The internal strife of the Xiao Liang regime continued, and the monarchs and ministers were suspicious of each other and deviated from morality. Moreover, the Tang Dynasty had already achieved an unprecedented victory in the eastward expedition to Luoyang and the destruction of Zheng and Xia. It should be said that the north is temporarily stable. Therefore, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan believes that he can now free his hands and send troops to destroy the Xiao Milling regime with the autumn wind sweeping away the fallen leaves.

Therefore, in September of the fourth year of Wude (621), the Tang army was divided into four routes, with Li Xiaogong, the king of Zhaojun, as the main commander and Li Jing as the deputy commander, and went straight to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River to attack Xiaoliang. The purpose of the Tang army in this battle was very clear, that is, to destroy the Xiao Mo regime in one fell swoop and take the entire middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

At that time, the balance of power between the two countries, the balance of victory, was clearly tilted in favor of the Tang Dynasty. Let's look at the Tang Dynasty first, the Tang Dynasty at this time has long been different from what it used to be, entering the Central Plains, unifying the north, and becoming increasingly powerful. Moreover, the Tang army is full of famous generals, strong soldiers and strong horses, all of which are the divisions of a hundred battles that swept the heroes in the north. More importantly, the domination of the Li Tang Dynasty over the world is the trend of the times, which is an irresistible historical trend.

On the other hand, Xiao Mill's regime, because Xiao Mill was suspicious of the generals and killed the heroes, Dong Jingzhen and Zhang Xiu, two heroes, died one after another. As a result, within Xiao Liang, the hearts of the people gradually dispersed, and they defected from Xiao Milling one after another. Although Xiao Mo still occupies a vast area from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River to Lingnan, the interior has long been decayed, just an empty shelf, and if he really wants to start a war with the Tang Army, there are a few people under his command who will work hard for him!

Even if Tang Jun wins this time, it does not mean that there are no difficulties and it will be smooth sailing. For example, at the beginning of the Tang Army's expulsion, it encountered a considerable difficulty. This difficulty almost made the generals of the Tang Army retreat and almost missed the fighter.

In September of the fourth year of Wude (621), Tang Gaozu issued an edict, and the soldiers were divided into four ways to attack Xiao Milling. In the same month, Li Xiaogong, the king of Zhaojun, who was the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, gathered warships, soldiers and horses, grain and grass, and led the main force of the Tang army to set off from Kuizhou. However, when the army marched to the Three Gorges, something went wrong.

It turned out that it was the autumn flood at that time, and the water of the Three Gorges River suddenly soared, which brought great difficulties to the Tang army to cross the river. The water flow of the Three Gorges is turbulent, and even if it is not the flood season, there is a certain risk in crossing the river, let alone the flood season. Therefore, Xiao Mo believed that the Tang army would never pass through the Three Gorges during the flood season, and the precautions would be relaxed.

Sure enough, the Tang army marched to the Three Gorges and found that the river was rising, so they stopped one after another. The generals of the Tang army persuaded the commander Li Xiaogong to wait for the flood season to pass before letting the army cross the river. Just when Li Xiaogong hesitated, Li Jing stood up and raised objections. He believes that the soldiers are fast, and they should take advantage of Xiao Miao's defenselessness to surprise him by surprise and attack him unprepared, and catch him off guard:

The soldier is fast, and the opportunity cannot be missed. Today's soldiers began to gather, milling has not yet known, if the tide rises, suddenly to the city, the so-called thunder is not enough to cover the ears, this soldier is the best policy. Even if he knows me, he hastily recruits soldiers, and he can't cope with the battle, and this will be captured. (The Old Tang Book: The Biography of Li Jing)

In the end, Li Xiaogong felt that what Li Jing said was very reasonable, so he adopted his suggestion. Immediately, in October of the fourth year of Wude (621), Li Xiaogong led the whole army and more than 2,000 warships to rush through the Three Gorges moat at the risk of the river swelling. As Li Jing expected, Xiao Mo was really defenseless. So, after passing through the Three Gorges, Li Xiaogong saw the opportunity and led the Tang army to attack, connecting the two towns of Jingmen and Yidu, and marching to Yiling.

Before the Tang army rushed through the Three Gorges, on the seventh day of October in the fourth year of Wude (621), Xiao Liang Ezhou assassinated Shi Lei Changying and took the initiative to raise Lu Mountain to descend to Tang.

Now, the Tang army has successfully passed through the Three Gorges and successively conquered Jingmen and Yidu. Xiao Mo suddenly felt incredible, he never thought that the Tang army would choose to cross the river during the flood season, and really passed through the Three Gorges, and acted so quickly. The Yangtze River moat that Xiao Liang relied on was completely a vulnerable "tofu scum" in front of the Tang army. This series of behaviors didn't have time to make Xiao Mo think about it at all.

But surprise is surprise, shock is shock. Since the Tang army has advanced to Yiling, Xiao Mo must take action and send troops to intercept the Tang army, and must not let the Tang army penetrate deep into the hinterland of Xiao Liang. At that time, Wen Shihong, a general under Xiao Mill, led tens of thousands of elite soldiers and stationed in Qingjiang. The task of intercepting the Tang army naturally fell to these tens of thousands of Liang troops.

Therefore, the first tough battle of the Tang army after passing through the Three Gorges was an encounter with tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of Wen Shihong. Although the scribe Hong had tens of thousands of soldiers, his subordinates were sloppy and depressed, and they had no fighting spirit at all. Wouldn't it be easy to fight such a group of stragglers?

Encountering tens of thousands of Liang troops on a narrow road, Li Xiaogong ordered the Tang army, the whole army pressed, and attacked tens of thousands of Liang troops. The result can be imagined, the Wen Shihong was defeated, the Tang army took the opportunity to capture more than 300 warships, and the Liang army was killed and drowned tens of thousands. Fortunately, he listened to Li Jing's unexpected advice at the beginning, and was able to win the first battle and defeat tens of thousands of Liang troops.

After defeating the elite of the Liang army, Li Xiaogong took advantage of the victory to pursue and chased all the way to Bailizhou. Along the way, Wen Shihong gathered the remnants of the army, turned around and continued to fight the Tang army, but was defeated by the Tang army again. In the end, Wen Shihong led the remnants and retreated into Beijiang. Soon, Gai Yanju, the governor of Jiangzhou under Xiao Milling, descended to Tang with the land of five states.

The situation at the front was extremely unfavorable to the Xiao Liang regime. The Xiao Liang army was defeated and retreated, losing troops and losing generals, while the Tang army, under the leadership of Li Xiaogong, Li Jing and others, was like a bamboo, defeating the Liang army one after another, and many Xiao Liang local officials surrendered to Li Tang one after another. The Tang army pointed directly at Jiangling, preparing to uproot Xiao Liang's foundation in one fell swoop.

The situation is becoming more and more critical, and Xiao Milling at this time is like an ant on a hot pot, so anxious. In the face of the Tang army's approaching the city, the Liang army suffered heavy losses, and the top priority at this time was to organize troops and desperately block the Tang army. However, the problem now is that Xiao Mo has no soldiers on his hands.

At the beginning, Xiao Mo carried out a campaign to boycott the army and engage in agriculture, and deprived the generals of their military power, which led to a serious evil result, that is, the lack of strength of the Liang army. Take Xiao Mo as an example, at that time, the personal troops in charge of the Su Guard around him were only a few thousand people. Now, the Tang army is pressing the border, and the Liang army on the front line has been defeated one after another, and Xiao Miao's troops are seriously insufficient. At this moment, Xiao Mo finally tasted the bitter fruit of internal friction.

There was no way, Xiao Mo had to urgently recruit troops on the spot, gather reinforcements from all over the country, and meet in Jiangling to jointly resist the Tang army. However, Xiao Liang's various reinforcements were far away from the rivers and mountains, and the road was far away and dangerous, so they could not be quickly assembled and arrived. Far water can't quench the thirst of the near, at present, all Xiao Mo can rely on is the thousands of personal soldiers in his hands, with thousands of people, and the Tang army to the death. Even if it fails in the end, it will make the Tang army pay an extremely heavy price.

It is clear that Xiao Mo is going to die with Tang Jun, regardless of the consequences. However, Li Xiaogong, the commander of the Tang Army, did not think so at all. In his opinion, the Tang army was devastating all the way and was unstoppable; A few thousand Liang troops, if you want to block the tens of thousands of troops of the Tang Dynasty, it is simply self-defeating. Therefore, Li Xiaogong inevitably had the heart of underestimating the enemy, and decided to attack in a big way to destroy the last new force in Xiao Miao's hands.

At the critical moment, it was Li Jing who stepped in to stop it. Li Jing believes that the more this time comes, the more we cannot be brave and hastily dispatch troops. Now, although the Liang army is at the end of the crossbow, it is still trapped and fighting. Since it is a trapped beast, maybe when the dog will jump over the wall in a hurry, fight to the death with our army to the end, and live after death. Perhaps, in the end, the Tang army will not be a problem to destroy this thousands of men and horses, but it will also pay huge casualties.

In this regard, Li Jing gave specific countermeasures, it is better to stop the offensive for the time being and rest for one or two days. When the Liang army is disheartened and exhausted, a large-scale counterattack will definitely be able to defeat this Liang army in one fell swoop. The best way to get the biggest win is to exchange the least price for the biggest victory:

If he rescues the defeated army, he will not stand for long, if he does not dock on the south bank, and delay for a day, he will divide his army, or stay behind me, or return to himself; The division of troops is weak, and I take advantage of its slack to attack it, and I am incomprehensible. If you are in a hurry now, the other side will fight to the death, and the Chu soldiers will be sharp, and it will not be easy to be. (Information Governance Guide)

However, Li Xiaogong is young and vigorous after all, and this attack on Xiao Mo is the first time he has served as the coach, and he is in charge alone, eager to show his strengths. Therefore, Li Xiaogong hoped for a quick victory, turned a deaf ear to Li Jing's strategy of steady and steady fighting, and insisted on leading the army to fight.

Li Xiaogong did not listen to Li Jing's words, rashly attacked, and ordered Li Jing to stay in the camp, while he led the elite troops to attack the Liang army. The battle situation was indeed as Li Jing expected, in the face of the attack of the Tang army, the thousands of Liang troops resisted desperately. Unexpectedly, tens of thousands of elite soldiers of the Tang Army were defeated by a few thousand Liang troops, and Li Xiaogong was forced to lead his troops to retreat and retreat to the south bank to set up a defensive array.

Some people may say that the Tang Army must have fallen short. Unexpectedly, the situation on the battlefield has changed dramatically again, what happened? It turned out that when the Tang army was defeated and retreated, many military supplies were abandoned along the way. Seeing the supplies all over the ground, the soldiers of the Liang army suddenly became greedy and dismounted one after another to grab the supplies. The Liang army was already sloppy in military discipline, so it was even more chaotic. Because of the looting of too many supplies, some soldiers in the Liang army couldn't even walk.

Li Jing, who was in the Tang camp, witnessed all this, and his heart blossomed, this was simply a good time to launch a surprise attack. As a result, Li Jing personally led the Tang army that stayed in the camp to attack and surprise the Liang army, which was robbing supplies. This group of Liang troops was busy fighting for supplies, and they didn't expect that Li Jing would stage a surprise attack, and they were completely defenseless and were defeated. The last new force in Xiao Miao's hands was almost completely annihilated by Li Jing.

After the great defeat of the Liang army, Li Jing commanded 5,000 light soldiers, as the vanguard, took advantage of the victory to pursue, and went straight to the city of Jiangling. After attacking the city of Jiangling, Li Jing first broke through the outer Guocheng and then took the water city, leaving only the inner city unconquered. In addition, the Tang army captured more than 400 warships of Xiao Liang, beheaded and drowned nearly 10,000 Liang soldiers, and made a lot of gains.

It didn't take long for Li Xiaogong to arrive with the main force. At the same time, Li Jing broke the Liang generals Yang Junmao and Zheng Wenxiu's subordinates and captured more than 4,000 enemies. Subsequently, Li Xiaogong and Li Jing joined forces and surrounded Jiangling City. Now, only the inner city is controlled by Xiao Miao, and the Tang army can break through the city at any time.

I have to admit that Li Jing's military talent, in the entire Tang Dynasty, was second only to Li Shimin, the king of Qin, and he was also a handsome talent who could turn defeat into victory. This time, Li Jing once again reversed the unfavorable situation of the Tang army, successfully turned the tables, and won a decisive victory in the capture of Jiangling:

The thief boat plundered, and everyone was burdened. Seeing that his army was in turmoil, Jing broke through it, captured more than 400 of his ships and ships, beheaded and drowned 10,000 people. (The Old Tang Book: The Biography of Li Jing)

When conquering Jiangling Waiguo and Shuicheng, the Tang army captured more than 400 Xiaoliang warships. Li Jing suggested to the commander Li Xiaogong that all the more than 400 warships be scattered in the Yangtze River. The generals of the Tang Army were a little puzzled, we finally captured these warships through a bloody battle, and we just used them to break the enemy, why should we abandon them: "What we have gained by breaking the enemy should be used for it, so why abandon it to fund the enemy?" Li Jing's explanation goes like this:

The land of Xiao milling, the south out of the ridge table, the east from the Dongting. I hang the army deeply, if the siege is not pulled, the reinforcements are four sets, I am affected by the enemy in the surface, and I can't get the advance or retreat, although there is a boat, will it be used? Now abandon the boat, so that the river down, the reinforcements see it, it must be said that Jiangling has been broken, do not dare to enter lightly, back and forth, flooding the moon, I will take it. (Information Governance Guide)

Li Jing analyzed that the territory occupied by Xiao Milling is vast from Lingnan in the south to Dongting in the east. Today, the Tang army has penetrated deep into the hinterland of Xiaoliang and has not yet conquered Jiangling. Moreover, the other Xiaoliang reinforcements were all gathered in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and they could go down the river at any time to support Jiangling. When the time comes, the Tang army will definitely fall into the front and rear attacks.

Therefore, Li Jing scattered all the more than 400 warships in the Yangtze River in order to create a false impression that Xiao Liang's reinforcements would be suspicious, mistakenly thinking that the Tang army had captured Jiangling, and did not dare to act rashly. By the time they found out, ten days and half a month had already passed. By then, the Tang army must have captured Jiangling long ago.

Li Jing is worthy of being a generation of military saints, and he uses soldiers strangely and unexpectedly. As expected, the Xiaoliang reinforcements in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, seeing the warships floating on the Yangtze River, really thought that the general trend had gone, so they each stood still and sat on the mountain to watch the tiger fight. In fact, they didn't want to support Xiao Mill either.

Not only that, some civil and military officials of the Xiao Liang regime, such as Qiu He, the governor of Jiaozhou, Gao Shilian, Sima Du Zhisong and others, were about to go to Jiangling, and when they saw Xiao Miao's rebellion and leave, they took the initiative to ask Li Xiaogong to surrender. Among them, Gao Shilian is the uncle of the eldest grandson (eldest grandson empress), the princess of Qin King Li Shimin.

Until this time, Xiao Mo was completely exhausted. The Tang army pressed the border, surrounded Jiangling, captured all the outer cities, and the inner cities were also within reach. At this time, Xiao Mo completely lost contact with the outside world and was blocked from inside and outside. However, Xiao Mo was unwilling, could it be that the girder was really exhausted? Therefore, Xiao Mo wanted to make a last stand, and asked for advice from the Zhongshu Shilang Cen text and consulted him.

As mentioned earlier, Cen Wenwen is a well-known talent in Jiangnan. His grandfather, Cen Shanfang, was in Xiliang and was in the official department; Father Cen Zhixiang, at the end of the Sui Dynasty, he served as the servant of the Yu Department and the commander of Handan County. Therefore, Cen Wenwen can be regarded as being born in a family of eunuchs and a family of poets and hairpins.

Therefore, Cen Wenwen has been well-read since he was a child, with excellent eloquence, brilliant writing, and good writing. When he was fourteen years old, his father, Cen Zhixiang, was framed and had nowhere to redress his grievances. So, Cen Wenwen, who was still an adult, came to Sili to redress his father's grievances, and his words were generous and sincere, and everyone was very surprised. Eventually, his father's grievances were revealed, and Cen Wenwen became famous:

At the age of fourteen, the secretary was wronged, and his rhetoric was earnest, and he called for a clear argument, and the crowd was quite different. Try to make "Lotus Fu", the pen will be completed, the intention is very good, and the stage is not to be admired. His father was wronged by the snow, and he was well-known. Subsequently, the county showed off its talents, and the time should not be chaotic. (The Old Tang Dynasty Book: The Biography of Cen Text)

Later, in the second year of Yining (618), Xiao Mo proclaimed himself emperor and appointed Cen Wenwen as the Zhongshu Shilang, responsible for drafting the proclamation. Since then, Xiao has always regarded Cen Wenwen as a confidant. Now, Jiangling is in danger, and Xiao Mo can only ask the strategist Cen Wenwen.

Cen Wenwen has clearly seen that the outcome of this war has been decided. If you continue to fight hard, it can only be a senseless sacrifice. Therefore, the wisest choice is only to surrender Kaesong. Therefore, Cen Wenwen persuaded Xiao Mo to open the city and surrender to the Tang Dynasty, or he could survive. Seeing that his most trusted advisers said this, there was no way, Xiao Mo knew that the general trend had gone, so he could only decide to descend to Tang, and he said to his ministers:

The sky is not a beam, and the number will be destroyed. If I wait to give in, I will harm Li Yuan, how can I hurt the people alone? And the city has not been pulled, it is advisable to surrender first, hoping to avoid the chaos of the army, fortunately all the people. If everyone loses me, why should there be no king? ("Old Tang Book: The Biography of Xiao Milling")

In this way, Xiao Mo made the final decision to go out of the city and surrender to Tang. Immediately, on October 21 of the fourth year of Wude (621), Xiao Mo ordered the city gate to be opened and surrendered to the Tang army after offering sacrifices to the Taimiao with the gift of the Tai Prison. Suddenly, in Gangneung City, there was a wail. Then, Xiao Mo led the ministers, dressed in mourning clothes, to the Tang army camp to surrender, and begged the Tang army commander Li Xiaogong not to embarrass the people in the city: "When the dead are only ears, the people are not guilty, and they are willing not to kill and plunder." ”

Immediately afterwards, Li Xiaogong personally led the Tang army and entered Jiangling City. At this point, the Xiao Liang regime officially came to an end. From April of the second year of Yining (618), Xiao Mill was proclaimed emperor, to October of the fourth year of Wude (621), Xiao Milling surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and the Xiao Liang regime was established for only four years.

After the Tang Army entered Jiangling City, many Tang Army generals felt that it would be a pity if everyone had worked hard for so long to finally take Jiangling, and it would be a pity if they did not take the opportunity to make a fortune. As a result, many generals made suggestions to Li Xiaogong, hoping to loot in the city.

Just imagine, if Li Xiaogong agreed to the generals' request, the consequences would be unimaginable. In that way, it will inevitably plunge Jiangling into dire straits, and it will also provoke the rebellion of Xiao Liang's old department and the people of Jiangnan, and it will fall short. At the critical moment, Xiao Miao's former confidant Cen Wenwen stepped in to stop him, and he said to Li Xiaogong:

The people of Jiangnan, since the end of the Sui Dynasty, have been trapped in abusive politics, and they have fought with a group of heroes and tigers,...... It was the decision of the Xiao family and the elders of Jiangling to return to their fate, and they had a few rests. If the soldiers are captured and plundered now, and the people are disappointed, I am afraid that from now on, there will be no heart to return to the south! (Information Governance Guide)

In the end, Li Xiaogong believed that Cen Wenwen was very reasonable, so he issued a military order, strictly prohibiting Tang soldiers from taking prisoners and plundering the people in the city and restraining the people. Despite this, those generals were still a little unwilling. If you can't rob the people, then take Xiao Liang's enemy generals and open the knife, hoping to confiscate their family property and reward the soldiers: "The generals of Liang and the officers and soldiers refused to fight the dead, and their crimes were deep, so please leave their homes to reward the soldiers." ”

Li Jing stood up and resolutely opposed such requests. In his opinion, the two armies are facing each other, each with its own master. These Xiao Liang generals are just performing their duties, and they are enemies of our army. Such people are loyal subjects, how can they be treated as rebels:

The teacher of the king, the righteous hanging. If the people are persecuted, will they refuse to fight? And the dog barks not its master, and there is no room for rebellion, so this Kuaitong is so as not to be killed in Han Zu. Today, the new Dingjing, Ying, Yihong is magnanimous, in order to comfort the heart of the near and far, and descend to it, I am afraid that it is not the righteousness of saving the burning and drowning. But I am afraid that since then, the southern towns have been unable to hold on, and it is not a good plan. (The Old Tang Book: The Biography of Li Jing)

Under the repeated orders of Li Xiaogong and Li Jing, after the Tang army entered the city, military discipline was strictly enforced, and there was no crime in the autumn. Soon, the situation in Gangneung quickly settled down. Sure enough, this approach has had a positive effect. A few days after Xiao Mian surrendered, more than 100,000 Xiao Liang reinforcements entrenched in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River learned that Jiangling had been broken, and they unloaded their armor and surrendered.

Soon, Xiao Mo was escorted to Chang'an and waited for his departure. Tang Gaozu Li Yuan saw Xiao Mo and counted his crimes in person. Unexpectedly, even if Xiao Mill fell to Pingyang, he still put on a proud posture, arrogant, neither humble nor arrogant, and even confronted Tang Gaozu Li Yuan in person:

Sui lost its deer, heroes competed, and there was no mandate of heaven, so it was so. It is also south of the field, not negative Han Dynasty. If you think it is a sin, you are willing to obey it. ("Old Tang Book: The Biography of Xiao Milling")

What Xiao Mill means by this sentence is that at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and everyone wanted to be the master of the world. Your Li family can be the emperor, I am a descendant of the Liang Xiao royal family, how can I not be the respect of the Ninth Five! Tang Gaozu saw that you had fallen into this step, and you were still so rampant, okay, then it will be your fulfillment. Therefore, Tang Gaozu ordered Xiao to be beheaded in the city at the age of Chinese New Year's Eve. A generation of Jiangnan overlords ended tragically.

Although, the Tang army conquered Jiangling, Xiao Mo was killed, and achieved the ultimate victory in defeating the Xiao Liang regime. However, this was only the Tang army's capture of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and it did not achieve a complete victory in pacifying the old territory of Xiaoliang. Therefore, if we want to completely eliminate Xiao Liang's forces, a series of follow-up work is needed.

The territory occupied by Xiao Mo stretched from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River to the vast area of Lingnan. Now, after some arduous battles, the Li Tang Dynasty has successfully taken the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, but Lingnan is still in the hands of the remnants of Xiao Liang. Therefore, if the remnants of Xiao Liang are to be completely resolved, the next step for the Tang Dynasty is to recover Lingnan. However, Lingnan is far away from the interior of the Central Plains, and the roads are dangerous, so it is not easy to recover this territory.

In order to recover Lingnan, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan thought of a suitable candidate and sent him to recover Lingnan, he will definitely succeed, who is it? Li Jing. The war to quell Xiao Mo has witnessed Li Jing's military talent. This time, after Lingnan, this candidate is none other than Li Jing.

After the Tang army conquered Jiangling, Tang Gaozu rewarded meritorious deeds and issued an edict appointing Li Xiaogong, the king of Zhaojun, as the governor of Jingzhou. At the same time, Tang Gaozu awarded Li Jing the title of Shangzhu State and gave him the title of Duke of Yongkang County. In addition, Tang Gaozu appointed Li Jing to pacify all parts of Lingnan, and also gave him a privilege, "he has to be entrusted with the system", and he can appoint local officials large and small in accordance with the relevant system, without having to report to the imperial court.

At that time, the situation in Lingnan was quite complicated. Previously, there was a hero in the Lingnan region - Chu Emperor Lin Shihong. This person rose from the ground in the chaotic times at the end of the Sui Dynasty, defeated the Sui army at Poyang Lake, beheaded the Sui general Liu Ziyi, and supported more than 100,000 troops. Later, Lin Shihong established himself as the emperor, the country name was "Chu", the capital was Yuzhang (now Nanchang, Jiangxi), the year name was Taiping, and occupied a vast area from Jiujiang in the north to Panyu (now Guangzhou, Guangdong) in the south.

After Xiao Mo was killed, most of Xiao Liang's stubborn stragglers were attached to Lin Shihong, who occupied Lingnan. Lin Shihong incorporated a large number of remnants of Xiao Liang, the army was revived, and its strength was further enhanced. Therefore, if the Tang army wants to completely eliminate the remnants of Xiao Liang and recover Lingnan, the obstacles it will face are still very large.

However, it is imperative for the Li Tang Dynasty to dominate the world. The heroes of the north and south were all pacified and conquered by the Tang Dynasty, and the land of Lingnan was not able to stop the Tang Dynasty's victorious army. What's more, the candidate sent by Tang Gaozu to pacify Lingnan was none other than Li Jing, an outstanding soldier of the Tang Dynasty.

Not long after the fall of Xiao Liang, the Tang Dynasty pacified Lingnan, which seemed to usher in a good omen. Earlier, Xiao Mo sent Liu Xun, the squire of the Yellow Gate, to lead the army to attack Lingnan, and even conquered more than 50 cities, but he had not yet returned to Jiangling. At this time, Xiao Mo had already been defeated and surrendered to Tang. So, Liu Xun attached the city to Li Tang with the obtained city. Tang Gaozu was very satisfied, and without spending a single soldier, he got so many cities, so he appointed Liu Xun as the governor of Nankang Prefecture.

Liu Xun surrendered to the Tang Dynasty with more than 50 cities, opening the door for the Tang army to enter Lingnan. It is equivalent to saying that the surrender of more than 50 cities in Lingnan to the Tang Dynasty opened the prelude to Li Tang's recovery of Lingnan, laid the foundation for Li Jing to pacify all parts of Lingnan, laid a good front station, and facilitated Li Jing's various actions.

Soon, Li Jing came to the Lingnan area, which was thousands of miles away. In November of the fourth year of Wude (621), Li Jing led his troops to cross the five mountains. The so-called "five mountains", that is, the watershed of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River basin and the surrounding mountains, are located at the junction of Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, and are the five important mountain ranges that divide the Central Plains and Lingnan, they are Yuecheng Ridge, Du Pang Ridge, Mengzhu Ridge, Qitian Ridge and Da Yu Ridge. Crossing the five mountains, it also entered the Lingnan area.

After crossing the five ridges and entering Lingnan, Li Jing sent people to part ways to appease the Lingnan prefectures, and everywhere he went, he went down. As soon as Li Jing's surrender arrived, almost all parts of Lingnan did not make any resistance, opened the city gates, and welcomed the Tang army into the city. Surrendering without a fight is the best policy.

In the process of Li Jing's recruitment to surrender the Lingnan Prefectures, Li Xizhi, the former governor of Guizhou, saw that Xiao Liang no longer existed, and the Tang Dynasty was in full swing, so he recognized the situation in time and led his troops to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. Immediately, Li Xiaogong, the king of Zhaojun, appointed Li Xizhi as the governor of Guizhou, and entered the Hajj the following year.

Not long after, a decree came from Chang'an, and Tang Gaozu Li Yuan appointed Li Jing as the ambassador of Lingnan and the governor of Guizhou, and unified the command of the Tang army's action to pacify Lingnan. After receiving the new task, Li Jing did not dare to slack off, and led the Tang army to attack everywhere like an autumn wind, sweeping away the leaves, crisscrossing Lingnan, leading troops to seize 96 prefectures in Lingnan, gaining a population of more than 600,000 households, and achieving great results.

Since Li Jing led his army into Lingnan, he adopted a wise strategy of combining rigidity and softness, and combining pulling and fighting, and achieved very good results. On the one hand, Li Jing spread to all parts of Lingnan, preached the Huairou policy of the imperial court, understood it to them, and moved it with affection, and many old departments of Xiao Liang surrendered to Li Tang one after another; On the other hand, Li Jing led his army to attack from all sides, conquering the ninety-six prefectures in Lingnan, and gaining a population of more than 600,000 households. The Tang army's recovery of Lingnan is close at hand.

In the blink of an eye, it was the fifth year of Wude (622). On the 27th day of the first month of this year, Yang Shiluo, the local slang leader in Lingnan, moved to the Tang Dynasty in Chao Erzhou. A few months later, the emperor paid off. In July of the fifth year of Wude (622), the Tang army finally ushered in the final victory of recovering Lingnan.

What's going on? The Feng family, the first family in the Lingnan region, and their head - the former Sui Hanyang Taishou Feng An, the family returned to the Li Tang Dynasty. The return of Feng Ang and the Feng family to the Tang Dynasty marked the complete pacification of the Lingnan region and its formal inclusion in the territory of the Li Tang Dynasty.

The Feng family is the first family in Lingnan, and its power is huge, and it even controls the stability of the Lingnan region. As for Feng An, the head of this family, he is not an idle person. Feng An's grandmother is none other than an outstanding and great female politician, military strategist, and social activist during the Northern and Southern Dynasties and even in Chinese history, and is known as the "Lingnan Virgin" of a generation of heroines - Mrs. Xian.

Mrs. Xian's life is full of legends. She went through the Liang, Chen, and Sui dynasties, and made great contributions to safeguarding national unity and promoting national unity throughout her life. Therefore, Mrs. Xian was successively enshrined by the emperors of the Seven Dynasties and was called "Our Lady of Lingnan" by later generations. "Book of Sui", "Northern History", "Zizhi Tongjian" and other official histories are all biographies of Mrs. Xian. In the end, Mrs. Xian died at the age of 89. The Book of Sui spoke highly of her:

The husband calls the virtue of a woman, all of them are supple first, and Sinai is the mean, and those who have not reached the extreme. As for the far-sighted vision, the chastity of the heart, the ambition is untakable, only where the righteousness is, and the history of the picture is examined, there is no world!

As the grandson of Madame Sin, Feng Ang has shown an outstanding side since he was a child. According to the record of "The Old Tang Book: The Biography of Feng An", "Ang rarely has a military strategy", Feng Ang rarely has a strategy, and is brave and good at fighting. There is one more thing that is enough to see Feng An's leadership temperament and his difference.

In the first year of Renshou (601), Lingnan Chaozhou, Chengzhou and other five states, the bureaucrats raised troops to rebel. Feng Ang galloped to Chang'an, the capital of Beijing, and asked the imperial court to send troops to quell the rebellion. Emperor Wen of Sui assigned Shangshu's left servant to shoot Yang Su and discuss the battle situation with Feng An. Yang Su, a famous general of the generation, both civil and military, originally thought that Feng Ang was a hillbilly from the barbarian land. At first, he didn't take the young Feng Ang seriously.

However, in the process of talking with Feng An, Yang Su found that Feng An, a person who behaved appropriately and dealt with it easily, completely broke his previous perception of him. Therefore, Yang Su couldn't help but sigh: "I don't mean that there are such people in the barbarians!" "I didn't expect that there would be such a character in the land of barbarians. Subsequently, Emperor Wen of Sui ordered Feng Ang to lead the troops of Jiang and Ling to quell the rebellion. After the war, Feng Ang was appointed as the Taishou of Hanyang.

Later, at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and Feng Ang returned to Lingnan, and he has been in the troubled times, trying to survive in the cracks, and using his own strength to protect Lingnan and the Feng family. However, Feng Ang is the grandson of Mrs. Xian after all, and he has been deeply taught by his grandmother since he was a child. The ancestral motto of the Feng family, that is, no matter where you are, you must put the interests of the country first, and you can't do things that insult your ancestors and ancestors.

Feng Ang always remembered his grandmother's teachings and the ancestral teachings of his family, and always put the maintenance of national unity in the first place. In his view, although Lingnan is located in a remote area, it is still connected with the Central Plains and belongs to the part of the Chinese nation. Therefore, this point is Feng An's bottom line, no matter what, Lingnan cannot be split out of Chinese civilization, and Lingnan cannot be allowed to become a country within a country.

For example, in the third year of Wude (620), someone once suggested to Feng Ang that the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty caused a war in the Central Plains. Lingnan is far away from the mainland, and the emperor is far away, so it will not attract the attention of all parties. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, why not simply follow the story of Zhao Tuo, the king of Nanyue in the late Qin and early Han dynasties, claim that the emperor is self-reliant, divide Lingnan, and become a hegemonic emperor who calls for wind and rain, isn't it a good thing:

Since the collapse of the Sui season, there has been a commotion at home. Although the Tang Dynasty has been in the right direction, the wind and religion have not yet been muddy, and the corner of South Vietnam has not been decided. Gongkeping Wuling more than 20 states, how can it be compared with Zhao Tuo's nine counties? Now please go to the king of Nanyue. (The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty: The Biography of Feng An)

Obviously, this kind of separating Lingnan and claiming that the emperor is self-reliant, runs counter to Feng An's principle of maintaining national unity, and touches his bottom line. If he really did this, he would be sorry for the Feng family's ancestors and ancestors, and sorry for the Lingnan fathers and ordinary people. Therefore, Feng Ang sternly refused:

I live in South Vietnam, five generations of Yuzi, the shepherd of Benzhou, only one of my doors, and my children are jade silk, and I have them. Life is rich, such as I am in trouble, often afraid of the burden of Fuke, to fall into the first business. Benshu is full of clothes, what more can you ask for? The number of the king of Yue is unheard of. (The Book of the Old Tang Dynasty: The Biography of Feng An)

Therefore, from the bottom of his heart, Feng Ang opposed the division of Lingnan. Therefore, Feng An's firm stance made the Tang Dynasty see hope, and this person seemed to be an object that could be fought for. When Li Jing's Fufu Wen spread to the territory controlled by Feng An, Feng Ang carefully considered, whether it was to protect the Feng family or to stabilize the Lingnan region, it was the wisest and most correct choice to cooperate with the Tang Dynasty. In the end, Feng Ang decided to submit to Li Tang.

So, on the 18th day of July in the fifth year of Wude (622), Feng Ang accepted Li Jing's invitation to surrender and took the initiative to lead his troops to surrender to Tang. After Feng Ang descended to the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty set up eight prefectures of Gao, Luo, Chun, Bai, Ya, Dan, Lin and Zhen in the old territory of the original Feng family.

At the same time, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan awarded Feng Ang the governor of Shangzhu State and Gaozhou, and was named the Duke of Yue. Soon, his two sons, Feng Zhidai and Feng Zhiyu, were worshiped as the Chunzhou Thorn History and the Donghezhou Thorn History, and Feng Ang was renamed Geng Guogong. In the twentieth year of Zhenguan (646), Feng Ang died of illness in office, completing his legendary life. In recognition of Feng Anping's achievements, Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, posthumously awarded him the title of General Zuo Xiaowei and Governor of Jingzhou.

Feng An's return to the Tang Dynasty was of great significance to the Tang army's pacification of Lingnan. Feng Ang descended to the Tang Dynasty, and the whole clan of the Feng clan in Lingnan was attached to the Li Tang Dynasty. So far, the whole territory of Lingnan has been basically calm. After taking the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the Tang Dynasty took the land of Lingnan into its pocket, completely eliminated the remnants of the Xiao Liang regime, annexed all the territory of Xiao Liang, and achieved a complete victory in pacifying the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and Lingnan.

As the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Lingnan region were successively taken by Li Tang, the Tang Dynasty faced fewer and fewer enemies in the south. The whole territory of Lingnan returned to the Tang Dynasty, and there was only one Chu Emperor Lin Shihong left, who was still struggling to support him. However, the whole territory of Lingnan is attached, and just one Lin Shihong can last for a long time. Sure enough, it didn't take long for Lin Shihong's regime to be destroyed, and the Tang Dynasty eliminated the last fierce rival in Lingnan.

In October of the fifth year of Wude (622), Lin Shihong sent his younger brother Lin Yaoshi, the king of Poyang, to lead troops to attack Xunzhou. As a result, the Tang Dynasty followed the state to assassinate Shi Yang Luo, led the army to engage Lin Yaoshi, the Chu army was defeated, and Lin Yaoshi was killed. Subsequently, Wang Rong, the general of Lin Yaoshi, raised Nanchang Prefecture to descend to Tang.

The front line was defeated, Lin Shihong was very scared, and wanted to go up with thirty-six strategies. Therefore, Lin Shihong came up with a plan for the golden cicada to get out of its shell. On October 21, Lin Shihong pretended to ask the Tang army to surrender, but in fact he found the right time and fled to Ancheng Cave for refuge. The people of Yuanzhou here gathered to respond to Lin Shihong. Unexpectedly, the governor of Hongzhou in the Tang Dynasty took him by surprise and sent troops to defeat this rabble. At this time, Lin Shihong died of a sudden illness, and his subordinates scattered one after another, and Lin Shihong's regime perished.

From the fourth year of Wude (621) to the fifth year of Wude (622), which lasted for a year, the Tang Dynasty finally won a complete victory against the Xiao Liang regime. At first, Li Xiaogong, Li Jing and other generals led the main force of the Tang Army to go deep into the hinterland of Xiao Liang, attack the city all the way, break the elite of Xiao Liang, and approach the city of Jiangling. In the end, under the absolute superiority of Li Tang's army, Xiao Mian surrendered out of the city, the Tang army entered Jiangling, and Xiao Liang perished.

After the breakthrough of Jiangling, the Tang Dynasty drew a successful end to the attack on Xiao Liang's regime in order to completely eliminate the remnants of Xiao Liang. Immediately afterwards, the Tang Dynasty spent several months pointing at Lingnan and ordered Li Jing to command the army to appease Lingnan. In the end, with the unremitting efforts of the Tang Dynasty, the vast areas of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and Lingnan were finally incorporated into the territory of the Li and Tang dynasties, and the war with the Xiao Liang regime ended in a great victory for the Tang dynasty.

Of course, this attack on the Xiao Milling regime, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan also has another layer of deep meaning, that is, to pacify the Jianghuai Fugong in the future, and make a sample in advance. The reason is very simple, Xiao Mian occupies the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and Fu Gongqi occupies the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. As long as Xiao Mo is destroyed, the Tang army will have a geographical advantage in the future when it conquers Jianghuai in the south, and the army can go down the river and take Jianghuai directly, forming an overwhelming advantage over the auxiliary Gongqi forces.

Two years after the elimination of Xiao Miao, in March of the seventh year of Wude (624), Li Xiaogong, Li Jing, Li Shichang and others, the four-way army, marched into Jianghuai to defeat the forces of Fugongyi. Because the Tang army occupied the geographical advantage of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the road was like a bamboo, and the march was extremely smooth. Soon, the Tang army completely annihilated the main force of Jianghuai Fugongqi, broke through the Danyang lair, beheaded Fugongqi, and realized the effective management of the Jianghuai region.

Generally speaking, the unification war of the Li Tang Dynasty against the Jiangnan region began with the defeat of the Xiao Liang regime in the fourth year of Wude (621) and ended with the pacification of the Fugong Yi regime in the seventh year of Wude (624). The Tang Dynasty spent four years sweeping away the heroes in the south of the Yangtze River and destroying the secession regime in the south.

After completing the unification of the north, by the seventh year of Wude (624), the Tang Dynasty truly realized the strategy of unifying the north and the south, connecting the south and the north. In addition to the Shuofang Liang Shidu and the steppe Turks, the Li Tang Dynasty basically achieved the unification of the whole country.

At this time, the Tang Dynasty is not what it used to be, and it is no longer the situation when it was just founded. At the beginning, in May of the first year of Wude (618), Li Yuan was proclaimed emperor in Chang'an, and the Li Tang Dynasty was officially established. At that time, the territory under the control of the Li Tang Dynasty was only limited to Guanzhong, Hedong, and Bashu, which was only one of the many secession regimes. Therefore, I did not know that the Tang Dynasty would dominate the world in the future.

However, only seven years after the founding of the country, the Tang Dynasty changed the direction of the general trend of the world. After seven years of hard work, the Tang Dynasty soldiers threw their heads and shed their blood, unified the northwest, pacified Hedong, entered the Central Plains, swept the south of the Yangtze River, and successively eliminated the Xue father and son, Li Rail, Liu Wuzhou, Song Jingang, Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, Liu Heimin, Xiao Miao, Fu Gongqi and other separatist heroes, including Guanzhong, Hedong, Bashu, Longyou, Hexi, Central Plains, and Jiangnan in the vast areas.

It can be said that until the seventh year of Wude (624), the unification war of the Li Tang Dynasty was gradually coming to an end. At this time, the national strength of the Tang Dynasty was not an exaggeration to describe it as a territory of thousands of miles and a million armor. At this point, the newly born Li Tang Dynasty gradually transitioned from a local secession of power to a unified dynasty.

However, just when the Tang Dynasty ruled the world and victory was about to be in sight, something happened within the Tang Dynasty's ruling group. With the gradual victory of the unification war, the power struggle of the Li Tang Dynasty was also fermenting, and in the end, it even evolved into a rebellious action.

For example, a meritorious general and feudal official who had made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty actually raised the anti-Tang banner not long after Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and even tried to support the army to cause rebellion. So, who is this general who has raised an army? In the face of this sudden mutiny in the border areas, how will Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, who has just ascended the throne, deploy to extinguish this attempted mutiny?