History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 364: Worried and Difficult 3 (Thanks for the monthly ticket, more chapters)
5. Bingzhou Jingnan Army
Mao Zhang, the governor of Jingnan Army in Bingzhou, was originally a low-ranking military officer in Cangzhou. During the Later Liang Dynasty, he was a subordinate of Dai Siyuan, the governor of Henghai Army in Cangzhou.

Li Cunxu took over Weizhou. Dai Siyuan knew that Cangzhou was difficult to defeat, so he abandoned the city and fled. Before leaving, Mao Zhang took the initiative to ask to stay in Cangzhou, vowing that he would stay in the city. Dai Siyuan was very moved and said, "It's time for the organization to test you!" After Dai Siyuan fled, Mao Zhang immediately surrendered the city to Li Cunxu and was awarded the title of Beizhou Governor for his contribution to the surrender of the city. Later, he was transferred to Liaozhou Governor.

Mao Zhang was a cruel and brutal man, but he was also very courageous and a wise and brave bastard. During the confrontation between Liang and Jin at Jiahe, Mao Zhang mercilessly wielded the butcher knife against his former comrades, and repeatedly made military achievements for Li Cunxu. After the Liang Dynasty was destroyed, he was awarded the title of Jiedushi of Huazhou Zhenguo Army. During the attack on Shu, he was ordered to follow the army southward, and after Shu was pacified, he moved to Jingnan Army in Bingzhou.

Li Jiji was forced to commit suicide on his way back from the capital while escorting the spoils of war from Former Shu. The soldiers fled, and most of the wealth and beautiful concubines that came with the army were plundered by Mao Zhang during the chaos.

Mao Zhang was stationed in Bingzhou, the northwest border of the empire. He thought that the emperor was far away and that he had suddenly become rich after receiving the spoils of war from the Former Shu. He then began to think of being disloyal. Mao Zhang used the money to recruit soldiers, repair fortifications, store food and grass, make weapons and armor, and train soldiers...

When Li Siyuan heard about this, he sent Li Chengyue to serve as the deputy governor of Jingnan Army in Bingzhou to monitor Mao Zhang. Then, while Mao Zhang had not yet become a powerful figure, he moved him to another post and appointed him as the governor of Zhaoyi Army in Luzhou.

Mao Zhang wanted to disobey the imperial order at that time, but Li Chengyue and Mao Zhang's staff persuaded him together, and finally Mao Zhang reluctantly accepted the appointment and went to govern Luzhou.

Among the spoils that Mao Zhang plundered when Li Jiji died were Wang Zongyan's "dragon robe" and other imperial items, imperial guards, etc. Mao Zhang actually wore Wang Zongyan's "dragon robe", hugged Wang Zongyan's concubines, and ordered the former Shu dancers to perform the repertoire they had performed for Wang Zongyan, during which he drank heavily to pay tribute to the fallen king Wang Zongyan.

When the news reached Luoyang, Li Siyuan was furious, and immediately used the old trick of promoting him in name only and demoting him in reality, recruiting him as the general of the Jinwu Guard and keeping him under control in the capital.

Later, Mao Zhang became a victim of a political struggle in Shu, but that is another story.

6. Mutiny of the Lutai Army
Lutai Army was located in the north of Weizhou and the south of Youzhou, and was divided into two camps, east and west, along the Yongji Canal. It was an important strategic depth for defending against the Khitan in the north. Fang Zhiwen, a meritorious official of the Conglong Army, was ordered to station there to prevent the Khitan from invading from the south.

This incident starts with Wu Zhen, who succeeded Fang Zhiwen:

Wu Zhen became an orphan at a young age. He joined the army at the age of 15 and served under Wang Rong of Chengde Army in Zhenzhou. He was gradually promoted to a junior general and was under the command of the general Fu Xi.

Zhang Wenli murdered Wang Rong and took over Zhenzhou to rebel. Wu Zhen followed Fu Xi to fight against him. Wu Zhen's family of more than ten people were in Zhenzhou and were taken hostage by Zhang Wenli, who used this to incite Wu Zhen to rebel.

Wu Zhen remained unmoved. Zhang Wenli was so furious that he cut off the wrists and noses of Wu Zhen's mother, wife, children and more than a dozen other people. The most cruel thing was that he did not cut them off completely. The wrists, noses, etc. were not completely separated from the bodies. Instead, he cut them until only a little flesh was left connected to the bodies. Then they were sent to Fu Xi's camp on the front line for Wu Zhen to see.

"The onlookers could not bear to look at it." After seeing this, Wu Zhen "stopped crying" and then turned his grief and anger into strength. He led the troops and braved the arrows and stones to become the vanguard of the attack on Zhang Wenli. Zhang Wenli wanted to undermine the fighting spirit of Wu Zhen and other soldiers, but unexpectedly, the opposite happened. The army that suppressed the rebellion shared the same hatred of the enemy, and everyone fought bravely and took the lead to capture Zhenzhou in one fell swoop. Wu Zhen was promoted to governor for his meritorious service and served as governor of Shenzhou and Zhaozhou. According to records, Wu Zhen was simple and kind, loved reading, especially the Spring and Autumn Annals, could write poems, was proficient in calligraphy, was honest in his official duties, loved the people like his own children, and had a very good reputation. Later, he also served as the transportation director of the Northern Army, responsible for transporting food and supplies to Youzhou, the front line against the Khitan.

At that time, the Khitans besieged Youzhou and used the strategy of tiring the enemy. They chose to surround Youzhou City without attacking it, and attacked the logistics supply team leading to Youzhou, causing Youzhou City to lack food and money, striving to achieve victory without fighting. Wu Zhen was ordered to carry out a dangerous and arduous "raid war" to tear open the enemy's defense line and deliver strategic materials to Youzhou.

Wu Zhen lived up to expectations and successfully transported supplies to Youzhou several times, successfully crushing the conspiracy of the Khitan invaders, achieving the final victory in the war of attrition, and forcing the Khitans to return empty-handed.

In recognition of Wu Zhen's achievements, Li Siyuan promoted him to the position of deputy commander-in-chief of the Hebei Front Army (Deputy Recruiting Officer of Hebei Province), and made him the Jiedushi of Xuanzhou Ningguo Army (empty title, Xuanzhou Ningguo Army was under the control of Huainan). The previous deputy commander-in-chief of the Hebei Front Army was Fang Zhiwen, and Li Siyuan ordered Fang Zhiwen to return to the town (Jiedushi of Yanzhou Taining Army).

Fang Zhiwen was very unhappy and felt that he was treated unfairly. After all, he had made great contributions to the cause. When Li Siyuan raised his army in Weizhou, Fang Zhiwen and Huo Yanwei were the first vassal states to respond.

In fact, Li Siyuan had already rewarded Fang Zhiwen for his service by promoting him from the governor of Beizhou to the military governor of Taining Army in Yanzhou. However, he was still very dissatisfied with the appointment of "deputy commander-in-chief" to replace him. He was going to make trouble.

Li Siyuan's next move was somewhat confusing: he transferred 3,500 Weizhou Ya troops to garrison Lutai Army.

Previously, in order to weaken the rebel forces in Weizhou, Li Siyuan had transferred the core members of the rebels, including Huangfu Hui, Zhao Jin, and Zhao Zaili, from Weizhou, and then sent the prince Li Congrong to Weizhou, and sent General Fan Yanguang to escort him. Another task of Fan Yanguang was to be responsible for the mobilization and rotation of the Weizhou army, which was actually a planned and step-by-step disintegration of the Weizhou rebels.

The core of this group of Weizhou rebels was the long-renowned Weizhou Ya Army, which was different from the Ya Army. The earliest Weizhou Ya Army was founded by Tian Chengsi, the first governor of Weizhou. After that, they were arrogant for a hundred years, deposing and appointing governors was like child's play, and many governors died under their hands. It was not until the Luo Shaowei period that Zhu Wen intervened and completely eradicated the Weizhou Ya Army.

Later, when Yang Shihou was in charge of Wei Bo, he carefully selected brave and sturdy soldiers from various armies to form the "Silver Spear and Loyalty Army", which became the new generation of Wei Bo Ya Army. Although this unit had no blood relationship with the Wei Bo Ya Army before Luo Shaowei, it inherited the glorious tradition of the Wei Bo Ya Army's arrogance and difficulty to control.

The reason why Li Cunxu was able to destroy the Later Liang was because he obtained Wei Bo, and the reason why he was able to obtain Wei Bo was because of the rebellion led by this "Silver Spear Loyal Army"; and the reason why Li Siyuan was able to ascend the throne and become emperor was also because of the rebellion of this army (Huangfu Hui and Zhao Zaili).

Therefore, the new generation of Wei Bo Ya Army created by Yang Shihou is much more powerful than the old Wei Bo Ya Army before Luo Shaowei. The influence of the old Ya Army is limited to the internal Wei Bo Army and the replacement of the Jiedushi, while the new generation of Ya Army directly affects the safety of the empire and the replacement of the emperor.

Thanks to the book friend "Xie Yusheng" for the generous 7 monthly tickets and reward points. I will add another chapter today to show my gratitude!

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