Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 199 Questioning Wang Meng

Early morning on August 354, the tenth year of Yonghe (AD ).

King Tuoba Jun was sleeping soundly with his young concubine in his arms. Of course, this woman had now become his concubine.

It is the custom of the northern nomadic tribes to inherit the father's wife, and marry the sister-in-law after the brother's death. Except for his biological mother, Tuoba Shijun can take in all Tuoba Shiyiqian's wives and concubines.

If Murong Ying had not escaped with her two sons, she would still be the queen of Dai.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Something big has happened!"

The sound of a quick knock on the door woke up Tuoba Shijun, and he said angrily:

"What on earth is going on that makes you so panicked!"

The cronies knocking on the door heard the sound, stopped quickly, and said anxiously:

"Your Majesty, the Yu people are here! They are just outside the city!"

Tuoba Shijun was shocked and asked quickly:

"How many troops are coming?"

The confidant replied:

"Boundless, I'm afraid there won't be more than tens of thousands of cavalry!"

When Lord Tuoba Shi came to the city tower and looked up, he saw that the cavalry of the Yu State outside the city were indeed as his confidants said. As soon as he came into view, he could see so many black cavalry that he could not even see the end of the cavalry.

Tuoba Shijun hurriedly ordered:

"Quick! Before the Yu people besiege the city, send people out of the city immediately and summon all the ministries to come to King Qin!"

The confidant responded and hurried to make arrangements.

At this time, the northern master Tuoba Jin also heard the news and came to the city wall. He looked at the Yu cavalry outside the city and said:

"Your Majesty, the people of Yu must have heard about the civil strife in Dai, so they sent troops to invade the territory. Shengle is far away from Yanmen Pass. The enemy has come from afar, and they will be trapped and exhausted. If they can send an army out of the city to fight, they will definitely win a great victory!"

Tuoba Shijun did not agree, he hesitated and said:

"Just sit here and wait for reinforcements. Why go out to fight in the city?"

Tuobajin said anxiously:

"Your Majesty, how did you get this throne? Have you forgotten?

"There are many veterans of the late king in the city. They are just afraid of the king's power and have temporarily surrendered.

"Now that the State of Yu has invaded and besieged Shengle, the king does not dare to engage in battle. Those old ministers must despise the king.

“The people in the city are unstable, how can we hold on and wait for help?

"It's better to take advantage of the enemy's fatigue and unsteady footing when they are far away, and go out of the city to fight with them. We will definitely win a big victory!"

When a person is in a hurry, he loses his sense of proportion in his words.

The most taboo thing about Tuoba Shijun is that some people say that he killed his father to seize power, so he poured dirty water on Murong Ying and her son.

Now that Tuoba Jin has uncovered his scar in public, in full view of the public, it really makes it difficult for Tuoba Shijun to step down. He said angrily:

"According to the order of the late king and supported by all the ministers, I ascend the throne to act as king. I don't need you to sow discord!"

After saying that, Tuoba Shijun left the tower angrily.

When Tuoba Jin saw this, he could only stamp his feet in anger.

In fact, the cavalry of the Yu State outside the city had been attacking for more than 500 miles, and they were already at the end of their strength.

If Lord Tuoba Shi can follow Tuoba Jin's suggestion and decisively send troops out of the city, then it cannot be said that he has no chance of winning by attacking more with less.

But Tuoba Shijun's character is like this, not decisive enough.

Before launching the coup, they were already ready, and actually felt regretful and wanted to retreat. Although Tuoba Jin finally convinced him, the meeting between the two before entering the palace allowed Murong Ying to see through the flaw and almost made a mistake. Something big happened.

If Chang Sunjin hadn't successfully assassinated Tuoba Shiyiqian, their coup would have ended in failure.

Because Jun Tuoba Shi insisted on holding on, he missed the opportunity to fight and also gave the Yu cavalry outside the city a chance to breathe.

At the same time, twenty-two miles south of Luoyang City, outside Yique Pass.

Huan Wen personally went to the front line to supervise the battle. The soldiers pushed the siege equipment delivered last night and attacked the fortress.

Previously, Huan Wen and Wang Meng had made a bold statement that capturing Yique would be easy.

One is because Yiqueguan has been in disrepair for a long time.

Secondly, Huan Wen knew that Murong Ke led the 100,000 cavalry south mainly for him.

In the final analysis, Murong Ke did not want to keep Huan Wen out of Yique Pass, but wanted to lead Huan Wen to Luoyang and fight a battle of annihilation.

Therefore, the Yan army was not determined to hold on to Yique and not give up an inch of territory.

In contrast, the coalition forces had Huan Wen personally supervising the battle. Comparing the two, even though the Yan army was condescending, its momentum was suppressed by the coalition forces.

After the coalition siege troops fought hard all morning and finally climbed up the city wall despite rolling stones and arrows, the Yan army did not launch a fierce counterattack and tried to drive the opponent off the city wall.

Instead, they evacuated one after another, abandoned Yique Pass and fled to Luoyang.

When a staff member saw this scene, he commented:

"Mr. Chu, the enemy has been defeated, why not take advantage of the victory and pursue it!"

Huan Wen already had an answer in his mind whether to pursue or not, but he focused on Wang Meng and asked:

"Sir, do you think we should pursue you?"

Wang Meng laughed and said:

"Mr. Chu has his own plans, so why bother asking me."

Huan Wen said curiously:

"How do you know, sir, that I have made a decision?"

Wang Meng replied:

"Yique is only more than twenty miles away from Luoyang. The Yan army is retreating. If they want to pursue it, how can the Duke of Chu slowly ask his subordinates for their opinions? He should quickly send out pursuers."

Huan Wen smiled and said:

"Sir, you really have a pair of eyes that can see into people's hearts." In fact, both Huan Wen and Wang Meng knew that the Yan army had no intention of defending Yique Pass, but they still sent an army to garrison it and abandoned the city so easily. There is an ambush on the way.

When Murong Ke fought against Ran Min, after ten battles and ten defeats, he used the method of false defeat to lure the Wei army out of the jungle, and finally surrounded and suppressed Ran Min's 10,000 elite infantry in the plains.

Yin Jian, who was defeated by Ran Min, was not far away, so how could Huan Wen not be on guard.

Therefore, the Yan army retreated easily. Even if the opponent abandoned his helmet and armor, Huan Wen was indifferent and prohibited pursuit.

Sure enough, north of Yique Pass, Murong Chui saw that the coalition forces had not chased out of Guancheng for a long time. He knew that the enemy had not fallen into the trap, so he could only show up unwillingly with the ambush and return to Luoyang.

Not long after, the coalition scout reported the incident.

The staff member who had proposed the pursuit was ashamed, but Huan Wen did not blame him, but instead offered words of comfort.

Huan Wen is not Ran Min, and he will not kill everyone just because you gave wrong advice.

In the final analysis, the generals are just giving advice, and it is the commander-in-chief who really makes the decision.

If you make a mistake, you will be held accountable. Over time, the generals under your command will become as silent as a cicada. From now on, they will not seek merit, but seek no faults.

After everyone left, Huan Wen left Wang Meng behind and asked:

"Now Murong Ke wants to fight with me in Luoyang. Sir, do you have a strategy to defeat the enemy?"

Wang Meng said without thinking:

"If you want to capture Luoyang, you must have three strategies: upper, middle, and lower, to offer to the Duke of Chu."

In fact, as early as in Xincheng County, Wang Meng was already thinking about ways to defeat the enemy.

When Huan Wen heard what he said, he immediately became energetic and asked:

"May I ask, sir, what is the best policy?"

Wang Meng spit out one word:

"drag."

Huan Wen repeated with doubts:

"drag?"

Wang Meng nodded and said:

"Exactly, Jingzhou has no foreign enemies on all sides. The Duke of Chu can station his troops in Yique and confront Murong Ke. As time goes by, the Yan people will inevitably retreat. This is a sure way to win."

In addition to serving as the governor of Jingzhou and Jiangzhou, Huan Wen also held the military power of Yizhou, Ning, Guangzhou, and Jiaozhou. As Wang Meng said, Jingzhou would not be invaded by foreign enemies.

The State of Yan is adjacent to the State of Yu to the west, and to the south is Duanbu Xianbei who occupies Qingzhou. They have occupied Hebei for a short time, and their rule is not stable. As it drags on for a long time, the Battle of Luoyang will inevitably end with the withdrawal of the Yan State.

Although Huan Wen's grain must be allocated from Nanyang County, the Yan army's military grain must also be transported from Hebei.

Although Hebei has a large population and fertile soil, Jizhou has not fully recovered at this time.

If we were to fall into a stalemate and compete for national strength, Yan State would really be unable to compete with what Huan Wen had accumulated over the past seven years.

This is also the main reason why Murong Ke put Huan Wen into the Luoyang Basin and fought head-on in the hope of a quick victory, instead of blocking him outside Yique Pass.

Huan Wen was silent after hearing Wang Meng's explanation.

Of course he also knew that this was a sure way to win, but after seven years of sharpening his sword, Huan Wen finally showed his sword for the Northern Expedition. Huan Wen still hoped to fight a good battle.

Of course, what is more important is that this Northern Expedition dispatched 50,000 Chu troops and 40,000 Liang troops, a total of 90,000 soldiers. At the same time, tens of thousands of civilians were recruited to accompany the army. Such a large number of people would consume an astronomical amount of food every day. number.

The stalemate with the Yan army lasted for a long time. Even though Murong Ke was the first to be unable to hold on and led the army back to Hebei, Jingzhou's savings were exhausted and only an empty city in Luoyang was left. There would be no financial and material resources to continue to run Luoyang in the future.

Just as Murong Ke wanted to severely damage Huan Wen's main force, Huan Wen also hoped to take advantage of this battle to prevent the Yan people from going south.

Wang Meng looked at Huan Wen's expression and knew that he would not adopt the dragging strategy, so he was not surprised.

In fact, Wang Meng also had selfish motives for using dragging tactics as the best strategy.

After all, Liang Jun's military rations were provided by Chu State, so he was not afraid of spending time with Yan Jun here.

Sure enough, after a long silence, Huan Wen said:

"Although the best strategy is a sure-win method, the gains outweigh the losses. I dare to ask you, sir, the best strategy."

Wang Meng said:

"Lü Hu originally occupied Hanoi County, but because he was forced by Murong Ke's army, he had to leave Yewang and go south to help defend Luoyang.

"I heard that when Duke Huan attacked Yingchuan, Zhou Cheng asked Murong Ke for help, but Murong Ke refused to send troops, forcing Zhou Cheng to abandon Yingchuan, burn the grains, and work hard to nothing.

"The two of them must have resentment. Why doesn't Duke Chu use this as a way to alienate each other? This is the middle strategy."

Huan Wen shook his head and said:

"Murong Ke must have eyes and ears in Luoyang and Jinyong City. It is not easy to contact Zhou Cheng and Lu Hu secretly."

Wang Meng smiled and said:

"I don't want Duke Chu to send people to persuade Lu Hu and Zhou Cheng to surrender, but I want Duke Chu to spread rumors and lie that they want to rebel."

Huan Wen frowned and said:

"I'm afraid Murong Ke won't believe it easily."

Wang Meng said unconcernedly:

"Zhou Cheng and Lu Hu are both villains who repeat themselves. "Zuo Zhuan" says: With the heart of a villain, you can read the belly of a gentleman.

"Even if Murong Ke doesn't believe it, Zhou Cheng and Lu Hu will definitely be frightened and unable to feel at ease when they hear the rumors.

"And how could Murong Ke really believe in their loyalty and not take precautions.

"During the war, even if the two of them did not resist, Murong Ke would not dare to fight Chu Gong with all his strength.

"We must leave an army behind to defend the two cities of Luoyang and Jinyong behind us!"

Huan Wen suddenly became enlightened when he heard this. He clapped his hands and praised:

"Sir, this is a great plan!"

　The next chapter is around twelve o'clock in the evening

　　

　

(End of this chapter)