Chapter 889 Intolerance of dissent
The time went back half a month ago. Although the new king Xiao Yuanming had returned to the country and succeeded to the throne for more than two months, he did not bring any new atmosphere to the country.
Xiao Yuanming also knew what kind of quality his new king was, and the people in the country probably didn't have a good impression of him, so he followed Taiwei Wang Sengbian's arrangements relatively calmly, and was not in a hurry to show his presence in any new way. He just lived in seclusion in the inner garden and rarely met with courtiers and generals. All military and political affairs were still entrusted to Wang Sengbian, so he was very conscious of being a puppet.
Although Xiao Yuanming was very calm, he could not change the fact that Nan Liang was humiliated by the Northern Qi Dynasty. Although the soldiers did not have any deep feelings for the Yuan Emperor lineage, it did not mean that they would welcome the emperor sent to them by the Northern Qi Dynasty.
Therefore, since Xiao Yuanming entered the country, the important military and political personnel in Nanliang have basically come to a standstill. Even Wang Sengbian, the person in charge of the overall situation, felt that he was in the wrong and did not take advantage of the situation to take any major actions. He only urged Yuzhang to send troops south to pacify Xiao Bo, who refused to obey the imperial orders and was still causing trouble in Lingnan.
As for the Northern Qi's previous proposal of the two sides working together to capture Hefei, Wang Sengbian did not mention it again.
Because he also knows very well that even if the compound fertilizer is collected now, apart from angering Li Boshan even more and attracting his Shannan forces to Huainan again, it will not change the situation of Nanliang itself much.
Northern Qi said that after taking back Hefei, it would be handed over to the Liang people to guard it, but not to mention whether the Qi people would abide by the agreement. Even if Hefei was returned, Nan Liang did not have enough troops to garrison Hefei at the moment.
Instead of dreaming about these unrealistic things, it is better to set your goals more realistically. This time, the Northern Qi Dynasty directly attacked Qin County, and at the same time sent a group of troops to cross the river from Liyang to harass Gushu and other places, which made Wang Sengbian use rat weapons to avoid large-scale reinforcements from Jiankang reinforcements.
Previously, Northern Qi had proposed that as long as they agreed to Xiao Yuanming's return to the country to inherit the throne, they would return all the towns in Jiangbei they occupied. Therefore, shortly after Xiao Yuanming crossed the river and ascended the throne, the Qi army that had previously besieged Guangling also withdrew and lifted the siege of Guangling.
But Qi Ren's keeping his promise this time did not make Wang Sengbian feel happy, but made him even more depressed. Because it didn't matter much to him whether Guangling rescued the siege or not. It just relieved the pressure on Chen Baxian in Jingkou and no longer had to bear the pressure of the Qi army.
However, Chen Baxian had great differences with Wang Sengbian on the matter of Xiao Yuanming's return to the country and succession. Even if Wang Sengbian agreed to the request of Beiqi under the pressure of Northern Qi, Chen Baxian still repeatedly expressed his disapproval. The two sides sent envoys several times. There has never been a consensus on this.
As a result, Wang Sengbian has borne all the pressure and criticism so far, but Chen Ba, who has always been stubborn and refused to agree, has benefited first. This must be unacceptable to anyone, not to mention that Wang Sengbian is not a good person in the first place. What kind of open-minded person he is, he feels angry when he thinks about this section.
In addition to Guangling and Hefei, Liyang is also a city of great significance for river defense, and it is closer to the river, making it more convenient to deploy defenses. Therefore, during this period, Wang Sengbian has been requesting the return of Liyang to the Northern Qi Dynasty through Xiao Yuanming and several civil and military personnel who returned with him. After all, Liyang is also an important town in Jiangbei, and it was also agreed before that Liyang should be returned. within the range.
However, when Wang Sengbian stated that he did not plan to attack Hefei for the time being, the Northern Qi armies had also withdrawn to their country. The Qi people who still stayed in Huainan area were evasive, saying that this matter was not theirs to decide and could only submit to the country. Asking for instructions.
Despite such exchanges and negotiations, more than two months have passed, but no substantial progress has been made on the return of Liyang.
Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, various places in Jiangdong have also entered the autumn harvest period.
Hou Jing's Rebellion brought great damage to the people's livelihood in Jiangdong. There were not many places that could still maintain normal farming and production. In addition, local powerful forces took advantage of the chaos to rise. The small court of Nanliang was still unable to establish a The fiscal and taxation system was functioning normally. As the crops in the fields matured, disputes over food became more intense.
As the autumn harvest began, a large number of reports and documents poured into Jiankang City every day, either from the garrison troops from various places complaining and asking for food, or from officials from various places accusing the sergeants of grabbing the harvest and occupying the food. All kinds of disputes became a mess.
Wang Sengbian had no choice but to issue orders to Jiankang. After being forced by the Northern Qi Dynasty to welcome Xiao Yuanming, his prestige was even more damaged. Even if he wanted to calm down the disputes and reverse the situation, those forces far away from the capital would probably Nor will he obey.
The various disputes in the country had already made Wang Sengbian quite anxious, and when his own interests were also invaded and damaged, he became even more angry.
Today, Wang Sengbian's brother Wang Sengzhi, who serves as the prefect of Wu County, sent someone to report that Chen Baxian, who was stationed at Jingkou, allowed his general Hou Andu and others to go deep into Wu County to plunder food. This not only disturbed the peace of Wu, but also from Wu Jun took away a large amount of grain.
"That's unreasonable! Chen Baxian prides himself on caring about the country and the people, and has repeatedly ridiculed the world of the imperial court. Why does he allow Bu Qu to become a thief? Huainan is so big that it is no longer enough to show off his majesty, and he still wants to go south to Sanwu to show off his power!"
The previous disputes had already caused Wang Sengbian to have a prejudice against Chen Baxian. When he heard the news, the anger in Wang Sengbian's heart suddenly burst out, and he couldn't help but shouted angrily.
Xu Sixian, the younger brother of Xu Sihui, the governor of Qinzhou, was Wang Sengbian's nephew, and he had already been dissatisfied with Chen Baxian. When he heard Wang Sengbian's anger, he quickly said: "This disciple is becoming more and more arrogant and difficult." Tie, because I deceived my uncle to be kind and gentle! In the past, he colluded with the Wei people to invade Guangling, which had harmed the national economy and made our country fall into the hands of thieves. Now he pretends to be noble and unwilling to submit to the court, but in fact it is just a conspiracy. !
I heard that Chen Baxian took advantage of the geographical advantage of Guangling to recruit Huainan gangsters as his followers, and Wu Mingche, a strong man in Qin County, was his minions, eyes and ears, and all the young people in the countryside were used. Back then, when the army took advantage of the chaos to march north to attack Hou Jing, it already had a crowd of more than 30,000 people. Now that its power spans the north and south of the Yangtze River, its armored soldiers must be even better than before. Because of the huge resources needed to support the army, they captured the three Wu states..."
Hearing Xu Sixian's accusation, Wang Sengbian's expression also changed. After a moment of silence, he snorted and said: "Nowadays, the national situation is difficult, and I can't bear to fight among ourselves anymore, so I tolerate it again and again! This disciple is still I don’t know, do you really think that with the help of the chaotic people in Lingnan, you can compete with me along the river? Now there are many old officials and former emperors in the country, how can they be defeated by Wuxing’s subordinates? "
"The masses know who is the most respected person in the country today, but the arrogant people are the least aware of it. The Taiwei is thoughtful and considers the overall situation, but he has to beware of the treacherous people's hearts! This oil depot official has been guarding Jingkou for several years. For a long time, due to the fierce war with Qi, we had to entrust him with important tasks. Now that the new king has been established, the two countries have also settled their old feud. It will not be appropriate if we continue to let it go unchecked. "
Seeing Wang Sengbian's attitude, Xu Si continued to persuade: "Now Chen Ba is taking advantage of the convenient location to recruit Huainan warriors and plunder the money and grain of Sanwu. In the long run, the situation will become even more difficult to control. The two major towns of Guangling and Jingkou are decisive." It should not be left in the hands of one person. An outsider like Chen Baxian, who was not a close friend of the old government, should not stay in a foreign town for a long time to avoid becoming a powerful vassal. The rebellion in front of Li Bo Mountain in Shannan became a trend, and my uncle was already wary of it. ah!"
"Li Boshan is a hero created by the times. How can it be easily described by ordinary people! However, what you said is not unreasonable. Since the war in Guangling has stopped and the Qi people are no longer besieging, there is naturally no reason to retain too many troops. It should be Go to places where their families need it more!”
Wang Sengbian did not think that Chen Baxian had the qualifications and prestige to replace him. However, as the Northern Qi army withdrew from Huainan, Chen Baxian had indeed gathered many popular forces in Huainan who still supported Nanliang with Guangling City, and he gradually became dissatisfied with the imperial control. trend.
Of course, he was not willing to immediately fall out with Chen Baxian and completely break with him, but it was also necessary to limit his power. So after pondering for a while, he decided to go to Jingkou with his troops in the name of attacking Hefei and let Chen Baxian detach himself. A group of troops came to Jiankang to obey the imperial court's deployment.
Through the gathering and dispatching of these troops, it also put a certain amount of pressure on the Northern Qi garrison in Jiangbei, allowing the Northern Qi court to take his request for the return of Liyang more seriously.
At the same time, this transfer order can also be used to test Chen Baxian's thoughts. If he really wants to make up his mind to separatist power in Jingkou, relying on the advantage of his power across the river to obey the imperial court's orders, then Wang Sengbian will We must really consider imposing some actual sanctions on Chen Baxian, rather than simply intimidating him.
Although this will inevitably cause a certain blow and loss to their already weak strength in Nanliang, the national crisis is at the forefront, and everything must be based on internal stability and unity externally. At present, Nanliang can no longer bear the long-term There is internal fighting at the top of the mountain!