Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 57 Megatron China (Special thanks to book friends 2023...3827 for their two monthly passes!)

Shortly after getting up in the early morning of November 2, the first year of Kaixi, Emperor Chai Zongxun of the Great Zhou Dynasty received an urgent battle report from Han Hui from Yangzhou, Huainan, eight hundred miles away in the Bianjing Palace:

After Zhang Yong, the commander of the "Long Xiang Guard", discovered the confidential information that Han Lingkun was colluding with the Southern Tang Dynasty to rebel, he was chased by hundreds of Southern Tang "Imperial City Division" warriors and desperately escaped back to the military camp to report to Han Hui.

After urgent discussions, Han Hui and Cao Bin quickly deployed their formations to fight.

In the first battle, the Imperial Zhou Army and Longxiang Army totaled 80,000 people, against Han Lingkun and the Southern Tang Army, which had a total of 160,000 troops, who had rebelled against the Zhou Dynasty.

The war lasted for more than two hours. The "God's Arm Bow" developed by Chai Zongxun and the craftsmen of the "Weapons Research and Development Institute" made its debut in this battle, showing its power and successfully defeated the enemy Guan Jian.

In this battle, the Han and Tang armies lost more than 50,000 soldiers due to long-range shots from the "God's Arm Bow". They could no longer hold on and the two armies broke up and fled.

Han Hui and Cao Bin made a decision on the spur of the moment and ordered their 80,000 troops to immediately pursue the enemy.

After more than ten days of fighting, the 100,000-strong army led by Tang Hao, the privy envoy of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was annihilated by the Great Zhou Dynasty. More than 70,000 soldiers were left, and only 28,000 remaining soldiers fled desperately back to Jinling City on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

After Li Jing, the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, met Tang Hao who had fled back in embarrassment by the river, the emperor and his ministers were so frightened that they ordered the two remaining soldiers, totaling 80,000, to retreat to Jinling City to hold on, fearing that the Zhou Dynasty would take advantage of the situation to attack across the river and launch an attack on the Southern Tang Dynasty. "War to destroy the country".

As for Han Lingkun, after the defeat, he led 20,000 remaining soldiers to flee into Yangzhou City and hold on. With the full cooperation of the imperial guards of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the young sergeants of the "Longxiang Army", they broke through the city in five days, almost annihilated the remaining 20,000 Tianping troops, and surrounded the Jiedushi Mansion.

Han Lingkun, his two brothers Han Lingjun, Han Lingxun and their son Han Qingchao, together with more than 50 family members, set themselves on fire in the mansion. Their servants either died or fled.

On October 26, Han Hui sent Cao Bin to lead his army to clear out the remnants of the Tianping Army in Yangzhou and Huaizhou during the Huainan Festival, and then led the army to station in Yangzhou City for rest and recuperation.

In this battle, the Great Zhou Dynasty suffered losses of more than 10,000 imperial guards and pro-military divisions, the "Long Xiang Army" suffered less than a thousand casualties, and the "Long Xiang Guard" suffered less than a hundred people.

The Han-Tang coalition defeated an army of 160,000, beheading more than 90,000, surrendering more than 20,000, and escaping 30,000.

At that time, the young emperor Chai Zongxun of the Great Zhou Dynasty gathered orphans from all over the country to form the "Dragon Xiang Army" and the "Dragon Xiang Guard", which became famous, and the magic weapon "God Arm Bow" was even more powerful in the world!
The names of Chai Zongxun, Han Hui, Zhang Yong, Cao Bin and others were spread all over the land of China at this time, and they were powerful in China. They became dazzling rising emperor stars and general stars that kings and ministers from all over the world were talking about.

In the battle report, Han Hui asked Emperor Chai Zongxun whether he could use the power of victory to cross the river to attack Jinling and destroy the Tang Dynasty.

After Chai Zongxun received the report, he immediately drove to Baoci Hall to see his mother, so that she would not have to worry about the war situation.

After sitting down in the palace, Chai Zongxun told Empress Dowager Fu about the "Battle of Yangzhou" in Huainan in detail.

Queen Mother Fu said happily:
"Your Majesty is indeed as wise and powerful as your father! When others abandon me, I take it. I gathered the orphans of the Great Zhou Dynasty to form an army, and summoned craftsmen to develop the magic weapon "God's Arm Bow".

No wonder many ministers inside and outside the court, such as Prime Minister Li, Taifu Wang, and Li Jun, all praised the emperor as the first prodigy emperor in history!
The "Battle of Yangzhou" was a great victory, and the queen mother was relieved! The emperor should reward Han Hui and Zhang Yong for their expedition this time. "

Chai Zongxun smiled and nodded.

Seeing that it was time for the morning court, the mother and son got off their car, surrounded by a large group of eunuchs and maids, and headed to the Chui Gong Hall outside the palace.

After the ceremony, Chai Zongxun ordered Li Fu, the general manager of the palace, to read out the battle report submitted by Han Hui, the deputy commander of the Guards and Military Division and the commander of the "Long Xiang Army".

After hearing this, more than a hundred ministers waiting in the palace saw that the Empress Dowager Fu and the young emperor sent a large army to the Southern Tang Dynasty. Although they unexpectedly encountered the rebellion of Huainan Jiedu envoy Han Lingkun, they were able to achieve such a brilliant victory. The crowd was excited and hurriedly went to Dali Mountain. Calling "Your Majesty is wise!".

Chai Zongxun sat on the golden throne, waited for a while with a smile, and then said:

"Everyone loves you!

Han Hui, Zhang Yong, and Cao Bin lived up to my expectations and showed me the power of the Zhou Dynasty! As for the next strategy that Han Hui asked for in the memorial, all the beloved ministers came to discuss it. "The Taifu and the Minister of Civil Affairs, Wang Zhu, came out of the group and said:

"Your Majesty, the Tang State has a large population, fertile land, and prosperous maritime trade in Fuzhou, Quanzhou and other places, which can be said to be a prosperous government tax revenue.

In my opinion, in the battle of Huainan and Yangzhou, the Tang army lost troops and generals, and the country was shaken. Your Majesty, it is better to take advantage of the power of this battle to conquer the Tang Dynasty and take it as our territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty! "

Chai Zongxun pondered in his heart:
"If we attack the Southern Tang Dynasty now, we are at least 80% certain to take it into our territory.

It's just that our country is currently internally unstable. The new business and land policies have only just been implemented in the entire territory, and the people in many state capitals still don't even have enough to eat.

Compared with conquering other countries, which consumes a huge amount of national power, I will first solve the internal problems of military governors in various places, and then talk about it. "

Seeing the young emperor Chai Zongxun thinking deeply, Li Tao, a confidant, came out and said:

"Your Majesty, I believe that it is fundamental to continue to implement your Majesty's New Deal and to make the people rich and the country strong to stabilize our country.

As for the Tang State, you can send an envoy to Jinling and order its leader Li Jing to offer E, An, Guangzhou and His Majesty, and pay an annual tribute of 600,000 taels of silver. "

Xinke Tanhua and the Ministry of Industry praised Zhang Qixian for his work:
“Prime Minister Li’s advice is excellent!
Your Majesty ordered Tang to cut off three states and donate gold and silver to me, which greatly weakened Tang and strengthened Zhou.

In the future, when His Majesty's New Deal is implemented in the country and the country becomes stronger, the Tang Kingdom in the south of the Yangtze River can be defeated in a single battle.

Moreover, what Li Xiang said was that E and An among the three prefectures of E, An and Guang were connected with Nanping and Zhou Xingfeng, the military governor of the Wuqing Army. It would not take long for these two separatist forces to be trapped and surrounded. The two places will surely be frightened by your majesty's great military strength, and they will come to surrender one after another. "

Nanping, also known as Jingnan and Beichu, was one of the ten countries in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The regime was founded by Gao Jixing in the second year of Tongguang in the Later Tang Dynasty (924) and went through five masters.

In the first year of Tongguang in the Later Tang Dynasty (AD 923), the Later Tang Dynasty destroyed the Later Liang Dynasty. Gao Jixing responded to the imperial edict and went to Luoyang to meet Zhuang Zong. The following year, he was named King of Nanping by the Later Tang Dynasty, and the Gao family formally separated Nanping.

According to the area under the jurisdiction of the Jingnan Jiedushi in the late Tang Dynasty, it consisted of 3 counties in the three prefectures of Jing, Gui and Xia, with a population of about and a military strength of .

As for Zhou Xingfeng, he was born in the second year of Zhenming in Houliang (916). He was born in a peasant family and joined the Jingjiang Army in his early years. He joined the tribe of King Ma Xi'e of Southern Chu and became "ten brothers" with Wang Jinkui, Pan Shusi, Zhang Wenbiao and others. He was the most scheming among the ten.

He was successful in attacking the Southern Tang Dynasty and served as the governor of Jizhou. In the first year of Xiande of the Great Zhou Dynasty (954), he served as the military envoy of the Wuqing Army and was in charge of the military and political affairs of Tanzhou.

He loves to kill for the sake of human nature, and if anyone makes a mistake under his rule, he will kill him no matter how big or small he is.

Chai Zongxun was overjoyed when he heard this. He only knew that Nanping and Zhou Xingfeng were two small separatist forces located in Central and South China. After listening to Zhang Qixian's explanation, he realized that Li Tao's strategic vision was so brilliant.

Chai Zongxun said:

"Since Prime Minister Li's move has such far-reaching intentions and has many benefits, I will follow Prime Minister Li's good advice.

According to my imperial edict: I ordered the commander of the capital to temporarily station Han Hui's army in Yangzhou to suppress the Tang Dynasty and at the same time rectify the powerful forces in Huainan.

All the officers and men in the army have made great contributions this time. After returning to Bianjing, I will personally perform the merits and reward them.

But who should be sent as envoy to the Tang Dynasty? "

(End of this chapter)