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

Chapter 930: The Huang Clan of Langhu Valley is defeated, and Li Xuan relocates

June of the fourth year of Zhonghe
Qizhou, Wolf and Tiger Valley
The world's best soldiers and generals gathered in this small valley.

Outside the valley, flags blocked out the sun, blocking the entire entrance to the valley.

In the valley, the fierce battle makes people's adrenaline rush, and the corpses lying on the ground will surely make the valley full of weeds next year.

In the valley, near the foot of a mountain, Huang Chao, his nephew Lin Yan, his brother Huang Cun, and his brothers Huang Ye, Huang Kui, and Huang Qin led the remaining thousand or so volunteers.

They struggled to resist the influx of Tang soldiers, and blood continued to pool and flow under their feet.

"Huang Chao, you have reached the end of your rope. Surrender is your only way out. Sage Hong En may spare your life or spare one of your bloodlines."

At the mountain pass not far away, Shi Pu, the governor of Wuning Army who was in charge of encircling and suppressing the rebel army, sent people to shout to Huang Chao and others.

Knowing that it was the last moment and seeing Shang Rang, an acquaintance of Shi Pu, Huang Chao had already made up his mind to die.

"Lin Yan."

"uncle."

"Listen to me, I originally planned to fight against the treacherous officials for the country and cleanse the filth of the court. It is my fault that I did not retreat after the mission was accomplished."

"We Huangs are doomed to die, but you are different. You have a chance to survive. You can take my head and offer it to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. You will gain wealth and honor. Remember, never let others gain the benefit."

"uncle!!!"

Huang Chao didn't even look at Lin Yan who was kneeling on the ground. He looked around at the Huang clan members around him and asked loudly, "Can you die?"

Huang Cun stepped out on behalf of everyone else. Hearing this, he grinned, shouldered the knife, spat a mouthful of blood foam on the ground, and said:

"We were originally unknown people, but because of you, we have climbed the steps of the Emperor of Tang, lived in the most luxurious palace in the world, and chopped off the heads of noble officials. Now that we have failed and died, what regrets do we have?"

Huang Chao laughed heartily, raised the sword at his waist, looked at the world with nostalgia, and then shouted: "Huang Chao is leaving."

After saying this, he committed suicide.

Lin Yan had already lost his mind at this time. He knelt on the ground woodenly, looking at Huang Chao's fallen body.

As the Huang clan members continued to commit suicide, only Huang Cun was left. He pulled Lin Yan up and said with a smile: "Don't let our lives go to waste."

After saying this, he also followed Huang Chao.

Lin Yan looked at the bodies of Huang clan members scattered all over the ground, and she could no longer control her tears.

Thinking of Huang Chao's last words, he reluctantly ordered people to chop off the heads of Huang Chao and his clansmen and prepare to present them to the Emperor of Tang in exchange for his life.

When they had collected all the heads and were preparing to set off, they saw an army coming. It was the Boye Army under Li Keyong of Taiyuan.

Lin Yan shouted loudly that he was willing to surrender, but the Boye army ignored him and killed him, taking the heads of Huang Chao and others.

The offering was delivered to Shi Pu's residence and then presented to the imperial palace.

This marked the end of another major peasant uprising led by Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao.

However, this great uprising dealt a heavy blow to the Tang Dynasty.

Not only did they completely lose control of the local area, but the prestige of the royal family also dropped to freezing point.

Chengdu, which was originally in the hands of the imperial court and served as a holy place for the emperor to take refuge, was now caught up in a war among warlords. This meant that the next time Chang'an fell, the emperor would no longer be able to choose Chengdu.

When Huang Chao withdrew from Chang'an, the various vassal states were enfeoffed by Li Xuan, and their defense zones were demarcated. It was promised that as long as the states paid tribute as agreed every year, the imperial court would no longer interfere in their internal affairs at will.

In this way, each vassal state completely gained military and political power in the area where it was located, and it became an unspoken rule that the emperor's edicts could not leave Tongguan.

Even in Bashu and Guanzhong, because the military power was seized by the Shen Ce Army, the actual emperor had become a mouthpiece and stamping machine for the powerful eunuchs.

By the time Huang Chao was defeated, the situation in the world had become somewhat clearer.

The imperial court was headed by the Privy Councilor Tian Lingzi, and the areas he could control were no more than a few dozen states in Hexi, Shannan, Jiannan, and Lingnan West.

Other vassal states:

Li Changfu occupied Fengxiang; Wang Chongrong occupied Pu and Shaanxi; Zhu Quanzhong (Zhu Wen) occupied Heyang and Luoyang; Meng Fangli occupied Xing and Meng; Li Keyong occupied Taiyuan and Shangdang; Bai Yi occupied Bian and Song; Qin Zongquan occupied Xu and Cai; Shi Pu occupied Xu and Si;

Zhu Xuan occupied Yun, Qi, Cao, and Pu; Wang Jingwu occupied Zibo and Qing; Gao Pian occupied the eight prefectures in southern Huaihe; Qin Yan occupied Xuan and She; Qian Liu occupied eastern Zhejiang.

These vassal states each had their own military forces and taxes, and they devoured each other. The imperial court was unable to control them, and they became de facto local separatist forces.

The first month of the first year of Guangqi
Li Xuan set out from central Sichuan and returned to Chang'an in March.

However, before the years of shock had time to settle, new turmoil struck.

The powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi fell out with Wang Chongrong because he attempted to seize the profits of pond salt from the governor of Hezhong.

Tian Lingzi used the imperial edict in his hand to join forces with Bining Jiedushi Zhu Mei and Fengxiang Jiedushi Li Changfu to declare war on Wang Chongrong.

The four sides fought at Puyang, and Wang Zhongrong's army was defeated, so he asked for help from Li Keyong, the governor of Hedong.

December

Wang and Li defeated the joint forces of Zhu and Li. Zhu Mei's army surrendered to Wang and Li and jointly approached Chang'an with them.

The armies of the three towns approached Wei Bridge, and the Shen Ce Army was defeated. The chaotic soldiers looted Chang'an and fled. The soldiers of the various towns entered Chang'an without bloodshed.

Helplessly, Tian Lingzi had to lead Li Xuan to flee to Fengxiang for refuge again.

After this defeat, the military governors of various towns were very dissatisfied with Tian Lingzi's autocracy, and they sent envoys to the court to present a petition, requesting the removal of the emperor's side.

Among them, Zhu Mei, the governor of Bining, originally wanted to kidnap Li Xuan and use the emperor to control the princes.

However, the plan failed because Tian Lingzi kidnapped Li Xuan and fled from Dasan Pass to Xingyuan and left Fengxiang.

They could only abduct Prince Xiang Li Yan, who had not escaped due to illness, to Chang'an and make him a puppet emperor.

November of the second year of Guangqi

Because of the defeat in Chang'an, Tian Lingzi's prestige was greatly reduced, and Li Xuan was able to exercise a little power. Then, in the name of orthodoxy, he won over Wang Chongrong and Li Keyong to counterattack Zhu Mei.

At the same time, he secretly summoned Zhu Mei's favorite general Wang Xingyu, ordering him to lead his troops back to Chang'an to deal with Zhu Mei.

December

Wang Xingyu killed Zhu Mei and hundreds of his followers, and allowed his troops to plunder Chang'an, making Chang'an even more depressed.

In addition, this winter was unusually cold, and snow accumulated on nine streets in the city and had not melted.

After many lootings, the people of Chang'an, who had no cold-weather supplies, were found dead all over the ground, a horrific sight.

In addition, King Xiang Li Yan was accompanied by some officials and fled to Hezhong, hoping to seek help from Wang Chongrong.

Unexpectedly, Wang Chongrong pretended to welcome Feng, and when he saw Li Yan, he immediately ordered the soldiers to capture and execute him, and sent the head to Li Xuan's residence.

After the Li Yan rebellion was quelled, many officials were killed, Tian Lingzi was demoted, and Li Xuan also planned to return to the capital.

March of the third year of Guangqi
As soon as the emperor's carriage arrived in Fengxiang, the governor Li Changfu forcibly detained him on the pretext of waiting for the completion of the renovation of the Chang'an Palace.

June
Because of Li Xuan, the Tianwei Army and the Fengxiang Army fought each other.

Li Changfu attacked Li Xuan's palace, but was defeated by Li Maozhen, the general in charge of the imperial court, and fled to Longzhou.

Li Xuan ordered Li Maozhen to lead his troops to pursue and eradicate all the evil.

July
Li Changfu was beheaded in Longzhou.

After several ordeals, Li Xuan's health finally collapsed.

February of the fourth year of Guangqi
The ill Li Xuan finally returned to Chang'an again, paid homage to the Taimiao, held a general amnesty, and changed the reign title to "Wen De".

March rd
Li Xuan "suddenly fell ill" in Wude Hall, and Prince Shou Li Ye was accompanied by the military inspector Yang Fugong and the army to the coffin and ascend the throne.

(End of this chapter)