In February of this year, Li Po gathered all the Jin elites to confront the Tang army along the Yellow River.
You come and I go back and forth, and after a few tricks first, it's hard to say who suffers and who takes advantage. Of course, it's not that clear-cut.
In such an age where many heroes are on the rise, it doesn’t matter how much you suffer or how much you take advantage of. What matters is the result. The so-called winner and loser is like this.
No matter how prosperous you are at this time, if you become a prisoner of your subordinates in the future, don't expect that others will keep your word...
And this year, for most people in the world, is actually a year without an era name. Heroes have proclaimed themselves emperors one after another. From south to north, from east to west, the chassis is in a mess, and the title of emperor has also come up with countless names.
, only one can be left as a standard in the annals of history, so it is impossible to say it accurately at this time.
The war in the south gradually diminished. Du Fuwei, Lin Shihong, and Xiao Xian became the three largest warlord leaders in the south. They were able to gain a firm foothold and no one wanted to bow to the other.
Xiao Mian is the most powerful, but there is nothing he can do about it. His family background is very good, and the other two all started their careers as rich people. Naturally, they cannot compare with Xiao Mian.
After the Jiangnan nobles shed enough blood and tears, those who had the means moved their families northward, some to Luoyang, some to Kansai, and most of the rest gathered under Xiao Xian's banner.
The people in the Qin Palace were indeed right. According to contemporary sayings, Xiao Mian was very popular in the south and had the image of a king.
It's just that Xiao Mian is not feeling well. In recent years, the big nobles in the south of the Yangtze River have done a terrible job in the south. They believe in Buddhism and Taoism. Not only do they lead a decadent life, but they also spare no effort to achieve luxury when building their temples, so they exploit the people.
It became more and more violent, and when the world was in chaos and rebels broke out, the disciples of the Jiangnan nobles and the monks and Taoist priests died one by one.
When they took refuge together under Xiao Mian's rule, they brought a lot of talents to Xiao Mian, but also brought a lot of hatred to Xiao Mian.
Therefore, Xiao Mian's rule is the most stable and hierarchical, because there are many talents in governance. It can also be seen from his use of troops. There are really many smart and talented people under his rule, and he does not pay much attention to the east side.
Du Fuwei of Du Fuwei and Lin Shihong of Nanbian were determined to enter Shu with a very clear goal. However, their military talents were not very good, and they were far behind the people of Guanxi. The war did not go smoothly.
It became a tug of war.
Of course, the disadvantages of wooing the big bosses also emerged. He failed to respond to everyone in Jiangnan. Du Fuwei, Lin Shihong, Zhu Can and others who were from lower-class backgrounds were very cold towards Xiao Mian.
First, Zhu Canliu came and went, causing Xiao Mian a lot of trouble and making him afraid to enter Shu with all his strength.
When Zhu Can died inexplicably, Xiao Mian finally breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, he failed to catch this man-eating demon king, allowing the Jianghuai bosses to vent their anger...
But before he could be happy for a few days, and when he was preparing to fight against Li Yuan in Shuzhong, Lin Shihong hindered him again, and did not take this descendant of the Nanliang royal family seriously at all.
Xiao Mian, who had sent more than a dozen groups of people to persuade Lin Shihong to surrender, immediately became angry and raised troops to fight Lin Shihong in January of that year.
As expected, it quickly expanded to hundreds of thousands of troops, occupying a piece of the boss's territory, and then... Lin Shihong, who was confused, returned in defeat, and gave Xiao Mian a lot of people and land, hoping to imitate Sun Quan's separatist rule of Jiangnan.
Ambition is getting further and further away from Lin Shihong.
Xiao Mian, who had won the battle without much effort, was not feeling very well. After the victory, his close ministers and staff were divided into two groups, arguing endlessly, which also made Xiao Mian hesitate.
It is easy to understand that there are two roads before Xiao Mian, first pacify Jiangnan and then control Shu, or first conquer Bashu and then control Jiangnan.
Originally, most of the ministers under his rule were from the south of the Yangtze River, so they naturally preferred to regain their hometown first, so that they could go back and avenge themselves.
It's just that several of Xiao Xian's close ministers are unambiguous, and their strategic vision is unparalleled by others.
They persuaded Xiao Mian to go to Shu, not only did they want the Kingdom of Abundance, but their eyes were also wandering around Guanxi. In their eyes, Jingzhou and Jiangnan were incomparable to Guanxi.
There was less noise before because they had a high reputation and there was no room for others to interrupt. But now that they have won a big victory, the noise suddenly increased.
There is no doubt that people with short-sightedness will make up the majority no matter where they are. Of course, no matter how many different voices there are, it is Xiao Mian who ultimately decides the general direction.
But at the critical moment, Xiao Mian's shortcomings suddenly became magnified, and the soft ears of this nobleman from the Nanliang Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty were also revealed.
He not only showed trust in a few capable ministers, but was also tempted by other people's opinions.
So he hesitated, and what he saw and what he weighed in his heart was not what was nearby, but what was near and far away.
Cen Wenwen, Wang Renshou, Zhou Faming, Ning Changzhen and others all have their own origins, and they are all leaders in the Jiangnan clan. Such a group, with help and support, is actually no different from the children of the Guanxi clan under Li Yuan.
Although he has the trust of Mr. Xiao, he also has many precautions.
There is no doubt that they are the representatives of the group that advocates joining Shu, and together they can indeed suppress other voices, which makes Xiao Xian very uncomfortable.
The other group of people is very interesting. They are the kings and military generals headed by Qin Wang Dong Jingzhen and General Zhang Xiu. They are undoubtedly the team where Xiao Mian started his career.
Their backgrounds are generally not high. The strange thing is that they don't have much trouble with the children of the wealthy family, but they also admire the grace of the Jiangnan nobles and are extremely willing to associate with the children of the wealthy family. Otherwise, Xiao Mian would not come from a county.
Ling Shang was elected as their leader.
For these people, Xiao Xian didn't have so many scruples. Being from a prominent family, he naturally believed that he had the right to drive them.
In fact, it is proved that Xiao Mian and Li Yuan are very similar, but completely different in some places.
It goes without saying that Li Yuan values family background. Xiao Mian also values family background, but the difference between him and Li Yuan is that he feels that Dong Jingzhen and others can be used easily, and he is willing to give them a stage to display their talents.
But then again, his regard for others may not be a good thing for Dong Jingzhen and others.
For example, when Dong Jingzhen and others wanted to start a rebellion, Dong Jingzhen proposed to recommend Xiao Mian as the leader. The others had no objection. At this time, Xiao Mian also recruited Shen Liusheng's rebel army.
Dong Jingzhen sent Xu Deji to welcome him, but Shen Liusheng killed Xu Deji in order to compete for his seat, and gave Dong Jingzhen and others a blow on the head. When Xiao Mian heard about this, he admired Shen Liusheng very much and made him a general of chariots and cavalry.
When he met Dong Jingzhen and others, he was very reassuring. Dong Jingzhen might be a little scared, so he immediately said that we have admired you for a long time. When everyone was in trouble, they also tried their best to help you restore your homeland, but why did you come?
Why kill Xu Deji here?,
You know, without Xu Deji's help, how can we welcome you within the city walls?
Well, I understand very well that Xu Deji died unjustly.
Xiao Mian thought about it and realized that what he had done was indeed a bit unethical, so he turned around and killed Shen Liusheng. Then, the two headless rebel leaders went to the underworld together.
From this matter, it can be seen that Xiao Mian's ears are very soft. Later, Xiao Mian was very good to Dong Jingzhen, Zhang Xiu and others, and they were all joined by Wang Jue.
But as long as you turn around and think about it carefully, it's not difficult to see the indifference and contempt hidden in this man's heart.
People like Cen Wenwen and others will never be killed immediately even if they do something wrong, but Dong Jingzhen and others are always under the knife.
As a result, in Xiao Mian's mind, a deformed relationship of closeness and distance was formed. The kings used their fingers to strike wherever they pointed. Cen Wenwen and others had too many opinions, which was sometimes annoying.
Therefore, in February, Xiao Mian ordered General Zhang Xiu to lead an army of 100,000 to attack Lin Shihong, and also sent Wang Renshou and Ning Changzhen to lead troops to reinforce Kuizhou and confront the Tang army. The stalls were getting bigger and bigger, and the offensive was But it was much weaker, which made Li Xiaogong and others in Shu feel relieved.
Not to mention this, just when Li Po and Li Shimin were poking around and trying their best to make each other uncomfortable, Liang Emperor Xiao Mian ordered Cen Wenwen, the Minister of Internal Affairs, to come to see them.
He said: "I recently heard that my aunt returned to the south and stayed in Jinyang. Is there anything going on?"
The tone was not very good, and Cen Wenwen was a little annoyed when he heard it. This matter was obviously the head and tail of Yuan Junshan, the internal history minister. His internal history minister only drafted the edict and could participate in secrets when the opportunity came, but the emperor wanted to ask about external affairs. , Yuan Junshan is the best candidate, directly bypass Yuan Junshan and ask him, how should he answer?
Of course, Cen Wenwen must have known about this. The aunt mentioned by the emperor was the former empress Xiao. When Xiao went to the Turks from Hebei, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
If Yu Wenji or Dou Jiande and others were allowed to accept it, Xiao Mian would probably be the most embarrassing person to rebel against the king in the world. They, as ministers, would be equally shameless. The most important thing is that one move could affect the whole body. , you may have to go to war with others.
Fighting all the way to Hebei? Everyone is thinking about it, but there are Wang Shichong, Li Mi, and Li Yuan in the middle who are also eyeing Guanxi, and there are Du Fuwei, Lin Shihong and others behind them. No matter how you look at it, it is a death-seeking thing.
It would be better to return to the Turks. After all, there is Princess Yicheng there to protect her. And no matter how treasonous she is, even if Empress Xiao remarries to a powerful Turk, it will not do anything to Xiao Mian's lineage. Maybe she can form a strong support.
Therefore, Empress Xiao was displaced, and everyone just chose to turn a blind eye. They had no choice but to do what they could.
But now Empress Xiao has returned south to the land of Jin. When she heard the news, it was only right to discuss it without telling the emperor. What she didn't expect was that the emperor learned the news so quickly. The one who sat on the wax was the one who was asked. Cen Wen is here...