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

Chapter 994: The world is not in chaos yet, Shu is in chaos first; a banquet in the Shu Palace starts off well but ends badly
The first year of Changxing in the Later Tang Dynasty, the eighth year of Chengqian in the Xia Dynasty
September
Kang Yanxiao, the governor of Xia Tongzhou and the governor of Tongzhou, submitted a memorial to the court, stating that Dong Zhang, the governor of Dongchuan in the Later Tang Dynasty, was dissatisfied with the arrangements of the Tang court.

His old enemy Li Renju became the governor of Baoning Army. Feeling dissatisfied, he angrily rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, captured Langzhou, and captured and killed Li Renju, the governor of Baoning Army.

There was also a secret report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Chengdu that a rift had arisen between Meng Zhixiang, the governor of Xichuan in the Tang Dynasty, and An Zhonghui, a powerful official in the central government of the Tang Dynasty, and the two had clashed many times.

It was also learned that Meng Zhixiang was married to Dong Zhang, and it was expected that he would respond to Dong Zhang and rise up against the Tang Dynasty in the near future.

The Later Tang only occupied Xichuan and Dongchuan in Shu. Among them, Xichuan was independent and had Chengdu, so it was the strongest.

Dongchuan was not only partially occupied by Daxia, but was also mixed with warlords such as the Wuxin Army and the Baoning Army, and its strength was the most dispersed.

The commanders of the Wuxin Army and Baoning Army had been arranged to be people from the imperial court or people who were at odds with Meng Zhixiang and Dong Zhang in the previous confrontation between the central government and Shu.

It can be predicted that Shu will usher in a major reshuffle of power.

The words in Kang Yanxiao's memorial revealed that there was civil unrest in Shu and that there was profit to be made, so he requested troops to seize Dongchuan and even the entire Shu.

But Bai Jian, who stood on a higher level, believed that it was not yet time to send troops.

The situation is not yet completely clear. If the Later Tang court can easily quell the rebellion, Daxia will inevitably confront the Later Tang army after sending troops.

When the two families start a conflict, it will be another Jiangling incident.

Daxia was not yet ready for a full-scale war with Later Tang, not to mention that Southern Wu and Khitan were eyeing it covetously.

Bai Jian replied: "Hold the troops for now and wait for the situation to change."

After thinking about it, he sent a secret letter to Bai Chao, the King of Liang in Nanzheng, asking him to dispatch troops in batches and in small quantities to secretly station in Tongzhou, and not to let the spies of the Later Tang Dynasty know.

Bai Jian doesn't want to take any action on the surface, but he can make some preparations in secret.

If no preparations are made, the 5,000 Tongzhou troops in Tongzhou will not be able to achieve anything in the vast Shu area.

But if the Later Tang Dynasty really failed to perform well and could not suppress the rebellion for a long time, then Daxia would accept it with a smile.

Based on the principle of caring for our allies, it should be okay to help him take back Shu.

So Daxia began to quietly wait for the situation to change, and ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Later Tang to take action, adding fuel to the civil strife in Later Tang.

September 28
As expected by the Xia king and his ministers, Meng Zhixiang also raised his troops to respond.

Li Siyuan, who had been unaware of Meng Zhixiang's inclination and had not immediately sent troops, did not hesitate this time and immediately issued an edict to strip Meng Zhixiang of all his official titles.

He also appointed Shi Jingtang, the governor of Tianxiong Army, as the chief general and granted him the title of the capital recruiting envoy, and ordered him to lead his army into Sichuan to suppress the rebels in Xichuan and Dongchuan.

He also appointed Xia Luqi, the military governor of Wuxin Army, as his deputy general and deputy recruiting envoy, and ordered him to guard the city strictly and wait for reinforcements from the imperial court.

October
After Dong Zhang captured Langzhou, he continued to attack Jianzhou, wanting to seize the dangerous pass in Shu - Jianmen Pass.

In this way, the gates of Shu could be closed and the imperial reinforcements could be prevented from entering Shu.

However, a large number of troops were taken to Jianzhou by him, leaving his rear empty, so he wrote a letter asking Meng Zhixiang for support.

November 15th
Dong Zhang broke through Jianmen Pass and successfully defended this gateway to Shu.

In order to prevent the Wuxin Army from taking advantage of the situation to join forces with the reinforcements sent by the court, Dong Zhang divided his troops and attacked Suizhou personally.

Meng Zhixiang also fulfilled his duties as an ally and sent generals Li Renhan, Zhang Ye, Zhao Tingyin and others to join Dong Zhang in attacking Suizhou.

He also ordered General Hou Hongshi to lead troops to help defend Dongchuan and guard against the Xia army in Tongzhou.

He also ordered Zhang Wu to send troops to the Three Gorges to attack Yuzhou. He was determined to occupy the eastern gate of Shu, completely isolate Shu from the outside world, and make himself the king of Shu.

November 24

The army of the Later Tang court to suppress the rebellion arrived in Jianzhou under the leadership of Shi Jingtang, the governor of Tianxiong Army, the son-in-law of the emperor, and the founding duke.

On the day Shi Jingtang arrived, he ordered a fierce attack on Jianmen.

Although the defenders fought desperately, the soldiers who came were all from Guanzhong, and they were all the best in the world.

Most of the Jianmen defenders were taken to Suizhou by Dong Zhang, and he did not expect the government troops to arrive so quickly. November 26

In just three days, Shi Jingtang captured Jianmen.

Upon hearing that Jianmen had fallen, Dong Zhang hurriedly sent envoys to Xichuan for help.

Meng Zhixiang hurriedly sent Zhao Tingyin to send troops to rescue.

Unexpectedly, after the Tang army broke through Jianmen, they stopped in Jianzhou.

Meng Zhixiang was overjoyed when he heard the news, and said to his subordinates: "If the Tang army rushes to Dongchuan, it will definitely be able to lift the siege of Suizhou. By then, the situation in the two Sichuans will be critical."

"Now they are no longer advancing. There must be some changes in the court. This shows that the Tang army is nothing to worry about."

December

Shi Jingtang fought with Zhao Tingyin at Jianmen and was defeated.

Then, no matter how Zhao Tingyin invited him to fight, he just kept his troops at bay.

December 11

Zhang Wu and Yuan Yanchao successively seized Yuzhou and Qianzhou. The five states of Fu, Zhong, Kui, Gui and Xia all surrendered.

The second year of Changxing in the Later Tang Dynasty, the ninth year of Xia Chengqian
New Year
Dong Zhang captured Suizhou, and Xia Luqi, the governor of Wuxin Army, committed suicide.

Meng Zhixiang ordered his men to take Xia Luqi's head and show it to the government troops in Jianzhou and other places that had not yet surrendered.

Upon seeing this, Shi Jingtang realized that there was no internal support in Shu and that further attack was a luxury, so he submitted a petition requesting a withdrawal, citing the difficulties and dangers of the Shu Road and the inability to transport grain.

Li Siyuan agreed.

February
Shi Jingtang withdrew his troops.

Upon hearing that the imperial army was withdrawing, the Lizhou governor Li Yanke and the Kuizhou governor An Chongruan, who were still holding out, both abandoned the city and fled.

The Later Tang forces completely withdrew from Shu.

Chengdu Shu Palace
Meng Zhixiang repelled the imperial army and gained half of Dongchuan. He was very proud and satisfied, and he drank and had fun with his confidants, feeling very happy.

"The imperial court is now weak and can't even break through the gates. This vast land of Shu is left to the military commanders to roam freely."

"Yes, in my opinion, the commander should be crowned king, just like Wang Jian was before, or even crowned emperor directly, so that we brothers can have fun."

Hearing his brothers' persuasion, Meng Zhixiang became somewhat tempted.

At this time, Qiu Weicheng, a famous scholar from Chengdu, suddenly said, "Marshal Jie, have you forgotten Marshal Dong and Kang Yanxiao from Tongzhou?"

This made Meng Zhixiang sober up, and he quickly refused: "Mr. Qiu is right, this Shu land is still our family that has the final say."

Then he turned to Qiu Weicheng and asked, "Xia is a big country, and it is not weaker than the imperial court in Chang'an. Now that they have taken Tongzhou as a springboard, what can we do?"

Qiu Weicheng waved his feather fan and said with a smile: "This is not difficult. It is nothing more than using the opponent's strength to fight against the opponent. I heard that the emperor in Chang'an sent Su Yuan and Du Shaoben back and brought the news that the family members of the general in Chang'an are safe and sound."

"Isn't this the Chang'an court trying to show goodwill to the general?"

"What do you mean?" Meng Zhixiang hesitated to speak.

"Exactly."

"But how can we appease Dong Zhang? You know, all his relatives in Chang'an have been killed, and there is no reconciliation between him and Chang'an."

Qiu Weicheng sneered, obviously looking down on Dong Zhang, and said: "Dong Zhang is an incompetent person. If it weren't for the help of the general, he would have been defeated long ago."

"It's easy to take him down, but we have to do it quickly, so quickly that Xiaguo has no chance to react, and quickly get the imperial decree from the Chang'an court to gain the upper hand."

Meng Zhixiang nodded: "Just follow your advice, sir."

(End of this chapter)