After Ma Yin sent Zhaozong's envoy away, he sent Tuoba Heng to Bianliang with heavy gifts to meet Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen had just withdrawn from the river at this time. After receiving the report, he immediately summoned Tuoba Heng into the main hall and paid his respects.

"Tuoba Heng, the secretary of Ma Yin, the governor of Wu'an Army, pays homage to the prince, who is a thousand years old!" Zhu Wen waved his hand and said: "Get up and talk!" When Tuoba Heng stood up, Zhu Wen asked: "I heard that the imperial court issued an order to your lord.

You have raised an army to attack this king, why are you here?"

After Tuoba Heng stood up, he said in a neither humble nor arrogant tone: "Although Marshal Ma received the edict, he also knew that it was not the emperor's original intention, but was just forced. Marshal Ma would not obey such an order. My Marshal knows that the king is today

The pillar of the world, I have therefore been sent to offer you a small gift to help your Majesty to rectify your rule. It is just because Marshal Ma is in a remote and barren land and has just stabilized the situation, so the tribute is not much. Please accept it with your Majesty's approval, and wait for the situation to improve in the future.

My commander-in-chief will definitely pay tribute to the king."

Zhu Wen was overjoyed and asked people to accept it, and then said: "I didn't expect Ma Yin to have such knowledge. No wonder he can stand out and become a prince from a pawn. I have accepted your gift. You can go back and tell your family."

The commander-in-chief said that if he surrenders and obeys the king, the king will promote him. You have worked hard, so go down and rest first!" Tuoba Heng thanked Zhu Wen and left.

Zhu Wen said to the counselors: "Ma Yin is an old subordinate of Qin Zongquan, and he has fought with me many times. Now he is showing favor to me. What do you think his intentions are?" Li Zhen said: "Your Majesty,

Although Ma Yin was Qin Zongquan's subordinate, for one thing, his status was low and he had no chance to gain Qin Zongquan's respect. It is said that Ma Yin fought with Qin Zongquan's younger brother Qin Zongyan over a woman, so he had no intention of avenging Qin Zongquan.

. It is estimated that he has received advice from an expert and knows that the king is at the height of his power, so he came to show his friendship. There should be no ill intentions."

Zhu Wen asked again: "Then how should the king treat him?" Li Zhen said: "The king should accept it as it is. Ma Yin has just annexed the Jingjiang Army and already owns the land of thirteen states. It can be regarded as a powerful vassal in Jiangnan.

He and Yang Xingmi have been fighting in Jianghuai for many years. His former commander-in-chief Sun Ru also died in the hands of Yang Xingmi, so Ma Yin and Yang Xingmi are also life-and-death enemies. The enemy of the enemy is a friend. After we win over him, we let him send troops to seek revenge on Yang Xingmi.

We sent troops to help. In this way, Yang Xingmi will be in trouble." Zhu Wen was overjoyed and said, "I will leave this matter to you. You are so lucky to entertain his envoy." Li Zhen left in response.

Li Zhen held a banquet in honor of Tuoba Heng, and hoped that Ma Yin would send troops to attack Yang Xingmi. Tuoba Heng immediately said: "Yang Xingmi and we have a hatred of killing our master, and we are irreconcilable. Sir, please report this to the king. After Tuoba Heng returns,

, I will report it to the commander truthfully. When the time comes, my commander will definitely raise an army to take revenge. When the time comes, please ask King Dongping to help." Tuoba Heng thought to himself, it doesn't count if I agree anyway, so he just dealt with it casually. Li Zhen was overjoyed.

Tuoba Heng stayed for a few days, then said goodbye and returned south.

Tuoba Heng returned to Tanzhou and reported the whole story to Ma Yin in detail. Ma Yin said with a smile: "I just gave him a heavy gift. He is not satisfied with the lack and wants me to help him relieve his worries. Brother Tuoba's reply was very good.

Okay, there is neither a clear refusal nor an outright agreement. Let’s not worry about this matter. Let’s do our own thing. Brother, it’s been a good journey. Let’s go back and rest for a while.” Tuoba Heng said goodbye.

At this time, Ma Yin was thinking about vigorously developing the economy and making more money. Secondly, Furong and Mudan had given birth to two sons for him not long ago. Ma Yin was naturally overjoyed and named Furong's son.

Named Ma Xi'e, Mu Dan's son was named Ma Xizhan. Ma Yin already had five sons and two daughters, enjoying the happiness of family life, so how could he think of sending troops to attack Yang Xingmi.

Speaking of Han Quanjie from Fengxiang, Li Maozhen received a perfunctory reply from Ma Yin and knew that Ma Yin could not be expected to send troops to attack Zhu Wen. However, Hunan was located in a remote area, and although they were dissatisfied, they had no choice but to urge Zhaozong to remove Cui Yin as soon as possible.

to weaken Zhu Wen's influence in the court. At the same time, he used his brains to find other ways.

Li Maozhen knew that this battle with Zhu Wen was different from the past, and would determine his life and death. Although Li Keyong responded to his invitation to send troops, it was not all for him. In fact, it did help him a lot.

Therefore, helping Li Keyong at this time is helping himself. Therefore, when Li Keyong sent troops, Li Maozhen did not dare to settle in. Zhu Wen's army moved eastward, and he also actively responded to the actions of Li Keyong's army. Fengxiang's army launched from the west

The counterattack advanced to Xingping, where the martial arts frontline threatened Chang'an where Prime Minister Cui Yin and hundreds of officials were stationed.

At this time, Zhu Wen's main force was fighting Li Keyong in the north, and there was not enough troops to defend Chang'an. Zhu Wen had to order Cui Yin to lead hundreds of officials to move to Huazhou, and the situation once turned in a direction favorable to Li Maozhen. Unfortunately, Fengxiang's army

His fighting ability was too weak, and he became a softie when encountering a strong enemy. He failed to capture Chang'an and failed to contain Zhu Wen.

Soon, news came that Li Keyong's army was defeated in Pu County. Li Maozhen was shocked. In order not to let himself bear the heavy pressure alone, and to find something for Zhu Wen to do behind the scenes, he forced Li Ye to write a personal edict to transfer the army.

Yang Xingmi and other southeastern vassal towns sent troops to "King Qin". In order to boost the morale of Yang Xingmi and others, Li Maozhen gave a lot of official titles to the Jiangnan governors headed by Yang Xingmi.

The vassal capital was promoted to officials and nobles. Unfortunately, the effect was not good. Like Ma Yin, most people were perfunctory. That is to say, Yang Xingmi clearly expressed his support and was ready to send troops.

Li Maozhen was naturally overjoyed. Yang Xingmi was the most powerful vassal in the south of the Yangtze River and was Zhu Wen's sworn enemy. So in order to further stimulate Yang Xingmi's enthusiasm in crusade against Zhu Wen, Li Maozhen also specifically stated in the edict that Yang Xingmi had the right to award any military meritorious service in battle.

Official reward. At the same time, General Zuo Jinwu Li Yan was sent to serve as Jianghuai envoy, responsible for delivering the decree. Li Yan's original name was Zhang Yan, and he was the son of former prime minister Zhang Jun. In addition to asking for help from the feudal towns, Li Maozhen also considered seeking reinforcements from foreign countries.

In April of that year, taking advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains and occupying a large area of ​​land in the Hexi Corridor of the Tang Dynasty, Ganzhou Huijuan sent envoys to Fengxiang to meet Zhaozong and expressed his willingness to send troops to help the Tang Dynasty quell the civil strife. After learning about it, Li Maozhen, who was in urgent need of medical treatment, felt that

The Huijuan people's suggestion was good, and they signaled Zhaozong to write a letter of agreement. Although Zhaozong was reluctant, but under the pressure of Li Maozhen, he had to agree hypocritically. Zhaozong deliberately arranged for Han Xie to be responsible for drafting the letter of reply.

Han Xie had already understood that Zhaozong did not want Li Maozhen to continue, so he retorted: "These barbarians have human faces and animal hearts, how can they depend on the fate of the country?" When they entered the territory, they saw that the high-ranking officials lived a luxurious and corrupt life, but the city was desolate.

The army is dilapidated and the armor is incomplete. They must have the intention of looking down on us, thereby stimulating their greed. Moreover, during the Huichang period, the Huijuan was defeated by our court. I am afraid that their true purpose is to take the opportunity to come for revenge. Now it is just

It’s just a trial first. Why not reply to the Hujuan Khan like this: The little robbers are easy to deal with. We can handle it ourselves without their help. This way we thank them for their kindness and stop their conspiracy!"

Zhaozong conveyed Han Xi's words to Li Maozhen. When Li Maozhen heard it, he also felt that it made sense. Although the "little robber thieves" from the east were not easy to deal with at all, the strength of the Huijuan people was far less than that of the Anshi Rebellion. If the Huijuan people returned,

Wouldn't it be worse if the cuckoo man didn't help after being invited, but instead stabbed himself in the back? So Li Maozhen gave up the plan of luring the wolf into the house.

Naturally, Zhu Wen learned of this news quickly, and Zhu Wen felt great pressure. He urgently felt that unless Li Maozhen, the root of the problem, was completely eradicated as soon as possible, he would continue to cause trouble.

At this time, Cui Yin continued to stimulate Zhu Wen. Because Cui Yin knew that the situation was serious. Fengxiang, which had an emperor but no ministers, had a huge orthodox advantage over Huazhou, which had ministers but no emperor. The emperor without ministers could only be re-appointed.

A group of ministers is enough; but ministers without an emperor cannot establish another emperor while the emperor is still alive and flaunts his loyalty. If he cannot welcome Zhaozong back, if he continues to work like this, it will be a waste for all the officials in Huazhou.

Undoubtedly, it has gradually lost the legitimacy of its existence. Although this is not a great event for Zhu Wen, for Cui Yin, it is unbearable! Cui Yin, who is neither prime minister nor in power, has a lot of problems for Zhu Wen.

What is it for?

When Cui Yin heard the news that Wang Jian had sent troops to the north, he became even more frightened. If Zhaozong was in the hands of Li Maozhen, Cui Yin believed that Zhu Wen had the ability and interest to take it back. But if Zhaozong fell into the hands of Wang Jian, Zhu Wen would naturally

He would not ignore the situation in the Central Plains and travel thousands of miles to attack the dangerous Shu land in order to fight for a puppet emperor.

Zhu Wen could not hold the emperor hostage and had no influence on him. Cui Yin himself would never get ahead. Therefore, Cui Yin, who had lost the emperor, wrote to Zhu Wen again and again, repeatedly exaggerating the endless suffering of the emperor.

, emphasizing the various benefits of welcoming Luan back to the capital, as well as the danger of the emperor being kidnapped by other powerful vassals. After finally getting something for his work, Zhu Wen felt that Cui Yin was right, so he began to transfer troops, which led to the failure of Shi Shucong's attack on Taiyuan.

.

Cui Yin saw that Zhu Wen was slow to move. So he went to the river in person on April 21 and asked Zhu Wen to send troops to greet him. Zhu Wen hosted a banquet, and Cui Yin personally held a sandalwood board and sang for Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen was very satisfied, so he sent 50,000 troops.

, attacked Fengxiang again. As soon as Kang Huaizhen, the vanguard general of the Bianzhou Army, arrived at the front line, he launched an attack on Fengxiang Army and defeated Fengxiang Army in Mogu. Then, taking advantage of the victory, he defeated Fengxiang Army in Guoxian County and set up camp, cutting off Han.

The passage from Zhaozong to central Sichuan where Quanhui moved south.

The soldiers and civilians inside and outside Fengxiang City suddenly panicked and fled their homes one after another. This was because in December last year, before Zhu Wen's nephew Zhu Youning crossed the river to support Shi Shucong, he was attacking Yuzhi, which was defended by the Fengxiang Army. He did not want to attack for ten days in a row.

It failed to capture. Zhu Wen was angry and went to supervise the battle in person. The defenders were defeated and were forced to surrender in Kaicheng. Zhu Wen actually killed all the soldiers and civilians in the city! The rumors of the Xuzhi massacre made the people in Guanzhong aware of the situation.

change, so they fled to Laifengxiang in unison. Zhu Wen indirectly helped Li Maozhen win people's hearts and strengthen her resistance.

Due to the continuous heavy rain at that time, Zhu Wen's advance was slow, which calmed the panic in the city. Li Maozhen also had enough time to rearrange his troops, dispatch troops from various places, and concentrate them in Fengxiang to prepare for a decisive battle with Zhu Wen.

On June 3, Zhu and Wen's army stationed in Guoxian, joined forces with Kang Huaizhen and other troops, and allowed the soldiers to rest for a few days before fighting again. Li Maozhen waited for a few days, and seeing that the Bianzhou army made no move, he personally led Fengxiang's entire main force to attack.

Zhu Wen launched a fierce counterattack. The main forces of Fengxiangqi and Bianliang fought against Guo

In the north of the county, Li Maozhen was unable to defeat Zhu Wen. Fengxiang's army lost more than 10,000 people and was forced to return to Fengxiang to defend. Zhu Wen immediately ordered his general Kong Qing to lead his troops southward, out of Dashan Pass, crossed the Qinling Mountains, and captured Fengxiang in one fell swoop.

Prefecture controlled the passage south of Fengxiang. In this way, it not only blocked Wang Jian's north passage, but also prevented eunuchs from hijacking Zhaozong's southward passage.

On June 13, Zhu Wen led the army to Fengxiang City. The court officials cried and bowed to the city: "I just want to welcome him back to the palace, and I don't want to compete with King Qi." So he set up five villages and besieged Fengxiang. Li Maozhen sent troops.

He resisted the attack and suffered repeated defeats. At this time, among the various troops under Li Maozhen's command, the Fengxiang Army was concentrated in Fengxiang City. The Shannan Army was being attacked by Wang Jian. At the same time, Dashan Pass, Fengcheng, and Longzhou had been attacked.

The Bian army fell, and the road to return reinforcements was blocked. Only the Baoda army was still intact and could be transferred back to assist in the battle.

After receiving Li Maozhen's order, Li Maoxun, Li Maozhen's cousin, Baoda Jiedushi, immediately led his army to leave Yanzhou to rescue Fengxiang. After hearing the news, Zhu Wen mobilized Kang Huaizhen's troops to march eastward to attack and fight with Li Maoxun's troops. Li Maoxun was not Kang, Kong Er

The opponent was defeated and returned. Zhu Wen also sent his generals Kong Qing and Li Hui to take advantage of the opportunity to attack Yanzhou. Li Maoxun had no way to advance or retreat, so he surrendered to Zhu Wen and changed his name to Zhou Yi.

As some of Zhu and Wen's troops were withdrawn, there was a flaw in the Bianzhou Army's siege of Fengxiang. Li Maozhen seized the opportunity and sent an elite force to sneak past the Bian Army's blockade at night, and actually broke through the Bian Army's rear stronghold of Fengtian in one fell swoop.

.And captured two Bianzhou generals, Zhang and Shao Tang, and returned victorious! The long-lost victory made Li Maozhen excited. He wanted to imitate Cao Cao of Judge Du and strike while the iron was hot. On August 22, Li Maozhen once again led his army out of the city.

, launched a frontal assault on Zhu Wen's camp.

The two armies fought inextricably until dusk, when the winner was finally decided, and the Fengxiang army was defeated again. When retreating, Zhu Wen sent his troops to pursue him, and almost broke into the west gate of Fengxiang. After this battle,

, Li Maozhen was still frightened and did not dare to attack easily. But without foreign aid, closing the city and not leaving was definitely not a good idea. The Fengxiang Army had been divided into several pieces by Zhu Wen. Without unified command and coordination, they could only fight on their own. Naturally, the war was over.

It's getting more and more difficult.

At this time, Wang Jian's Xichuan soldiers requested to use the road to Xingyuan. Li Maozhen's adopted son Li Jimi, the governor of Shannan West Road, naturally refused and quickly sent troops to guard Sanquan. Wang Zongbo, the forward general of Wang Jian in Xichuan, immediately sent his troops to attack, but they were attacked repeatedly.

Unable to defeat him, he had to retreat to the mountain stronghold. His official Liu Xiuye ​​said to Wang Zongbo: "If you don't fight to the death, how can you protect yourself?" Wang Zongbo realized this and said to his subordinates: "I will fight to the death with you. If I win, I will win."

We can gain fame; otherwise, we will die here together!" So the morale of the army was greatly boosted, and they defeated Jinniu, Heishui, Xixian and Baocheng villages.

Wang Zongbo defeated Mapanzhai, and Li Jimi was defeated and rushed back to Hanzhong. The Xichuan army took advantage of the victory and chased to the city. Wang Zongdi took the lead in ascending the city. Li Jimi had no choice but to surrender and was moved to Chengdu. He received 30,000 troops and rode

Five thousand, Wang Zongdi stationed troops in Hanzhong. Wang Jian said: "Li Jimi killed the thieves Sanfu, and he should have died. But he surrendered voluntarily, and I couldn't bear to kill him." His name was Wang Wanhong, and he summoned generals to insult him from time to time. Wang Wanhong was very worried and angry.

Drunk and drowned in a pond, Li Maozhen's Shannan army was wiped out.

After Wang Jian captured Shannanzhou Town, Li Maozhen was destitute and without help. During the town days, he sat guarding the isolated city with a frown. The Bianzhou army scolded the people in the city as thieves who robbed the emperor, and the people in the city scolded the Bianzhou army as thieves who robbed the emperor.

The thieves attacked and defended each other. Zhu Wen surrounded Fengxiang for three months and repeatedly defeated the attacking Fengxiang army, but it was still difficult to break into the city. Instead, due to continuous heavy rains, the Bianzhou army was not acclimatized, causing an epidemic. Soldiers came one after another.

The enemy fell ill, and their combat effectiveness and morale dropped drastically.

In September, Zhu Wen summoned the generals to discuss how to lead the troops back to the river. Gao Jichang, the personal commander, said: "The heroes of the world have been paying attention to this matter for a year. We should not withdraw our troops in a hurry. The enemy is as tired as we are, and the city is about to be broken.

The king is only worried about the enemy staying behind closed doors and consuming our supplies and morale. This is not difficult to deal with. I have a way to lure the enemy out." Gao Jichang, courtesy name Yisun, Shaanzhou Xiashi. Early Years

He was once a domestic slave of Zhu Wen's adopted son, Zhu Yourang, and was later adopted as an adopted son by Zhu Yourang. He became Zhu Wen's personal general, that is, Zhu Wen's adopted grandson.

The strategy proposed by Gao Jichang is called "Death Time". To implement this plan, you must first find someone who is not afraid of death to fake the surrender of the opponent. Gao Jichang offered a heavy reward in the army, and a cavalryman named Ma Jing was recruited.

After meeting Zhu Wen, Ma Jing pleaded: "I will definitely die if I go this time. I just hope that after my death, my wife and children can be raised and taken care of by the king." Zhu Wen was also deeply moved and couldn't bear it, so he said

"No need to go, let's find another way." Ma Jing refused to give up and insisted on going, so Zhu Wen had to agree.

At that time, Zhu Wen sent Zhu Youlun to send troops to Daliang. The day was approaching and troops should be sent out to meet him. Ma Jing asked him to give them horses and led the troops to ride out. Zhu Wen agreed and ordered all the troops to feed their horses and feed their soldiers. Ma Jing and the others

When all the horses were out, they suddenly leapt to the west. They pretended to be fleeing and entered the city. They told Li Maozhen, "Zhu Wen retreated with his army, leaving more than 10,000 wounded and sick people to guard the camp. We are leaving tonight. Please go quickly, your Majesty."

Attack!" So Li Maozhen opened the door and led his troops to attack Zhu Wen's camp. Zhu Wen beat drums in the middle of the army, and all the armies came out to attack Li Maozhen's troops. The Fengxiang army was immediately in chaos, trampling on each other and causing many casualties. Li Maozhen was angry
Chapter completed!