Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 312 Soldiers from all sides
In fact, Li Wei and Lu Polou were indeed waiting for Murong Ke to come and join them.

Although Li Wei brought 70,000 reinforcements, which seemed to be overwhelming in numbers, these were only Fu's second-line troops, and the real elites were all taken to Hetao by Fu Jian.

Facing Huan Xi's heavy armored infantry, guards Yi Cong, and the approaching Guan Long cavalry, Li Wei really had no confidence in winning.

Especially against an opponent like Huan Xi who is known for his cunning.

At this time, Wang Meng's corvee conscripts from Guanzhong had not yet arrived in Hedong, but the people Huan Xi had forcibly conscripted from the occupied areas had already started construction in the Yanchi of Jie County.

After the Liu family in Jie County surrendered to the county, Yanchi in Jie County had been completely occupied by Huan Xi.

He planned to build fortifications in Hedong County not only to attract Li Wei and Lu Polou, but also to take the salt pond as his own in the true sense and not to share the salt benefits with the people.

In other words, it is necessary to put an end to private salt and implement government-owned monopoly.

The so-called money and silk move people's hearts. In ancient times, salt was a necessity, and selling salt was also a business that was profitable and guaranteed to make no loss.

No matter how much the government prohibits it, there are still people who risk losing their heads and become private salt dealers.

After all, he had previously taken 50,000 cavalry to Jiangdong for the funeral, and at the same time demonstrated to Jiankang, eating horses and chewing them. The finances that had improved slightly had now caused a considerable deficit.

Although his main attack direction at that time was to send troops from the Hetao area, in order to confuse the enemy, he also deliberately mobilized war on the southern front, hoping to make Fu Jian unsure whether he wanted to send troops from the northern front or the southern front. Advance troops.

This is better than directly extracting money from the people. After all, compared with eating alone, the method of increasing taxes will be more resented by the people.

Huan Xi was able to rush to the north and launch an offensive against Hedong County because he had already made sufficient preparations for war before going south to attend the funeral.

Quan Yi was already prepared, and he answered one by one:
"According to the latest news from Jizhou, the Yan army has arrived in Yecheng and will be stationed in Hanoi soon.

"After the Duke of Chu set his army free in Yangzhou, he led 30,000 cavalry to the north and has now crossed the Han River.

Of course he also knew that it would look ugly, but in order to support the future unification war, instead of blindly increasing taxes, it would be better for the government to monopolize salt and use commercial income to fill the fiscal deficit.

Since Huan Xi wanted to monopolize salt profits to supply the needs of the military and state, he naturally had to crack down on private salt production among the people to prevent them from competing with the government for profit.

However, these preparations were put on hold due to the death of my grandmother.

There are many heroes among them, such as Huang Chao, Qian Liu, Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen and others, who are all representative figures.

In the handsome tent, Huan Xi continued to ask Quan Yi, three questions in a row:
"Where is Murong Ke now? Is the Chu army going north? How long will it take for Guanlong's sudden cavalry to travel?"

"Within four days, Guanlong Tuqi can rush to Liang Gong's tent to listen to him."

For agricultural civilization, war is not the result of a slap on the head.

Huan Xi nodded, he knew that it was not easy for Huan Wen to be able to separate 30,000 steps of cavalry.

Moreover, it was impossible for Huan Wen to cross the Yellow River north to face Murong Ke, and the Chu State was not prepared for war at all.

However, the armored troops in the arsenals in various places and the grain stored in the government have been transported to the front line. It is difficult for Fu Jian to be fooled if he does not do his best.

Huan Xi could be called upon at any time, so the attack on Hedong County was launched.

As for Huan Wen, before his mother died, he promised to send more troops to Luoyang to threaten Hanoi and relieve Huan Xi from the pressure from the Yan State. However, before he had time to transport weapons and food, he learned the bad news of his mother's death. As Huan Xi went south to attend the funeral, the original plan to launch a general offensive to Hedong came to nothing. Naturally, Huan Wen would not transport weapons and food to Luoyang in advance.

The three armies have not moved, and the food and grass go first. Without adequate preparations, Huan Wen does not dare to cross the river and go north rashly. If the food is in danger, he will fall into an irreversible situation.

In ancient wars, there were many situations where the two sides were in a stalemate. When one side ran out of food and retreated, the other side chased and killed behind.

Murong Ke naturally also heard the news about Huan Wen leading his army northward, but this did not prevent him from participating in the battle for Hedong County.

It's not that Murong Ke was kind-hearted and didn't want his neighbors to be invaded, but that he knew the importance of the salt pond to the Fu family.

Once the control of Hedong County changed hands and Yanchi was seized by Huan Xi, it would be difficult for the Fu family to resist Huan Xi's long-term attack.

If Huan Xi really breaks through the blockade in Hedong, he can directly threaten the Hebei region. In this case, how can he gain a foothold in the Central Plains region.

Of course, Murong Ke could be so enthusiastic because he coveted the salt pond. If Huan Xi, Li Wei, and Lu Po Lou were both defeated, the Yan State would take the opportunity to seize Hedong County and take advantage of the salt pond, which would be even more powerful.

Hanoi County, Shanyang County (now Jiaozuo, Henan).

Feng Yi led the Yan army forward to pass through the county without entering, and drove directly to the Yewang (now Qinyang, Henan).

Soon, Murong Ke led his troops through Shanyang County. He was sitting on horseback, frowning, looking very worried.

"Uncle Wang, are you worried about the war in Hedong County?"

Murong Zang, who was marching with him, asked curiously.

In a battle with the Qiang people, Murong Zang tried to stop Yao Xiang with a walking horse. Although he was disgraced in the end, his courage was commendable and he was praised by his father Murong Jun.

After rescuing Yu State this time, Murong Jun still kept him in Murong Ke's service.

Murong Ke also admired this nephew quite a lot. He came back to his senses, nodded and said:
"This battle is not easy. Every time I think about it, it always makes me sad."

Murong Ke already knew Huan Xi's plan at this time, which was to occupy the salt pond and force Li Wei and Lu Po Lou to take the initiative, while he took a defensive position and lay high on the Diaoyutai.

Li Wei and Lu Polou had already sent envoys to Murong Ke, proposing to join forces to attack Liang Jun together.

In fact, Murong Ke did not want to get involved with Li Wei and Lu Po Lou. If possible, he would even prefer that the battle in Hedong County was a contest between himself and Huan Xi.

After the defeats of Ran Min and Yao Xiang, Murong Ke enjoyed a high reputation in Guandong.

Huan Xi is also well-known in Kansai. People often compare the two and argue about which of them is the most famous general in the world.

As for Huan Wen and Murong Chui, although one contributed to the downfall of the Han Dynasty and forced Murong Ke back in Luoyang, their achievements are really unconvincing, and the other is still under Murong Ke's shadow.

However, Murong Ke's unwillingness to form an alliance with Li Wei and Lu Po Lou was definitely not motivated by emotion. Rather, after seeing the performance of Lu Hu and Zhou Cheng at both ends during the Battle of Luoyang, Murong Ke really hated the so-called alliance. .

Although Yao Chang responded to the call and took the Qiang elite with the army, the Yao family had already surrendered to the Yan State, so naturally it could not be regarded as a coalition force.

(End of this chapter)