The town of River.

In the Wei and Jin dynasties, it was called Pu Han, located in the southwest of modern Shanxi, and had jurisdiction over Hezhong Prefecture, Jiangzhou, Cizhou, Jinzhou, Xizhou, a total of four states. The town of Hezhong has one prefecture and four prefectures, and it is an important town. Its location is extremely important in the center of Chang'an, the western capital, Luoyang, the eastern capital, and Taiyuan, the northern capital, among the five capitals of the Tang Dynasty. In particular, Pusaka, where Pujin is more important than the main road, connects Guanzhong and Hedong, and even Guanzhong Chang'an enters Hedong Taiyuan, and then you can go out of Jingcheng and go straight into Hebei.

The Pusaka Bridge is the north gate of Tongguan.

Hezhong is located in the middle of the three capitals, the southwest is Chang'an, the southeast is Luoyang, and the north is Taiyuan, all of which are not far away. Moreover, Hezhong Town is not only strategically important, but also has two major salt ponds in Anyi and Xie County, which has always been the largest salt producing area in the Central Plains. At this time, the annual salt tax paid by the two salt ponds to the imperial court alone reached nearly two million guan. For the imperial court, which only has an annual income of about 10 million yuan at this time, the two pools of salt are almost 20%, which is completely the most cornucopia of the imperial court, the golden rice bowl.

At this time in the late Tang Dynasty, when the towns were divided, Hezhong Town, which had two ponds, was also extremely wealthy, comparable to Huainan.

If Fengxiang Town is the western barrier of Chang'an, then Hezhong can be called the northeast gateway of Chang'an, and it is far more than Fengxiang in terms of territory and wealth. Fengxiang Town has Fengxiang Mansion, which is Xijing, although Hezhong Town does not accompany the capital, but Hezhong Mansion is also one of the Son of Heaven's station, and has one of the ten mansions of the Tang Dynasty.

The town of Hezhong is so important that successive marshals have always been civil officials appointed by the imperial court to serve as marshals. However, the army in the river is rich and strong, so it is difficult for the soldiers to be arrogant. The slightest dissatisfaction led to a mutiny. After the Yellow Nest Rebellion. The world shook. The weaker the prestige of the imperial court. It was in this situation that Wang Chongrong, the general of the river, mutinied twice, drove out two commanders in a row, and later became the commander of the river.

In order to stabilize his position, Wang Chongrong immediately defected to Huangchao after Huang Chao entered Luoyang.

However, Wang Chongrong's defection to the Yellow Nest was just to take advantage of the Yellow Nest to consolidate his position. But he didn't really plan to give Huang Chao his life. However, Huang Chao himself was born as a salt dealer, so how could he not know the huge economic benefits of the two salt ponds in the Ludao River?

For Wang Chongrong, Huang Chao didn't pay much attention to it. did not pay enough attention to Wang Chongrong's surrender, but regarded Hezhong Town as his cash cow. After Luoyang was proclaimed emperor, Huang Chao sent an endless stream of envoys to the river to collect taxes and grain, and in just over half a year, there were as many as 1,000 envoys sent. He even issued several orders to ask Wang Chongrong to lead the army to listen to the tune.

Wang Chongrong originally wanted to find Huang Chao to borrow a momentum, but who wanted to find an ancestor for himself.

This is naturally satisfying. And the Hezhong Army, which was originally domineering in the Tang Dynasty, is now under the Qi Dynasty. But to be so oppressed, of course, the soldiers below are also very dissatisfied. However, at that time, Huang Chao was powerful, and he fought in the east and west, and even broke through Tongguan and occupied Chang'an, forcing Wang Chongrong and other soldiers in the river to grit their teeth and endure it, but they still regretted it in their hearts, and they were even more resentful of Huang Chao.

Originally, according to the practice of the late Tang Dynasty, Hezhong Town, as an important town in the north, was at the forefront of preventing and suppressing the Hebei Domain, and they rarely paid taxes like the imperial court, and almost all the money and grain collected were used to support the army of the town. Only the two pools of salt profit are huge, and the town in the river shares the salt profit with the imperial court, and the tax taken by the imperial court is actually just the default sharing ratio of everyone.

But now, Huang Chao has changed his old rules and regarded Hezhong Town as a cash cow, which is naturally an enemy of the entire Hezhong Town military group.

In the late Tang Dynasty, when the soldiers were angry, the consequences were very serious.

It's just that he endured it because of the strength of the yellow nest before.

Now, the edict of the King of Qin ordered the king of Qin, Kang Chengzhi, Xin Yan, Yu Xuan and others in the east of Luoyang to send a letter to respond, and then Zheng Zhen of Fengxiang Town in Guanzhong also responded. Then Yang Fuguang, the supervisor of Zhongwu Town, explained that the festival made Zhou Qi anyway, and then, the towns in Guanzhong rebelled one after another, and the grievances accumulated by the soldiers in Hezhong Town broke out all of a sudden, and immediately killed all the officials and envoys sent by Huang Chao to the river, and issued a document announcing that they would respond to the order of the King of Qin, and return to the Tang Dynasty anyway, and swear to crusade against the Yellow Thief.

Huang Chao, who was far away in Chang'an, woke up and found that he was suddenly caught in the ocean of the Tang Army. The towns rebelled, and only the states and counties controlled by the rebels themselves remained. Huang Chao was furious, and immediately appointed his younger brother Huang Ye as the marching marshal, and led the Shaanzhou soldiers and horses to launch a crusade against the river.

The soldiers and horses in the river fought for themselves, this time they showed very bravery, Wang Chongrong relied on the danger of the Yellow River, broke the Qi army Huang Ye's department, annihilated more than 3,000 Qi troops, and captured more than 40 grain ships. The victory in this battle further boosted the morale of the towns, and they all hardened their attitudes.

However, although Wang Chongrong defeated Huang Ye for a while, his heart was still full of worries. After all, he came to power after two mutinies before driving out two marshals, and then he rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, and now the imperial court still knows what attitude towards him is. If Tang Ting wants to replace him, or if Huang Chao doesn't give up and wants to attack, he will fight alone, and he will inevitably be outnumbered. Whether it is anti-Tang or anti-Qi, he is not for anything else, but for his own handsome position.

Wang Chongrong's brother Wang Chongjian said: "Brother, why don't you ask Yanjing Li Jing, Li Jing is now not only Shang Shuling, the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, but also fake Huang Yue, the general leader of the five soldiers and horses." Moreover, Li Jing is the king of Qin, and is respected by the Son of Heaven as the emperor's uncle, and has millions of elite soldiers and thousands of generals. The land is vast and the grain is full of soldiers, and the prestige overshadows the Son of Heaven. If you donate money, food, treasures and beauties to Li Jingjin and get Li Jing's support, why should the brothers worry about the unstable position of the marshal of Hezhong Town? ”

Wang Chongrong's third brother, Wang Chongying, objected: "What the eldest brother said is wrong, the so-called far water is difficult to save the near fire. It is true that Li Jingwei is highly respected, and it is not wrong that he has elite soldiers. But didn't the two elder brothers find out that Li Jing is a very deep man, looking at his past actions, it can be seen that although he has a high-profile summoning of the world's soldiers and horses to beg for thieves this time, he thinks that Li Jing will shout a few times at most, and he will not really send troops to fight for thieves at most. ”

Wang Chongrong and Wang Chongjian thought about it, and they also felt that things seemed to be true. Last time, Li Jing hit the east bank of the Bianhe River, and he was about to hit Luoyang. As a result, this guy handed over Song Cao Zhuzhou to Xin Yan Yuxuan and others, but he himself shot back. Kill directly to the southeast. and Gao Yu fought hard. Not only robbed Xu Si, but also went to Haochushou Sanzhou in Huainan to rob it. It can be seen that what King Qin or the like is just shouting. Li Jing made a move, obviously grabbing territory. Now Li Jing is in Hebei, how can he go south.

If you defect to Li Jing, there will be no other help except for a verbal promise.

"What is the third brother's plan? Now we are across the river from Huangchao. Huang Chao has hundreds of thousands of troops, and if he attacks with all his might, we will never be able to stop him. Wang Chongrong was full of worries, no, he would have to be sucked dry by the Yellow Nest sooner or later. But on the contrary, he couldn't withstand the wrath of Huang Chao's revenge.

Wang Chongying squinted slightly, gritted his teeth after a long time, and said: "It's better for us to defend and attack, and fight with Huang Chao." ”

"Brother, what kind of nonsense is this, if we can fight over the Yellow Nest, why should I be wronged and surrendered to the thief in the first place, brother?" Wang Chongrong shook his head and said.

Wang Chongying smiled. "Second brother, don't panic, listen to me. We're not fighting with Huang Chao alone. I mean, why don't we simply send a letter to invite Zheng Congyan from Hedong, Li Zhuo from Zhaoyi, Li Keyong from Yanmen, Mi Haiwan, Anqing, and Qi Bizhang from Datong, Wu Shitai from Zhenwu, Helian Duo and Bai Yicheng from the Tiande Army, and Li Sigong from Xia Sui to counterattack Luoyang? Zheng Jinlian joined the towns in Guanzhong to counterattack Chang'an, and we can invite all departments to counterattack Luoyang. In this way, we don't have to fight Huangchao alone, Hedong and Longshang towns are united, now the main force of the Huangchao army is in Chang'an, Luoyang has few soldiers, we and other joint towns to attack it, even if it doesn't work, then we can also solve the urgent need of Huangchao to attack. If it succeeds, then in the future, it will be judged that with this merit, it should be able to stabilize the position of the second brother in the middle of the river. In this case, why do you need to go near and far to find Li Jinghu? ”

"Third brother's clever strategy." Wang Chongrong exclaimed, this is indeed a good plan. Regardless of whether Li Jing really wants to crusade against Huangchao or not, as soon as Li Jing's order comes out, as if all towns respond today, the momentum has been achieved. Zheng Zheng has united the towns of Guanzhong, and the towns of Shannan want to counterattack Chang'an. At this time, they united Hedong and Longshang towns to counterattack Luoyang, not to mention the great success of the matter, and first of all, they could help solve the crisis that Huangchao was about to commit.

Wang Chongjian was a little worried: "The third brother's plan is indeed very good, but there is one point, if we want to unite the towns to counterattack Luoyang." Then it needs a person of great prestige to preside. Although the second brother has a heart, he does not have this appeal. Come to think of it, in addition to holding Li Jing's orders, he also needs a person who presides over the overall situation, and I think that only Zheng Congyan can be made by Hedong Jiedu. He is not only the northern capital stayed, the envoy of the Hedong Festival, but also the same level of the chapter, and Zheng Zheng is also the same clan, now Zheng Zheng has a very high prestige, and Zheng Congyan has always had a good reputation and high prestige. If he had come forward to unite the towns, it would have been done. ”

Although this sentence is straightforward, Wang Chongrong really can't compare his prestige with Zheng Congyan, if Wang Chongrong comes to convene the towns, I'm afraid that the other towns may not sell face. But if it was summoned by Zheng Congyan, the situation would be different. After all, Zheng Congyan was born in a wealthy Zheng family in Xingyang, and he is of the same clan as Zheng Jin, and he once led Zhuzhen to quell the Daibei Rebellion, even Li Jing was Zheng Congyan's deputy marshal at the beginning.

"That's fine, I'm not a person who fights for fame." Wang Chongrong thought very openly, if he could become the leader of the alliance in the towns of Hedong, it would naturally be good. But he has self-knowledge, he, the section commander, has just become a marshal after his two mutinies, and he has descended to the Yellow Nest, how can he be the leader of the Hedong Zhuzhen Alliance. This time in order to keep the position of the handsome, everything else can be considered.

"I'm going to write a letter to Li Jing and Zheng Congyan, proposing to jointly send troops."

Wang Chongying reminded: "If Zheng Congyan agrees to call all the troops to send troops, Guan Jian has a problem to solve. ”

"What's the problem?"

"Persuade Li Keyong to send troops south, otherwise, if Li Keyong does not send troops, I am afraid that other towns will not send troops easily." Wang Chongying explained. The towns in Hedong almost all had a festival with Li Keyong in Yanmen Town, and last time Zheng Congyan had already wanted King Qin to go south, but the result was that because Li Ke used the second anti-Tang Dynasty, the towns were in order to have their own nests, and King Qin's soldiers and horses were immediately dispersed. If Li Keyong doesn't go south, who can stay in the rear with peace of mind, and they lead the troops south?

Brother Wang Chongrong frowned, Li Ke used this person, too capricious and elusive. There have been two anti-Tang antecedents, and he is indeed a guy who can't be believed. But in addition to uniting the towns to send troops to Luoyang, and turning defense into attack, they can't think of any other good way to solve the current crisis.

"To persuade Li Ke to send troops south, I am afraid it will not be easy. Although the towns in Hedong are of course to guard against Shatuo, Li Keyong is now surrounded by various towns, although the Son of Heaven is named the king of Jin and called the emperor's brother, but in fact, he is afraid that the towns will be unfavorable to him, especially now that Li Jing occupies Youzhou and has just defeated Shatuo. Li Keyong was also worried that after going south, Li Jing would send troops to Yanmen. ”

"This matter should be resolved quickly, it should not be delayed for too long, I am afraid that the night will be long and there will be many dreams, if Huang Chao sends a soldier, we will be too late." Wang Chongjian said.

"It's better for me to go to Taiyuan and Yanmen in person, meet Zheng Congyan and Li Keyong, and talk in detail about what is going on to make this happen. By the way, I can also go to Youzhou to meet Li Jing, no matter what, it is still necessary to make friends with Li Jing. Wang Chongying proposed.

Wang Chongrong clenched his fists, thought about it for a long time, and couldn't think of any better way, so he had to say: "Then this matter will be handed over to the third brother, and my eldest brother and I will treat you at home." ”

"Don't worry, big brother, I will do my best." Saying that, Wang Chongying suddenly remembered something, "I heard that Li Keyong's wife has no sons-in-law, only a daughter-in-law, who is a few years old. The eldest brother's family Ake is only more than ten years old this year, so it is better for me to take the opportunity to propose to Li Ke with Dai Ke'er, and set Li Ke's concubine and Ke'er as his fiancée. In this way, our two families in Hezhong and Yanmen Town will become the good of Qin and Jin. After the marriage of the two families, the alliance relationship is stable, and we will be commensurate with Li Keyong as brothers in the future, and they are also sons and daughters, and the two families will help each other, wouldn't it be better? ”

Wang Chongrong had no children, so Wang Ke, the son of his brother Wang Chongjian, was actually the heir to Wang Chongrong. If Wang Ke and Li Ke are engaged to marry their daughters, then the two families will naturally become marriage allies, and the relationship will be more stable. It is a very good thing that the town in the river can have Yanmen Town as an ally.

Wang Chongrong nodded: "Li Keyong's daughter is a little younger, but if it can make the two Yanmen in the river alliance because of this, it will be worth it." Anyway, this matter is decided, and it will be handed over to the third brother to handle, presumably, Li Keyong will not refuse our proposal, but he has wronged Ke'er's child. (To be continued......)