History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 333 Kang Yanxiao's Rebellion 2
【Kang Yanxiao's Rebellion 2】

Kang Yanxiao's rebellion was doomed to fail from the very beginning.

First, the place where Kang Yanxiao launched the mutiny was Jianzhou, which was adjacent to Jianmen Pass in the north, and a little further north from Jianmen Pass was Lizhou where Li Jiji's main force was located. From the map, the distances from Lizhou and Jianzhou to Jianmen Pass were basically the same, but the two states were very far from Chengdu.

Kang Yanxiao certainly didn't have the ability to swallow up Li Jiji's main force in one go, even if he launched a surprise attack, so he could choose to occupy Jianmen Pass to prevent Li Jiji from entering Shu, and then slowly attack Chengdu. Kang Yanxiao just wanted to destroy the Jibaijin floating bridge between Lizhou and Jianmen Pass.

Whether it is controlling Jianmen Pass or destroying the plank road and floating bridge, it is a key step to effectively block the enemy's reinforcements and an important part of "closing the door and beating the dog". Kang Yanxiao obviously did not pay enough attention to this, or was too hasty, and he only gave an order to the officials guarding Jibojin to destroy the floating bridge on their own.

How could the officials guarding Jibojin carry out the orders of the rebel leader Kang Yanxiao? So they immediately reported the situation to Li Jiji.

Li Jiji was greatly shocked and immediately sent his trusted confidant Liang Hanyong to lead troops to Jibaijin to protect the Jibaijin floating bridge. He also wrote a letter to Kang Yanxiao, consoling him and urging him to stop. That night, he ordered Ren Yuan to take command, Liang Hanyong to be his deputy, and Li Yan'an to be the eunuch supervisor, to lead 7,000 cavalry to chase south and easily control Jianmen Pass.

At this time, Kang Yanxiao had actually led his troops to counterattack Chengdu. Kang Yanxiao's actions were really puzzling. As a general who had fought on the battlefield for most of his life, he actually made such a low-level military mistake!
As soon as the rebellion began, Kang Yanxiao was completely passive.

Politically, we are at a loss as to what to do.

Kang Yanxiao immediately proclaimed himself the Jiedushi of Xichuan and the Zhizhishi of Sanchuan, and forged an imperial edict to replace Meng Zhixiang, openly admitting that he was illegally rebelling. He also pushed the soldiers from Hezhong to the forefront. His original intention was to use the "death of Zhu Youqian" to gain sympathy. However, this move was tantamount to putting the hat of rebellion on the soldiers from Hezhong.

At the beginning of the rebellion, he monopolized the profits of the rebellion and put the blame on his supporters.

Militarily, we are in a dilemma.

If they advance, they are far away from Chengdu, which also has garrisons and garrisons. The city is tall and easy to defend but difficult to attack. If they retreat, the retreat route is already in the hands of the enemy. Kang Yanxiao is like a turtle in a jar, a dog behind closed doors.

It was a strategic mistake and a tactical error. If Kang Yanxiao had decisively concentrated his elite forces to attack Chengdu and given it a try, there might have been a glimmer of hope, but he was stupid and naive and lost the last chance to struggle.

Li Cunxu sent eunuch Cui Yanchen to Chengdu, but unexpectedly met Kang Yanxiao on the way. Cui Yanchen then deceived Kang Yanxiao, claiming that he was summoned back to Beijing by the imperial decree, and that Kang Yanxiao could peacefully take over Xichuan if he just waited for a few days. If he attacked at this time, it would be counterproductive.

Cui Yanchen's lies were full of loopholes and could not stand up to any scrutiny, but Kang Yanxiao was so bewildered that he actually believed them. He really kept his troops in place and waited obediently for Meng Zhixiang to obey the "edict" and leave and hand over Xichuan.

After Cui Yanchen arrived in Chengdu, he immediately helped Meng Zhixiang to strengthen the vigilance, widen the trenches, strengthen the city walls, and build defensive fortifications such as stakes. He also sent his general Li Yanhou to lead 2,000 people to attack Kang Yanxiao, and attack from the north and south with the troops of Ren Yuan and Dong Zhang.

Li Yanhou gathered two thousand people and announced: "Those who are determined to achieve success, seek fame, and pursue wealth and glory should stand on the east side; those who are old and weak and afraid of sacrifice should stand on the west side." In the end, seven hundred people stood on the east side, so Li Yanhou attacked with only these seven hundred people.

Soldiers are not as valuable as their numbers. Sheep are still sheep no matter how many there are, and lions are still lions no matter how few there are. The anti-rebellion troops, led by Ren Yuan, chased from north to south, while the Chengdu defenders fought back from south to north, blocking Kang Yanxiao's rebels from both ends, and the two sides finally met in Hanzhou.

Zhang Li, Guo Chongtao's former secretary and the only aide who dared to go to the memorial service after Guo Chongtao's death, suggested that Ren Yuan adopt a strategy of setting up an ambush and luring the enemy deep into the territory. So Ren Yuan ordered Dong Zhang to lead the cowardly soldiers of Dongchuan (formerly surrendered soldiers of Former Shu) as the vanguard to serve as bait, while he personally led the main elite troops to ambush in the rear.

Kang Yanxiao had never taken Ren Yuan seriously, thinking that he was just a pedantic scholar who knew nothing about military affairs. Seeing that his so-called "suppression troops" were all old, weak and sick and vulnerable, he readily took the bait and ordered the entire army to pursue and plunge into the ambush circle set up by Ren Yuan.

At the command, ambushes sprang up everywhere. Kang Yanxiao was badly defeated, thousands of his men were killed, and his main force was almost exhausted. He fled back to Hanzhou City in a panic, closed the city and held on, never daring to fight again.

The so-called "Hanzhou City" was just a wooden fence surrounded by branches, with no walls or trenches at all. Ren Yuan did not give Kang Yanxiao any chance. He ordered the burning of the wooden fence and besieged Kang Yanxiao's rebels.

Like a trapped beast, Kang Yanxiao led the remaining troops to fight back, but was defeated again. He escaped from the battlefield with only a dozen cavalrymen and rushed towards Mianzhu, but was caught up halfway and captured alive.

Meng Zhixiang, the governor of Xichuan, went to Hanzhou in person to reward the three armies, and held a celebratory banquet with Ren Yuan and Dong Zhang. He ordered the prisoner car carrying Kang Yanxiao to be brought to the banquet. After all, they were old comrades and old friends, and how to deal with them was the emperor's business. There was still friendship among the brothers to chat and drink.

Meng Zhixiang personally poured a large glass of wine for Kang Yanxiao, and respectfully brought it to him. He said with great regret, "You are already in a high position. You contributed to the destruction of Liang and recently pacified Shu. You should have no worries about not having wealth and glory. Why do you have to get into this prison car?"

Kang Yanxiao told the truth, saying: "Guo Chongtao ranks first among all the founding heroes who assisted the emperor. He pacified Bashu without shedding a drop of blood, which can be regarded as an eternal achievement! However, he was exterminated without any crime. How can a person like me be at ease? I didn't want to rebel, but I didn't dare to go back to the central government."

Everyone understands the truth and can only sigh.

Ren Yuan escorted Kang Yanxiao to join forces with Li Jiji, who then accelerated his return to the north. When they reached Fengxiang, the court sent the eunuch Xiang Yansi to announce the order to execute Kang Yanxiao on the spot.

Kang Yanxiao's capable subordinates Li Zhao and Hou Hongshi were captured alive by Meng Zhixiang, who pardoned them all and promoted them to generals.

At that time, riots were still continuing in various parts of Shu. Meng Zhixiang selected honest and capable officials to govern prefectures and counties, abolished excessive taxes, recruited exiles, implemented very lenient policies, and worked hard to restore the local economy. At the same time, he also sent troops to suppress rebellions in the country, using both kindness and force.

Please remember this Meng Zhixiang, he will re-establish his rule over Shu and become emperor and establish a country in the near future.

Kang Yanxiao's rebellion in Shu was quickly put down, but another rebellion that broke out almost at the same time had already spread like wildfire.

(End of this chapter)