At the beginning of the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, after quelling the internal rebellion, the Northern Song Dynasty, which had accumulated national strength, opened a war of unification, and in 962, a rebellion occurred within Wuping in the south, and Song Taizu seized the opportunity, and the Song army went south, successively destroying Nanping and Wuping, occupying the Jinghu area in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, like a sharp knife inserted into the various separatist forces in the south, laying the foundation for further reunification.
And after the Northern Song Dynasty pacified the Jinghu area, it had a lot of strategic choices, you can continue to go south to fight the Southern Han, you can also go east to fight the Southern Tang, you can also go west to destroy the Later Shu, relatively speaking, the short-term benefits of fighting the Southern Han are not large, after all, the economic strength of the Southern Han is not as good as the Southern Tang and Later Shu, the unification strategy formulated by the Northern Song Dynasty is to first conquer the economically developed areas, so the Southern Han is not the primary target, the Southern Tang was subdued during the Later Zhou Shizong period, when Li Jing directly took the initiative to cut off the imperial title, and then Shu himself "found death" behavior, It also made Later Shu the next target of the Northern Song Dynasty.
The two monarchs of Later Shu are still relatively vigorous in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Meng Zhixiang after the later Tang ZhuangZong Li Cunxun was killed, taking advantage of the Later Tang turmoil, divided Sichuan Shu and established Later Shu, in terms of territory, Later Shu and Former Shu were reduced compared to Former Shu, but Meng Zhixiang and his son Meng Chang's two emperors, the power of the Later Shu state under his rule was in an upward period, especially Meng Chang, who had a certain ambition, once wanted to capture Guanzhong and wait for the opportunity to seize the Central Plains, but Hou Shu was led by this ambitious and capable king. In the face of the Northern Song Dynasty's war of annihilation, it was difficult to resist and the country was quickly destroyed.
Unlike many of the kings of the fallen kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Meng Chang began to take the luxury of the late reign, but in the middle and early stages of his reign, he could see that he was a monarch with wrists and ability, and Hou Shu also went to the peak of strength under his leadership, but Hou Shu ultimately failed to become the victor of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and it can only be said that a monarch is difficult to compete with a stereotyped regime, and the internal factors of the Later Shu regime determine that it can only be a divided regime and has no ability to compete for the world.
History of the New Five Dynasties. The Later Shu family is good at playing ball and walking horses, and it is also the art of the alchemist's room, and it is more than a good family to fill the harem. The Privy Councillor's deputy envoy, Han Baozhen, gave BaoZhen a few pounds of gold.
Meng Chang and many emperors, like the room in the art, here to mention, like the room in the art is not a simple lust, this should be distinguished, the room in the art can be associated with health, longevity, the result of Meng Chang after hearing the advice of subordinates, took the initiative to give up this preference, while letting the palace people go home and give money.
That is to say, Meng Chang is still a person who can control his own wrong behavior, which is still very rare for a king, especially the king in the chaotic world, after all, how many chaotic monarchs, after succeeding to the throne, directly run to pleasure, can be happy for a day, there are few ministers around who can tell the truth, and then the country decays rapidly and becomes the meal of other countries.
History of the New Five Dynasties. Later Shu Shijia ran the young and did not pro-government affairs, but the general ministers all knew xiangxiang of the deceased, knew xiang generously, how good and indulgent, and their affairs were good, and their affairs were arrogant, and they exceeded the law... Chang is the number of months, Zhiren Han kills them, and his family... When Renhan was reprimanded, the ye fang was in charge of forbidding the soldiers, and chang was afraid of his reaction, but he used it as a face, and the karma and judgment were both sentenced, and he was imprisoned at home, and he was resentful of the Shu people with the cruel law. For eleven years, Chang and Kuang Sheng commanded An Si to plot and kill him. Wang Chuhui and Zhao Tingyin were subordinate to Shi, and the old ministers were wiped out. Chang Shi was pro-government affairs, and he was put in the court to understand the situation.
The biggest thing Meng Chang did was to eliminate the important ministers left by Meng Zhixiang, to concentrate power, during Meng Zhixiang's reign, he gave preferential treatment to these people who helped him fight the world, Meng Chang also continued this attitude, in order to stabilize the internal situation at the beginning of the succession, he also adopted the grace to raise these founding heroes, but the problem is that as these heroes do more and more out of line, they will inevitably threaten the imperial power, especially this has become a common behavior of a group of people, it is easy to touch Meng Chang's bottom line, so it is said to eliminate this group of people and consolidate the imperial power. It became a problem that Meng Chang had to face.
It can be seen that Meng Chang has a heart, as the representative of this group of heroes, Li Renhan and Zhang Ye are Meng Chang's nephews, and Zhang Ye is Li Renhan's nephew, it is reasonable to say that Li Renhan and Zhang Ye should unite to oppose Meng Chang, but Zhang Ye, who was already in charge of the forbidden army at that time, was bought by Meng Chang, meng Chang made Zhang Ye a minister, giving Zhang Ye unparalleled power, Meng Chang This greatly stimulated Zhang Ye's inner greed, so when Li Renhan was killed, Zhang Ye did not move. This is still what Meng Chang did at the beginning of his succession, and the official position of a chancellor divided the two main figures of the Meritorious Group, which showed Meng Chang's wrist.
In the end, Zhang Ye was also unable to escape the end of being killed, Meng Chang's actions let everyone know his thoughts, so the wise people took the initiative to resign from the government and go into hiding, Meng Chang was able to firmly grasp the power and began to actually pro-government, at the same time Meng Chang also set up a letter of honor, that is, the box for the imperial court to accept the submission of letters from subjects, this is not Meng Chang's posture, he really wants to listen to the will of the people and govern the country.
Under the administration of Meng Chang, Later Shu began a period of peaceful development, and in terms of territory, Later Shu also reached its peak for a time.
History of the New Five Dynasties. Later Shu Shijia was when the Khitan destroyed the Jin Dynasty, Han Gaozu originated in Taiyuan, China was many, and the Xiongwu army made He Jian attach the three prefectures of Qin, Cheng, and Jie to Shu, and Chang sent Sun Hanshao to attack Fengzhou, so he knew that Wang Yan was in his hometown.
After the destruction of later Jin, Later Shu captured Qin, Cheng, Jie, and Fengzhou, which were located in present-day Tianshui City, Gansu Province, Chengzhou was present-day ChengXian county, Gansu Province, Jiezhou was located in present-day Longnan, Gansu Province, fengzhou was in present-day Fengzhou Town, Fengzhou, Shaanxi, Meng Chang captured four prefectures, that is, it could consolidate the border defenses of Later Shu, and more importantly, it opened a passage from Sichuan shu north to enter Guanzhong through Dasan pass, laying the foundation for further military action by Hou Shu, but to Meng Chang's disappointment, the heyday of Later Shu was fleeting, and as the Central Plains Dynasty became stronger, No matter how strong the later Shu state strength is, it cannot get rid of a realistic constraint, that is, the lack of expansion genes within the regime that divided Sichuan and Shu, and not all regimes have such a strong willingness to leave Sichuan as liu bang clique at the beginning. The establishment of the Later Zhou and Northern Song Dynasties further suppressed the living space of Later Shu until it perished.
We can glimpse from two things that Houshu was a regime that lacked the genes to actively expand.
History of the New Five Dynasties. Later Shu Shijia "At the time of the Changxing Jin and Han Dynasties, China had many troubles, and according to the dangerous side, the monarch's affairs were extravagant to entertain themselves, and as for the drowning utensils, they were all decorated with seven treasures.
It can be said that in the chaotic world, Later Shu officials yearn for a luxurious life, then they will inevitably be afraid of losing something, coupled with the changeable Central Plains Dynasty, temporarily incapable of launching war against Later Shu, which also led to Hou Shu more inclined to conservative strategies, that is, to live their own lives behind closed doors, but it is still that problem, as an official can support a conservative strategy, after all, changing the emperor has little impact on him, but for Meng Chang, if you do not take the initiative to expand in the early stage, it is only a matter of time before it is destroyed. Therefore, Meng Chang's expansion strategy was not accepted by the Later Shu official clique, who maintained an attitude of not supporting or even opposing.
In addition, the people in the territory of Later Shu still need time to recuperate, "History of the New Five Dynasties. The former Shu dynasty empress dowager and concubine sold officials by order, and after the history of self-assassination, every official would be contested by several people, and the one who had more money would get it; During the Former Shu Period, after the destruction of the Wang clan, the taxation of the people of Sichuan and Shu, coupled with the Battle of Later Tang to destroy Former Shu, and the war of Meng Zhixiang to quell Sichuan and Shu, the land of Sichuan and Shu also needed time to recuperate.
All of this led to the fact that Meng Chang's plan to advance into Guanzhong was not supported, which led to a great opportunity that was wasted by Hou Shu.
History of Song. Zhao Zan's biography praised han for being suspicious, and sent his protégé Zhao Xian to return to Shu.
Zhao Zan, formerly known as Zhao Kuangzan, during the period of the Later Jin dynasty and the Later Han Dynasty, was given the title of Emissary of the Middle River, and the seat of government was in the town of Puzhou in present-day Yongji, Shanxi Province, which was a key area east of the Yellow River in the town of Guanzhong, because he was afraid that Liu Zhiyuan would not be good for him, so Zhao Zan directly surrendered the surrender table to Hou Shu, it can be said that this is a great opportunity for Hou Shu to advance into Guanzhong, and it is precisely the time when the country is unstable, coupled with Zhao Zan's surrender, it can be said that the opportunity cannot be lost, and the loss will not come again, but the operation of Hou Shu is a word, dragging.
Zhao Zan expressed his intention to surrender to Hou Shu in July 947, but until the first month of 948, Zhao Zan entered the capital for a pilgrimage and was appeased by Later Han, and Hou Shu's army did not substantively advance toward Guanzhong.
The Chronicle of the Nine Kingdoms will make Zhao Kuangzan and Fengxiang Jiedu make Hou Yiju return to Shu, so they use Qian Zhao to solicit envoys for the northern camp and should take over the operation.
History of the New Five Dynasties. Later Shu Shijia Han sent Zhao Sixuan to Yongxing and Wang Jingchong to Fengxiang, both of whom sent money to Chang. Chang sent Zhang Qianzhao out of Dasanguan, He Jian out of Long Right, and Li Tingjue out of the Meridian Valley to respond to Si Xuan. Chang Xiang's mother Zhao Zhi thought it was impossible, but Chang Zhi wanted to spy on Guanzhong Very Sharp, but sent An Si Qian to the east of Yi Bing.
Comparing the records, it will be known that when Zhao Zan intended to contact Hou Shu, Meng Chang appointed Zhang Qianzhao as an envoy to the northern camp, that is to say, at that time, Meng Chang intended to advance into Guanzhong, but until Zhao Zan went to Kaifeng, Hou Shu's army did not have actual military action, so what made Hou Shu react so slowly? Personally, I feel that there is still internal support, so that Meng Chang can not quickly carry out this military action, against the people who are advancing in Guanzhong, there are too many ways to deal with Meng Chang, such as untimely mobilization of grain and grass, insufficient weapons, weather reasons, etc., there are too many factors that can become an excuse for the Later Shu courtiers to oppose Meng Chang's troops.
It was not until the time when Zhao Sixuan and Wang Jingchong rebelled that Hou Shu had substantial military action, and it should be known that Zhao Sixuan was originally a general of Zhao Zan, and Wang Jingchong was sent by Liu Zhiyuan to Guanzhong to monitor Hou Shu, and at this time, when Meng Chang made up his mind to fight Guanzhong, The Mother Zhao of The Prime Minister strongly opposed Meng Chang's decision,The reason is also very full, Former Shu is because of the wanton northward advance, which led to the emptiness of national strength and was eventually destroyed, but personally believe that if At this time Hou Shu did not have the heart to try to fight it, Then Hou Shu could only take the initiative to be a separatist regime waiting to be destroyed, a regime that only relied on defensive positions could only survive, whether it was destroyed, and how long it could survive depended entirely on the national strength of the Central Plains regime.
Therefore, it can be seen from the advice of the mother Zhao that the expansion strategy of Later Shu was opposed to Meng Chang's expansion strategy within Later Shu, of course, this time, The Army of Later Shu was also fruitless, mainly because Later Han quickly quelled the rebellion of Zhao Sixuan and Wang Jingchong, that is to say, in the early days of Later Han, around the turmoil in Guanzhong, The reaction speed of Later Shu was too slow, and without guanzhong as a forward base, Later Shu was not qualified to talk about what to fight for the world.
Missed the opportunity of Hou Shu ushered in the powerful Central Plains Dynasty of the Later Zhou Northern Song Dynasty, Later Zhou first captured Qin, Cheng, Jie, Fengzhou, opened the passage into Shu, after the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, it is said that after the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, it is said that the interception of the Hou Shu sent to contact the Northern Han envoys, which became the Northern Song Dynasty's direct willingness to fight the Hou Shu, of course, may not be a reason for the Northern Song Dynasty to make up at will, after all, the need for a division to be famous, after pacifying Jinghu Lake, since houshu has become the next target, the Northern Song naturally has to make targeted preparations, since the time is ripe, it will also need an excuse. This excuse may have been given by Hou Shu, or it may have been made by the Northern Song Dynasty itself, and there was too much room for operation to capture Hou Shu's secret envoys.
History of Song. Taizu Benji (Qiande 2nd year) in November Jia Shu, ordered the Zhongwu army to make Wang Quanbin deploy for the former army of Xichuan Camp, wuxin army jiedu cui yanjin vice-zhi, will ride 30,000 infantry out of Fengzhou Road; Jiangning army festival made Liu Guangyi deploy for the former army of Xichuan camp soldiers and horses deputy capital, the privy council secretary Cao Bin vice-zhi, will be 20,000 infantry out of the prefecture road to cut Shu.
On the basis of the Later Zhou Dynasty, the Northern Song Dynasty did not have to attack Houshu through the land of Hanzhong, so the overall strategy of the Northern Song Dynasty was that Wang Quanbin led his troops from the land of Guanzhong to the south, Liu Guangyi led his troops from Guizhou to the west, against the river, and the Song army attacked in two ways, and finally met Chengdu, Meng Chang surrendered, and Hou Shu perished.
As far as the course of the war at that time was concerned, Houshu was not without resistance, nor was it without generals who could fight loyally for the country, but Houshu did not have the slightest possibility of blocking the pressure of the Northern Song army, and the northern front of the eastern front was defeated one after another, and the Song army was able to invade the hinterland of Houshu.
History of Song. Liu Ting's biography "Kuizhou has a lock river as a floating beam, set up a triple enemy shed, and sandwich the river column gun equipment... Thirty miles away from the SuoJiang River, the boat stepped forward, seized its bridge first, led the boat up, broke the city of Zhou, and the defender Gao Yanli set himself on fire, as Taizu planned. So they entered the four prefectures of Kewan, Shi, Kai, and Zhong, and the counties of Xia Zhong.
History of Song. The Biography of Wang Quanbin from Lizhou Towards the Sword Gate, Ci Yiguang. The generals of the Quanbin Society discussed: "The Sword Gate Heavenly Danger, ancient called a husband and a husband, a husband and a wife, should be in front of each other, and all the kings should make their own plans to forge ahead." Waiting for the head of the Wei army to Tao Yue: "Descending mu Jin said: 'Yiguang Jiangdong, the larger the mountains are heavy, there are narrow paths called Laisu, the Shu people are placed in Jiangxi, there is a ferry on the other side, and from then on the sword guannan twenty miles, to Qingqiangdian, and the road is joined.'" Can be recruited here, that is, the sword gate is not enough to be ashamed. '」...... Sui Ke Jian Prefecture, killing more than 10,000 Shu troops.
Liu Guangyi on the eastern front defeated Gao Yanli, Gao Yanli committed suicide after the city was destroyed, the Song army and the Shu army on the northern front confronted the Jiange Pavilion, the Song army took the Su Trail to sneak attack, clamped the Sword Pavilion, the Sword Pavilion defenders collapsed, and both the northeastern Later Shu fronts were declared defeated, and finally Meng Chang directly surrendered.
In fact, Meng Chang still had a chance to die, but he said a word to the chancellor, perhaps he could confirm the reason for the demise of Hou Shu, "I and Xianjun have been raising soldiers in warm clothes and food for forty years, once the enemy is facing the enemy, you can't put an arrow in the direction of Wu Dong, although you want to strengthen the wall, who is evil with my defenders", that is to say, Meng Chang has seen that only a few generals in the Shu army can fight for their lives, facing the Song army, most of the generals are only superficially defensive, and there is no intention of fighting to the death, nor the idea of selling to Meng Chang, in this case, How did houshu, which had lost its dangerous land, resist the Northern Song army?
In general, Meng Chang is still a monarch who wants to make a difference, once brought Houshu to the peak, but the internal lack of expansion genes, so that Houshu repeatedly lost the opportunity to expand, in the decline of the Central Plains Dynasty, Later Shu can still be divided, but once the Central Plains Dynasty has a unified strength, Houshu has no ability to resist, can only be quickly destroyed.
References to The History of the Song Dynasty. Taizu Benji", "History of Song. Biography of Wang Quanbin", "History of Song. Biography of Liu Tingrang", "History of Song. Zhao Zanchuan", "History of the New Five Dynasties. Later Shu Dynasty History of the New Five Dynasties. Former Shu Dynasty Chronicle of the Nine Kingdoms