Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 141 Yin Hao’s Northern Expedition

October, the ninth year of Yonghe (AD 353), was destined to be an extraordinary month for the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

When Huan Xi sent troops to Longyou from Chang'an under the pretext of quelling the rebellion, Yin Hao, after collecting the autumn grain and getting permission from the court, began his long-planned Northern Expedition.

Five floating bridges were erected on the Huaihe River, and the 70,000 troops of the Eastern Jin Dynasty were crossing the river in an orderly manner.

When Yin Hao saw this scene, he couldn't help but feel heroic.

He had waited too long for this moment.

Yin Hao was granted leave in the sixth year of Yonghe (AD 350) and served as the general of the Chinese army and the military commander of the five states of Yang, Yu, Xu, Yan and Qing. From then on, he took the recovery of the Central Plains as his own responsibility.

During these three or four years, Yin Hao recruited soldiers, prepared the army for war, and did not dare to slack off, just to prove to those who doubted himself that he was worthy of praise comparable to Guan Zhong and Zhuge Liang.

Since Yin Hao shouldered the heavy responsibility of the Northern Expedition, he has suffered too many doubts.

Huan Wen, in particular, blatantly discussed with others, saying that Yin Hao was virtuous and eloquent. If he was appointed as a minister or servant, he could serve as a model official, but if he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, his talents would be misused.

This kind of remarks certainly made Yin Hao angry. Guan Yiwu fought against Shanrong in the north, and Zhuge Liang left Qishan six times. As the contemporary Guan Zhong and Zhuge Liang, could Yin Hao not know how to fight?

After crossing the Huaihe River, Xun Xian, the governor of Yanzhou, had been waiting on the north bank of the Huaihe River. Yin Hao met him and said with a smile:

"In this battle, I will establish unparalleled achievements."

Huan Wen was able to conquer Shu with 10,000 soldiers and destroy the Han Dynasty. Today, Yin Hao leads an army of 70,000 to the north, and Yao Xiang has 60,000 infantry and cavalry as the front army. The total army is 130,000. It is so vast that it will definitely destroy the Duan tribe. Xianbei regained Qingzhou, then moved westward to truly control the Central Plains.

After Wei Jing's attack on Yao Xiang failed and his tribe was annexed instead, Xun Xian took the opportunity to send troops and took back Yanzhou, confirming his title as the governor of Yanzhou.

In the past few years, seeing the chaos in the north, Xun Xian was always looking forward to the imperial court sending troops to the Northern Expedition. But when the day came, Xun Xian was full of worries. He was not as optimistic as Yin Hao, and advised:

"I am afraid that Yao Xiang will be difficult to tame. I would like to ask the general to think twice. It is not too late to retreat now."

When Yin Hao heard this, his face darkened.

He originally thought that Xun Xian was here to help him, but he didn't expect that he was also here to dissuade him.

After preparing for so many years, he mounted the Northern Expedition with 130,000 infantry and never encountered an enemy. However, he gave up halfway and returned without success. When the news spread back to Jiangnan, he, Yin Hao, was still shameless.

"My foresight is not something you can discern."

Yin Hao said it very rudely. When he was in Shouyang, many people tried to dissuade him. Such words made Yin Hao's ears feel calloused.

In fact, Yin Hao had always been dissatisfied with Xun Xian. Xun Xian and Wang Xizhi had the same stance, arguing that the court should ease the conflict with Huan Wen and should not reuse Yin Hao and others to fight against Huan Wen.

Yin Hao couldn't even listen to his own people's dissuasion, let alone Xun Xian.

Xun Xian left with disappointment. He looked back and saw the 70,000 Jin soldiers leaving in the distance, and couldn't help but lament:

"Today's Northern Expedition, the flags cover the sky, the soldiers and horses are strong, but I don't know how many people will be able to return to Huainan."

Xuzhou, Pengcheng.

Yao Chang found Yao Xiang excitedly.

"Brother, Yin Hao really crossed the river!"

Yao Xiang was shocked. He received an order from Yin Hao a few days ago, ordering him to lead the army out of Pengcheng and serve as a vanguard to station at the border of Xu and Qing. He would then lead the army there.

But Yao Xiang didn't take it seriously, thinking that if Yin Hao's plan failed, he would try another one, and there must be some trap waiting for him.

Unexpectedly, Yin Hao actually crossed the Huaihe River.

Yao Xiang asked nervously:

"How many troops are there on this trip?"

Yao Chang replied:

"No less than seventy thousand."

Yao Xiang was silent for a long time, then he muttered:

"Could it be that Yin Hao's attack on Qingzhou was a lie, but his seizure of Xuzhou was real?"

Yao Chang looked solemn:

"It's not impossible. Brother has to guard against it."

The worries of the Yao brothers are not unreasonable. After all, no one with a right mind can believe that Yin Hao would use Yao Xiang as the pioneer of the Northern Expedition after repeatedly failing to murder Yao Xiang.

But that's really what Yin Hao planned. It's like Xie An's younger brother Xie Wan was ordered to lead the army, but he didn't want to get close to his generals and soldiers, and instead kept a distance from them.

In this era, there are some scholars who think highly of themselves. They are simply self-centered, accustomed to bossing around, and feel that everything they do is natural, thus ignoring the feelings of others.

Yao Xiang sneered:

"No matter what Yin Hao's intention is, now that he has arrived in Huaibei, he can't get away easily."

Yao Xiang hated Yin Hao deeply.

Regardless of whether Yin Hao wanted to attack Qingzhou or plot against Xuzhou, for Yao Xiang, crossing the river and heading north was an opportunity given by God to take revenge.

Yao Xiang immediately recruited soldiers, with 60,000 soldiers on foot, and pretended to be ordered by Yin Hao to go to the border of Xuzhou and Qingzhou to wait for Yin Hao. In fact, he went south at night and ambush Yin Hao on his way north.

Yin Hao was completely defenseless. After all, in his heart, Yao Xiang obeyed him. Even if he wanted to kill him, he did not dare to rebel. How could such a meek person bite him back?

When he heard that Yao Xiang had led his army to the north, Yin Hao was not even wary at all. He marched in Xuzhou just like he had marched in Huainan before, without sending sentries to carefully explore the road.

At the end of October in the ninth year of Yonghe, Yin Hao led 70,000 soldiers north along the Sishui River to Gelu Mountain in Xiapi County (now Suining, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province), only a stone's throw away from Pengcheng.

Seeing that it was still early, Yin Hao ordered:

"Cross the valley and camp behind the mountain today."

However, Yin Hao didn't know that Yao Xiang's ambush was located in the valley.

The Jin army was urged by Yin Hao to enter the valley. Cries of killing suddenly broke out from all sides. Arrows and rolling stones fell from the slopes on both sides. Yao Xiang and Yao Chang each led an army. Yao Chang led the infantry to form an array in the valley. Intercept and kill the Jin army that has entered the valley.

And Yao Xiang led the cavalry to charge and kill the Jin army outside the valley.

The Jin army did not wear armor when marching. After all, marching with armor also meant greater physical exertion, and the distance the soldiers could walk every day was shorter.

Yin Hao was so careless that he did not even dispatch sentry cavalry, thinking that he was marching in the country, so how could he let the soldiers march with heavy loads.

Now the Qiang ambush came out, and the Jin army was caught off guard. The soldiers did not even have time to put on their armor, so they had to fight hastily. However, they were frightened by the ambush. With their flesh and blood, how could they be the opponent of the Qiang infantry and cavalry with well-armored armor? . As the coach, Yin Hao was even more at a loss and his mind went blank.

In fact, as Huan Wen asserted, Yin Hao did not understand military affairs at all.

Yin Hao has never had any experience in leading an army before. Let alone how to deal with a crisis when an army of 70,000 people is encountered, even if it is 7,000 people, he may not be able to stabilize the position.

Yao Xiang was prepared but unprepared, and he was able to attack the incompetent, just like Huan Xi bullied Zhang Chonghua when he first entered the battlefield. The outcome of this battle was already doomed.

When Yin Hao was unable to stabilize the morale of the army, the Jin army was defeated. The 70,000 soldiers dispersed and fled south.

Yao Xiang pursued them all the way to the north bank of the Huaihe River, capturing and killing more than 20,000 people.

While the Jin army was fighting to cross the river, no fewer than ten thousand people fell into the Huaihe River and drowned.

When Yin Hao fled back to Shouchun, his 70,000-strong army went northward. In just a few days, more than half of it was lost, and only about 30,000 people escaped back.

General Liu Qi, general Wang Binzhi and others died in the battle.

All the military supplies for the Northern Expedition, which were accumulated over several years after combining the manpower of the five states, were captured by Yao Xiang.

In the palace of the general of the Chinese army, the generals and subordinates were sobbing secretly. Yin Hao looked around at the people, wanting to say something to comfort them, but in the past, his eloquent words were mercurial, but today it was like there was a lump in his throat, and he could not say anything.

The shocked people had no time to breathe, and the sentries monitoring the Huaihe River reported that Yao Xiang was heading south after reorganizing his troops.

When Yin Hao heard this, he was frightened and did not dare to guard Shouchun. At this time, he could not care about his reputation. He led the remaining defeated soldiers and abandoned the city in embarrassment, heading straight to the south of the Yangtze River.

Yao Xiang crossed the Huaihe River and occupied Shouchun without a fight, but he was not satisfied with this. After a short rest, he continued southward. The main force stationed at Xuyi County (Xuyi, Huai'an, Jiangsu Province) on the south bank of Hongze Lake. The forwards pursued them all the way, even drinking horses. Yangtze.

That is to say, Yao Xiang did not have a navy and did not dare to cross the river. Otherwise, Yin Hao's defeat would probably cause the Qiang people to besiege Jiankang.

At this time, Jiankang City was already in chaos, and people helped the old and the young to leave every day. After all, they were not roundworms in Yao Xiang's belly. Who knew whether Yao Xiang would attack Jiankang.

Since Yin Hao fled back to the south of the Yangtze River, he has closed his doors in Jiankang City to thank guests. Every day, family members of fallen soldiers crowded in front of his house and cursed him.

The Empress Dowager Chu's father, Chu Pei, failed in the Northern Expedition and only lost 3,000 soldiers. Passing through Jingkou, he heard the cries of the families of the fallen soldiers. He became ill with grief and anger, and died suddenly.

Today, Yin Hao lost his troops and lost more than 30,000 soldiers. Although he also blamed himself, he blamed Yao Xiang more, thinking that the other party betrayed the Jin Dynasty and failed him.

However, in this battle, the government and the public were greatly disappointed in him. No matter how high they once praised him, they now want to step on him.

Empress Dowager Chu was panic-stricken at first, worried about Yao Xiang crossing the river, and even thought of sending someone to Jingzhou to ask for help, so that Huan Wen could go to the east to help the king.

Huan Wen was still a minister of the Jin Dynasty anyway, and even if he controlled the court, he would treat him with courtesy. However, if Jiankang was occupied by Yao Xiang, Empress Dowager Chu could not imagine what kind of humiliation she would encounter.

At the critical moment, Wang Shu's son Wang Tanzhi, who once served in the Huanwen shogunate and then defected to Kuaiji King Sima Yu, stood up. He was sure that Yao Xiang could not cross the river, and explained in detail the reasons for his judgment, which finally reassured the Empress Dowager Chu. Come and give up the idea of ​​asking Huan Wen for help.

Sure enough, just as Wang Tanzhi had expected, a few days later, Yao Xiang sent an envoy from Xuyi to Jiankang to accuse Chen Yin Hao of his crimes. He made the details of Yin Hao's multiple attempts to murder him public and apologized to the Queen Mother, claiming that he was not a traitor. Jin, however, was forced by Yin Hao and had no choice but to fight back.

When the matter was made public, everyone in the government and the public was in an uproar. After all, the feud between Yin Hao and Yao Xiang was only circulated in a small circle. Not to mention the ordinary people, not even the Queen Mother Chu knew about it.

Today, when she heard about the grudge between the two, Empress Dowager Chu was dumbfounded. She asked the envoy to go down to rest for the time being, and asked Sima Yu, the king of Kuaiji in disbelief:

"Uncle Wang, is what this messenger said true?"

Sima Yu was the younger brother of Sima Shao, Emperor Ming of Jin, and the uncle of Emperor Cheng and Emperor Kang of Jin. Naturally, he was a generation senior to Empress Dowager Chu.

Now that Empress Dowager Chu asked about this matter in front of all the ministers, Sima Yu could not deny it, otherwise he would be deceiving the emperor in public. At the beginning, he was the one who advocated re-employing Yin Hao. Now that Yin Hao was defeated, Sima Yu was also worried that he would be implicated.

He raised his sleeves, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said:

"Reporting to your Majesty, this is indeed the case."

Empress Dowager Chu was startled when she heard this, and then became very angry. She did not expect that there would be such a feud between Yin Hao and Yao Xiang, and Yin Hao dared to entrust Yao Xiang with important tasks.

The ministers in the palace were whispering to each other, pointing, and discussing loudly.

Many of them had actually known the truth for a long time, and had even warned Yin Hao, but Yin Hao refused to listen, and Sima Yu, the king of Kuaiji, blindly believed in Yin Hao's talents.

It is true that Yin Hao's reputation in the past was too loud. This was Guan Zhong and Zhuge Liang in the same era!

After living in seclusion for ten years, as the Huan family became increasingly powerful, the Jiangdong scholars almost shouted, "If Yin Gong doesn't come out, what will happen to the people?"

Empress Dowager Chu unceremoniously accused Sima Yu in public:

"It's your fault, Uncle Wang, for letting such a person shoulder the heavy responsibility of the Northern Expedition."

Sima Yucheng knelt down in fear to plead guilty, and all the courtiers also interceded for him. The most important thing now was not to pursue the responsibility, but to appease Yao Xiang and stabilize the situation in eastern Huainan.

Now that the eastern part has been occupied by Yao Xiang, if he wants him to return to Huaibei, he is afraid that Yao Xiang will not be able to obey his orders.

On the advice of the ministers, the Empress Dowager Chu issued an edict to pardon Yao Xiang's sins, but ignored Yao Xiang's occupation of Shouyang, Xuyi and other places. She also used Xie Shang, who had a good relationship with Yao Xiang, as the governor of Jiangxi and Huainan Military, governor of Yuzhou, guarding Liyang, an important town in the north of the Yangtze River (now Hexian County, Ma'anshan, Anhui).

The so-called Jiangxi does not mean the Gaoguan River in later generations of Jiangxi, which flows southwest to northeast in Anhui. The north bank is Jiangxi and the south bank is Jiangdong. Yin Hao had previously cultivated paddy fields in Jiangxi.

Although the imperial court did not implement the punishment of Yin Hao, Yao Xiang's envoy returned with a full load, carrying the edict of pardoning Yao Xiang, and crossed the river to Xuyi to restore his life.

As for Yin Hao, he was not dismissed from office because of this, and Sima Yu, the king of Kuaiji, was still protecting him.

After all, it was with the support of Sima Yu that Yin Hao was able to hold a high position. Sima Yu and him both suffered losses and prospered. In the past few years, Sima Yu was also able to fight against the Huan family with the assistance of Yin Hao.

Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers, but they only lost more than 30,000 soldiers. How could Yin Hao be dismissed from his post just like that.

Among the courtiers, there were also friends of Yin Hao, and they also interceded for Yin Hao.

The Empress Dowager Chu was helpless. She did not want to antagonize the Huan family father and son, but she also needed Sima Yu and others to protect the young master, so she had no choice but to comply with everyone's request and not punish Yin Hao's sins.

Sima Yu went to Yin Hao's mansion that day and told Yin Hao the good news. Yin Hao was delighted and vowed to wash away the humiliation.

However, how could Huan Wen give Yin Hao a chance to make a comeback?

　Tomorrow there will still be 10,000 words. Thank you book friends and bookworms for the reward, and thank you all for your votes.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)