Five hundred and thirtieth IX disaster root seedlings
When I use Sheyou, my actions are hidden in me. Why not take a leisurely look at them? I am tall and strong, but I am young and old, and I am in front of you. Hmm.
——Excerpt from "Qinyuanchun·Lights in the Lonely House" by Su Shi
…
At the end of December, Shi Siming took advantage of Cui Guangyuan, the Jiedushi envoy of Henan Province and the prefect of Weizhou, who had just captured Weizhou (today's Daming County, Hebei Province). The situation was still unstable, so he led his army south. Cui Guangyuan ordered general Li Chuyin to send troops to resist.
Shi Siming used counterintuitive tactics to induce Cui Guangyuan to cut Li Chuying in half.
Li Chuyin was a brave general, and all the armies in Henan Province respected him. Li Chuyin was executed, which caused the Tang army to become disorganized.
When Shi Siming's army attacked again, the Tang army collapsed, and Cui Guangyuan escaped alone and ran back to Bianzhou.
On December 29, Shi Siming captured Weizhou and killed 30,000 people.
After the capture of Weizhou, his confidant Zhou Zhi came up with a plan: An Qingxu's fate would not be long after the siege of Yecheng. Once An Qingxu was killed by the Tang army, hundreds of thousands of Yan troops would be leaderless and would inevitably surrender to the Tang army.
If Shi Siming could hold high the banner of becoming king at this time, he would inevitably gather the Yan army under the banner of Fan Yangjun. This move not only enhanced the strength of Fan Yangjun, made the Tang Dynasty court use the enemy's weapon, but also inherited the Yan tradition in his own hands.
Once the time is right, he can ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor, competing against the Tang Dynasty.
Shi Siming was overjoyed when he heard this.
On the first day of the first lunar month of the second year of Qianyuan, Shi Siming built a high platform in the north of Weizhou City, built an altar to worship heaven, and proclaimed himself the "Great Sage King of Yan". He appointed his confidant Zhou Zhi as the marching commander.
…
Ever since Fan Yang's army marched south, Hedong Jiedushi Li Guangbi, Shi Siming's old rival, had a thorn in his back.
After Shi Siming captured Weizhou, he did not move his troops. It was clear that he would sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, waiting to reap the benefits.
Li Guangbi was on pins and needles and couldn't sleep at night: the army would be exhausted after a long expedition. If Yecheng could not be captured for a long time, Shi Siming would definitely take advantage of the Tang army's fatigue to launch a surprise attack, with disastrous consequences.
Li Guangbi immediately proposed to Yu Chaoen: "Shi Siming captured Weizhou but refused to advance because he hoped that our army would be slack and unprepared, and then use elite troops to launch a surprise attack.
I suggest that we divide our troops and go north, join forces with Shuofang's army to encircle Weizhou, and advance towards Shi Siming. Shi Siming is still frightened by the defeat in Jiashan and will not dare to send troops rashly. Even if we cannot win, a stalemate will be enough to relieve the Tang army from the danger of being attacked from both sides.
Once Yecheng is captured and An Qingxu is executed, Shi Siming will lose the name of driving the remnants of the Yan army."
After Yu Chaoen read it, he threw the letter into the fire and burned it, flatly rejecting Li Guangbi's proposal.
Yu Chaoen sneered and said to his confidants: "How can I, the envoy of Xuanwei who looks at the military appearance and handles the situation solemnly, let a Khitan man under my command point fingers?
At present, there are hundreds of thousands of Tang troops gathered in Yecheng. The capture of Yecheng is just around the corner, and there is no need to worry about Shi Siming.
When we capture Yecheng, we will move northward and concentrate the main force of the Tang army. We will definitely defeat Shi Siming in one fell swoop! By then, I will have achieved unparalleled military exploits. Not to mention the generals such as Guo Ziyi, even Eunuch Li of Li Fuguo will have to obey me!"
…
Shi Siming became king, which made Suzong very angry. He regretted that he had not adopted Li Mi's suggestion and was not in a hurry to regain the two capitals. Instead, he bypassed the Great Wall and went north to capture Fan Yang's lair in one fell swoop.
Prime Minister Wang Yu saw that Suzong was unhappy, so he suggested that Suzong offer sacrifices to heaven, obey the will of heaven, and resolve the bad luck.
Suzong adopted his words, and on the tenth day of the first lunar month, Suzong led the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty to worship the "Nine Palaces of Noble Gods".
(The nine gods of Taoism: Taiyi God, Sheti God, Quanzhu God, Swaggering God, Tianfu God, Qinglong God, Xianchi God, Taiyin God, Tianyi God)
On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, Suzong personally presided over the spring plowing ceremony, hoping to restore the destiny through a series of sacrificial activities.
…
When the three of them were discussing secretly in the room, Huang Zhen sarcastically said: "It's enough not to adopt General Li Guangbi's suggestion, but he still believes in the magic of gods and spirits. What is the emperor thinking in his head?"
Tang Kui sighed: "Brother Fu's prediction was good. If Yu Chaoen, a eunuch, is allowed to do whatever he wants, the siege of Yecheng will be more serious than bad."
Bai Fu said: "In addition to the battle report from Yecheng, have brothers noticed the military report from Pinglu Army?"
"What happened to the Pinglu Army?" Huang and Tang asked eagerly.
Bai Fu handed a letter in his hand to the two of them.
It turned out that after the death of Pinglu Jiedu envoy Wang Xuanzhi, Suzong sent eunuchs to express condolences and appease the soldiers, and selected Wang Xuanzhi's son as his successor in the army, preparing to hand over the Pinglu army's seal to this person.
Li Huaiyu, a Goguryeo general, colluded with a group of soldiers, mobilized troops to remonstrate, killed Wang Xuanzhi's son, and recommended his cousin Hou Xiyi to the imperial eunuch as the military envoy of Pinglu Army.
If the imperial eunuch did not agree, he would be beheaded on the spot. The imperial eunuch quickly obeyed the order and recommended Hou Xiyi to Suzong as the military envoy of Pinglu Army.
Suzong did not know the truth and readily agreed. The court then appointed Hou Xiyi as deputy envoy of Pinglu Jiedu.
Bai Fu sighed: "The Jiedu envoys were not appointed by the imperial court, but were selected by the army officers themselves. The army has no military discipline, the country has no national laws, and the imperial court has no prestige at all.
"Shu Jing·Zhou Li" said that the king can control the world because he holds eight kinds of power: nobility, salary, reward, demotion, pardon, deprivation, removal from office, and execution.
If the eight powers are abandoned, there will be a situation in which the king is not the king and the minister is not the subject.
Choosing a border garrison general is a major military matter. The Anlushan Rebellion illustrates the importance of a frontier garrison commander. Choosing the wrong military commander will cause catastrophe in the world.
A small assistant in the Pinglu Army committed rebellion and killed the commander for his own selfish interests. Instead of severely punishing the murderer, the court tolerated the traitor and allowed the gang of murderers to take over the leadership. This is raising a tiger to cause trouble and causing trouble at the root!
If we set this precedent, the officers and soldiers of the three armies will no longer rely on each other and live in harmony; the soldiers will covet their superiors, and if they don't agree with them, they will launch military revolts and annihilate their clans. The generals will be in panic all day long, and they will be wary of their subordinates.
At the first sign of rebellion, subordinates will be slaughtered.
With the border troops like this, how can the country maintain long-term peace and stability? The chaos in the feudal towns will probably begin with the Pinglu Army."
…
While the three of them were sighing and sighing, Tang Huan hurried over, knocked on the door and entered, saying: "Young Master Bai, this is the pigeon letter you just received. Please take a look."
Bai Fu opened it and took a look. His chest hurt and he sat down on the bed.
Tang Kui took the pigeon letter and looked at it. It turned out to be a military report about General Li Siye.
In the first month of the first month, generals such as Li Siye and Guo Ziyi besieged Xiangzhou. The Tang army fought for a long time and the soldiers were tired. All the generals failed to make any achievements. Only General Siye did not remove his armor day and night. He led the Anxi army to kill the enemy bravely many times. Among the Tang armies on the road,
Military merit ranks first.
Ye City could not be captured for a long time. Li Siye took the lead and led the troops to attack the city with a Mo Dao. Unexpectedly, he was hit in the vital part by a stray arrow and was seriously injured...
The three of them looked at each other and felt a bad omen in their hearts.