History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 89 Zhu Wen Withdraws from the Group

【Xiazhou on a snowy night】

Opportunity awaits those who are prepared.

The Yicheng Army in Huazhou mutinied, and the young general Zhang Xiao expelled the governor An Shiru. This was the second time An Shiru was expelled. Four years ago, he was the governor of Pinglu Army and was expelled by Wang Jingwu.

We are not afraid of thieves stealing, but we are afraid of thieves thinking about it. Yicheng Army had long been targeted by two neighbors, one was Zhu Wen, the Xuanwu Army of Bianzhou in the south, and the other was Zhu Xuan, the Tianping Army of Yunzhou in the east. The two neighbors reacted at the same time and took advantage of the situation to rob.

As for the unowned dry food, it’s on a first-come, first-served basis. If you’re slow, you’ll miss out.

Zhu Wen sent his most trusted general Zhu Zhen.

Zhu Zhen, a "bandit" by nature, was already a subordinate of Zhu Wen when he was in Huang Chao's army. Zhu Zhen participated in important events such as "rebellion against Qi and surrender to Tang", sitting in Bianzhou, and "Shangyuanyi Incident". It can be said that Zhu Zhen was the most trusted of Zhu Wen's most trusted subordinates.

Zhu Wen's trust in Zhu Zhen was not entirely based on a superior-subordinate relationship. Zhu Wen valued Zhu Zhen's strategy and military ability more.

Zhu Zhen was "good at managing the army and selecting soldiers" and "had a method for selecting generals and training soldiers". Not only was he good at fighting and a talented general, he was also good at training soldiers. Zhu Wen handed over all the new soldiers he recruited and the surrendered soldiers he absorbed to Zhu Zhen, who was responsible for training and reorganizing them. What was even more valuable was that Zhu Zhen had a unique vision and was a rare talent scout. He selected more than 50 soldiers from the soldiers and "all of them could be used" after they were promoted.

Zhu Wen appointed Zhu Zhen to seize Huazhou, which shows how much importance he attached to this matter.

Zhu Zhen did not disappoint Zhu Wen's expectations.

Not long after the Bian army set out, heavy snow fell and the road was blocked. In that era without asphalt roads, rain and snow were natural obstacles.

The roads were muddy and difficult to walk on, and it was extremely painful to walk on foot, and it was even more difficult to move food and supplies. It was freezing cold, and the soldiers' hands and feet were frostbitten. The cracked wounds turned yellow and black, and the yellow mud and white snow mixed with blood dried and solidified on the exposed skin, slowly forming scabs.

Morale was low, combat effectiveness had dropped drastically, and supplies were insufficient. If they were to march over a long distance, the soldiers would be exhausted. The defenders, on the other hand, were holding on to the city, waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out.

Marching in the snow is tantamount to committing suicide. This is common sense, and everyone knows it.

However, Zhu Zhen did the opposite. Instead of stopping to rest, he ordered a hasty march to Huazhou. If the food and supplies can't keep up, then don't keep up. Everyone should travel light and travel overnight. Anyone who dares to neglect will be executed!
In Huazhou City, the Yicheng Army soldiers all hid in their houses, warmed themselves by the fire, ate hot pot and sang songs. There were not even any soldiers standing guard on the top of the city.

Zhu Zhen galloped 200 miles in the snowy night and appeared on the top of the city like a god descending from the sky. The Yicheng army was stunned and gave up resistance and surrendered collectively.

When Zhu Zhen completed the city defense deployment, Zhu Xuan's Tianping Army finally arrived. The Tianping Army was also impressed by Zhu Zhen's courage, and looked at Huazhou City with a sigh and returned in dismay.

"Sliding down Xiazhou on a snowy night" became one of Zhu Zhen's legendary stories. Zhu Wen captured the Yicheng Army without a single drop of blood and officially became the military governor of the Yicheng Army.

Quietly, Zhu Wen took command of the troops in the two towns and nearly doubled his power.

【Strong and Strategic】

In the "harvest of vegetables" war, Zhu Wen always kept a clear mind, not cheering for one or two small victories, nor being proud and complacent because of a big victory. The gap between the two sides was still huge.

If you want to protect yourself, you must seek allies, organizations, and shelter.

"Uncle" Wang Chongrong could no longer be relied upon. Not only did he not help Zhu Wen harvest the vegetables, but he also betrayed Zhu Wen's interests when competing with Tian Yan for salt profits. "Good brother" Li Keyong was even more out of the question, as they had forged a deep hatred for each other due to the "Shangyuanyi Incident".

Two plastic brothers, a glass uncle-nephew relationship.

Fortunately, Tian Lingzi intervened in time and went into battle with Wang Chongrong and Li Keyong. Otherwise, if Guanzhong was peaceful, Zhu Wen would not be able to escape the fate of being used as a political bargaining chip. He would most likely be dismembered and divided up by Tian Yan, Wang Chongrong and Li Keyong, becoming a victim of the political game.

Due to the existence of the "Shangyuanyi Incident", in the confrontation between the Guandong Military Alliance (Wang Chongrong and Li Keyong) and the Guanxi Group (Tian Lingzi, Zhu Mei, and Li Changfu), Zhu Wen had no choice but to side with the Guanxi Group and became a natural ally of the Guanxi Group.

However, under the attack of the Guandong Military Alliance, the Guanxi Group quickly collapsed, and its collapse was so rapid that it was jaw-dropping. First, Zhu Mei and Li Changfu were the first to defect and openly broke with Tian Lingzi; then Zhu Mei and Li Changfu parted ways again, and the group split again; Zhu Mei's subordinates also quickly defected to the enemy and launched a mutiny, and Wang Xingyu overthrew his superiors. The Guanxi Group was completely shattered into pieces.

Zhu Wen's decision to side with the Guanxi Group was both subtle and awkward. His original motive was to use the Guanxi Group to contain Li Keyong, and his deeper appeal was to use the Guanxi Group to fight against Qin Zongquan.

Coincidentally, restraining Li Keyong and curbing Qin Zongquan are also the value of Zhu Wen to the Guanxi Group.

This is awkward.

Due to many objective reasons, although the two sides share the same enemy, they do not share the dividends, and are even less willing to share the obligations of the alliance.

The core demand of the Guanxi Group was to control the imperial court, but Zhu Wen was not interested in this; Zhu Wen's core demand was to gain a firm foothold in the Central Plains and become a regional overlord. The Guanxi Group was not only not interested in this, but also had a conflict with it, because the imperial court did not want to see any local warlord dominate the country.

Therefore, although the enemies are the same, there are irreconcilable differences over the division of the spoils.

Well, if both sides can be far-sighted and seek common ground while reserving differences, then "not sharing dividends" will not be a fatal obstacle.

In fact, the embarrassing thing is that both sides are "unwilling to share the obligations of the alliance." Both want to work without putting in any effort, and both want to sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor.

Zhu Wen said to the Guanxi Group: Help me get rid of Qin Zongquan!

Guanxi Group: You help us get rid of Li Keyong first, and then I can help you get rid of Qin Zongquan!

Zhu Wen: If you help me get rid of Qin Zongquan first, I can free up time to deal with Li Keyong.

The father dies and the mother remarries, and everyone looks after themselves. This is the true portrayal of Zhu Wen and the Guanxi Group.

All the two sides can do is to provide free "support".

But Zhu Wen's "Shangyuanyi Incident" was really disgusting, and no matter how specious the arguments were, there was no reason to find any. Any "support" was unreasonable, so the "support" of the Guanxi Group also had to be strategic, avoiding the "Shangyuanyi Incident" and talking about Zhu Wen's resistance to Qin Zongquan.

Therefore, as mentioned above, under the control of the Guanxi Group, the imperial court not only did not hold Zhu Wen accountable for the "Shangyuanyi Incident", but instead promoted him on the grounds of "merit in harvesting vegetables".

Zhu Wen and the Guanxi Group were originally at odds with each other, and Zhu Mei's act of usurpation and rebellion completely severed the fragile alliance between the two sides.

Zhu Mei supported Li Yan to become emperor and sent the "edict" to Bianzhou, hoping to get strong support from his ally Zhu Wen. Unexpectedly, Zhu Wen's approach was exactly the same as Li Keyong's: he imprisoned the envoys, burned the fake edict in public, and publicly condemned Zhu Mei for treason.

There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

Zhu Mei relied on his favor of being promoted to a higher position and given a higher rank to Zhu Wen, so he regarded himself as a comrade-in-arms and a benefactor, and had full confidence in Zhu Wen's submission. This was Zhu Mei's wishful thinking. He was too immature. He coveted power, but knew nothing about the game of power.

It was the court and Tang Xizong who promoted Zhu Wen. Although it was operated by the Guanxi Group, the legal basis for all Zhu Wen's official positions and titles came from Tang Xizong. Denying Xizong's legitimacy was denying his own legitimacy. If Zhu Wen gave up his loyalty to Tang Xizong and pledged loyalty to Li Yan, it would mean that he would have nothing.

Of course, Li Yan also gave Zhu Wen higher official titles, but Li Yan's legitimacy itself was questionable.

Therefore, from the moment Zhu Mei abandoned Emperor Xizong of Tang and supported Li Yan, she was no longer Zhu Wen's "benefactor". As for "comrade-in-arms", there was even no question of that.

Zhu Wen was too busy with his own affairs to help Zhu Mei conquer the world when facing the oppression of Qin Zongquan. On the contrary, publicly pledging allegiance to Emperor Xizong of Tang was equivalent to having political support, and any military action against Zhu Wen would be labeled as "betraying the court".

Voting with his feet, Zhu Wen also knew which boat to step on.

The burning of Li Yan's false edict marked Zhu Wen's formal withdrawal from the military and political alliance led by the Guanxi Group.

(End of this chapter)