At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the warlords fought in a melee, which boiled the people's resentment and led to overwhelming peasant uprisings sweeping across the country, with smoke and wars everywhere.
In July of the twelfth year of Daye (616), Emperor Yang took a dragon boat trip to Jiangdu.
At that time, Li Mi, the leader of the Wagangzhai Army, occupied Luokou and blocked Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty from returning to the west. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty stayed in Jiangdu and had no intention of returning to the capital to prosper. Instead, he planned to use Danyang (now Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province) as his capital and settle in the east of the Yangtze River.
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Most of the Xiaoguo Imperial Guards who followed the emperor were from Guanzhong in the northwest. They had lived abroad for a long time and were homesick for their families and home.
When the officers and soldiers saw that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty did not want to return to Chang'an in the west, but wanted to stay in Jiangdong for a long time, they became increasingly uneasy and planned to rebel against the emperor and return to the west.
Wu Benlang's general Sima Dekan commanded more than ten thousand Xiaoguo troops and was stationed in Jiangdu City, directly responsible for the emperor's security.
When he learned that Sergeant Xiaoguo was plotting to defect, he secretly contacted some people and planned to stage a rebellion by taking advantage of the soldiers' eagerness to return home.
At this time, they had no ambition to kill the emperor and rebel. They just wanted to plunder some property and then return westward to Guanzhong in a group.
Yuwen Zhiji, who had always been wild and rebellious, was very happy when he learned the news, and immediately went to see Sima Dekan.
At the same time, he was encouraged to give up his original idea of small and futile fights, and instead take advantage of the chaos in the world to rise up against the Sui Dynasty.
Then use the opportunity of the elite imperial army to carry out a great cause of conquering the world.
Sima Dekan thought that what he said was reasonable, but rebellion was a big deal and there had to be a leader!
Several people discussed it and decided to support Yu Wenhuaji as the coach of the uprising.
After the plot was completed, these few people informed Yu Wenhuaji of the plot.
Yu Wenhua and Ben were cowardly and incompetent. When they first heard about such a major conspiracy, their faces suddenly changed with fright.
But Yu Wenhuaji is a frivolous and incompetent person. After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't help but feel greedy in his heart.
Of course, this is related to Yu Wenhua and his unkind and unjust temperament.
Yu Wenhuaji's father was General Zuoyiwei of the Sui Dynasty. He often relied on his father's power to act recklessly and did not follow the law.
Because he witnessed the dark inside story of corruption in the upper echelons of the ruling class, he developed a cruel, insidious, greedy and arrogant nature, and never followed the law.
He often led his servants, rode on tall horses, held bows and bullets, and galloped along the Chang'an Road to bully the people. Therefore, the people in the city called him "the frivolous young man."
When he learned that he had the opportunity to become king and emperor, Yu Wenhuaji was naturally overjoyed.
On the night of March 10, the fourteenth year of Daye (618), Sima Dekan lured Xiaoguo in from the Xuanwu Gate, and Pei Qantong and Yuanli went straight into the palace to search for him.
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty heard about the change and hid in Yongxiang, but was still captured by the rebels.
In order to be able to legitimately claim the title of king and emperor in the future, Yu Wenhuaji ordered the school captain Linghu Xingda to hang Emperor Yang.
As a result, the Sui clan and relatives in Jiangdu Palace were all massacred.
In order to stabilize the morale of the army and at the same time to avoid excessiveness, Emperor Sui Yang's nephew Yang Hao, King of Qin, was able to survive and was made emperor by Yu Wenhuaji.
Hou Yuwen Wenji became the prime minister, and Yuwen Zhiji became Zuopushe, preparing to lead more than 100,000 Sui officers and soldiers back to Guanzhong.
When Yu Wenhuaji's troops marched to Xuzhou, due to the impassable waterway, he ordered to plunder 2,000 local ox carts and load the palace maids' treasures into them.
The baggage, armor, weapons, etc. were carried by the soldiers.
Due to the long distance of the road and the lack of people and horses, the officers and soldiers of the three armies complained a lot.
Ministers Sima Dekan, Zhao Xingshu and general Chen Botu all planned to kill Yu Wenhuaji, but they were all killed by Yu Wenhuaji because of poor planning.
Later, Yu Wenhuaji was defeated by Wagang Li Mi, and most of the soldiers began to flee.
In the end, less than 20,000 soldiers followed him, and they retreated to Wei County.
After all, the Sui Dynasty at that time was orthodox, and Yu Wenji's rebellious army and people did not support it.
Knowing that he would be defeated, Yu Wenhuaji sighed: "You must die in life, how can you not become an emperor one day?"
So the puppet emperor Yang Hao was killed, and the emperor was located in Wei County. His country name was Xu, and his founding name was Tianshou.
Later, Yu Wenhuaji was defeated and captured by Dou Jiande.
If we say that Emperor Yang spent his time on the people and money in three expeditions against Goryeo, he was defeated and his country was damaged.
Then Yu Wenji's rebellion and the massacre of all the Sui royal family ruined the last hope of the Sui Dynasty.
Because Yu Wenhua's rebellion came too suddenly, Emperor Yang and other members of the Sui Dynasty royal family were killed.
Without a leader, many old officials of the Sui Dynasty were actually unprepared.
This also caused many old officials and soldiers of the Sui Dynasty to stay in Jiangnan.
Later, through secret contacts with Empress Xiao, these old officials and soldiers of the Sui Dynasty gradually disappeared in Jiangnan.
Many former Sui officials and soldiers have developed in Jiangnan for decades.
Some became high-ranking officials in the Tang Dynasty, some became gentry and common people in Jiangnan, and some were lost in the long river of time.
But it is undeniable that a large number of people have actually survived in various ways, and some people still remember their old feelings from the Sui Dynasty.
Therefore, as soon as Empress Xiao's secret rescue order came out, the former Sui troops in Jiangnan took notice.
For a time, the whole Jiangnan situation was strange.
…
In the official office of Jiangning County (Nanjing), County Governor Huang Shanchen was concentrating on handling official duties, and even his personal secretary quietly entered without noticing.
Shu Zuo walked briskly and went straight to Huang Shanchen's desk. Seeing that his master didn't seem to notice his arrival, he coughed lightly to remind him.
Huang Shanchen finally came to his senses and saw that it was his confidant Shu Zuo who was sent by his family to assist him. He asked in surprise: "Fu Cai, what's the matter?"
Secretary Huang Fucai presented the letter in his hand to Huang Shanchen: "Your Excellency's secret letter..."
Huang Shanchen was stunned for a moment, then quickly picked up the letter and read it carefully.
After a long time, Huang Shanchen handed the letter to Huang Fucai and said with a wry smile: "Oh, this is making things difficult for me!"
With Huang Fucai as his confidant, Huang Shanchen was obviously very relieved and did not evade even the secret orders issued by Empress Xiao.
Huang Fucai took it with both hands, glanced at it, read the contents of the letter, thought for a moment, and asked: "Do you have any objections, sir?"
Huang Shanchen stood up and said with a wry smile: "So what if I care about you, so what if I don't care about you? I am a county governor who seems to be a shepherd, but in fact I can't go out of the government office, and I am completely ignored by the Jiangnan nobles."
"It's not just me, it's the same everywhere in the south of the Yangtze River. Within the Jiangning government office, apart from you and me and the people we've won over over the years, all the key positions are held by people from the Jiangnan gentry."
"Even if I am willing to repay Empress Xiao for helping me and repay the kindness of Sui Dynasty, I can't do anything."
"It's not easy to instruct the people in the county to go to the rescue. I am really powerless!"
These remarks were not deliberately evasive by Huang Shanchen.
In the Tang Dynasty, the highest level of local classification was "state", and the governor was appointed as its chief.
At this time, Jiangning County has not been planned to be "Shengzhou" in the future, so it is still called Jiangning County.
Although he is a county governor, he actually does not have much power.
Under him, there are also officials such as Chang Shi, Sima, Judicial, and Military Officers, who are called assistant officials.
These positions have specific control over various departments and are official positions with real power.
If these people did not cooperate, he, the county guard, would not be able to mobilize any soldiers at all.
The secret letter made it very clear that Yang Fan, the governor of Jiangnan, was besieged on Yuntai by some Jiangnan nobles and Shanyue people.
After so many days, the county guard himself has not received any news. Obviously the officials below do not want him to know.
Jiangshou County Sima, who joined the army... were almost all controlled by officials from various gentry clans in the south of the Yangtze River. Huang Shanchen seemed to be in a high position and had control over the situation, but he could not command these gentry officials at all.
Otherwise, these people should have reported it as soon as the Shanyue people rebelled, and even sent troops to exterminate them.
Now that the governor of Jiangnan was in danger, he, the county governor, was the last to know. Of course, he knew that these officials deliberately concealed it.
Huang Fucai carefully looked at the door and saw that no one was paying attention here, so he whispered to Huang Shanchen: "Sir, I think this matter is a good opportunity to break the situation. If it is done well, not only can you retaliate
The previous kindness can still further control Jiangning County..."
Huang Shanchen frowned and asked: "Jiangning County is controlled by various noble officials, and the government is controlled everywhere. The name does not live up to its reality. This is known to the world. Even the imperial decree is not easy to implement. How can this be broken?"
Huang Fucai explained: "It is precisely because you are being constrained everywhere that you should stand up and resist. The imperial court sent the governor to the south of the Yangtze River for the obvious purpose of dealing with the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. If your Excellency takes action when the governor is in danger,
Once the governor is out of trouble, wouldn't it be a great achievement? If the emperor is happy, it is not impossible to transfer your Excellency to the capital to serve."
Huang Shanchen sighed: "Although what you say makes sense, if you want to send troops for rescue, you must get the consent of Sima Linxing and Fan Cheng who joined the army. They were from Jiangnan noble families, and the secret letter said that these two families were involved in this incident.
Quite profound, they are obviously very ambitious, how can they agree to send troops for rescue?"
Seeing Huang Shanchen sighing, Huang Fucai shook his head secretly.
It seems that my father no longer has the ambitions he once had.
As a former official of the Sui Dynasty, he obtained the high position of county governor with the secret support of Empress Xiao.
I originally planned to make some achievements here, but I was repeatedly suppressed by the Jiangnan nobles. Now that I am getting older, I no longer have the same high spirits as before.
Although Huang Shanchen wanted to protect himself wisely, Huang Fucai was unwilling to do so!
As a descendant of the Huang family, he was deeply loved by his family, otherwise he would not have been sent to study with Huang Shanchen.
Now that he had such a good opportunity to curry favor with the governor sent by the imperial court, Huang Fucai certainly didn't want to let it go.
Adding icing on the cake is worse than providing help in times of need. Anyone with a discerning eye understands this truth.
So Huang Fucai whispered: "My lord, please forgive me for disagreeing. Some things don't have to be accomplished, but require an attitude... Of course, if you want to make a difference, you have to do your best."
As a veteran in officialdom, Huang Shanchen is certainly not stupid, and he soon realized it!
yes!
All areas south of the Yangtze River were controlled by the gentry, and the emperor and the officials in the court were well aware of this.
The purpose of sending Yang Fan to Jiangnan this time was to break the monopoly of the Jiangnan gentry.
Now that the Jiangnan nobles are openly defying the imperial court, they will definitely arouse the emperor's anger.
In this case, it doesn't really matter whether you can successfully rescue him or not. What's important is that you have to make your own side clear.
As Huang Fucai said, whether it is successful or not is one thing; whether it is done or not is another matter!
As a superior, he would not want to see the ministers he sent to Jiangnan doing nothing.
Furthermore, will His Majesty Li Er give up control of Jiangnan?
Obviously it's impossible. If we really gave up Jiangnan, how could we send Yang Fan south?
After he figured it out, he no longer had any scruples. Huang Shanchen slapped the desk and shouted loudly: "What the rich man said makes sense. In the future, our Huang family will have to rely on young people like you."
"Immediately take my seal and invite Sima He to join the army. I want to see why these Jiangnan gentry officials refused me to rescue the imperial officials. Do they really dare to blatantly risk the disapproval of the world?"
"My lord is wise."
Huang Fucai looked happy and took the order and left.
It is a troubled time now, and these Jiangnan officials are watching the development of the situation in the official office.
Therefore, Huang Fucai quickly invited two people.
Sima Linxing, dressed in official robes, and Fan Cheng, a soldier in the army, walked into the government office one after another.
Lin Xing is about forty years old, with a white face and no beard, and he seems to be amiable, but from the coldness that flashes in his eyes from time to time, it can be seen that he is a difficult person to deal with.
Fan Cheng, on the other hand, is tall and tall, wearing armor and a sword, his nose is turned up to the sky, and he is extremely arrogant.
As soon as he saw Huang Shanchen, Fan Cheng, who joined the army, asked impatiently: "I don't know what the important thing is for us to come here. Now that bandits are rampant, don't delay our defense."
When speaking, he stood in the hall without even bending his waist, which was extremely rude.
As he spoke, he walked towards the stool on the side, not paying attention to the county governor Huang Shanchen at all.
Huang Shanchen did not care about this, and asked with anger: "Since joining the army knew that there were many mountain bandits, did you know that the Shanyue people rebelled and besieged the governor of Jiangnan Province in Yuntai Mountain?"
Hearing this, Fan Cheng was not afraid of boiling water: "I have indeed heard it!"
But I muttered in my heart, not only did I know, but the head of the family also sent people to attack and kill Yang Fan, what can you do?
Seeing Fan Cheng who didn't take his words seriously at all, Huang Shanchen was so angry that his beard stood up!
Have you really heard of it?
Doesn't this mean that I am really the last one to know, and these guys are deliberately hiding it from me.
Although he was prepared in his heart, Huang Shanchen was still very angry at this moment.
Will you look at me with such cold eyes next time when I am besieged by Shanyue rebels?
Thinking of this, Huang Shanchen was so angry that he gritted his teeth.
This group of Jiangnan nobles are really ambitious. They not only regard Jiangnan as their own private land, but they also ignore the imperial court.
Now you are actually watching the officials of the imperial court being put in danger. It is disgusting and shameful!
Suppressing the anger in his heart, Huang Shanchen turned to Lin Xing and said coldly: "Sima, you are in charge of Jiangning's military affairs. Now the mountains are raging and the court officials are besieged. How can you just sit back and watch?"
"I order you to quickly mobilize your troops and go to Yuntai Mountain to rescue the Governor. If the Governor escapes unharmed, I will report to the court to ask for your merits. If the Governor has some shortcomings, your Majesty will punish him when the time comes. Don't say anything about me.
The officials won’t protect you!”
These words are already a step back, and the meaning is obvious - I only want to keep Yang Fan alive, and I don't care about the rest.
At the same time, the emperor was brought up to put pressure on him!