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Since ancient times: "The general trend of the world, it will be together for a long time, and it will be divided for a long time." "The Tang Dynasty was prosperous and brilliant, but after all, it failed to escape the curse of history and ended up falling apart.
The decadence and sinking of the regime at the end of the Tang Dynasty was like a lonely boat, crumbling in the turbulent torrent of history. The peasant uprisings were raging, revealing the miserable situation of the people's misery. At this moment, the fate of Datang is already doomed, and the number of qi is about to run out.
However, at this corner of history, a generation of heroes was born, and he was the founding emperor of the Later Liang - Zhu Wen. He stepped on the ground and ended the prosperous and declining Tang Dynasty with a thunderous momentum. This created a new era - five dynasties and ten kingdoms.
However, Zhu Wen's great cause was not achieved overnight. He went through ups and downs, overcame obstacles, and only then did he sit firmly in the country. However, with his success, Zhu Wen began to indulge in women, indulging in sex with concubines and palace ladies all day long, and had no time to take care of the court and politics.
Zhu Wen's immorality aroused the dissatisfaction and opposition of the ministers of the court, and also brought bad luck to himself. While he was seriously ill, his own son Zhu Youqi staged a coup d'état, killed Zhu Wen's cronies, and imprisoned the seriously ill Zhu Wen in the palace. In the end, Zhu Wen died of illness and grief at the age of 50.
Zhu Wen's death announced the decline of the Later Liang dynasty. Although Zhu Youqi seized the throne, his reign did not last long. The Later Liang fell into chaos and division in just a few years, and was eventually replaced by the Later Tang.
The new era he created can be described as a perfect interpretation of the ancient adage that "if you join for a long time, you must divide for a long time".
01
Zhu Wen devoted himself to Huangchao in his early years, and later returned to Tang for his purpose
On the sixth year of Tang Xuanzong's junior high school, Zhu Wen was born in Wugouli, Dangshan County, Songzhou. The Zhu family has been scholarly for generations, and their fathers and ancestors have all inherited their knowledge, but they have never set foot in officialdom. However, the family had a high status in the township and married a prominent local official. Zhu Wen is the third in line, with the eldest brother Zhu Quanyu and the second brother Zhu Cun.
Due to the family's downfall and the early death of his father, his mother Wang had no choice but to take the three of them to live in Liu Chong's house in Xiao County, where they worked as a farmer. Zhu Wen was stubborn since he was a child, and when he grew up, he didn't do anything to produce, and he was a heroic man, and his neighbors sneered at him. Only Liu Chong's mother favored him.
During the Qianfu period, there were famines in Shandong for many years, and thieves were everywhere. Huangchao took advantage of the situation to rise in Caozhou and Puzhou, gathering more than 10,000 people. Zhu Wen and his second brother Zhu Cun decided to defect to Huangchao and plan for great things together. When the Huangchao army moved to Lingnan, Zhu Cun died heroically, but Zhu Wen was promoted to captain for his merits.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month of the first year of Guangming, the Huangchao rebel army broke through the Tang capital Chang'an, and Tang Xizong fled to Shu in a hurry. Huang Chao sent Zhu Wen to lead the army to garrison Dongwei Bridge, responsible for guarding against the counterattack of the Tang army. At that time, Tang General Zhuge Shuang led the Gongbeixing battalion to be stationed in Liyang, and Huang Chao ordered Zhu Wen to go to Zhao'an. Zhuge Shuang was persuaded by Zhu Wen to surrender to Huangchao.
In February of the first year of Zhonghe, Zhu Wen was named Yu Hou of the southeast camp, and was ordered to capture Dengzhou and capture Zhao Jie. This move contained the Tang army attacking north in the Jingxiang area and stabilized the situation in the southeast of the newly established "Great Qi" regime.
In June, Zhu Wen returned triumphantly, and Huang Chao personally went to Bashang to reward the three armies. In July, Zhu Wen was transferred to Xingping, west of Chang'an, to fight against the Tang army mobilized from the prefectures of Sui, Qi, Dun, and Xia.
In August, Li Xiaochang and Li Sigong were stationed at Dongwei Bridge, and Huang Chao ordered Zhu Wen to defend. In September, Zhu Wen defeated Tang generals Li Sigong and Li Xiaochang in the area of Dongwei Bridge.
In November, Meng Kai and Zhu Wen took advantage of the victory to defeat the soldiers and horses of Li Xiaochang in Yanzhou and Li Sigong in Xiazhou in Fuping.
In the spring of the second year of Zhonghe (882), Huang Chao appointed Zhu Wen as the defense envoy of Tongzhou and gave him the important task of conquering the city. Zhu Wen led the soldiers of Danzhou, like a fierce tiger down the mountain, and quickly conquered Tongzhou, causing Shi Micheng, the assassin of Tongzhou, to flee to the river in embarrassment.
At that time, the river festival made Wang Chongrong stand by and gather all kinds of heroes and strong, wanting to regain the lost territory. Zhu Wen and Wang Chongrong fought fiercely in the river, and the two sides came and went, not letting each other go.
Wang Chongrong selected 30,000 elite armor soldiers and vowed to defeat Zhu Wen in one fell swoop. Zhu Wen was frightened in the face of a strong enemy, and even scuttled all the boats into the river to show his determination to fight against the water.
After Zhu Wen was defeated in the river, he asked Huang Chao for support, but Huang Chao's left army made Meng Kai hide it. At the same time, Zhu Wen also heard that Huang Chaojun's heart was disheartened, and the generals went their own way. His close generals Hu Zhen and Xie Tong persuaded him to submit to the Tang Dynasty, foreseeing that the Huangchao Rebellion would fail. Zhu Wen judged the situation and knew that returning to Tang was the only way out.
In September of the second year of Zhonghe, after Zhu Wen consulted with his henchmen, he resolutely killed Yan Shi, the supervisor of Huangchao, and led the entire Tongzhou army and people to surrender to Wang Chongrong. Yang Fuguang wanted to kill Zhu Wen, but Wang Chongrong resisted: "Now the soldiers and horses of Huangchao are surrendered, and those who surrender will be pardoned."
Zhu Wen is brave and usable, and it is not a good omen to kill. Zhu Wen worshiped Wang Chongrong as his uncle, and was then given the name "Quanzhong" by Tang Xizong. Wang Duo also complied with the edict and appointed Zhu Wen as the envoy of the Tonghua Festival.
Wang Chongrong quickly reported this matter to the imperial court, and Tang Xizong was overjoyed after reading it: "This is a good general given to me by God!" Then he issued an edict to confer the post of general of Zhu Wenzuo Jin Wuwei, and concurrently served as the deputy envoy of the Hezhong camp. Since then, Zhu Wen has led the old troops and the soldiers in the river to be invincible.
In February of the third year of Zhonghe, the Tang court appointed Zhu Wen as the envoy of the Bianzhou Assassin and Xuanwu Army, and ordered him to take up his post after the Tang army recovered the capital.
However, after gaining the trust of the Tang army, Zhu Wen was in full swing, and through years of conquest and strategy, he gradually became the most powerful envoy of the Tang Dynasty. In 903 AD, he skillfully played the trick of "coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes" and held Emperor Zhaozong hostage.
In order to prevent future troubles forever, Zhu Wen did not hesitate to brutally kill Emperor Zhaozong under the pretext of entering the palace to perform affairs, and issued an edict to appoint Li Ji, who was only thirteen years old, as the new emperor. However, Juwen's ambitions go far beyond that. A few years later, he repeated his old tricks, murdered the new emperor Li Ji again, and finally proclaimed himself emperor in Kaifeng, with the name of Daliang.
The rise of Zhu Wen not only changed the fate of the Tang Dynasty, but also profoundly affected the course of Chinese history. His decisiveness and ruthlessness made him a highly controversial historical figure.
02
After the Battle of Luzhou, the decline of Houliang gradually appeared
In May of the first year of Kaiping (907), Zhu Wen appointed Kang Huaizhen as the envoy of the Luzhou camp with the momentum of thunder, and led an army of 80,000 to Luzhou like a storm. Because the city of Luzhou is as solid as a rock, and the defenders resist stubbornly, although Kang Huaizhen waved his army to attack fiercely, day and night, he still scratched his boots and could not attack for a long time.
So, Kang Huaizhen made a big move, dug deep trenches around the city, built more fortresses, and surrounded Luzhou City. The intention was to cut the city off from the outside world, leaving the defenders isolated and forcing them to surrender. However, after Li Keyong heard the news, he immediately led a large army to the rescue in the starry night. He mobilized almost all the troops and horses in the territory and pounced on Luzhou like a tiger descending from the mountain.
At the same time, Li Keyong sent troops to attack Zezhou south of Luzhou, intending to cut off the Liang army's retreat and military supply lines. This move can be described as a salary draw from the bottom of the kettle, which put Liang Jun in a dilemma. Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhu Wen hurriedly sent Fan Jushi to reinforce Zezhou.
In August, Li Keyong's reinforcements had arrived, stationed in Gaohe Town, just twenty miles from Luzhou. They were like a tiger with wings, and constantly sent cavalry to attack the Liang army besieging the city, so that the Liang army was exhausted.
Zhu Wen saw that Kang Huaizhen could not attack for a long time, but suffered heavy losses, so he sent Li Si'an to replace Kang Huaizhen. Li Si'an was also unable to conquer Luzhou. He besieged for many days, not only did he achieve nothing, but he lost more than 40 generals and tens of thousands of soldiers.
Zhu Wen was furious when he heard the news and summoned Li Si'an to Zezhou to ask for the crime. He dismissed Li Si as a punishment for the title of the Ministry of Security, and appointed Liu Zhijun as the envoy of the Luzhou camp to succeed him.
Liu Zhijun led more than 10,000 elite soldiers to attack Luzhou. He was complacent after his first victory, but was defeated by a sneak attack by the newly succeeded Li Cunmiao. The Liang soldiers suffered tens of thousands of casualties, corpses were strewn all over the field, and rivers of blood flowed.
So far, the siege of Luzhou, which has lasted for more than a year, has finally been lifted. When Zhu Wen heard the news, he was saddened and sighed: "Give birth to a son like Li Yazi (Li Cunqiao's nickname)! Li Keyong is still alive even though he is dead! My son is like a pig and a dog compared to him!"
In this thrilling battle, the generals of both sides battled wits and courage, and each showed his own powers. The soldiers fought bravely and bloodily, and the war scenes were thrilling and exciting. In the end, Li Cunqiao successfully broke the siege with his excellent command and brave soldiers. demonstrated his outstanding military skills and leadership.
And Zhu Wen suffered a miserable failure because of his pride and underestimation of the enemy, which laid the groundwork for the rise of the Later Tang Dynasty.
After experiencing many confrontations with Li Cunmiao, Zhu Wen finally realized the eloquence and strategy of this young general, and no longer dared to despise it in the slightest.
After several years of careful preparation, Zhu Wen launched another large-scale attack in 912 AD, personally led the army to the expedition, and claimed to be an army of 500,000 to the outside world, intending to fight Li Cunmiao.
However, although Zhu Wen was extremely cautious this time and strictly guarded against Li Cunmiao's surprise attack, Li Cunmiao still keenly found a breakthrough. He personally led more than 100 cavalrymen, like divine soldiers, to smash the Zhuwen camp. In an instant, flames rose into the sky, and the marching tents and grain and grass turned into a sea of fire.
Zhu Wen was furious when he heard the report, and his old illness recurred. After all, the age is not forgiving, coupled with the long-distance journey, bumps and fatigue, the body has long been overwhelmed. On the way back to Luoyang, his injuries became more and more serious, and his heart was even more painful.
The successive defeats made Zhu Wen's Houliang turn from prosperity to decline, just like the fate of the Tang Dynasty after experiencing the "Anshi Rebellion", from extreme prosperity to decline.
Zhu Wen knew that the general trend had gone, and he was powerless to return to the sky. He was saddened and lamented the impermanence of fate.
03
In his later years, he was obsessed with beauty and was killed
In the early days of the Great Liang, due to the stability of the regime, after the death of Zhu Wen's Empress Zhang, Zhu Wen became more and more addicted to beauty and power, unable to extricate himself.
He indulged in lust, greedy for pleasure, and left the affairs of the court and politics behind. Zhu Wen's fall not only damaged his personal image, but also caused chaos in the Later Liang dynasty and the country gradually declined.
In the later years of his life, due to the successive defeats in the war, Zhu Wen knew that his time was short, and he fell into extreme depression and hesitation. The bravery and glory of the past are now in the dust, and he is immersed in beauty and power, unable to extricate himself.
Zhu Wen's adopted son, Zhu Youwen's wife, Wang, is beautiful and beautiful. Zhu Wen has always coveted her, but due to the ethical guidelines, he has never been able to succeed. However, in order to stand out among the many princes and obtain the qualification to inherit the throne, Zhu Youwen took the initiative to dedicate his wife to Zhu Wen.
Wang's enchantment and charm made Zhu Wen fall for it. He almost no longer cared about the major affairs of the DPRK and China, and handed over all power to Zhu Youwen. At this time, Zhu Wen trusted Zhu Youwen very much and almost obeyed his words.
Seeing this, the other princes followed suit, and in order to compete for the throne, they did not hesitate to sacrifice their wives and daughters to Zhu Wen. For a time, there was an air of debauchery and depravity in the court. Dignity and decency pale in the face of power and desire.
In such an environment, the foundation of Zhu Wen's rule gradually collapsed, and the country fell into chaos and turmoil. And he himself gradually lost himself in this power game, becoming a symbol of the decay of the back beam.
Zhu Wen's eldest son, Zhu Youyu, the king of Chen, died early, leaving the heir undecided. Although he has the world in his hands, the worries in his heart are growing day by day. He understands that his time is short, and other parents and children are embarrassed. Only his adopted son, Zhu Youwen, is talented and has won his heart.
Zhu Youwen was stationed in the eastern capital, and the shadow of fate quietly came. Wang was ordered to recall Zhu Youwen, but was caught by Zhang, the wife of Zhu Youqi, the king of Ying. She was scheming and informed her husband of the matter. Zhu Youqi, the commander of the control crane, is in charge of the palace guards and is ambitious.
Zhu Wen had insight into Zhu Youqi's plot and issued an edict to transfer him to Laizhou Assassin. This move is well known to everyone, in order to pave the way for Zhu Youwen. How could Zhu Youqi sit idly by and watch the throne fall into the hands of others? He knew very well that once he left Beijing, he would probably be killed. So, he decided to take the plunge.
On June 22, the second year of Qianhua, Zhu Youqi infiltrated the Zuolong Tiger Army in disguise and conspired with his old subordinate Han Qing. Han Qing knew that this matter was widely implicated, so he did not hesitate to choose to fight side by side with Zhu Youqi.
They led 500 elite soldiers, disguised as crane control sergeants, and infiltrated the palace. When night fell, the Wanchun Gate was opened, and five hundred elite soldiers broke into the door and went straight to Zhu Wen's dormitory. The palace people panicked and ran in all directions.
Zhu Wen woke up from his dream, and saw Zhu Youqi standing in front of him murderously, and couldn't help but be stunned: "This thief went against the sky, and dared to kill his father and usurp the throne!" Zhu Youqi sneered: "Heaven is unkind, and all things are used as dogs! Today's matter is none other than me!" Feng Tingge stepped forward with a knife, wanting to put Zhu Wen to death.
Zhu Wen resisted and fled around the pillar. Feng Tingge chased after him, the sword flashed, and he slashed three times on the pillar. In the end, Zhu Wen fell to the ground with all his strength, and Feng Tingge stabbed through his chest, splashing blood in five steps. Zhu Wen, a generation of heroes, finally died in Huangquan because of raising tigers.
All in all, Zhu Wen, the overlord of the late Tang Dynasty, was once the most promising unifier in the world. However, after a short period of brilliance, he fell into the vortex of beauty and gradually sank.
Especially in his later years, his extravagance is simply staggering. This can't help but make people sigh, there is a knife on the head of the color character, but Zhu Wen fell at this juncture, which eventually led to his tragic end.
Looking back on history, those heroes who once shook the side often went into decline due to a moment of indulgence. Zhu Wen's fate seems to have become a footnote to this law. Originally, he had the opportunity to start a new dynasty, but he lost his original intention in the sound of dogs and horses. He forgot his ambitions because of his beauty, and he also lost the world because of his beauty.
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