Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 647 Ma Chu's Lifeblood
The word Hunan actually appeared very early. At least during the Dali period of the Tang Dynasty, this place was called Hunan Road.

Of course, the Hunan Road at that time did not cover all of Hunan Province, only Changsha and Shaoyang.

Hunan formed the general state and county structure of later generations, and the source was actually in the period of Ma Chu.

In the hands of Ma Yin, Chu State took Yuezhou, which belonged to the Eyue Observatory, Langzhou (Changde), which belonged to the Jingnan Jiedu Envoy, and Chenzhou and Jinzhou (the Huaihua area), which belonged to the Qianzhou Observation Envoy.

It was here that the Hunan Province of later generations basically belonged to one regime.

However, at this time, Ma Chu was only roughly integrated, because there are still a large number of ethnic minorities called Xidongman or Tuman, Beijiangman, Nanjiangman, etc. in western Hunan.

Most of them were divided into Dong, Miao and Tujia in later generations.

At this time, among the Xiangxi Xidongman, the most Sinicized one is the Langzhou Xidongman.

Before the founding of Ma Chu, Langzhou Xidongman Leiman and his sons Lei Yanwei and Lei Yangong separatist Langzhou, and were appointed as the envoys of the Wuzhen Army by the Tang Dynasty, and became an upright Tang Dynasty vassal town.

Lei's Wuzhen army occupied the rich land of Langzhou, led Huainan Yang Xingmi and others as aid, and sent troops to attack Jingzhou, Yuezhou and Tanzhou (Changsha) many times. After more than 30 years, they were under the attack of Gao Jixing and Ma Yin. destruction.

After the fall of the Lei family, Peng Shichou, a local barbarian in Xizhou (Yongshun County, Hunan Province), began to rise again, and at his peak he became the leader of the local barbarians in western Hunan and eastern Guizhou.

However, although Peng Shichou was called a barbarian, he should actually be a Han Chinese. His uncle Peng Gan and father Peng Yan were both from Jizhou (Jian) ​​in Jiangxi Province.

During the Huangchao Rebellion, these two people gathered troops to protect themselves and became warlords who ruled Jizhou area.

Later, they were expelled by the Yang Xingmi forces in Huainan, and fled to Ma Chu for self-protection. After arriving in Ma Chu, they were arranged by Ma Yin to appease the local Beijiang Man in Xizhou.

So Peng Shichou was not a Xidong barbarian, but although he was born in Jizhou, he grew up in Xiangxi. Since he was a child, he lived with the Xidong barbarians in Xiangxi, and gradually became their leader.

At that time, Ma Chu's rule over the Langzhou Man was based on the establishment of the Wuping Army Jiedushi in Langzhou, with the clan's nephew as the governor.

In Chenzhou and other places, the Peng family was comforted. Peng Shichou's cousin married Ma Xifan, the second generation king of Chu, as his wife, Mrs. Chu Xianshun.

Mrs. Xianshun is ugly but manages the family well and acts resolutely. Ma Xifan respects and fears her, so the territory of Machu is very stable.

But soon, Mrs. Xianshun passed away, and Ma Xifan lost his restraint. In order to build a palace in Tanzhou and live a life of wine ponds and meat forests, he began to distribute a large amount of gold and silver to various streams and caves in western Hunan.

Peng Shichou had grown up in Xizhou and other places, so naturally he would not allow Ma Xifan to come to Xiangxi to collect taxes, and he lost Mrs. Xianshun's communication channel, and the two sides immediately ignited the flames of war.

First, Peng Shichou led tens of thousands of people from the three prefectures of Jin, Ci, and Xi, and marched eastward to attack Chu State.

Then Ma Xifan sent Liu Qing, the governor of Jingjiang, and Liao Kuangqi, the commander of the decisive victory, to lead the army to conquer Xizhou.

The two sides fought in the Wangcheng area. Peng Shichou's barbarian equipment and discipline were not as good as the Chu army, and he was defeated immediately and fled westward in panic.

The Chu army pursued Peng Shichou's hometown of Xizhou, forcing him to retreat to the cottage and rely on the cliffs and natural dangers around him to resist the Chu army.

When the war reached here, it fell into a tragic tug-of-war.

On Chu's side, Liao Kuangqi, the commander of the decisive victory, was killed by an accident. Later, Peng Shichou was defeated by Liu Qing's fire attack. Was rejected by Shu.

But at the same time, although Peng Shichou is a Han Chinese, he has already been regarded as his own by the Dongman in various streams, and his prestige has not been damaged by his defeat.

On the contrary, the Chu soldiers who came to attack were regarded as invaders, which provoked the barbarians in various streams to resist continuously, causing the Chu soldiers to beat Peng Shichou to hide in Tibet, but they could not eliminate him.

Seeing this situation, Peng Shichou, who is worthy of being a hero, took the initiative to give in, and sent his son to lead his subordinate chiefs Tian Hongbin, Qin Xingfang, Xiang Cunku, Luo Junfu, etc., to the state of Chu with brocades, awards, Xizhou seals, and maps. Come down, take the initiative to step down the steps for Ma Xifan.

Ma Xifan couldn't fight anymore, so he agreed.

The two parties signed the historically famous Xizhou Covenant in Xizhou, stipulating that Xizhou and other places will always be under the leadership of the Peng family.

Ma Chu officially appointed Peng Shichou as the governor of Xizhou. If Chu State wanted to collect taxes and recruit soldiers here, it needed to discuss with Peng and get Peng's consent.

The Peng family summoned Mo Yanshu, the chief of Nanning Prefecture (now Huishui County, Qiannan, Guizhou), and Shibazhai.

Duyun (now Duyun, Guizhou) Chief Yin Huaichang and other twelve tribes of Man.

Zhang Wanjun, the leader of the barbarians, led more than [-] people from Dabozhou (Zunyi, Guizhou), Xiaobozhou (Zitong, Guizhou), and Yizhou (Fenggang County, Zunyi) to come.

Together, they made an alliance and surrendered to Ma Chu, and respected Ma Xifan as king, so that Ma Chu obtained a large area of ​​territory in western Hunan, eastern Guizhou, and southern Guizhou in name.

This is an extremely important event in Chinese history, marking that the ethnic minorities in western Hunan, eastern Guizhou, southern Guizhou, and southeastern Henan belonged to the country again after the fall of the Tang Dynasty.

A large copper pillar was also erected in the Xizhou Huimeng, which existed until later generations. The inscription on the copper pillar clearly recorded the situation of the alliance between the two parties.

Since then, under the restraint of the Peng family, the barbarians in western Hunan, eastern Guizhou, and southern Guizhou have gradually accepted the culture of the Central Plains, and there have been no large-scale rebellions.

In the Ming Dynasty, people of all ethnic groups in Xidong in this area even helped the Central Plains Dynasty send troops to quell the Japanese pirate rebellion in the southeast and resist the Manchu Qing invaders many times.

The natives in the southeastern area of ​​Chongqing still have the tradition of officially celebrating the New Year on the 27th and 28th of the twelfth lunar month. It is because they were enlisted to fight against Japanese pirates in the southeast back then, and it was too late for the New Year, so they moved up the time of the New Year.

When Qin Liangyu, a heroine in the late Ming Dynasty, led white pole soldiers, not all were stone pillar soldiers, but there were also a large number of Tujia soldiers from Youyang, Xiushan and other places in southeast Chongqing.

Before Qin Liangyu, during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the chieftains of Xidong, mainly in Xizhou (Yongshun County, Hunan Province), often sent troops to the northeast and southeast to fight for the court.

Peng Shichou, who is facing Zhang Ting now, is the ancestor of the Yongshun Pengjia chieftain family that has been passed down for more than 1728 years, through the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, until the sixth year of Yongzheng ([-]).

So far, among the Miao, Dong, and Tujia people in Xiangxi, Guizhou, and southeast Chongqing, Peng, Tian, ​​and Xiang are all super-popular surnames.

At that time, the son Peng Shichou sent out to ask for peace was Peng Shisong who came to see Zhang Ting as a tribute envoy this time.

Zhang Ting summoned Peng Shisong for less than a cup of tea, and immediately discovered that the person in front of him was one of the founders of Yongshun Peng's Chieftain.

Zhang Tie understood that the time for him to return to Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo had to be postponed again.

This is the advantage of the traverser, he knows who can be trusted and who cannot be trusted.

The Yongshun Peng family in front of him is his most trusted candidate to guard Xiangxi and Guizhou, as well as the rich local chieftains who can rely on them to integrate the entire Xiangxi and Guizhou.

Peng Shisong is not an ordinary person. When his Peng family was in danger, he dared to go down the mountain to seek reconciliation at the risk of being killed by the Chu army. How could such a person be an incompetent person.

Although this person is rough and ignorant of etiquette, and has a straightforward temper, but he is indeed as Zhang Shaodi said, serious and grateful.

The first thing he said when he saw Zhang Ting was to distinguish the Beijiang Man headed by the Peng family from the Langzhou Man headed by the Lei and Xiang families in Langzhou.

Because Peng Shisong knew very well that there was nothing wrong with Langzhou barbarians helping Ma Xie seize power. Their Peng family would do the same if they had the chance, but looting and burning Tanzhou city would be too much.

This is to forge a death feud!And in this way, regardless of whether Ma Chu regained his strength or the imperial court took control of Hunan, he must be held accountable for this matter.

Zhang Ting nodded, expressing his understanding of the difference between the two places. He smiled and asked Peng Shisong about his father, Peng Shichou's physical condition, and how to quickly stabilize Xi, Chen, Yi, Xiaobozhou and Nanning Prefectures.

Because the objects of the covenant of these states are King Ma Xifan of Chu and the state of Chu, now that Zhang Tie is going to take over the separatist regime of Ma Chu, he must re-conclude the covenant with these Xidong barbarians.

Peng Shisong was astonished, he didn't expect that Zhang Tie would not ask how to pacify Ma Xie, but instead asked how to pacify the barbarians in various streams and caves.

Of course, Peng Shisong was also very concerned about this matter, and he risked leaving both sons in Tanzhou just for the future of the Peng family.

If the Chinese emperor does not agree to and abide by the Xizhou Covenant, the flames of war will ignite again.

Zhang Ting looked at the surprised Peng Shisong and said with a smile: "Ma Xi'e is not the heir of Chu, and he is cruel and unpopular, I need to send a general with [-] iron armor, destroying him is like picking something out of a pocket.

On the contrary, the places to the west of Xi and Chen had finally obeyed Wang Hua. If they were not handled well, they would return to the mountains and forests again and rebel against the imperial court.

The tens of thousands of souls who were injured in the bloody battle between Er Peng's family and Ma's family in the past, wouldn't they bleed for nothing? "

When Peng Shisong heard what Zhang Ting said, he bowed his head and paid homage to the ground.

"The sage really has the idea of ​​treating the people in the streams and caves of the Nanbei River and the Han people in Tan, Yue and other prefectures as equals?"

Zhang Ting helped Peng Shisong up, "Is it the land of the king in the whole world, and the land of the land is the king's minister. As long as you Chen, Xi and other prefectures and chieftains can abide by the laws of the court and obey the orders of the court, why can't I treat you as equals?" Woolen cloth?

I don't intend to drive you all to extinction, and I don't want to join the bandits every year, and then be surrounded by imperial soldiers, right? "

Peng Shisong stood up and pulled Zhang Tie's sleeve excitedly, "Except for the brutal people like Lei's in the past, the rich chieftains of the streams and caves in the west of Tanzhou, as long as they can be treated equally by the imperial court, they will not block trade or use salt. Stealing things like sugar and iron will never give rise to a rebellious heart."

Peng Shisong understood what Zhang Ting was saying, and Zhang Ting also knew what Peng Shisong was talking about, because both of them used the words Haoqiu.

Zhang Ting was expressing his willingness to recognize the power of these powerful chieftains to lead the people, while Peng Shisong was pursuing the equal treatment of these powerful chieftains of Xidong and Han officials.

There is a phrase in history called reforming the land and returning to the local people. This was in line with the trend during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but at this time, the best choice is to appoint native officials.

The most important thing now is not to send officials to these minority lands.

Instead, these ethnic minorities, whose appearance, customs, and even culture are similar to the Han people, were brought into this big family.

First let their tribal leaders get used to accepting the leadership of the imperial court, so that they consider themselves members of the imperial court.

The two sides continued to chat for a while, and Zhang Tie finally said, "I heard that Xizhou has beautiful mountains and rivers, and outstanding people. If I have time, I really want to go to Xizhou to see it."

Peng Shisong understood in seconds, and at the same time was extremely shocked. For many years, the Xidong Man in the west of Tanzhou had never received such attention from the emperor and the court, he said immediately.

"The name of the minister's family is Xidong Mantou, but they are actually from Jizhou. Since the ancestor King Anding (Peng Gan) came to Xizhou, he has never forgotten his identity.

If the Son of Heaven can come to Xizhou, it will be the supreme glory of our Beijiang and Nanjiang streams and caves.

At that time, Xi, Chen, Yi, Nanning, Xiaobozhou, Duyun and other states will present the most beautiful girls and strongest warriors in the clan to the saints to express our loyalty. "

Zhang Tie pretended to think for a while, then nodded, Peng Shisong can't be the master of Xidongman yet, the master is still his father Peng Shichou, so he can only talk to Peng Shichou about some things.

"That's good! After Tanzhou is stabilized, I will take a trip. My father is also a Chinese hero. He has done a lot of service to appease the barbarians in various streams and caves for the imperial court. If we can meet with him, it will be a great event."

Peng Shisong was overjoyed. He even gave up his two sons, and now he finally got an unprecedented reward. The unreachable emperor of the Central Plains is going to Xizhou.

He prostrated himself on the ground, and said gratefully: "I am the west of Tanzhou, and the people of Xidong, 37 states, thank the saint for his kindness."

Seeing that Peng Shisong had reached an agreement with the emperor, Zhang Shaodi immediately stepped forward and said to Peng Shisong.

"Peng Erlang, the sage has given us such great face to the Peng family, why don't you hurry up and offer advice to the sage and get rid of that thief Ma Xie!"

Peng Shisong stood up with tears streaming down his face, and solemnly said to Zhang Ting: "It is not difficult to get rid of Ma Xi'e, as the saint said, its tyranny is unpopular, and [-] elite soldiers are enough.

But to stabilize Chu State, there are three things that must be paid attention to.

One is to prevent Ma Xie from escaping back to Langzhou. Langzhou is where Ma Xie is stationed. The local barbarians have just helped Ma Xie rob Tanzhou. If Ma Xie escapes back to Langzhou, they will find him That's difficult.

The second is Yuezhou, which is the most affluent state and county in Chu except Tanzhou and Langzhou.

Now Tanzhou is caught in the flames of war, and it will be difficult to recover. Langzhou Xidong is very powerful, and it may not be long. Only Yuezhou is rich in products. It has been an important town in Hunan since the Han Dynasty.

Wang Yun, governor of Yuezhou, was the son of the famous general Wang Huan. Huan was a tiger official of the Ma family. He was wise and brave, and loved soldiers like a son.

In addition, the name of Yuezhou's water army is the capital of Yisheng. It resists Jingnan in the north and resists Tang in the east.

The third is Ma Xizhan, the governor of the Jingjiang Army in Guizhou. Guizhou is the gateway to peek into the south of the Five Ridges.

He has guarded Guizhou for more than ten years and has won the support of the people. If the saint can treat Ma's family well and recruit Ma Xizhan, he will get the ten states in Lingnan and take a peek at the Han Dynasty in Lingnan. "

It's all dry goods, this Peng Shisong is really a treasure, Zhang Ting is overjoyed!

Wang Yun, governor of Yuezhou, was Ma Chu's rare navy general. In history, it was Wang Yun who defeated Ma Xie.

It's just that when he was about to be captured alive, Ma Xiguang let him go with a sentence not to hurt my brother, which made Wang Yun so angry that he would never support Ma Xiguang again.

Guizhou is the future Guilin. This city is to the Lingnan Pearl River Delta region what Xiangyang is to the Jianghan Plain.

Once you have mastered Guilin, you can rush directly to Guangzhou along the Lijiang-Xijiang River like Mount Tai.

In the north, Guilin can also reach the Yangtze River through a tributary of the Xiangjiang River. Thousands of years ago, Qin Shihuang built the Lingqu Canal here to connect the Xiangjiang River and the Lijiang River.

Although the Lingqu was already blocked at this time, it was not difficult to unblock it.

Zhang Tie rubbed his hands impatiently, and asked Peng Shisong and Zhang Shaodi.

"I'm going to bring Chu Fan back to the court, and Ma Xizhan is the Chu royal family. Can he be recruited by me?"

"Yes!" Zhang Shaodi nodded affirmatively.

"It's a pity that Ma Xizhan is the son of a prostitute, otherwise he would definitely be able to inherit the throne of Chu.

He understands righteousness deeply, and was heartbroken by Ma Xie's atrocities long ago. As long as His Majesty sends a court minister to accompany him south, he will certainly be able to appease him. "

What Zhang Shaodi said was correct. Historically, Ma Xizhan was beaten to death by brothers Ma Xie and Ma Xiguang.

As soon as he died, Guizhou fell into the hands of the Southern Han Dynasty. It was indeed Ma Chu's Dinghai Shenzhen in Lingnan.

As long as Zhang Ting wins the Chu clan, treats the Ma clan well, and summons them with righteousness, he will certainly be able to surrender.

Zhang Ting was relieved now, and immediately appointed Zhang Shaodi as the governor of Langzhou and the military supervisor of Langzhou, and Peng Shisong as the governor of Hengzhou and the military supervisor of Hengzhou.

Afterwards, Peng Shisong took the initiative to ask Ying to sneak back to Xizhou to recruit barbarians from various stream caves to assist Zhang Ting.

Zhang Shaodi also asked for orders, and was willing to go to Yuezhou to recruit Ma Chu, the governor of Yuezhou, and Wang Yun, the commander of Yishengdu.

Zhang Ting then sent Yang Jiye to go with the imperial decree to confer Wang Yun as Yueyang Bo, and prepare to promote the water army of Yisheng capital of Yuezhou to Yisheng town of the forbidden army.

But to be the leader of the barbarian tribe in Huixidong and to control the land of Ma Chu, Zhang Tie must consider the issue of guarding the land of Hunan.

But now, he really has no generals to use.

After much deliberation, Zhang Tie decided to take a little risk. He would promote Luo Shande, the general of Zuo Shenwei Wei Zhonglang who followed him to the south, to Pingzhang of Jianghuai Province and commander of Wuningwei of Xuzhou Prefecture, and ordered him to go quickly. Xuzhou sits in town.

Then Guo Wei, who had just arrived in Xuzhou for more than two months, was called to Hunan.

Zhang Ting intends to appoint him as Pingzhang of Hunan Province, Jiedu Envoy of Wu'an Army in Tanzhou, and he will take over Hunan for Zhang Ting.

In October, Zhang Yu ordered Zhang Zhaojiu (Ma Shacai) to ride [-] troops to the edge of the Lishui River.

The terrified Ma Xie immediately sent his general Zhu Jinzhong to lead an army of [-] soldiers, and recruited [-] barbarians from Xidong in Langzhou.

This place is located in Jin City in Hunan Province in later generations. Jin City belongs to the transition zone from the remaining veins of Wuling Mountain to Dongting Lake Basin. The terrain takes Lishui River as the natural dividing line.

The southwest bank of Lishui River is the remnants of Wuling Mountain, and the northeast bank is the frontier of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The whole terrain slopes from south to northeast.

However, Zhang Wei's move was completely false. What he is most worried about now is that the Southern Tang Ezhou and Jiangzhou naval forces will make trouble for him, so before letting Zhang Zhao enter Lishui, Zhang Ji sent another angel to Jiangning.

But this time it's not the ruthless one like Wang Jiulang, but the moderate one like Lu Yin.

Zhang Ting prepared to reprimand Li Jing for taking in Gao Baoxu and other rebels, and at the same time gave Li Jing gems, spices, etc., and asked him to drill the navy, preparing to help the court attack Ma Chu's Yuezhou.

This comforted Li Jing and made him feel that the demise of Nanping and Ma Chu had nothing to do with him.

Secondly, it gave Li Jing a false impression that the court still trusted him, and Zhang Shengren still had to rely on him to guard the south of the Yangtze River, dispelling Li Jing's determination to fight to the death.

But inside, Zhang Teng continued to train the navy in Jiangling. Once the Nanping navy was completely controlled by Du Lun Chixin and Zhao Yanjin, Zhang Teng would dispatch warships to go south to Yuezhou.

Of course, it would be best if Zhang Shaodi could persuade Wang Yun to surrender.

. . . .

In the Southern Tang Dynasty, Liu Renzhan, the envoy of the Qinghuai Army in Shouzhou, and He Jingzhu, the envoy of the Wuchang Army in Ezhou, were anxious about Li Jing's hesitation.

As the most staunch resistance faction in Southern Tang, both of them believed that this was Southern Tang's last chance.

If the advantage of the water army can be used to control Jiangling and Yuezhou and prevent Zhou from building a powerful water army, the Southern Tang Dynasty can still support it.

If the Flying Tiger Army in Nanping Jiangling and Yishengdu in Machu Yuezhou were both controlled by Zhou Guo, the Southern Tang Dynasty would be over.

He Jingzhu, who followed Yang Wu's general Li Jian in his early years, although he is not tall and ugly, is brave and decisive, has superb archery skills and is proficient in water warfare.

While he communicated frequently with Liu Renzhan to discuss countermeasures, he kept writing to Li Jing.

At the same time, he also actively started to take action. He sent his generals to risk their lives into Yuezhou, intending to recruit Wang Yun, the governor of Yuezhou for the Southern Tang side, to surrender Ma Chu.

The key now depends on how Wang Yun makes his choice.

(End of this chapter)