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

Chapter 978: The two Zhus fought for the throne and lost the country's destiny, losing Hebei and then Xiangyang

The 13th year of Tang Tianyou
After the struggle between the brothers Zhu Yougui and Zhu Youzhen, the State of Liang was no longer as strong as it had been during the reign of Zhu Wen.

There was Yang Shihou, the governor of Heyang, who was proud of his achievements and controlled the financial and military affairs of the six states under his jurisdiction, namely Huai, Wei, Ze, Jiang, Shaanxi and Pu.

He also imitated the military tactics of Weizhou in the Tang Dynasty, selecting thousands of brave soldiers from the army to form the Silver Spear Loyal Army for his own use, just like the King of Hebei in Daliang.

Although Liang State blocked Jin State's southward advance several times because of Yang Shihou, Zhu Youzhen was deeply wary of him.

Not only in Hebei area, but also in Xiangyang area, Zhu Youqian, the governor of Xiangyang, controlled the military affairs of several states around Xiangyang and annexed Zhu Youwen's old subordinates. He was dominant in one area and considered himself as Zhu Wen's adopted son, so he had deep roots in the court.

With Yang Shihou in the north and Zhu Youqian in the south, Luoyang was sandwiched between the two. It is no wonder that Zhu Youzhen was unwilling to ascend the throne in the eastern capital Luoyang.

Therefore, with powerful vassals at home and strong enemies surrounding us abroad, the situation in Liang State was very grim.

Li Cunxu of Jin and Bai Jian of Song were also well aware of the situation in Liang. They had refrained from major warfare in the past two years and were gathering their strength, waiting for civil strife in Liang so that they could take it down at the lowest cost.

October 21

When the news of the death of Yang Shihou, the governor of Heyang, reached Chang'an, Zhu Youzhen was overjoyed and took the opportunity to split the six prefectures of Heyang.

First, Yang Shihou was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Tutor and buried with the rites of a king or prince, which was the highest honor.

In addition, the Heyang Jiedushi was still established in the three states of Wei, Ze and Huai, and was appointed with trusted generals.

He also established the Zhaode Army Jiedushi in the three states of Jiang, Pu and Shan, and appointed the son of Yang Shihou to the position.

However, this move caused dissatisfaction among the Yinqiang Xiejie Army. They launched a mutiny, imprisoned the new Jiedushi, sent envoys to the State of Jin for help, and rebelled against the State of Jin by submitting to Huaizhou.

Li Cunxu took advantage of the situation to occupy Huaizhou and annex Ze and Wei. He then sent troops to attack Jiang and Puzhou, determined to wipe out the power of Liang State north of the Yellow River.

February of the 14th year of the Tianyou reign of the Tang Dynasty
Zhu Youzhen ordered Wang Tan, Xie Yanzhang and Wang Yanzhang to lead their troops out of Yindi Pass.

He intended to attack Taiyuan, an important town in the rear of Jin State, but after a long siege he failed and had to retreat.

May 6
Li Cunxu personally led the army and defeated the Liang army in the Wenxi area, captured Anyi, and took back Puzhou.

Jin general Li Siyuan conquered Xi and Ci states.

May 29
The Jin army besieged Hedong County of Puzhou, and Zhu Youzhen sent Yuan Xiangxian to lead the army to rescue.

November 3rd

Yuan Xiang was first defeated by the Jin general Zhou Dewei at Leishou Mountain in the south of Puzhou.

When the defender of Hedong City learned that the reinforcements had been defeated, he felt that his situation was hopeless and surrendered the city.

At this point, except for the city of Heyang, all the land north of the Yellow River was occupied by the State of Jin and no longer belonged to the State of Liang.

December of the 15th year of the Tianyou reign of the Tang Dynasty

Zhu Youzhen ignored the dissuasion of Prime Minister Jing Xiang and rushed to Luoyang to prepare for the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven.

He also went to Yique in person to pay homage to Xuanling (the tomb of Zhu Wen).

In that month, upon learning that Zhu Youzhen had come out of the pass to Luoyang, Li Cunxu led a large army westward and forced a crossing of Puzhou.

Within a few months, they occupied the Puzhou Bridge, an important ferry crossing from Hebei to the Guanzhong region, and captured the key Puzhou Pass.

At that time, rumors were spreading in Luoyang, all claiming that the Jin army had already attacked Chang'an, the Western Capital.

When Zhu Youzhen learned about this, he was panicked, gave up the sacrifice to heaven, and hurriedly returned to Xijing.

General Xie Yanzhang, who stayed behind in Guanzhong, launched several military campaigns but failed to recapture Puzhou Pass.

The 16th year of Tang Tianyou
Li Cunxu mobilized more than 200,000 troops from Hedong, Henei, Hezhong, and grasslands, preparing to destroy Liang in one fell swoop.

The Jin army crossed the river at Puzhou, advanced westward along the Wei River, and stationed in Chaoyi.

Liang general He Gui stationed in Fengyi, northwest of Chaoyi, while general Xie Yanzhang stationed in Huayin and Tongguan south of the Wei River to confront the Jin army.

October
The Jin army defeated He Gui's troops, and the Liang army in the north retreated to Liyang.

After this defeat, the Liang generals knew that if they did not unite their troops, they would be divided and defeated by the Jin army.

Zhu Youzhen then strictly ordered Xie Yanzhang to go to Liyang to join forces with He Gui.

October 30

After Xie Yanzhang arranged the Weinan defense line, he led tens of thousands of people to cross the Wei River from Xinfeng to join forces with He Gui's troops to fight against the Jin army.

He Gui attacked and killed Xie Yanzhang due to personal grudge, and the Liang army started fighting among themselves.

Seeing that the Liang army was fighting among themselves, Li Cunxu thought that this was a golden opportunity and decided to attack Chang'an, force a crossing of the Wei River, and occupy Weinan County.

Upon learning that most of the Jin army had crossed the river to the south, He Gui hurriedly led his troops in pursuit. He fought with the Jin army near Mount Li, winning at first but then losing, with nearly 30,000 casualties.

Chang'an was shaken, the capital was under martial law, and Zhu Youzhen temporarily took refuge in Xianyang.

However, although a large number of He Gui's soldiers were killed, the Jin army headquarters also suffered heavy losses and was unable to advance westward.

Li Cunxu repeatedly requested Qi Wang Li Maozhen to send troops to attack Liang from the rear of Chang'an, but was rejected by Li Maozhen due to his delay.

December 27

Seeing that capturing Chang'an had become a luxury, Li Cunxu had no choice but to retreat to Hedong.

The 18th year of Tang Tianyou
Zhu Youqian, the governor of Xiangyang, captured Ruzhou and requested that his son Zhu Lingde be appointed governor of the Zhongwu Army, but was rejected by Zhu Youzhen.

Ruzhou originally belonged to the Liang army. The year before last, the Jin army launched a large-scale attack on Liang. The Song State took the opportunity to move westward and occupy it in order to cut off the connection between Luoyang and Xiangyang.

Therefore, Ruzhou's geographical location in the two countries is very important.

But soon, Zhu Youzhen worried that Zhu Youqian was harboring resentment and that Liang could no longer withstand unrest.

So he planned to order him to take charge of Ruzhou as well, but it was obviously too late at this time.

June 15

Daliang Palace in Chang'an

Zhu Youzhen stared at the kneeling spy in the hall with flaming eyes and shouted angrily, "How dare he, how dare he!"

The spy came from Xiangyang and discovered the secret between Ji Wang Zhu Youqian and the State of Song.

"There was an envoy from Song coming from Kaifeng. The King of Ji treated him with great courtesy and was respectful and humble in his words. He called him "gong", which might have given him the suspicion of collaborating with the enemy."

Because he did not trust his brothers, Zhu Youzhen had secret agents around almost every one of his brothers and sisters, and even his son.

This time, in order to prevent Zhu Youzhen from sending troops to attack him and following in the footsteps of Yang Shihou, Zhu Youqian contacted the State of Song in advance and requested to submit.

After the defeat in Hebei, the Zhaode Army existed in name only, and Zhu Youzhen naturally had no need to show courtesy to Yang Shihou's family anymore.

The next year, they fabricated a crime and exterminated Yang Shihou's son and his clan, and carried out a large-scale purge of Yang Shihou's former subordinates in the army.

Although this move caused the army's combat effectiveness to decline, Zhu Youzhen, as the emperor, had annexed the former troops of Yang Shihou who had retreated to Chang'an. Two-thirds of the country's troops were in his hands, and no one could resist.

July 21

Zhu Youzhen ordered Liu Xun, Yin Hao, Wen Tao, and Duan Ning to attack the troops in Luoyang and conquer Ruzhou.

He also sent troops from Guanzhong to the south from Shangzhou and attack Xiangyang directly.

August 9
The Song general Yuan Ziang defeated the Liang Luoyang front army at Linru, and the Liang army retreated to Yique.

September
Liang's Guanzhong Front Army attacked Neixiang several times but failed and was instead defeated by Zhu Youqian.

Zhu Youzhen had no choice but to order the army to return and station troops at Wuguan to guard Xiangyang.

September 21

After arranging matters in Xiangyang, Zhu Youqian went from Xiangyang to Kaifeng to pay homage to Baijian, Duke of Song.

Baijian hosted a banquet for him, changed Zhu Youqian's title to King of Xiang, and allowed him to guard Xiangyang as before. He was also given a palace for the King of Xiang, making him a neighbor of the King of Yan.

However, since Zhu Youqian joined the group with money, he did not need to stay in Kaifeng permanently.

At the end of the banquet, Zhu Youqian strongly demanded to restore his real name, Zhu Jian, to show that he had severed ties with the State of Liang.

Bai Jian was very satisfied with his attitude and personally appointed Zhu Jian's son Zhu Lingde as the governor of the Zhongwu Army to guard the three states of Ru, Tang and Deng.

He also accepted his second son Zhu Lingxi to study at the Bianliang Academy, and remotely served as the governor of Caizhou.

At this point, the Xiangyang area was merged with Ruzhou, a total of nine states, and all belonged to the State of Song.

(End of this chapter)