Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 33
  Yongzhou city was destroyed, Zhang Mao did not have the courage to commit suicide and fell into the enemy's hands.

The rebel soldiers kicked and kicked him repeatedly and drove him to Liang Du. Zhang Mao felt a chill down his spine and regretted why he had not committed suicide, but now he had to be bullied to death.

However, to Zhang Mao's expectation, he did not wait for the swordsman. Liang Du smiled and said:
  "I have been waiting for Duke Zhang for a long time. Now that the rebel army has occupied the city and is about to go eastward, Liang feels that his status is low and it is difficult to order the ministries in the east palace. He wants to elect Duke Zhang as the leader of the alliance and command the three armies. Does Duke Zhang care?"

This Zhang Mao was not the third monarch of Qianliang who passed away a few years ago, but he also had a distinguished status. He was worshiped as the governor of Yongzhou and was a veritable official in the border areas.

Liang Du believes that if he wants to achieve something, he must gather the strength of all the departments in the East Palace. Although he has deep prestige in the army, he is only the governor of Gaoli after all, and the other departments may not be willing to bow and obey orders.

After thinking hard, Liang Du felt that he should launch a puppet and issue orders in his name.

As the governor of Yongzhou, Zhang Mao was a veritable official in the border areas. Although there had been personal grudges between the two, they could not find a more suitable candidate than him for a while.

Zhang Mao obviously did not expect that Liang Du would elect him as the leader. He was afraid that the court would hold him accountable afterwards, so he blurted out:
  "My intelligence is mediocre and I am incompetent. General, please don't harm me! Don't harm me!"

But Liang Du wanted to establish a mediocre person, otherwise how could he completely control him? Seeing Zhang Mao's refusal, Liang Du's face changed and he said gloomily:
  "Since Mr. Zhang is unwilling to lead the heroes, I dare to ask Mr. Zhang to die."

Zhang Mao was shocked when he saw Liang Du's ruthless attitude. He then thought that if he refused today, he would definitely die.

If he agrees and leads the East Palace guards out of seclusion to fight for the world, there is no chance of winning.

Zhang Mao is a greedy person, otherwise he would not have robbed Gao Li's soldiers' livestock.

Faced with the choice between life and death, Zhang Mao decisively chose to live an ignoble life and accepted Liang Du's suggestion.

With the support of Liang Du, Zhang Mao claimed to be the Grand Sima and the Grand Governor, and called on all the troops in the East Palace who were sent to Liangzhou to fight back to Guandong together.

Shi Hu made a fatal mistake in dealing with the guards of the East Palace. He did not disperse the soldiers, but let them form the front line of Liangzhou.

The establishment of an organizational system means that each department in the East Palace has its own leadership group and can easily mobilize its sergeants.

They originally resented the imperial court for assigning them, but now Zhang Mao called on the heroes, and everyone responded, attacking cities and plundering land along the way, and killing officials. When they approached Chang'an, Zhang Mao's coalition troops had reached 100,000 people.

Liangzhou was adjacent to Guanzhong, and Gao Li's rebellion was notified to Huan Xi immediately.

Zhu Xu, Deng Xia, Huan Yi, Shen Jin and others were overjoyed, especially Shen Jin, who was eager to make contributions and said:
  "Liang Du calls himself a minister of the Jin Dynasty and is doing justice in Guanzhong. Why don't my lord send troops to help him and regain Guanzhong? In this way, the matter is settled."

The other three people also agreed, hoping that Huan Xi would not miss this God-given opportunity.

When Huan Xi heard this, he did not answer immediately. He pondered:

"Liang Du considers himself a minister of the Jin Dynasty, but we know nothing about his attitude towards the Jin Dynasty.

"If I send troops rashly, I may be misunderstood and think that I want to compete with him for Guanzhong.

"Besides, the rebel army's slogan is to march eastward. Their families are all in Yecheng. Even if they capture Guanzhong, they will not stay there for long. They will definitely take advantage of the victory and march eastward.

"It is better to hold our troops still and allow Liang Du to march eastward with all his strength. We will sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, depending on its success or failure. If we can win and occupy the Central Plains, I will attack Guanzhong.

"If I lose, even if I capture Guanzhong, I will not be able to withstand the Zhao people's counterattack with only 10,000 elite troops. It is better to continue to wait and see. "I heard that Shi Hu is seriously ill and will die soon. How could the brothers who each have military power surrender and obey orders?

"There will be great chaos in the country. Only when they attack each other is the opportunity I have been waiting for."

The news that Shi Hu was seriously ill had long been confirmed. Previously, Shi Hu agreed with the view that Hu people should not be emperors, so he took the initiative to lower his title from emperor to king of heaven.

Now suffering from illness, Shi Hu regained the throne of emperor in Yecheng for joy. However, it was different from the majestic appearance of the past. At the enthronement ceremony, Shi Hu looked sick and haggard, and his physical condition was also known to the world.

Huan Xi did not want to send troops because he understood that he had sent 10,000 soldiers to the north to help in the war. If he met 100,000 rebels, it was not certain who would listen to whom. He did not want to waste his direct troops in the civil strife of Hou Zhao. .

After he traveled through time, the direction of history has not changed significantly, and there will be better opportunities waiting for him in the future. Moreover, it is spring plowing now, which is not suitable for recruiting civilians to accompany the army in the Northern Expedition. Therefore, Huan Xi defied all opinions and decided to wait and see. Its changes.

Zhu Xu and others have always admired Huan Xi's foresight. Now that Huan Xi has made up his mind, they no longer insist on it. They only hope that things will develop as Huan Xi imagined.

Soon, news came from Guanzhong again. King Shibao of Leping, who was guarding Chang'an, sent all his soldiers to fight the rebels, but was defeated in one battle and fled Guanzhong in panic.

After hearing the news, Shi Hu took Grand Sikong Li Nong as the commander-in-chief and commanded 100,000 soldiers to attack.

It was in such chaos that Zhao She came to Huashan.

His belongings had been looted, and the servants accompanying him were either snatched away or separated from him, but Zhao She did not forget his mission. Carrying Huan Xi's secret message, he knocked on the doorstep of Wang Meng's house in ragged clothes. 's door.

Wang did not recognize Zhao She at first. When she came to visit for the first time, Zhao She was dressed brightly and looked like a beggar today.

Just as Mrs. Wang was preparing to donate some food, Zhao She took out the envelope:

"My Majesty, Zhao She, has come to deliver a letter for Duke Huan of Liangzhou. I also ask my wife to forward it to the prince for reading."

Wang was shocked. She took a closer look and saw that although the visitor was disheveled, his appearance was vaguely visible. She confirmed that it was indeed Huan Xi's envoy Zhao She. Wang quickly accepted the envelope, closed the door, and turned around to find Wang Meng.

"Nowadays, the war is in turmoil and the world is difficult. My husband still remembers the man who came to recruit Liangzhou governor. He is here again, but he must have encountered a military disaster on the way. He is dirty and looks really pitiful."

With that said, Wang handed the envelope to Wang Meng and continued:

"Only this letter is spotless. I think I kept it with great care. My husband, you'd better take a closer look and don't let others down."

When Wang Meng heard this, he put down the book in his hand and opened the envelope.

The first half of the letter is Huan Xi's greetings, expressing his deep admiration for Wang Meng.

In the second half, he explains how he reformed the army, restrained powerful forces, implemented equalization of land, etc., and asked Wang Meng for advice.

　Let's rest first, and then catch up after waking up.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)