Hengdao Sixteen Kingdoms

Chapter 371 Expansion
Liang Yan confronted each other, and Bingzhou's strategic position became increasingly prominent.

Xiangguo, Changshan, Handan, Yecheng and Bingzhou are only one mountain apart.

The Yan army could not capture Liang State, so its attention naturally focused on Bingzhou. Once Bingzhou was captured, Yan State's predicament would be gone.

Even if the Liang Kingdom cannot be destroyed for a while, they can still annex the Xiongnu in the Hetao area to the west, compete for the rich Hedong to the south, and at the same time form a geographical suppression of the Liang Kingdom.

The Liang State set its capital in Yecheng, and the Yan State could send an overwhelming army to besiege it for several years, cutting off the connection between Yecheng and the Central Plains.

Even if Yecheng cannot be captured, the Liang Kingdom will fall apart.

The atmosphere of war once again filled the land of Hebei.

And Liang Guo's innovation has also reached the most critical step.

The foundation of the gentry's power was the system of counties and counties. The elimination of counties was equivalent to the elimination of the "county prestige" of the gentry's power.

Since the county was to be removed and divided into states, the land must be inventoried. The powerful nobles may not care about the "prefecture", but they must be taboo about the land inventory.

Although Wang Meng, Cui Jin, and Chang Wei cleaned up many illegal tycoons in various places, there were still many fish that slipped through the net. Clear investigation of the land meant that they had to bear more taxes.

Li Yue looked at Taishan's battle report. Liu Laozhi's performance was indeed outstanding, and he almost sealed the victory.

According to the military merit system, Liu Laozhi was promoted to the fifth rank for his ability to kill generals and defeat the enemy, and was promoted to three ranks in a row, becoming the leader of the army.

Sun Yuan's original intention was to rely on Taishan to defend himself, and kept dragging on, disrupting the process of innovation, but unexpectedly he was quickly defeated by the Black Cloud Army.

All the powerful people from all over the Central Plains fell silent.

On the surface, no one dares to resist the implementation of the removal of counties and state divisions.

However, this is also a huge project and difficult to complete in a short time.

Chang Wei coordinated the planning at Shangshutai, Cui Jin was responsible for the inventory of Qi, and Wang Meng was responsible for the core Central Plains area.

Everything is in order, but things in this world are never smooth sailing.

"Your Highness, Huan Wen led [-] elite soldiers to march north to Wancheng. Zhu Xu's [-] troops were the vanguard and stationed in Ye County. The armies of Murong Ke, Murong Ping, and Mu Yugen successively gathered towards Changshan." Zhang Shengye brought the latest news.

Huan Wen was different from Yin Hao. If he hadn't been interested in Guanzhong, Fu Shi might not have been able to pass him.

Even if Huan Wen finally chose to retreat, he severely damaged Di Qin, and both Prince Fu Chang and Prime Minister Fu Xiong died indirectly at his hands.

Cui Hong said: "Could it be that Huan Wen is planning another Northern Expedition?"

"Inseparable from ten! Luoyang is the old capital of the Jin Dynasty, and the tombs of the Sima family are all here. Huan Wen captured Luoyang and his prestige was greatly enhanced. No one in Jiangdong could resist him." Li Yue didn't pay much attention.

Yao Xiang was asked to take over this place for today.

In the current situation, Liang Guo and Jing Xiang are still allies.

"Is Yao Xiang willing to give up Luoyang?" Cui Hong asked the most critical question.

Yao Xiang is a die-hard ally.

Huan Wen's northern expedition to Luoyang, Liang Guo could not stay out of it.

Last year, Liang Yan fought, and Yao Xiang fully supported it.

Now that he is in trouble, Liang Guo is indifferent, which will chill his allies.

"As envoy to Luoyang, let's see what Yao Xiang wants first." Li Yue felt that the problem in the south should not be big. Yao Xiang had never thought about running Luoyang. His thoughts were always on Hedong and Guanzhong.

"Fu Jian is dead and Fu Sheng has succeeded. It is a good time to march into Guanzhong. Why not support Yao Xiang's march to the west?" Cui Hong is relatively reliable as long as his family interests are not involved.

Li Yue thought for a while and then said: "Although Fu Jian is dead, the essence of the Fu family is still there. I'm afraid Yao Xiang is no match."

Fu Jian left Fu Sheng a very complete team.

There are many capable ministers and generals, such as Fu Fei, Fu Shuo, Fu Huangmei, Deng Qiang and others who have become famous. However, under Yao Xiang's command, except for one Yao Chang who is acceptable, the others are of middle or upper level.They originally captured most of the cities in Hedong, but they were suppressed by Zhang Ping, Zhang Hao and his son, and even Anyi was lost.

Yao Xiang couldn't even defeat Zhang Ping, let alone attack Fu.

Cui Hong touched his nose and said, "It might be a good idea to let Yao Xiang try it..."

A few days later, Yao Xiang's reply arrived. He was unwilling to abandon Luoyang so easily, and was not ready for a counterattack. He decided to give Huan Wen a try first. After all, Huan Wen only had a small number of troops, only 4 or [-] people.

Yao Xiang had an army of [-] to [-] men. How could Yao Xiang be willing to give up Luoyang without even touching it?

The letter contained more or less contempt for Jiang Dong.

During Yin Hao's Northern Expedition two years ago, Yao Xiang and Zhang Yu pressed down chicken feathers on the ground and rubbed them.

The food and ordnance stored in Jiangdong were given away, and Yao Xiang returned to his peak condition in one breath.

Now Huan Wen's Northern Expedition, in his opinion, is like a sheep entering the tiger's mouth.

Yao Xiang waited for work in leisure and refused to defend the strong city and the strong pass. He had many soldiers and sufficient food. How could he think that his chances of victory were high?

"Yao Xiang underestimated the enemy too much." Li Yue sighed.

Cui Hong smiled and said: "His Highness seems not to be optimistic about Yao Xiang?"

"Yao Xiang used his troops and lost more than he won. If he didn't realize that Huan Wen was powerful, he would definitely fall into trouble."

"Yao Xiang's defeat will only make him rely more on His Highness, which is not a bad thing." Cui Hong became more and more like a sinister counselor.

"I will write another letter to persuade him to retreat to Hanoi. Huan Wen will not stay in Luoyang for a long time. It will not be too late to return to Luoyang after he retreats." In view of his past kindness, Li Yue decided to give him another hand. .

Cui Hong did not dwell on this issue, "I believe that the big trouble now is not in the south, but in the north. Murong Ke is here in person for this battle. His plans are not trivial. Your Highness must be careful."

In the last battle, it was Murong Jun and Murong Chui who were defeated, not Murong Ke.

Now that Murong Ke has gone out to fight in person, this battle cannot be trivial in any case.

"Could he want to interrupt our innovation process?" Li Yue thought for a while.

Doesn't seem like much.

Murong Ke stationed troops in Changshan, then he would attack Julu or Yecheng.

Yecheng is as solid as a rock. From a military perspective, it is impossible to attack from the outside. There are Li Yang and Fangtou behind it. How many troops does Murong Ke have to fill in?
"No, Murong Ke's purpose this time is probably not us!" Li Yue's eyes moved westward from the location of Changshan Mountain on the map, passed through the Taihang Mountains, and landed on Bingzhou.

"Bingzhou?" Cui Hong said in surprise, "Murong Ke, Mu Yugen, and Murong Ping are here in person. This time Zhang Ping is in great danger!"

By capturing Bingzhou, Yan State gained a geographical advantage over Liang State.

The rise of Liang State severely curbed the expansion of Yan State.

But from the perspective of the overall environment, Yan State is still on the offensive, while Liang State is on the defensive due to reforms and internal purges.

Murong Ke picked a good time.

Li Yueruo led his troops to compete with him to merge the state. If he led more troops, domestic innovation would inevitably be affected. If he led fewer troops, he would not be Murong Ke's opponent.

There was more than one Murong Ke in the Yan Kingdom, and there were also Murong Chui, Yue Wan, Murong Jun and others, all of whom were veteran generals on the battlefield.

"Perhaps Zhang Ping...can stop Murong Ke?" Cui Hong's voice did not have much confidence.

Since Murong Ke led the army, he has only been defeated by Ran Min, but he was the winner in the end, and his opponents without exception suffered heavy losses.

Li Yue never forgot that Bo Wu and Chen Duan both died at his hands...

(End of this chapter)