"Grass warblers fly on February days, whisking willows drunk with spring smoke." Qing Dynasty poet Gao Ding's "Village Residence" depicts a rural spring intention full of vitality and spring, outlining the bright and charming scenery of spring. In early spring and February, the grass grows tender green buds, and the yellow warblers fly in the sky and sing happily. The willows beside the embankment gently brushed the ground, as if swaying in the smoke of spring. People seem to feel the atmosphere of revival and prosperity of all things, and people's eyes seem to be surging with the pulse of spring. The ancients often used the poems of their predecessors, "grass long warblers fly february days" is the use of Qiu Chi's "Book with Chen Bo" in the famous sentence "Late spring in March, Jiangnan grass is long, miscellaneous peanut trees, and warblers fly wildly".
It is said that in 420 AD, Liu Yu deposed Emperor Gong of Jin and established himself, changed the name of the country to Song, and the Jin Dynasty collapsed, and history entered the period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The two-hundred-year period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties can be said to be a period of continuous civil war and endless strife in China. In Jiangnan, with Jiankang as the center, the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen dynasties were established successively, and in the north, it experienced the Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, and Northern Five Dynasties. Either the outside entered the court or the rebellion of the heavy ministers, staged a historical farce in which you sang and I appeared.
In the Southern Dynasty, Liang's founding emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu was an immediate emperor, and xiao Yan, as mentioned in history, was a literary and martial all-rounder, who was originally an official of the Southern Dynasty Qi, and later forced the emperor of Qi to "Zen Rang" and established Liang himself. Xiao Yan was emperor for forty-eight years, the first of the emperors of the Southern Dynasty. Xiao Yan was a polymath, especially talented in literature, and one of the famous "Eight Friends of Jingling", among these eight people, Xiao Yan's courage was incomparable to that of the other seven. Because of his family background, Xiao Yan was able to plot under the Wei general Wang Jian. Wang Jian valued him very much, saying that Xiao Yan was "a servant within thirty years, and it is expensive to come out of this", and his friend Wang Rong even commented on him: "To dominate the world, it will be in this person." Wang Jian saw that Xiao Yan was very talented and outstanding in speech and demeanor, so he promoted him to be a subordinate official of Hu Cao. Xiao Yan had a very good relationship with his superiors, and he was decisive and quick-witted, and was soon promoted to join the army, and was appointed as the crown prince and the waiter of the Yellow Gate.
After the death of Emperor Qiwu, Emperor Xiao Zhaoye took the throne, who knew that this emperor's grandson only knew pleasure, ignored government affairs, and did not accept the advice of his ministers. Xiao Luan, the minister in charge of power in the imperial court, decided to abolish him, so he discussed with Xiao Yan about abolishing him. Xiao Yan said that the abolition of the emperor was a major matter and could not be carried out rashly, and it was inevitable that the abolition would be opposed by the kings. Xiao Luan believed that the current kings had no talent, they were all incompetent, and they were not afraid. Therefore, Xiao Luan and Xiao Yan conspired together to kill the Emperor's grandson and support Xiao Zhaowen.
Three months later, Xiao Luan deposed Xiao Zhaowen and made himself emperor, the Qi Ming Emperor in the history books. After Xiao Luan became emperor, because Xiao Yan had the merit of assisting, he promoted Xiao Yan to the position of Zhongshu Shilang, and Xiao Yan's status began to become prominent.
In xiao Luan's second year as emperor, Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei led an army of 300,000 to attack Qi. Emperor Qi Ming first sent the general Zuo Wei to lead the troops to meet the battle, and then sent Xiao Yan to lead the troops to the rescue. When the pioneers heard that the Northern Wei army was strong and strong, they all cowered and did not dare to come closer. Xiao Yan led reinforcements to arrive, and he acted as a vanguard and engaged the Northern Wei army. Xiao Yan led his men and horses to a few miles away from the Northern Wei army throughout the night, and ordered the soldiers to plant flags all over the mountain and down the mountain. After dawn, the Qi army defending the city saw the banner of Manshan and thought that the reinforcements had arrived, so their morale was greatly increased, and they killed the city, and together with Xiao Yan's man, Mali Yingwai, defeated the Northern Wei army.
After Emperor Qiming died of illness, his son Xiao Baojuan took the throne. Xiao Baojuan was the second son of Emperor Xiao Luan of Qiming, the Marquis of Dongxiao. The Marquis of Dongxia ruled the country without skill, regarded the people as grass and mustard, did not know how to love and protect the heroes, and often killed the ring, causing the dissatisfaction of the ministers.
Xiao Yan was in Yongzhou at the time, and he gathered his subordinates to discuss the abolition of the Marquis of Dongxia. He recruited troops and horses, and joined forces with Xiao Baorong, the king of Nankang, to raise troops, and he made the king of Nankang emperor and sent troops to the east of the Han River to attack the Marquis of Dongxia.
The Yongzhou army began, and the four sides responded one after another. Marquis Dongxia made Chen Bozhi hold the festival on a false basis, and the governor drove the military forces and the history of Yuzhou, and then ordered him to be the assassin of Jiangzhou, and to defend Xunyang (浔陽, in modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi) against Xiao Yan.
Chen Bozhi was a native of Suiling (present-day Suining, Jiangsu), a young man with strength and strength, a small rogue, a poor family, and a living from robbery. He usually likes to wear an otter fur hat, but when he was thirteen or fourteen years old, when the rice in the neighboring village was ripe, he secretly took a knife to harvest it. Once, when he was stealing rice, he was discovered by his master, and he scolded him and said, "You little boy, why did you steal rice from someone else's field?" One of Chen Bo looked like Lai Pi and returned to his master: "Your family has so much rice, what is the point of taking a load?" The owner was so angry that he was ready to go forward and arrest him, and he pulled out his knife viciously, caught up and said, "Boy, what do you want?" His fierce and evil appearance frightened the owner of the field and fled in a hurry. Chen Bozhi looked at the distant owner and snorted disdainfully, and then slowly carried the rice home. When he grew up, he went out to rob many times, often posing as a robber. He also snatched the boat in front of him, and the boatman grabbed him and cut off one of his ears. Later, he defected to the General Wang Guangzhi of the Hongxiang people to enter the army, and Wang Guangzhi loved him for his bravery, let him stay by his side every night, and often let him follow him when fighting. Because of Chen Bozhi's military achievements, the official position was moved to Sima Qi, and he was later given the title of Yufu County Bo.
It is said that the Xiao cavalry general Xue Yuansi was ordered to lead an army to engage Xiao Yan's coalition forces, and the battle was extremely fierce. Soon, the reinforcements sent by the coalition army broke through jiankang, Xue Yuansi surrendered, and the surrounding cities also surrendered. King Nankang appointed Xiao Yan as the general of Zhendong and led the coalition army to the east, directly to Jiangzhou. Jiangzhou Assassin Chen Bozhi saw that Yingcheng had been breached, and his heart was trembling. On this day, Xiao Yan sent Su Longzhi, the commander of the forbidden army, to persuade Chen Bozhi to surrender, telling him that if he could lead the army to surrender, he would be made the assassin of Jiangzhou, and his son Chen Wuya would be the assassin of Xuzhou.
Chen Bozhi was a man at both ends of the spectrum, and although he ostensibly accepted this appointment, he still had two things in mind. The surrendered man returned to report to Xiao Yanyu that although Chen Bozhi had promised to surrender, he did not move. Xiao Yan saw that Chen Bozhi was hesitant, so he decided to threaten him to surrender by force, so he led a large army to xunyang city and forced him to surrender. Chen Bozhi saw that Xiao Yan led a large army approaching Jiangzhou and hurriedly retreated to Baonanhu. Seeing that Jiangzhou was not safe, Chen Bozhi was forced to surrender.
After subduing Chen Bo, Xiao Yan made Chen Bozhi the general of Zhennan and led him and his army to the east to attack Jiankang. Xiao Yan led his army to launch an all-out attack on Jiankang. At that time, Jiankang City was not yet pacified, and whenever some surrendered people came out of the city, Chen Bozhi summoned a whisper to inquire about the situation in the city. Xiao Yan saw the situation and was afraid that he would repeat it again, so he summoned him to quietly say to him: "I heard that the generals in the city are very annoyed with you and are ready to send assassins to kill you. Chen Bozhi did not believe it, and at this time, just when zheng Bolun, the general of the Eastern Evening Marquis, came to surrender, Xiao Yan asked him to see Chen Bozhi. Zheng Bolun said to Chen Bozhi: "The city is very angry about your surrender and defection, and wants to write a letter to lure you back." As soon as you go back, chop off your hands and feet; if you don't go back, send assassins to assassinate you. You have to be prepared. Chen Bozhi was greatly alarmed when he heard this, and did not dare to have the idea of defecting anymore, and truly surrendered.
The cities of Jingkou, Guangling, and Langxi around Jiankang were successively captured by the coalition forces, and Jiankang became an isolated city. Xiao Yan led his troops to Jiankang City, surrounded Jiankang City, and fought a decisive battle with the men and horses of Dong Xiahou next to the Suzaku Bridge. Late one night, the guards infiltrated the palace with their troops, killed Dong Dihou, and then opened the city gate to meet Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan attacked Jiankang, eliminated the men and horses of the Marquis of Dongxia, and made great military achievements, and he was promoted to the rank of Grand Sima as a result. In 502, Xiao Yan ascended the throne of Xiangguo and took charge of the imperial government. Later, the ministers of the DPRK and The Central Government jointly wrote a letter requesting Xiao Yan to ascend the throne as emperor at an early date, and TaiShi Ling also said that Xiao Yan's claim to the emperor was in accordance with heaven's will, and Xiao Yan issued a Zen edict in the name of Empress Xuande, and after offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, he ascended to the altar to accept hundreds of officials to kneel and worship the court. Xiao Yan was called Emperor Jianliang, known in history as Emperor Wu of Liang, and the capital was Jiankang, with Xiao Yan's fiefdom in Guliang County, so the state name was Liang. After Xiao Yan became emperor, he learned the lesson of Qi's demise, he was diligent in government affairs, regardless of winter, summer, spring and autumn, and got up on the fifth day to correct the official documents, and sometimes his hands were cracked in the cold. In terms of life, Xiao Yan is outstanding among the ancient Chinese emperors. His frugality is famous, the history books say that he "one crown for three years, one by two years", he does not pay attention to eating and wearing, all his clothes, are repeatedly washed, not willing to throw away, sometimes only one meal a day, when too busy, drink some porridge to fill the hunger. He often demanded that the magistrates of the localities must be honest and honest, and he often summoned the magistrates and instructed them to abide by the way of serving the country and the people. After his decree was implemented, Liang's national strength was significantly improved.
After Jiankang was pacified, Chen Bozhi was awarded the title of General of Zhengnan because of his meritorious service in battle, and still returned to Jiangzhou to defend the town. Chen Bozhi was illiterate, and when he arrived in Jiangzhou, he received an official letter, but he only knew the general meaning, and the big things were often decided by the confidants around him. He had a confidant named Zhu Longfu by his side, who was Chen Bozhi's fellow countryman, and he often acted arbitrarily under the influence of Chen Bozhi. After Xiao Yan learned of this, he personally wrote a letter for Chen Bozhi's son Chen Huya to send, stating Zhu Longfu's guilt. Chen Bozhi believed that Zhu Longfu was good at fighting, so he protected Zhu Longfu and did not punish him. There was also a confidant who had saved Chen Bozhi's life, and when Xiao Yan sent someone to take the place of that person, Chen Bozhi remembered that this person had meritorious deeds and refused to obey the order. Chen Bozhi's henchmen were hostile to Xiao Yandu, and there was also a close confidant who was a villain with bad character, who often threw Chen Bozhi's rebellion against Liang and surrendered to Wei, and persuaded Chen Bozhi day and night, saying that the imperial court treasury was empty, there were no weapons and armor, and there was no rice in the granary, which was really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the opportunity could not be lost. Chen Bozhi then summoned the generals and said, "I received an order from King Jian'an of Qi that he had led a 100,000-strong army from northern Jiangsu to Liuhe and ordered that the existing troops in Jiangzhou be used to transport grain to the east quickly. I have been blessed by Emperor Qi Ming and vow to repay with death! "Then he will show you the forged letters." The generals believed it to be true, so they killed the cattle and made an alliance with blood, and fought against liang with one heart.
When Xiao Yan heard the news of Chen Bozhi's rebellion, he ordered Wang Mao to lead a large army to attack Chen Bozhi. Chen Bozhi led his men and horses to attack Yuzhang, and Wang Mao led his army to pursue Yuzhang. Chen Bozhi's attack on Yuzhangcheng could not be attacked for a long time, and Wang Mao's front army arrived, and the inside should be combined with the outside, and Chen Bozhi was defeated. Chen Bozhi led the defeated men and horses and fled into Northern Wei. The State of Wei appointed Chen Bozhi as an envoy, a regular attendant on horseback, and a military governor of Huainan.
The Northern Wei Dynasty was established by the Xianbei people after a long war, defeating the Qiang, Qi, Xiongnu, and other regimes of the Han and Xianbei, and unifying the north. After the reforms of the famous Northern Wei Emperor Xiaowen and the relocation of the capital to Luoyang, the national strength of the Northern Wei became increasingly strong. In order to unify the country, Northern Wei invaded the Qi Dynasty from the time of Emperor Xiaowen. In the fourth lunar month of the fourth year of the Northern Wei Jingming Dynasty (503), the Northern Wei launched a large-scale southern expedition against the Liang Dynasty, and the battlefield was not conducive to cavalry operations because it was mostly a water area, and it was mainly fought with infantry and sailors led by General Chen Bozhi and other generals. Since the Liang army could not resist the onslaught of northern Wei cavalry, the situation on the battlefield was increasingly favorable to northern Wei. When the Northern Wei army was about to occupy Sichuan, the Northern Wei regime began to become increasingly chaotic.
In October of the fourth year of Emperor Wu of Liang's reign (505 CE), Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu ordered his brother Xiao Hong, the Prince of Linchuan of Yangzhou, to oversee the northern military forces of Yan, Northern Xu, Qing, Ji, Yu, Si, and Huo Bazhou, and commanded a large army to attack Wei, with hundreds of thousands of troops. For more than half a century since the defeat of Emperor Wen of Song's Northern Expedition, the Southern Dynasty had never launched such a powerful offensive, and even the Northern Wei Dynasty had to admit that this was "unprecedented in hundreds of decades."
Xiao Hong, the king of Linchuan, was Xiao Yan's half-brother, and as the saying goes, "Fight a war with your brothers, fight father and son soldiers." "Although the brothers are not siblings, they have a good relationship with each other. Emperor Wu of Liang ranked third, and Xiao Hong ranked sixth, and the relationship was extraordinary. Unfortunately, this Xiao Hong led the war and governed the country, and almost achieved nothing. Once, he led his troops on a march, and his men were strong and well-armed, but he cowered. Northern Wei sent people to send him a pair of scarves, and also made up a paragraph to humiliate him, but he was indifferent, and as a result, he was defeated by Northern Wei, and Xiao Hong fled into exile and was ridiculed. This time Xiao Hong can perform well.
However, the Northern Expeditionary Army did not go well, and when Xiao Hong's forward attacked liangcheng, a border town northeast of Shouyang, it was defeated by the Pingnan general Chen Bozhi and suffered a defeat. Xiao Hong knew that Chen Bozhi was a capricious and mercenary villain, so he changed his strategy, gave up the simple military offensive, and used the tactics of political attack, hoping that what he could not get with the barrel of a gun could be obtained with a pen.
In the third month of the lunar calendar of the following year, Xiao Hong ordered his secretary Qiu Chi to write a letter to Chen Bozhi in his personal name, urging him to surrender.
Qiu Chi was an important writer during the Qi Liang period of the Southern Dynasty, and his literary achievements were quite high, but his most famous was not poetry, but an excellent letter of persuasion, "The Book with Chen Bo". In the history of Chinese literature, Qiu Chi did not leave many works, but this "Book with Chen Bo" alone is enough for him to engrave a glorious footprint in the history of literature. On the one hand, "The Book with Chen Bo" is a masterpiece of Piao Wen, on the other hand, this article has promoted the surrender of a rebel general leading eight thousand soldiers, leaving posterity with an ancient legend of the victory of the pen over the barrel of the gun.
In his letter, Qiu Chi righteously and sternly condemned Chen Bozhi's despicable act of treason and surrendering to the enemy, saying that he was only confused for a while and listened to rumors before he defected to Northern Wei; at the same time, he affirmed liang dynasty's policy of not blaming the past and being lenient, and explained to the other side that he was righteous and stated the interests and harms, so as to show the sincerity of Liang Dynasty's surrender, relieve Chen Bozhi's worries about the future, and move with the grace of his homeland and the feelings of his hometown, and finally advised him that only returning to Liang was the best way out. The last paragraph, "In the late spring of March, jiangnan grass grows, miscellaneous peanut trees, and warblers fly wildly", using Jiangnan customs to impress Chen Bozhi's hometown thoughts. Ancient Yun: "Those who touch people's hearts, mo first." Half of the country was a piece of paper, and Chen Bozhi listened to his subordinates read the letters for him, and was immediately intimidated by the reasonableness of the letters, and could not take care of his son who remained in the north, "but Yu Shouyang supported eight thousand troops to surrender."
Less than two months after Chen Bozhi's surrender, liang army forwards captured Liangcheng and pointed directly at Shouyang.