However, after the death of Tang Mingzong Li Siyuan, Meng Zhixiang was proclaimed emperor in Chengdu, and this time there was a big piece missing. After Shi Jingjiao became emperor, he ceded the sixteen states of Yanyun to the Khitan, and another piece was missing. In the last years of the Later Jin Dynasty, Hou Shu took advantage of the civil strife in the Central Plains to take Qin (now Tianshui East, Gansu), Cheng (now Chengxian County, Gansu), Jie (now Wudu, Gansu), and Feng (now Fengxian East, Shaanxi) four states. When Guo Wei founded the country, Liu Chong established the Northern Han Dynasty according to the twelve states of Hedong, so by the time Chai Rong ascended the throne, the territory area was no longer large, and there were only ninety-six states.

The second difficulty encountered by Chai Rong is that people's hearts are not attached. Because no matter how smoothly Chai Rong ascended the throne, he was not Guo Wei's biological son, so people would naturally think that if Guo Wei had a biological son, it would never be Chai Rong's turn to inherit the throne.

In addition, Guo Wei went from being a privy envoy of the Later Han Dynasty to becoming the emperor, it only took more than a month, and the throne only lasted three years, and his prestige itself was limited. And Chai Rong is even more so, he just got into a military position at the age of twenty-seven, and he has never fought a military position.

After Guo Wei became emperor, Chai Rong was suppressed by Prime Minister Wang Jun for more than two years, and he was just emerging, let alone had no prestige. Among the five generations, they have always been arrogant and fierce, and with Chai Rong's qualifications and prestige, it is impossible to convince these people at once.

The third difficulty encountered by Chai Rong was that he was surrounded by strong enemies. Hou Zhou sat in the Central Plains, with Southern Tang in the south and Hou Shu in the west, both of which were large countries, of which Hou Shu had 52 states and Southern Tang had 36 states, on the surface. It seems to be quite different from the 96 states the following week, but the actual states are large and small. In fact, although the land area of these two countries is smaller than that of Hou Zhou, the difference between them is not very much. And Tang and Shu have been resting for many years. There were very few wars, and it was much richer than in the latter weeks.

In the north of the Later Zhou Dynasty, there was the powerful Great Liao and the Northern Han, a derivative state of the Later Han Dynasty, both of which were also mortal enemies of the Later Zhou. In fact, after Chai Rong ascended to the throne, the first challenge he faced came from this direction.

As mentioned earlier, the Northern Han Dynasty was founded by Liu Zhiyuan's younger brother Liu Chong, and when Guo Wei first founded the country, Liu Chong used Liao soldiers to attack Hou Zhou. Therefore, it is about "the country of uncles and nephews" with Liao, which is a typical traitor regime. In that encounter, the Northern Han suffered a heavy blow, and in the following years, they just blindly befriended the Liao State, seeking support, and did not dare to compete with the Later Zhou again.

But as soon as the news of Guo Wei's death reached Jinyang, Liu Chong immediately came to his senses and immediately asked for help from the Liao State, preparing to send troops to attack Hou Zhou. Liao Emperor Yelu Jing (Yelu Shulu called the emperor and changed his name to Yelu Jing) was also very supportive of his old nephew. Immediately, he sent Wuding (the seat of governance is in Fengshengzhou, now Zhuolu, Hebei) to make Yang Gon lead 10,000 iron cavalry to support Liu Chong.

In February of that year, the Liao general Yang Gon led 10,000 cavalry to Hedong, and joined forces with 30,000 Northern Han soldiers led by Liu Chongqin at Tuanbai (now southeast of Qi County, Shanxi). The two armies merged into one place and marched directly to Luzhou, an important town in the Later Zhou Dynasty. As mentioned before, there are three ways to enter the Central Plains from the east of the river. It can pass through the well path, cross the Taihang Mountain, and march from Hebei. You can also go to Jinzhou (now Fenyang, Shanxi) and Luoyang. Then plug in the girder directly. These two paths, one far and one near, each have their own benefits. But outside of these two paths. There is another way to go, that is, the route that Liu Chong chose at this time from Luzhou to the Central Plains.

This road is actually the most recent and most direct one, starting from Luzhou, the first stop is Zezhou (now Jinyang, Shanxi), the second stop is Huaizhou (now Qinyang, Henan), from Huaizhou to the southwest 150 miles to Luoyang, to the southeast 300 miles is Kaifeng, it can be seen that this is a road that can not be closer.

But in fact, during the Liang and Jin hegemony period, the use of this road by both sides was far less efficient than Jingjingguan, here on the one hand, because the Hebei region played a pivotal role in the Liang and Jin capitals at that time, and on the other hand, because the terrain of Luzhou was too dangerous.

Luzhou (now Changzhi, Shanxi) is located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, standing on the spine of Taihang, known as "the top of Taihang, the same party with the sky", so it is also called Shangdang. Most of the territory under its jurisdiction is mountainous and hilly, which is very dangerous.

The city of Luzhou has been built as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, and in the following thousands of years, it has undergone repeated expansions in successive dynasties, and the city defense is very strong. Liu Chong dared to set the first stop of his march in Luzhou, which is enough to show his fierce momentum.

At that time, the guard of Luzhou was the Zhaoyi Festival of the Later Zhou Dynasty Li Yun, this person's original name was Li Rong, after Chai Rong became the emperor, he was renamed Li Yun because of avoidance, in the early years he had driven the Liao general Yelu Ma in Zhenzhou, and he was also a brave and resourceful general, so he did not panic after learning about this, and immediately ordered his general Mu Lingjun to take 2,000 people to meet the battle, and he personally led the main force into Taipingyi (now southwest of Xiangyuan County, Shanxi Province). It should be said that there is nothing wrong with Li Yun's strategic deployment, but the actual effect is very bad.

Mu Lingjun was extremely brave, and immediately after receiving the order, he went on an expedition, and met Zhang Yuanhui, the vanguard commander of the Northern Han Dynasty, on the same day, and immediately began to fight. But as soon as the two armies started fighting, Zhang Yuanhui retreated with a large army.

Mu Lingjun didn't think much about it, and chased after him with his troops. In fact, this is an ambush set by Zhang Yuanhui, Mu Lingjun has not chased far, was introduced into the ambush circle, and then the Northern Han Dynasty troops from all walks of life came out, surrounded Mu Lingjun's troops, and killed more than 1,000 Zhou soldiers in a battle, and Mu Lingjun was also killed on the spot. Li Yun heard the news from the remnants of the army, did not dare to fight again, and retreated to Luzhou in a hurry and landed in the city to defend himself.

A few days later, the news of the invasion of the Northern Han Dynasty reached Daliang, and Chai Rong immediately decided to drive the expedition in person after hearing the news. At this time, it was only a little more than a month before Guo Wei's death and Chai Rong's ascension to the throne, which happened to be the time when the old and new governments were alternating and the court situation was not yet completely stable, so the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty almost dissuaded Chai Rong in unison.

They all said: "Liu Chong has been attacked by the government in Jinzhou that year, his strength is no longer good, he sent troops this time because he saw the death of the first emperor, and he wanted to take the opportunity to harass us, and he would not do much, and he did not dare to go out in person, so the emperor only needs to send a general to defend against the enemy, and there is no need for the emperor to conquer in person." ”

Chai Rong said: "The first emperor died, and Liu Chong bullied me when I was young and newly established, and I must have the heart of annexing the world." So this time, he will definitely personally lead the troops. So I must also meet the enemy myself. ”

But the ministers still tried hard to dissuade him, especially the representatives of the Five Generations of Wall Riding Faction. Feng Dao, the prime minister, who has always been known for his tactfulness, suddenly became the kind of loyal minister who dared to speak out, and he was stubborn about Chai Rong's personal conquest. Chai Rong was very dissatisfied and said to Feng Dao: "In the past, Tang Taizong pacified the world, which battle was not personally launched? How dare I steal peace? Feng Dao said: "I wonder if Your Majesty can do Tang Taizong?" Chai Rong said again: "With the strength of my troops, break Liu Chongru's mountain and crush the egg!" Feng Dao asked rhetorically: "I don't know if Your Majesty has done a mountain?" ”

From Feng Dao's words, it can be judged that the courtiers at that time obviously lacked confidence in Chai Rong. In fact, Feng Daoli admonished Chai Rong not out of selfishness,

It can even be seen as a kind of love for Chai Rong. Feng Dao has never wielded power in his life, and he has long mastered a set of skills to protect himself in his decades-long political career. If he didn't open his mouth at this time, Chai Rong won't blame him if he won, even if the Northern Han Dynasty finally wins,

destroyed the Zhou Dynasty, and he would still be made the prime minister. In other words, whoever wins or loses will not have any effect on him. In turn, as soon as the words were spoken. must offend Chai Rong first, if Chai Rong sends troops to win,

That would prove Feng Dao wrong. If he is defeated, he will be angry with him after returning to the court. It's not pleasing at either end. It's harmful to oneself, wouldn't Feng Dao's cleverness understand this truth? So why did he have to try his best to dissuade Chai Rong?

In fact, this just shows that Feng Dao loves Chai Rong very much, so he doesn't want him to take this risk. Because at this time, Chai Rong had just ascended the throne. The position is not yet secure, once he personally goes out to defeat the battle. The emperor's throne is definitely about to be shaken.

But if Chai Rong sent other generals, the situation would be different. Winning will not have a bad impact on him, and even if he loses, he can shirk the responsibility, and there is still room for redemption.

Therefore, it is definitely not a safe choice for Chai Rong, and it is precisely because Feng Dao thought of this that he did not hesitate to abandon the principles of politics for many years and admonished Chai Rong.

Of course, the reason why Feng Dao did this was because of a foundation, that is, he lacked confidence in Chai Rong's military talent in his heart, and he didn't believe that he could win, at least he would think that the possibility of Chai Rong winning was very small. This is not surprising, because Chai Rong has never fought a war, how can people believe that he can win such a crucial battle when he comes up? I am afraid that this is also the common idea of the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty.

Chai Rong will not fail to consider the pros and cons of sending troops, but this matter is not a good opportunity for him. Because an emperor who has no military merits must not be able to eat in the five dynasties, and the contempt of the ministers for him is a good proof, so Chai Rong also urgently needs to use a victory to improve his prestige, so in fact, the invasion of the Northern Han Dynasty just created a great opportunity for him, of course, the premise is that Chai Rong must win this battle.

On March 3, Chai Rong eliminated all resistance and decided to drive the expedition in person. The edict ordered the Tianxiong Army to send troops from Guzhen in Cizhou (now Guzhen in Wu'an City, Hebei Province) to go deep behind the Northern Han army, and ordered Wang Yanchao to send troops from Jinzhou to cut off the back road of the Northern Han army. He also ordered the Ma army to command Fan Aineng, the infantry army to command He Hui, Yicheng (Zhenzhi Huazhou) Jiedu envoy Bai Chongzan, Zhengzhou defense envoy Shi Yanchao and other generals to lead their troops to Zezhou first. On March 11, he personally led the army out of Daliang and went north to meet Liu Chong.

On March 18, Chai Rong arrived in Zezhou (present-day Jincheng, Shanxi), but did not stay in the city, continued to lead his army north, and stayed overnight in the northeast of Zhoucheng.

After Liu Chong, the lord of the Northern Han Dynasty, learned of this, he actually made a very unexpected move - he left Luzhou and did not fight, went around the city, and directly greeted the Zhou army. It is not difficult to see from here that not only Feng Dao and other courtiers have no confidence in Chai Rong, but even Liu Chong despises him very much, and he simply puts Chai Rong in his eyes, so he dares to leave behind such an important town as Luzhou and go directly to his main force for a decisive battle.

Early in the morning of 19 March, the advances of the two armies met in Gaoping (present-day Gaoping City, Shanxi Province), and Chai Rong ordered a fierce attack to repel the advance of the Northern Han army. Chai Rong was afraid that this part would escape, so he immediately ordered the whole army to pursue it urgently. At this time, Liu Chong had led the combined forces of the Northern Han and Liao States to Bagongyuan in Gaoping County, and after hearing the news, he ordered the formation to be lined up, with the general Zhang Yuanhui as the left flank and the Liao general Yang Gon as the right flank, and Liu Chong led the Chinese army to sit in the center.

When Chai Rong led the army to arrive, the men and horses of the Northern Han Dynasty had already been assembled, and the formation was strict and terrifying. And Chai Rong chased too quickly, and the rear army Heyang Jiedu made Liu Ci's troops unable to keep up, so that they were far less than the enemy in numbers, so the Zhou army was all frightened after suddenly encountering the main forces of Han and Liao.

At this time, Chai Rong still showed his superhuman bravery, and after suddenly encountering the enemy, he did not panic, and immediately ordered Bai Chongzan to be ordered to be ordered to be righteous, and Li Chongjin was commanded in front of the palace, and led the army to line up on the left flank; ordered the Ma army to command Fan Aineng, and the infantry army to command He Hui to line up on the right flank; He sat in the Chinese army under the escort of Xuanhui envoy Xiang Xun and Zhang Yongde, the Marquis of Yu in front of the palace. Fight the enemy-for-tat and line up your position.

Liu Chong, the emperor of the Northern Han Dynasty, looked at the opposite side and found that the Zhou army was not many in number, so he was very excited, and said to the people on the left and right: "I knew that Chai Rong only sent this little bit of people, so I don't need to ask the Khitan uncle for help, today we not only want to defeat the Zhou army, but also let those Khitan uncles see that our Han army is not easy to mess with." After hearing this, the people on the left and right nodded their heads again and again, and said that they must win glory for the country under the leadership of Liu Chong today.

At this time, the Liao general Yang Gon rode his horse and whipped up, came to the front of the formation, observed the enemy situation, retreated again, and said to Liu Chong: "The enemy situation is strict, and it is not possible to advance lightly. ”

Liu Chong didn't like it when he heard it, he stroked his beard and said: "Don't lose time, please don't say anything, try to watch my battle." Then he ordered his general Zhang Yuanhui to lead his troops to attack. Yang Gon originally despised the Han army very much, but at this time, he was robbed by Liu Chong, and he was very unhappy in his heart, and he retreated into the battle.

Zhang Yuanhui's headquarters was the left flank of the Han army, and immediately after receiving the order, he led a thousand cavalry to rush to the Zhou camp. This direction is exactly the right flank of the Zhou army, and the array here is the commander of the horse army of the Later Zhou Dynasty, Fan Aineng, and the infantry army are commanded by He Hui, these two people are in charge of the horse army, and the other is in charge of the infantry army, it is really difficult to be a brother, when they saw the Han army killed, they led the troops to flee for no reason, and the cavalry ran away in the blink of an eye, and the infantry sat in place and surrendered collectively, and the right wing defense line of the Zhou army suddenly collapsed.

At this time, the situation was already extremely critical for Chai Rong. Because the number of the Zhou army was originally less than that of the Han army, and before the battle could be engaged, two generals fled from the battle, causing the right flank of the entire formation to cease to exist, and then bringing the whole army into chaos. In this unfavorable situation, it can be said that the battle situation has been decided, and what can the Zhou army rely on to reverse the defeat?

However, at this moment, a very shocking scene suddenly appeared. That is, the supreme commander of the Zhou army, and also the supreme ruler of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and Chai Rong, who had never fought a big battle, but at this extremely critical juncture, he personally jumped on his horse and carried a gun, braved the rain of arrows and arrows, and only led fifty personal soldiers around him to rush out of the formation in one fell swoop, and entered the Chinese army position of the Northern Han Dynasty in a straight line. (To be continued.) )