In Chang'an City, Yan Shangshu Lang Zhang Gang returned to Honglu Temple in dismay. Seven days ago, he submitted the credentials of the State of Yan and asked the State of Qin to send troops to rescue the State of Yan. Until now, Emperor Qin Yao Xing has not received him.
After arriving in Chang'an for a few days, Zhang Gang also found out that the current situation of the Qin State was not good. Daxia was attacking from the north, Liang was causing chaos in the west, and even the Qin State in the west was resurrected.
The Qin State sent troops to conquer many times, but all failed and returned, losing troops and generals, and were far less powerful than in previous years. Emperor Qin deliberately did not summon him. It seemed that he did not want to send troops to rescue Yan.
Reinforcement is like putting out a fire. Thinking of his mother and family in Guanggu City, Zhang Gang was worried. If he really couldn't do it, he would go to the Qin Court to learn from Baoxu and cry tomorrow, and he must meet Qin Emperor Yao Xing.
The attendant hurriedly entered the room and reported, "Zhang Shangshulang, Han Shangshu Ling is here."
Zhang Gang stood up in surprise and said: "Did your Majesty send Han Shangshu Ling as an envoy? Now the Yan State is saved."
When Han Fan arrives, Yao Xing cannot disappear. On July 6, Emperor Yao Xing of Qin summoned Yan envoys Han Fan and Zhang Gang in Taiji Hall. Han Fan submitted Murong Chao's personal credentials and begged Qin to send troops to rescue him.
Yao Xing pretended to read the credentials, smiling bitterly in his heart. Zhang Gang asked for help, but he deliberately delayed it because he wanted to wait until the Jin army broke through Guanggu City and the Yan Kingdom was destroyed, so he would not have to worry about the rescue.
The arrival of Han Fan forced him to face the matter of rescuing Yan. Firstly, Han Fan was the minister of Yan State. Secondly, Han Fan had a personal relationship with him, and he had to give an answer both publicly and privately.
In recent years, the war has been repeatedly defeated, and the deaths of his uncles Yao Shuode and Yao Xu have made the already difficult Qin state even worse. In order to make up for the shortage of state funds, Yao Xing decreed to increase the commercial tax at Guanjin Ferry and levy additional taxes on Yanzhushan wood. Knowing that doing so would quench his thirst and would intensify domestic conflicts, Yao Xing had no choice but to do so.
Regarding rescuing Yan, Yao Xing privately asked Yao Chong, Yin Wei, Yang Fosong and others, and everyone believed that rescuing Yan was unlikely. To send troops from Chang'an to Guanggu, the overland route had to pass through the Siyan area of Jin State. The road was far away and blocked by mountains. Yang Anxuan could not sit idly by. When the Qin State was strong, it sent troops to attack Luoyang several times but could not conquer it. Now it is even more impossible to successfully pass through with fewer soldiers and fewer generals.
Rescue Yan from the waterway also requires passing through several water fortresses of the Jin army. A detailed report was made that 3,000 Sizhou naval forces were stationed in the Mengjinguan area, and there were also checkpoints at Hulao Pass. The Qin navy was weak and might not be a match for the Jin navy.
Going to save Yan is tantamount to feeding the tiger with meat, making the already weak national power more difficult. However, if you ignore it, the reputation of the suzerain country will be affected. It is really a dilemma.
Shangshu Zuopushe Yin Wei admonished: "Qin and Jin have good relations. Yan is a vassal of Qin. It is unreasonable for Jin to send troops to besiege Qin's vassal. Your Majesty can send envoys to persuade Liu Yu to withdraw. If the Jin army If they refuse to retreat, it won’t be too late to send troops to rescue them.”
Yao Xing nodded and said: "Yin Qing is an old man who wants to plan for the country, so he asked Sun Xuan, the right prime minister of Shangshu, to go and persuade Liu Yu, the Shangshu of Jin, to withdraw his troops."
In fact, Yao Xing knew clearly in his heart that now that Jin was strong and Qin was weak, and Guanggu City was about to fall, how could Liu Yu retreat. The purpose of sending envoys to persuade Han Fan was to frustrate Han Fan. This trip would take more than twenty days, and Guanggu City might have been destroyed by the Jin army.
In Guanggu City, Liu Yu received the decree of the imperial court to award a reward, and he was so annoyed that he told everyone: "Yu led his army to leave the capital, and Yuan Zhan, Wu Yinzhi and others were unable to control the court situation. If I wait until the Yan Kingdom is pacified and Yu returns to the court, then I can award the reward." How could Yang Zijing be the governor of Beiqing Prefecture? How could there be so many Yong Prefecture generals who have received titles and titles?"
"Lord, Yang Anxuan led his army south. Brothers Sima Guofan and Sima Shufan of Wuyuan City captured Murong Yu and surrendered to the city. It is urgent to prevent Yang Anxuan from cutting off our army's retreat," Liu Muzhi reminded.
Liu Yu said calmly: "The imperial decree has been issued and the territory of Yan State has been divided. Even if he occupies Chengxian, Lanling, Wuyuan and other places, he still has to hand them over to Xuzhou. There is no need to worry about him cutting off the road unless he Want to rebel."
Liu Jingxuan sighed: "Yang Anxuan is both wise and brave, and he is truly a powerful enemy of the Lord."
In order to appease Liu Yu, Sima Dewen gave up the post of Taiwei. Liu Yu put down the edict, thought for a while and said: "In the past, Duke Xie defeated 800,000 former Qin soldiers and horses, but he was not awarded the title of Taiwei. He had not yet captured Guanggu and destroyed the Yan Kingdom. He really did not dare to occupy the position of Taiwei. Mu. He went to report to the emperor on behalf of Yu, and resigned from the title of Taiwei."
Tan Shao rushed in excitedly and said with a smile: "Just now, a group of people in the inner city of Guanggu jumped out of the wall and surrendered to the lord."
Liu Yu looked happy. After he issued the order to surrender, Nanyan officials surrendered to Jin one after another. Feng Rong, the head of the Feng family, the largest family in Qi, came with 60,000 shi of grain and more than a thousand cattle and sheep to reward the army and express his surrender.
Feng Rong was the younger brother of Zuo Pushe Feng Song, the former minister of Nanyan. Feng Song was torn apart by Murong overtaking him and died. Feng Rong, who was then Zhonglang General, fled to the Northern Wei Dynasty. During the Jin army's Northern Expedition, Feng Rong took advantage of the chaos and returned to Yan State, gathered his tribe and bandits to attack Shisai City, and then defected to Liu Yu.
The Feng family has a high prestige in Qi. Feng Rong's surrender led to the surrender of the entire Qi. Liu Yu selected talented people and awarded them official positions. The people of Qi and Le'an counties returned to their hearts. Every day, hundreds of people brought weapons. , carrying food and came to join the army.
Tan Shao smiled and said: "The people who returned to surrender in the Ming Dynasty are Yuan Zun, the Minister of the Yan Dynasty, and his brother Yuan Miao, the prefect of Jingzhao."
This is the largest official surrender in Guanggu City so far. Liu Muzhi smiled and said: "The Yuan brothers are the cronies of Emperor Yan. They all jumped over the wall to submit to the lord, which shows that the soldiers in Guanggu City have no fighting spirit. The lord may as well increase the reward. A thousand gold coins.”
Liu Yu summoned the Yuan brothers and appointed Yuan Zun and Yuan Miao to join the army and fight with the army.
The brothers Yuan Zun and Yuan Miao jumped over the wall and surrendered to the Jin Dynasty, which allowed Murong Chao to tighten his control over the city wall. Ministers and generals had to travel together in several groups to monitor each other when patrolling the city.
Liu Yu stepped up his attack on the inner city of Guanggu. The Jin army scaled the city wall several times, but was driven back by the Yan army. Both sides suffered casualties and were in a stalemate.
On July 23, Sun Xuan, the envoy of the State of Qin, came to the outer city of Guanggu and asked to see Liu Yu, the Secretary of the Jin Dynasty and the governor of Yangzhou, and presented the letter of credence written by Yao Xing to Liu Yu.
In his credential, Yao Xing warned Liu Yu that the Yan State was a vassal state of the Qin State, and the Jin State would offend the Qin State by sending troops to attack the Yan State. The Qin State had already sent 100,000 cavalry to Tongguan. If the Jin State did not withdraw its troops and cease the war, 100,000 The cavalry will occupy Luoyang and march all the way to attack Jin.
Liu Yu glanced at it, threw Qin's credentials on the case, and said coldly to Sun Xuan: "Go back and tell your monarch that after Yu has conquered Yan, he will lead his army to attack Chang'an. Even if Qin has millions of cavalry, In the eyes of a fool, they are nothing more than chickens and dogs."
Sun Xuan blushed with anger and said angrily: "If Liu Lu Shang Shushi replied like this, then let's wait until the two countries meet in arms."
When Sun Xuan left angrily, Liu Muzhi said on the side: "My lord intends to anger the envoy of Qin. Does he want to use Qin's power to contain Yang Anxuan?"
Liu Yu said with a smile: "Yes, Yang Anxuan took advantage of the chaos to rob, and Yu Zao wanted to take revenge. The State of Qin came to the door, and if Yu could provoke Qin to send troops, he would be relieved."
Liu Muzhi shook his head and asked, "My lord, do you think Qin will send troops to save Yan?"
Liu Yu stroked his beard and thought for a moment, then said: "If Qin really wanted to save Yan, it would have sent troops long ago. How could it have sent envoys to threaten it. Qin is now in constant internal troubles and has no power to send troops. I guess it was Yan who asked Qin for help, so Yao Xing had to Make a gesture to show to the Yan people."
…………
When King Langya learned that the Sima Guofan brothers had returned to the Jin Kingdom, he asked Yang Anxuan to send the two clan uncles to Beijing as soon as possible. The clan was weak, so Sima Dewen wanted to appoint brother Sima Guofan to support the royal family.
In Wuyuan City, Yang Anxuan sent school captain Wang Quanyi to escort brothers Sima Guofan and Sima Shufan to the capital, while Murong Yu, a surrendered general of the Yan army, was sent to sit under Lu Zong of Sizhou.
When the news came that the Qin State sent an envoy to persuade Liu Yu to withdraw from the army, Yang Anxuan sneered and said: "Yao Xing is fierce in appearance and has a weak heart, and he even makes such superficial remarks."
Xu Jing, a military officer, reminded: "Liu Yuzhang intends to humiliate the Qin envoys and provoke Qin to send troops. My lord must be on guard."
Yang Anxuan smiled. He and Liu Yu had the same guess. They believed that the Qin State came to provoke the Jin State despite constant hidden dangers.
Zhang Feng advised: "My lord, you often say that if you are not afraid of ten thousand, be afraid of the worst. No matter whether the Qin army attacks or not, you must be prepared."
Yang Anxuan glanced at Zhang Feng, nodded and said: "You are right, but I am a little careless. Anyuan took away three thousand soldiers and horses from Luoyang, and the navy sailed to Donglai County. Luoyang is indeed empty, and we have to return to the division to defend. "
After thinking for a moment, Yang Anxuan said: "The imperial decree has been issued. Yang Zijing is appointed governor of Beiqingzhou. Uncle Jiu can go to take up the post as soon as possible and take charge of Beiqingzhou. Qingzhi can guard Linqu City."
"After Uncle Jiu took office, he ordered Yang Anyuan and the Sizhou Navy to return to Luoyang. Hu Fan stayed as the Sima of Beiqingzhou. Liu Zhong led the Xiangyang Navy to Xingyang and served as the Sima of Yanzhou and the prefect of Xingyang."
Zhang Feng said: "With most of Beiqingzhou's troops and horses being transferred away, I'm afraid it will be difficult to control the situation."
Yang Anxuan smiled bitterly. The territory was expanding too fast, and the problem of insufficient soldiers and horses under his men was revealed. The time for his rise was too short, and he would encounter various problems in the future.
Yang Anxuan paid close attention to the battle situation in Guanggu, and naturally knew that Liu Yu used the name of the court to appease the people, select talents, and gained the support of the noble families and officials of Yan State. Even the officials and people of Donglai, Guangcheng and other counties probably regarded him as his leader. The soldiers and horses are the king's division. If Liu Yu led his army there, maybe the local people would eat pots of pulp to welcome the king's army.
Just as Zhang Feng feared, he transferred Yang Anyuan and the navy, leaving Beiqingzhou with a serious shortage of troops. If there was a change, it would be too late.
The land of Beiqingzhou was occupied by Later Zhao, Former Yan and Former Qin for a long time. After the Battle of Feishui, it was recovered by the Jin Dynasty. Soon after, it was owned by Murongde of the Southern Yan Dynasty. Xianbei, Qiang, Di, Xiongnu, Jie and Han people lived together. Han Chinese do not constitute the majority.
To bring all ethnic groups back together, it will take at least five or six years to work hard and implement benevolent policies. After careful consideration, Yang Anxuan intended to let Kong Yi go to govern, but it was too early to say yet.
"Zhang Feng, you lead 30,000 soldiers and horses from Wuyuan to the north, pass through Donghai County and go to Chengyang County. After arriving in Chengyang, let Yang Anyuan and the others return to Luoyang." Yang Anxuan ordered.
There are more than 40,000 soldiers and horses in Wuyuan City, but most of them are stationed troops. Zhang Feng was a little worried and said: "I have brought 30,000 soldiers and horses. What will happen to Wuyuan, Lanling, and Chengxian?"
"The imperial court has decreed that these cities should be handed over to Donghai County. Of course you must obey the decree." Yang Anxuan said: "The remaining soldiers and horses will be brought back to Xintai City."
Yang Anxuan glanced at Xu Jing and said: "Xu Zhongan, you will be appointed as the prefect of Mount Tai, and Xu Xiaozhong will be transferred to serve as the county commander."
Xu Jing was ecstatic, bowed deeply to the ground, and said gratefully: "I am willing to serve my lord as a dog and horse."
Some people died, but not completely...
