Sichuan, known as the land of abundance, was not only an important tax of the Tang Dynasty, but also a strategic rear.
During the An Lushan Rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong also took refuge here.
Tian Lingzi intended to install his henchmen in Sanchuan, and he took advantage of the fact that Xi Zong was watching the Shen Ce Army play ball, and introduced Chen Jingxuan, Yang Shili, Niu Miao, and Luo Yuangao into the court, and asked Xi Zong to appoint them.
Xi Zong obeyed Tian Lingzi's words, and ordered four people to hit the ball and bet on Sanchuan, Chen Jingxuan won the first prize and became the envoy of Xichuan Festival, Yang Shili Town Dongchuan, Niu Miao Town Shannan. Chen Jingxuan came from a humble background, relying on his eunuch brother to climb to a high position, and he had no reputation.
There is a Maitreya church member in Qingcheng County who claims to be Chen Jingxuan, and Shudi ** believes it to be true, and was later beheaded, which is regarded as a bad omen.
Soon after Chen Jingxuan took office in Shu, an uprising led by Qian Neng occurred. The people of Shu responded one after another, and the rebel army became more and more powerful, repeatedly defeating the official army.
Shu General Yang Xingqian and others were afraid of being punished for nothing, and arrested more than 100 innocent people every day and sent them to the military government. Chen Jingxuan beheaded these people, many of whom were elderly, women, and children, without interrogation or interrogation.
At the time of the execution, they were asked why they rebelled, and the people cried and said: "We are cultivating the fields and weaving at home, and the officials and soldiers suddenly come to the village and arrest us without asking any questions, and we don't know what crime we have committed." ”
At the same time, Tian Lingzi's position in the court was becoming increasingly unstable, and he decided to run to Chengdu to attach himself to Chen Jingxuan. Tian Lingzi, who has a strong desire for power, said to Chen Jingxuan in order to take charge of the military and politics of Xichuan: "Third brother, the military affairs are heavy, it is better to leave them all to me, I will present you the notes every day, you just need to enjoy it with peace of mind." ”
Chen Jingxuan, who had always lacked talent, was very happy when he heard this, and agreed to hand over the important military and political affairs to Tian Lingzi. After that, Tian Lingzi alone took over the military and political power in Xichuan. After Tian Lingzi fled, there were major personnel changes in the DPRK and China, and his successor Yang Fugong purged Tian Lingzi's cronies in the DPRK.
Tian Lingzi's adopted son Wang Jian was also demoted to Lizhou Thorn History, Lizhou is located in Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province, under the Shannan West Road, and Yang Shouliang is Yang Fugong's godson, he is jealous of Wang Jian's bravery and good fighting, and wants to get rid of him.
In March of the third year of Guangqi, Yang Shouliang sent people to summon Wang Jian many times, but Wang Jian was afraid of being killed and did not go. At this time, the strategist Zhou Zhen persuaded Wang Jian to set up an army to divide the territory, saying: "The Tang Dynasty is about to fall, and although the feudal towns are annexed to each other, they have no talent and far-sightedness, and they cannot become the real overlords.
The lord is brave and resourceful, and the soldiers love him, and only the lord can create an immortal feat. However, Lizhou is located in the land of ancient Jiameng, surrounded by enemies on all sides, and it is difficult to settle down. Langzhou is a remote place, the people are rich, and the guard general Yang Maoshi is undisciplined, if the above table asks for a crusade, he can go down without a fight. ”
Wang Jian followed his advice, recruited the chieftains of Xidong, expanded the army to 8,000 men, and attacked Langzhou along the Jialing River, driving out the assassin Yang Maoshi, who proclaimed himself the defender of Langzhou.
After Wang Jian occupied Langzhou, he listened to the suggestions of his subordinates Zhang Qianyu and Qi Yongzhi, respected the imperial court, raised soldiers and loved the people, and recruited outlaws, so that his power increased greatly, and Yang Shouliang could not suppress or govern, because Langzhou was subordinate to the Dongchuan Jiedu envoy.
Gu Yanlang, the envoy of Dongchuan Jiedu, had worked with Wang Jian in the Shence Army, and participated in the battle to suppress the peasant army together, and the personal relationship between the two was not bad.
Wang Jian successfully occupied Langzhou, and Gu Yanlang was worried about its intrusion, so he frequently sent envoys to comfort and provide military rations. Despite his fledgling, Wang Jian wisely maintained friendly relations with Gu Yanlang.
In the first year of Wende (888), Wang Jian attacked Pengzhou (Peng County, Sichuan), Chen Jingxuan led the army to rescue, and the two armies were deadlocked in Xichuan, and the twelve states were all harassed by Wang Jian.
Chen Jingxuan was at a standpoint with Wang Jian, so he stopped paying tribute to the imperial court. Wang Jian used this as an excuse to ask the imperial court to send troops to attack Chen Jingxuan, and Gu Yanlang also asked the imperial court to pardon Wang Jian and move Chen Jingxuan to other states in order to seek peace between the two rivers.
After Tang Zhaozong received the recital from Wang and Gu, he decided to sanction Tian Lingzi and immediately approved the recital. In June, Wei Zhaodu was appointed as the Zhongshu Order, and the Xichuan Jiedu Envoy and the Liangchuan Zhaofu System and other envoys, and Chen Jingxuan was appointed as the commander of the Longwu Army.
However, Chen Jingxuan and Tian Lingzi refused to accept the order, and strengthened the city defenses and trained soldiers to resist Zhaozong's orders. Zhaozong ordered a crusade against Xichuan, on the one hand, in order to suppress the arrogance of the feudal town and establish his own majesty; On the other hand, it is also to avenge the shame of Tian Lingzi's whip.
On December 24 of the first year of Wende, Zhaozong appointed Wei Zhaodu as the envoy of the camp and led the troops to the expedition, so that Yang Shouliang and Gu Yanlang of the Shannan West Road Jiedu and Gu Yanlang of the Dongchuan Jiedu were sent to help, and at the same time the Yongping Army was set up in the four prefectures of Qiong, Shu, Li and Ya, with Wang Jian as the envoy of the Jiedu, and all the armies in the camp were commanded.
On the 25th, an edict was issued to reduce Chen Jingxuan's official title, and the Battle of Xichuan officially kicked off. Yang Shouliang and Gu Yanlang each had territories and could not draw more troops, while Wei Zhaodu was a literati and was not good at military affairs, and the newly built 100,000 forbidden army was not enough to fight the big war, so Wang Jiancheng became the main force of the crusade.
Wang Jian was recognized and fiefdomed by the imperial court, and was no longer in a hurry to fight Chen Jingxuan quickly, he was stationed in Xindu, and began to expand his troops and win the hearts and minds of the people. At that time, Mianzhu tyrant He Yiyang, An Renhao Shuai Fei Shiyi, etc., all have military power, the largest number of people reached 10,000 people, the least also more than 1,000 people, Wang Jian sent Wang Zongyao to lobby Zhuzhai, these people are attached to their own banner, these local heroes have a certain appeal in the local area, Wang Jian with their help, the army has increased greatly.
In the first year of the Dragon Era (889), Wang Jian once again sent troops to attack Pengzhou, an important town in Shuzhong, and Yang Sheng, the defender of Pengzhou, was good at pacifying the soldiers, but Wang Jianjiu could not capture it. Chen Jingxuan sent Meizhou Assassin Shi Shan Xingzhang to lead 50,000 troops to Xinfan to rescue Yang Sheng, Wang Jian sent troops to attack Shan Xingzhang, killing and wounding and capturing nearly 10,000 people, and Shan Xingzhang was only spared.
Yang Sheng saw the failure of the reinforcements and knew that Pengzhou was difficult to defend, so he retreated to Sanjiao (Baoji West, Shaanxi), and Shanxingzhang collected the remaining people to be stationed in Mengyang to hold Wang Jian. In December, Wang Jian again defeated Shan Xingzhang and the Xichuan general Song Xingneng who came to reinforce him at Guangdu (Shuangliu, Sichuan), Song Xingneng fled back to Chengdu, and Shan Xingzhang retreated to Meizhou (Meishan City, Sichuan), and soon surrendered to Wang Jian.
The key to Wang Jian's capture of Qiongzhou City was that he was surrendered by Mao Xiang, a close confidant of Tian Lingzi, and adopted him as his adopted son. At the same time, Wang Jian excelled in siege and defense, his army was strict and orderly, and he was able to lead the way and was deeply admired by his subordinates.
In contrast, Wei Zhaodu's performance on the battlefield appeared weak and powerless, and Wang Jian's subordinates despised him. Although Chen Jingxuan set up fortifications in some places, his strategy did not change the general trend, and his army eventually surrendered to Wang Jian.
Wang Jian finally became the final winner through the strategy of wisdom and courage.
Mao Xiang was defeated and surrendered to Wang Jian. The people wept over Mao Xiang's death. Wang Jian left Zhang Lin to defend Qiongzhou and returned to attack Chengdu. Wei Zhaodu led more than 100,000 soldiers to attack Chen Jingxuan, which lasted three years without success.
Grain and grass ** difficulties and the defeat of the conquest of Hedong, Zhaozong planned to withdraw his troops. 6. Why did the Tang Dynasty lose Sichuan? The imperial court ordered Gu Yanlang and Wang Jian to return to the town separately. The city of Chengdu is under siege, food is scarce, and starving babies can be seen everywhere on the roadside.
In order to save the hungry, Wei Zhaodu ordered the soldiers not to prevent the sale of grain into the city. Someone told Chen Jingxuan about this, and Chen Jingxuan said: "I can't save a city from famine, but they bring grain into the city, don't ban it." ”
As a result, the number of people selling grain gradually increased, but each of them carried very little grain, which was a drop in the bucket for many hungry people in Chengdu. As a result, there was a cannibalistic incident. The government killed cannibals when they caught them, but the ban didn't work.
They came up with cruel criminal laws, such as cutting people in two or diagonally splitting them diagonally. Unexpectedly, more and more people were killed, and people became accustomed to it. Chen Jingxuan is in danger and embattled.
The city of Chengdu was about to be breached, but the imperial court ordered the withdrawal of troops. Wang Jian read the edict and sighed: "We are about to succeed, Chengdu is about to be broken, why lose this opportunity?" ”
Zhou Zhen suggested that Wang Jian persuade Wei Zhaodu to return to the dynasty, and they could attack Chengdu alone. Wang Jian agreed, and presented a petition to the imperial court, accusing Chen Jingxuan and Tian Lingzi of their crimes. He also advised Wei Zhaodu to return to the court as soon as possible to help the emperor solve the problem of the Kwantung Domain.
Wang Jian said to Wei Zhaodu: "Chen Jingxuan will be captured soon, and Xianggong should hand over this task to me." ”
Wei Zhaodu hesitated, fearing that Wang Jian would refuse to accept the control of the imperial court after leaving. Someone offered a plan to Wang Jian that when Wei Zhaodu entered Sichuan, he heard that there was a general named Tang who ate people in Dongchuan, and he could take this opportunity to tease him, saying that human flesh was better than pig and mutton, and then arrest his confidant Luo Bao, divide his sword into corpses, and cut the meat into pieces and distribute it to the soldiers to eat, so as to frame him for stealing military rations.
Wei Zhaodu was very frightened, thinking that Wang Jian was targeting him, and decided to leave immediately to protect his life. On the same day, he claimed to be unwell, handed over the seal to Wang Jian, and announced that Wang Jian would replace him as an envoy for the camp, and hurriedly fled back to Xindu.
Wang Jian knelt in front of Wei Zhaodu's horse and held the send-off wine, and pretended to cry. As soon as Wei Zhaodu came out of Jianmen, Wang Jian ordered the army to block the plank road and prevent the imperial army from entering.
Xichuan was thus freed from the control of the Tang Dynasty and became an independent kingdom. In the course of the crusade against Chen Jingxuan, the imperial court also organized a war of conquest against the feudal towns, which was fiercely fought in the Central Plains.