The third year of Zhonghe, early April.
After Han Zhi of Xuzhou defeated Li Hanzhi and Li Dan and rose like a rocket, the three warlords of Xuzhou, Li Keyong, Zhu Wen and Zhao, also lived up to expectations and on April 10, the last day of the first ten days, they defeated Huang Chao, killed more than 10,000 guards of Cao's army, captured and surrendered tens of thousands of troops, and seized countless baggage and food.
Huang Chao was defeated and fled to his hometown of Caozhou with the remaining troops.
When the news of Huang Chao's defeat reached Xuzhou, Shang Rang became anxious. For the sake of his future, he must have a certain amount of capital, and Xiao County, which was nearby, became his first target.
Instigated and supported by his officers and men, Shang Rang suddenly rose up and launched a fierce attack on Xiao County regardless of the cost and consequences. An extremely brutal offensive and defensive battle broke out in full swing right under the city of Xiao County, between Shang Rang and Shi Pu.
In mid-April, Huang Chao led the remnants of his troops, swept through Songzhou, and broke through Suiyang County, the capital of Songzhou. The governor Zhang Rui fled with his family. However, in Yucheng, east of Suiyang County, the Hedong Army Shi Jingsi's troops suddenly attacked, and took advantage of Huang Chao's unstable foothold and the exhaustion of his army to deal Huang Chao another heavy blow, killing 3,000 enemies and capturing over 10,000. Huang Chao fled, leading thousands of remnants of his troops, into the Tiger and Wolf Valley.
In Xiao County of Xuzhou, when Shang Rang and Shi Pu suffered extremely heavy losses and the bloody battle was at its most brutal, Han Zhi led the Xu Wei army to suddenly attack and defeated Shang Rang in one fell swoop. Shang Rang, who was left with no other choice, finally led less than 10,000 remnants of the Cao army to surrender to Han Zhi.
At the same time, Cao army generals Chang Hong, Zhao Zhang, Li Tangbin, Huo Cun and others also surrendered.
Han Zhi led his troops to besiege Xiao County without stopping and confronted Shi Pu, who had less than 10,000 remnants of his army. Shi Pu was imprisoned and in danger.
In late April, Shi Pu intended to mobilize the people in the city to defend the city, but was stopped by General Guo Shaobin and veteran General Li Shiyue. The two suddenly attacked and put Shi Pu under house arrest.
At Han Zhi's request, Guo Shaobin and Li Shiyue searched the entire city and arrested Chen.
Ten days later, Guo Shaobin and Li Shiyue opened the city gates, took off their helmets and armor, and personally escorted Shi Pu and Chen to surrender to Han Zhi.
Han Zhi, who took over Xiao County, searched the whole city again on the pretext of looking for his sister, but still failed to find Yuchi Jin and his three servants. Zhu Li was extremely frustrated and had to let Jing Ming continue to investigate openly and secretly, mobilize the ghost guards, and do their best to find the whereabouts of Yuchi Jin.
On the 25th, Shi Pu was torn to pieces by Han Zhi at the downtown entrance of Xiao County on the charge of tyranny and cruelty, and of harming the people; on the same day, Chen was beheaded and displayed to the public on the charge of excessive plunder, committing crimes, and harming the people.
When Xuzhou changed hands, Han Zhi selected old and weak guards from Xuzhou from the Xuwei Army, paid them salaries on the spot, and asked them to go back to production.
Then he reorganized the army and deployed all parties.
Han Zhi appointed Yang Shihou as the general, Li Shiyue and Huo Cun as deputy generals, and stationed 10,000 troops in Huangkou to defend Songzhou.
Chen Gong was appointed as the general and Guo Shaobin as the deputy general, and they led 8,000 troops to the south and stationed in Qi County; Chang Hong was appointed as the town commander and he led 3,000 troops to station in Huaiyuan. The two of them supported each other and defended Huainan.
Shen Ji was appointed as the general and Zhao Zhang as the deputy general, and they stationed 10,000 troops in Pei County to defend Yanzhou.
He led 30,000 Xu Wei troops back to Pengcheng to defend Yizhou.
On April 25, the day when Shi Pu and Chen surrendered, Li Keyong led his troops into the Hulang Valley and strangled the remnants of the Cao army. Huang Chao, the once-famous General Chongtian of the Cao army, the newly-minted King Huang of the Great Qi regime, and the heroic figure who once swept the world against the tyrannical Tang Dynasty, fought in vain and died in the chaos. His head was beheaded by Li Keyong and sent to Chang'an.
With the fall of Huang Chao, history opened a new chapter.
There was no scene of celebration across the country, but officials from all over the country were still very happy because
They no longer had to worry that one day the grass army would suddenly arrive at their doorsteps, kill them alive, and then rob them of their property and women.
The warlords in various places had mixed feelings. With the defeat of Huang Chao, they had lost one of their ways to gain military merit. For the ambitious ones, this was not good news, and they had to find another way.
In the end, throughout the Tang Dynasty, the most powerful military group will no longer include the name of Huang Chao, and the powerful strength of Li Keyong, Zhu Wen and others will also surface and be exposed to the eyes of the people of the world.
The bandits have been destroyed, but the war is still going on across the country. A new situation has emerged. What choices will the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the eunuch group, the clique of intellectuals, and the warlords in various parts of the Tang Dynasty make
The waves wash away the sands, the water flows eastward, but they can’t wash away all the heroic tragedies, nor can they wash away all the heroes of the time.
Bianzhou, Military Governor's Office.
Zhu Wen, who had just returned from Junyi County, hurriedly pulled two Confucian scholars into the study, seemingly discussing something intensively.
Huang Chao was destroyed, and the dreaded Cao Army was eventually submerged in the long river of history. However, Zhu Wen, who was sitting in the main seat, did not show any joy. He frowned and looked worried.
After defeating Huang Chao and eliminating the largest armed rebellion force in the Tang court, Zhu Wen's brows not only did not relax, but frowned instead. Not to mention that he was originally from the grass army, but he was not the biggest beneficiary of this rebellion.
On Zhu Wen's right hand side, the Confucian scholar with a horse face is Li Zhen, who once cracked Zhu Li's psychological strategy. He is also the mastermind behind the conspiracy to frame and kill Zhu Li.
And on Zhu Wen's left hand side, the elegant and handsome scholar with a feather fan and a blue scarf is really surprising.
The ancients respected the left. During the Battle of Weishui, Li Zhen was still Zhu Wen's number one strategist. But now, Li Zhen was sitting on the right in a proper manner, which showed that his status as the number one strategist was obviously no longer the same as before, and he had abdicated and made way for more capable people.
Although Li Zhen is insidious and narrow-minded, he is a genuine wise man who is honest and trustworthy. His strategic ability is no less than that of the Kuai brothers in the Three Kingdoms period. The person who can make him willing to be the last one is obviously not a simple person.
This person is Jing Xiang, Zhu Wen's most trusted and most capable adviser, without a doubt. Li Zhen can never be compared with him, whether in character, breadth of mind, or wisdom and strategy, they are far inferior.
If someone tries to compare the two, it would be an insult to Jingxiang.
Jingxiang was a descendant of Jinghui, the Prince of Pingyang. His grandfather Jingxin was an official in Tongzhou. He was also a son of an official. According to historical records, Zhu Wen listened to Jingxiang's words. When people talked about Zhu Wen, they would always mention the two ministers, the internal and external ministers. Jingxiang was one of the two ministers, the external minister.
If Zhu Wen is compared to Cao Cao, then Jingxiang is Xun, and he is more sympathetic to Zhu Wen than Xun. While Xun was helping Cao Cao, he also hoped that Cao Cao could assist the Han Dynasty and had his own little thoughts.
Ke Jingxiang always stood on Zhu Wen's side from beginning to end, putting himself in Zhu Wen's shoes and only thinking about Zhu Wen. Therefore, this man was worthy of being called Xun, loyal as the sun and the moon, and one of the few ministers with steadfast integrity in the Five Dynasties period.
Huang Chao is dead, the bandits have been destroyed, and the glorious era of the Cao army is gone forever.
At this time, Zhu Wen was frowning. Jingxiang and Li Zhen seemed to know why he was unhappy.
Looking at the whole world, after Huang Chao's defeat, there were only a handful of people in the entire Tang Dynasty who could make Zhu Wen worried.
Among these people, Li Keyong, as the governor of Hedong, controlled the prosperous Hedong Road, an area of 12 states, and became Zhu Wen's sworn enemy.
Theoretically, the six states of Yun, Shuo, Wei, Xin, Dai, and Lan were also under the jurisdiction of the Hedong Jiedushi.
If Li Keyong could completely control Hedong, his power would be even stronger.
Not to mention that Weizhou had already been annexed by Li Keju, just the five states of Yun, Shuo, Xin, Dai and Lan were all controlled by Zhu Chun now. Who is Zhu Chun? He is Zhu Li's father.
Although this middle-aged man in his forties did not take care of things, these five states were as solid as a rock under Guo Qizuo's deployment. Even with Li Cunxiao's bravery and strength, they could not shake them in the slightest. However, it was extremely difficult for them to expand to the south.
Even though there were still five states that had not been recovered, Li Keyong was still too powerful. Hedong was famous for its wealth in the late Tang Dynasty. Li Keyong controlled the most valiant Shatuo guards in the world and held the most prosperous Hedong in the world. His reputation as the strongest warlord was well deserved.
As for Zhu Wen, the governor of Xuanwu, he only had the pitiful four states of Bian, Song, Bo and Ying. How could he be compared with Li Keyong
It has been nearly a year since Zhu Wen took over as the Xuanwu Jiedushi, and he has secretly placed a number of people in other states and counties. However, Zhu Wen is still inferior to Li Keyong.
After Huang Chao's defeat, Zhu Wen, the most ruthless opportunist, finally came face to face with Li Keyong, the most powerful warlord in the Tang court.
How could Zhu Wen be willing to be under someone else? His ambitions did not allow it, and neither did those who followed him.
But now Zhu Wen is in an awkward situation. Due to the appearance of Zhu Li, Huang Chao died a year earlier than in history. If history had developed normally, when Huang Chao died, Li Keyong would certainly be the most powerful warlord in the world, but Zhu Wen's strength would be no less than his.
But now, this crucial year when Zhu Wen should have been prosperous was ruined by Zhu Li.
Upon learning of Zhu Wen's worries, Jing Xiang bowed and said, "The general manager is so worried. Are you worried about how to get promoted in the future?"
Zhu Wen looked up and gave him a displeased look, as if saying, why are you asking even though you already know the answer
Jingxiang looked very happy, as if he was not worried at all, and said calmly: "Even though Huang Chao is destroyed, isn't there still Qin Zongquan?"
"Qin Zongquan?" Zhu Wen looked at Jingxiang in confusion and asked doubtfully.
In Zhu Wen's eyes, Qin Zongquan is not important enough now, no wonder he is surprised.
Jingxiang didn't keep the secret and blurted out, "Huang Chao was defeated, but Li Zongquan is still here. He is brutal, cruel, vicious, and reckless. He is lawless and will soon become the leader of a bandit group that brings disaster to the Central Plains."
"At this time, the general manager only needs to prepare his troops, make friends with the prime minister, stabilize the Li clan, and act according to the situation. When the bandits make a noise, the general manager will take advantage of the situation to attack, wipe out the bandits, and be promoted to a higher position. At that time, with the general manager's strength, he may be able to compete with Li Keyong."
Zhu Wen's brows relaxed upon hearing this, and his fighting spirit instantly rose. However, he was still a little depressed and said, "I am not too worried about the old eunuch Tian Lingzi, but now I have to worry about that damn eunuch Wang Zhongxian."
After hearing what he said, Jingxiang and Li Zhen also showed a trace of depression. Who knows what's wrong with this Wang Zhongxian? For nearly a year, he has always been finding fault with Zhu Wen and others. If it weren't for the party of ministers in the court and outsiders who helped to suppress it, Zhu Wen's life would probably have been even more difficult.
How could they know that when Zhu Li stole four boxes of gold bars from Wang Doujin, the message he left behind was to present to Zhu Wen. And with Wang Doujin's talent, he would certainly not be able to find any useful clues, so he could only tell his uncle Wang Zhongxian some hearsay information.
Wang Zhongxian had been corrupt for so many years and had finally accumulated some wealth, which he kept at his nephew's house for his retirement. Now, half of it was gone in an instant. How could he not be dissatisfied with Zhu Wen