Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 238 Siblings cannibalize each other

Qingzhou has jurisdiction over six counties, including Qijun, Le'an, Donglai, Jinan, Chengyang, and Changguang, totaling 36 counties. When the Western Jin Dynasty was founded, it was governed by Linzi County, Qijun.

During the Yongjia period, Cao Yi, who was the governor of Qingzhou at the time, built Guanggu City and moved the administrative seat from Linzi to Guanggu (today's Yidu, Qingzhou, Shandong).

At the end of the Later Zhao Dynasty, Duan Gong, under the leadership of Duan Gong, moved south from his former capital of Liaoxi Lingzhi. Taking advantage of the war between Ran Wei and Shi Zhao, he occupied Qingzhou. Duan Gong established himself as the King of Qi in Guanggu City. He also accepted the canonization of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and worshiped him as Duke of Qi.

But internally, Duan Kong still calls himself King Qi.

Qingzhou, Guanggu City.

The dark cloud of war hung over everyone's minds. Long before Murong Ke sent troops, Murong Jun had already issued an imperial edict for the Southern Expedition and threatened to attack Duan Gong.

Duan Kun's younger brother Duan Zhu was very worried about this.

There were many complaints within the Qi State about Duan Gong recruiting the Yan army. They thought that Murong Jun was his emperor in Hebei, so what relationship did it have with Duan Gong? Why bother writing letters to accuse and grudge against a big country.

The State of Yan is located in Hebei, occupying the three states of You, Ji, and Ping. Compared with the State of Qi, it can really be called a big country.

Duan Zhen knew that his brother also had his own considerations.

Duan Gong was not in a hurry to express his position, but just asked Duan Zhi to go back temporarily, and then called his confidant and right commander Yuan Fan over, told Yuan Fan about Duan Zhi's proposal, and asked for his opinion.

After all, even though the Jin Dynasty has ambitions, after Yin Hao's failure, it is temporarily unable to plot Qingzhou. Duan Gong can use this to repair the relationship, and the Yan Kingdom is eyeing it. No matter how Duan Gong shows his kindness, it is just a wink to a blind man. I am determined to invade your territory.

From then on, the south and west sides of Qingzhou were dominated by Yao and Xiang.

Yan and Qi are separated by only a river, and Qingzhou is adjacent to the hinterland of Hebei. There is no room for others to sleep soundly beside the couch.

"We are outnumbered and outnumbered, how can we divide our forces again?"

Of course, the development of things was different from Duan Gong's expectation. No one expected that the Eastern Jin Dynasty actually exchanged part of the territory with Yao Xiang, exchanging Yanzhou for the northern part of Huainan.

Even though the Qi State was groveling and serving the superior state, Murong Jun could still find an excuse to attack Qi.

At that time, Duan Xianbei's Liaoxi Principality was destroyed by the attack of Murong Xianbei and Hou Zhao. With the lessons from the past and the guide for future events, the Qi State cannot make the same mistake again no matter what.

Therefore, when Duan Gong accused Murong Jun of proclaiming himself emperor, he was not expressing his attitude to the Jin Dynasty.

The Eastern Jin Dynasty also had the ambition to get involved in Qingzhou, otherwise Yin Hao would not have taken advantage of the Yan State to destroy Ran Wei and recuperate, and launched a large-scale Northern Expedition, aiming directly at Duanbu Xianbei.

Yuan Fan immediately objected:

"Your Majesty! No!

"If we don't win, it is better to surrender as soon as possible, and my brother will not lose his position as a lord."

"The Yellow River is by no means a natural danger. If we deploy defenses along the river, not only will we not be able to stop the Yan army, but it will actually disperse our troops.

Yao Xiang nominally surrendered to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and it cannot be said that Qingzhou and the Eastern Jin Dynasty were not bordering.

"Once he encounters some setbacks, Duan Zhi will definitely lead his troops on the front line to surrender to Yan. Duan Zhi can take the position of Yan Kingdom for himself. As for the king, I'm afraid it will be difficult to preserve it."

"In my humble opinion, it is better for me to lead the elite troops to set up defenses along the river, and my brother to defend the city. If I am lucky enough to win, my brother can personally lead the army to the front line, and I will definitely achieve great success!

As he spoke, Yuan Fan lowered his voice and said:

"Moreover, Duan Zhen claimed that if he failed to win, he would surrender without losing his title of lord, which shows that he had no determination to defend the king against the Yan people.

Seeing that the war was about to break out, the Duan family asked the Yan State for mercy at this time. It was too late. Duan Zhen said to his brother Duan Gong:

"When the Yan army invades, Murong Ke will be the commander. Murong Ke is good at using troops. Now he relies on the strength of his troops. If he cannot control the danger of the Yellow River and let him cross the river, once Murong Ke's troops approach Guanggu City, we will make him a prisoner. also!

When Duan Gong heard this, the veins on his forehead popped out:

"How dare he do this!"

Flies don't bite seamless eggs. Yuan Fan dared to sow discord between brothers, naturally because Duan Gong was originally afraid of Duan Yan.

Of course, the relationship between Yuan Fan and Duan Juan is not harmonious, otherwise he would not be giving eye drops to Duan Juan at this time. When Yuan Fan saw Duan Gong getting angry, he knew that the heat was on and did not continue to add fuel to the fire.

It is true that there is no shortage of examples in history of brothers fighting against each other and resisting foreign aggression, but more often, even if foreign enemies invade, they are still immersed in internal fighting. Yuan Fan is such a person.

On that day, Duan Gong followed Yuan Fan's suggestion and did not send more troops to the border. Instead, he gathered heavy troops in Guanggu City, preparing to let Murong Ke drive straight in and look for opportunities to fight to the death with him on the mainland.

As Murong Ke expected, Duan Gong did not choose to ask Yao Xiang for help.

Yao Xiang ambushed Yin Hao, and although he gained rich results, he also lost his faith.

Even if it was Yin Hao who was at fault between Yin Hao and Yao Xiang, after Yao Xiang severely defeated his allies on the battlefield, how could Duan Gong dare to ask Yao Xiang for help, fearing that the wolf had been driven away at the front door and the tiger was coming at the back door. .

Duan Zhen was horrified when he heard that his brother was not using his plan and wanted to let Murong Ke enter the country.

Once the Yan army approaches Guanggu City, not to mention whether they can be repelled, even if they are lucky enough to win, Qi will suffer heavy losses.

Don't expect that Murong Ke will leave a grain of grain in the fields when he withdraws his troops.

Duan Zhuan hurried to the palace city and tried to persuade him:

"Brother, there is no reason in this world to open the door to a thief. Besides, there are no reinforcements outside. We are fighting in the wild. None of us are Murong Ke's opponents. Brother, please think twice!"

Duan Gong was furious:

"How can you have Murong Ke's ambition and destroy my majesty!

"We are facing a formidable enemy. You have repeatedly deceived the public and disrupted the morale of our military with your lies! What are your intentions?"

Duan Zhen stood stunned. He had never expected that he would face such a question.

Before Duan Zhen came to his senses, Yuan Fan further said:

"Your Majesty! Duan Zhen promised to surrender before fighting. If he is not killed, everyone in the country will think of retreating. Please kill him to show your intention to resist the Yan Kingdom!"

Duan Zhen was shocked, pointed at Yuan Fan and cursed:

"Shuzi! How dare you harm me! Divorce the relationship between brothers!"

After saying that, he wanted to explain to his brother, but Duan Gong no longer wanted to hear it.

He ordered everyone around to pull Duan Zhu out of the palace and execute him.

No matter how loudly Duan Zhu complained about his grievances, Duan Gong just turned a deaf ear.

Soon, a close attendant came to inform Duan Kwan that Duan Zhu had been executed.

Duan Gong only felt a sense of relief in his heart, and he did not feel the guilt of fighting against each other before the war.

The news of Duan Zong's murder spread quickly, and the Yan army was still in Zhongshan County.

When Murong Ke learned about this, he laughed with his deputy Yang Qian:

"Before the war started, the people of Qi started to have civil strife. This war is easy to come by."

Yang Qian assisted three generations of monarchs: Murong Xin, Murong Huang and Murong Jun. After Murong Jun became emperor, he was worshiped as Sikong and concurrently served as Shangshu Ling.

He reminded:

"Your Majesty, although I have never heard that Duan Gong asked for help from the Qiang people, Yao Xiang's movements cannot be ignored. Your Majesty, please be on guard."

Murong Ke didn't care much and said:

"I'm just afraid that Yao Xiang won't come."

(End of this chapter)