Soon the weather has reached the depths of winter, with continuous rain and snow, freezing and starving people to death. Food in the city is exhausted. Human meat is only worth a hundred coins per catty, and dog meat is worth five hundred coins. Every day, this meat is served to the royal family.

They served as Zhaozong's imperial robes and the clothes of the kings in the harem for temporary daily use. Most of the sergeants lowered the city and surrendered to the Bianzhou army. Li Maozhen had no choice but to plot to kill the eunuchs to redeem himself. He wrote to Zhu Wen to accuse him.

Yu Han Quanjie asked Zhu Wen to escort him back to the capital.

Zhu Wen wrote back: "I have raised my troops here just for the sake of the Holy Spirit. If you can work together to punish the rebels, what else can you say?" After receiving the reply, Li Maozhen went to see Zhaozong alone and requested that Han Quanjie and others be killed.

Negotiating peace with Zhu Wen, Emperor Zhaozong returned to the capital. Of course, Zhaozong had no objections, so he sent Cui Gou, the imperial censor, and Guo Zunxun, the envoy official. They issued an edict to comfort Zhu Wen and made a secret peace agreement. It was agreed that the eunuchs would be punished for a period of the first month.

Wen agreed to make an agreement and sent Cui Gou and others back to the city. Zhu Wen ordered his sergeants to delay the attack and camped in Fengxiang for the rest of his life.

In the first month of the third year of Tianfu, Li Maozhen captured Han Quanjie, Li Jiyun, Li Jijie, Li Yanbi and other sixteen people, and beheaded them together. They appointed the fifth Kefan as the left army lieutenant, Qiu Chengtan as the right army lieutenant, and Wang Zhigu

, Yang Qianlang was the privy envoy. Emperor Zhaozong sent his wife Zhao Guo from the harem and Han Lin, a bachelor of Hanlin, to the Bianzhou camp with the heads of Han Quanhui and others and an imperial edict.

, do not want to harmonize, it is all due to these people. Now I have decided with Li Maozhen to kill them all. You can jointly inform the armies to avenge the public's anger." Zhu Wenbai accepted the imperial edict and sent the judge Li Zhenfeng.

Thank you, but the surrounding soldiers still did not withdraw.

Li Maozhen suspected that Cui Yin was causing trouble and asked Zhaozong to summon Cui Yin and ask him to come with hundreds of officials. Cui Yin was delayed in arriving. The edict was issued six or seven times in a row, but Cui Yin still did not arrive. Zhaozong had no choice but to order Zhu

Wen wrote a letter to invite him. Zhu Wen wrote to Cui Yin, jokingly saying: "I don't know the emperor, please come quickly and find out the authenticity." Cui Yin then came to Fengxiang, went to the city to see Zhaozong, and asked him to return to Luan immediately.

Li Maozhen couldn't keep her, but asked He Hou's daughter, Princess Pingyuan, to be given to his son as his wife. He Hou was unwilling, and Zhaozong sighed and said, "As long as we can go back to Chang'an, why worry about your daughter?"

So he married Princess Pingyuan to Li Kan, Li Maozhen's son, and immediately drove out of the city to Zhu Wen's camp. Cui Yin also searched and killed the eunuchs who followed them, a total of seventy-two people. Zhu Wen also secretly ordered Jing Zhaoyin,

About ninety people were captured and executed, including the eunuchs who were serving as officials, as well as the internal servants who stayed in the capital. As they were welcomed into the camp, they apologized in plain clothes and shed tears.

Emperor Zhaozong ordered Han Xie to help Zhu Wen up, and cried as he spoke: "The ancestral temple and the country, Lai Qing, are safe again. I and the clan, Lai Qing, are reborn. You can be said to have recreated the royal family." After saying that, he took off the jade belt and gave it to Zhu Wen.

Wen and Zhu Wen thanked him, so he ordered his brother Zhu Youlun to lead the troops to escort the vehicle ahead, leaving his own troops and horses as the rear team, and burned and evacuated the villages. When the vehicle arrived at Xingping, Cui Yin summoned hundreds of officials to greet Zhaozong. Zhaozong ordered Cui

Yin was appointed Sikong and Tongpingzhangshi, and still led the three divisions.

When Zhaozong returned to Chang'an, Zhu Wen also arrived. He went to the palace to meet Cui Yin and told Cui Yin that the eunuchs were in charge of the military and interfered in politics, harming the country. If this root cause is not eliminated, the harm will never be eliminated. Please remove all the envoys and transfer all affairs to the provincial temple.

All the Taoist supervisors and troops were summoned back to the palace. Zhaozong listened and responded. After the two men finished their performance and retreated from the court, Zhu Wen ordered his soldiers, summoned the eunuchs, and captured the left and right lieutenants, the privy envoys, etc.

Hundreds of people were driven to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and beheaded, and the cry of injustice spread far and wide.

Zhu Wen also ordered distant places. Regardless of whether they were guilty or not, local officials would arrest and punish the envoys and supervisors nearby. Only thirty young and weak people were left to sweep the palace. He also publicized the imperial edict and ordered all the palace people to do so.

When they came in and out, all the eight town soldiers of the two armies belonged to the Sixth Army. Cui Yin was ordered to serve as the judge of the twelve guards of the Sixth Army. Cui Yin became more authoritarian and complacent, and was afraid of harming his colleagues. He demoted Lu Kuang, Wang Pu, and Han Xi, and forced Lu Guangqi to death.

I also request the prince to be the marshal of all armies and horses, with Zhu Wen as his deputy.

Zhaozong wanted to appoint Li Yu, King of De, but Cui Yin accepted Zhu Wen's secret decree and wanted to find a young man, so he asked Zhaozong's ninth son, King Hui Li Zuo. Zhaozong did not dare to refuse, so he listened to Cui Yin's suggestion, and appointed Cui Yin as Situ Jian.

Among the servants, Zhu Wen was promoted to the Liang King, and was given a title to return to heaven and reinvent himself as a loyal and upright hero. All Zhu Wen's generals, including Jingxiang and Zhu Youning, were each given a title. Zhu Wen reported that he would stay behind and ride ten thousand people to defend the capital, and use Zhu Youlun as the guard envoy.

Zhang Tingfan was the envoy of the palace, Wang Yin was the envoy of the imperial city, and Jiang Xuanhui was the envoy of the guard. They then paid their respects to Zhaozong and returned to town.

Zhu Wen bid farewell and returned to town. Zhaozong came to Yanxi Tower and held a banquet to see him off. Zhu Wen also recommended Pei Shu, Qinghai's military envoy, to serve in state affairs. He also said that he had no big grudge against Li Keyong and requested that Li Keyong be punished.

He comforted her with kindness. Zhaozong obeyed, and Zhu Wen's thank you banquet started. Hundreds of officials were sent to Changle Post, and Cui Yin was even sent to Baqiao. He returned to the capital at the second watch of the night. Regardless of the depth of night, Zhaozong still

He summoned Cui Yin into the palace and asked if Zhu Wen was safe. Then he set up wine and played music until the fourth watch.

When Zhu Wen returned to Bianliang, he received news that Yang Xingmi and Wang Shifan had jointly sent troops to invade. Zhu Wen was furious and immediately sent troops to reinforce respectively. It turned out that after Li Yan arrived in Yangzhou, Yang Xingmi established the imperial court. Once there was a matter of enfeoffment,

Be sure to tell Li Yan. Place the document in front of the statue of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty in Ziji Palace, pay homage again, and then issue it to show your unwavering loyalty to the Tang Dynasty.

After Yang Xingmi received the edict asking him to send troops, he thought for a while. The imperial court named him King of Wu, and he should have something to say. However, he felt that it was difficult to fight Zhu Wen alone with his own strength, so he sent people to find Pinglu Army.

Jiedushi Wang Shifan wanted to form an alliance with him to attack Zhu Wen. At the same time, Yang Xingmi

He also sent Qian Liu's recently captured general Gu Quanwu back to Hangzhou. On the one hand, he exchanged the previously captured general Qin Pei with Qian Liu, and on the other hand, he made peace with Qian Liu to avoid future worries. Gu Quanwu was Qian Liu's confidant.

General Qian Liu was naturally overjoyed and immediately sent Qin Pei back to Yang Xingmi.

After Yang Xingmi made peace with Qian Liu, he got in touch with Wang Shifan. After Yang Xingmi made an appointment with Wang Shifan, he sent troops to attack Zhu Wen and attacked Suzhou occupied by Zhu Wen. Yang Xingmi temporarily took charge of the Huainan Jiedushi Mansion with his deputy envoy Li Chengsi.

The military officials wanted to use large ships to transport military supplies, but the canals were in disrepair and the rivers were blocked by silt, making it impossible for the heavily loaded ships to move forward. Xu Wen, who was a military envoy at that time, said: "It takes a long time to transport supplies.

There is no passage, the river is blocked, please use a small boat, it may be easier to pass."

When Yang Xingmi's army arrived in Suzhou, it happened that it had been raining for a long time and the heavy ships could not follow. Food was approaching and the soldiers looked hungry. At this time, small boats arrived carrying food and grass. Yang Xingmi thought that Xu Wen was outstanding.

, began to discuss military affairs with him. Yang Xingmi attacked Suzhou for several days, but was unable to break through. At this time, the heavy rain continued, and the food transportation was not good, so Yang Xingmi had to lead his troops back.

Yang Xingmi withdrew, but Wang Shifan was still fighting Zhu Wen. Wang Shifan and Wang Shifan's father, Wang Jingwu, was a general in the Pinglu Army. Both Wang Jingwu and Wang Shifan's mothers were from Qingzhou. He had an older brother, Wang Shiyue, and four younger brothers.

Wang Shike, Wang Shijie, Wang Shilu, and Wang Shiyue. In the second year of Zhonghe (882), Wang Jingwu expelled Jiedu envoy An Shiru and took over the Pinglu army. He claimed to stay as a queen and was loyal to Huang Chao, who occupied Chang'an at that time. Later, he listened to the advice of the officials.

Zhang Jun advised him to switch sides and return to the Tang Dynasty. He sent troops to help attack Qi, and Wang Duo, the prime minister of all the camps in the Qi Dynasty, worshiped Wang Duo as the envoy of Pinglu Festival.

In the first year of the Dragon Age (889), Wang Jingwu passed away. The officers and soldiers of Pinglu Army supported Wang Shifan, who was only 16 years old, to succeed Pinglu Jiedu envoy Liu Hou. However, Zhang Chan, the governor of Dizhou, refused to support him and instead requested the imperial court to send another one.

Therefore, Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty appointed the Prince's Shaoshi and Cui Anqian, the military envoy of the Zhongwu Army, as Pinglu's envoy. Zhang Chan welcomed him into Dizhou and negotiated an attack on Wang Shifan.

Wang Shifan sent the capital commander Lu Hong to Dizhou to attack Zhang Chan, but Lu Hong returned to attack Qingzhou. After Wang Shifan learned about it, he sent an envoy to present a gift to Lu Hong and said to him: "For the sake of my ancestors, I will do this for you."

Recommended by all the generals. He is still young and unable to do anything. If you ask me to sacrifice for the sake of your ancestors, it is your kindness and righteousness. If you think it is difficult and you can't succeed, you beg the leader to guard the graves of your ancestors. This is also just your order.

From."

Seeing his sincere words and young age, Lu Hong was not on guard. However, Wang Shifan secretly ambushed his troops at the key road and ordered his teeth to kill Lu Hong and kill several of his comrades. Wang Shifan then inspected the troops and rewarded the soldiers.

, led an army to attack Dizhou, captured Zhang Chan, and Cui An sneaked back to Chang'an. Later, Zhaozong appointed Wang Shifan as Pinglu Jiedushi.

Wang Shifan was an elegant man, fond of literature, skilled in controlling people, and had strict military discipline. The people within his jurisdiction lived and worked in peace and contentment. He was deeply loved by the people and praised by his neighbors. Soon after, Zhu Wen, the envoy of Xuanwu Jiedu, sent troops to attack Yan and Yun prefectures.

Wang Shifan knew he was outmatched, so he begged for an alliance, and the two sides reconciled.

When Li Maozhen ordered the Sifang vassal towns to send out troops to attack Zhu Wen, he also sent people to Qingzhou with the edict. Wang Shifan, who always promised to be loyal and righteous, received the edict from King Qin sent to him by Li Maozhen and Han Quanhui in the name of Zhaozong, thinking that the emperor was here

When he was in trouble, he cried sadly and said: "We are a barrier for the emperor. When your father is in trouble, but there is no one to save him, we all strengthen our troops to defend ourselves. In this way, we condone the rebels, causing the emperor to lose his ancestral temple. In times of crisis, but no one to support him, this is

Whose fault is it?”

At this time, former prime minister Zhang Jun also wrote a secret letter to Wang Shifan, urging him to raise a voluntary army to attack Zhu Wen. Wang Shifan was greatly encouraged, so he expressed his position and said: "What Mr. Zhang said is exactly what I want. What else can I do?"

Can I hesitate and wait and see? I have decided that as long as I go into trouble for King Qin, even if I am not strong enough, I will do my best regardless of life and death!"

At that time, most of the soldiers from Bianzhou followed Zhu Wen in Fengxiang. After Wang Shifan and Yang Xingmi made an agreement, they sent the generals to pretend to be contributions and traders, bundled their weapons and weapons, and carried them on small carts, and entered Bian, Xu, Yan, and Yun.

Qi, Yi, Meng, Hua, Shaan, Guo, Hua and other prefectures prepared to launch an attack on the same day to attack Zhu Wen. However, most of the people sent to the prefectures failed and were captured. Only the marching Sima Liu Wei captured Yanzhou. The tooth general Zhang Juhou

He led hundreds of warriors to Huazhou and killed the governor Lou Jingsi. Cui Yin refused to fight and captured Zhang Juhou alive.

When Zhu Wen learned that Wang Shifan had betrayed his alliance, he became furious and ordered General Zhu Youning to lead an army to attack Wang Shifan. Wang Shifan's younger brother Shilu besieged Qizhou, but was defeated by Zhu Youning's troops. Wang Shifan sent troops to reinforce Liu Wei's army, but was defeated by Zhu Youning. From then on, Yanzhou came to the rescue.

Jue, Ge Congzhou led troops to besiege. Zhu Youning turned to attack Qingzhou.

Seeing that the situation was critical, Wang Shifan had no choice but to seek help from Yang Xingmi in Huainan. Yang Xingmi sent his general Wang Maozhang with 7,000 infantry and cavalry to rescue him, and also sent tens of thousands of other generals to attack Suzhou. Zhu Wen sent General Kang Huaiying to rescue Suzhou, but the Huainan troops were defeated.

return.

Zhu Youning attacked Bochang and continued for more than a month without making any progress. Zhu Wen was furious and sent Li Han to supervise him. As soon as Li Han arrived, Zhu Youning drove more than 100,000 people, carrying wood and rocks on their backs, and leading oxen and donkeys, to the south of the city.

Build a mountain of earth. Once the mountain of earth was completed, Zhu Youning lined up people, animals, wood, and stones to build it. The sound of grievances was heard for dozens of miles. Finally, the city fell, and Zhu Youning ordered the massacre of the city.

Zhu Youning then captured Linzi and arrived at Qingzhou City. He then sent his generals to attack Dengzhou.

, Laizhou. Huainan general Wang Maozhang and Wang Shifan's younger brother, Laizhou governor Wang Shijie, conquered Mizhou, killed the governor Liu Kangyi, and appointed Zhang Xun, the Huaihai capital's envoy Zhang Xun, as the governor. Soon, Bianzhou troops captured Dengzhou. Wang Shifan led Deng, Lai only

The soldiers resisted Zhu Youning at the stone tower and built two gates.

Zhu Youning attacked Dengzhou Gate at night, and there was a panic in the gate. Wang Shifan hurriedly asked Wang Maozhang to fight, but Wang Maozhang did not move. That night, Zhu Youning broke through Dengzhou Gate and attacked Laizhou Gate. When it was dawn, Wang Maozhang estimated that Bianzhou's troops were exhausted, so he

He joined forces with Wang Shifan to fight and defeated the Bianzhou soldiers. Zhu Youning rode towards the enemy, but his horse fell down. Qingzhou general Zhang Shixiao killed Zhu Youning and passed the news to Huainan. The soldiers from the two towns drove north to Mihe, capturing and killing tens of thousands of people. Wei Bo's soldiers

Total loss.

When Zhu Wen learned that Zhu Youning had died in battle, he was naturally filled with grief and anger. He hated Wang Shifan so much that he personally led 200,000 troops day and night to attack Wang Shifan. In July, Zhu Wen came to Linqu and ordered his generals to attack Qingzhou. Wang Shifan went to battle.

He was severely defeated by the Bianzhou soldiers. Wang Maozhang closed the base to show cowardice and waited for the Bianzhou soldiers to relax. Then he destroyed the fence and rushed out to fight. After fighting for a while, he returned to the camp to sit down and called all the generals to drink together. After a while,

Then they suddenly came out to fight against the Bianzhou soldiers.

Zhu Wen climbed up to see it, and quickly asked the surrendered man, only to find out that it was Wang Maozhang. Zhu Wen sighed: "If I get this man as a general, it will not be difficult for the world to be pacified!" The Bianzhou soldiers did not retreat until they were eating. Wang Maozhang

Thinking that he was outnumbered, he led his army back to Huainan overnight. Zhu Wen sent Caozhou governor Yang Shihou to lead his army to pursue him, and he caught up with him at Futang.

Wang Maozhang ordered the vanguard commander Li Qianyu to lead five hundred cavalry to the rear. Li Qianyu fought to the death, but was captured and killed by Yang Shihou. When Zhang Xun heard that Maozhang had withdrawn, he said to the generals: "The Bianzhou soldiers are coming, how can we resist them?

"The generals asked to burn the city and plunder the city before returning. Zhang Xun said: "No." So he sealed the treasury and hoisted a banner on the city. He also sent the weak soldiers to the front, personally led the elite soldiers to the rear, and slowly retreated.

Wen sent Zuo Tabai to command Wang Tan to attack Mizhou. When he arrived with his troops, he saw flags fluttering on the city. He thought there was a heavy ambush, so he dared to enter the city after several days. After entering the city, he saw the city of Futhu

They were all intact, so they stopped chasing, causing Zhang Xun's entire army to return.

Yang Xingmi's reinforcements had retreated, and Zhu Wen wanted to launch a general attack on Wang Normal. However, at this time, a fire was about to break out in his backyard. Zhu Wen had to leave part of the army to continue attacking Wang Normal, and led the main force back to Bianzhou. The cause of the fire was that

After Zhu Wen forced Yang Chongben to surrender, he took possession of Yang Chongben's young and beautiful wife.

Yang Chongben's wife felt deeply ashamed and sent her husband a letter with anger and hatred: "As a man, you are in charge of the feudal vassal and have strong soldiers, but you can't even protect your wife's innocence! I have no shame to see you again.

, you give me a knife or a rope, I will cut it myself!"

After Yang Chongben received the letter, he was so angry that he gritted his teeth and shed tears. He hated Zhu Wen deeply. Soon, Zhu Wen led his army back east to deal with Wang Shifan. Yang Chongben immediately sent an envoy to see Li Maozhen and said: "Zhu's rebellion has now harmed the country."

Guo Zuo of the Tang Dynasty! As the rock of the country, how can your adoptive father sit back and watch the country suffer without saving it? My son is willing to work with you to raise troops and seek revival. Even if the great event fails, we will die for the restoration of the country, and we will die well.
To be continued...