A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 161 Zhao Dai Rebellion
August 31st

Just as the Yi Chu turmoil in Chang'an was intensifying, a letter from the State of Zhao broke the apparent calm of the Han court.

"I, the Prime Minister of the State of Zhao, Zhou Chang, wrote to me: Chen Xi, the Prime Minister of Zhao, has rebelled against General Han Xin with King Zuo Guli of the Xiongnu many times. There have been letters and envoys exchanged. I suspect that he has the intention to rebel against the Han, and please make preparations in advance."

It turned out that Chen Xi was appointed by the Han Emperor as the Prime Minister of Dai, and commanded the troops on the border of Dai to defend against the Huns. However, Dai Wang never took up the post, so Dai was later abolished and Chen Xi was transferred to Zhao Xiangguo as the general military commander in Dai.

In addition, Guan Gao, the original minister in charge of the Zhao State, and others were deposed. Chen Xi took over the power gap in the Zhao State army and changed from commanding the border troops of the Zhao Dynasty to commanding the entire army of the Zhao Dynasty. The military power under his command further expanded, and he became the sole leader of the two countries of the Zhao Dynasty. A regional leader with elite troops.

As soon as Zhou Changchu, the prime minister of Zhao State, took office, he realized that Chen Xi had done something beyond his power. He was originally only allowed to command 150,000 troops and horses on the border of Zhao Dynasty, but at this time, Chen Xi controlled 300,000 troops and horses in the entire Zhao Dynasty. .

Zhou Chang met Chen Xi many times and asked him to return the troops and horses in Zhao State to him, but Chen Xi refused with various reasons. Zhou Chang became suspicious and secretly asked Chen Xi to investigate.

I found that Chen Xi not only often traveled in carriages that exceeded his status, but also had more than a thousand carriages with his entourage, and even asked his confidants to call him the king.

After continuous in-depth investigation, they were horrified to find that there were Huns in Chen Xi's house. After identification by others, in addition to the Huns, there were also Dongyuan rebels who were dispersed the year before, and Han Wangxin's old generals in his house.

After discovering these secrets, Zhou Chang quickly sent a letter to Chang'an to inform him.

After the Han Emperor received Zhou Chang's informant letter, he didn't believe it at first, because Chen Xi was one of the few generals he trusted very much. But when he saw that Chen Xi was unwilling to hand over his military power, he was a little suspicious, so he sent a special envoy to question him. He also asked the special envoy to secretly investigate whether what Zhou Chang said was true.

September

The Han Emperor's special envoy came to Dai County, showed the Han Emperor's order of questioning, and read out the Han Emperor's intention. Chen Xi was a little scared, but he did not rebel immediately. Instead, he arranged the Han Emperor's special envoy well, because Chen Xi believed that, These are all trivial matters. As long as you hand over the military power beyond your authority, it will be fine.

Just when Chen Xi was about to hand over military power, he found that the Han envoy was actually investigating him with Zhou Chang. After questioning, he actually followed the emperor's order. Chen Xi was a little uneasy and suspended his idea of ​​handing over military power.

In the following days, the investigation team continuously found out that the generals and retainers under his command violated the "Jinguan Order" and "Guanshi Law" and sold large quantities of weapons, horses, metals and other strategic materials to the Huns.

After the investigation team quickly reported back to the Han court with letters, the Han Emperor ordered to investigate the violations of laws and disciplines involving property and other aspects of Chen Xi's guests staying in Dai. The investigation team continued to go deeper and found that many of the incidents actually involved Chen Xi.

Chen Xi couldn't sit still any longer, and immediately secretly sent his retainers to Han Wangxin's generals Wang Huang and Manqiu Chen to contact them for information.

September

Chen Xi expelled the investigation team and Zhou Chang and others, rebelled with Wang Huang, Manqiuchen and others, proclaimed himself the king of Dai, and connived to plunder Zhao and Dai. The rebel force reached 400,000 at one time, including Many Huns.

Because Chen Xi rebelled because the Han Emperor was unfair and unkind and wanted to get rid of him as a hero, the lower-level soldiers did not know that he was colluding with traitors and the Huns. When they discovered that there were Huns in the military camp, the senior generals explained that this They were Hun mercenaries invited by the king and were subject to the control of the king. These soldiers had no choice but to betray the Han Dynasty along with the high-ranking generals.

When the news reached Chang'an, the Han Emperor was furious and kept greeting Chen Xi's relatives. After expressing his emotions for a while, he calmed down and said to the officials: "Chen Xi worked for me in the past and was very trustworthy.

And Daidi is a place that I think is very important, so I made Chen Xi a prince and guarded Daidi on my behalf as the Prime Minister. Now he and Wang Huang and others plundered Daidi and Zhaodi! But the officials and people in Dai and Zhao were not guilty, so I ordered that all the grassroots officials and people in Zhao were not guilty and pardoned them. "

So all the Zhao and Dai officials who were implicated by Chen Xi and committed plunder were pardoned.

October
The Emperor of Han personally led 300,000 troops to attack Chen Xi, but the Marquis of Huaiyin, Han Tuo, was ill and had no followers.

When the Han Emperor's army crossed the Yellow River and arrived at Handan, the Marquis of Huaiyin, Han Xin, secretly sent someone to Chen Xi and said, "Just raise troops, I will assist you here."

So he conspired with his retainers and falsely issued an edict at night to pardon the criminals and slaves serving in various government offices, intending to mobilize them to attack Empress Lu and Prince Liu Ying. The deployment has been decided, just waiting for news from Chen Xi.

November

The Han Emperor arrived in Handan, and other princely and prefectural soldiers also arrived one after another. This time, in order to solve Chen Xi's rebellion that swept across the Zhao Dynasty, the Han Emperor spent a lot of money.

In addition to the 300,000 Han emperor's own troops, led by Taiwei Zhou Bo and other princes, the participating troops also included 100,000 Yan troops led by King Lu Wan of Yan, and 100,000 Qi troops led by Qi Xiangguo Cao Shen and Qi Xiangguo Fu Kuan. The 50,000 Zhao army led by General Wei Xun of the Liang Kingdom, the 50,000 Zhao army led by Zhao Prime Minister Zhou Chang, and the 4,000 Bai army led by Xiuwu Marquis Bai Wei provided by the Bai Duke

As well as Hejian County, Shangdang County, Hedong County, Hanoi County, and Handan County, a total of 200,000 county soldiers were stationed in Taiyuan County and Yanmen County to guard against the rebels' westward advance. As a result, nearly one million Han troops participated in the counter-rebellion.

There are three fronts. The main attack direction is the Han Emperor's headquarters in Handan County, totaling 700,000 people. The second front is the 100,000 Yan army led by King Lu Wan of Yan. It is mainly defensive. If you have enough strength, you can attack from behind. The third front is the Yan army. The first front is between Taiyuan County and Yanmen County. One hundred thousand county soldiers can only defend.

After the Han Emperor arrived at Handan, he was happy to see Chen Xi's layout and said: "If Chen Xi does not occupy Zhangshui in the south and defend Handan in the north, we know that he will not do anything."

At this time, Zhou Chang, the prime minister of Zhao State, petitioned to behead the governor and lieutenant of Changshan County. Changshan County is Hengshan County. Zhou Chang said: "Changshan County has a total of twenty-five cities. After Chen Xi's rebellion, twenty of them They have all been lost, which shows their dereliction of duty, and they should be beheaded to serve as a warning to others.”

The Han Emperor did not give a direct order, but asked: "Have the county guards and county lieutenants rebelled?" Zhou Chang replied: "No!"

The Han Emperor said: "This is due to lack of strength. According to my order, although the governor and captain of Changshan County lost their city, it was because the rebels were strong, so I will not hold them responsible and continue to be the governor and captain." Captain, you must hold on to the last five cities, otherwise I will kill them."

After receiving the order, the governor and captain of Changshan County worked harder to defend the city, which prevented Chen Kui's rebels from capturing these five small cities for several months.

Emperor Han asked Zhou Chang again: "Are there any strong men who can fight among the Zhao army you brought out?"

Zhou Chang replied: "There are four people." Then he asked these four people to pay homage to the Han Emperor. When the Han Emperor saw that they were four young generals who had just reached the crown, he cursed: "Can you brats also lead troops to fight? "

All four of them knelt on the ground in shame. However, the Han Emperor still granted each of them a thousand households and appointed them as generals.

Seeing that these four people were given such generous rewards, the ministers on the left and right all admonished and advised: "Many people followed you into Shu County and Hanzhong County, and then conquered Western Chu. They had meritorious service but were not generally rewarded. What do these people have now?" To reward them for their merits?"

The Emperor of the Han Dynasty said: "This is beyond your understanding! Chen Xi rebelled and occupied all north of Handan. I sent an urgent proclamation to recruit troops from all over the world, but no one has arrived so far. It can be seen that the only ones available now are It's just the army in Handan. In this case, why should I begrudge the four thousand households granted to four people and not use it to appease the young people of Zhao!"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Emperor Han asked again: "Who are Chen Xi's generals?"

Zhou Chang came out and said: "There are Wang Huang, Man Qiuchen and others, but I heard that they were all businessmen in the past."

After Han Di thought for a moment, he smiled and said, "I know how to deal with them."

They ordered each to offer a thousand gold reward for the heads of Wang Huang, Manchuchen and other generals. Then a lot of money was used to lure Chen Xi's generals to surrender. So before the war started, many people in the rebel army surrendered one after another.

December

The Han Emperor received the detailed deployment of the rebels and was therefore ready to order an attack.

It was learned that Chen Xi personally led 300,000 troops to defend Xiangguo. His general Hou Chang led more than 10,000 cavalry to fight on the move, general Wang Huang led 100,000 troops to garrison in Quni, and Manchuchen led 100,000 troops to garrison Dai County.

Many of the Qu rebels were Huns, so the Han Emperor ordered a hundred thousand Chinese troops to sit in Handan to ensure the logistics safety of the army.

Jin She was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the right army and appointed as the general of cavalry. Bai Wei was appointed as the deputy general of the right army and appointed as the general of left-cavalry. They led a mixed army of 100,000 horses and cavalry consisting of armies from various countries to attack Quni.

He ordered Fan Kuai, Marquis of Wuyang, to be the commander-in-chief of the left army, leading an army of 500,000 to attack the armies of Chen Kui and Manqiuchen, and start a battle in Xiangguo County.

The Han army marched out and attacked the city all the way, which was very smooth.

The eleventh year of Han Dynasty

March
The left army attacked Bairen County one after another. The vanguard troops were the first to ascend the city and break through the gates, and captured Xiangguo. Chen Xi's remnant army retreated to Daiguo and joined forces with Manchuchen.

Then he pacified 27 counties such as Qinghe County and Changshan County. The imperial servant Xia Houying participated in the battle against Chen Xi's troops and killed the enemy. Qu Nihou Chen Ping joined the army as a lieutenant to protect the army. The censor Su Li also Accompany the expedition.

For the right army, Jin She did not press forward directly like Fan Kuai. Instead, he took advantage of the speed of his own cavalry and chariots to advance in separate routes. On the left, deputy general Xiu Wuhou Bai Wei led 30,000 cavalry, and in the middle, he personally led 40,000 horses. A mixed army of infantry and chariots, led by Qi Prime Minister Cao Shen on the right, led 30,000 infantry troops and marched along the Yellow River.

Soon, the army advanced to Quni City. The Han army led by Yingyin Hou Guanying led the Han army at Quni City and defeated more than ten thousand rebel cavalry led by Chen Xi's prime minister Hou Chang who fled to fight. The soldiers under his command were killed. Killed Hou Chang and five special generals.

Xiuwu Marquis Bai Wei defeated 50,000 Xiongnu cavalry led by the Huns on the left. Cao Shen on the right continued to use the superiority of infantry to attack the city until they reached the right side of Quni City. Jin She led the army to suppress the people with force. Using a clever plan, Wang Huang and others were forced into Qu Ni step by step.

The army surrounded Quni. General Wang Huang and others had already fled north to join the 50,000 Xiongnu army led by Han Wangxin who came to support. The defenders in Quni city saw that the situation was not good and led their troops to surrender.

After taking Qu Ni, Jin She sent Guan Ying to lead 50,000 people to continue marching north and pacify the surrounding cities such as Lunu County, Shangquyang County, Anguo County, and Anping County. He led the remaining troops to join the general army in the west. force.

However, Chen Xi saw that the situation was wrong and sent his general Zhang Chun across the Yellow River to attack Liaocheng, hoping to distract the Han army. The Emperor of the Han Dynasty ordered Cao Shen, the Prime Minister of Qi, to lead his troops to solve the problem.

After Zhang Chun crossed the river, he marched all the way to Liaocheng, but was blocked by Qi generals. When Cao Shen and his men caught up, under a double-sided attack, Zhang Chun's tribe was destroyed, and the Han army beheaded more than 10,000 people.

At this time, the battle lines between the two sides were mainly on the line between Daiguo and Changshan County. Chen Xi still had more than 200,000 troops, plus the 100,000 Xiongnu and traitor coalition troops brought by Han Wangxin to station in Shenhe County, a total of 300,000, while the Han Excluding the Chinese army left behind in Handan, nearly half a million people were confronting Chen Xi's army. The war has been going on for nearly a year now.

(End of this chapter)