On December 15, while Yang Anxuan was busy arranging food and grass and preparing for disaster relief, Yang Anshen sent an urgent military report from Xingyang.
"On December 11, Wei Changshan King Tuoba Zun, Dingling Duke Heba, led 50,000 troops to attack Qin Gaoping, and fought a fierce battle with Qin Chariot General Wu Yigan."
"It is reported that Emperor Wei sent the mighty general Su Daqian with an army of 20,000 to the north with the intention of attacking the State of Yan (Later Yan, Emperor Gaozong Murong Xi). The leader of Yanzhong, Yu Wenba, led his army south to rescue."
Yang Anxuan put down the spy information and was surprised and happy. I was shocked that the Wei State was powerful and was fighting Qin and Yan at the same time. If Tuoba Gui wanted to avenge Sun Fei's defeat, he would not be able to resist with the strength of the two counties.
Fortunately, the war is going on, and the three kingdoms of Qin, Wei, and Yan are constraining each other and consuming each other. I must make full use of this time to develop and grow, so that I can have the opportunity to dominate the world in the future.
Yang Anxuan decided to keep his power secret and grow silently, but Huanxuan, who was in Jiangling, could not restrain his ambition and once again extended his probing claws to the court.
Huan Xuan coerced the court to appoint him as the governor of Jingzhou and Jiangzhou, and to oversee the military affairs of the seven states. He then appointed his brother Huan Wei as the governor of Yongzhou and his nephew as the governor of Huainan. He controlled more than half of the territory of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
When Sun En made a rebellion, Huan Xuan used the pretext of leading his army eastward to quell the rebellious people. He was so frightened that Sima Yuanxian ordered him not to send troops, and the court would deal with it on its own.
Huan Xuan sat and watched the southeast being turned upside down by Sun En. He felt more and more that the imperial court was weak. If Liu Yu hadn't come out of nowhere, he would have been able to send troops to the east.
The imperial court was having a great fight with Sun En, and Huan Xuan was also making intensive arrangements. In addition to recruiting troops and training the army, he petitioned the imperial court to transfer his brother Huan Wei from the position of governor of Yongzhou to the governor of Jiangzhou, and to control Xiakou.
In Huan Xuan's view, the Qin army attacked Luoyang twice but failed, and was unable to advance eastward or southward in the short term. In addition, Xin Gongjing of Luoyang was a veteran general, so Xiangyang did not need heavy defense.
At this time, Sun En was causing trouble, and Sima Yuanxian was afraid that Huan Xuan would take advantage of this incident to advance eastward, so he quickly agreed to Huan Xuan's request.
From Sima Yuanxian's point of view, the governor of Jiangzhou was Huan Xuan anyway, and he was willing to let Huan Wei do whatever he wanted, but only asked him not to cause trouble.
Huan Wei was transferred to be the governor of Jiangzhou. Huan Xuan did not recommend the governor of Yongzhou. Instead, he asked General Sima Diao Chang to guard Xiangyang and supervise the military affairs of eight counties.
Diao Chang is the second brother of Diao Kui who kidnapped and beat Liu Yu. The father of Diao Yun, who bet with Yang Anxuan in Beijing, is the third son Diao Hong.
The Diao family was from Rao'an, Bohai Sea. His ancestor Diao Xie was a minister, and he died in the Ping Wang Dun Rebellion. His father was Beizhong Langjiang and Xu Yan, the governor of two states. He was in Guangling. The Diao family was a top-grade family.
Up to Diao Kui's generation, the three brothers did not attach great importance to honor and integrity, and they liked to acquire property. They owned more than 10,000 hectares of land in Jingkou and Guangling areas, and had thousands of slaves at home.
Because of Zu Yin, Diao Kui was the governor of Guangzhou and the general of Pingyue Zhonglang; Diao Chang was the general of the auxiliary state and the Sima of Jingzhou; Diao Hong was the governor of Jizhou and the Sima of Fujun.
Then Huanxuan ordered generals Feng Gai and Huangfu to garrison at Penkou, and forcibly moved more than 2,000 barbarian households in the Jushui and Zhangshui areas to the south of the Yangtze River and established Wuning County. Then the refugees were recruited and Sui'an County was established.
The imperial court summoned Diao Kui, the governor of Guangzhou, and Guo Changzhi, the governor of Yuzhang, back to Beijing to report on their duties. They were passing through Yuzhang, but Huan Xuan forcibly detained them and refused to let them go.
Huan Xuanqiang kept Diao Kui and Guo Changzhi, not to embarrass them, but because according to the court system, new officials could not take office until the old officials arrived at the court to report their duties. With these two people stranded in Yuzhang, the court could not appoint new officials. officials took over.
Sure enough, when the court heard the news, there was nothing they could do.
After making military adjustments, his confidant Bian Fanzhi suggested that he restore the system of county ministers and support his cronies to control the internal affairs of each county.
The system of county magistrates began in the Qin Dynasty. The magistrates were directly appointed by the court to assist the prefects in managing government affairs. The purpose was to allow the court to directly intervene in local politics. It was abolished several times during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and was abolished again in the seventh year of Xiankang Emperor Kangxi of Jin Dynasty. It has never been restored.
After Huanxuan captured the three prefectures of Jing, Jiang, and Yong, in order to avoid direct conflict with the court, he did not drive away the prefects of each county appointed by the court. Now that he feels full of power, Huan Xuan must of course strengthen the control of each county.
He secretly appointed his cronies as county magistrates, and the military strength of each county was controlled by Huan Xuan. Soon the county governor became a deaf ear - a decoration.
After these adjustments to the layout, Huan Xuan felt that his troops were strong, three points better than his father's before, and he set his sights on Jingkou ambitiously.
Under Huan Xuan's suggestion, various places presented auspicious signs one after another to build momentum for him and began to take the road to the Jin Dynasty.
When he learned that Sun En had been defeated and left, Huan Xuan did not want the court to live in peace during the New Year, so he wrote a letter to King Sima Daozi of Kuaiji (1), directly denounced the wrongdoings in the government.
In a letter to Sima Daozi, Huan Xuan aggrieved Wang Gong's death and rebuked loyal men for being excluded from the court, and the rulers appointing profit-seeking villains, which caused Sun En to cause disaster; and the gentleman in court "feared harm to his body." ”, Che Yin, the official minister, and Jiang Ji, the censor, were unjustly killed. The implication was to bring order to the court.
The person in charge of the court was Sima Yuanxian, but the letter was written to Sima Daozi, which also showed Huanxuan's dissatisfaction with Sima Yuanxian's son seizing paternal power.
Huan Xuan's letter was not delivered to Sima Daozi, but was forwarded to Sima Yuanxian by the Menxia Province.
When Sima Yuanxian saw Huan Xuan openly expressing his dissatisfaction with him, he was so frightened that he immediately summoned his close associates Zhang Fashun, Wang Dan and others for discussion.
After Zhang Fashun and others read the letter, Wang Dan looked pale and said: "The disloyalty of the Duke of Nanjun is clearly visible on the paper. The minister ordered that precautions be taken early."
Sima Yuanxian glared at Wang Dan, what a waste of words. He looked at Zhang Fashun and said, "Sir, how do you think we should deal with it?"
Zhang Fashun said solemnly: "Huan Xuan continued his family's reputation and qualifications, and annexed the three states of Jing, Jiang, and Yong, and became powerful. Shangshu Ling controlled the center, but in fact he only controlled the land of San Wu. Now that Sun En has rebelled, San Wu The land has suffered huge losses, the imperial treasury has been depleted, and the people are in dire straits. It is really worrying that Huan Xuan saw this opportunity and wanted to launch an army to cause rebellion."
Sima Yuanxian let out a long sigh and said, "What can we do?"
Wang Dan was the first to respond: "The imperial court should send an envoy to Jiangling to appease Huan Xuan."
He Si shook his head repeatedly and said, "Huan Xuan is so ambitious that his tendency to be gentle will only fuel his arrogance."
Zhang Fashun nodded and said, "What Nei Shi said is true. Huan Xuan is pressing forward step by step and cannot just give in."
Sima Yuanxian sat weakly on the couch and said, "I am afraid that the soldiers and horses in the court will not be able to resist Huan Xuan."
Zhang Fashun said: "Don't worry, Shangshu. Huanxuan has occupied Jingzhou not long ago, and the people are not attached to it. If he rashly raises an army, I'm afraid there will be internal chaos first. I think the court is not incapable of coping with the changes in Jingzhou."
Sima Yuanxian sat up straight, looked at Zhang Fashun and said, "Sir, please clear up my confusion."
"To resist Huan Xuan, Shangshu Ling has three troops and horses in his hands." Zhang Fashun shook his feather fan and became calm, saying: "The strength of the Beifu Army is still there, and it can be the main force to resist Jingzhou's troops."
Sima Yuanxian said excitedly: "Yes, the Beifu Army still has tens of thousands of elite soldiers and generals, which are enough to fight Huan Xuan."
Wang Dan suggested: "Liu Yu, the governor of Xiapi, has repeatedly defeated Sun En. He is a talented general in the Beifu army. The minister may as well send him as the vanguard."
Sima Yuanxian nodded and said: "Yes, this Liu Yu is now General Jianwu. I have ordered him to be transferred to Zhenbei Prefecture to join the army, to train Beifu troops and horses, and prepare to fight against Huan Xuan."
Zhang Fashun said: "There is also Yang Anxuan."
Sima Yuanxian pondered and said: "Yang Anxuan is far away in Yingchuan and Xingyang. He needs to guard against Qin and Wei. He is afraid that he will be beyond the reach of the whip."
Zhang Fashun clapped his feather fan and said: "Yang Anxuan and Huan Xuan have a grudge against killing their father. If they get the imperial edict, they will definitely attack with all their strength. He can be ordered to command the soldiers and horses of the four counties of Xingyang, Yingchuan, Henan and Runan to seize Xiangyang and intimidate him. Jiangling, contain Huan Xuan."
Sima Yuanxian thought for a while, nodded and said, "You can order the Ministry of War to secretly issue military orders and let Yang Anxuan prepare in advance."
Wang Dan asked: "Yang Anxuan was in charge of the military affairs of the five counties. Why did Mr. Zhang miss Xiangcheng?"
"Sima Xiuzhi, the prefect of Xiangcheng, is the younger brother of Sima Shangzhi, the king of Qiao. He can be ordered to lead the soldiers and horses of this county south to Liyang to assist his brother in guarding the Yangtze River and blocking the soldiers and horses of Jing and Jiang from going down the river." Zhang Fashun said eloquently.
Sima Yuanxian clasped his palms together and said with a smile: "Blessed by the gods and Buddhas, after hearing what you said, I felt confident. You are worthy of being the king's assistant."
Zhang Fashun smiled and bowed, saying: "Thank you very much, Minister of Literature, for your compliments. The soldiers and horses of Jing and Jiang came down the river."
The possibility is extremely high. In Liyang, King Qiao used the original Jingkou Jiangjiang Patrol Camp as the basis. He had been practicing naval training for many years. He had nearly a thousand warships and five to six thousand naval personnel. He cooperated with the Beifu Navy and the Jingzhong Navy in fighting. Why should he be afraid? The naval divisions of Jing and Jiang headed eastward. "
While they were talking, the clerk outside the door came in and said, "Shang Shu Ling, a secret message has been delivered."
After reading the secret letter, Sima Yuan was overjoyed and said with a smile: "Sir, if you have foresight, people in Jingzhou were not attached to it just now, but now someone has written a letter and is willing to respond."
Zhang Fashun received the letter from Sima Yuanxian. The letter was written by Yu Kai, the prefect of Wuchang. At that time, Yu Kai joined forces with Wang Gong and Yin Zhongkan to rebel. As a result, Yang Anxuan attacked Liyang City in a surprise attack and had to escape to Xunyang. He defected to Huan Xuan. .
Afterwards, the court appeased Yin Zhongkan, Huan Xuan, Yang Quanqi and others, but did not pardon the troublemaker Yu Kai. Yu Kai had to accept Huan Xuan's arrangement and serve as the prefect of Wuchang.
From the governor of Yuzhou to the prefect of Wuchang, his official position became smaller and smaller, so Yu Kai naturally felt dissatisfied. Later, Huan Xuan sent the county magistrate to oust Yu Kai. Yu Kai hurt himself and drank wine every day.
Yu Kai noticed that Huan Xuan was planning to advance eastward with strong troops. He recalled that his family, Wang Gong and the Yin Zhongkan family joined forces and were defeated by the court. Huan Xuan's move was seeking his own death.
His son Yu Hong advised: "My lord, why don't you submit a letter to the court as an internal response. When the matter is accomplished, the court will reward you for your merits, and you will be able to be re-employed."
Zhang Fashun excitedly patted Yu Kai's secret letter and said to Sima Yuanxian: "Heaven helps Shangshu Ling here. Without further delay, please ask Shangshu Ling for an order. Yu then set off for Jingkou and persuaded Liu Laozhi to lead the Beifu army as a vanguard. .”
Sima Yuanxian stood up, bowed to Zhang Fashun and said, "Thank you sir, I will not hesitate to reward you on the day of success."
