This work is a contribution to the column of the Museum of History, representing only the personal views of the author; this work is not a rigorous historical academic research, for reference only; unauthorized, prohibited second transmission, violators will be investigated.
This article is written by Jinfan Ranger
Soon after Shi Le joined, Liu Yuan welcomed a more powerful assistant: Wang Mi.
Wang Mi's grandfather was Wang Ji (王颀) who followed Deng Aifa shu and participated in the war against Goguryeo with Yuqiu Jian, and later became the Xuanyu Taishou of Cao Wei, and in the Western Jin Dynasty, he was changed to Runan Taishou.
It can be said that Wang Mi's origin is not bad, although it is not as good as the high-ranking monk clan such as the Langya Wang Clan, and if you grow up, you can be a Shang Shulang who is close to Tianzi, but you can get a better evaluation and smoothly enter Shizhou County, continue to be an official, and eat and drink spicy is still no problem.
But Wang Mi's interest is not in being an official, he focuses on being a "ranger".
The so-called "Ranger" is just a more elegant title, and the accurate title for them should be the underworld boss. During the Three Kingdoms period, Gan Ning was a "good ranger" when he was young, and when he became the head of a group of light and thin teenagers, he fell in love with those who were good to him, and those who were bad to him killed people and overstepped their bounds, and it was exactly this kind of life that the young Wang Mi longed for.
Once, when Wang Mi was collecting protection money in Luoyang, a hermit named Dong Zhongdao saw him and said to him: "You have the voice of a jackal, the eyes of a leopard, and you like to make trouble and make trouble, if the world changes, you will not be at ease to be a scholar." ”
Dong Zhongdao's vision was very poisonous, and the restless Wang Mi gradually had the ideal of overthrowing the Jin Dynasty and becoming a powerful anti-thief. In the third year of Yuan Xi (306 AD), Wang Mi's hometown of Donglai County,惤县, ordered Liu Bogen to launch a rebellion. It is said that the energy of a county order is limited, and it is not enough to set off much wind and waves, and it is estimated that the imperial court can send a small army to pacify it. But Liu Bogen had a special identity: he believed in the Wudou Rice Sect, and had a certain prestige among the local believers, and he recruited his fellow party under the banner of the Wudou Rice Sect, and soon called up a group of troops.
[1] January 306 CE
Wang Mi did not hesitate to take his servants to defect to Liu Bogen, not only that, he also took his younger brother Wang Zhang, his brother Wang Sang and others to join the gang. Liu Bogen admired Wang Mi's talent, made him a long history, and accompanied him in attacking Linzi in Qingzhou.
At that time, the governor of Qingzhou was Sima Luo, the Prince of Gaomi, who was incompetent, so he entrusted the military to Liu Tun (暾暾), the son of Liu Yi, a famous direct minister of the early Jin Dynasty, to deal with Liu Bogen. However, Liu Tun also did not have the ability to lead troops, and was beaten to the ground and ran all the way into Luoyang, and even Sima Luo was forced to flee to Liaocheng.
[2] March 306 AD
As a last resort, the imperial court ordered Wang Jun to be allowed to solve the trouble, and Wang Jun quickly sent his own humble cavalry to kill Liu Bogen, and Wang Mi instantly changed from a family member with a manor and servants to a street rat that everyone shouted and beat. He fled to the island with the remnants of the rebels, and was chased and killed by the officers led by Gou Xi's younger brother Gou Chun, and finally fell into the grass at Changguang Mountain.
However, even if he is a robber, Wang Mi plans to be a skilled robber. He had to make a plan for the looting operation every time, calculate the success rate before acting, so he never miscalculated, plus he had excellent arm strength, riding and shooting, and the people in Qingzhou had the title of "flying leopard".
The next year, Wang Mi, who was gradually recovering, began to plunder Qingzhou again, this time encountering Gou Chun. After the battle, Wang Mi really couldn't beat Gou Xi, and decided to send an emissary to his old friend Liu Yuan, saying that he would henceforth return to Liu Yuan's rule, hoping to hold Liu Yuan's thigh.
[3] February 307 AD
At the same time, Liu Ling of Yangpingliu, who was beaten to the ground by the officials and troops, also followed Wang Mi's example, and they were given the posts of Zhendong General of the Han Dynasty, Qingxu Erzhou Mu, Donglai Gong and Pingbei General respectively.
[4] December 307 AD
The younger brothers have caused trouble, and Liu Yuan, who is in The Prefecture, is naturally not willing to fall behind.
In 308, Liu Yuan, who had been recovering for a long time, took the initiative to launch an attack, and in the face of the map of the prefecture, he began to consider his own offensive route.
From ancient times to the present, the traffic from Shanxi to Hebei and Henan must pass through the Taihang Mountains. There are eight horizontal valleys distributed in parallel in the Taihang Mountains, which are the "Taihang Eight Mountains", which are:
1. Starting from Hedong in Hezhou and passing through the Hanoi area, it is Xuanguan, which is the most convenient road from the Hedong area to Luoyang;
[5] Xuan Guanxing
2. Starting from Shangdang in Hezhou, after passing through Gaodu and Tingting Pass, we will reach the Wild King of Hanoi region, and then go all the way south to reach The Xiongguan Tiger Prison Pass near Luoyang. This road is Tai Hing Hwang, which is an important passage connecting the Dang Highlands and the Hanoi region in the process of chasing deer in the Central Plains. This path was of great significance during the Warring States period: it was precisely because the State of Qin controlled the Taihang Dynasty that the Shangdang, which originally belonged to korea, surrendered to the State of Qin, and then surrendered to the State of Zhao, triggering the Battle of Changping;
[6] Taihang
3. Starting from Shangdang in Hezhou, passing through the Lingchuan River of the Jianshi (Gaoping) can reach Gong county, this road is Baixing, which is an important passage between the Shangdang Highlands and the Central Plains, from this road continue to cross the Yellow River in the south, you can reach Chenliu, Xingyang and other areas, and to the east you can reach Wei County, Yangping County and other places;
[7] BaiXing
Fourth, it still starts from Shangdang in Xiangzhou and passes through xiangxian to reach the Handan area, because it is close to the upper reaches of the Fuyang River, so it is called Fukou. This road is a passage connecting the Shangdang region and the North China Plain, along this road you can go directly to Yecheng;
[8] Fukou
5. Starting from Jinyang, along Yuci, Receiving Yang, and Shangai out of Jingxing Pass, you can reach Changshan County, which is the main transportation route between the Taiyuan Basin and the North China Plain. During the Chu-Han war, Han Xin launched an attack on the Hebei region precisely from the well, and there was also a story of "a battle against the water";
[9] Jingxing
6. Starting from Wei (yù) Prefecture and following the valley road to today's Laiyuan, it is a road connecting Shanxi, the North China Basin and the Mongolian Plateau, known as the Flying Fox, which is also a trade route between herders and Han people on the grassland, and it is also a link between Hezhou and Youzhou;
7. Starting from Laiyuan and going east through Bauhinia Pass to Zhuo County, the road is Puyin, which is also the last line of defense against the invasion of grassland peoples, and further south through Bauhinia Pass is the vast North China Plain.
[10] Flying Fox and Pu Yin
The road from Yanqing south to Changping is Jundu, and on this road, there is a more famous pass, Juyong Pass. Nomadic people who want to attack Zhuo County from the desert will basically take this road, and as a result, Juyongguan has become one of the most important passes along the Great Wall.
[11] Jundu
According to the area under Liu Yuan's control, the routes he could choose were Xuanguanxing, Taihang, Baixing, and Fukou, and to take the remaining four roads, he had to ask Liu Kun if he agreed or not.
However, the defense system near Luoyang is relatively complete, and the Jin army is relatively strong, if you want to directly attack Luoyang, the whole army will have to bite the Jin army around Luoyang, which is likely to be an uneconomical refueling tactic. Liu Yuan decided to temporarily take a defensive position on the southern front, sending Liu Cong to guard Guanguan and Taihang, and sending Shi Le out of Fukou to attack Changshan County.
However, Shi Le was defeated by Wang Jun on this road and did not achieve any results, so Liu Yuan turned to the south himself, out of the Taihang Mountains from Baixing, first attacked Ji County, and then plundered Dunqiu, Hanoi and other counties, forcing Sima Yue to move his base from Xuchang to Juàn In Yanzhou
[12] January 308 CE
[13] February 308 CE
At this time, Wang Mi also began to collect the previously scattered Liukou, and after gathering tens of thousands of people, he attacked and harassed Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Yuzhou respectively, echoing Liu Yuan's military actions. Qingzhou's first-in-command Gou Xi could not resist Wang Mi's attack, and he was defeated and retreated, Wang Mi took the opportunity to capture Xuchang, full of self-confidence, and his next plan was to enter Luoyang and become a "ranger" who shocked the world.
[14] March 308
Here, it is necessary to explain the Luoyang road in the world.
The road westward from Luoyang is through the Yellow River and the Kunshan Mountains through Hangu Pass to Guanzhong. This road is small and extremely dangerous. During the Warring States period, the State of Qin relied on Hangu Pass to resist the Six Kingdoms of Kwantung alone. Later, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Guancheng moved eastward, and there was a New Pass in Hangu, which was closer to Luoyang.
The road to the north, that is, across the Yellow River to the north, has a natural and excellent ferry port in this nearby area, which is Mengjin. During the Western Jin Dynasty, Du Pre built a pontoon bridge here, which was later called "river bridge".
The road to the east is along the Yellow River, all the way to Yanzhou. The road is between the Yellow River and the Song Mountains, the dividing line between the second and third levels of China's topography, and there is a checkpoint guarding it. After exiting the customs, the terrain will be flat and flat, ushering in an endless plain, which is the famous Tiger Prison Pass. During the Chu-Han war, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu fought a great war here.
The road to the south is to follow the Yi River Valley south to the Ru River and finally to the Huai River. The first important place on this road is Yi que, also known as Longmen, after which the famous Longmen Grottoes were built here. During the Warring States period, Bai Qi killed 240,000 troops of the Wei state and Korea here, and after that, these two countries never posed a threat to the Qin state, which was also one of the two most important battles in Bai Qi's career, and the other was naturally the Battle of Changping. After passing through Yi que, it will usher in Guangcheng Pass, and in the last year of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Sun Jian, who participated in the alliance against Dong Zhuo, defeated Dong Zhuo's general Hu Zhao and killed Hua Xiong, playing his own prestige.
There is also a road to the southeast, which is through the Shaomuro Mountain and Taimuro Mountain of the Song Mountains, and along the Yinghe River to Xuchang and even the Huai River. There is also a level here, which is the Weed Pass. This road is very rough, but this road is an important road connecting Luoyang and Huaibei, and whenever there is a war in Luoyang, it is also a place of contention.
In addition, along the south of Luoyang, through the Taigu Pass can cross the Song Mountain, and it is Taigu Pass that guards this road.
Hangu Pass, Mengjin (Heqiao), Hu prison pass, Yique, Guangcheng Pass, Yuanyuan Pass, and Taigu Pass are the most important strategic fulcrums around Luoyang, and since ancient times, wars around Luoyang have not been able to avoid these locations. Cao Zhi's opening words in "Roselle Endowment" are: Yu from the Jing Domain, Returning to the Eastern Domain. Back Yi Que, Yue Yuan, through Tonggu, Lingjing Mountain. He returned from Luoyang to the fiefdom of Juancheng, and the road he took was exactly around the corner of Yique, crossing the Guanguan to the east, and he was also the Luoshen he saw on this road.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Kwantung princes launched the Alliance of Dong. Cao Cao, as a military man, elaborated on his ideal strategic plan when he returned to the sour jujube to accuse the princes after being defeated by Xu Rong. Cao Cao's deployment is recorded in the original text of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which is really a very good strategic plan:
Let Bohai lead the people of Hanoi to Mengjin, and the sour jujube generals to defend Chenggao, according to AoCang, SaiYuanyuan and Taigu, and completely control their dangers; so that General Yuan led the army of Nanyang, Dan and Jie, into Wuguan, with the three auxiliaries of earthquake: all high and deep walls, do not fight with each other, benefit as suspicious soldiers, show the situation in the world, to obey the rebellion, can be established.
That is to say, Cao Cao's ideal plan was to let Yuan Shao capture Mengjin, and the rest of the princes occupy Hu prison pass, Yuanyuan Pass, and Taigu Pass, plus Guangcheng Pass and Yi Que, which had already been captured by Sun Jian, to strategically encircle Luoyang in three aspects of the north and southeast, and then let Yuan Shu of Nanyang go out of Wuguan to threaten Guanzhong, then Luoyang would become an isolated city. Unfortunately, the princes had their own thoughts, and Cao Cao's strategic plan could not be realized, and it was no wonder that he shouted out " Lack of erection and conspiracy " , full of grief and indignation! ”。
[15] Topography of Luoyang
Back in March of the second year of Yongjia, after Wang Mi captured Xuchang, the eastern part of Luoyang was no longer safe. However, at this time, the defenders of Luoyang could not divide more troops: the main force of the defenders was contained by Liu Yuan in the north, and Sima Yue, who had originally defended Luoyang in Xuchang, moved to Juancheng, although he sent a force of five thousand men to return to the Beijing Division, but the water could not quench the thirst, Wang Mi took the opportunity to break through the Xuanyuan Pass, defeated the official army again at Yishui, and the army went straight to the Jinyang Gate south of Luoyang.
The situation had reached a very critical moment, and the imperial court ordered Wang Yan to be the governor and personally lead the defenders to meet Wang Mi. Zhang Rail, who was far away in Liangzhou, learned of the difficulties of the imperial court and also sent Liangzhou soldiers led by Beigong Chun to defend Luoyang.
Beigong Chun recruited more than a hundred death squads to attack Wang Mi, Liu Kou did not receive formal military training, and after being overwhelmed, he quickly collapsed, and Wang Mi, who could not restrain the army, had to burn the Jianchun Gate east of Luoyang and flee to the east, Wang Yan sent his army to continue to pursue, and caught up with Wang Mi at Qilijian, defeating him again.
Wang Mi, whose dreams had been shattered, finally woke up, realizing that if he wanted to overthrow the Western Jin Dynasty, he needed more and more power, and his friend Liu Yuan, who was a teenager, was in control of this increasingly powerful force. So Wang Mi and Wang Sang crossed the Yellow River and came along the Xuanguan Pass to join Liu Yuan. Beigong Chun chased after wang mi all the way, thanks to Liu Cong waiting to receive Wang Mi in the Hedong area on the other side of Xuanguan, the two sides fought a battle, although Liu Cong did not win, but the good villains still took Wang Mi back to Hezhou.
[16] May 308
Upon learning of Wang Mi's arrival, Liu Yuan was very happy. He sent the Han dynasty's attendant and Imperial Master to the city to greet him personally, and said to him: "The general has made an immortal contribution, so he sent me to meet the general, and the king has always been looking forward to the general's coming, and he personally came to the residence prepared for you to pick up the wind and dust for you, and waited for your arrival." ”
After Wang Mi arrived, Liu Yuan made Wang Mi a lieutenant colonel, and gave him a very high treatment, and the excited Liu Yuan even praised Wang Mi a lot at the banquet: "I originally thought that you were a Haojie who divided the side like Dou Rong, but now it seems that you are my Kong Ming and Deng Yu!" ”
The reason why Liu Yuan values Wang Mi so much is that on the one hand, he is well aware of the ability of this childhood friend, on the other hand, Wang Mi's appeal and leadership in Qingzhou and Xuzhou are exactly what he values. In future battles, he needed more Han Chinese like Wang Mi to provide more powerful support to the Han Kingdom, and this was one of the reasons why Liu Yuan raised the banner of "Han", for which he could give these powerful and semi-independent divisions for their further development.
Three months later, Liu Yuan again attacked Pingyang and Hedong. The battle went very well, with The Western Jin Dynasty's Pingyang Taishou escaping, Hedong Taishou killed in battle, and Liu Yuan quickly took these places. Later, Wang Mi and Shi Le attacked Yicheng again, and the imperial court had to send The Yuzhou Assassin Shi Peixian to attack Shi Le on Baima, the che general Wang Kan at Eastern Yan, and the Pingwu general Cao Wutun (曹武屯) to attack Dayang to guard against Liu Yuan, who had moved the capital to Puzi.
[17] July 308
[18] August 308 CE
[19] Shi Le Pei Xian confrontation diagram
At this point, Liu Yuan's power expanded from the beginning to the areas of Pingyang, Hedong, Shangdang, and Leping, and several exiled civilian armies in Hebei and Shandong were also attached to Liu Yuan, which made Jizhou, Sili, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and even east of Yongzhou have the power of the Han State, and their strength has been greatly increased. In addition, the four Xianbei and Dadan Yu of shangjun also expressed their attachment to Liu Yuan.
In a good situation, in October of this year, Liu Yuan declared himself emperor in Puzi. Although during this period, Liu Kun sent his troops to attack Wei County, Ji Commandery and Dunqiu again, and more than fifty of the local Fortifications were looking down on the Han general Qi Wei (qí wú) Da at Huguan and regaining Shangdang, Liu Yuan also quickly launched a counterattack, he sent Shi Le and Liu Ling to lead 30,000 Han troops to attack Wei County, Ji County, and Dunqiu again, and more than fifty local Forts fell to the wind, Liu Yuan selected 50,000 strong laborers to be incorporated as non-commissioned officers, and the rest of the old and weak returned to normal life, greatly enriching the strength of the Han army.
[20] October 308
The following year, Liu Yuan moved the capital to Pingyang, ready to continue to target Luoyang, and at this time, the Jin Dynasty's crossbow general Zhu Shi came to defect, bringing Liu Yuan a heavy news: something had happened in Luoyang.
What happened to Luoyang? At this time, what kind of moths were the imperial court making?
Resources
[1] Fang Xuanling (Tang) et al. Book of Jin
[2] Wang Zhongji, History of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of Wei and Jin
[3] Sima Guang (Song) , Zizhi Tongjian
[4] Cui Hong (Northern Wei) · Spring and Autumn of the Sixteen Kingdoms
[5] Gu Zuyu (Qing) · Minutes of Reading the History of Public Opinion
[6] Zhou Weizhou, History of the Han and Zhao Kingdoms