Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 479 Humorous War
He sent troops south to attack Southern Tang.

When Li Jiancheng heard these words, his heart skipped a beat. He looked at Li Yuan, who was not very nervous, and knew what Li Yuan was thinking.

There is an old saying that goes, husband and wife are birds of the same forest, but when disaster strikes, they fly away separately.

It is roughly the same between them as father and son now.

They all saw clearly Li Shimin's ambition, which was to become a wise ruler. Such a Li Shimin would definitely not kill Li Yuan, and would most likely respect Li Yuan as the emperor.

Only in this way can Li Shimin's "benevolence" be demonstrated.

But Li Jiancheng is different
Li Jiancheng could think of dozens of ways to kill himself without any need for thinking, and without arousing suspicion among the people of the world.

If it were Li Jiancheng himself, he would not let Li Shimin have an easy time either - if the Southern Tang really defeated the Northern Tang and captured Li Shimin, he would definitely do everything he could to kill Li Shimin.

No matter who wins in the end, Li Yuan will be able to survive and live a good life.

That's why Li Yuan was so relaxed.

"Father."

Li Jiancheng raised his head, looked into Li Yuan's eyes, and said softly, "Are you just going to give up like this? The gap between the Northern and Southern Tang dynasties is not that big. If father had fought hard, he could have unified the country, become the founding emperor, and achieved unprecedented achievements."

"In this case, the father recorded in history books is Emperor Taizu of Tang."

"Wouldn't my father be moved by this name and be remembered for eternity?"

"Are you just giving up like that?"

Li Jiancheng's words were very tempting. After all, for Li Yuan, he cared about fame and power. If he could get both, he would naturally be willing to do so.

Li Yuan hesitated a little.

The clenched fists in Li Jiancheng's sleeves slowly relaxed. He did not seek to convince Li Yuan immediately, as long as he could shake Li Yuan's idea of ​​"surrender".

"Father."

He changed the title of "father" to "father emperor" in order to arouse Li Yuan's ambition to a greater extent.

"Even if you open the city and surrender now, Erlang will not treat you better because of this - and even if you fight hard and try to get a chance to take the throne, Erlang will not blame you more for it."

"In that case, why not give it a try?"

"This is a matter of great benefit to you with no harm at all!"

Li Yuan glanced at his son who was trying hard to persuade him to struggle, and curled his lips. He understood very clearly why Li Jiancheng advised him like this.

But the problem is, Li Jiancheng is right.
Since there was no harm in it, why didn't he give it a try?

Thinking this way, he made a decision.

"In that case, let Shen Faxing lead his troops to resist the Northern Tang army."

"With the Yangtze River as a natural barrier, even if Shen Faxing is useless, we can still hold out for a while."

He touched his chin and whispered, "Jiancheng, I know what you are thinking. There are no other generals in the imperial court except Shen Faxing. Why don't you lead another group of soldiers and attack Northern Tang from another direction?"

Li Jiancheng looked at Li Yuan, who had a calm expression, and sighed in his heart. He understood that his father had made up his mind. In this case, no matter how much he refused, it would be of no use.

in this way
He raised his head and smiled resolutely.

Is Li Jiancheng really that much worse than Li Shimin? Li Shimin was able to lead a large army to scare Yu Wenzhi into surrendering the city. Even if Li Jiancheng couldn't do that, couldn't he beat others?

"My son, I accept the decree!"

The third year of Chengtong.

During the summer and autumn, a fierce war broke out between Southern Tang and Northern Tang.

On the Southern Tang side, General Shen Faxing and Crown Prince Li Jiancheng were the main generals, and their troops were divided into two routes, one to attack the Northern Tang and the other to resist the Northern Tang army; on the Northern Tang side, Chen Linan, Li Jing and others were the main commanders, and their troops were also divided into two routes.

The two sides fought a fierce war with the Yangtze River as the dividing line.

This war also left a significant mark in the history of war - but it was not a mark with blood as the background like the "Five Major Wars", but a mark with humor and ridiculousness as the background.

Most of the later historians who studied this war were famous "fun people" in the historical circles of later generations. They referred to many historical books in their study of this period of history - including official history, unofficial history and even vernacular novels.

Even the solemn and serious historical work "History of Chinese Wars", an academic monograph of the highest level in the field of Chinese war history, has relevant records. The author even had the good fortune to record down some books that were available for reference at the time.

The following record was made in "The War Between the Two Tang Dynasties" in "History of Chinese Wars".

"The specific circumstances of the war between the two Tang dynasties cannot be verified. After all, there are too many historical books left about this war, some of which are unofficial histories, some are official histories, and some are even handed down from generation to generation. The humor of this war is hard not to record. Other wars show people blood and tears, but this war shows the humor of the ancient sages."

"When I was recording and researching this war, I also referred to some books. I have specially listed the books here for other scholars to refer to and learn from."

“The book list is as follows.”

"Book of Tang", "New Book of Tang", "Zizhi Tongjian", "Tang Ji", "Sui and Tang Chunqiu", "Miscellaneous Talks on the Two Tang Dynasties", "Things in the Early Tang Dynasty", "The Story of Why Li Shimin Killed His Father", "Research on the War between the Two Tang Dynasties - A Brief Discussion on Shen Faxing's Series of Actions before the War", "Biography of Shen Faxing", "Heroes of the Two Tang Dynasties - Shen Faxing", "Old Stories of Shen Faxing"."

"Among the books listed, some are unofficial histories, some are vernacular novels, and some are academic papers. The author does not guarantee their accuracy."

This record in the History of Chinese Wars: The War between the Two Tang Dynasties also made countless historians want to laugh.

In the records of this war, the person mentioned most often is "Shen Faxing". So what exactly did Shen Faxing do?

The most detailed and humorous record is in "A Brief Discussion of Shen Faxing's Series of Actions before the War."

Shen Faxing committed three specific actions.

First, when encouraging the soldiers before the battle, Shen Faxing mentioned many very encouraging words, most of which came from one person - Li Shimin.

Second, before the battle, the soldiers in the army played "Tang King's Breaking Formation Music". Shen Faxing not only did not stop them, but he also personally stepped forward when he was drunk, took off his shirt, and played music for many soldiers.

What is the song "Tang Wang Po Zhen Music"?

This is a piece of music that praises the Tang King and encourages the soldiers.

Logically speaking, there is nothing wrong with this, but the "King of Tang" praised in this song is not the false emperor of Southern Tang, Li Yuan, but the real King of Tang - Li Shimin.

This piece of music was composed by Li Shimin himself, and the lyrics were also filled in by Li Shimin himself. However, when it was played, the soldiers of the Northern Tang Dynasty were grateful and excited, and filled in many lyrics praising Li Shimin. According to investigation and understanding, there are not a few people in the entire Southern Tang army who know this - especially Shen Faxing.

Shen Faxing knew the origin of this song and the person it praised.

But he still used this song.

Third, and this is the most important point.

Shen Faxing drove away all the fishermen on the Nan Tang side of the Yangtze River and allowed them to take their own boats with them. These homeless fishermen could only go to the other side of the Yangtze River, which is where Bei Tang is located.

When the false emperor Li Yuan accused him, the reason he gave was very simple. He said he was afraid that those fishermen would provide convenience to the false emperor's forces, but killing innocent people would affect Li Yuan's reputation, so he had to drive them away - as for why these fishermen wanted to help Li Shimin, he really didn't know.

This almost made Li Yuan angry to death, but he had no other choice. After all, all the military power was now in the hands of Shen Faxing, and Shen Faxing had clearly shown that he didn't want to do it anymore.

Li Yuan didn't even dare to provoke Shen Faxing, for he was afraid that Shen Faxing would take his army and surrender directly to Li Shimin.

Thus, the war came to a stalemate.

October, the third year of Chengtong.

Yangtze River Strategy
Shen Faxing sat in the military tent with an indifferent expression, his face calm and cold.

He did not want to fight this war that was bound to be lost - many of the clerks in his army were disciples of the Chen family. Now that the Chen family stood next to Li Shimin with a clear banner, God knew whether these people would suddenly stab him in the back.

Moreover, he didn't think he could beat Chen Linan.

He couldn't beat him, he couldn't play with him, and he didn't even want to fight, so he could only drag it out.

"General——"

A man hurriedly walked in from outside the big tent, with a look of horror on his face. "There is a small boat slowly approaching on the Yangtze River, with only one person on it. The person is wearing a bamboo hat and his appearance cannot be seen. He just shouted that he wanted to see you, saying that he came to fulfill the agreement between old friends."

The soldier raised his head and looked at Shen Faxing, a little hesitant: "I dare not act rashly, please give me your instructions, General!"

Shen Faxing looked at the soldier and suddenly sighed.

He stood up and said, "Let's go and show me who is so bold."

In fact, when the soldier mentioned the "an old friend's appointment", Shen Faxing guessed who it was. There were only a handful of people who liked to pretend so much, could be called old friends of his, and were in Li Shimin's camp - or it was just that one person.

The soldier nodded quickly and took Shen Faxing towards the riverside.

Before reaching the river bank, Shen Faxing turned his head and glanced at the endless military tents. He sighed slowly, and looked at the soldier in front of him unexpectedly and asked, "Are you willing to fight this battle?"

The soldier hesitated but did not dare to answer.

And that's enough.

He wasn't the only one who didn't want to fight this battle.

江畔
The small boat that Shen Faxing was riding on slowly slid away into the distance, and ripples appeared on the surface of the river.

"Brother Shen, we meet again."

The man stood on the boat, his expression calm, yet with a hint of pride: "When we parted ways in the past, we made an agreement in Hangzhou that if one of us were to become a prisoner, the other would do his best to help."

"Today, I am here to fulfill the agreement between us!"

Yes, the person who came was Wang Shichong!

At that time, Wang Shichong and Shen Faxing went their separate ways. One of them joined Li Yuan, thinking that Li Yuan would surely win because he represented the righteousness between father and son; while the other joined Li Shimin, thinking that Li Shimin would be the one who would dominate the world.

They agreed to save each other or protect their families once.

Now is indeed the time.

Shen Faxing sighed, punched Wang Shichong, and then said angrily: "I never thought that Li Yuan, this thief, would be so incompetent. In just a few short years, he has already fallen!"

“It’s really hateful!”

Wang Shichong sighed: "It seems that Brother Shen has been waiting for me for a long time?"

Shen Faxing nodded and shook his head: "I am indeed waiting for someone, but I thought it would be someone else who would persuade us to surrender. After all, our relationship was not very good before, right?"

He smiled bitterly: "Take me to see the Marquis of Lin'an!"

Now that Li Shimin has become emperor, it is naturally impossible for him to lead the army in person, so the person he can meet is naturally the Marquis of Lin'an.

The two small boats slowly headed towards the other side of the Yangtze River. The mist on the river surface slowly floated up, covering everything.

In the camp of Shen Faxing's army, everyone looked at the two small boats moving slowly in the mist and breathed a sigh of relief. The general followed that man. What did this mean? It meant that they didn't have to fight this battle.

In the third year of Chengtong, it was November of winter.

The famous Southern Tang general Shen Faxing surrendered with hundreds of thousands of troops. Upon hearing this, the Northern Tang Emperor Li Shimin was overjoyed and specially appointed Shen Faxing as the mighty general, ranking him as the third rank, which made him a general of considerable status.

On the other hand, upon hearing that Shen Faxing had surrendered, the Southern Tang's false emperor Li Yuan also gave up all thoughts of struggling and directly ordered all the cities under his command to open their gates and surrender.

Chen Linan sat on the horse with a look of confusion and helplessness on his face. He looked at the city that had been opened along the way and sighed, "I really don't know whether I should be happy or angry at this time."

Cheng Yaojin on the side chuckled: "My Lord, you are joking. Being able to defeat the enemy without fighting and without any casualties is naturally something we should be happy about."

Chen Linan smiled and said, "That's indeed the case."

"I just don't know what the situation is with the pharmacist?"

Li Jing sat on the horseback, looking at the dishevelled Li Jiancheng after being captured, with a slight smile on his face. He looked at Li Jiancheng and said, "You lose."

December 13, the third year of Chengtong.

Li Yuan, the false emperor of Southern Tang, opened the city and surrendered, and Li Jiancheng, the false crown prince of Southern Tang, was captured by Li Jing, a famous general of Northern Tang.

At this point, the conflict between the two Tang dynasties, which lasted only three years, came to an end.

The final winner was naturally the Northern Tang, or the Tang Emperor Li Shimin.

(End of this chapter)