In the second year of Shaoming, AD 947, on the second day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Yan received Tuoba Heng's advice, so he was not prepared to wait in Langzhou to meet the various Xidong barbarians west of Huxiang, especially Peng Shichou.
Zhang Yan is not a small separatist king like Ma Xifan. He is the emperor of a great dynasty. It is indeed inappropriate at this stage to go to Langzhou to swear an oath with a few barbarians who control tens of thousands of tribesmen.
Of course, the most important thing is that Tuoba Heng made Zhang Yan realize that now is not the best time to solve the problems of the ethnic groups in the southwest, and the native official system cannot be implemented immediately. This matter should wait until the world is settled, and then take it slowly.
Better to solve it.
Before Zhang Yan set off to leave, good news came from Guo Rong in Langzhou.
Pan Mei led 500 elite troops to raid the Langzhou barbarian stronghold in the mountains on a snowy night. The barbarian soldiers were caught off guard and were defeated by Pan Mei and the 500 warriors.
Guo Rong took the opportunity to attack from both sides with Zhao Kuangyin's army, and once again defeated the barbarians in Cili County, beheading more than a thousand people, seizing more than 3,000 cattle, and captured Ma Xihe's confidant Zhu Jinzhong and other generals who had fled to the barbarians in Langzhou.
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The losses suffered by the Langzhou barbarians were extremely heavy. The attacking power of the imperial army also shocked the barbarians. Many leaders were frightened and did not dare to support a few people against the imperial court.
So there were more than 60 local barbarians from Xiang, Tian, Lei and other clans, and finally they chose to be sent down the mountain to surrender to Guo Rong.
Guo Rong surrendered nearly 100,000 men and women, and seized countless baggage. Most of the gold, silver, brocade, armor, swords, and cattle that the barbarians had robbed from Tanzhou were recovered.
As the Xidong barbarians west of Huxiang with the highest degree of sinicization, the barbarians in Langzhou were actually no different from the Han people in Hunan at the end of the Tang Dynasty.
They had also learned advanced farming techniques from the Han people a long time ago, and many of them were even Han people who could not bear the turmoil and fled into the mountains.
This situation is actually very common in Hunan. When the political power in the plains was stable, the Xidong barbarians came down from the mountains to accept government management and became Han people.
The plains were in turmoil, and the Han people would also run to the Wuling Mountains and become Xidong barbarians.
This operation of exchanging identities between the two in order to survive has been going on for at least a thousand or two thousand years.
Cili County is located in the area transitioning from Wuling Mountain to the Dongting Lake Plain. Further west, there is a vast primitive jungle.
The Langzhou barbarians have been cultivating the plains for seventy or eighty years, and most of them have long lost the courage to continue living a hard life in the mountains and forests.
Cattle are their lifeblood. Among the Langzhou barbarians, a bullock is more important than the lives of the whole family. It is the most important tool for production.
Therefore, after Guo Rong captured thousands of cattle, if they did not want to go into the mountains and become terrifying erect apes, they had no choice but to come down and surrender in order to ask the court to treat them leniently.
Zhang Yan immediately ordered Guo Rong to conduct a detailed screening and severely punish the big and small mantou who responded to Ma Xi'e and committed crimes in Tanzhou City according to the law.
Those who deserved beheading were beheaded, those who deserved exile were exiled, those who deserved hard labor were immediately detained, and many of them were slapped with a stick.
But in fact, this is a helpless choice, because until now, it is impossible to identify them one by one. There must be many fish that have slipped through the net, but Zhang Yan can only do this, and he cannot kill them all.
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This is also the reason why Zhang Yan left the matter to Guo Rong, because although Zhou Shizong in history governed the country well, he was not a good-tempered person, and had a very bad temper.
Sure enough, Guo Rong killed more than a hundred people from various caves in Cili County, and made more than 600 barbarian generals as hard laborers. He recovered the plundered property worth about 150,000 guan and rescued the abducted people.
There are more than a thousand women.
Then they also confiscated the gold and silver accumulated by the Mantou family in Zhuxidong for hundreds of years, worth more than 100,000 gold.
As for the barbarian people who came down the mountain to seek refuge, Guo Rong broke up the original tribal system and dispersed them according to Zhang Zhang's request.
Although leaders will still be promoted from among the barbarians to manage them, these promoted people are no longer barbarians, but village elders and village chiefs, and their power will be under the supervision of the government at all times.
The Langzhou barbarians existed during the Han Dynasty. After Lei Man started his army to separate the kingdom, they flourished for more than ten or twenty years, and Ma Yin could only divide them.
Now Zhang Gao finally took advantage of the fact that they had made a big mistake and were extremely weak, and took them under the management of the imperial court.
Speaking of which, it is all thanks to Ma Xi'e. If he hadn't lured these Xidong barbarians out and made them rich, but in the end they couldn't give up the good money and refused to flee back to the mountains like before, they could have paid about thirty thousand yuan.
The Langzhou Xidong Barbarians are really not that easy to defeat.
Of course, the Langzhou Barbarians that Guo Rong has captured so far can only be said to be the best of them. The rest, at least 40% of the Langzhou Barbarians, have chosen to flee to the mountains.
These people can only rely on blockade and appeasement at the same time. After all, the vast mountains in western Hunan cannot be conquered by force alone.
However, this also brought about a consequence, that is, Peng Shisong's father, Peng Shichou, delayed his arrival in Langzhou.
No matter how Peng Shisong tried to persuade him, Peng Shichou did not dare to go to Langzhou for fear of being imprisoned by Zhang Yan.
Zhang Yan, who received Peng Shisong's apology letter, did not force it, which further confirmed Tuoba Heng's advice.
To regain the tribes in the southwest, conquest with weapons and shock are the foundation, and the native official system is the flower that blooms from this foundation.
On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Gao ordered to kill more than 60 rebel generals including Ma Xichong, Zhu Jinzhong, Xu Qiong and others on the bank of the Xiangjiang River outside Tanzhou City.
Also executed at the same time were more than 700 Wu'an army soldiers who looted Tanzhou, and the Xiangjiang River was red with blood.
The people of Tanzhou rushed to tell each other that a family member had died at the hands of these people, and they arrived armed with sticks and kitchen knives.
The angry people chopped all the corpses on the ground into mincemeat, and rushed directly into the Xiangjiang River to feed the fish without even having to bury them.
As for Ma Xi'e, he naturally wanted to bring him back to Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo to show off the majesty of the army.
After killing the people, Zhang Gao pretended to confer upon Ma Xiguang the title of King of Chu, Governor-General of Tanzhou, Commander-in-Chief of all Dao in the south of the Yangtze River, and Military Envoy of Wu'an.
Ma Xiguang didn't dare to accept it, so he could only kneel down outside the east gate of Tanzhou and cry and beg, saying that Ma Chu's luck was at an end and he would like to donate his land and return it to the country.
So Zhang Yan immediately got off the donkey, abolished the Chu vassal state of Ma Chu, and changed the entire land of Ma Chu into Hunan Province, Tanzhou into Changsha Prefecture, Langzhou into Wuling Prefecture, and Guizhou into Guilin Prefecture.
Ma Xiguang was appointed Pingzhang of Hunan Province, but Ma Xiguang declined again, so Zhang Gao withdrew the order and named Ma Xiguang the Grand Tutor of the School, General Youbao Taowei, Zhongshu Ling, and the title of Prince of Changsha County.
He was given the title of Marriage Princess Yutan and was given the special title Prince Consort Commandery. He was given the prince's robes and guard of honor.
All of Ma Xiguang's positions are fictitious, especially Zhongshu Ling, which seems to be of high authority, but in fact Zhang Zhou's Zhongshu Ling is Zhang Zhang himself.
On weekdays, the people in charge are the Minister of Zhongshu and the Zhangtai Ling and Luantai Ling under his jurisdiction. The Zhongshu Ling with the title of Zhongshu Ling only receives a salary.
After sealing Ma Xiguang, Zhang Yan moved more than 300 members of the Ma clan, including Ma Xizhan, Ma Xineng, and Ma Xiguan, to the sacred capital of Luoyang.
Build temples and offer sacrifices.
Zhang Gao collected all the houses, shops, fields, gold, silver, brocade and other valuables of the Ma family in the Chu region, and received about 570,000 guan. He left 100,000 guan for Ma Xiguang and distributed 70,000 guan among the horses.
Ma Xiguang and others were grateful for their kindness. Under the escort and surveillance of Zuo Bao Tao Guard's 500 cavalry, they bid farewell to Changsha City and Ma's Sheji Ancestral Temple and set off northward.
On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Zhi officially appointed Guo Wei as the Pingzhang of Hunan Province and the defense envoy of Hunan Province.
He also asked Guo Wei to equalize the land in Hunan and build the Changsha Town of the Forbidden Army. At the same time, he established guard armies in Changsha, Wuling, Yueyang, Hengyang and other places.
Later, Guo Wei applied to move the administrative office to Wuling Prefecture (Langzhou) on the grounds that Changsha was dilapidated. Zhang Xian immediately agreed and appointed Guo Wei as the governor of Wuling Prefecture.
Changsha now has only 10,000 residents and the city is full of rubble. It really cannot be used as a provincial capital. Moreover, by reaching Wuling (Changde), we can better suppress the Langzhou barbarians who have just been surrendered.
Later, Zhang Gao left He Zhongju in Changsha and served as the envoy of Hunan Province and the prefect of Changsha, presiding over the restoration work of Changsha.
At the same time, Zhang Gao ordered Zhang Zhaojun (Ma Shacai) to lead 6,000 cavalry south to Guilin.
Zhang Zhaojun was appointed as General Chijie Pingnan, commander-in-chief of the military affairs of the prefectures and counties south of Guilin Prefecture, and concurrently served as the governor of Guilin Prefecture and the military supervisor of Guilin Prefecture.
After Zhang Zhaojun arrived in Guilin, he rectified the local Jingbian army of Ma Chu and obtained more than 3,000 elite soldiers. He also gained nearly 10,000 soldiers from Juntian. Including the personal troops he brought, the forbidden army had 6,000 people, and the strength reached 2
The scale of tens of thousands of people was enough to make the Southern Han Dynasty afraid to take a peek.
After that, Zhang Zhaojun repaired the Ling Canal between the Lijiang River and the Xiangjiang River, organized and trained the Lijiang River navy, collected the hydrological conditions of the Lijiang River, built large and small warships and grain transport ships, and began to make preliminary preparations to defeat the Southern Han Dynasty.
Work.
On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Yan arrived at Yueyang Mansion again and personally presided over the wedding of his adopted son Zhao Yanjin and Ma Xiguang's youngest daughter.
At the same time, Zhao Yanjin was appointed as the military and horse supervisor of Yueyang Mansion, and all the navy and army in Yueyang were handed over to Zhao Yanjin.
At this time, Lu Yin, who was on an envoy to the Southern Tang Dynasty, returned. Li Jing was frightened by Zhang Gao's hard and soft tactics and completely lost his opinion. He was extremely afraid that Zhang Gao would hold him accountable for taking in Gao Baoxu and trying to recruit Wang Yun, the former governor of Chuyue Prefecture.
Yuan Heng (Tuoba Heng), who had changed his surname back to Yuan, and the new governor of Yueyang, Liao Kuangtu, immediately suggested that Zhang Yan take advantage of the opportunity to raid Ezhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty. As long as Ezhou was attacked, the entire Southern Tang Dynasty would completely lose its advantage on the Yangtze River.
But Zhang Yan didn't want to do this for the time being, because the Southern Tang Dynasty was just lip service and there was no need to deal with it like this. The most important thing now was to deal with Meng Shu.
Because of the news from Shu, Meng Chang was not as extravagant and peaceful as he had been in history. Instead, he was still trying his best to accumulate strength and seemed to have some ideas.
Zhang Yan's original views on Meng Shu, especially Meng Chang, were actually misled by historical results.
In history, Meng Chang was known to spend a lot of time and alcohol. In addition to his own character shortcomings, there were two huge reasons.
First, Meng Shu's move to march into Guanzhong was hit by successive blows from the Later Han Dynasty and the Later Zhou Dynasty. The elite soldiers, especially Sun Hanshao, Zhang Qianzhao, etc. basically came to an end, and there was no hope at all.
But now, Meng Shu's strength has not been greatly reduced, but is still somewhat prosperous. Meng Chang still has some expectations in his heart.
To be precise, the future of Shu has not reached the point where Meng Chang has completely despaired.
Second, Zhao Jiliang, a wise minister who could guide Meng Chang, had just passed away, and Mrs. Huarui had just been acquired by Meng Chang and brought into the palace. King Meng had not yet had time to reveal his true nature.
As for all the countries in the world today, the Khitan has basically been destroyed, Nanping and Ma Chu have been established, Li Jing of the Southern Tang Dynasty is frightened, Qian Yue, and the Southern Han Dynasty are not afraid, only Meng Shu still has some strength, Zhang Gao of course wants to fight him first
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Although this is the case, Yuan Heng still suggested: "The establishment of the Southern Tang Dynasty was based on three pillars: the natural danger of the Yangtze River, the sharp naval force, and the brave generals and loyal ministers.
Among these three pillars, the natural danger of the Yangtze River and the sharpness of the navy were about to be lost. Among the loyal ministers, Chen Qiao of Jizhou, Chen Ziqiao, and Lu Jinqing of Hongzhou, although they had the talents of Wang Zuo, the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty could not use them.
Therefore, only the brave generals Liu Renzhan of Shouzhou, He Jingzhu of Ezhou, etc., who command large troops and guard the natural dangers, are a serious concern for the imperial court.
Even if Ezhou is not taken, He Jingzhu cannot be allowed to continue to serve in Ezhou."
"Do you have any good strategies to drive away He Jingzhu?" The time is not ripe to attack Ezhou, but we can consider driving away He Jingzhu.
Yuan Heng immediately said to Zhang Yan: "Now that Gao Baoxu and others are in Ezhou, your Majesty can send envoys to ask for the handover of Gao Baoxu and others.
Didn't the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty say that he never ordered the admission of Gao Baoxu and put the blame on He Jingzhu? Then we can use this excuse to hold He Jingzhu accountable.
Moreover, since the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty was canonized by a saint and was a vassal of the Great Zhou Dynasty, He Jingzhu, the governor of the Wuchang Army in Ezhou, should also be a vassal of the saint.
So when we asked He Jingzhu to hand over Gao Baoxu and others, we also asked him to go out of the city to explain the situation to the angels. As soon as he left the city, we would capture him immediately and send him to serve in the imperial court."
Zhang Zhang touched his chin and said, "He Jingzhu has been operating in Ezhou for many years. The Wuchang Army of the Southern Tang Dynasty still has 20,000 troops, and the naval army is at least 10,000. Let's capture their commander in Ezhou. Isn't it too risky?"
Zhao Yanjin, who had just taken off his bridegroom's wedding clothes, immediately came over, pointed at Zhang Yan on the map and said: "Sir, there is a city named Hanchuan to the east of Ezhou. You can let the angels stop in Hanchuan and order He Jingzhu to come here.
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If we capture him here, the Wuchang Army in Ezhou won't be able to rescue him for a while, so if I can lead the Yueyang Navy to respond, I will be safe."
It seems that He Jingzhu must have some abilities, because both the local Zhang Shaodi and his adopted son Zhao Yanjin are quite wary of him.
Thinking of this, Zhang Hao simply became cruel and said, "In this case, I will first order Du Lunchi to lead the navy from Jiangling to rush to Yueyang Mansion. If the arrest fails, we must beware of the attack of the navy from the Southern Tang Dynasty."
Then Zhang Hao looked behind him with a smile and asked: "I need a bold and careful person to convey the order. I wonder which Qing family is willing to go?"
Wang Jiu laughed in the distance, "Sage, this is a certain family that does its duty. The previous time I scolded the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty was not enough, so this time I will use He Jingzhu to make up for it."
Okay! Zhang Yan also felt that only someone like Wang Jiu could do such a thing, so he immediately poured a bowl of wine for Wang Jiu himself.
"If He Jingzhu is captured and brought back to the court this time, your title will be secured."