Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 133 Solace

Yecheng was already in chaos at this time, and Ran Min was defeated and captured. For those who stayed behind, it was like a bolt from the blue.

Youdao knows the strong grass in the strong wind, the sincere minister in the rough and turbulent, and the generous people of Yan and Zhao are not the only two people who committed suicide to become benevolent, Situ Liu Mao and Te Jin Lang Kai.

When Prince Ran Zhi of Wei was at a loss, Wei general Jiang Gan stepped forward to help Ran Zhi stabilize the situation in the city, and then sent an envoy to Xie Shang to wait for help.

But there was no food in the city, all the troops and horses had been killed, and they could only feed on human flesh.

At that time, Shi Hu forcibly recruited women from the people and placed them in the Ye Palace. There were tens of thousands of them.

And these women with miserable life experiences have now become the food rations for the defenders of Yecheng. Jiang Gan calculated carefully that the meat reserve is enough for them to hold on for several months.

Yecheng became a purgatory on earth.

At this time, General Xie Shang, General Jianwu, and Puyang Governor Dai Shi were stationed at Fangtou (Qimendu, Jun County, Henan).

The Wei envoy asked for help, and Dai Shi asked about the whereabouts of the Chuanguo Jade Seal. He learned that Shang was still in Yecheng, and decided to obtain the Chuanguo Jade Seal by fraud.

So he ordered He Rong to join the army and lead a hundred soldiers to follow the envoy to Yecheng. He lied that the army would move north soon, so as to persuade An Ranzhi, Jiang Qian and others.

But before He Rong left, he secretly told him that he would try his best to send back the imperial seal.

The jade seal passed down from the Qin Dynasty and through the Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties has always been a symbol of monarchy.

At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the jade seal was obtained by the former Zhao Dynasty. Shi Le destroyed the former Zhao Dynasty and was sent to Yecheng. It was passed on to the Shi family. Now it is naturally controlled by Ran Wei.

Just when the situation in Ran Wei was in danger, Huan Xi's car had also stayed in Qinzhou for a long time.

Although Huan Xi's itinerary was not different from that in Liangzhou, which was to select soldiers, appease the scholars, and have a close relationship with Qinzhou officials.

However, Xie Ai, the governor of Jincheng, was always uneasy and always felt that there was something fishy.

Many people in Liangzhou believe that Huan Xi's aspirations lie in the east rather than the west, and they think they can rest easy.

But a tiger has a harmless heart, but a tiger can hurt others. Even if Zhang Chonghua has no intention of starting a war with Huan Xi, Huan Xi must get rid of his worries before he can go east with peace of mind.

Huan Xi and Wang Meng understood this, as did Xie Ai.

Therefore, since guarding Jincheng County, Xie Ai has been actively preparing for war, just in case Huan Xi tears up the peace treaty and raids Liangzhou one day.

Now that Governor Huan Xi was marching westward with five thousand cavalry, Xie Ai was even more vigilant and sent sentry cavalry to patrol the borders of both sides all day long.

Several years had passed since the battle that day, and the morale of the Liangzhou soldiers had long been restored. However, because Zhang Chonghua was content with enjoying himself and had no intention of governing, the country's strength did not advance but retreated.

Under the governance of Huan Xi and Wang Meng, Guan Long prospered, and the gap in strength between the two sides widened.

It’s not like Xie Ai has never had the experience of using the weak against the strong. He defeated the large with less three times, leaving Shi Hu helpless and sighing:

‘I used partial troops to target the Nine Provinces, but now I am using the power of the Nine Provinces to trap me in Fanhan. There is no one there, and there is no way to conquer it. ’

But Xie Ai's opponents are no longer Ma Qiu, Wang Zhuo and others. Huan Xi has never been defeated since he led the army.

Facing such an opponent, if you are not careful, you will lose everything.

In fact, Huan Xi has been showing favor to Xie Ai secretly over the years, and Xie Ai has noticed it.

Why wouldn't he want to assist such a hero to bring peace to troubled times and achieve immortal fame?

But Zhang Chonghua was too kind to him.

Xie Ai was originally a scholar, serving as an officer in charge, and had never had the experience of leading an army in combat. It was Zhang Chonghua who followed Sima Zhang Dan's advice and chose to trust Xie Ai, promoted him to an exceptional position, entrusted him with important tasks, and put his personal The honor, disgrace, and the rise and fall of the clan were all entrusted to Xie Ai, giving him the opportunity to make contributions.

It is not a gentleman to know a favor but not repay it. Although Zhang Chonghua once doubted himself, Xie Ai had already made up his mind to live up to the righteousness of the emperor and his ministers.

Just when Xie Ai was on guard against Huan Xi's raid on Liangzhou, a horse rode north from Tianshui and came again to deliver a message for Huan Xi. However, this time, Huan Xi may have learned the lesson from Xie Ai's failure to open the envelope. This time he brought a message with him. It's a message.

Zhang Shisheng, who once pretended to surrender to Zhang Chonghua, was brought to Xie Ai. In order to avoid suspicion, Xie Ai specially called all the Jincheng generals over and asked in front of everyone:

"Mr. Huan, you brought a message. What is the purpose of it?"

Zhang Shisheng did not have stage fright, he said:

"The general came to compose a poem when he was free, and asked the uncle of Fulu County to listen to it. It was titled: On behalf of the uncle of Fulu County, I would like to sing a poem for a chaste woman to comfort me."

Fulu County Bo is Xie Ai's title.

Everyone was curious when they heard what he said.

Just listen to Zhang Shisheng chanting:

"You know that I have a husband, so you give me a pair of pearls.

"I feel your lingering affection, tied in a red lining.

"My concubine's house is surrounded by tall buildings and gardens, and the beloved man is holding a halberd in the bright light.

“I know that your intentions are like the sun and the moon, and your vows are as important as life and death.

"Huanjun's pearls are both shedding tears, why don't we meet again when we are not married."

After reciting the poem, everyone was amazed. Even Xie Ai was moved by it, feeling that this poem expressed all the entanglements and anguish in his heart.

Zhang Shisheng continued:

"The general has a message to give to the uncle of Fulu County. He once made a peace treaty with Zhang Gong of Liangzhou. Even if he dies, he will not do anything treacherous.

"This trip to the west is just to inspect various places, listen to the sufferings of the people, and detect lawlessness. "I will set off to return eastward in a few days, so there is no need to worry about it, Fulu County uncle. "

Zhang Shisheng conveyed a message to Huan Xi and left immediately. The generals and assistants had dispersed. Xie Ai felt melancholy in his heart. The song written by Huan Xi to comfort him made him unable to calm down for a long time.

In late June of the eighth year of Yonghe (AD 352), Huan Xi finally embarked on his return journey after touring the counties in Qinzhou. He was accompanied by a thousand soldiers selected from Longyou and their families.

Previously, 1,300 people had been selected in Liangzhou. Therefore, there were still 2,700 vacancies among the 5,000 soldiers, which would be filled in Yongzhou. After all, most of the population under Huanxi's rule was concentrated in Yongzhou.

In the past, when soldiers were lost in battles, they would be selected first among their brothers and nephews. If there were really no people who met the criteria, they would be selected among state and county soldiers.

Even for the prefecture and county soldiers in Yongzhou, the opportunity to expand the army by five thousand at one time is equally rare. They are all paying attention to Huan Xi's recruitment situation in Liang and Qin states. When they learn that there are more than half of the remaining places, everyone does not hesitate. Excited, he waited for Huan Xi to come back to select soldiers.

At the same time, Huan Xi's chaste woman chant was also sent to Wuwei.

In the past, every time Huan Xi sent a letter, Xie Ai would return it intact at first. Later, he would send it directly to Wuwei and hand it over to Zhang Chonghua.

Zhang Chonghua certainly knew that Huan Xi coveted Xie Ai. Who wouldn't love such a Confucian general?

Even though he has been addicted to drinking and sex these years, his mind is still clear.

His commander-in-chief, Ninghou Zhang Zuo, and his favored ministers Zhao Chang, Wei Ji and others took the opportunity to slander Xie Ai, fearing that Xie Ai would be won over by Huan Xi, and hoping to deprive Xie Ai of his military power.

Zhang Chonghua looked at the poem and said with a smile:

"Although Huan Xi is sincere in love, Xie Ai will never let me down."

He suffered a setback and gained wisdom. He once listened to the slander and alienated Xie Ai, which led to a disastrous defeat.

For several years, Xie Ai guarded Jincheng and remained unmoved in the face of Huan Xi's secret overtures.

Even Huan Xi had to imitate the song of a chaste woman to lament this matter.

As the beloved man in the poem, how could Zhang Chonghua be suspicious of the chaste woman?

A thousand armies are easy to come by, but a general is hard to find, let alone a handsome man like Xie Ai.

Of course, Huan Xi had already written poems, so Zhang Chonghua couldn't help but express his gratitude.

After Zhang Zuo and others left, Zhang Chonghua asked people to fetch all the letters from Huan Xi that Xie Ai had sent before. These letters had not been opened.

"Send it back to Uncle Fulu County for me."

Zhang Chonghua ordered.

Thinking about it, this move was enough to let Xie Ai know her trust in him.

Sure enough, when Xie Ai saw these letters sent back intact, he couldn't help but shed tears of gratitude.

The regret of not being able to get to know Huan Xi earlier was mostly gone.

After all, if he didn't really trust himself, Zhang Chonghua would definitely open these letters.

When Huan Xi heard about this, he had already returned to Chang'an. He greatly appreciated Zhang Chonghua's methods.

In fact, Zhang Chonghua is not a mediocre leader. When he was twenty years old, he was able to decisively use Xie Ai to resist the invasion of Hou Zhao. Such courage was on par with Sun Quan during the Battle of Chibi.

It's just that he has the same shortcomings as Sun Shiwan, and his military ability is somewhat inferior.

Zhang Chonghua fought against Huan Xi when he first led the army, and eventually lost his army and humiliated the country.

When Huan Xi returned to Yongzhou, it was already mid-July. Before the autumn harvest arrived, he went to Yongzhou counties to select state and county soldiers, and finally raised five thousand soldiers before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

At the same time, Yecheng had been besieged by Qianyan for four months.

During this period, Wei general Jiang Gan led 5,000 elite soldiers out of the city to fight. The Wei army was defeated and more than 4,000 people were killed in the battle. Jiang Gan fled back to Yecheng alone.

He Rong, who joined the army and was ordered to help defend Yecheng, used the Chuanguo Jade Seal as a token to go south to ask for help. He managed to defraud the Chuanguo Jade Seal and left a hundred soldiers in Yecheng. Dai Shi's hands.

The defenders of Yecheng had been eating human flesh for four months, and tens of thousands of palace maids had been eaten. If they continued to persist, they could only attack the people in the city.

But these people are also their family members, so how can they talk about it?

Seeing that the reinforcements from the Eastern Jin Dynasty were not coming, some people finally couldn't hold on and chose to give up. Ma Yuan, the captain of Ran Wei Changshui School, and others opened the city gate and let the Yan army enter the city.

When Jiang Gan heard the news, he fled the city and disappeared without a trace.

Queen Dong of Ran Wei, Prince Ran Zhi, Taiwei Shen Zhong, Sikong Tiaomei and others were captured and sent to Jixian. Ran Wei was destroyed and the country only lasted three years.

Murong Chui attacked Duan Qin, who claimed to be Emperor Zhao. Duan Qin was afraid and surrendered out of the city. At this time, there were only a few small separatist forces left in Hebei, and the situation in Qian Yan was excellent.

The only fly in the ointment was that after Murong Ping entered Yecheng, he could not find the imperial seal. Only then did he learn that the imperial seal had been sent to the south.

When Murong Jun learned about this, he was furious, but he still thought of a way and lied that he had obtained the jade seal from Queen Ran Wei Dong and was making final preparations for ascending to the throne.

　Next chapter by 6 p.m.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)