Chapter 153: The Battle of Liangzhou (4)

In July of the 11th year of Yonghe, more than 20,000 people from the old Rouran tribe of Afugan, Suxi, Xuwu, and Ermian gathered in Mumo City, Mobei, and pushed Afuganjia as a cloth and bone khan, and restored the Rouran Khanate. Wolf Mountain General Ye Lixun, Modong General Fei Ting, Lingnan General Gong Tangxiu, and Shanbei General gathered 20,000 troops to ask for it, and the winter and November were peaceful. Behead seven thousand, and destroy five thousand. Ran Min, the king of Wei, led 30,000 troops to fight against the river, and Wei Yan resumed the battle.

--Excerpt from the introduction

"The original name of Guzang City was Gaizang, which was built by the Huns, and the later sound was Guzang. The city is in the shape of a dragon, so it is also called "Wolong City". Guzang belongs to Wuwei, and to the north is Hugh Tuze. In the second year of Yuanjia in the former Han Dynasty (121 BC), Emperor Wu ordered the hussar general Huo Qubing to lead more than 10,000 cavalry to Hexi. The soldiers and horses went straight out of Longxi (now Lintao County, passed through Jincheng (now Lanzhou, crossed the Yanzhi Mountain (now Shandan County, went deep into the Xiongnu for more than 1,000 miles, all the way like a bamboo, defeated the Xiongnu Hutu King, occupied the eastern part of Hexi, obtained the Xiongnu's sacrifice to the Tianjin people, and sent it to Chang'an to show martial arts. That's why it's been called Wuwei ever since. ”

In the second year of the Yuan Ding of the Former Han Dynasty (114 BC), after the Taizhong doctor Zhang Qian returned from the Western Regions, the Former Han Dynasty began to set up counties in Hexi, first Wuwei County and Jiuquan County. In the sixth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhangye County was separated from Wuwei County, and Dunhuang County was separated from Jiuquan County, which is the four counties of Hexi, plus the later Jincheng County, which is sometimes called the five counties of Hexi. ”

"The former Han Dynasty set up Guzang County as the seat of Wuwei County. Due to the mixed living of Han, Qiang and Xiongnu, and the location of the main road of Chinese and Western transportation, it soon became a rich town in Hexi. In the former Wei Dynasty, Liangzhou was placed, and Guzang was the place of governance, which was the beginning of Guzang's governance of Liangzhou Prefecture. In the first year of Yongning (301 A.D., Zhang Liang was the history of Liangzhou Thorn, continued to set up a state to govern Guzang, and added four cities outside the original city. Di Pu pointed to Gu Zang Cheng in front of him and said with a smile, he was originally a family of Longxi County, and he was only separated by a river from Liangzhou Hexi, so he was very familiar with Gu Zang and Liangzhou.

However, Liu Gu's mind is in some other aspects, "According to the Book of Han; According to the Geographical Chronicles, there were 17,581 households and 76,419 people in the ten counties of Wuwei County in the former Han Dynasty, and the population was quite sparse when each county was less than 10,000 people. According to the chart album sent by Guzang, there are now 57,900 households in the eleven counties of Wuwei County, and there are more than 150,000 soldiers and civilians in Guzang City. ”

Zeng Hua nodded and said: "Over the years, the Central Plains has been in turmoil, not only Yongqin Guanlong, but also many scholars and people in Sizhou and Yuzhou have also been exiled to the temporary paradise of Liangzhou. Zizhan, do you know my intentions? ”

"General, I see. After decades of turmoil, this Guzang Liangzhou has gathered many Han families in the Central Plains, which can be regarded as a fortunate event in these decades of misfortune. Moreover, this Liangzhou Guzang is located at the junction of the Central Plains of the Western Regions, and the general asked the Privy Council to formulate a strategy to quickly extinguish the Liangzhou is to retain more of the vitality of Liangzhou Guzang. Liu Gu nodded and replied solemnly.

Zeng Hua nodded silently, the current Liangzhou can be said to be an important area in northern China that preserves the most traditional Han culture and accepts the culture of the Western Regions, not only does he want to get Liangzhou, but also hopes to preserve it completely and reduce the loss to the minimum, so he started to prepare from the beginning of Guanlong, carefully planned, and it seems that he finally lived up to his wishes.

"General, there are Zhang Xuanliang, Zhao Chang, Zhang Tao and other Liangzhou civil and military officials in front of you who are begging at the gate of the city." Cao Yan patted his horse and said that in the next big battle in Lingju City in August, Cao Yan not only led the first charge forward, but also killed Gu Cheng, the chief general of Hezhou, and Guan Wei, the strategist Guan Wei and others, which was the first merit, so he was appointed by Zeng Hua as the forward and rushed straight to Guzang.

After capturing Lingju City, Zeng Hua changed the steady and steady fighting style in front, leaving Zhang Shou to lead more than 10,000 people to guard Lingju, gather the Hetao Mansion soldiers and cavalry sent by Qinghai General Yao Jin, slowly clean up the affairs of Hezhou, and then led more than 40,000 foot cavalry to advance rapidly, pointing directly at Guzang City. Because the Wuwei army was already panicked, and its combat effectiveness was not strong, most of them immediately broke up after fighting with the Beifu army twice in Cangsong and other places, and the rest fled back to Guzang City, refusing to come out.

When the Song brothers in Shazhou heard that Laochao Jiuquan County was attacked, they couldn't take care of Guzang City, and led 20,000 Shazhou troops to flee westward in panic. But his opponents were Jiang Nan and Hu Lawyers' Association, Dou Lin, and Ulolanto. Needless to say, Jiang Nan is about to become a fine man by Zeng Hua's side, and the three of them are even more meritorious. The four of them led the army to surround Mai's City, an important town in the east of Jiuquan County, and made a noise for a while, and the momentum was so fierce that it seemed that it would swallow Mai's City in one bite. When the Song brothers, who received the information, rushed west in a hurry, the three of them led more than 10,000 cavalry to ambush on the high platform, and killed the corpses of the Shazhou army all over the field in less than two hours. The Song brothers rushed west in a panic, and it was easy to see Mai's city, and they also saw Jiang Nan, who had been waiting there for a long time.

Zeng Hua ordered the large army to surround Guzang City, but he was not in a hurry to attack, but only let the stone artillery fire a few rounds from time to time to publicize the military might and strength of the Beifu Army and hit the morale of the soldiers and civilians in Guzang City.

Zeng Hua sent people everywhere to spread the message, announcing that he was ordered by the imperial court to take over Liangzhou, which was "managed by the Zhang family". Because the Zhang family has always carried the banner of the Jin family in Liangzhou, the loyalty of the military and civilians in Liangzhou to the imperial court is the highest in Jiangbei. Hearing that Zeng Hualai, the "spokesperson" of the imperial court, came to take over Liangzhou, all parts of the country heard the wind and surrendered, and soon only a few lonely cities such as Guzang remained.

Zeng Hua sent the officials of the Beifu who had been scheduled long ago to take over the counties, and at the same time slowly made up his mind around the city of Guzang, anyway, there was a lot of food in the city, and Zeng Hua was not afraid of starving to death. In September, Lechang Mountain in the north, Jiang Nan and Yao Jin in the west led tens of thousands of horsemen to slowly surround them, and surrounded Guzang even more.

The fighting continued until October. Gu Zangcheng finally couldn't hold on, or Ma and the others finally made up their minds after bargaining with Beifu. Shen Chen, Zhang Xuanliang, Ma Shi and others sent people to tie up the table and beg for the household registration book. Binggeng, Liangzhou Assassin Zhang Xuanliang led Gu Zang's 150,000 soldiers and civilians out of the city to surrender. However, if you are a little more careful, you will find that Zhang Xuanliang, the assassin of Liangzhou, is self-proclaimed and has not yet been officially recognized by the imperial court, and the reason for Beifu's mobilization this time is also that Liangzhou privately abolished Zhang Zuo, the assassin of Liangzhou officially appointed by the imperial court, and pseudo-established Zhang Xuanliang. But in this jubilant and lively scene, some people don't even know that there is such a thing, and some people seem to have forgotten it.

Looking at the horse that raised its head and was full of energy, Zeng Hua felt a burst of amusement. She is over forty years old but still charming, you see her picturesque eyebrows, fair skin, plump figure, and she is secretly flattering Zeng Hua.

Carefully calculated, the queen of the horse is in the second year of Xianhe, and it is also the fifteenth year of Jianxing in Liangzhou (Liangzhou has been using the Jianxing year name of Emperor Jin Shu, that is, 327 AD), she gave birth to her son Zhang Chonghua when she was only fifteen years old, and her husband Zhang Jun hung up in the second year of Yonghe (346 AD), and he was widowed at the age of thirty-four. But she really couldn't bear the loneliness and desire for power, and hooked up with her "son" Zhang Zuo (he is Zhang Jun's eldest son, not born to the queen of the horse), and a "bad feeling" angered her son Zhang Chonghua, who defeated Qiang Zhao and was high-spirited.

Then in the following series of "changes", the queen continued to play a decisive role in "sex", but in the end, Liangzhou, which the Zhang family worked so hard to run, became surnamed Zeng. But I didn't expect this woman to still have fantasies, thinking that she could still seduce herself, which was really funny.

Zeng Hua didn't care about the string of autumn spinach behind the horse, turned over and dismounted, and helped Zhang Xuanliang, who was only five years old, to pick up. I saw that the titular King of Liang, Liangzhou Thorn Shi was kneeling there with his buttocks pouting, I don't know what method Ma Shi and Zhao Chang and others had done to make the child who should be jumping alive actually kneeling on the ground so quietly and honestly, without making any noise at all.

Zeng Hua pulled up Zhang Xuanliang, who was not as tall as his thighs, and saw that this five-year-old child was wearing a white "colored" plain clothes, and he actually pulled a bun on his head and "inserted" a wooden hairpin. The little face that looked a little chubby was full of panic and a lot of puzzlement. But also, at the age of five, Zhang Xuanliang really can't figure out these things.

Seeing Zhang Xuanliang looking at him tremblingly, Zeng Hua picked up Zhang Xuanliang, and everyone was suddenly surprised and panicked. What was surprised was the generals of Beifu behind Zeng Hua, and what was panicked was the people of Liangzhou who were still kneeling on the ground. They watched this scene with various expressions, and their hearts kept churning and calculating. However, many thoughtful people faintly feel that Zhang Xuanliang, the descendants of the Zhang family, should be in no danger, but some others don't know if they will have this good luck.

On the third day of Zeng Hua's entry into Guzang City, he first spread the news to the counties and counties of Liangzhou, exposing all the scandalous deeds of Zhao Chang, Zhang Tao, Mo Zhong and other "traitorous" ministers, angrily denouncing them as the masterminds of plotting against the master, and then tied them all to death outside Guzang City. The next thing is to unceremoniously expose the affair of the queen of the horse, "force" her to "commit suicide", and then bury her next to Zhang Jun's tomb.

Just when the whole of Liangzhou was frightened and thought that Zeng Hua turned his face and did not recognize people, he began to settle accounts after the autumn, and they were worried about the fate of the descendants of the Zhang family. Zeng Hua led the civil and military officials and the soldiers and civilians of Liangzhou to the tomb of Zhang Liang and others, and paid tribute to the Liangzhou assassins of the Zhang family in a grand ceremony. At the ceremony, Zeng Hua took out a copy of the "Jiangzuo Imperial Court Edict" from his bosom as if he was playing a trick and asked Zheng Pu to read it aloud.

In the edict, the imperial court officially posthumously crowned the first Zhangjia Liangzhou Assassin Zhang Liang as Liangwu Mugong, the second Zhang Yu as Liang Zhaogong, the third Zhang Mao as Liang Chenggong, the fourth Zhang Jun as Liangwen Gong, the fifth Zhang Chonghua Liang Heng Gong, Zhang Zuo as Liang Chong Gong, that is, the puppet assassin Zhang Yaoling who died in a daze was also posthumously named Liang Aigong.

Then, in another imperial edict, Zhang Xuanliang, the puppet assassin of Liangzhou, was removed from the assassination post and was named the Marquis of Guishun, his uncle Zhang Tianxi was named An Yibo, and Zhang Sheng was named Xiangyibo.

At this point, the clear-eyed Liangzhou scholars and officials all knew that Beifu and Zeng Hua had used their brains against Liangzhou. It is estimated that these edicts have already been asked for by Jiang Zuo, and then followed Zeng Hua and tens of thousands of troops to Guzang City, and now they are starting to play a role.

Zeng Hua then praised the great contribution of the Zhang family to defend Liangzhou and pacify the people for generations, especially Zhang Jun's tidying up of the Western Regions and setting up Gaochang County; Zhang Chonghua refused to force Zhao, so that Liangzhou's 3,000 miles of rivers and mountains and hundreds of thousands of people were saved from being ravaged by the carcass. Speaking of this, Zeng Hua's words changed sharply, pointing directly at Zhao Chang, Zhang Tao, Ma Hou and other "traitors" and thieves and "women", plotting against each other for their selfish desire and monopoly power, and poisoning Liangzhou. In order to protect the military and civilians of Liangzhou from the scourge, Beifu was ordered by the imperial court to take over Liangzhou.

Through these actions and texts, Zeng Hua created a lot of momentum in Liangzhou. In November, Zeng Hua announced that he would send all the Zhang family led by Zhang Xuanliang, Zhang Tianci, and Zhang Sheng to Jiangzuo Jiankang to "enjoy happiness" by the imperial court.

After sending the Zhang family across the river, Zeng Hua announced the personnel arrangements for Liangzhou, expressing Xie Ai as the assassin of Liangzhou, and Xie Shu taking over as the assassin of Shuozhou. Changshan was the governor of Liangzhou, Cao Yan was the captain of Dunhuang, Hu Nu was the captain of Gaochang, Xiahou Khotan was the captain of Zhangye, and Deng Yao was the captain of Wuwei.

Immediately afterwards, Zeng Hua announced the implementation of the old rules of Beifu, and moved 7,000 families with the surname of Liangzhou counties to Jinyang, Fenyang, and Nanzheng in Liangzhou, and ordered them to leave immediately with their families, leaving behind the tribes and fields, and preparing for the upcoming Juntian system in Liangzhou.

In December, Zeng Hua caught Xie Ai and other Liangzhou officials who rushed over, left tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and then went to Chang'an with a battalion of escorts, so far, the war in Liangzhou finally came to an end.