Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 9 Raising troops to conquer Shu
  After Xie Daoyun left, Huan Xi did not seem to have lost his soul. Instead, he devoted himself to the work of the shogunate and assisted his father Huan Wen in organizing the army and preparing for war.

In the second year of Yonghe, that is, AD 346, in October and early winter, civil strife broke out in Shu.

When the Han Dynasty became a royal family, Li Yi, the Taibao, launched a rebellion from Jinshou. Because the leader of the country, Li Shi, was unjust, tens of thousands of people responded.

At this time, Huan Wen had been in Jiangling for more than a year. When he learned that there was chaos in Shu, Huan Wen believed that the time was ripe to conquer Shu and urgently ordered him to plot a master plan. Yuan Qiao, Prime Minister of Jiangxia, came to discuss the matter.

Jiangling, Anxi General's Mansion.

When Huan Wen told everyone about his intention to conquer Shu, Jiangling's generals and subordinates all thought it was impossible. They thought that Li Yi's rebellion, although powerful, would not succeed.

They were also worried that Hou Zhao would attack Jingzhou, so they all persuaded Huan Wen not to send troops easily.

Only Huan Xi and Yuan Qiao expressed their support. Huan Xi said seriously:
  "Now that the Jie bandits are strong and the Shu bandits are weak, we should make things easy first and then make things difficult, and seize the wealth in Shu for the Northern Expedition.

"The princes are worried about the attack from the later Zhao Dynasty, but the soldiers who attack Shu are not very good, and some soldiers are left behind. Relying on the danger of the Yangtze River, they are enough to resist the invading enemy.

"It is true that Li Yi is not enough to achieve success, but when he ascends to the top and calls out, many people in the country will respond, which shows that people's support is against him.

"This opportunity is not to be missed. Please don't hesitate, father!"

Jiangxia ordered Yuan Qiao to agree:

"What Lord Huan Bo said is absolutely true. My lord does not need to mobilize a large army. He only needs to select ten thousand elite troops and advance quickly with light troops. By the time the Shu invaders find out, our army has already passed the dangerous pass and can destroy his country in one battle."

"The land of Shu is fertile and has many households. Marquis Zhuge Wu will use it to fight against Zhongxia. If he can get it, it will be of great benefit to the country.

"If you ignore it and let it occupy the upper reaches, you will surely be in serious trouble sooner or later!"

Huan Wen had long wanted to attack Shu, and now with the support of Huan Xi and Yuan Qiao, he immediately ordered that with Yuan Qiao as the vanguard, he would personally lead the conquering general Zhou Fu, the auxiliary general Sima Wuji and others to lead a 10,000-strong army to the west. .

His son Huan Xi took the initiative to join the army, but Huan Wen stayed with him to participate in the military and did not lead the troops.

Huan Wen also left Fan Wang, the chief official, to stay in Jiangling and supervise the military affairs of the four counties of Liangzhou.

Fan Wang was originally Yu Liang's assistant and served Yu Liang for more than ten years. After Yu Liang's death, he became an official of Yu Yi. After Huan Wen guarded Jingzhou, he stayed in the shogunate as the chief historian.

Although Huan Wen reported the matter to the imperial court, his troops were very fast. He obviously could not wait for the imperial court's reply and would send troops the day after the imperial report was sent.

It was November in Jiangling, the middle of winter, and there were crowds of farewells outside the city.

Sima Xingnan looked at his eldest son with tears in his eyes and complained:

"The military situation is dangerous, why do you insist on following it?"

Huan Xi wiped away his mother's tears and said:

"When something happens, a disciple will do his duty. This is filial piety.

"My father is fighting hard on the front line, how can I sit back and enjoy the benefits?"

Sima Xingnan knew that he could not defeat him, so he told Huan Wen:

"General, please take good care of Xi'er for me."

In public, she still saved face for Huan Wen. Normally, she would just call him Lao Nu.

Huan Wen smiled and comforted:
  "Xier is following me, where is the danger?"

Huan Xi left with a wink, and without interrupting the couple's farewell, he called his second brother Huan Ji to his side and said:
  "When my father and I are away, you must not make your mother angry, don't be naughty, and take good care of your brothers and sisters."

Huan Ji nodded repeatedly.

When the bugle sounded, Yuan Qiao led two thousand elite troops as the vanguard. Huan Wen followed up with eight thousand troops and left Jiangling in a mighty manner and headed west.

When Huan Wen's memorial for conquering Shu was delivered to Jiankang, the whole court was shocked. The ministers all believed that the Shu territory was dangerous and far away, and Huan Wen, with ten thousand men, would go deep into the territory alone, which would inevitably lead to disaster.

Even Xie Daoyun couldn't help but worry about Huan Xi when he heard that he was going to war with his father.

Jiankang, Wuyi Lane, Zhang Mansion Pavilion.

Xie Daoyun responded to Zhang Tongyun's previous invitation and came to the house to confront her.

In terms of chess ability, Xie Daoyun was even better than Zhang Tongyun, but today he made frequent mistakes.

"Why is Ling Jiang absent-minded?"

Zhang Tongyun made a move while holding the chess piece and said doubtfully.

Xie Daoyun surrendered and shook his head:
  "My little sister is not feeling well today and cannot play chess with her. Please forgive me."

After that, Xie Daoyun stood up and left. Zhang Tongyun thought she was having menstruation, but did not ask why.

Although public opinion is not optimistic about Huan Wen's expedition to Shu, some people believe that he will definitely succeed. This is Liu Xun who had previously encouraged King Sima Yu of Kuaiji to guard Jingzhou.

After Yu Yi's death, Huan Wen guarded Jingzhou, while Liu Xun replaced Yu Yi's eldest son Yu Fangzhi as the prefect of Yicheng, supervising all military affairs in Miaozhong.

Some people wondered why Liu Xun was so sure that Huan Wen could succeed, but Liu Xun said:
  "In the past, when I played with Huan Wen, he was not completely sure and would not take action. From this, I am only worried that Huan Wen will destroy Shu and dominate the court."

Everyone disagreed with this.

Let's talk about Huan Wen. Not long after he sent out troops, bad news suddenly came from Shu. Li Yi's rebellion had been put down.

It turned out that Li Yi led the army to attack Chengdu and captured the gate alone. However, he was shot dead by the soldiers guarding the gate, and his troops dispersed.

Huan Wen originally took advantage of the chaos in Cheng Han to send troops. Now that Li Yi's rebellion ended dramatically, some generals saw this and thought that Cheng Han's luck was not over, so they couldn't help but retreat.

When Huan Wen saw this, in order to boost the morale of the army, he prepared to summon his generals and perform divination to predict good or bad luck.

He has already greeted the soothsayer, and he will definitely get a good omen and use magic to defeat magic.

Unexpectedly, when the generals and subordinates gathered in the commander's tent, Huan Xi snatched the turtle shell away from the diviner before he could roast it.

He said bitterly to everyone:
  "Everyone in the world knows that we are attacking Shu. If we retreat without firing a single shot, wouldn't we be ridiculed by everyone in the world!

"Huan Xi would rather die than bear the name of cowardice!

"The matter has come to this, the arrow is on the string and must be fired!
  "The destiny is in Jin, how can it be owned by Shu bandits!
  "Li Shi is ignorant, and Li Yi's defeat is a disaster rather than a blessing for Chengguo. How can we say that the Shu bandits' luck is not over yet!"
  "I'm also worried that Li Yi will replace Yongzhu and work hard to govern, and become our biggest enemy in Jingzhou!"

After saying that, Huan Xi smashed the turtle shell on the ground and crushed it with his foot. The fortune teller's old face twitched and he felt heartbroken.

Lieutenant General Zuo could not refute. Seeing this, Huan Wen drew his sword and said to everyone:

"I have made up my mind. If you dare to say anything about withdrawing the troops again and disrupt the morale of our army, there will be such a case!"

As he said that, he cut off a corner of the table with a slash of his knife.

Huan Xi was frightened by this scene, fearing that Huan Wen's sword was not sharp enough.

It would be a joke if the corner of the table could not be cut off.

From then on, the Jin army who conquered Shu finally united as one, and no one dared to persuade Huan Wen to retreat.

When the Jin army's light troops advanced rapidly, the Cheng Han monarchs and ministers had no time to react, allowing the Jin army to pass through the dangerous pass and penetrate deep into Shu after a fierce battle.

When the news reached Chengdu, the country's leader Li Shi was horrified and urgently ordered right-guard general Li Fu, Zhennan general Li Quan, and former general Zan Jian to lead troops to block the Jin army.

(End of this chapter)