History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 90: The Three Zhu Alliance
【Three Zhu Alliance】

When Zhu Wen first settled in Bianzhou, he had no foundation and was eager to join a strong and solid military and political alliance in order to gain a firm foothold.

Zhu Wen turned his attention to the east and formulated a diplomatic strategy of "allying with the east and attacking the west". He extended an olive branch to Zhu Xuan, the governor of Tianping Army in Yunzhou, and Zhu Jin, the governor of Taining Army in Yanzhou.

When it comes to choosing allies, Zhu Wen is truly a strategic master and can be described as extremely cunning.

Zhu Xuan, like Zhu Wen, was also from Songzhou. His father, Zhu Qing, was a gangster in the village who smuggled salt. He was later arrested and executed according to law, and Zhu Xuan was also punished for this. Later, he joined the army, was promoted for his meritorious service, and served under Cao Quanzheng.

The Wei Bo army attacked the Tianping army, and the Tianping Jiedushi Cao Quanzheng was killed. Zhu Xuan took the opportunity to occupy Yunzhou. He also took advantage of the opportunity when Zhuge Shuang in Heyang attacked the Wei Bo army and the Wei Bo army was attacked from all sides to reach a reconciliation with the Wei Bo army, thus gaining actual control over the Tianping army and was honored as the Tianping Jiedushi.

Therefore, Zhu Xuan and Zhu Wen were in similar situations, both were eager to find an organization to take them in, so the two sides huddled together for warmth. Zhu Xuan sent out elite soldiers and brave generals to assist Zhu Wen in resisting Qin Zongquan.

During this process, the Yicheng Army in Huazhou was in chaos. The two of them were targeted at the same time, but Zhu Wen got there first, and Zhu Xuan suffered a loss that was not really a loss.

However, the incident of "sliding down Xiazhou on a snowy night" did not affect the alliance between the two.

Zhu Xuan's cousin Zhu Jin was a good warrior with outstanding martial arts, especially lance. Zhu Jin asked to marry the daughter of Qi Kerang, the governor of Taining, Yanzhou. Qi Kerang appreciated talents and gladly accepted.

The wedding procession set out from Yunzhou, beating gongs and drums along the way, in a high-profile and luxurious manner. When they entered Yanzhou City, the groomsmen suddenly attacked and raided Qi Kerang. It turned out that the wedding procession was composed of warriors carefully selected by Zhu Jin, and the gorgeous motorcade was not loaded with betrothal gifts but weapons and ammunition.

Zhu Jin expelled Qi Kerang through a marriage fraud and proclaimed himself the governor of Taining.

In this way, the brothers Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin controlled the southwestern Shandong region.

The brothers Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin were both from Xiayi, Songzhou, which is today's Dangshan County, Anhui Province. Zhu Wen was also from Dangshan, Songzhou. Their hometowns were adjacent and they had the same surname, so Zhu Wen tried to get close to them by claiming that they were brothers of the same clan and insisted that the three of them were from the same clan.

We were one family five hundred years ago. This is a common excuse used by people with the same surname to get close to each other.

Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin are both new vassal states who have recently come to power through unjust means and plunder. They have shallow roots and no backing, and both want to stick together for warmth.

So, at Zhu Wen's initiative, the three men swore brotherhood in Taoyuan, and the "Three Zhu Alliance" was formally established.

Zhu Wen’s intelligence and talent did not stop there.

The commander-in-chief of the "harvesting vegetables" at that time was Shi Pu, the governor of the Xuzhou Ganhua Army. In the "sweeping the yellow and cutting the grass" war, Shi Pu presented the head of Huang Chao, and was ranked first in merit and rewarded handsomely. He was also appointed as the commander-in-chief of the "harvesting vegetables" because the Cai thief followed the footsteps of the grass thief and stirred up trouble.

Since he was the commander-in-chief, it was his duty to send troops to "harvest the vegetables". Zhu Wen of Bianzhou became the buffer zone between Xuzhou and Caizhou, and the moat of Xuzhou, so Shi Pu could not sit idly by. After the formation of the "Three Zhu Alliance", Zhu Wen had more say, so he coaxed and deceived the Xuzhou Ganhua Army to the front line of "harvesting the vegetables".

Blacksmith need its own hardware.

Zhu Wen knew that the strength of his own power was the foundation of all alliances, and that fists were the right to speak. What brothers, nephews, uncles, fathers and sons... everything was just a superficial thing, and only the land under his feet and the army in his hands were his real father.

While maneuvering and deceiving people, Zhu Wen sent his favorite general Guo Yan to the Guanzhong area in the west to recruit soldiers, and sent Zhu Zhen to the east to recruit soldiers, deep into the Shandong Peninsula to expand his military strength.

Unconsciously, Zhu Wen had quietly walked out of the predicament and reversed the dilemma of being crushed by Qin Zongquan, and was able to fight against him. [“Killing Pigs”]

Qin Zongquan did not list Zhu Wen in Bianzhou as the focus of the first phase of work, but he was constantly harassed by Zhu Wen, which was very annoying. In particular, the "Wangxiazhai Battle" completely angered Qin Zongquan.

If a tiger doesn't show its might, do you think I'm a sick cat? Qin Zongquan was furious and decided to "kill the pig". He moved the strategic task to the second stage ahead of schedule and concentrated on removing the nails.

Qin Zongquan sent out three armies, led by the brave generals Qin Xian, Zhang Yu and Lu Tang, to surround Bianzhou from the north, west and south, setting up a total of 36 camps with a stretch of more than 20 miles.

Facing the aggressive army of Cai Yu, Zhu Wen chose to close the city and hold out, because Zhu Zhen, who was recruiting soldiers, had not returned yet. Zhu Wen's internal communication now was "separate regiments, wait for everyone to arrive."

Relying on his large numbers, the bandit Cai did not take Zhu Wen seriously at all and thought he was sure to win.

At the critical moment, Zhu Zhen returned with more than 10,000 newly recruited troops. The Cai bandits outside the city were unaware of the approach of a mighty force of more than 10,000 troops. This shows how lax the vigilance work was. Qin Zongquan's internal communication afterwards should have been "Don't you guys even look at the small map?"

Previously, Guo Yan, who was in charge of conscription on the western front, successfully brought back more than 10,000 elite soldiers; Zhu Zhen on the eastern front encountered obstruction from the Pinglu Army of Qingzhou in Shandong. Zhu Zhen fought against them, annihilated the 20,000-strong Qingzhou army, confiscated all of their weapons and supplies, and finally brought back more than 10,000 elite soldiers with rich combat experience and a large amount of weapons and supplies for Zhu Wen.

Zhu Wen immediately mobilized the army, saying that the Cai bandits were lax and arrogant, and that we should take them by surprise. That night, he ordered the cook to reward the army with good wine and meat, and the whole army had a full meal. Then, under Zhu Wen's personal leadership, they secretly robbed the camp.

The heroic Bian army first raided Qin Xian's troops, killing more than 10,000 Cai bandits and destroying four bandit camps.

A few days later, the sky was full of fog, and visibility was less than 20 meters. Zhu Wen carefully selected thousands of cavalrymen and rushed directly to Lutang's camp under the cover of the fog, killing countless enemies and Lutang was killed.

In just a few days, two of the three bandit armies besieging Bian had been wiped out. Only Zhang Xu in the north was still in a state of panic due to the terrifying atmosphere where every tree and bush seemed to be an enemy.

What a cyclical relationship this world has, who will Zhu Wen spare?
After a short rest, Zhu Wen once again created an illusion to confuse the enemy, and then launched a surprise attack. More than 20,000 of Zhang Xu's troops were killed, and the remaining soldiers retreated into the camp and held the city.

When the news came, Qin Zongquan was so angry that he screamed and decided to lead the army in person and allocate another 150,000 elite troops to fight Zhu Wen.

Pan him! Pan him! Pan him! Don't give Zhu Wen any chance. The second emperor of the great Huang Qi regime! He inherited the glorious tradition of the Cao army! Pang Xun and Huang Chao were possessed by their souls at this moment. Pang Xun faced Sizhou, Huang Chao faced Chenzhou, and now, Qin Zongquan faced Bianzhou. At this moment, he was not fighting alone, not alone!

Upon hearing the news, Zhu Wen hurriedly coordinated the "Three Zhu Alliance" to rush to the rescue. Zhu Wen's Xuanwu and Yicheng joined Zhu Xuan's Tianping Army and Zhu Jin's Taining Army. The troops of the four towns gathered on the Bian River and fought a fierce battle with Qin Zongquan from early morning to dusk. More than 20,000 Cai thieves were killed. As night fell, both sides called off the battle and would fight again tomorrow.

At night, the allied forces of the four towns held a celebration banquet with lights and decorations, drums and music to celebrate the day's victory. The noise could be heard for more than ten miles.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Zhu Wen stood up and said he was going to the bathroom. When he staggered outside the military tent, he suddenly became energetic, took out his armor, jumped on his horse, and took only a few close cavalrymen and headed straight for Qin Zongquan's camp.

The sounds of banquets and music in the Bian army camp continued to be heard.

Thanks to old friends "驰风程雨游无限兮", "飞天神龙斩", "feitian" for their recommendation votes and support!
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(End of this chapter)