History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 57 Meng Kai's Evil Plan

[Meng Kai's evil plan]

Meng Kai personally went to the front line and brought the leader's deepest condolences, "Comrades, you have worked hard!" He also brought the leader's highest instructions: stop the army and reorganize to preserve strength.

Zhu Wen expressed his own opinions and pointed out the fatal flaws of the "Anti-Pornography Alliance". He suggested that the Cao army should take advantage of the fact that the enemy has not completed its strategic assembly, pursue the victory, completely smash their alliance, create more brilliant results, and thus win the support of the weak-willed vassal states.

Meng Kai was displeased and lectured him in a leadership tone, "Stick your feet out of the bed - how high do you rank? Become a sworn brother to someone - who do you think you are? In which year did you join the revolution? How many years have you fought? Do you understand Mao?"

The situation faced by Huang Chao's group was indeed not very good. It was surrounded by powerful enemies and was in danger. Take the Fuyan and Xiasui coalition forces that had just been defeated. They retreated only because they could not get external aid. Their strength had not suffered any substantial loss and they could come back at any time. In this case, greed for merit and reckless advance were taboos for military strategists.

Huang Chao and his inner circle, who lived in Chang'an, held this view, so they advocated stopping while they were ahead and using military advantages to cash in on political gains.

Zhu Wen insisted on his point of view, saying that the battlefield situation is ever-changing, how can there be no fixed reason? You are in the rear and do not know the real-time dynamics of the front line. It is precisely because the enemy is surrounded and there is a lack of unified command that we should strike them hard when they have completed their assembly, dampen their spirit, shake their will, and not give them a chance to breathe.

The two of them were arguing, and Meng Kai was furious, "Who is the leader between us?"

Under such pressure, Zhu Wen could only shut up and listen to his leader's lecture.

"Keep your men in check. If there is any mistake, I will punish you according to military law and chop off your head. You are the only one who disobeys military orders!"

After scolding Zhu Wen and driving him away, Meng Kai was still angry.

But what made Meng Kai even more angry was yet to come.

After Zhu Wen returned to the camp, he assembled his troops, disobeyed Meng Kai's orders, and attacked Fuping on his own initiative.

As Zhu Wen expected, the Fuyan and Xiasui coalition forces that retreated to Fuping were not interested in fighting, and when they saw Zhu Wen chasing them, they retreated back to their own town in one breath. Zhu Wen captured Fuping again.

When the news of victory came, Meng Kai was so angry that he lost all sense of propriety and scolded Zhu Wen at the celebration banquet, saying that he was just a hired servant who had chewed grass roots, even worse than a tenant farmer, and that he followed his mother to remarry, lived under someone else's roof, and worked like a slave, and that he had no background, no education, no respect for elders, and contradicted his superiors, and he was self-righteous and sent troops without authorization...

Meng Kai always looked down on Zhu Wen. This time, he was first contradicted by Zhu Wen and then slapped in the face by his own strength. As a senior leader, Meng Kai was really embarrassed, and his long-term conflict with Zhu Wen became public.

After returning to Chang'an, Meng Kai reported Zhu Wen to Huang Chao and severely implicated him, saying that he disobeyed orders and should be executed according to the law!
Huang Chao was in a dilemma. Now was the time to need more people. If Zhu Wen won a series of battles and killed him, wouldn't that discourage the generals?
"Precisely because he is a fierce general, that's why..." Meng Kai pondered, "He commands a large army and is experienced in battles. Most importantly, he doesn't obey orders..." Leaving room for Huang Chao to use his imagination.

Huang Chao felt a chill down his spine. "Oh! That can't be true? Zhu Wen has fought with us for many years. How could it be possible that..."

"Those who are not of my kind must have different hearts." Meng Kai stated the motto of the Huang Chao group. This was their guiding ideology for rejecting all "outsiders".

Huang Chao remained silent.

"Besides, Zhu Wen is not necessarily invincible." Meng Kai processed what Zhu Wen taught him and repeated it to Huang Chao, "The enemy army is united in appearance but divided in reality. They all have their own ulterior motives and want to use others as cannon fodder while they reap the benefits. That's why the coalition forces of Fuyan, Xiasui and others collapsed at the first blow and retreated repeatedly. The real test should be Dengzhou."

Seeing that Huang Chao was still undecided, Meng Kai used the strategy of "killing with a borrowed knife". "If Zhu Wen is really brave and loyal to our dynasty, we should order him to attack Hezhong in the east, repel Wang Chucun and Wang Chongrong, and lift the siege of Chang'an in the east."

Under Meng Kai's repeated instigation, Huang Chao finally issued a commendation order to Zhu Wen, which was also a letter of appointment for promotion: Zhu Wen was appointed as the Defense Commissioner of Tongzhou, "ordering him to take it himself." [Hezhong Wang Chongrong]

Wang Chongrong was born into a family of officials and generals. He was a strong-willed and brave soldier. He was previously a military school student under the protection of his father. One day, two soldiers broke the night curfew and were caught by Wang Chongrong. He whipped them severely according to the law. The two soldiers who were beaten were imperial guards, and their leader was the great eunuch Yang Xuanshi. Yang Xuanshi was furious. He thought that he should look at the owner before beating the dog. So he arrested Wang Chongrong and scolded him severely, saying that people around the emperor were not something you, a small officer, could humiliate. Wang Chongrong said righteously that those who violated the curfew were either traitors or thieves. Who knew they were imperial guards? Then he reported the situation that night in detail.

Although Yang Xuanshi held a high position and held great power, he was not the kind of person who would bully others and be unreasonable. After hearing what had happened, his anger subsided, and he looked at the upright young officer in front of him with a new eye. Not only did he not make things difficult for Wang Chongrong, but he promoted him instead.

Wang Chongrong is upright and strong-willed. He is also sharp-tongued and good at arguing. He will not let you off when you are right, and will even beat you if you can't win the argument. People around him are very afraid of him.

Huang Chao entered Chang'an and issued proclamations to all directions. Li Du, the governor of Hezhong at the time, was planning to surrender. The only thing that worried Li Du was the military commander Wang Chongrong. So Li Du promoted Wang Chongrong to be the deputy governor, hoping to appease him with a high position and generous salary.

In order to maintain the normal operation of the Huang Qi regime and deal with the counterattack of the Tang Dynasty, Huang Chao continuously sent envoys to various vassal states to collect food and supplies. The envoys came in waves, and there were hundreds of envoys in Hezhong alone. The soldiers and civilians in Hezhong were exhausted and had difficulty in supplying.

Wang Chongrong then secretly called his men together and said, "At first, I wronged myself, endured my anger, and joined the bandits just to reduce everyone's burden. Now, the collection of wealth and goods is endless. When the grain is collected, our army will be called up, and our death will come. Why don't we start resisting now?"

This plain and simple speech, except for the first sentence which seems to be an attempt to flatter himself, actually speaks out the inner thoughts of all the vassal states that submitted to the Huang Qi regime. We surrendered to you to gain benefits, or at least to avoid losses. But now, not only have we not gained any benefits, but we have to pay money, food, and troops, and even bear the infamy of traitors and rebels. This deal is a huge loss and not worth it.

Wang Chongrong's call was unanimously agreed to and passed by all votes. So the envoys sent by the Huang Qi regime were gathered together and all killed, announcing the restoration of order and the return to the Tang Dynasty.

Jiedushi Li Du was afraid that the disaster would affect himself, so he took the initiative to give up his leadership position, appointed Wang Chongrong as the governor of Hezhong, and then fled to the exile government in Shu.

Under the leadership of Wang Chongrong, the Hezhong Army repelled a counterattack by the Huang Qi regime.

The Tang Dynasty promoted Wang Chongrong to be the governor of Hezhong.

Wang Chongrong contacted the neighboring vassal states and marched westwards. He fought and won many battles with Wang Chucun, the governor of Yiwu Army, and Gao Xun, the governor of Zhaoyi Army. He occupied Tongzhou and Huazhou to the west of Tongguan and threatened Chang'an from the east.

Under this situation, Meng Kai came up with this vicious plan that would kill two birds with one stone and ensure profit: let Zhu Wen confront Wang Chongrong head-on.

Killing Wang Chongrong was to quell the external threat, and killing Zhu Wen was to eliminate the internal traitor. When dogs bite each other, both are left with a mouth full of fur. No matter which outcome it is, Meng Kai is optimistic about it.

For Zhu Wen, this was another rare opportunity to show his abilities to his superiors. He was like all the brave generals in ancient and modern times, who were not afraid of fighting, but were afraid of not having a war. The more dangerous the mission, the more it showed that he was valued by his superiors.

Zhu Wen led his troops and, taking advantage of the victory, marched eastward towards Tongzhou.

Mi Cheng, the governor of Tongzhou, abandoned the city and fled. Zhu Wen took over Tongzhou without a single drop of blood.

Tongzhou is located north of the Wei River and west of the Yellow River, across the river from Hezhong Prefecture on the east bank of the Yellow River.

Zhu Wen wanted to expand his victory, so after a little reorganization, he launched a tentative attack on Wang Chongrong on the other side of the river. Wang Chongrong had tens of thousands of elite troops deployed along the river and defended tightly. Zhu Wen returned without success and retreated to Hexi.

(End of this chapter)