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

Chapter 947: Wei Bo's Rear Admiralty Falls to Henei, Jinzhou's Battle Failed

August 25
The generals of Wei Bo recommended Bai Jian as the successor of Wei Bo, and submitted a memorial to the court, requesting his formal appointment.

Bai Jian ordered his general Luo Hongxin to lead 5,000 men to recapture Xiangzhou and capture the remaining troops of the rebel Le Congxun and execute them all.

By recruiting 15,000 people from Le Congxun outside the city, plus 2,700 people from his own headquarters and 3,000 Wei Bo soldiers, Bai Jian now had 20,000 people under his command.

28th
Bai Jian appointed Wang Cheng as the left commander-in-chief with 3,000 men, and Yuan Ziang as the right commander-in-chief with 3,000 men.

General An Xianbin was promoted to commander of the front capital, leading 3,000 men.

Bai Ming still led 500 cavalrymen from Bendu.

In addition, many former Wei Bo generals and captains were also promoted, either to battalion commanders or captains.

The former Baijian's backyard was integrated into Wei Bo's Ya Army, and a part of the elite surrendered soldiers were mobilized, so that the Ya Army was restored to 3,000 people.

The entire army of the former commander-in-chief of the rear yard was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the left wing of the Ya Army, leading 1,500 people.

Tian Chengbin, the former general of Wei Bo, was appointed commander of the right wing of the Ya Army, leading 1,500 men.

After the dilution by Baijian, the entire Wei Bo Ya Army of 3,000 people was generally maintained at 1,000 former Ya Army members, 1,000 former Zhaoyi members, and 1,000 surrendered soldiers from Lecongxun.

On the 29th, the governors of Bozhou and Beizhou came to pay a visit one after another.

Bai Jian appeased them and still appointed them as governors to guard the two states.

As for Weizhou Governor Zhang Kai, the imperial court had already launched the Taiyuan offensive at this time.

Upon hearing that the new Wei Bo governor Bai Jian was a member of the Bai family and from the Zhaoyi Army, he was afraid of being purged by the court and surrendered the city to Zhu Quanzhong.

Zhu Quanzhong sent General Ge Congzhou to lead a thousand cavalrymen into Luzhou, and ordered Zhu Yougong to station 3,000 troops in Weizhou for defense and support.

At this time, throughout Hanoi, Meng Fangli of Huaizhou and Zhang Kai of Weizhou had already defected to Zhu Quanzhong, a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty.

On September 2, Luo Hongxin defeated Xiangzhou.

Bai Jian was promoted to the position of Governor of Xiangzhou and Commander-in-Chief of Houdu due to his merits, and was in charge of 3,000 men.

September
After the court received Wei Bo's memorial, Yang Fugong persuaded Li Ye to agree to Wei Bo's army's request on the grounds that the war in Taiyuan was urgent and it was not advisable to make more foreign enemies.

However, Zhang Jun and others believed that Bai Jian was loyal to Li Keyong and should be eliminated, so how could he help the rebel's reputation?

He then wrote a letter to the court requesting that it be rejected and that another person be sent to Wei Bo.

"Your Majesty, Wei Bo has always refused to obey the king's rule. The military governors of all dynasties were recommended by the people within the Wei Bo. If the court ignores this and appoints them, I am afraid they will change their ways."

"The war in Taiyuan is at a critical moment and we should not create unnecessary trouble. Your Majesty, please think twice."

Yang Fugong was already dissatisfied with the imperial court's dispatch of troops to Taiyuan, and believed that attacking a large town without reason was a way to bring disaster.

Zhang Jun was the leader of the Confucian school and had long been dissatisfied with Taiyuan, the base of the Neo-Confucian school.

Upon learning that three powerful local vassals, Zhu Quanzhong, Li Kuangwei and Helian Duo, all wanted to attack Taiyuan, he believed that this was the best opportunity to destroy the foundation of Neo-Confucianism.

So he jumped up and down, which brought back Li Ye's nightmare about Li Keyong forcing Emperor Xizong to migrate. He facilitated the anti-Jin alliance and gained command of the siege of Taiyuan.

The reason why Yang Fugong was able to secure the position of Privy Councilor and become a powerful eunuch was not only due to his strong political skills, but also because of his good relationship with Li Keyong.

Therefore, he knew that this attack on Hedong might not be without the intention of Li Ye to weaken his power.

Hearing Yang Fugong's earnest words, Li Ye also thought that he should not make any more enemies.

It was already difficult to besiege Li Keyong, and if the Wei Bo army was added, it would be hard to say who would win or lose.

But he was unwilling to agree to Wei Bo's request, so he decided to hold it in.

As long as the imperial court did not agree, Bai Jian would only be the regent of Wei Bo, not the governor of Wei Bo.

Seeing Li Ye's willfulness, Yang Fugong just felt tired. He sighed and walked out of the hall.

The adopted sons who had been waiting outside the hall came forward and asked, "Foster father, what does the emperor say?" Yang Fugong shook his head.

"This dog-footed emperor, if it weren't for his adoptive father's support, how could he have the throne? He is such an ungrateful person."

These adopted sons of Yang Fugong either served in the Shence Army, or held key positions inside and outside the palace, or controlled the limited local power in the court.

It was with the help of these adopted sons that Yang Fugong was able to control the government.

Looking at his indignant adopted sons, Yang Fugong said expressionlessly: "No matter what, His Majesty is His Majesty. Without him, how can we survive?"

"Only when the country is strong can we, the rootless people, enjoy wealth and prosperity from generation to generation. Stop making noise and get down. Remember, if the skin is gone, the hair will not stay."

"Yes, my sons all listen to their adoptive father." After accepting Yang Fugong's education, the adopted sons left one after another.

Yang Fugong turned around and looked at Li Ye's palace again, then walked away.

September 8
At this time, the imperial army gathered in Jinzhou.

At the request of Zhu Quanzhong, the court sent Deputy Governor-General Sun Kui to Luzhou to serve as Deputy Jiedushi, and the imperial envoy Han Guifan supervised the delivery of Sun Kui's flags, imperial staff and letter of appointment to the camp.

Sun Kui set up the Jiedushi's flag and staff, led two thousand soldiers from Jinzhou to garrison Zhaoyi Army.

Feng Ba, the former commander of the Zhaoyi Army, was defeated by Li Keyong's general Kang Junli and was executed.

If Zhu Quanzhong had not sent Ge Congzhou and his thousand cavalrymen to arrive in time, Luzhou would probably no longer belong to the court.

September

When Sun Kui led his troops to Changzi County, Hedong Army Cavalry General Li Cunxiao had already ambushed there.

The ambush troops were deployed and Sun Kui, Han Guifan and five hundred of their personal soldiers were captured and escorted to Taiyuan. The rest were all beheaded.

Kang Junli was ordered to lead 20,000 troops to attack Luzhou.

On the same day, Li Kuangwei and Helian Duo of Youzhou and Yunzhou led a total of 30,000 foreign and Han soldiers to attack Yanmen Pass.

Hedong army generals Li Cunxin and Xue Atan defeated them.

September 21

As the Zhongwu Army had few soldiers, Ge Congzhou had to abandon Luzhou and retreat to Hezhong. Kang Junli recovered Shangdang and was appointed by Li Keyong as the commander of the Luzhou army.

November

Li Cunxiao, a general of the Hedong Army, was proud of his achievement in capturing Sun Kui. In addition, he was the governor of Xingzhou and served in the Zhaoyi Army, so he should be the commander-in-chief of the Zhaoyi Army.

If it was the former deputy commander Bai Jian, it would be fine, but who the hell is this Kang Junli?

Therefore, he resented Li Keyong for giving the position to someone else, and immediately led his own soldiers from Jinzhou back to Xingzhou, occupied the city, presented a letter of submission to the court, and wrote letters to Zhang Jun and Wang Rong, asking for help.

On the other hand, Li Keyong sent generals Li Cunxin and Xue Atan to fight against the main force of the imperial court in Yindi, and won three battles in a row.

After a great defeat in Yindi, the Hexi Army retreated to the west bank of the Yellow River.

Han Jian, the governor of Huazhou, retreated to Jiangzhou.

Only Zhang Jun led the soldiers of the Zhongwu Army and 10,000 imperial guards to garrison Pingyang in Jinzhou. Li Cunxin attacked for three days without success and retreated 50 miles to set up camp.

After a series of battles, the imperial court did not gain any results.

I also heard that the Xuanwu Army was gathering a large number of troops in Bianzhou, and the Wei Bo Army was stationed with heavy troops in Xiangzhou.

Zhu Quanzhong was afraid that his old nest would be unstable, so he immediately withdrew his soldiers from Jinzhou.

Without the help of the Zhongwu Army, most of the local vassal states were repelled by Li Keyong. Zhang Jun believed that it was useless to continue holding on after the battle had reached this point.

He then led his army to flee from Jinzhou and Jiangzhou, while Li Cunxin followed behind to recapture Jinzhou and Jiangzhou, thus resolving the crisis in Hedong.

(End of this chapter)