History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 229: Post-Luzhou Era

【A word becomes a prophecy】

The generals who returned from the defeat in Luzhou came to the palace gate to plead guilty. Zhu Wen issued an edict: pardon all of them! In addition, he gave a generous reward to Niu Cunjie who saved Zezhou.

A few days later, Zhu Wen held a family banquet and drank with his family to relieve his depression.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Zhu Youning's wife suddenly burst into tears and complained to Zhu Wen: "Your Majesty is the emperor, and the whole family is blessed. It's a pity that my husband died on the battlefield. And the enemy who killed him is also enjoying your grace and wealth. Every time I think of this, I feel extremely heartbroken!"

Everyone at the table put down their cups and chopsticks and looked at Zhu Wen. It was quiet, and only the sound of Youning's wife crying could be heard.

Zhu Wen was like a statue, staring at the wine glass in front of him, "Youning..." Zhu Wen's lips trembled, and a sad expression appeared on his face.

Sadness turned into guilt and self-blame, "Second brother..." Zhu Wen's eyes welled up with tears, flickering and refusing to fall.

Suddenly, sadness and guilt turned into anger in an instant. With a "bang", Zhu Wen angrily threw the wine glass on the table, his face full of anger, and squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth, "I almost forgot about this thief!"

Afterwards, Zhu Wen ordered the execution of Wang Shifan’s entire family!

The envoy was ordered to rush to Luoyang, dig a deep pit next to Wang Shifan's house, and then read Zhu Wen's edict to Wang Shifan:

"The Emperor, by order of Heaven, declares: I will kill your entire family. I decree this."

After receiving the imperial edict, Wang Shifan made a request to have a last dinner with his family, and the messenger agreed.

So, Teacher Wang arranged a big banquet and ate this meal with his family. The executioner stood by, holding a big knife with a ghost head in his arms. Who could eat? The whole family sat around the table, crying, but Teacher Wang was the only one who talked and laughed freely, slurping wine and slurping food.

Afterwards, Teacher Wang made one last request, saying that everyone must die, and I am a criminal, but I don't want to break etiquette and let the bodies be piled up in a disorderly manner. I ask that I be punished in order of age, and I would also like to trouble you to help arrange our remains. A family must be neat and tidy.

The messenger and the executioner agreed with tears in their eyes.

The next scene was extremely heartbreaking. According to the order of seniority, starting with the children, they walked to the edge of the pit one by one, and the executioner beheaded them while crying... On that day, more than 35 members of Wang Shifan's family were killed. Wang Shifan was only years old at the time.

When Huang Chao invaded Chang'an, Wang Jingwu, a general of the Pinglu Army of Qingzhou, launched a mutiny, drove out the Jiedushi An Shiru, and proclaimed himself as the regent. The then commander-in-chief of the "mowing the grass and cracking down on Huang Chao" campaign and prime minister Wang Duo condoned the mutiny in order to unite all the forces that could be united. He officially appointed Wang Jingwu as the Jiedushi of the Pinglu Army of Qingzhou and asked him to raise an army to defend the king.

After Wang Jingwu died, his son Wang Shifan succeeded him. After Zhu Wen defeated the two Zhus in Yan and Yun, under the military threat of the Bian army, Wang Shifan chose to submit to the Bianzhou forces, and then secretly colluded with Yang Xingmi of Huainan to launch a rebellion. Zhu Youning died in that war. Later, under military pressure, Wang Shifan surrendered to Zhu Wen again.

When Zhu Wen's great adviser Li Zhen persuaded Wang Shifan to return to the court, Wang Shifan did not dare to come because of Zhu Youning's death. Li Zhen successfully persuaded him by using the story of Zhang Xiu's surrender to Cao Cao in the late Han Dynasty. Wang Shifan did not know that his end would also be a perfect tribute to Zhang Xiu.

When Wang Shifan was stationed in Qingzhou, his uncle killed someone while drunk. The victim's family filed a lawsuit against him. Wang Shifan offered a large sum of money to compensate the victim's family, but the victim's family refused civil compensation and wanted only the murderer's life. Wang Shifan said to those around him, "I cannot sacrifice public interests for personal interests and cannot take the lead in breaking the law." So he executed his uncle.

His mother was so angry that she almost cut off the mother-son relationship with him and never saw Wang Shifan again. Wang Shifan would kowtow and pay respects to his mother at her bedroom door every day, three or four times a day, and "was not allowed to see her for three years."

His father's coup to seize power and his surrender and rebellion were all political games, and we cannot deny Wang Shifan's character because of this. However, his practice of putting justice above relatives and executing his own uncle according to law won the hearts of the people. When he was killed by Zhu Wen and his entire family, the people were all saddened.

【Post-Luzhou Era】

The Battle of Luzhou had a very bad impact on Later Liang. It shattered the myth of Zhu Wen's invincibility, seriously damaged the dignity of Later Liang when it was first established, and shook the foundation of Later Liang's rule.

Li Maozhen, Wang Jian and others jointly invaded the western territory of the Later Liang; Ma Yin of Tanzhou, who was a vassal of the Later Liang, also openly attacked the Qinghai Army of Guangzhou, which was also a vassal of the Later Liang, and occupied the six states under its jurisdiction, greatly expanding its power and laying the foundation for the future "Southern Chu Kingdom" (one of the Ten Kingdoms); the attitude of the Heshuo region towards the Later Liang also began to be half-hearted, and reconsidered whether to join the Hedong forces...

After thirty years of hard work, Zhu Wen was back to the days before liberation overnight. His hard work of more than a decade was about to be wiped out. He would not accept this.

We can regard this brief period as the "post-Luzhou era", which preceded the Battle of Jiazhai and preceded the Battle of Baixiang.

Pay attention to the key points: the main content of this period is Zhu Wen's efforts to maintain the early victories of the Later Liang Empire, and Li Cunxu led the Hedong Group to develop rapidly. This is also a golden key to unlock a small period of history that is chaotic on the surface but clear in logic. Li Maozhen and Wang Jian responded to Li Cunxu's call and sent troops to attack the Later Liang Da'an Prefecture (i.e. Chang'an, renamed after the establishment of the Later Liang). Zhu Wen sent Liu Zhijun to resist.

Liu Zhijun won the first battle and defeated the coalition forces of Hedong, Fengxiang and Former Shu.

Afterwards, Zhu Wen mobilized troops within the country and planned to attack Luzhou for the second time. Unexpectedly, the Hedong Army launched an attack first and attacked Jinzhou, which belonged to the Later Liang Dynasty. At the same time, Li Maozhen sent troops to respond and attack Shangpingguan (northwest of Jinzhou).

Zhu Wen had to change his plan and led his troops to reinforce. Although the Hedong and Fengxiang coalition forces were repelled again, Zhu Wen's plan to attack Luzhou was shelved.

After weighing the pros and cons, Zhu Wen made a major decision: to move the capital from Bianzhou to Luoyang. The emperor guarded the national gate, and the capital was closer to the battlefields of Hedong and Guanxi, making it easier to issue military orders. This marked the westward shift of the strategic focus of the Later Liang Dynasty.

Qian Liu of Hangzhou sent an envoy to present to Zhu Wen a plan for a joint campaign to encircle and suppress Yang Wei in Huainan.

Zhu Wen was overjoyed, because he saw an opportunity to eliminate the "Huaiyi" and also saw a talent he had been dreaming of. It turned out that the envoy sent by Qian Liu was Wang Maozhang, the former Huainan general who had just defected to Qian Liu not long ago.

When conquering Qingzhou's Wang Shifan, Wang Maozhang defeated the enemy with a smaller force and repeatedly dealt heavy blows to Zhu Wen, using the same tactics that Zhu Wen used against Qin Zongquan in his early years. Although Zhu Wen suffered a series of defeats, he expressed his respect and admiration for the enemy general Wang Maozhang, saying that if he could get this man, he would have no worries about not being able to rule the world.

Now, Wang Maozhang was standing in front of him.

In fact, Wang Maozhang was able to make this trip because Zhu Wen specifically nominated him. When the Later Liang Dynasty was established, Zhu Wen appointed Qian Liu as the King of Wuyue and specifically requested Wang Maozhang to come to Beijing to take up the post. It was just unexpected that Qian Liu could really bear the pain and let go.

Zhu Wen treated him with great respect and honor, and promised him: "When I have conquered the northern barbarians, I will let you lead the army southward to conquer Jianghuai!"

From then on, Wang Maozhang became a general of Later Liang and eventually died on the land of Later Liang.

Zhu Wen accepted Qian Liu's plan and sent his confidant Kou Yanqing to lead the army across the Huai River to fight.

Ironically, in the face of Qian Liu and Zhu Wen's north-south attack, Huainan not only did not collapse, but fought more bravely. In the north, it defeated Kou Yanqing of the Later Liang Dynasty, causing the Later Liang army to return empty-handed. Although it was defeated by Qian Liu in the south, it did not suffer any substantial losses, and even surrounded Suzhou, which was under Qian Liu's control, and was generally on the offensive. More importantly, Huainan was able to free up its hands to destroy the brothers Wei Quanfeng and Wei Zaichang, and annex the five states of Jiangxi...

This was not very harmful to Zhu Wen and Qian Liu, but it was extremely insulting.

Zhu Wen was humiliated by Hedong in the north and suffered a setback at the hands of Huainan in the south. Fortunately, he was comforted in the west. However, this comfort later turned into something even more disgusting:

Hu Jingzhang, the governor of Yanzhou (now Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province), the vanguard of the Guanxi Group in the fight against Liang, suddenly died. Li Jihui, the governor of Bingzhou Jingnan, sent his general Liu Wanzi to garrison Yanzhou.

Liu Wanzi was a villain who was successful. After he arrived at the town, he was violent and cruel, and the army and the people were alienated. Liu Wanzi secretly contacted the Later Liang Dynasty, intending to surrender the city in exchange for wealth and glory. The plan was exposed, and Li Jihui instigated the general Li Yanshi to launch a mutiny and kill Liu Wanzi. Yanzhou was in chaos, and the cavalry generals Gao Wanxing and Gao Wanjin led thousands of their troops to flee and surrender to the Later Liang general Liu Zhijun.

Zhaizhou and Danzhou under the rule of Li Maozhen also took the initiative to surrender their cities to the Later Liang.

Zhu Wen finally found comfort in the west, so he ordered Liu Zhijun to attack Yanzhou. Yanzhou Li Yanshi resisted for less than five days and surrendered.

While attacking Yanzhou, Liu Zhijun divided his troops to attack Fangzhou. Li Yanyu, the governor of Fangzhou, and Li Yanbo, the governor of Baoda Army of Fuzhou, abandoned the city and fled; the garrison commander of Fuzhou surrendered the city.

On the Guanxi battlefield, the Later Liang army fought with ease and pleasure. The Later Liang army did not fight, but marched in an armed parade. Wherever the army went, the enemy was defeated.

Zhu Wen swept away the depression of the "Battle of Luzhou" and immediately issued another order: ordering Liu Zhijun to continue advancing westward and take advantage of the victory to capture Bingzhou.

Bingzhou was the headquarters of the Jingnan Army and one of the "Three Giants of Guanxi". Taking Bingzhou had extremely far-reaching political significance.

At this critical moment, a shocking change occurred in Houliang, and then a bolt from the blue reached Zhu Wen's ears -

Liu Zhijun rebelled.

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(End of this chapter)