At this time, King Zhao Run of Wei was not aware of the farce happening in Luoyang. He was still clinging to the defeated army of Chu General Xiang Mo in the Yongqiu area, trying to make the Chu-Vietnam coalition fall here and recreate the Chu State's past.
The scene when Shouling Junjingshe was defeated in Yongqiu.
At the end of March, after the allied forces were defeated by the armies of Wei, Wei, and Lu, Chu State General Xiang Mo led the remaining troops to retreat to Yongqiu and garrisoned in "Qixian County".
It has to be said that the Chu-Vietnam Allied Forces at this time were indeed on the verge of collapse: they retreated and did not dare to retreat, because there were more than 40,000 Jijiao cavalry from Bosile watching eagerly. Once the Chu-Vietnam Allied Forces withdrew on a large scale, they would surely
The Jiejiao cavalry took advantage of the situation to attack them; they could just defend "Qixian", as the Chu-Vietnam coalition had almost no food to defend.
Although in a desperate situation, even Xiang Mo could only acquiesce in allowing his soldiers to plunder the Wei people in Yongqiu and Qixian areas, but the little food they plundered was not enough to feed the hundreds of thousands of Chu-Vietnam coalition forces.
In early April, due to the lack of food in the army and almost no hope of victory, there were signs of a large number of grain recruits fleeing among the Chu-Vietnam coalition. Thousands of grain recruits fled at night almost every day.
But it is a pity that seven out of ten of these grain recruits died tragically under the hunting of the Jiejiao cavalry. Only a small number of them escaped with their lives and fled back to Chu in a hurry.
It is worth mentioning that when the Jiejiao cavalry hunted those grain soldiers, they followed the oath of the previous Wei monarch Zhao Run. When cleaning up the battlefield afterwards, they cut off all the heads of the Chu grain soldiers and brought them back to "
In the Qixian area, under the eyes of the soldiers of the Chu State inside and outside the city of Qixian City, a series of imperial palaces were built to warn the whole world with this bloody warning: This is the result of being an enemy of the Wei State!
Looking at the temples outside the city, the morale of the Chu-Vietnam coalition plummeted, because no one could guarantee whether their heads would also be built into temples by the Wei army in the future.
On the fifth day of April, when the situation was over, General Xiang Mo of Chu sent someone to contact Wei King Zhao Run, begging both sides to stop fighting and make peace.
The specific negotiations were as follows: all the Chu-Vietnam coalition forces withdrew from Yingshui County and Song County, and Chu State recognized the defeat in this battle, and would later pay war compensation to Wei State. In exchange for these conditions, when Xiang Mo led the remaining troops to withdraw to Chu State
, Wei Jun refused to pursue.
To be honest, without the permission of Chu King Xiong Tuo, he made representations to Wei State in the name of "guo" and admitted defeat. Even though Xiang Mo was one of the three pillars of Chu State, it was still an overstep.
suspicion.
It is not difficult to guess that if the Wei State really agrees to Xiang Mo's negotiation, Xiang Mo will definitely become the sinner of the Chu State - even if he is not actually responsible for this battle, he cannot escape the blame. Who asked him to stand up to Wei?
What about national negotiations?
But in order to protect the regular army under his command, Xiang Mo was willing to shoulder this responsibility.
Unfortunately, Wei King Zhao Run did not agree to the Chu army's suggestion - not only did he not agree, even the envoy Xiang Mo sent to the Wei army was ordered to be killed on the spot by Wei King Zhao Run.
King Zhao Run of Wei left only one person alive and ordered him to return to Qixian County to tell Xiang Mo, Xiang Pei and others: "We, the Great Wei, have declared war on the countries in the Central Plains. Those who follow will prosper, and those who go against will perish. There is no third way!"
After hearing the bold words of Wei King Zhao Run, Xiang Mo, Xiang Pei and others were shocked and angry.
What was surprising was that Wei King Zhao Run seemed to really have murderous intentions towards his Chu country this time. What was angry was that Wei King Zhao Run regarded his hundreds of thousands of Chu-Vietnam allied troops as nothing.
The next day, Xiang Mo listened to Zhangyang Jun Xiong Zheng's suggestion and sent several generals as envoys to the Wei army's camp to warn Wei King Zhao Run: "There are still thousands of households in Qixian City."
The meaning is self-evident.
As a result, in the afternoon of that day, Wei King Zhao Run ordered Huan Hu to escort more than 10,000 Chu army prisoners who had surrendered in the previous two days of war to Qixian County. Immediately outside Qixian City, in front of countless Chu soldiers inside and outside the city, they captured him one by one.
They cut off their heads and killed thousands of people from noon to dusk.
Seeing that the Wei army was so strong, the soldiers of the Chu army who occupied Qixian County did not dare to harm the Wei people in the city.
The King of Wei refuses to accept anything, what should we do?
Xiang Mo thought hard about countermeasures, but had no way to break the situation, so he could only continue the stalemate with the Wei army in Yongqiu and Qixian areas.
"Note: If this is true, if the Chu-Vietnam coalition wants to regain its disadvantage, it cannot be ruled out that they will use the Wei people in the city as dry food, feed the soldiers, and then fight to the death with the Wei army, even if both sides die together.
After all, this is a war related to the national destiny of Wei and Chu, and the Chu generals are very likely to kill them. However, considering certain regulations and regulations, it is not allowed to be written in such a dark way, which will only cause the Chu-Vietnam coalition to be immediately defeated due to lack of food.
.』
On the eighth day of April, due to running out of food and grass, the Chu-Vietnam coalition could no longer hold on. In desperation, Xiang Mo had no choice but to discuss a breakout with Xinyang Lord Xiang Pei, Yue General Wu Qi and others.
Xiang Mo also knew in his heart that it was impossible to realize his extravagant hope of bringing all the Chu-Vietnam coalition forces under his command back to Chu State. Therefore, he only wanted to preserve his own troops as much as possible to avoid being like Lord Shouling back then.
Like Jingshe, all the millions of troops were destroyed.
For this reason, he said to Xiang Pei, Wu Qi and others: "When the troops are withdrawn, the two of them will lead the soldiers under their command to quickly retreat to the east of Chu. Don't delay on the way. I will stay behind to break up the rear for you."
Hearing this, the generals of the Chu army were shocked and tried to persuade Xiang Mo.
You must know that Xiang Mo is one of the three pillars, how can he leave a broken queen behind? - After all, in the current situation, leaving a broken queen's soldiers will definitely lead to death.
Facing the generals' persuasion, Xiang Mo shook his head with a smile on his face: "Xiang's decision has been made, you don't need to persuade me anymore."
Xiang Mo thought very clearly that if hundreds of thousands of Chu and Yue allied troops retreated to the Chu Kingdom, they would definitely be chased and killed by the Wei army along the way. What was terrible was that the Wei army had more than 40,000 Jiejiao cavalry on this battlefield. As long as this
More than 40,000 cavalrymen are fighting against the Chu-Vietnam Allied Forces, and the hundreds of thousands of Chu-Vietnam Allied Forces may only be dead.
Instead of doing this, Xiang Mo thought it would be better to stay behind, believing that with his reputation, Xiang Mo would be able to attract the vast majority of the Wei army to attack him, thereby weakening the pursuit of Xiang Pei, Wu Qi and others.
There is no way, except Chu Shuijun, Xiang Mo has the highest status and the highest position among the coalition forces, and Chu Shuijun, as early as the day the coalition army was defeated, had abandoned the coalition forces and fled back to Chu State - here
Under such circumstances, if Xiang Mo did not come forward to find a way to reduce losses, I am afraid that few of his hundreds of thousands of Chu and Vietnamese troops would be able to escape back to Chu alive.
Seeing that Xiang Mo insisted on doing this, the generals of the Chu army had no choice but to obey orders. Maybe some of them were secretly happy about this, such as Xiong Zheng, Lord of Zhangyang, Xiong Yi, Lord of Pengli, and other nobles of the Xiong clan.
Even though they still seemed to be quite courageous in the coalition forces at this time, in fact, they were just afraid of the Jiejiao cavalry. If it hadn't been for the Jiejiao cavalry who had been wandering around Qixian during this period, they would have seen
If there are any deserters from the Chu Kingdom, they will be killed. I am afraid that Lord Zhangyang, Xiong Zheng, Lord Pengli, Xiong Yi, and other nobles of the Xiong clan of the Chu Kingdom, have long abandoned the coalition forces and their own troops and fled back to the Chu Kingdom. How can they stay here?
Is Qixian worried?
Including the day when the allied forces were defeated a few days ago, those who responded to Xiang Mo's order to "fight the Wei army to the death" were actually only his troops, Xinyang Jun Xiang Pei, Yue General Wu Qi and other small groups, such as Zhangyang Jun.
Xiong Zheng and Peng Lijun Xiong Yi only cared about the guards to protect themselves and escaped. How could they give orders to order their soldiers to fight to the death with the Wei army? To say the least, even if they gave orders before escaping, it would be of no avail.
If all the generals have fled, what morale will the soldiers under his command have to fight?
In the early morning of the ninth day of April, when it was still dark, except for the Fuli army led by Xiang Mo, the rest of the Chu-Vietnam coalition began to evacuate and retreated east towards Song County.
The patrolling Jiejiao cavalry immediately reported the incident to Wei King Zhao Run.
After learning about this, Wei King Zhao Run immediately ordered the troops of Wei, Wei, and Lu to pursue the coalition forces. Unexpectedly, when passing through Qixian County, they were blocked by Xiang Mo.
"Is Xiang Mo going to sacrifice himself to save the coalition forces as much as possible?"
When he discovered that Xiang Mo had no intention of retreating, even Zhao Run couldn't help but sigh.
As Xiang Mo guessed, Wei King Zhao Run was more "interested" in him. Under the instruction of Wei King Zhao Run, the Wei army was divided into two. Wei general Bosile led more than 40,000 Jiejiao cavalry to pursue the coalition army, while the rest of the Wei army
The generals of the state, including Ji Wu, Huan Hu and Chen Shou of the Lu state, as well as Wei Shao, Wei Yun, Wei Zhen and others of the Wei state, surrounded Qixian County on all sides and used the siege equipment built in recent days to attack the city.
Begin the siege.
Xiang Mo led Fuli's army to defend the city for three days, and attacked the Wei camp many times at night. Unfortunately, they were unable to prevent the Wei army from capturing Qixian and regaining the lost city.
On April 12, the third year of Wei Zhaowu's reign, Wei King Zhao Run led his army to attack Qixian County. Chu General Xiang Mo held on for three days, but the Wei army finally broke through the city.
On the day the city was breached, Xiang Mo took the lead and killed dozens of Wei soldiers. Later, he was seriously injured and knew he would die. So when the Wei army broke through the city, he drew his sword and killed himself in order not to be captured alive by the Wei army.
To be fair, although Xiang Juan is known as the most powerful general in the Chu State, his death in battle had far less impact on the Chu State than the death of his brother Xiang Mo.
Just like back then, even though they were both one of the Three Pillars, the death of Diyang Lord Xiong Shang had far less impact on the Chu State than Shouling Lord Jingshe's suicide. After all, Xiong Shang, Xiang Kuan and others, although they fought bravely,
But in essence they are still generals. However, Lord Shouling Jingshe and General Xiang Mo are talented commanders, so naturally they cannot be compared with each other.
After regaining Qixian County, Wei King Zhao Run felt Xiang Mo's loyalty to the Chu State and ordered him to be buried with his brother Xiang Kuan. However, Zhao Run was not too merciful to the prisoners of Fuli soldiers under Xiang Mo's command.
The principle of "those who obey will prosper, those who rebel will perish" is still followed: those who choose to submit to the Wei State will be allowed to open a wide range of restrictions and all will be sent to the army; those who do not want to submit will be executed on the spot.
As a result, about 70% of the prisoners of the Fuli Army were unwilling to surrender to Wei. King Zhao Run of Wei ordered Huan Hu to execute them all. As a result, tens of thousands of Fuli soldiers were executed, and the blood stained the land outside Qixian County red.
On this day, the world finally saw the cruel side of King Zhao Run of Wei. With a single order, tens of thousands of prisoners fell to the ground.
Perhaps they were frightened by the tyrannical side of Wei King Zhao Run, so that when Wei Shao, Wei Yun, and Wei Zhen visited the Wei monarch after the Battle of Qixian, they felt quite uneasy.
After all, they had assisted the coalition forces in attacking Daliang. Even if they defected to help the Wei State defeat the coalition forces, they could not guarantee whether the monarch of the Wei State in front of them would forgive them.
Just when they were trembling, they suddenly heard Wei Wang Zhao Run angrily yell: "You bastard!"
Hearing this, Wei Shao, Wei Yun and Wei Zhen were so frightened that they all trembled and almost knocked on the ground to beg for mercy.
Unexpectedly, after Wei Wang Zhao Run cursed that sentence, he calmly said to them: "I am deeply relieved that the three generals have returned from their lost way. I have ordered Ji Wu and Huan Hu to pursue the coalition forces and recover Song County.
If the three of you are willing to assist me in the Wei Dynasty, please go with the generals Ji Wu and Huan Hu... I have something to do here, so I won't leave three more."
Wei Shao, Wei Yun, and Wei Zhen looked at each other, and then they noticed that Wei King Zhao Run was holding a letter in his hand.
Maybe Zhao Run's "bastard" sentence just now was directed at this letter.
Wei Shao and others guessed correctly that Zhao Run's "bastard" sentence was indeed because of this letter.
In fact, when summoning the three people of Wei and Shao, Zhao Run had planned to give these three people a good beating. After all, although the three of them had made contributions to the Wei State in this battle, they could not undo the consequences of the Wei State army when they assisted the coalition forces in attacking Daliang.
However, before the three people arrived, Zhao Run happened to receive a letter from Gao Kuo, the Zuodu Lieutenant of Tiance Mansion. When he read the content of the letter, he suddenly became furious. Therefore, there was no time to spare.
He beat Wei Shao and others and dismissed them after saying a few words.
Anyway, whether it is Ji Wu, Wei Shao, Wei Yun, or Wei Zhen, as long as they are smart, they should follow the general trend and stand firmly on Wei's side in the future. Therefore, it doesn't mean much whether they beat or not.
That night, Wei Wang Zhao Run gave Wei Jiao full authority to deal with the aftermath. He immediately rushed back to Liangjun with more than 400 tiger guards overnight, took a boat at Bolangsha River Port in Liangjun, and returned to Luoyang.
On April 16, King Zhao Run of Wei took Jie Ziyu and more than 400 tiger guards and returned to Luoyang first.
When he entered the city, he saw that the atmosphere in the city was still the same as when he left. It seemed that the "suppression of the rebel rebellion" had not had any impact on the royal capital.
However, this did not diminish the anger in Zhao Run's heart at all.
He didn't even return to the palace, but directly led more than 400 Tiger Guards to Tiance Mansion, and shouted angrily in the main hall of Tiance Mansion: "Call Gao Kuo, come here to see me!"
"
After a while, Gao Kuo and Zhongzhao came after hearing the news, and they couldn't help but look a little uneasy. When they saw the monarch Zhao Run sitting on the main seat in the palace with a bad expression, they felt a little in their hearts and hurriedly clasped their fists and saluted:
"Your Majesty, Gao Kuo (Zhongzhao), pays homage to your Majesty."
Seeing this, Zhao Run slapped the table and said angrily: "How dare you two make independent decisions about such a big thing?!"
Beside, Jie Ziu, who had learned about the situation on the way, also secretly shook his head and said to Gao Kuo, "Zhongzhao" and "Zhongzhao" are too courageous. They actually dared to hide it from him.
People cooperate - although the results are not bad but beneficial to the country.
Seeing Zhao Run's sullen face, Gao Kuo quickly kowtowed and explained: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I have no intention of hiding anything from Your Majesty... The King of Nanliang secretly ordered Pang Huan to lead his army back to the capital. I didn't know about it until the rebellion was suppressed.
When the army withdrew to Hanoi, I learned about it and immediately confronted the King of Nanliang. It was then that I learned about the intention of the King of Nanliang..."
Hearing this, Zhao Run shook the letter in his hand and said angrily: "But you wrote this letter after the fact!... Gao Kuo, Zhongzhao, you two have been with me for more than twenty years, right?
?I just found out today that you two are actually so courageous. You two even dare to cooperate with someone like Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang. What is this called? Do you understand that this is called seeking skin from a tiger?!... Others don’t know
Aren't you two still clear about the grudge between the King of Nanliang and the late king? If he goes with the flow and takes over Luoyang and plots a rebellion, I'll see how you two can save it!"
"It's impossible for the King of Nanliang to rebel..." Gao Kuo muttered in a low voice.
Seeing this, Zhao Run's eyes widened.
To be fair, Zhao Run certainly knew that the King of Nanliang was unlikely to rebel, which was why he ignored Zhao Jiang's warning letter.
Why is it impossible for Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, to rebel?
The reason is simple, because the current situation in Wei State does not allow it.
In today's Wei State, although there may still be some people who criticize Zhao Run behind his back, in general, Zhao Run still has the "popular support" of the people. This public support also includes the influence of the aristocratic forces in the Wei State on
His support - after all, the "contract system" implemented by the Wei court allowed the nobles in the country to benefit from it.
Therefore, the royal family and the nobles supported Zhao Run, while the gentry, Zhao Run vigorously promoted the examination, which greatly increased the power of the gentry, and even appeared to be vaguely superior to the power of the royal family (excluding Zhao Run's lineage) and the nobles.
To put it simply, Zhao Run was secretly supporting the nobles. If this was the case, how could the nobles not support the monarch?
Let’s talk about the common people, let alone this class. On the basis of the benevolent government of the late king Zhao Si, Zhao Run reasonably controlled the flow of domestic wealth and reduced the burden on the common people. Coupled with his illustrious prestige, the people of Wei had great respect for Zhao Run.
That was extremely supportive - from the fact that last year Zhao Run issued a disguised edict to recruit troops, and two to three hundred thousand civilians in Sanchuan County alone followed him to the death, it is not difficult to see Zhao Run's prestige in Wei.
To sum up all this, Zhao Run's prestige in the Wei State is unprecedentedly high, far superior to that of the previous monarchs of the Wei State. Under such circumstances, would a smart man like Zhao Yuanzuo, the King of Southern Liang, think he had the opportunity to rebel and cause rebellion?
Let’s not talk about other things for now, just talk about the suppressing rebel army. As long as Wei Wang Zhao Run declares Nan Liang Wang Zhao Yuanzuo as a rebel, look at the 50,000 suppressing rebel army. In the end, how many people will be willing to follow Nan Liang Wang Zhao Yuanzuo.
The status of the two is no longer on the same level.
This is why Zhao Run still reuses Yang Yu, Pang Huan, Meng Luo, and Chen Ji so far, because these people, including Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Southern Liang, cannot threaten him.
But although Zhao Run knew it well, the words coming out of Gao Kuo's mouth still made him angry.
He angrily shouted: "How do you conclude that the King of Nanliang will not rebel? Are you the roundworm in his belly?!"
"Your Majesty, calm down..."
Gao Kuo glanced at Zhao Run secretly, shrank his head and whispered: "This is not my arbitrary judgment, but this matter is under my control from beginning to end... The love of Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, in this life, his wife, will still be there soon."
A few years ago, she married Zhao Ying, the daughter of Wei Si, the son of Wei Feng, the head of the Wei family in Tianshui. The mother and daughter, including Wei Feng and Wei Si, had been living in Qing Dynasty since the King of Nanliang told his ministers that day.
Under the supervision of the crow crowd, in addition to the family members of Pang Huan, Yang Yu, Meng Luo, Chen Ji and others, they were also under the control of the minister. Even on the day when the anti-rebellion army launched an attack, the King of Nanliang
In accordance with his promise, he voluntarily accepted the supervision of the minister. In addition, there were also the families of the soldiers of the anti-rebellion army. The minister also sent people to monitor him, and even asked Zongwei Lang Yulin to be transferred... If the King of Nanliang really has something
If it's not right, I can use the above-mentioned methods to restrict him and his men. Secondly, as the Zuoduwei of Tiance Mansion, I have the right to designate the Nanliang King as a traitor..."
"..."
Zhao Run looked at Gao Kuo, his expression slightly brightened.
Seeing this, Gao Kuo said seriously: "Your Majesty, I only acquiesced to the behavior of King Nanliang after careful consideration... First of all, Yi Wang Zhao Hongyin is still secretly entangled with the remnants of the Xiao family.
I think this is a scourge. Although Your Majesty cannot bear to do it for the sake of brotherhood, now that the King of Nanliang and Zhao Hongxin want to eradicate Zhao Hongyin, why not go with the flow and solve this scourge? Secondly, although Xiao Luan has been executed, but
Jin Xu, his party member, is still secretly plotting evil. Although there are not many of his party members now, as the saying goes, a small illness will eventually become a big problem if it is not cured. If there is an opportunity to lure them out and catch them all, why not do it? Thirdly, just like
As your Majesty said, the King of Southern Liang, Zhao Yuanzuo, is also a scourge himself, including Yang Yu, Pang Huan, Meng Lu, Chen Ji and others. But now, the King of Nan Liang has exceeded his authority to mobilize troops without authorization, and Pang Huan, Yang Yu, Meng Lu
, Chen Ji and others did not have an edict to withdraw their troops. Even if the King of Nanliang left a way out for Pang Huan and others, His Majesty could use this excuse to take back the military power of the suppressive army. As long as the suppressed army was taken back, the Nanliang King and his party
, there is nothing to worry about from now on... Therefore I believe that this is a hundred benefits and no harm."
"..."
Zhao Hongrun stared at Gao Kuo intently.
To be fair, from the perspective of national interests, Gao Kuo's choice was not wrong. It could be said to kill three birds with one stone. If Zhao Run was in Gao Kuo's position, he would do the same.
Not to mention, Gao Kuo did not blindly listen to Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang. He had countermeasures at his disposal at any time.
The only omission was that Gao Kuo did not notify him in time!
This is where Zhao Run becomes angry.
Does he want the military power to suppress the rebel army to be useless? It is only an army of 50,000 people. The reason why he, Zhao Run, let Pang Huan replace Nanliang King Zhao Yuanzuo in charge of the suppressive army was simply to combine Nanliang King Zhao Yuanzuo and Pang Huan.
The person continued to be tied to the Wei State military and served for the Wei State.
If Zhao Run wants to take back the anti-rebel army, does he need any excuse?
An edict is enough! Who dares to disobey?!
The remnants of the Xiao family headed by Jin Xu? Since Xiao Luan's death, the remnants of the Xiao family have simply become rats in the gutter. They have to be careful even when they emerge. They no longer have the arrogance of the past, and there is nothing to worry about.
On the other hand, by keeping these people here, Zhao Run could check from time to time to see if anyone was ganging up with these remnants of the Xiao family.
As for Zhao Hongyin, the seventh child, it was purely because Zhao Run looked at each other's brothers, and the former was a sibling of Princess Yulong. Otherwise, he didn't know that Zhao Hongyin was actually the one behind the "Three Kings Rebellion"
The mastermind?
"Hmph!" Zhao Run snorted heavily and scolded: "First use the King of Nanliang to eradicate Zhao Hongyin and the remnants of the Xiao family, and then turn back and eradicate the King of Nanliang and his gang. This is a good move to kill people with a borrowed knife and burn down bridges across rivers... Gao Kuo, like this
You are getting more and more comfortable with your strategies. If I hadn't recognized your face, I would have thought it was Zhang Qigong standing in front of me!"
"I...I know that I am guilty."
"..."
Looking at Gao Kuo and Zhongzhao who were kneeling in front of them, Zhao Run thought deeply: "One intentionally deceives you, and the other does not report the knowledge...Gao Kuo, Zhongzhao, tell me how I should punish you."
For good?"
Those who deceive the emperor should be killed according to the law, but if someone advised Zhao Run to kill Gao Kuo at this moment, I believe Zhao Run would kill the person who advised him first.
After all, how many monarchs have actually put their loyal and capable ministers to death since ancient times? At most, they would only demote them to a barren land as punishment, and then call them back after a few years.
But as the saying goes, capital crimes can be avoided, but living crimes cannot be forgiven. They must be punished, and they must be punished severely, so that these restless guys will be engraved in their minds for the rest of their lives.
"..."
Seeing the inexplicable sneer gradually appearing on the face of the monarch in front of them, Gao Kuo and Zhongzhao both felt their scalps go numb.