Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 26 Detailed Selection
  Going west from Xiangyang is Wudang (today's Danjiangkou, Hubei Province), where Sima Xun, the former governor of Liangzhou, moved his town.

If we put it in the past, when the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Later Zhao Dynasty were competing for Xiangyang, no matter how ambitious Huan Xi was, he would not have dared to drag his family and five thousand families of soldiers and soldiers upstream to Hanzhong along the Han River.

Since the rise of Murong Xianbei in the Liao River Basin, thanks to the endless emergence of nobles from his clan, he forced Goguryeo to the east to become a vassal, and then annexed Yuwen Xianbei and Duanbu Xianbei to the west, and then went south to compete with Later Zhao for Hebei.

The two countries fought endlessly, especially in AD 342, six years ago, when the Murong clan of Qianyan was defeated and Zhao's army of was severely damaged by the Jie people's national strength.

Although today's Hou Zhao still occupies Guanzhong in the north and the land of three rivers, namely Henan, Hebei, and Hedong.

But it was no longer able to fight on two fronts, and it was at war with the Eastern Jin and Qian Yan at the same time. Facing the threat of Qian Yan, even a black hole in governance like Shi Hu knew to ease relations with the Eastern Jin, and the Jin-Zhao border ushered in a brief period of peace.

On his way to Hanzhong to take office, Huan Xi heard news about Hou Zhao and Qian Yan.

First, there was civil strife in Later Zhao, and Prince Shi Xuan killed his younger brother, Qin Gong Shi Tao.

This tragedy of fratricide can also be attributed to Shi Hu's whims.

Shi Hu was impatient with government affairs and indulged in pleasure all day long, so he took the initiative to hand over state affairs to Prince Shi Xuan and Qin Gong Shi Tao, letting them rotate on a daily basis.

This move caused a conflict between the two, which coincided with Shi Hu's intention to abolish Chu, which made Shi Xuan uneasy.

In fear, Shi Xuan sent his cronies Yang Bai and others to assassinate Shi Tao.

Shi Tao's hands and feet were cut off, his eyes were blinded, and he was disemboweled and died.

At the funeral, Shi Xuan not only showed no sadness, he even said "haha" in the mourning hall, then lifted Shi Taoshou's quilt, confirmed that his brother was dead, and left laughing.

However, the incident was revealed, and Shi Xuan was captured by Shi Hu. The angry Shi Hu penetrated Shi Xuan's forehead with an iron ring, locked him, and poured Shi Xuan's food into a wooden trough, making him eat like a pig or dog.

But this did not alleviate Shi Hu's resentment. He tortured Shi Xuan to death, smashed his bones and raised ashes, and killed Shi Xuan's descendants, including his little grandson who was deeply loved by Shi Hu.

No matter how his grandson pulled his clothes and cried in his arms, Shi Hu never showed any mercy.

More than 300 of Shi Xuan's favorite ministers and more than 50 eunuchs were killed. Shi Xuan's mother, Empress Du, was deposed as a commoner, and more than 100,000 East Palace guards were all sent to Liangzhou by Shi Hu.

Shi Hu abandoned his eldest son and established a young son, and instead made his ten-year-old son Shi Shi the crown prince. However, the East Palace was abandoned and was used by Shi Hu to raise pigs.

After venting his anger, Shi Hu's body finally collapsed and he is now lying ill in Yecheng.

There was chaos in the Later Zhao Dynasty, which should have been a good time for the former Yan to send troops to Hebei. However, at this time, King Murong Huang of Yan was critically ill. Before his death, Murong Huang passed the throne to his second son Murong Jun, and told Murong Jun to hand over state affairs. Let Murong Ke deal with it.

Murong Ke was the fourth son of Murong Kai. Due to his mother's humble status, he was not taken seriously by his father since he was a child. He joined the army at the age of fifteen and rose to prominence. Later, he made many meritorious deeds and gained autocratic military power.

Ten years ago, Murong Ke used 2,000 cavalry to pursue Shi Hu and beheaded more than 30,000 people.

In the same year, the Zhao army was defeated again at Sanzangkou. Most of the 30,000 Zhao soldiers were killed by Murong Ke.

In recent years, Qian Yan was invincible and invincible, and Murong Ke was involved and contributed so much that Murong Chui, who was later called the first god of war in the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, also lived in the shadow of his brother during this period. under.

Murong Chui is the fifth son of Murong Huang, but his name has not been changed yet and he is still called Murong Ba.

Logically speaking, Murong Huang was passed on to the second son and took power as the fourth son. Such an arrangement would bring trouble to Xiao Qiang sooner or later.

But Huan Xi knew that Murong Ke was not only wise and brave, but also outstanding in virtue.

Their generation had overdrafted the Murong family's luck in advance, and it was enough to produce talents in large numbers. They still respected the order of elders and young, distinguished between descendants and concubines, and could not have any arrogance.

However, Huan Xi is not afraid of them. As long as he can find the help of the great sages in Guanzhong and the two of them work together, there is nothing to fear from the Murong family.

As for Huan Wen, it's best to just wave the flag and shout from the rear rather than causing chaos at the front.

When the North conquers the Central Plains in the future, it won't matter if Huan Xi shares one-third of his contribution. Of course, even Huan Wen would not obey Huan Xi's arrangements.

When Huan Xi arrived in Hanzhong, it was already early winter.

Fortunately, Zhu Xu and Shen Jin went to Hanzhong first to arrange accommodation, so that the five thousand families of soldiers and soldiers who came with him had a place to stay.

Previously, the only assistants in Yuan Qiao's shogunate were Chang Shi, Zhu Bo, and Sima, who were summoned to Jiangling by Huan Wen to make other arrangements to make room for Huan Xi's cronies. The rest were all retained to assist Huan Xi in governing Liangzhou.

Huan Xi appointed Zhu Xu as his chief historian, Deng Xia as his Sima, and Huan Yi and Shen Jin as soldiers. The post of Chief Bo was vacant and no arrangements were made for the time being.

Zhu Xu was fully responsible for settling the officers and soldiers, and he himself was selecting and dispatching them carefully.

Zhao She was originally from Guanzhong. He fled to Liangzhou due to the chaos in the north.

There was no trade between the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Later Zhao Dynasty, but private border trade could not be prohibited. Zhao She used his contacts in the north to start a shady business and made a fortune.

I thought the days would go by peacefully, but on the third night after Huan Xi entered the city, he was secretly captured by a group of soldiers and captured the General's Mansion.

Zhao She thought that her smuggling at the border had been exposed and would be punished by Huan Xi. She couldn't help but tremble like chaff in a sieve, terrified.

After Huan Xi appeared, Zhao She kowtowed and cried:

"General, I don't know how I have offended the general, so please forgive me.

"The common people have considerable wealth and are willing to donate all of it to the general to support his troops."

For Zhao She, being able to save his life is the most important thing.

Huan Xi shook his head and said:
  "Get up. I know what you have done, but I have no intention of punishing you."

Zhao She was startled. He didn't know why Huan Xi brought him here late at night. But when he heard that he would not be punished, he couldn't hide his joy and said excitedly:

"If the general has an order, just say so. The common people are willing to do the hard work of dogs and horses."

Huan Xi nodded slightly and asked:
  "I heard that you are originally from Guanzhong?"

"I dare not deceive the general. The common people came to Hanzhong to avoid the war and settled here."

"Having been away from home for many years, have you ever thought about going back?"

"This"

"I heard that there is a hermit in Huashan, his name is Wang Meng, and his courtesy name is Jinglue. If you can go to Guanzhong, look for this person for me, and ask him to come out of the mountain, I will thank you with a large reward."

Zhao She didn't understand that Huanxi had grown up in Jiangdong and had never set foot in Guanzhong. How did he hear that there was such a hermit in Huashan?

Of course, with Huan Xi's status, there was no need to explain things to Zhao She, and Zhao She did not dare to ask. Now that Huan Xi had spoken, he was not allowed to refuse at all, not to mention the temptation of a huge reward. Zhao She responded:
  "The common people will obey the general's orders."

Before leaving, Huan Xi told Zhao She face to face:

"Wang Meng is of great use to me, so remember not to lose your etiquette."

Zhao She happily agreed.

　Go to bed first, I have to go on a business trip tomorrow, and the remaining three thousand words will be written around ten o'clock in the evening.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)