After Li Rail was destroyed, Li Yuan set his sights on the warlord Liu Wuzhou in northern Taiyuan.
Liu Wuzhou, a native of Hejian Jingcheng (present-day Cangzhou, Hebei), was born in the second generation of the Fu Dynasty, and later the family moved to Mayi. It is said that when Liu Wuzhou was young, he made a large number of fox friends with a large amount of money in his family, often inviting them to drink and eat, and doing nothing all day.
One day, his brother Liu Shanbo really couldn't stand it anymore, so he talked to Liu Wuzhou and accused him of messing around like this again, sooner or later he would ruin the Liu family, and humiliated him for achieving nothing, just a waste.
People are all good-looking, not to mention that Liu Wuzhou is still a seven-foot man. Don't you mean that I'm mediocre and incompetent, then I'll make a name for yourself and let you have a good look! Liu Wu was angry and ran to Luoyang to join Yang Yichen (who was in charge of the emperor's imperial horse and national horse administration) and began a vigorous military career.
In the eighth year of Sui Daye (612) - the tenth year of Sui Daye (614), the Sui Emperor launched three Goguryeo wars, Liu Wuzhou was one of the participants, because of his active performance in the war, cut off a number of heads, the leader in the military merits, he was promoted to lieutenant (junior officer in the army). After the end of the war, the leader consulted Liu Wuzhou's future career development plan, and Liu Wuzhou's first thought was to return to his hometown and let the elder brother admire it fiercely.
Then let you go back to Mayi and become a Lieutenant of Eagle Yang Province (company commander level).
At that time, Ma Yi taishou was called Wang Rengong. In those years, Wang Rengong followed his old master Yang Sudong on his expedition to the west, won a lot of military merit, and was deeply appreciated by Emperor Wen of Sui and Emperor Ju of Sui, and served as a general of Weifu, a doctor of Zuo Guanglu, a general of the Horse Riding, a assassin of Wei Prefecture (present-day Weihui County, Xinxiang City, Henan Province), and a Taishou of Ji County, and can be said to be a senior official of the Sui Dynasty.
In fact, Wang Rengong was quite conscientious in his tenure as Ma Yi Taishou and also made many political achievements. Tragically, later, Yang Xuan felt rebellious, and the imperial court suspected that Wang Rengong's nephew Wang Zhongbo was involved, so he swept Wang Rengong to the end and made him a commoner. Later, the Eastern Turks repeatedly violated the border, and the Sui Emperor could not find a suitable feudal official for a while, so he revived the old fritter Wang Rengong and ordered him to garrison Mayi.
Wang Rengong is an honest man, and the characteristics of an honest man are that he cannot be hit. Because of Yang Xuangan's feelings, Wang Rengong had a shadow in his heart, returned to work, and his mentality slowly changed: he was afraid to do things and no longer wholeheartedly supported the interests of the Sui Dynasty.
At that time, a serious natural disaster broke out in Mayi County, but Wang Rengong was afraid that the imperial court would hold him accountable and refused to open a warehouse to release grain, so that the officials and ordinary people of Mayi were strongly dissatisfied with him. The problem was that at that time, many local governments were doing this, and there was nothing wrong with it. Dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, what can you do with the leader, because he did not release grain and chopped him?
History proves that there are very few cases of vendetta because of different political views, but it is common to draw swords against each other because of entanglements in bed and disputes over green hats. The problem was Liu Wuzhou's body, after this person returned to Mayi, he probably felt that he was very powerful, so he acted recklessly, as a subordinate of Wang Rengong, he actually slept with his concubine and brought a green shining hat to the leader.
Such a thing is a landmine that can take Liu Wuzhou's life at any time. In order to protect himself, Liu Wuzhou decided to take advantage of Wang Rengong's weakness of inaction and attack first.
At that time, Liu Wuzhou came to the army and shouted: "Brothers, now the people of Mayi are hungry, there are starving corpses everywhere, and the surname Wang is actually sitting idly by, is he still worthy of being our parent official?" ”
Speaking of the high interest, Liu Wuzhou knocked on the cowhide drum next to him: "We must not be willing to wait for death, although the grain in the official warehouse is from the imperial court, it is also the blood and sweat of the common people, if you have the courage, you will open the warehouse with me to release grain, organize self-help, and you can live for a few more days in the chaotic world!" ”
Since ancient times, whoever has grain in his hand has a gold content. Since Wang Rengong did not care about the lives of the people, why did he still have to do it? Let him ascend to Western Elysium early!
In March of the thirteenth year of the Sui Dynasty (617), Liu Wuzhou led Ma Yi's officials to rebel, killed Wang Rengong in the lobby of the official palace, and then ordered the opening of the warehouse to release grain, and the surrounding rebels came to vote, and more than 10,000 people gathered in an instant. The identity of the anti-thief must be solidified, the question is how to go next?
Liu Wuzhou said that all around him was the territory of the Sui Dynasty, and trapping Mayi was waiting for death. Also for self-preservation, Liu Wuzhou threw himself into the arms of the Eastern Turk Shibi Khan. When Chen Xiaoyi and Hu Benlang of Yanmen Commandery heard of Liu Wuzhou's rebellion, they dispatched troops to urgently suppress it, and the two sides formed a confrontation situation at Sangqian Town. At this moment, reinforcements from the Eastern Turks arrived, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides under the city, with Hu Benlang killing Wang Zhifang on the spot, and Chen Xiaoyi retreating to Yanmen, where he was later killed by his men.
The dilemma on the northern border was completely invigorated by the mixing of Eastern Turkic forces.
The difficulty of rebellion is just that! In Liu Wuzhou's eyes, Shibi Khan was his god of luck, and with this patron, Liu Wuzhou no longer had any fear. Subsequently, he marched his army to the Fenyang Palace of the Sui Emperor, seized all the beauties and jewels, and transported most of them to Shibi Khan.
Shibi Khan is a wise man, the pace of robbing the wealth of the Central Plains must be non-stop, where a Li Yuan is enough, we must cultivate a few more interest spokesmen! Otherwise, seal Liu Wuzhou as "Dingyang Khan", send you a few more Turkic warhorses, and fight a few more victorious battles in the future, and the happy life of your brothers will all depend on you.
The Yang scheme of the Eastern Turk Shibi Khan was a pediatrician in Li Yuan's eyes.
Li Yuan knew that there were no eternal friends, only eternal interests. While supporting Liu Wuzhou, Shibi Khan co-opted Li Yuan, not just to gain more economic benefits.
As long as you covet money, things are much easier. When he raised his army from Taiyuan, Li Yuan gave a promise that as long as he took Chang'an, he would offer gold and silver jewelry and beautiful women with both hands, and Li Yuan has maintained a low-key posture since then, and Shibi Khan is still relatively satisfied with him.
Li Yuan once approached Liu Wuzhou and explained the relationship between the two of them, hoping that he could focus on the overall situation and not be fooled by the Turks. At that time, Liu Wuzhou was still just a land snake, so he agreed to Li Yuan's alliance. In the short term, Shibi Khan, Liu Wuzhou, and Li Yuan used each other and did not invade each other.
Although Liu Wuzhou promised not to raise troops to the south, he often acquiesced to his subordinates to make some small moves and gain some extra money. In this regard, Li Yuan could only turn a blind eye and concentrate on attacking Chang'an first.
In November of the thirteenth year of the Sui Dynasty (617), Chang'an was destroyed, and Li Yuan threatened the Son of Heaven to order the princes to complete the transformation of life. At the same time, Liu Wuzhou, with the support of the Turks, continued to recruit troops and horses, and then captured Dingxiang Commandery (定襄郡, in modern Xinzhou, Shanxi Province) and Yanmen Commandery (雁門郡), becoming the most powerful warlord north of Taiyuan, and his strength was no longer what it used to be.
Although Liu Wuzhou became a prince who held great military and political power, he was also extremely troubled. Think about it, if you want to compete for the world, you must have first-class strategists and generals who are brave and good at war, and his concubine troops are all local dirt buns in Mayi, and they can't get on the table at all, how to compete with Li Yuan and others for the Central Plains? I'm afraid I can't even get an admission ticket, right?
Liu Wuzhou was looking for talents until June of the second year of Wu De (619), when Song Jingang came to defect.
Song Jingang, a native of Shanggu Commandery (上谷郡; present-day Xuanhua District, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province), was the leader of an insurgent army active in Yi prefecture in Hebei (present-day Yi County, Baoding, Hebei Province), with more than 10,000 men under his command, which was not too strong. At that time, the two largest warlords in Hebei were Dou Jiande, who was active in Qinghe (清河县, in present-day Xingtai, Hebei), and Wei Dao'er, who was active in Dingzhou (定州, in present-day Baoding, Hebei) and Jizhou (present-day Hengshui, Hebei).
Song Jingang is Wei Dao'er's brother, and the two have a very deep relationship. At first, everyone was living in the Hebei territory, and under the oppression of the officers and soldiers, everyone needed to concentrate on seeking self-protection, and occasionally covered for each other. But later, when the Sui regime disintegrated, several major warlords had to face the same problem: in the absence of an official army, how to divide up the land and wealth in Hebei, and who would be the bearer?
In order to compete for control of the Hebei region, a serious military conflict broke out between Dou Jiande and Wei Dao'er in November of the first year of Wude (618), and Dou Jiande successfully captured Wei Dao'er. In fact, when there was a firefight between the two sides, Song Jingang took his brother to the rescue, but before he could reach the battlefield, Wei Dao'er was killed by Dou Jiande.
The enemy is strong and we are weak, and this battle cannot continue to be fought at all, but in order to avenge his good brothers, Song Jingang brazenly issued a combat military order. Under the cover of Dou Jiande, Song Jingang was completely defeated, and finally ran around like wild dogs with four thousand brothers.
In any case, in the chaotic world, those who dare to avenge their brothers with their lives deserve the respect of everyone.
Dou Jiande greatly admired Song Jingang's talent, so he sent someone to recruit him, intending to recruit him under his command. However, Song Jingang was heartbroken by the death of his brother, regarded Dou Jiande as a mortal enemy who would be destroyed in this life, refused to surrender, and also scolded Dou Jiande's emissaries fiercely.
If you don't descend, don't go down, how can you still curse people? It's really unqualified. However, the unqualified Song Jingang captured the loyalty of four thousand soldiers, and they all expressed their willingness to follow the leader in this life and never abandon it.
This is troublesome, I plan to return to the hidden mountains and forests, ah, with you how to mix ah?
No way, the warlord melee is nearing the end, want to start a new business, the difficulty is not insignificant, it is better to find a new owner, casually mixed food to eat. The hebei land boundary has belonged to Dou Jiande, it is estimated that it cannot be mixed up, who else is around? Liu Wuzhou of Shanxi, having heard that he was very close to the Eastern Turks, should not collapse so quickly.
It's a one-shot deal.
Liu Wuzhou had long heard of Song Jingang's name and had always wanted to dig him up, but after all, people were also bosses, and they were always embarrassed. Now, Song Jingang took the initiative to come and surrender, and Liu Wuzhou was rewarded with the most precious treasure. What conditions do you want to say quickly! In this way, if you are made the King of Song, the dispatch and command of the army will all belong to you, is it enough? If it is not enough, we have robbed a lot of money over the years, or half of you, let's start a business together!
Facts have proved that those who preach righteous qi and those who dare to take their lives for righteous qi will be valued by others.
Liu Wuzhou is indeed very ambitious, power, money, status, all of which are all distributed to Song Jingang, completely regarded as a partner of entrepreneurship.
When Song Jingang was disappointed, he was naturally grateful to have been so favored by Liu Wuzhou. Liu Wuzhou said so, how can he show some sincerity? Well, as the saying goes, brothers are like siblings, wives are like clothes, or I will give my wife a break, marry your sister, and we will kiss each other, how?
However, I always felt that Song Jingang did not feel like he had been wronged by being forced to divorce his wife, but instead further took advantage of Liu Wuzhou. Song Jingang settled everything and began to give advice to Liu Wuzhou.
Song Jingang: "Our biggest enemy now is Li Yuan." Now that Li Yuan has destroyed Xue Ju and Li Rail, the next step will be to attack us! ”
Liu Wuzhou: "How is that good?" ”
Song Jingang: "Take the initiative to attack, first take Li Yuan's merger state, and open a passage for us to go south." ”
At this time, Liu Wuzhou already had the counties of Yanmen, Mayi, and Loufu, and basically completed the strategic encirclement of the northern and western parts of Taiyuan, and proposing to attack Taiyuan at this time was indeed in line with Liu Wuzhou's established strategy.
Text/Jiugao Han shuo