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

Chapter 520: Jizhou becomes loyal to Jin, and Duan Wenyang’s Northern Expedition is blocked

It is said that Shi Le captured Pingyang, burned the palaces in Pingyang, moved the armillary sphere and musical instruments in the city to Xiangguo, left troops to guard it, and then returned to Xiangguo.

He also sent Wang Xiu, the chief historian of the left, to report his victory to Liu Yao.

Liu Yao then granted Shi Le Grand Prime Minister, General, and the title of King of Zhao, and also added a series of special treatments.

After Liu Yao asked Wang Xiu to return to Xiangguo, Shi Le's servant Cao Pingle secretly told Liu Yao that Wang Xiu's purpose of coming this time was to spy on Liu Yao's truth in addition to reporting.

If Wang Xiu returns to report, Shi Le will definitely attack Liu Yao.

At this time, Liu Yao's strength was indeed greatly depleted. After hearing Cao Pingle's words, he was very afraid that Wang Xiu would report his falsehood to Shi Le, so he chased Wang Xiu back and killed him. The official position, title and courtesy originally granted to Shi Le were also shelved.

Among the envoys, only Wang Xiu's deputy Liu Mao managed to escape. When Shi Le returned to Xiangguo in March, he reported Wang Xiu's death.

Shi Le said angrily:

"I serve the Liu family, and I have done more than my duty as a minister. I have laid down their foundation, and today they have succeeded and they want to plot against me.

King Zhao and Emperor Zhao, I can give it to myself, so there is no need for it to be given by them! "

Just as he was preparing to send troops to attack Liu Yao, he suddenly heard that Duan Pixi, the governor of Youzhou in Jin Dynasty, was attacking Jicheng.

Shi Le had no choice but to put aside Liu Yao's affairs temporarily and send troops to resolve Duan Pixi's rebellion in the rear.

Duan Pizhen was originally the younger brother of Duan Ji, the leader of the Duan tribe, and he defeated Wang Jun in Jicheng in Shile and killed tens of thousands of elite soldiers.

After killing Wang Jun, Shi Le massacred Jicheng and withdrew from the city. Duan Pizhen took the opportunity to enter Jixian and established Jizhou. Since then, he has become an independent force independent of Duan Ji's Lujuan.

At this time, Liu Han, the governor of Youzhou appointed by Wang Jun, did not want to obey the pseudo-Han Shi Le, so he joined Duan Pi.

Later, Duan Pixi again attracted Shao Xu, the prefect of Leling who was attached to Shi Le because of Wang Jun's defeat and was stationed in Yanci, and made him rebel against Shi Le.

Not long after, because the Tuoba tribe fell into civil strife due to the death of Tuoba Yilu and lost its greatest support, Shi Le defeated Liu Kun in Bingzhou. Liu Kun's chief historian Li Hong led Bingzhou to surrender to Shile.

Liu Kun, who lost his stronghold, had no choice but to cross Yanshan Mountain and surrender to Duan Pixi.

Together with Duan Pixi, Liu Han, Duan Shefuchen, Duan Ji and Lu Jian, a total of 180 people, they submitted a letter of persuasion to Sima Rui, expressing their bold determination to follow the Jin court.

When Sima Rui proclaimed himself emperor and changed the Yuan Dynasty, Liu Kun was granted the titles of Shizhong and Taiwei, Duan Pixi was the Duke of Bohai, Liu Han was the General of Zhenbei, and Duan Shefuchen was the Duke of Guangning...
Duan Pixi recommended Liu Kun as the governor-general, and issued a letter inviting his brother Duan Ji, the Duke of Western Liaoning, and his family, uncle Duan Shefuchen, and brother Duan Mobo to gather in Gu'an to discuss the joint campaign against Shile.

Unexpectedly, Duan Mobo had already had different intentions. He sowed discord at the party and said to Duan Ji, Lu Juan and Duan She Fuchen:

"It is a shame to follow a nephew or brother as a father or elder brother; besides, if we are lucky enough to make meritorious deeds and Duan Pixi only reaps the benefits, what can we gain!"

Duan Ji Lujuan and Duan Shefuchen were persuaded by Duan Mobo to lead their troops back.

Liu Kun and Duan Pixi also returned to Jizhou because they could not stay in Gu'an alone.

In the same year, Duan Ji and his family members died of illness. His son was young, and his uncle Duan She Fuchen established himself as king.

Duan Pixi and Liu Kun's son Liu Qun set out from Jizhou to attend the funeral.

Duan Mobo instigated Duan Shefuchen to send troops to stop him. At this time, Duan Mobo took advantage of the opportunity to kill Shefuchen, annexed his descendants and party members, and called himself Shanyu.

Duan Mobo sent troops to fight against Duan Pixi, defeated Duan Pixi's army and captured Liu Qun. Duan Pixi was forced to return to Jizhou.

Later, under Duan Mobo's instigation, Duan Mobo hunted and killed Liu Kun, his party members, and heirs, causing most of Liu Kun's original tribe to flee to western Liaoning, relying on Duan Mobo and respecting Liu Qun as their leader.

In the constant battle with Duan Mobo, Duan Pizhen was always at a disadvantage and had to go south to join Shao Xu.

Duan Pixi, who received the help of Shao Xu, finally defeated Duan Mobo's troops, causing Duan Mobo's army to suffer heavy losses.

Duan Pixi and his younger brother Duan Wenyang attacked Jizhou. This is the beginning and end of Duan Pixi's attack on Jizhou.

At this time, Mobo had surrendered to Shi Le. Shi Le heard about this and sent his son Zhongshan Gong Shi Hu to besiege Yan Ci and attack Shao Xu.

February 23rd
Shao Xu personally led his troops to attack Shi Hu. Unexpectedly, Shi Hu ambushed his cavalry and cut off his retreat, and he was captured instead.

After capturing Shao Xu, Shi Le asked him to persuade the soldiers and civilians in the city to surrender, but he was rejected by his son Shao Ji who was guarding the city, Shao Cun, Shao Zhu, the sons of Shao Xu's brother, and others.

Duan Pixi happened to return from Jizhou after hearing that he was tired of being surrounded.

But before Yanci arrived, they heard that Shao Xu had been captured, and his subordinates fled in fear. To make matters worse, Shi Hu took advantage of the situation and attacked.

Fortunately, the fierce general Duan Wenyang and hundreds of soldiers rushed into the encirclement and fought to the death, and were able to escort Duan Pixi into Yanci City.

He surrounded the city with the Shao disciples and stood firm.

April
Shi Hu could not attack for a long time, so he had to retreat.

May
After temporarily settling the matter in the Northeast, the Bai Kingdom fell into a period of gathering strength, and the land of Hebei fell into a brief period of peace.

After hearing that Liu Yao had captured Guanlong, Shi Le's dissatisfaction with him reached its peak. Then he jointly signed the names of Shi Hu, Zhang Jing, Zhang Bin, Zhi Quliu, Cheng Xia and other civil and military officials, honored him with the title of "Zhao", and founded the country "Zhao". ", he ascended the throne and was called King Zhao.

After that, he merged with the three prefectures, Shuo and Si, and combined them with twenty-four counties, totaling 290,000 households, to form the Kingdom of Zhao.

Because Liu Yao had previously moved the capital to Chang'an and built the Guangshi Palace and the Ziguang Palace, he believed that the destiny of the people was to move the tripod and inherit the Jin De from the Jin Dynasty with water virtue, so the country was named "Zhao" and was still black. Therefore, Liu Yao can be called the former Zhao and Shi Le can be called the later Zhao.

The prefects of the counties were all renamed Neishi, and they also set up Shanyutai town to pacify the barbarians, imitating the Han and Zhao Dynasties, so as to "suppress and pacify the hundreds of barbarians" (manage the ethnic minorities).

Following the example of the Jin and Bai systems, official positions such as Shangshu and Zhongshu were established, as well as the titles of princes and marquises.

In the first year of the Yuan Dynasty, the name was changed to King Zhao, and Xiangguo was made the capital.

At the suggestion of Shangshu Ling Zhang Bin, Shi Le issued an edict to "reduce rents, suspend rents, and hide bones."

Those with a sentence of less than three years were pardoned, and soon those with a sentence of less than five years were pardoned.

If there are graves in prefectures and counties that are excavated and not covered, they must be investigated and dealt with; the county government must have coffins and quilts to bury the exposed bones, otherwise they will be held accountable.

A gentleman camp was also set up to recruit talents and make important use of talents. Its functions were the same as those of the Imperial Academy in the Han and Jin Dynasties.

June
Shile sent general Kong Chang to attack Duan Pixi again, but Kong Chang relied on his victory in the field battle and no longer took precautions. Duan Wenyang saw the situation and attacked Kong Chang. Kong Chang was defeated.

Taixing four years
February
Shi Hu once again led troops to attack Yanci, and sent Kong Chang to bypass Yanci and attack the counties of Youzhou.

Soon, Kong Chang conquered many cities under the jurisdiction of Youzhou and slaughtered the people there.

After Duan Wenyang heard about it, he went to Duan Pixi and said: "When I was in Youzhou, I was often known for my bravery, so I was widely relied upon and expected by the people.

Seeing the people of Youzhou being robbed and not helping them now is a sign of cowardice.

When people lose hope, who will serve us anymore? "

So he led dozens of knights on horseback to fight and killed Hou Zhao's soldiers. In the end, his mounts were too tired and fell to the ground unable to stand up.

Seeing this, Shi Hu stepped forward and shouted loudly:

"My brother and I are both barbarians. I have wanted to get along with my brother like a family for a long time. Now God has fulfilled my wish. Why should we fight when we meet here? Please put down your weapons."

Duan Wenyang scolded and scolded:

"You are a bandit and should have died long ago. It is only because my brother did not use my tactics that you are allowed to live today.

I read the classics and became King Mu, and finally realized that I am who I am. I would rather die in battle than surrender to thieves like you! "

After saying that, he dismounted and fought hard. After the spear was broken, he continued to fight hard with the knife. He fought from Chen Shi to Shen Shi, but in the end he was exhausted and captured.

Seeing this, the soldiers and civilians in Yanci City became demoralized.

Duan Pizhen planned to flee south to Jianye alone, but Shao Xu's younger brother, Le'an Neishi Shaojie, led the army and refused to listen to Duan Pizhen's orders. He also wanted to capture the imperial envoy Wang Ying and give it to Shi Hu, and wanted to surrender.

Duan Pixi scolded him sternly:
"You can't follow your brother's will and force me not to return to the court. This is already too much. Now you want to capture the emperor's envoy! Although I am a Yi and Di, this kind of thing is unheard of!"

Although Shao Jie was ashamed, in order to save his family, he had to tie him up and carry the coffin out of the city with Shao Ji, Shao Zhu and others to surrender.

However, when Duan Pixi saw Shi Hu, he still refused to bow and said:
"I accepted the favor of the Jin Dynasty and determined to destroy you. Unfortunately, now that I have reached this point, I can't do anything to show my respect to you."

Because Shi Hu and Duan Pixi were once brothers, Shi Hu also admired his character very much, so he stood up and bowed to Pixi.

At Shi Hu's suggestion, Shi Le appointed Duan Pixi as Champion General and Duan Wenyang as Zuo Zhonglang General, dispersed more than 30,000 refugee households, let them resume their old careers, and appointed local officials to appease the people.

This move not only showed Shi Le's open-mindedness and compassion, but also because of the reputation of Duan Pixi and Duan Wenyang within Duan Xianbei.

Treating them politely will help Shi Le appease the Xianbei tribes in western Liaoning, and it will also serve as a collar for Duan Mobo.

July
Shi Le sent Shi Hu to lead an infantry and cavalry force of 40,000 to attack and destroy Cao Yi, who had been separatist in Qingzhou for a long time, and killed 30,000 of Cao Yi's troops. From then on, Zhao had all the land in Qingzhou.

September
In order to gain the strength to fight Wang Dun, Emperor Sima Rui of Jin appointed Dai Yuan as the governor of Sizhou to control Hefei and Liu Wei as the governor of Qingzhou to control Huaiyin on the grounds of guarding against northern forces.

Among them, Dai Yuan was ordered to oversee the military affairs of Yanyu and the six states of Yong and Hebei, and to take charge of the Yuzhou of his ancestor Ti.

This made Zu Ti, who had been determined to go to the Northern Expedition, unhappy. He believed that although Dai Yuan was talented, he had no vision. Moreover, he worked hard to regain Henan, but he was not trusted by the court and was depressed all day long.

Soon, Zu Ti heard that Wang Dun was domineering and the internal conflicts in the court were becoming increasingly acute. He was worried that civil strife would break out and the Northern Expedition would be difficult to accomplish, so he became sick with worry and anger.

At this time, Zu Ti was still ill and was repairing Hulao City.

Hulao City is adjacent to the Yellow River to the north and Chenggao to the west. Its geographical location is very important. It can be used to prevent the invasion of the three forces of the former Zhao, Bai Kingdom and Later Zhao.

Later, he was worried that there was no solid barrier in the south of the city and would be easily broken by the enemy, so he sent his disciple Zuji to lead his troops to build the barrier.

But God was jealous of the talents, and before the barrier was built, Zu Ti died of illness in Yongqiu at the age of fifty-six.

After Zu Ti's death, the people of Yuzhou felt like mourning his heir, and the people of Qiao Liang also built an ancestral hall for him.

Sima Rui ordered Zu Ti to be posthumously made a general of chariots and cavalry, and ordered his younger brother Zu Yue to take charge of his tribe.

(End of this chapter)