Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 136 The Ninth Year of Yonghe

The auspicious snow heralded a good harvest. Huan Xi looked at the vast expanse of white in the countryside, looking forward to a good harvest in the coming year.

There is a slight drought in Guanlong this year. Fortunately, Wang Meng usually pays attention to asking local governments to organize people to dig ditches and divert water for irrigation. He also applies plowing technology, which can effectively retain soil moisture and does not have much impact on the harvest.

Of course, the drought was not unique to Huanxi's family. The drought in Pingzhou of the former Yan Dynasty, that is, Liaodong, Liaoxi and other places, was far more serious than Guanlong.

Ran Min was captured in April, and Murong Jun took him to Longcheng, preparing to kill Ran Min after Ye City was conquered. However, the defenders of Ye City at that time were much tougher than Murong Jun imagined.

To make matters worse, in May, Murong Jun sent people to the Yixing Mountain near Longcheng to kill Ran Min.

Unexpectedly, after Ran Min's death, from May to December, there was no rain in Pingzhou for more than half a year, and locusts were everywhere.

Murong Jun thought it was Ran Min's ghost who was causing trouble, so he hurriedly sent people to the Lixing Mountain to offer sacrifices to Ran Min and named him the King of Wudao. That day, heavy snow fell, covering his knees.

After hearing this, Murong Jun, who already believed in ghosts and gods, became more and more convinced.

However, the Pingzhou area suffered first from drought and then from locust plague, resulting in no harvest.

Yongzhou, Chang'an.

It was New Year's Eve, and Huan Xi hosted a banquet for guests in Weiyang Hall.

Huan Xi had told Huan Yi before that after hearing the sound of his flute and then listening to the silk and bamboo orchestra on a banquet, it was just boring.

This is true. After all, at banquets, he usually doesn't pay attention to the music, but only looks at the dancers' slender waists.

Huan Xi held Aman in his arms, looked at Xie Daoyun, and asked:

"After tonight, will it be the Year of Guichou?"

Xie Daoyun nodded and said doubtfully:

"Why do you ask, husband?"

Huan Xi shook his head and said:

"I just feel something in my heart."

In the ninth year of Yonghe, when he was in Guichou, at the beginning of late spring, he met at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji, to do bad luck.

I remember that at the beginning, he was also asked to recite the entire "Preface to the Lanting Anthology" in its entirety.

I came to this era in the first year of Yonghe (AD 345), and with a snap of my fingers, I was about to go through my eighth year.

With his wife and concubines by his side, his children, and the assistance of capable people such as Wang Meng and Quan Yi, he established his own business.

These past few years have been full of harvests.

But he was destined to miss that event. Of course, he didn’t have to attend the Lanting Gathering, but he had to collect the Preface to the Lanting Gathering.

After gathering his mood, Huan Xi clapped his hands and asked the singers and dancers to leave for now. He sighed to the generals at the banquet:

"You all went to Huan back then. Huan was fashionable and young. I'm afraid you never thought that in just a few years, he would be as prosperous as he is today."

This is not wrong. Huan Xi served as the governor of Liangzhou in the fourth year of Yonghe (AD 348), but just one year later, he swallowed up the entire Guanlong, which indeed exceeded many people's expectations.

The generals and subordinates all complimented Huan Xi on his achievements, but Huan Xi said:

"Without the dedicated assistance of all the kings, Huan would not be where he is today."

With that said, he picked up the wine bottle, stood up and said to everyone:

"Mountains and rivers are broken, and the Central Plains are in ruins. I hope you will uphold the ambition to help us and not be lazy. Huan will encourage you all!"

When Huan Xi talked about this kind of thing on his happy day, he naturally found that some of his generals seemed to have lost the motivation to make progress and were content with the status quo.

Of course, this is no wonder. With the current strength of the Huan family, they already have the capital to become emperor. By then, everyone will be Yuan Cong, so why bother to fight again.

Huan Xi wanted to remind everyone today that he now controls the three states of Yong, Qin and Liang, and seems prosperous, but he is not satisfied with this.

Restoring the Central Plains and helping the world is Huan Xi's ambition.

If they are lazy and cannot work hard and make progress with him, they will certainly have a place in the future empire, but their status will be destined to be marginalized.

After Huan Xi finished speaking, he raised his glass and drank it in one gulp.

Everyone stood up one after another, and Wang Meng was the first to express his stance:

"For the sake of my lord's ambition to revive, I must work hard and do the hard work of dogs and horses, and I will not dare to slack off!"

When everyone heard the words, they all agreed and drank the wine in the cup.

Back at Jiaofang Hall, Aman had already been carried by the nurse, and Xie Daoyun wiped Huanxi's body with a hot towel.

"Didn't my husband say that he wanted to stop drinking? Why did he drink so much again today?"

Huan Xi smiled drunkenly:

“It won’t be an example next time, and it won’t be an example next time.”

But his hands were dishonest. Xie Daoyun rolled his eyes at him and said:

"My husband is coaxing me again."

But he didn't slap Huan Xi's hand away and just let him go.

The next day, the ninth year of Yonghe (AD 353), the first day of the first lunar month, the imperial court issued an edict granting amnesty to the whole country.

There was an amnesty almost every year in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Officials from Guanlong who had been sent to the army for corruption had already returned to their hometowns.

Although the former crimes are no longer pursued, it is not easy to return to office. Not only did Huanxi not establish Zhongzheng officials in Yong and Qin states, he even abolished Zhongzheng officials in Liangzhou.

The core of the nine-level Zhongzheng system is that local Zhongzheng officials have the power to evaluate the merits and select talents.

But in the past, the official selection model under Huan Xi's rule was relatively extensive. He issued an order seeking talents, and the talents came to join him after hearing the news. Then he and Wang Meng weighed the talents and hired them.

On this point, Huan Xi was criticized by Jiangnan scholars. After all, since Cao Wei, the nine-rank Zhongzheng system has been the main way to select and appoint officials.

But Huan Xi still withstood the pressure. After all, how could personnel rights be delegated to local governments?

Huan Xi was not eager to challenge the nerves of Jiangnan scholars and introduce the imperial examination system.

For now, the time is not yet ripe.

Huan Xi is now focusing on the developments in three aspects, one is Liangzhou, the second is Bingzhou, and the third is Hetao.

As for Qian Yan, Huan Xi knew in his heart that the other party would be his main opponent in the future, but with limited energy, he should still focus on the present.

There is no need to elaborate on Liangzhou and Bingzhou. As for Hetao, although Liu Wuhuan and Liu Yantou are quite respectful to themselves now, Huanxi has never relaxed his influence on the Qiantao and Houtao plains.

Huan Xi already had a strong appeal among the tribes of Liu Wuhuan and Liu Kuantou, especially those archers who had followed him in battles and always had high respect for him.

Especially when they heard that the archers on the Xitao Plain followed Huan Xi in the battle in Luoyang and received generous rewards, they were even more envious.

Now, the relationship between Liu Wuhuan and Liu Fuhuan has been restored. After all, the two brothers have their own tribes. Liu Wuhuan does not need to be wary of Liu Fuhuan, and Liu Wuhuan does not need to covet Liu Wuhuan's family business.

Of course, the most critical reason is that Tiefu's position as the leader of the Xiongnu has been secured by the Great Chanyu in Chang'an City. The status of their brothers has come to an end. Even if the virtuous kings fight for it, they will not be able to replace Huan Xi.

Without the conflict of interests, it is natural to be brothers and sisters.

Of course, what Huan Xi is most concerned about now is Zhang Chonghua's physical condition.

No one in this world cares more about Zhang Chonghua's body than Huan Xi.

After all, Zhang Chonghua was twenty-seven years old at the time. Who would have thought that he would die soon.

In the six months since Huan Xi left Qinzhou, Zhang Chonghua had fallen ill several times, but they were only minor ailments and he recovered quickly.

When Huan Xi heard that he still had no control over his drinking and sex, and indulged himself all day long, Huan Xi felt relieved.

Don't look at Huan Xi's previous words to Wang Meng that if Zhang Chonghua did not die, he would have his own way to provoke civil strife in Liangzhou, but those were just perfunctory words and there was no plan at all.

Just when Huan Xi was looking forward to civil strife in Qianliang, Fu Jian, who had already claimed to be the Emperor of Dayu, also discussed the next strategy with Prime Minister Fu Xiong.

A long time has passed since the Battle of Langshan, and Fu Shi has reorganized his troops.

In these troubled times, if you stick to the east of the river and don't think about making progress, you will be caught between the two forces of Huanxi and Murong, and you will be annexed sooner or later.

Fu Xiong analyzed:

"Huan Xi occupied Guanlong. The land is dangerous and the people are close to him. Your Majesty is unable to conquer it.

"The Yan army has strong soldiers and horses, and there are many cavalry. If we go to Hebei and fight with them on the plains, it may be difficult to win.

"There is no danger in the Central Plains, so don't be greedy. I still believe that the first priority is to attack the country."

Just like his original judgment, Fu Xiong always believed that the Fu family could only open up development space to the north, take over the Monan Huqi for his own use, and then compete with Huan Xi and Yan for supremacy.

But Dai Guo is not so easy to fight.

Although the tribal elders of Dai State would hold back Tuoba Shiyijian when he wanted to expand, if a foreign enemy really invaded, they would inevitably put aside their prejudices and jointly resist foreign aggression.

Therefore, the Tiefu Xiongnu took the initiative to attack Dai State several times, but was defeated repeatedly. They encountered the crisis of genocide several times, but Tuoba Xianbei was never able to directly send troops to occupy the Hetao area.

If you want to conquer the country, you must first intensify the conflict between Tuoba Shiyijian and the opponents, making them jealous of each other. Even if they are invaded by a foreign enemy, they cannot stop and fight the enemy together.

For example, two brothers, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, initially wanted to seize Hebei after the Battle of Guandu, but failed because the two brothers joined forces.

Until Guo Jia's plan was used, the two were allowed to kill each other in Hebei. When the hatred could not be resolved, Cao Cao attacked Yuan Shang's Yecheng again. Yuan Tan not only refused to rescue, but added insult to injury and took the opportunity to invade Yuan Shang's city. Cao Cao finally defeated him one by one.

Just wanting to intensify the conflicts within the country cannot be done overnight.

Fu Jian muttered:

"The prime minister arranged all the arrangements to instigate civil strife in Dai Dynasty. But if Huan Xi wants to go east, he must attack Liangzhou to eliminate his worries. My beloved son died because of him. How can I satisfy his wish?"

After saying that, Fu Jian said seriously:

"If Huan Xi takes Liangzhou, I will attack the key points and force him to return for reinforcements!"

He was not blinded by hatred. Once Huan Xi occupied Liangzhou, his military strength would inevitably increase greatly. From then on, he would have nothing to worry about and could focus on attacking Guandong, which would also become Fu Jian's worry.

By then, Fu Jian must keep enough troops to guard against Huan Xi, and it is impossible to attack Dai with all his strength.

In the final analysis, neither of them will miss the opportunity to hold back the other party. No matter who they start a war with, they will extend a hand of justice and help the invaded.

Fu Xiong heard this and praised:

"Your Majesty is wise."

　Next chapter at 6 p.m.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)