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

Chapter 974: The King of Yan is arrogant in the Da'an Palace, and his ambition to be granted an official title is overwhelmed

Da'an Mountain in Youzhou is located in the remnant of Taihang Mountain, southwest of Jicheng. It has complex topography and undulating terrain, steep mountains, high in the west and low in the east, and is a deep mountain area.

However, deep in the mountains, there is a luxurious, vast and magnificent palace.

This was built by Yan Wang Liu Rengong who conquered a large number of civilians in order to satisfy his own pride, extravagance, debauchery and desire for immortality.

However, things went against his wishes. After the construction of the palace was completed, before Liu Rengong could enjoy it for long, his son Liu Shouguang launched a coup and imprisoned him.

He then murdered him to make things easier for others.

Now this extravagant palace has become the palace of the new King of Yan, Liu Shouguang.

Sitting on the throne, Liu Shouguang was surrounded by beauties on both sides, and on the table in front of him were all kinds of fruits and fine wines. Even the emperor was no more than this.

Looking at the envoy standing respectfully at the steps, Liu Shouguang's face flushed, and he was obviously caught up in some fantasy.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, Liu Shouguang came out of his imagination and said to the eunuchs on his left and right: "You have no vision, so why don't you let the noble envoy take a seat?"

Upon hearing this, the eunuch immediately ordered people to set up seats at the bottom of the steps.

The envoy bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for granting me a seat."

Nodding, Liu Shouguang was very satisfied with the envoy's respect.

That’s right, the visitor was the envoy from Jin sent by Li Cunxu to present the imperial edict and honor Liu Shouguang as his father-in-law.

Liu Shouguang looked at the silk books presented to him by the kings of Hebei with great excitement. The words on them were extremely humble, describing him as the king of Hebei.

"If all the kings submit, Hebei will fall into my arms, and the whole world will be mine." Liu Shouguang looked at the list in his hand and couldn't help but grinning foolishly.

The messenger looked at Liu Shouguang who was lost in his fantasy and laughed in his heart.

However, just when the two thought that the matter was settled, a general suddenly rushed in from outside the palace, came to the envoy, knelt on one knee, bowed his head and clasped his fists, and reported:

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Song has led tens of thousands of troops to come from Bianzhou."

Liu Shouguang, who was originally enjoying himself, turned pale when he heard this. He accidentally knocked over the wine glass on the table. The wine flowed down the table and quickly soaked his clothes.

Feeling the coolness on his thigh, Liu Shouguang subconsciously stood up and wiped it.

However, no one present noticed Liu Shouguang's panic.

The Jin envoy was also like this. When he heard that Song had launched an expedition to the north, he lost his mind and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. He quickly stood up and said to Liu Shouguang:
"Song State has risen up in arms. Although we all respect Your Majesty as our father-in-law, we dare not make decisions on such military and national affairs. Please release the foreign officials so that we can know about it."

"Oh, oh, the envoy is leaving now, but please tell the King of Jin that since you are now serving me as your master, please don't wait and see, otherwise it will be bad if the sword is used."

"Well, I will take my leave."

After the Jin envoy left, Liu Shouguang lost interest and paced back and forth in front of the throne, thinking about countermeasures.

But no matter how hard he thought, his mind was paralyzed by alcohol and he couldn't think of anything.

"Come here, summon the Prime Minister, the General and others to the palace to discuss matters."

Since you can't figure it out yourself, let's work together.

Two hours later, several important officials of Yan State arrived at the Li Palace. After discussion, everyone agreed to ask Daliang for help.

"Now that Li Cunxu, Wang Rong, Wang Chuzhi and others have subdued our king, two-thirds of Hebei is in our hands. The only person you need to worry about is Duke Song."

"But those who worry about Duke Song are not just your Majesty. The Emperor of Liang and the King of Wu are also among them."

"Among them, the new successor of Wu Wang Yang Wo is like his father, timid as a mouse, and only dares to take advantage of the chaos to grab chestnuts, how dare he touch the tiger's whiskers of Song State."

"Therefore, the only one who can help us now is Emperor Liang."

After hearing this, Liu Shouguang no longer hesitated and immediately sent an envoy to Luoyang to tell the Liang court:
"Li Cunxu, the Prince of Jin, Wang Rong, the Prince of Zhao, Wang Chuzhi, the Prince of Beiping, and seven other princes and governors all respect me as the common ruler of Hebei."

"The Song State has raised an unjust army and has not respected the king's rule. The foreign king is willing to be commanded by your majesty and guard Hebei for your majesty. Please grant him the title of commander-in-chief of the Hebei army so that he can attack the vassal states of Zhen, Ding, Hedong, and Bianliang and serve as the king's vanguard."

After Zhu Wen in Luoyang received Liu Shouguang's letter, he thought it was possible.

So Wang Tong, the cabinet envoy, was sent to Youzhou to appoint Liu Shouguang as the envoy to Hebei. By the time Wang Tong arrived in Youzhou, it was already July.

It has been three months since the State of Song sent troops to the north.

In order to handle military affairs nearby, Liu Shouguang moved back to Jicheng from Da'an Mountain.

"How is the battle in Jingzhou?"

Hearing the king's question, the eunuch who had been standing by respectfully replied, "General Sun He from the front reported that although the Song army is numerous, its fighting power is not as elite as it was two years ago. It may be a small army, so there is no need to worry about it."

Liu Shouguang was very satisfied after hearing this, and he stopped paying attention to the war in the south and prepared to continue looking for concubines to have fun with.

Sun He was the former governor of Cangzhou.

When Cangzhou was conquered by the Song army, Sun He fled to Jingzhou. Liu Shouguang did not punish him, but instead reused him and put all the troops on the southern front under his command, hoping that he would learn from his mistakes and become braver.

Sun He did not disappoint Liu Shouguang. In the subsequent battles in which Bai Xingjian attacked Jingzhou many times, he tried his best to protect Jingzhou and waited for Liu Shouguang to return for reinforcements.

Just as Liu Shouguang was about to leave, an official came to report: "The envoy from the Daliang court has arrived. Please grant the imperial decree to the father-in-law."

Liu Shouguang nodded casually upon hearing this and asked, "What level of etiquette is used."

"According to the rules, we should use the rituals used in the previous dynasty to confer titles on the Grand Marshal."

The official then explained in detail to Liu Shouguang what the etiquette of the Grand Commandant was.

"Wait, why doesn't this ritual offer sacrifices to the heavens and change the era name?"

"Shangfu Rong, offering sacrifices to heaven and changing the reign is the ritual of the emperor. Although Shangfu respects you, he is still a subject."

Liu Shouguang was furious when he heard this: "If I am the Grand Master, who can be the Emperor? Moreover, the empire is now divided into five parts, with the big ones claiming to be Emperors and the small ones claiming to be Kings. I only have 2,000 li of Yan territory, and the Song army cannot stop me. Can't I be the Emperor?"

The officials were stunned and did not dare to reply.

"Come here, arrest the envoys from Liang and Jin and tell them that if they agree with my proposal, they will be killed."

After saying this, Liu Shouguang turned away.

Now, everyone finally knew what Liu Shouguang was thinking.

In Liu Shouguang's view, Zhu Wen and Wang Jian were able to become emperors because no one could stop them.

Now the heroes in Hebei are intimidated by his military might, the Song army is too weak to break the city, and Daliang is isolated by Zhao, Beiping and Song. It is a good time for him to proclaim himself emperor.

August of the eighth year of the Tianyou reign of the Tang Dynasty

In order to create a situation in which he could become emperor, Liu Shouguang ordered the execution of Sun He who had dissuaded him.

He also executed the Jin envoy who refused to submit.

August

Liu Shouguang offered sacrifices to heaven in the southern suburbs of Jicheng and proclaimed himself emperor, calling himself the Emperor of Great Yan and changing the era name to "Yingtian".

Wang Tong, who was originally an envoy of Liang State, could not resist the temptation of Liu Shouguang and defected to Yan State, where he was appointed as the left prime minister by Liu Shouguang.

September
Song Cangzhou Camp

Li Cunqian, Bai Xingjian and Cui Shaojie gathered together, and the generals of the northern camp responsible for the expedition against the State of Yan were also among them.

"Liu Shouguang has already forcibly proclaimed himself emperor and cut himself off from the outside world. Your plan is complete, and the next thing should be handed over to the two generals."

At the first seat on the right, Cui Shaojie straightened his back and slowly bowed slightly to Li Cunqian at the main seat and Bai Xingjian at the first seat on the left.

Li Cunqian heard Cui Shaojie's words, his eyes flashed fiercely, but the corners of his mouth raised a smile, and he laughed: "Of course."

Bai Xingjian also had a smile on his face, and it was obvious that he was well prepared.

(End of this chapter)