xymnovel Chapter 109 Something's fishy, it's not a coincidence.
Chapter 109 Something's fishy, it's not a coincidence.
Li Cunxu wanted to personally lead the expedition, but the Privy Councilor Li Shaohong and the chief ministers advised against it: "The capital is the foundation of the empire. Even if there are changes in the four directions, Your Majesty should not go out lightly. You should stay in the center to control the situation and then order the generals to lead the expedition."
As for who should be the general, everyone recommended Li Siyuan.
After ascending the throne, Li Cunxu became suspicious and distrustful, unwilling to allow ministers to command troops, and flatly refused, saying, "I rely on Siyuan to guard me, you should choose someone else."
Li Shaohong insisted on his opinion: "In our opinion, none other than Siyuan is suitable."
Zhang Quanyi, the governor of Henan, also reported: "There are many troubles in Hebei. If this continues, disaster will arise. It is advisable to send the general to advance the troops. Relying on people like Li Shaorong will not yield any results."
Zhang Quanyi, then seventy-five years old, served as the Governor of Henan and participated in government affairs. He had been stationed in Luoyang for forty years and was highly respected.
After being persuaded by his ministers, Li Cunxu finally issued an edict ordering Li Siyuan to lead troops to Yedu to quell the rebellion.
The first day of the third month of the fourth year of the Tongguang reign (1847), Dingwei day.
Li Shaozhen, the military governor of Wuning Army in Xuzhou, reported that Xingzhou had been recovered, and 21 bandit leaders, including Zhao Tai, had been captured and escorted to the city of Yedu, where they were executed by dismemberment at the military gate.
Li Shaozhen, originally named Huo Yanwei, was a surrendered official of the Liang Dynasty. The year after the fall of Liang, the Khitan invaded and reached Waqiao. Li Siyuan, the military governor of Tianping Army, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the northern expeditionary force, with Huo Yanwei, the acting governor of Shanzhou, as his deputy, leading troops to aid Youzhou.
In the same year, Yang Li, a junior officer in Luzhou, rebelled and occupied the city. Li Siyuan was appointed as the commander-in-chief, and Huo Yanwei as his deputy, to lead troops to suppress the rebellion. The two worked together many times. Huo Yanwei was eloquent and good at flattery, and Li Siyuan valued him highly.
Huo Yanwei used the Xingzhou rebels as an example, subjecting them to cruel tortures such as cutting flesh and bones and severing limbs outside the city. This did not frighten the Wei Bo soldiers; instead, it turned the emperor's threat into reality, further strengthening the rebels' determination to resist.
March 6th, Renzi day.
When the royal army arrived at Ye City, Zhao Zaili and others climbed the city wall to apologize and offered sacrifices to the army, which Li Siyuan accepted.
When Yuan Xingqin came to the army camp to pay his respects, he mistakenly shouted "Long live the Emperor!" twice as he rose to his feet. Li Siyuan was shocked and had to stop him.
Afterwards, a military meeting was held, and Li Siyuan set up camp in the southwest, Yuan Xingqin in the south of the city, and Huo Yanwei in the northwest of the city. They agreed to attack the city from three sides on the morning of March 9th.
Huo and Yuan are both important characters, and their drastically different actions influence the subsequent course of the entire event.
March 8th, Jia Yin.
Li Siyuan moved his camp to outside Guanyin Gate and ordered the entire army to attack the city the next day.
That night, under the command of Zhang Pobai, a soldier of the Ma Zhi Army, the troops killed their generals and set fire to their camps, creating a scene of cheers and jubilation.
At the fifth watch, the mutinous soldiers advanced on Li Siyuan's camp. His personal guards fought fiercely, and nearly half of them were wounded.
"impossible!"
Upon hearing this, Li Congke loudly questioned, "My godfather is a veteran of many battles. The night before the attack on the city, he must have inspected all the camps and ordered them to be on high alert. How could all the troops suddenly rebel? Moreover, how could Zhang Pobai, an ordinary soldier, incite so many people? There must be someone else behind this!"
He stared wide-eyed at Gao Xingzhou, as if trying to see the truth hidden behind the scenes.
"You and I know better than anyone the fighting prowess of our adoptive father's men. With your abilities, you'd be beaten to a pulp by a bunch of random soldiers? I don't believe it!"
Gao Xingzhou's answer surprised him: "That night, none of the seven generals, including myself, were in the late emperor's camp."
"What! You're not serving your godfather? Where have you gone?"
"The late emperor ordered us to go to Yuan Xingqin's military camp and invite him to join forces to suppress the rebel army." (Note 1)
"That shouldn't be the case..."
Li Congke was utterly perplexed: "Sending you all out, with no one to command the personal guards, it's understandable that they'd be no match for the mutinous troops. But why would my adoptive father go to such lengths to summon Yuan Xingqin when he could have suppressed them all by himself?"
He then realized another suspicious point.
"No. Even though you guys aren't here, Shi Jingtang is still by his godfather's side. Do you think he would do nothing? I don't believe it."
Li Congke, having become emperor, quickly grasped the key point: "Xiao Gao, you were sent away as an outsider."
Gao Xingzhou smiled wryly and said, "In terms of closeness or distance, how can we compare to Shi Jingtang? If we want to do great things, the fewer people who know about us, the better."
"Yuan Xingqin held his troops still and detained us until dawn before releasing us. So I don't really know what happened that night."
It is said that the rebel army made a request to join forces with the rebels in the city to repel the armies from all directions. Li Cunxu was emperor in Henan, and Li Siyuan was in charge of Hebei. The two emperors ruled side by side, straddling the river.
The mutinous soldiers pressed against the commander's tent, drawing their weapons and surrounding the area, threatening to fight at any moment. An Chonghui and Huo Yanwei hinted to Li Siyuan to feign compliance and follow the mutinous soldiers to Ye City.
Mutation and regeneration.
Zhao Zaili and others lowered the drawbridge and opened the city gates, welcoming Li Siyuan with tears of joy. However, they showed no mercy to the rioting soldiers, counterattacking and beheading Zhang Pobai, and the foreign troops all scattered.
Zhang Pobai, who launched the mutiny, died at the hands of the rebels in Yecheng, the very people he wanted to ally with...
"It's normal for a useless pawn to be silenced."
This sudden military uprising is shrouded in mystery, but Li Congke's investigation has revealed the truth.
He simply didn't want to, and was unwilling to, touch upon that answer.
March 9th, Yi Mao.
The chaos continued to escalate.
"Yuan Xingqin saw that the late emperor and his entourage had entered Ye City, leaving us behind, and then he rolled up his armor and led his troops away."
Gao Xingzhou recounted what happened next: "When the late emperor left the city, he had no more than a hundred men under his command, and no weapons or armor. He retreated to Wei County. Huo Yanwei led five thousand soldiers from Zhenzhou to arrive one after another, and they gathered to discuss countermeasures."
"It's all thanks to the suggestions of An Conghui and Huo Yanwei. No wonder, one had served as the Zhongmen Envoy for a long time under his adoptive father, and the other was a surrendered general of Liang along with Zhu Youqian. It goes without saying what choice they would make." (Note 2)
Li Siyuan originally intended to return to his fiefdom of Zhenzhou and submitted a memorial to plead guilty. An and Huo strongly advised against it, urging him to go to Luoyang, kneel before the imperial steps, and personally clarify the facts.
March 11th, Ding Si.
Yuan Xingqin led 10,000 men to retreat and defend the prefecture, blocking their path.
Upon learning of the mutiny, Li Cunxu dispatched Li Congshen, the eldest son of Li Siyuan and commander of the Golden Spears, to deliver the imperial edict. However, upon arriving in Weizhou, he was detained by Yuan Xingqin, who had him armed with shackles.
Li Siyuan submitted memorials to the court repeatedly, but his memorials could not be delivered to the imperial court. He had no choice but to send troops south to Xiangzhou.
Due to the war with the Liang Kingdom, the current dynasty established a horse breeding ground in Xiangzhou and set up a small horse stable to govern it, which was to replace the horse breeding grounds of Bing and Dai as the large horse stable.
"Then he met Kang Fu. He had no military achievements to begin with, but by offering two thousand horses, he made a contribution to the rise of the emperor and was promoted to the rank of Jiezhen. Two years ago, when the six garrisons attacked Fengxiang together, he was on one of the routes."
Li Congke couldn't help but praise, "Whether or not they have troops, the fighting strength of the Daibei soldiers and the Zhenzhou soldiers is worlds apart. This location and this timing were chosen perfectly."
The distance from Xiangzhou to Bianliang is similar to that from Luoyang to Bianliang, both being over three hundred li. The next step is to see which side seizes the former capital of Liang first, gaining the upper hand.
Li Siyuan did not waste time arguing with Yuan Xingqin, but instead ordered An Chonghui to send proclamations to various towns, urging them to meet and fight.
His nephew, Li Congzhang, led his army from Changshan through Xingzhou, where the people of Xingzhou appointed him as their military governor. Mi Junli, the prefect of Mingzhou, and Liu Yancong, the prefect of Cizhou, both subordinate to the Anguo Army, also defected to Li Siyuan.
Zhao Dejun, the military governor of Youzhou, had already arranged a marriage between his children and Li Siyuan's children. Zhao Yanshou and his wife had a grandson, Zhao Kuangzan, three years ago, making his stance quite obvious.
The Heng Hai Army in Cangzhou was occupied by Wang Jingkan, and together with Li Siyuan's own Chengde Army in Zhenzhou, most of Hebei, except for Wangdu of the Yiwu Army in Dingzhou and Zhangxi in Dizhou, was no longer under Li Cunxu's control.
The mutinous troops in Ye City demanded that the two emperors divide the rule of Henan and Hebei, which was in line with the situation at the time and was not a pipe dream.
Strangely, how did a group of disorganized soldiers, who had been besieged by Yuan Xingqin for many days, accurately grasp the situation?
……
March 12th, Wu-Wu day.
Li Siyuan's rebellious intentions are already evident, and the court must make preparations. Since the emperor will not starve his soldiers, he can only make the people suffer even more.
Li Cunxu issued an edict ordering the Henan Prefecture to pre-borrow this year's autumn and summer taxes.
At that time, the people suffered from famine and hardship, and the people could not bear the cruelty. Many people in the capital region wept in the streets. Kong Qian, the tax commissioner, claimed that the granaries were insufficient and cut back on military rations, which fueled the rumors among the soldiers.
The prime minister Doulu Gesheng was terrified and led all the officials to submit a memorial, requesting that the gold and silk from the imperial treasury be used to generously distribute to the soldiers in light of the military mutiny in Weibo.
Empress Liu shrieked, "My husband and I rule over all nations, though through military prowess, it is also ordained by Heaven. Since fate is in the hands of Heaven, what can man do to me!"
Li Cunxu summoned his ministers to a side hall for further discussion, while Empress Liu listened from behind a screen. After a short while, she took out two sets of palace dressing utensils and two silver basins, along with three princes, including Prince Mange, and presented them to the emperor and his ministers.
"Outsiders say that the imperial treasury holds countless treasures, but what is currently in the palace consists only of dowry items and infants, which can be sold to supply the army."
The Queen Mother's behavior terrified Doulu Ge and others, who retreated in fear.
March 17th, Guihai day.
The two Privy Councilors and the actors each contributed money and silk, and Li Cunxu collected enough money and silk to distribute to the various armies.
At that time, soldiers' families were starving, and women gathered vegetables in the fields. When these were given to the soldiers, they were not grateful. Instead, they carried the vegetables and cursed, saying, "My wives and children are already starving to death, what use is this!"
March 18th, Jiazi day.
Four hundred thousand taels of gold and silver were transported from Xichuan to the capital and distributed to the soldiers, which boosted morale somewhat.
Yuan Xingqin returned from Weizhou and used his troops to block the Heyang Bridge. He then went to Luoyang to report on the military situation. He said that the mutinous troops had occupied Bozhou and were about to attack Yunzhou and Bianzhou. He advised Li Cunxu to go to Guandong to pacify the area.
Li Cunxu knew this route of advance that led to the destruction of Liang, and Li Siyuan was also very clear about it.
Should we rule from across the river, or take the initiative to attack and seize the world?
"How can a general speak of change with the three armies, and expect a draw in the future? The situation is critical; we should not remain calm."
Shi Jingtang secretly told Li Siyuan, "Hesitation is a great taboo in military strategy. If you must plead for help, you should make a decision. I am willing to lead three hundred cavalrymen to the Bian River first to test the tiger's mouth. If we succeed, please let the main army advance quickly. Yimen is a vital pass for the world. If we occupy it, we can avenge ourselves."
Commander Kang Yicheng of the Tuqi also said: "Our lord does not consider the perilous state, nor does he think of the hardships endured by the soldiers. He indulges in hunting and women, and is addicted to wine and pleasure. If we follow the crowd, we will have a place to return to; if we uphold our loyalty, we will die."
Li Siyuan then made up his mind.
He dispatched Shi Jingtang with 300 elite cavalry to cross the river at Liyang, enter the west gate of Bianliang, and seize the city first. The entire army bypassed Weizhou, avoided Yuan Xingqin's interception, and crossed the river at Baigao.
Just then, several ships carrying silk arrived from Shandong as tribute, which were used to reward the troops, further boosting morale.
As they were about to cross the river, they were worried because there were very few ferries. Suddenly, several rafts came along the current and were used to ferry the army across, so there was no delay.
From the layout to the details of warhorses, military supplies, and ferries, everything was just right.
Meanwhile, Li Congke led his troops from Hengshui, traveling thousands of miles through Yangqu and Mengxian back to Zhenzhou. Wang Jianli, the commander left to guard Zhenzhou, killed the supervising officer and protected Li Siyuan's family.
Li Congke and Wang Jianli joined forces and marched five hundred li at double speed to Xiangzhou. Li Siyuan was overjoyed and appointed him as the rearguard, greatly boosting the army's strength.
"Ah San."
Gao Xingzhou called out the old name in a low voice: "Now that things have come to this, do you still think that everything was just a coincidence?"
-----------------
Place Name Comparison
Liyang: East of Hedao Village, Jun County, Hebi City, Henan Province
Bai Gao: An ancient ferry crossing on the Yellow River northeast of Hua County, Anyang City, Henan Province