Chapter 26 8. Yanzhao Constructs Evil

Murong Hao said that the queen's first major task was to eliminate the Duan family, and the common goal was to make the two countries form an alliance for the first (and last) time. In the fourth year of Xiankang, Emperor Cheng of Jin Dynasty (338 A.D.), Murong Hao's envoys came to Yecheng, the capital of Zhao, and proclaimed themselves vassals to Zhao, and discussed with Shi Hu, the king of later Zhao, about the plan.Because Duan Liao has repeatedly violated the frontiers for several years, Shi Hu also planned to teach Duan Xianbei a good lesson. He recruited 30,000 new warriors in the country to expand his country's military power.At this time, Duan Liao, who was ignorant of current affairs, just happened to send general Duan Quyun to attack Zhao Youzhou. Shihu attacked Duan Liao in two ways with 100,000 boat soldiers by water and 70,000 cavalry by land.Of course, Murong Hao was not idle either. He personally led the army to attack and plunder the city north of Duan's Lingzhi (now northeast of Hebei).

Murong Hao's combat strategy was very treacherous, always attacking for a while, and then retreating in a roundabout way if he had some success, it was always difficult for Duan Liao's army to confront him head-on.Duan Liao decided to pursue Murong Hao, and Murong Han came out to persuade him: "The current situation is that Zhao's army has assembled in the south, and we should join forces with Murong Hao to resist; at this time, we are still fighting with the Yan army. How to resist the strong enemy in the south." As soon as Duan Lan heard Murong Han's words, she became furious and said: "I was not fooled by your nonsense back then, which caused today's troubles. I will never be fooled by you again!" He brought his troops and horses to pursue Murong Hao. Murong Hao's ambush soldiers had been waiting there for a long time, Duan Lan didn't say anything, and suffered a big defeat again, and fled to the south.

On the southern front, the army of Later Zhao Xianfeng General Zhi Xiong drove straight into Jicheng, and the guards of Duan Liao's counties surrendered in anticipation.Duan's Xianbei was once powerful, but at this level, they don't even have the strength to fight to the death.Duan Liao was trapped in Lingzhi City, and Murong Han was the only general around him. Duan Liao burst into tears, and he took Murong Han's hand and said, "I don't want your advice, I will kill myself; I had no choice but to accept my fate, but it left you homeless, and I feel deeply regretful." (People say "the end of a hero", and Duan Liao didn't reflect on himself until this time, which is ridiculously late, but it is quite touching.)

Duan Liao and Murong Han broke up, and fled northward to Miyun Mountain with his wife and clan to avoid Shihu's pursuit; Murong Han still didn't dare to see his younger brother Murong Hao, and after much deliberation, he went to the northeast of the Great Wall. I went to the Ministry of Yuwen. Shi Hu's front light cavalry, led by generals Guo Tai and Ma Qiu, pursued Duan Liao closely, and finally caught up with Duan Liao's family's small luggage in the Miyun Mountain area, and captured Duan Liao's mother and wife. Qi Tezhen offered his watch and famous horse to Zhao Zhao, Shi Hu finally accepted.

(Later, Duan Liao seemed a little regretful, and surrendered to Yan King Murong Hao, and joined forces with Yan soldiers to set up an ambush in Miyun Mountain. Killed by Hu. The history of the Duan family in Liaodong and Xianbei is all over here, but there will be a monarch with the surname Duan in the sixteen kingdoms, and that is the Northern Liang king Duanye we will mention later. What is the difference between this Duan family and the Xianbei Duan family I have been unable to verify the relationship. As for the fact that the Dali Duan family is also from Xianbei, it is just speculation.)

Shihu entered Lingzhi City and rewarded them generously according to their merits. In order to prevent the survivors of the Duan family from committing misconduct, they were moved to Si, Yong, Yan, and Yu prefectures respectively. (Immigration activities on such a scale occurred frequently during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Such cultural integration is much better than war anyway.) The "honeymoon cooperation" between the later Zhao State and the former Yan State, at this time, cracks appeared.Shi Hu believed that Murong Hao did not join forces with Hou Zhao to fight against Duan Liao, but fought alone, so he used this as a reason to continue to attack Qianyan.

Everyone in the world knows Shihu's greedy "consistent style", but the action of sending troops to attack Yan still makes the people of Yan panic.When Murong Hao heard the news, he was a little hesitant at first, planning to temporarily avoid Zhao Jun's attack.Mu Yugen, the general of the clan, advised: "Zhao is strong and we are weak. If the king sets out to retreat, it is exactly what the Zhao people wish for. When they conquer our land and plunder our people, when the soldiers are strong and the food and grass are plentiful, we will think about it again." There is no chance for a counterattack. Now we should stick to it with all our strength, strengthen our momentum, and wait for the situation to change, and then take the opportunity to attack. If it really doesn’t work, it will be too late to withdraw our troops. How can we just run away and kill ourselves?” Other Han advisers also said: Everyone thought that although Zhao Bing was strong, he was not enough to worry about. Murong Hao finally made up his mind to stick to the city and wait for it.

The mighty Hou Zhao army came to attack the capital of Qianyan, the capital of Jicheng, with a total of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. The nearby Qianyan counties did not tremble, and 36 castles surrendered to Hou Zhao.Later Zhao's army launched a fierce attack on Thorn City from four directions, east, west, north, south, and the former Yan soldiers in the city were frightened. Liu Pei, the prefect of Xuantu, Murong Hao's subordinate, took the initiative to invite Ying, and asked to bring a death squad out of the city to meet Zhao Jun, and use the victory to stabilize the morale of the army.This death squad composed of hundreds of soldiers suddenly appeared in the formation of the Hou Zhao army, which really surprised the generals and soldiers of Hou Zhao. Facing the Hou Zhao army, the death squad was invincible and brave. Capture and return" (Although it is said that "a husband fights with courage", such a miracle is still amazing), the defenders of Qianyan were deeply encouraged and their morale was revived.

The two armies held each other inside and outside the city of Ji for more than half a month. The former Yan army at the head of the city was commanded by Mu Yugen, and every day from morning to night they tried their best to resist the soldiers of Hou Zhao who attacked the city. When surrendering to Zhao, Murong Hao rebuked him very simply: "If a single party takes over the world, why surrender to others!" (Murong Hao's courage when he said this has to be admired. From the former Yan to the later Yan, and even the small countries of Xiyan and Nanyan, the descendants of the Murong family seldom succumb to the opponent's force. Do everything possible to preserve your own strength and maintain your own independent political power, such as those with strong abilities such as Murong Chui and Murong De, and those with weak abilities such as Murong Wei and Murong Chao.)

As the war dragged on, those who couldn't hold on became the Zhao Dajun who were exhausted from the distant division.Seeing that Thorn City could not be conquered, Shi Hu ordered the whole army to retreat in desperation.Murong Hao asked his son Murong Ke to pursue Zhao Bing with two thousand cavalry. Murong Ke was only fifteen years old at the time, but he was already a general who was full of knowledge and proficient in the art of war.Murong Hao entrusted him with a heavy responsibility and placed high hopes on him.What a good Murong Ke, facing an enemy army dozens of times larger than himself, without fear, led his men to follow Zhao Bing, and took advantage of the dawn to attack suddenly.The Hou Zhao soldiers who were retreating couldn't figure out the details of their opponents, and all the troops abandoned their armor and fled.Murong Ke's two thousand elite soldiers chased and killed them all the way, and they even captured more than 30,000 heads.Only one army in the rebellious army of Later Zhao retreated. The general who commanded this army happened to be a famous figure in the Sixteen Kingdoms period. He was Shi Hu's adopted grandson, Ran Min.

Shi Hu retreated to Yecheng, the capital of the country, before stopping.Murong Hao took advantage of the victory to regain all the cities of Zhao after the rebellion, but instead expanded the country to the territory of the original Zhao. In the next few years, there were constant wars between Yan and Zhao. A big war is not far away.