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

Chapter 911: Niu Li's factional struggle finally comes to an end, Pang Xun's rebellion in Huai River arrives

The ninth year of Xiantong

Twenty-three years had passed since the sixth year of Huichang, when Emperor Wuzong Li Yan passed away.

The current Tang emperor is named Li Yu, and he is the son of Emperor Xuanzong Li Chen.

Li Chen was in power for fourteen years and everything was stable. Apart from allowing eunuchs to return to the court, he did not make any major mistakes.

However, the situation of eunuchs' monopoly of power as in the reigns of Emperor Jingzong and Emperor Wenzong did not occur, and the factional struggles that had lasted for more than 40 years in the court between the Niu Party, which was mainly composed of aristocratic families, and the Li Party, which was mainly composed of the Neo-Confucian school, came to an end.

During the reign of Emperor Wuzong, many officials of the Niu Party were dismissed. After Emperor Xuanzong came to power, the Li Party was demoted.

In the end, the Niu Party was on its last legs and the Li Party left the central government.

During these twenty-three years, the Tang Dynasty was relatively stable under the reigns of Emperors Li Chen and Li Yi.

At least there was no more emperor migration or local governors moving to Beijing. However, because the eunuchs controlled the Shence Army, the court inevitably fell into the hands of the eunuchs again.

Li Yan himself had the traditional hedonistic character of the Tang royal family. In addition, relatively honest students of Li Dangli were demoted in large numbers, and the court was filled with corrupt and incompetent prime ministers such as Lu Yan and Wei Baoheng.

The more profound impact was on the local areas. The emperor was arrogant and cruel, the prime minister was corrupt and abused his power, the central government lost its fairness and intervened wantonly in the affairs of the local governments, and the local governments became even more harsh, resulting in "resentment between officials and the people."

Finally, the Jianghuai Uprising, led by Pang Xun, was aroused. The rebel army swept across the south and north of the Huai River, and even captured the important tribute road Huaikou, blocking the tribute road to the north.

After losing most of Jiangnan’s financial resources, the imperial court finally reacted and began to dispatch troops to suppress the uprising.

Kang Chengxun, the general of the Right Jinwu Guard, was appointed as the governor of Yicheng and the commander-in-chief of the Xuzhou camp.

The great and mighty general Wang Yanquan was appointed as the commander of the northern camp of Xuzhou.

General Dai Keshi of the Imperial Guards was appointed as the commander of the southern camp of Xuzhou.

Additional troops from various regions as well as soldiers from the Shatuo Zhuye Chixin, Tuyuhun, Tatar, and Qibi tribes were sent to join the army to suppress the rebellion.

At this time, Kang Chengxun saw that the number of soldiers from various routes who had arrived was less than 10,000, and they were outnumbered, so he ordered his troops to retreat to Songzhou.

With the support of Songzhou's Xuanwu Army, Pang Xun was unable to attack for a long time, so he sent his generals to divide their troops and turn around to attack the other two Tang armies.

December

Dai Keshi, the Southern Recruiting Envoy, led his 30,000 troops across the Huai River and moved forward, attempting to seize the Huaikou.

Pang's army retreated from Duliang City at night, leaving Dai's army with an empty city.

It happened that there was heavy fog the next day, and Wang Hongli, a general of Pang's army, led tens of thousands of troops to attack suddenly at lightning speed. Dai's army fled in all directions, and countless people were drowned in the Huai River. Dai Keshi also died in the battle.

Pang's army won a great victory and seized tens of thousands of weapons, supplies, and carriages and horses. They then took advantage of the victory to besiege Shouzhou and obtained countless tributes and commercial goods that had been diverted there.

However, Wang Yanquan, the commander of the northern expeditionary force in Shouzhou City, was frightened by the huge force of Pang's army and dared not attack, so he retreated into the city.

The imperial court was furious when it saw that not only Huaikou was not recaptured, but Shouzhou was lost instead, completely cutting off the tribute route, and it rebuked Wang Yanquan for his ineffective use of troops.

Cao Xiang, the governor of Taining, was appointed as the commander of the northern expeditionary force of Xuzhou.

As Pang Xun continued to defeat the Tang army's attacks and occupied many prefectures and counties, he thought he was invincible in the world and that he could attack Chang'an and become the lone ranger in no time.

As a result, he spent the whole day playing games and partying, ignoring his official duties.

In particular, the generals who followed him to raise troops in Guizhou were even more arrogant and violent. They robbed people of their property and looted women. The rebel army quickly became a bandit army.

The Tenth Year of Xiantong

In Songzhou, a large number of soldiers gathered, and many foreign cavalrymen from Daibei finally arrived. The number of imperial troops in Songzhou increased to 70,000, so Kang Chengxun prepared to march south to fight the enemy.

"Military envoy, our tribesmen were grazing outside when they were attacked by local bandits. They chased us to a fortress. The bandits are very stubborn. Please send more troops."

Just as Zhuxie Chixin was staying in the military camp, waiting to be summoned by the army commander, Kang Chengxun, the commander of Xuzhou, a general of the tribe walked in indignantly.

Zhu Xie Chixin frowned and said, "This is the heartland of the Central Plains, and a large army has gathered here. How could these bandits dare to seize the war horses?"

The general knew that he could not deceive Zhuye Chixin, so he said softly: "Brothers have come from afar, the Central Plains has always been rich, and the court has not given us any commission fees, so can't we take it ourselves?"

After that, the general whispered, "I don't know why you, the military envoy, are working so hard to come to the Central Plains to help the court fight. You might as well stay in Daibei and herd sheep with this time."

"Bang!" Zhu Xie Chixin slammed the table and stood up, glaring angrily. Just as he was about to scold, he saw a clerk rushing into the tent.

It was his own military commander Bai Zhusheng, who was the leader of many civil servants and Han generals in the army. Because of Bai's help, the majority of the Shatuo tribe formed by Zhuye in Daibei was a mixture of Han and Hu people, but the majority of the generals were Hu people.

However, the clerks who managed logistics and handled miscellaneous matters were all Han officials sent by Bai.

In addition to the influence of the Bai family in the Zhuxie family, the Bai family accounts for a considerable proportion in the Shatuo tribe.

"Military Envoy, please send out the military law team. I will enforce military law."

Zhu Xie Chi Xin asked: "How is it?"

Bai Zhusheng said indignantly:

"There are soldiers in our army who oppress the local people and even attack the local forts with the intention of looting. They are bandits and must be punished."

Zhuxie Chixin looked at the general of his tribe standing beside him, and the general turned his head away.

At this time, Bai Zhusheng also saw the situation clearly. With a fierce look in his eyes, he stared at the general beside him and said loudly:
"Zhu Xieguang, Songzhou is under the jurisdiction of Xuanwu Army. Do you know who the governor of Xuanwu Army is?"

Zhu Xieguang has always had a grudge against the Bai clan members in the tribe, thinking that they interfered too much and made him very uncomfortable.

"He is just a Tang person, how would I know?"

"The current Xuanwu Jiedushi is named Yi, the grandson of Bai Gongmian. You allowed your troops to plunder Bai Gong's territory. Are you tired of living?"

Zhu Xieguang was shocked when he heard this, and looked at Zhu Xie Chixin with a look of help on his face.

"Commander Bai, Zhu Xieguang didn't do this on purpose. He didn't know this was Lord Bai's territory. Can you turn back?" Zhu Xie Chixin pleaded with Bai Zhusheng helplessly.

Bai Zhusheng glared back at Zhu Xie Chixin mercilessly and said, "The military envoy is someone who is supposed to do great things. If you offend Lord Bai because of a small matter, it would be very unwise."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

"Military envoy!" Zhu Xieguang knelt on the ground and shouted to Zhu Xie Chixin with red eyes.

Zhu Xiechi closed his eyes with reluctance, turned his head and ordered: "Zhu Xieguang has violated our military discipline. Military law is ruthless. Execute him."

After saying that, the two warriors in the tent dragged Zhu Xieguang up and went outside.

"I don't accept it, Zhuxie Chixin. You are the son of Bai Clan. How can you be the patriarch of Zhuxie Clan?"

Two days later, the Recruiting Envoy Kang Chengxun beat the drum to gather his troops, and all the military governors, military commanders, and supporting generals rushed to the camp.

When everyone arrived, they found a young man sitting below Kang Chengxun. Although there were two fierce generals standing behind him, he did not have any murderous intent. They could not help but frown and look fierce.

"Why is this kid sitting on our heads?" This was the inner thought of everyone present.

Kang Chengxun seemed to be able to see through their thoughts and introduced with a smile:
"This is the grandson of the current Duke Bai Mian, the son of Duke Cheng Rui, the governor of Xuanwu, and the host of this place, Duke Liang, Bai Yi of the Songxi Bai Clan."

No wonder, as soon as they entered the big tent, they saw hundreds of soldiers lined up outside the tent. They were all elite warriors who had fought in many battles, and looking at the weapons they carried with them, they were proficient in swords, spears, and bows.

"I have met Mr. Liang."

A Duke who is only in his twenties is very rare in the world today.

Because of the exception made by the Prince, although the Duke was no longer valuable in the Tang Dynasty, it still made these military men jealous.

Bai Yi stood up with a smile and said to the generals: "I am here today for two reasons: one is to listen, and the other is to serve the people of Songzhou."

After saying this, he saluted Kang Chengxun with his arms crossed.

Kang Chengxun returned the greeting, then looked at the generals, said with a murderous look on his face:
"We are temporarily stationed in Songzhou. Pang Xun cannot go north, and we will not end up like Dai Keshi and Wang Yanquan, thanks to the support and help of the Xuanwu Army."

"Lord Liang is a benevolent man, and the Xuanwu Army is a righteous army. Yet, some people still allow soldiers to go out and plunder the people of Songzhou, attack local forts, and plunder the relatives of friendly troops. This is great."

"I'll give you a chance. There have been looters leaving the camp in the past few days."

As the sun set in the west, the military meeting in the camp came to an end.

Generals Zhuxie Chiguang and others stretched their limbs and walked out of the tent together.

As soon as he walked out of the tent, he saw human heads hanging on high poles not far away. Among them were some generals who held the position of military commander. He felt a chill on his neck.

(End of this chapter)