History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 435: The Alliance between the Two Rivers
[Alliance between the Two Sichuan Provinces]

"My Lord, why are you so short-sighted?"

Following the sound, it turned out to be Zhao Jiliang, who was kept in Xichuan after Meng Zhixiang's repeated persuasion.

"What advice do you have, sir?" Zhao Jiliang was Meng Zhixiang's number one strategist, and Meng Zhixiang obeyed his orders.

Zhao Jiliang pointed out to him that the two Sichuans were closely connected, and the most feared thing was that the imperial court would sow discord between the two Sichuans, causing them to fight each other and inflict internal friction. Now, the imperial court's strategy had gone wrong, and Dongchuan was willing to join forces to fight against the central government. This was Xichuan's chance. If Dongchuan lost, Xichuan would die!

In fact, this principle was demonstrated not long ago, that is, Wang Jian of Xichuan and Gu Yanhui of Dongchuan. Wang Jian wanted to annex Dongchuan, so whenever external forces (Li Maozhen, Yang Fugong) invaded Dongchuan, Wang Jian would support Dongchuan without hesitation, and after driving away the external forces, he would enjoy Dongchuan alone.

Since Meng Zhixiang wanted to establish his own regime in Shu, he had to unify the two Sichuans. He should learn from Wang Jian's strategic thinking.

Under Zhao Jiliang's persuasion, Meng Zhixiang agreed to the request for an alliance between the two Sichuan provinces and a political marriage.

Dong Zhang added seven fortresses at Jianmen Pass and made active deployments and preparations.

Meng Zhixiang sent Zhao Jiliang to visit Dongchuan as Meng Zhixiang's plenipotentiary representative to discuss strategies with Dong Zhang to repel the enemy. When Zhao Jiliang returned to Chengdu, Meng Zhixiang could not wait to ask him about his gains from the trip.

Zhao Jiliang's face was calm. "I have bad news and good news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"It's bitter before it's sweet. Let me tell you the bad news first."

"Dong Zhang is a waste. He is greedy and cruel, ambitious, and lacks strategy. The so-called alliance between the two Sichuan provinces is neither solid nor reliable. Not only will he lose the battle and drag down Xichuan, but he will also turn against us and stab us in the back. My lord, be on guard at all times!"

"What about the good news?"

"Dong Zhang is a waste. Dongchuan is yours too."

Meng Zhixiang looked at Zhao Jiliang, Zhao Jiliang looked at Meng Zhixiang, and after a moment, the two laughed heartily. It seemed that Meng Zhixiang really wanted to copy Wang Jian.

Meng Zhixiang and Dong Zhang jointly submitted a memorial, saying that the court had divided Lang and Guo states, set up military towns, and strengthened the military deployment in Mian and Sui states, which had caused serious panic among the military and civilians in the two Sichuan provinces. They requested the court to withdraw the recently dispatched military governors and provincial governors, withdraw the garrisons, and eliminate misunderstandings.

This is called taking the initiative and shifting the blame for the upcoming war. It should be the work of Zhao Jiliang.

Of course Li Siyuan refused to obey, but issued an edict to appease him, "The court really has no other intentions, don't think too much." At the same time, he appointed Meng Zhixiang as the Minister of the Central Secretariat to show his trust.

The movement of the army is the manifestation of the true intention. The war between the two Sichuan provinces is inevitable.

Li Renhan and Zhang Ye, the commanders-in-chief of Xichuan, held a banquet and invited Meng Zhixiang to discuss war deployment. However, a nun came to report that there was a rumor that the two generals were holding a Hongmen Banquet to capture Meng Zhixiang.

After investigation, it was found that the two middle-level military officers, Du Yanchang and Wang Xingben, spread the rumors.

Meng Zhixiang beheaded the two men, and then went to Li Renhan's house alone for a banquet without any guards, armor or weapons.

Li Renhan was so moved that he burst into tears, knelt down and kowtowed, saying that since the lord trusts him so much, I can only repay him with my death (an old soldier can only repay the kindness by dying)!

The Xichuan generals were also deeply moved by this, and their morale was unprecedentedly high. The sharp sword hanging over Dong Zhang's head - Wu Qianyu, the governor of Mianzhou, made Dong Zhang sleepless and uneasy. After conspiring with Meng Zhixiang to jointly rebel, Dong Zhang listed Wu Qianyu, who was close at hand, as the first target of attack.

After some thought, Dong Zhang decided to win by wisdom.

Dong Zhang took the initiative to submit a petition, recommending Wu Qianyu as the military commander of Dongchuan, and invited him to come to Zizhou to guide the work. The court was just looking for it, and since Dong Zhang took the initiative to ask for a spy to be placed by his side, then let him do it.

Wu Qianyu happily came to Zizhou and fell into Dong Zhang's trap, where he was imprisoned.

Interestingly, the day Dong Zhang submitted the petition was April 4st.

With a little trick, Dong Zhang removed the time bomb of the imperial court. He believed that the time was ripe, so he assembled his troops, held a grand military parade and mobilized the entire nation for war.

Dong Zhang ordered his troops to shave their heads and tattoo their faces to show their determination to rebel. He also built a new Yongding Pass to the north of Jianmen Pass and set up a beacon tower to prepare for war.

Dong Zhang was indeed going to rebel, what a bitter irony, because Li Siyuan's early policy towards Sichuan was to "rely on the East and destroy the West", supporting Dong Zhang and plotting against Meng Zhixiang.

Xichuan governs 13 states, almost three times as many as Dongchuan (5), and its overall strength far exceeds that of Dongchuan. Uniting the weak to eliminate the strong is the only correct way to break the tripartite situation. Because he is weak, he has no say in the division of spoils and is more likely to be "robbed by the thieves".

If Li Siyuan allied with Xichuan to destroy Dongchuan, the end result would be that the imperial court would take advantage of Xichuan's misfortune, and Xichuan would take all the benefits of the war.

Therefore, Li Siyuan’s strategy of “relying on the East and destroying the West” was the only correct policy for the two Sichuan provinces.

However, under An Zhonghui's tricky operation, Dong Zhang overtook Meng Zhixiang on the road to rebellion. The best strategy is to attack the enemy's strategy, but the court had already lost in the "strategy" before the war broke out.

Destroying the imperial court's strategy for the two rivers also became one of the main reasons for Ding'an Zhonghui's death sentence in the future.

At this time, the shrewd Meng Zhixiang wanted to seize the last opportunity to blackmail Li Siyuan again.

Meng Zhixiang submitted a memorial to the court, avoiding the sensitive topic of the current situation in Sichuan and requesting the court to transfer the 13 salt fields in Yun'an to Xichuan, and use the salt profits to subsidize the costs of transporting money and grain to Kuizhou.

Dong Zhang yelled loudly, but Meng Zhixiang pretended to be obedient.

The imperial court's grand strategy was overturned and the rhythm was disrupted. Li Siyuan agreed to Meng Zhixiang's request, hoping to win over Meng Zhixiang and check Dong Zhang. In this way, the imperial court's policy towards Sichuan and Sichuan took a 180-degree turn.

Li Siyuan continued to increase his military investment in Langzhou and Suizhou. Dong Zhang sent troops to intercept and plunder the central task force as a demonstration to the court, demanding that the central government stop its military infiltration in the Liangchuan area.

The situation in Sichuan and Sichuan further deteriorated, and merchants and travelers from the surrounding areas no longer dared to enter the Bashu region.

Dong Zhang's son Dong Guangye was working in Luoyang as a palace garden envoy, managing the imperial garden. Dong Zhang wrote to him, saying that the central government had divided my land, set up a military town, and sent heavy troops to garrison it. This was to kill me! You should take this letter to An Zhonghui now and warn him for me that if the central government dared to send any more troops, I would rebel! This letter is a farewell letter to you.

Dong Guangye quickly followed his father's instructions and reported the matter to the central government.

A barking dog never bites. Often, baring one's teeth and claws, and showing off one's power, just shows one's inner fear and weakness. One just wants to use force to intimidate the other party, force them to make concessions, sit back at the negotiation table, and "use war to promote peace."

Dong Zhang's series of high-profile "rebellion" actions were all aimed at threatening and intimidating Li Siyuan. Aren't you, Li Siyuan, weak? Aren't you appeasing and compromising? Aren't you making concessions to the tiny Jingnan Gao Jichang? Why can't you accommodate me, Dong Zhang?
Isn’t it said that crying children get candy?
(End of this chapter)