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卷二百一十三 列傳第一百三十八 藩鎮淄青橫海

Volume 213 Biographies 138: Buffer Regions - the Black, Green, and Yellow Seas

Chapter 213 of 新唐書 · New Book of Tang
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Chapter 213
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25% 使 使 耀
Buffer Regions at Zi-Qing and the Heng-Hai Circuit: Li Zhengji. Li Zhengji was of Koguryo descent. He had been deputy commander at Yingzhou and followed Hou Xiyi into Qingzhou; because Xiyi's mother was his aunt, Xiyi recommended him as regimental commander of the Zhechong unit. During the Baoying reign (762–763), he served as a military scout in the campaign against Shi Chaoyi. The Uyghurs, flush with their victories, threw their weight around, and no allied army dared stand up to them. Zhengji meant to humble them by sheer nerve and challenged the Uyghur chieftain to a footrace; the troops lined the walls to watch, with the wager that whoever finished second would have his face struck. Though he had chased from behind, he crossed the line first and slapped the chieftain across the face; the Uyghur was left trembling and drenched in sweat, and the whole army roared with laughter. The chieftain was utterly humiliated; thereafter the Uyghurs were cowed and no longer dared abuse their position. Xiyi made him director of military affairs; his steady, resolute manner won the soldiers' loyalty, but Xiyi secretly resented him and found a pretext to strip him of his post. The troops protested that he should never have been removed; before long they expelled Xiyi, and an imperial edict installed Zhengji as military governor in his place. Born Huaiyu, he now received the name Zhengji by imperial grant. He came to control ten prefectures—Zi, Qing, Qi, Hai, Deng, Lai, Yi, Mi, De, and Di—and stood shoulder to shoulder with the buffer lords Tian Chengsi, Xue Song, Li Baochen, and Liang Chongyi. After Xue Song's death, Li Lingyao rose in revolt; the allied circuits besieged him and carved up his domain among themselves. Zhengji seized Cao, Pu, Xu, Yan, and Yun as well, bringing his holdings to fifteen prefectures. He bought famed Bohai horses without interruption, kept taxes and labor service fair and predictable, and was reckoned the most powerful of the buffer lords. His rule was mercilessly strict—no one in his territory dared whisper in company—and his authority terrified the neighboring provinces. He was promoted through acting Minister of Works to honorary Grand Councillor, then Grand Mentor and Grand Preceptor of the Crown Prince, and enfeoffed as Prince of Raoyang. He petitioned to be entered on the imperial clan rolls, and the court consented. He shifted his headquarters to Yunzhou and left his son Li Na and his closest generals to hold the outlying prefectures.
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Early in the Jianzhong era (780–783), learning that the court was fortifying Bianzhou, he plotted with Tian Yue, Liang Chongyi, and Li Weiyue to rebel together. He camped at Jiyin, drilled his armies in the field, and reinforced Xuzhou to block the Yangzi and Huai routes. The emperor rerouted the grain transports and called up troops empire-wide; the Henan region erupted in alarm. He died of an abscess at the age of forty-nine. Early in the Xingyuan era (784), Li Na submitted to the throne, and the court posthumously honored Zhengji as Grand Commandant.
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Li Na had begun as a ceremonial attendant in his youth and later commanded troops on autumn frontier duty. Emperor Daizong received him at court, promoted him to palace censor, and awarded the gold-and-purple regalia of high rank. When he came to the capital he was further named concurrent investigating censor. Zhengji named him prefect of Zi and Qing, then field marshal and acting governor of Pu, Xu, Yan, Yi, and Hai, and eventually promoted him to chief censor.
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When Zhengji died, Na kept the death secret and marched to join Tian Yue at Puyang. Ma Sui was pressing Tian Yue hard; Na sent his general Wei Jun to the rescue, but Sui shattered the relief force and retook Huanshui. Emperor Dezong ordered a general assault; Na's clansman Li Wei defected with Xuzhou, while Li Shizhen surrendered Dezhou and Li Changqing Di Prefecture. Furious at Wei's betrayal and mindful of Xuzhou's rugged defenses, Na threw his entire army against him. The emperor sent the Xuanwu and Liu Xuanzuo commands to relieve Xuzhou and inflicted a crushing defeat on Na's army. Na fell back to Puyang, where Xuanzuo besieged him and tore down the outer ramparts. Na climbed the battlements to face Xuanzuo in tears and remorse, sent his secretary Fang Yue and his sons to the capital as hostages, and sued for pardon through Xuanzuo. The eunuch Song Fengchao, seeing Na at bay, urged that he must not be forgiven and the emperor had Fang Yue and the hostages clapped in irons within the palace. Na withdrew to Yunzhou, joined forces with Yue, Li Xilie, Zhu Tao, and Wang Wujun, proclaimed himself King of Qi, and installed a full court of officials.
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When the emperor issued his famous self-reproach edict early in the Xingyuan era, Na submitted again; he was named acting Minister of Works, restored as military governor of Pinglu, given an iron covenant of mercy, made honorary Grand Councillor, and enfeoffed Prince of Longxi. When Li Xilie besieged Chenzhou, Na joined the relief armies and routed him below the walls; he was promoted to acting Minister of Works with a fief of five hundred households, then to acting Grand Mentor. He died at thirty-four and was posthumously honored as Grand Preceptor. His sons were Li Shigu and Li Shidao.
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使 𧊶| 𧊶| 𧊶| 𧊶| 使 使
Li Shigu, through hereditary privilege, held the post of Qingzhou prefect. After Na's death the troops demanded Shigu as successor; an edict recalled him from mourning as general of the Right Golden Crow Guard and military governor of the circuit. Di Prefecture had long possessed the Hadu salt flats, which yielded several hundred thousand bushels of salt annually. When Li Changqing surrendered the prefecture to Zhu Tao, Na alone kept Hadu and monopolized its salt profits. When De and Di later fell to Wang Wujun, Na built a fortified camp south of Dezhou astride the river to hold Hadu—the "Three Forks"—linked with Weibo through Tian Xu, and raided Dezhou, to Wujun's great annoyance. With Shigu gravely ill, Wujun judged him an easy mark; Na's veteran commanders were gone as well, so Wujun marched and seized Hadu and the Three Forks. Shigu sent Zhao Hao to hold them off; Wujun's son Wang Shiqing crossed the Di River first, but a fire erupted in camp, the men panicked, and they would not press the attack. Emperor Dezong sent envoys ordering Wujun to stand down. Shigu likewise dismantled the Three Forks fort and submitted to the court's command.
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Once, furious at his aide Dugu Zao, he sent him to the capital on official business and had his general Wang Ji strangle him on the road. Late in the Zhenyuan era he joined Du You and Li Luan in the unprecedented privilege of ennobling concubines as state ladies, and was promoted to honorary Grand Councillor.
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When Dezong died, before the official mourning envoy arrived, the Yicheng governor Li Yuansu showed him the late emperor's testament. Shigu welcomed the imperial bereavement and prepared to raid neighboring prefectures; he assembled his commanders and declared, "Yuansu has forged the testament—surely he means to rebel? We cannot fail to punish him! He detained the envoy, proclaimed a punitive expedition against Yuansu, and marched his army out—only to stand down when word came that Shunzong had succeeded to the throne. He was repeatedly promoted, ultimately to acting Grand Mentor and Palace Attendant. He died early in the Yuanhe era (806–820) and was posthumously honored as Grand Preceptor.
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Li Shidao was his younger half-brother. Shigu once remarked, "He has never known the people's hardships; he ought to learn where food and clothing come from. With that he sent him to serve as acting prefect of Mizhou. As Shigu lay dying he called in his confidants Gao Mu and Li Gongdu and asked, "When I am gone, whom should succeed me? The two men did not reply. Shigu said, "Are you inclined toward Shidao out of mere affection? He has no taste for soldiering, prides himself on petty talents, and I fear he will ruin our line—you must judge this carefully. After his death, Gao Mu and Li Gongdu, with the household guard, installed Shidao and petitioned the throne for confirmation. When the appointment edict was slow in coming, Shidao prepared to mobilize and hold the borders; Gao Mu dissuaded him and he memorialized anew, pledging the two-tax levy, observance of salt regulations, and acceptance of court-appointed officials. Chief Minister Du Huangchang meant to curb his power, but Xianzong was still crushing Liu Pi in the west and could not yet march east; he therefore named Prince Shen of Jian nominal military commissioner while Shidao served as acting governor. Within the year he was named acting Minister of Works and deputy commissioner. Since Zhengji's day the family had outwardly obeyed the throne while sheltering fugitives and rebels, richly rewarding anyone the court had condemned. They ruled subordinates by terror: every agent sent on a mission had his wife and children held hostage; anyone who contemplated defecting to the court saw his entire family wiped out. Thus they cowed their officers and men and held power through three generations.
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When the emperor campaigned against Cai, he mobilized the circuits but omitted Yun; Shidao sent two thousand elite troops to Shouchun, claiming to reinforce the imperial armies while in fact aiming to aid Cai. An outlaw youth proposed to Shidao: "Heyin is the depot for Yangzi-Huai grain; Henan holds the capital. Burn the Heyin treasury, recruit bravos from Luoyang to storm the palace—the court will turn to save its heartland, and Cai's siege will be broken. Shidao sent agents who burned the Heyin transport depot—three hundred thousand strings in cash, tens of thousands of bushels of grain, and more than a hundred warehouses. Another adviser told Shidao: "The emperor means to crush Cai, but strategy rests with the chief ministers, and Wu Yuanheng has his ear. Do as Yuan Ang did—strike down the minister the emperor trusts; the court will panic and sue for peace, the armies will stand down, and Cai will be saved. He sent assassins who killed Wu Yuanheng and wounded Pei Du.
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Earlier Shidao had set up a residence in Luoyang and bought land between Yique and Luhun to lodge his "mountain shed" agents, assigning the generals Zi Jiazhen and Men Cha to organize them; the Mount Song monk Yuanjing masterminded the plot. In Yuanhe 10 (815) he held a great feast at the lodge, slaughtered cattle, and broached wine; his men were already armored underneath when one of them betrayed the plot to the authorities. Luoyang defender Lü Yuanying stormed the lodge; the rebels broke out, raided the capital outskirts, and hid in the hills for months, robbing the mountain sheds' markets. The sheds, furious, guided imperial troops to the hideout and wiped them out. Yuanjing was over eighty, a former general under Shi Siming, and accounted the fiercest fighter of his day. Once captured, brawny guards battered his shins without breaking them; he swore, "You pups can't even break a man's leg and call yourselves warriors! He set his own foot against a post and snapped the bone himself. Facing execution he sighed, "You have ruined everything—I shall never see Luoyang awash in blood! Dozens of Luoyang officials—the defender, garrison commanders, and post-house clerks—had all been secretly on Shidao's payroll as spies, which is why the plot went undetected. Under full investigation it emerged that Jiazhen and Cha were Yuanheng's assassins. Salt Commissioner Wang Bo also seized five thousand bow staves from Jiazhen's cache and forty-seven halberds illegally cut from the Jianling imperial arsenal.
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使西 使
Earlier Shidao had wanted intelligence on Wu Yuanji and sent Liu Yanping by a back road into Huaixi. Yuanji wined and dined him daily and won his warm friendship. On his return Yanping reported that Yuanji kept tens of thousands in the field yet lounged inside with his wives, gambling—certainly the path to ruin. Shidao had counted on Cai's strength; enraged by the report, he had Yanping executed on a trumped-up charge. When Li Guangyan captured the Lingyun stockade, Shidao was thoroughly alarmed and sent envoys to surrender; the emperor, stretched between two fronts, dispatched Liu Gongchuo to reassure him and named him acting Minister of Works.
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宿 宿 宿 宿 漿 使使 使 使 使 使 使
After Cai fell, the court sent Review Bureau Vice-Director Zhang Su to press him to surrender territory and send a hostage son. Zhang Su told him: "You have rejoined the imperial clan; by rank the emperor is your uncle—no need to humble yourself, first point; twelve prefectures against the Son of Heaven's three hundred—you are a vassal facing north—no need to bow, second point; fifty years your family has held its fief, two centuries the Tang have ruled—no need to bow, third point. Your rebellion is exposed, yet the emperor still offers you a way back—send your son to the capital guard and cede land to atone. Shidao surrendered three prefectures and sent his son Li Hongfang to the capital as hostage. After Zhang Su left, Shidao wavered and called his generals in council; all said, "Cai was only a few prefectures and took three or four years to crush—you hold twelve; what have you to fear? Only General Cui Chengdu objected: "You never trusted your commanders with your true plans, yet now you give them armies—these are mercenaries; the court will buy them off with a bowl of gruel for ten cakes." Shidao, furious, sent Chengdu to the capital and ordered the border guards to execute him on his return. Chengdu waited in the capital guest office and dared not go home. The emperor, angered by his breach of faith, sent Left Cavalry Attendant Li Xun to deliver the court's message. On arrival Shidao received him under arms; Xun protested, "We had a pact—why have you broken it? I need your clear answer to carry back to the emperor. Shidao agreed in words but was too timid and indecisive to act. His household women and old nurses clamored, "Your forefathers' lands—how can you surrender them in a day? Refuse the three prefectures and we fight; if we lose, we can still cede land later. Shidao memorialized the throne, blaming his troops' refusal to comply. The emperor stripped his titles by edict and ordered a general offensive. Li Yuan of Wuning sent Wang Zhixing to crush Shidao's army—two thousand heads, four thousand horses and oxen—and pushed the frontier to Pingyin. Zheng Quan of Heng-Hai fought at Fucheng and took five hundred heads. Li You of Wuning defeated them at Yutai. Han Hong of Xuanwu captured Kaocheng. Li Yijian of Huainan sent Li Ting to seize Hai Prefecture, Shuyang, and Qushan, and garrison the Eastern Sea coast. Tian Hongzheng of Weibo crossed from Yangliu, camped forty li from Yunzhou, routed thirty thousand men, and took three thousand prisoners. Li Guangyan of Chenxu attacked Puyang and seized the stockades at Doumen and Duzhuang. Hongzheng fought again at Dong'e and shattered fifty thousand of the enemy. Each defeat sent Shidao into trembling fits; when Li You captured Jinxiang, his attendants dared not tell him.
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He had posted Liu Wu at Yanggu to block Weibo; fearing execution for delay, Wu turned his army against Yunzhou. Shidao learned of it at dawn and told his sister-in-law Lady Pei, "Wu has mutinied; he means to become a commoner and tend our graves. He and Hongfang hid in a latrine and were captured on the spot. Shidao begged to see Wu and then to be sent to the capital; Wu's messenger replied, "You are a prisoner—what face have you to show the emperor? He still groveled in pleas; Hongfang said, "Better die at once!" Both were beheaded and their heads sent to Chang'an. Their bodies lay unclaimed until a cultivated gentleman gave them burial outside the west gate. When Ma Zhi came, he reburied them with full ceremonial honors.
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Long before, Shigu had met Liu Wu and said, "He will rise high—but he will be the ruin of our house. When Tian Hongzheng crossed the river he captured forty-seven officers including Xiahou Cheng; the court pardoned them all, clothed them, and sent them back to Weibo and Yicheng—with generous leave for those whose parents wanted them home. The rebels were deeply moved, which is how Wu won them to his mutiny. Shidao's head reached Hongzheng's camp; Cheng was called to identify it, wiped the dust from his eyes, and keened until he collapsed. Wu had long feuded with Shidao's wife Lady Wei, who falsely claimed to be a survivor of the Zheng clan purged into the palace women's quarters; the rest of the Li kindred were exiled. Wu alone petitioned to name Shigu's son Ming'an registrar at Langzhou. Wang Chengqing, a favored commander and brother-in-law through Shidao's niece, had plotted with his men to arrest Shidao during maneuvers; when Wu stormed the city he fled to Xuzhou and defected to the court. Cheng Rihua, a native of Anxi in Dingzhou, was originally named Hua; Emperor Dezong, honoring his service, enlarged his name to Rihua. His father Yuanhao had served An Lushan as puppet prefect of Dingzhou; Rihua entered the home army and became a guard officer under Zhang Xiaozhong. Cangzhou had belonged to Chengde; when Xiaozhong broke with Li Weiyue, Dezong awarded it to Yiwu. The outgoing prefect Li Gulie, Weiyue's kinsman by marriage, barricaded himself in the city. Xiaozhong sent Rihua to reason with him; Gulie agreed to withdraw to Hengzhou. As he packed to leave with every coin he could carry, the troops raged: "Our horses are starved, our men dying of hunger, and the prefect won't spare a penny—now he strips the place bare. What hope is left for us? They killed Gulie and massacred his family. Rihua hid under a bed in terror; the soldiers pulled him out, saying, "The man who wronged us is dead—why should you flee? They pressed him to take command of the prefecture. Xiaozhong, impressed by Rihua's generous character, confirmed him as acting prefect.
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西使
When Zhu Tao rebelled and camped at Hejian, Cang and Ding were cut off from one another. Both Zhu Tao and Wang Wujun tried to win him over; he refused, and they attacked at once. Rihua manned the walls and held out. His aide Li Yumou urged, "The siege drags on and Yiwu's army never comes. Your ten coastal counties live on fish and salt; this command was once called Heng-Hai. Break with Yi and Ding, submit directly to the emperor as an independent circuit, train your army, strike when profit offers and hold when it does not—you can throttle the rebels' lifeline. Adopt my plan and I will go to Chang'an and plead your case to the emperor. Rihua agreed and sent Yu west; the emperor was delighted, named him vice censor-in-chief and prefect of Cang, restored the Heng-Hai command, and made him its military governor in Jianzhong 3 (782). He was named acting Minister of Works. The court ordered Cang to send Yiwu twelve hundred thousand strings in cash and tens of thousands of bushels of grain yearly, with Yu as his chief aide.
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Wujun wanted Cang and sent envoys; Rihua deceived him, saying, "We are under attack—when we can no longer hold out we will submit to you. Lend me two hundred horsemen to fight them off, and when the enemy retreats I will hand the land over to you. Wujun gladly sent the horses; Rihua kept them and thanked the envoy. Wujun was furious, but he was allied with Zhu Tao and feared making another enemy, so he let the matter drop. When Wujun eventually submitted to the court, Rihua returned the horses with lavish gifts, friendship was restored, and Wujun's anger faded. He died in Zhenyuan 2 (786) and was posthumously honored as Minister of War.
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His son Huaizhi had taken charge in his absence; honoring Rihua's memory, the emperor named him acting prefect of Cang. Yu came to court and asked to carve Dongguang and Jingcheng into a new Jing Prefecture, with himself as prefect. For nearly thirty years the court had not named a Hebei prefect directly; the emperor, admiring his loyalty, appointed Xu Shen to Jingzhou. Heng-Hai was raised to full circuit status and Huaizhi was made acting military governor. The next year he was confirmed as military governor. In his ninth year he visited court and was showered with honors—acting Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, a grand mansion, and palace women.
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Huaizhi neglected his duties for hunting trips that lasted days; his officer Cheng Huaixin exploited the troops' anger and barred the gates against him. Huaixin was his cousin. Huaizhi went to court unpunished; the Prince of Qian was named military governor, Huaixin made acting governor, and Huaizhi was given a post in the Right Dragon Martial Guard. The next year Huaixin was confirmed as military governor. In the sixteenth year Huaizhi died and was posthumously honored as Grand Protector General of Yangzhou. Five years later Huaixin died; his son Quan assumed command and was issued an edict acting governor. In Yuanhe 1 (806) he was confirmed military governor, rose to acting Minister of War, and was enfeoffed Duke of Xing. In his sixth year he visited court; Xianzong honored him lavishly and sent him back with the title acting Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. Quan had been named Zhigong; he dreamed every gate in Cang bore the character Quan and changed his name accordingly. After the Huaixi campaign ended he grew uneasy and petitioned to come to court. At the capital he firmly resigned his command; the court named Zheng Quan of Huazhou to replace him. He later served as acting Minister of Works and military governor of Binning. He died and was posthumously honored as Grand Mentor; more than thirty kinsmen held court gentleman posts in the palace guard. Li Quanlüe, of the Li-Wang clan, born Rijian, had served Wang Wujun as a junior officer. Under Wang Chengzong he had abused his troops and fled to court, receiving appointment as prefect of Daizhou. After Tian Hongzheng's murder, Muzong summoned the former Zhenzhou officer Quanlüe for his views; Quanlüe laid out the strategic pros and cons, pledged his utmost loyalty, and was named prefect of Dezhou. Du Shuliang had just been defeated at Boye; Quanlüe was made Heng-Hai military governor and surveillance commissioner over Cang, De, and Di, and granted the name Quanlüe. Soon he sent ten million in cash as tribute and dispatched his son Tongjie to court. On returning he memorialized to name Tongjie chief administrator of Cangzhou and commander of the central army. The emperor reluctantly consented. Quanlüe secretly laid plans for his son to inherit power, picked able warriors, and won the officers' loyalty through personal favorites. Di Prefecture's Wang Ji was beloved by his people and enormously wealthy; Quanlüe envied him, contrived his murder, and wiped out his entire family. He died soon after; Tongjie took over as acting governor, bribed neighboring circuits heavily, and petitioned to inherit his father's post—but Jingzong withheld confirmation for a long time. When Wenzong succeeded, Tongjie assumed a new emperor would show leniency; he sent his brothers Tongzhi and Tongxun to court and had Cui Chang petition for confirmation—but the edict named him Yan-Hai governor and sent Wu Chongyin to replace him. Cornered, Tongjie claimed the army would not let him leave. Wang Zhixing offered his full army for the campaign; Shi Xiancheng of Weibo sent a general with the emperor's handwritten edict, which Tongjie refused; civilians from De and Di fled en masse into Yunzhou. The court stripped his titles and ordered Wu Chongyin to lead Yan and Qi forces against him. Xiancheng, Zhixing, Li Ting of Bian-Hua, Kang Zhimu of Pinglu, Zhang Fan of Yiding, and Li Zaiyi of Youzhou all massed troops on his borders. Counting on old ties with Chengde, Tongjie lavished gold, silk, and daughters on the three northern circuits. Li Zaiyi refused, cut ties, seized Tongjie's envoys and the forty-seven attendants they had brought, and sent them all to the capital. Wang Tingcou had long eyed Heng-Hai and marched to Tongjie's aid, hoping to seize the circuit in the chaos. Zhixing besieged Di Prefecture for seven months, burned the gate tower, flooded the city, until his general Zhang Shulian surrendered. Di's prefect Luan Meng had secretly reported Tongjie's rebellion; the plot leaked and Tongjie had him killed; he was posthumously honored as Minister of Works. Zhixing then besieged Cangzhou.
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The emperor had cut off Wang Tingcou's tribute and was campaigning against him as well; troops were needed everywhere, supplies arrived late, and the court created the post of army-provisions commissioner for the two Hebei circuits—while generals inflated head counts to claim rewards. After Wu Chongyin died, Li Huan and Fu Liangbi failed to finish the job; Li You of the Left Golden Crow Guard replaced them; Zhixing's Li Junmou crossed the river with light troops, raided Wudi by night, and induced five thousand men at Raoyan to surrender. The next year Li You captured Wudi and Pingyuan. An edict ordered the campaign armies to hold their walls and farm the land—no decisive battle unless attacked. Li You's army was already at Dezhou when the emperor sent Remonstrating Censor Bai Qi to offer terms. You captured Dezhou; the survivors fled to Wang Tingcou. Tongjie, cornered, sued for surrender; Li You suspected a ruse. Bai Qi marched straight into the city, seized Tongjie and his family, and raced west with them. You entered Cangzhou; at Jiangling, Bai Qi beheaded Tongjie and sent his head to Chang'an. The court remitted a year's taxes for the four prefectures, pardoned Tongjie's mother, wife, and children, and exiled them to Hunan. Cui Chang was banished to Shangzhou. Tongxun and his half-brothers, as children of a concubine, were spared execution and allowed to accompany their mother into exile.
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