu Wen only needed to take a defensive stance to ensure that the forces in Hedong could not interfere with the core battlefield in Fengxiang. However, he did not expect that the self-defense counterattack by Shi Shucong and Zhu Youning had achieved amazing results, and they pushed Taiyuan to the city without noticing. If Taiyuan could be taken in one go, everyone would be happy. Once blocked, he could return to the capital and consolidate his vested interests without any regrets.

Shi Shucong was ordered to retreat. Having fought with Li Sizhao and Zhou Dewei for a long time, he was sure that they would pursue him, so he deliberately left a few war horses and military flags on the high hill to confuse the enemy.

As expected, Li Sizhao and Zhou Dewei led their troops to pursue the enemy, and they also determined that Shi Shucong had left an ambush behind Gaogang, so they did not dare to pursue him. Shi Shucong was able to retreat safely to Luzhou.

Taking advantage of the Bian army's retreat, Li Keyong of Hedong recaptured the three states of Ci, Xi and Fen.

The third siege of Taiyuan was resolved without any danger, but it was a heavy blow to the Hedong forces, which were severely damaged. For several years thereafter, Li Keyong was unable to compete with Zhu Wen for supremacy.

The psychological blow to Li Keyong was almost fatal, and even caused Li Keyong to fall into a crisis of faith. In today's words, he was beaten to the point of doubting his life.

After the war, Li Keyong convened a meeting and pointed out that it was necessary to store food, repair armor and weapons, and strengthen fortifications to deal with the threat from Bianzhou.

Li Xiji, a counsellor, objected to this, pointing out that the wealth of a country does not depend on whether its warehouses are full, and the strength of its army does not depend on its number. People are only willing to follow people with virtue. Harsh government is more ferocious than a tiger, and heavy taxes and levies will only undermine the people's hearts and shake the foundation.

Li Keyong's suggestion seemed quite reasonable, hoarding food and grass, recruiting soldiers, and building fortifications, but preparations for war must be made after recuperation. Now that the war had just been lost and all industries were waiting to be revived, it was not appropriate to prepare for war and engage in an arms race; hoarding food and grass would increase the people's taxes; recruiting troops would plunder the people's labor; building cities would require the conscription of civilian labor.

Therefore, Li Keyong's suggestion was tantamount to extortion and heavy taxation, which would increase the burden on the people and thus intensify internal conflicts.

Nothing can exist independently of the external environment. There is no panacea for the country's major policies, and no panacea for all diseases. Whether it is emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, or closing the country to the outside world, it must be judged in a specific historical context.

Therefore, Li Xiji quoted classics to refute Li Keyong's policy of "preparing horses and sharpening troops".

Later, Li Xiji gave his own opinion, saying that reform is not as good as cultivating talents, and reform is not as good as following the old rules. He also gave examples, saying that Han Jian had accumulated countless money and grain, and was the richest in the Guanxi group, but he was the first to surrender to Zhu Wen; Wang Ke also kept reforming, but eventually surrendered to Zhu Wen; Wang Chuzhi of Dingzhou had a tall city, but he also surrendered to Zhu Wen; Qin Zongquan of Caizhou had a large army, but it was also destroyed.

Whether it is a reform or a change, it will inevitably affect the interests of some people, and these people are often powerful vested interest groups, which will cause them to rebound and resist violently. From ancient times to the present, there are countless bloodshed and sacrifices behind the reform. For a regime, reform and change are equivalent to a major operation. As for Li Keyong now, his Hedong Group is already suffering from a hundred diseases and dying, and it is difficult to withstand the tossing, so Li Xiji advocates that it is better to stay still than to move, and follow the old system.

Li Xiji was not against all the reforms. He pointed out that frugality should be advocated from top to bottom, extravagance should be avoided, people should be cared for, corvée labor should be reduced, agriculture and sericulture should be encouraged, and the economy should be developed. Military officers should be used to quell disturbances, while civil officials should be used to govern the people. A strict system should be established for the allocation and withdrawal of money and grain, and the judicial system should be standardized. Indiscriminate rewards and punishments should not be allowed, and corruption and law-breaking should be eliminated.

Li Xiji was also "carrying out reforms", but he directed the reforms at the top circle of Hedong forces - the Shatuo nobles.

Li Keyong's personal guards were composed entirely of Shatuo people and other minority barbarian tribes. They were often savage and cruel, lawless, and often bullied others by taking advantage of their power. They committed murder, arson, rape, looting, and all kinds of evil, causing great suffering to the people of Hedong.

If you want to reform, you must first punish them.

In addition to the adviser Li Xiji, Li Keyong's son Li Cunxu was also very disgusted with these Shatuo nobles and advised Li Keyong to restrain them.

Li Keyong disagreed and excused these "Eight Bannermen": "They have followed me for decades. Even if they have not made any contributions, they have worked hard. Now, the treasury is empty and unable to afford the military pay. They even have to rely on selling war horses to survive. The local vassal states are hiring warriors with high salaries. If I enforce the law too strictly, they will surely scatter and pursue their own careers. Once this momentum has subsided, I will slowly rectify the military discipline."

Li Cunxu had no choice but to say things that Li Keyong liked to hear, such as good times will come after bad times, and that Zhu Wen rose to power through brute force and political tactics and had a bad reputation, but that our family has been loyal for generations, and although we are temporarily in decline, we will be able to get rid of the villain Zhu Wen sooner or later.

Li Keyong was very happy to hear this, and thought what his son said made sense, so he looked at him with even more respect.

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