History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 630: The Guest Takes Over the Host and Conquers Weizhou 1
Guo Wei suggested to Liu Zhiyuan: "Zhao Yanshou's son, Zhao Kuangzan, the governor of Hezhong, was appointed by the Khitans and is afraid. We might as well take advantage of this opportunity to go to Hezhong to mourn Zhao Yanshou with great fanfare, so that he will give up the idea of ​​surrendering to the Khitans and then re-employ him, but transfer him to another place as a governor. In this way, he will definitely be grateful to Your Majesty and be loyal to the Han Dynasty wholeheartedly."

This was another bad idea that Guo Wei proposed to Liu Zhiyuan. The previous article has slightly spoiled the plot. Zhao Kuangzan did not defect to the Khitan, but he defected to the Later Shu, helped the Later Shu to capture Fengxiang, and also led the Later Shu to attack Guanzhong, planning to overthrow Liu Zhiyuan.

Second, Du Chongwei of Weizhou and Li Shouzhen of Yunzhou submitted petitions for surrender. Du Chongwei, in particular, took the initiative to request to move to another town, saying that he was a brick in the revolutionary work and would move wherever he was needed.

Third, Gao Xingzhou, the governor of Guide Army of Songzhou, took the initiative to come to the court to pay homage.

Isn't this a coincidence?

Liu Zhiyuan slapped his forehead and issued an edict: Du Chongwei of Weizhou and Gao Xingzhou of Songzhou were swapped; Li Shouzhen of Yunzhou was transferred to be the Jiedushi of Hezhong; Zhao Kuangzan, the Jiedushi of Hezhong, was transferred to be the Jiedushi of Jinchang Army in Chang'an; Zhang Yanchao, the Jiedushi of Jinchang Army in Chang'an, was transferred to be the Jiedushi of Fuzhou.

Initially, the relocation and exchange of Jiedushi were legal procedures, just like the garrisoning and rotation of troops, to prevent someone from becoming too entrenched in a certain place. However, in the late Tang Dynasty, the balance of power between the central and local governments was seriously unbalanced, the central government was out of reach, and the local vassal states had their own troops, so the Jiedushi became "hereditary".

Over time, relocation became a tentative political move between the central government and local governments. When the central government ordered a governor to relocate, it basically represented distrust of him. If he readily accepted the order, it was equivalent to showing his loyalty to the central government. If a governor was worried that the central government would be suspicious of him, he would take the initiative to request relocation, in order to show the central government that he had no intention of betraying him and would just let the court do whatever it wanted. At this time, the central government would generally politely decline his request to relocate, in order to show that the central government actually trusted him and he should not think too much about it.

Relocation of towns was a tacit understanding between the central government and local governments, just as retirement, "retirement" and "begging for retirement" were tacit understandings between high-ranking officials of the court and the emperor.

Du Chongwei betrayed Shi Chonggui, betrayed the Later Jin Dynasty, betrayed the Central Plains, surrendered to the Khitan, and became the number one traitor in the Later Jin Dynasty. He still had some idea about this and was always worried that Liu Zhiyuan would settle the score later. The reason why he took the initiative to request to move the town was to show Liu Zhiyuan his attitude: Big brother, I give in.

Du Chongwei hoped that Liu Zhiyuan would give him a reassurance and a happy ending where they could laugh and forget their grudges: Comrade Du Chongwei, you are worrying too much. How can I be a petty person? You can rest assured and retire in Weizhou. I will never move to Weizhou.

This is great, both sides can save face and have a way out.

Unexpectedly, Liu Zhiyuan really sent an imperial edict to relocate the town. "Comrade Du Chongwei is sensible and considerate. He took the initiative to request relocation. He deserves praise. Let's learn from Comrade Du Chongwei! In addition... come to the bowl quickly, come to Songzhou."

Li Congke's imperial edict to relocate his capital forced Shi Jingtang to rebel, while Liu Zhiyuan's imperial edict to relocate his capital forced Du Chongwei to rebel.

Du Chongwei was accustomed to rebellion. He sent his son Du Hongyan to Zhenzhou to ask Yelu Malu for help. Du Hongyan remained in Zhenzhou as a hostage.

At that time, Zhao Yanshou attempted to establish a separatist regime in Zhenzhou but failed, and was arrested and imprisoned. His staff and 2,000 Youzhou soldiers were pardoned by Yelu Ruan and were still stationed in Zhenzhou. Du Chongwei requested that the 2,000 Youzhou soldiers be stationed in Weizhou to assist in the defense.

Yelu Maluo, the governor of Zhongjing (Zhenzhou) of the Liao Dynasty, paid great attention to the dynamics of Weizhou, because Weizhou was of great importance, and the ownership of Weizhou would determine the initiative in the war between Han and Liao. Once Weizhou fell into the hands of the Central Plains, Zhenzhou and Dingzhou would be almost defenseless and in danger.

Yelu Ma'an immediately agreed to Du Chongwei's request and sent Zhang Lian, the commander of the Youzhou troops, to continue to lead the 2,000 Youzhou troops to help Weizhou. He also sent Yang Gun to lead 1,500 Khitan cavalry to Weizhou to assist in the defense. Of course, sending more than 3,000 troops to Weizhou was not only to assist in the defense of Weizhou, but also to control Weizhou. With these 3,500 troops, Du Chongwei could not regret it.

Du Chongwei betrayed his country twice and colluded with the Khitan to fight against the central government.

Liu Zhiyuan issued an edict, depriving Du Chongwei of all his official positions and titles, demoting him to a commoner, and appointing Gao Xingzhou as the commander of the army.

Seeing that the "Battle of Weizhou" was about to become the founding battle of the Later Han Empire, in theory, it would also be a showdown between two old, weak and sick people.

Although the Khitan regime was in its mature stage, like a young and middle-aged man, it was plagued by many problems and had serious internal problems; and the newly born Later Han regime was like a baby swaddled in thorns. Weizhou was related to the military initiative and political discourse power for a long period of time in the future, so the two old, weak and disabled people would definitely try their best.

However, contrary to everyone's expectations, the war went astray during the preparation stage.

Yelu Malu sent envoys to Mingzhou to plunder property. Xue Huairang, the defense envoy of Mingzhou, was extremely sad and angry. When he heard the news that Liu Zhiyuan had taken control of Bianzhou, he felt even more excited. So he killed Yelu Malu's envoys and surrendered the city to Liu Zhiyuan.

Mingzhou is located between Weizhou and Xingzhou, northwest of Weizhou and southeast of Xingzhou.

A quick look at the map will reveal the current situation of Weizhou: To the left of Weizhou, from top to bottom, are Xingzhou, Mingzhou, Cizhou, Xiangzhou, and Huazhou. Huazhou is on the bank of the Yellow River. Going right along the Yellow River, directly below Weizhou is Chanzhou, which was previously known as Deshengzhai or Deshengjiacheng. From Xingzhou to Chanzhou, an "L"-shaped semi-encirclement of Weizhou is formed.

Not long ago, Xiangzhou, Cizhou and others broke away from the Khitan and submitted to the Later Han Dynasty. Only the northernmost Xingzhou and Mingzhou were still within the Khitan's sphere of influence.

Now that Mingzhou had surrendered to the Later Han, Liu Zhiyuan made a prompt decision and immediately sent Guo Congyi to lead an army of 10,000 to join forces with Xue Huairang. Instead of launching an attack on Weizhou, they continued to expand northwards and attack Xingzhou.

The reason why Liu Zhiyuan attacked Xingzhou first was, on the one hand, to increase the strategic depth of the Heshuo region, on the other hand, to strengthen the encirclement of Weizhou, and also because Xingzhou was a soft persimmon. After Gao Tangying of Xiangzhou was killed, its governor Gao Fengming fled to Zhenzhou and entrusted the military and political power to the commander Liu Duo. Not only were the people of Xingzhou in panic and the military morale unstable, but the transition of power was not completed and combat effectiveness was not formed.

When Liu Duo of Xingzhou heard about it, he was terrified and hurriedly called for help from Zhenzhou, requesting reinforcements.

Xingzhou is between Weizhou and Zhenzhou, which means that once Xingzhou falls, the route from Zhenzhou to Weizhou will be cut off, so the gains and losses of Xingzhou will largely determine the fate of Weizhou. If the Later Han Dynasty ignores Weizhou after obtaining Xingzhou and continues to move north, then the Later Han army will directly attack Zhenzhou, directly threatening the safety of Zhenzhou. At that time, let alone relying on Weizhou to rescue them, they are likely to rebel and return to Han again.

(End of this chapter)