subvert the late Tang Dynasty

When Zhu Wen was attacking the Tianping Army, Taining Army, and Probation Army at the same time, Hu Zhen, the Jiedu envoy of the Yicheng Army in Huazhou, sent an urgent military report, saying that there was a riot in Weibo Town.It is a good opportunity to send troops to Wei Bo Town, and the time is fleeting.

It turned out that Le Congxun, the son of Le Yanzhen, the governor of Weibo Town, recruited Yabing (personal soldiers) from Xunguang. , The relationship between father and son has gradually become tense.Le Yanzhen was always on guard against this son. After Le Congxun found out that his father was wary of him, he was frightened and fled to Xiangzhou (Anyang, Henan).Le Yanzhen appointed him as the governor of Xiangzhou.

But in this way, most of the generals under his command were dissatisfied, and riots often occurred, and Le Yanzhen couldn't restrain himself. The soldiers in Weibo Town were all famously arrogant and brave, and the generals rebelled from time to time. Le Yanzhen In the past, it was the Jiedu envoy of Weibo Town who was gathered and deployed from Han Jian.Now the generals in Weibo Town are not convinced, and Le Yanzhen is powerless to suppress him. In order to save his life, he can only abdicate to become a monk.

After the generals elected Zhao Wen to be Wei Bo's stay, Le Congxun was originally the legitimate heir of Wei Bo Town, but now his father abdicated to become a monk, and Zhao Wen's successor stayed, of course he refused to accept it, and recruited [-] troops from Xiangzhou to attack Weizhou northward ( Today Hebei Daming, near Wei County).

Zhao Wen didn't dare to go out of the city to resist, just shut the door and didn't fight, which angered the soldiers in Weizhou, killed Zhao Wen directly, and elected Luo Hongxin as the queen, Luo Hongxin was also an ambitious man, After seeing Zhao Wen's end, he knew what the soldiers were thinking, and immediately went out of the city to meet the enemy.

Le Congxun was defeated, so he had to retreat back to Xiangzhou. Le Congxun knew that his troops could not compete with Weizhou, so he asked the powerful Zhu Wen for help, and asked Zhu Wen to send troops to help quell the chaos.Since Huazhou is relatively close to Xiangzhou, the first person to receive the message was of course Hu Zhen, the governor of the Yicheng Army.

Of course, Hu Zhen saw at a glance that this was a rare opportunity. The jurisdiction of Weibo Town has always been intertwined with those of the Yicheng Army and Xuanwu Army, and the Wei Bo Army is powerful. It has always refused to obey the control of the imperial court. area.In the Spring and Autumn Period, the area of ​​Weibo Town was the State of Wei, and the people there were notoriously ruthless in war.

If this area can be conquered, it will take Zhu and Wen to occupy most of the Central Plains.

After Hu Zhen’s secret letter came, Zhu Wen had to change his plan and drag Zhu Zhen and Li Tangbin, who were planning to attack Xuzhou, to the north. Due to time constraints, Zhu Wen ordered Zhu Zhen, Li Tangbin and others to urgently convene people to go north overnight , Pang Shigu served as the vanguard officer, Huo Cun served as the formation envoy, Zhu Zhen served as the commander of the capital, that is, the commander-in-chief, and Li Tangbin served as Zhu Zhen's deputy.

Other generals such as Shi Shucong, Zhang Qianyu and others followed him to the north. It can be said that all the famous generals went north this time, and they were notoriously ruthless if they were pulled out. This is enough to show Zhu Wen's love for Wei Bozhen. importance.

Zhu Wen can let Shi Pu be free for a while longer, but Zhu Wen will not let Zhu Jin go, because Huang Ying's position in Zhu Wen's heart is really important, as long as Zhu Wen thinks that Huang Ying married Zhu Jin That rough man was very angry in his heart.He ordered Jingxiang and Xu Huaiyu to stay in Bianliang, and he himself marched east, accompanied by Ge Congzhou, Zhang Guiba, Zhang Guibian, Zhang Guihou, Li Si'an, Niu Cunjie and other soldiers, all of whom were elite soldiers and strong generals. , and brought a large amount of gunpowder, grenades, and muskets.Since you want to fight, you must win the battle, and you must not be careless in the slightest.

Zhu Wen went east from Bianliang all the way to the city of Caozhou.Bianliang is only more than 200 miles away from Caozhou. The army rushed all the way and arrived at the foot of Caozhou city at noon on the third day. Before the defenders of the city gate realized what was going on, they were shot by Zhu Wen's catapult The city gate exploded.

The Bian army swarmed in, holding muskets one by one. When someone blocked them, they shot in the chest. The army slowly advanced. Caozhou's archers wanted to fight back, but they were wiped out by Zhu Wen's musketeers before they could reach the range. .Where have these Shandong men in Caozhou seen such a scene?On the spot, they thought that the enemy was using some kind of demon technique, which could kill people a hundred steps away, and all of them were scared out of their wits and ran for their lives.

Zhu Wen took Caozhou almost effortlessly. Zhu Wen stayed in Caozhou for a while, leaving 1000 troops to garrison, and sent people to appease the people in the city. He took Ge Congzhou and others to continue eastward.Three days later, Juye County was captured again. At this time, it was only a hundred miles away from Yunzhou.Zhu Wen was not in a hurry to attack Yunzhou, but went north to attack Puzhou (Zhencheng).

Zhencheng, the governor of Puzhou, was Ge Congzhou's hometown. In order to take care of Ge Congzhou, Zhu Wen entrusted Ge Congzhou with the task of attacking Zhencheng.

Ge Congzhou didn't want to solve Puzhou by force, because Ge Congzhou's old mother was still in the city, and there were many relatives and friends in the city. If he rushed in rashly, some casualties would inevitably be caused. want to see.

Ge Congzhou was very grateful to Zhu Wen, but Puzhou, as the eastern gateway of Yunzhou, had to be captured, and Ge Congzhou knew this very well.But it is impossible to take down the important town of Puzhou without bloodshed, not to mention that the city has already taken precautions, and it is absolutely impossible to take it down as easily as Caozhou.

But this did not trouble Ge Congzhou. Ge Congzhou directly led dozens of people to dig a tunnel leading to the city of Puzhou, mixed into the city, and first moved the old mother and a few close relatives and friends out of the tunnel. , Then enter the death squad of 300 people from the tunnel, let them set fire around the city after hearing the sound of cannons outside the city, and disturb the enemy's morale.

That night Ge Congzhou ordered an attack. After three thunderous earthquakes, the gate of Puzhou City was also blown to pieces.However, the defenders of Puzhou set fire to the gate of the city, and the gate could not pass through at all. Although the 300 people who entered the city set a few fires in disorder, they were soon discovered. People from outside couldn't get in, and the [-] death squads in the city were all killed after a fight.

Ge Congzhou was very angry, but there was nothing he could do. Looking at the flames of Lao Gao strung up in front of the city gate, he was helpless. Everyone said that water and fire are ruthless. In this kind of fire, no one can break through. Can spend time outside the city gate.

At this time, one of Ge Congzhou's generals said: "General, I have a way to attack, but there will definitely be casualties."

Ge Congzhou knew this man, this man was called Wang Zhongshi, he was courageous, his marksmanship and swordsmanship were top-notch, and he was quick-witted, often able to win by surprise at critical moments.Master Wang Zhong was originally a powerful general under Zhou Ji's command. Later, Zhou Ji was defeated by Qin Zongquan and Lu Yanhong. Wang Zhongshi had nothing to rely on, so he turned to Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen was also very good to Wang Zhongshi. He has been following Zhu Wennan for the past two years In the Northern War, he made a lot of contributions in the battle to recover Caizhou, and was very popular with Zhu Wen, Ge Congzhou and others.

Ge Congzhou hurriedly said, "General Wang, what can you do?"

Wang Zhongshi said: "As long as General Ge sends me more than a thousand quilts and blankets, and find some water, I will have a way to attack the city."