Chapter 34 16. Former Yannan Invasion

The eventful year of 350 A.D. was called the sixth year of Emperor Mu Yonghe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the first year of Yongxing in the year of Ran Min in Ran Wei. Later, Zhao called this year the first year of Yongshou, which was the year name of Shizhi. (Hehe, there is always the word "Yong", but it is a pity that throughout the ages, there has been no good thing that "Yong" can achieve.) Coincidentally, this year happened to be the middle of the 4th century AD. Language is an extremely chaotic century, counting from the first century AD, probably only the twentieth century is "comparable" to it.What this year in the middle means for the chaos of this century is really hard to say, let history give us an answer.

The Murong family has changed to a new owner at this time, Murong Hao passed away two years ago, and the eldest son Murong Jun is the King of Yan.Before his death, Murong Hao asked Murong Jun to make good use of two talents, one was Murong Jun's younger brother Murong Ke, and the other was Yang Yu, a famous scholar in Pingzhou. Murong Jun is very obedient on this point, and has a lot of trust in these two people, and they have indeed become people who have contributed the most to Qianyan Quansheng.Especially Murong Ke, as mentioned earlier, Murong Hao deliberately trained him to be a good general when he was alive.When Qianyan attacked Fuyu Kingdom, Murong Hao asked Murong Jun and Murong Ke to go out together. Murong Jun was only giving orders in the army and was the commander-in-chief in name. In actual combat, it was always Murong Ke who took the lead and commanded the soldiers to charge into battle. To be done.Murong Ke has been tempered by the war, and has both wisdom and courage. He is very popular with Murong Hao, and his status in Qianyan has gradually improved.

Yang Yu is from a wealthy family in Pingzhou, and his father has served as a school captain under Murong Xin all his life.Yang Yu was studious and knowledgeable when he was young, with an extraordinary temperament.When Murong Xin was in power, he was in the Anbang stage. He offered many strategies to strengthen the country, which were very effective.In the era of Murong Hao, Qianyan entered the stage of expanding the frontier. He accompanied the army to conquer and strategized, and was deeply trusted by Murong Hao.Overall, he is also an all-rounder. The rebellion among scholars after Shi Hu's death caused great repercussions in Qianyan.Murong Ba and others wrote a letter, strongly advocating taking this opportunity to enter the Central Plains. Murong Jun was very hesitant considering his father's new funeral.

Murong Ba was in such a hurry that he ran from where he was stationed to Longcheng, the capital, and said to Murong Jun, "The thing that is difficult to obtain but easy to lose is the opportunity. What if the Shi family declines and revives, or if the favorable situation is overwhelmed by other heroes?" Occupy, use this as the capital to dominate, then wouldn't we be at a big loss, not to mention that there will be endless troubles in the future!" (This Murong Ba is truly unique among the Sixteen Kingdoms in his keen judgment of timing. In the future, he will always make the right choice every time he tries again and again, and appear in front of his opponent as a winner. However At this time, he was still very young and could only play a supporting role.)

Murong Jun said: "If our army wants to crusade against the Central Plains, we must either pass through Anle (the Shunyi area of ​​Beijing today) or Lulong. Although there is chaos in Yecheng, the area around Anle is still guarded by Deng Heng, the general of Zhao State. There is plenty of fine food, and it is difficult to attack; Lulong has dangerous mountains and narrow roads, if the enemy defends the high ground and cuts off my retreat, our army will be at a loss, what can we do?" Murong Ba said with confidence: "Although Deng Heng is still loyal to Shi Zhao, the soldiers under his command are homesick. If the army can come to the city, they will naturally fall apart. Please let me lead a team of soldiers and horses as the vanguard. He directly drives Ling Zhi, and Zhao Bing will be shocked if they are caught by surprise. If they are stronger, they will defend behind closed doors. If they are weaker, they may just abandon the city and flee. If they have the ability to resist, then His Highness will advance steadily with a large army. , there is nothing to be afraid of.”

Murong Jun still couldn't make up his mind, so he asked his adviser Feng Yi for advice.Feng Yi replied: "The way to use troops is to use intelligence when the enemy is strong, and rely on strength when the enemy is weak. Therefore, when a big country annexes a small country, it is like a wolf eating pigs and dolphins. To rule the world and replace a troubled world is like the sun melting the remaining snow. The stone tiger is so cruel, and the bones are not yet cold. And the descendants contend for each other, and the up and down are separated. The people in the Central Plains are devastated, and the people are eagerly waiting for the revival. If the king marches southward, first take Jicheng, then point to Yedu, and take care of the people. Who can welcome you without helping the old and the young? What about it? And Zhao Jun will be frightened by the news, and it is impossible to do harm."

General Zhechong Mu Yugen was next to him and said: "This opportunity should not be missed. Since King Wuxuan (Murongxuan, whose posthumous title is Wuxuan), our country of Yan has recruited talented people to support the people, farmed and trained soldiers (when Murongxuan was in power, he ordered reductions and exemptions) Heavily taxed, abolished gardens, and distributed land and cattle to the landless poor. Several measures have restored and developed agricultural production in the Liaodong area.) It is for this day. What worries do you still have now, does God not want the Central Plains Ping Ding, do you have no intention of letting the king take over the world?"

After hearing this, Murong Jun laughed and followed suit.He took his younger brother Murong Ke as the general of the auxiliary country, Murong as the general of the auxiliary prime minister, Yang Yu as the general of the auxiliary righteousness, Murong Ba as the forward governor and general Jianfeng (the first three are also called "three assistants", although the fourth is young, he actually Even more powerful, the strongest are listed), selected more than 200,000 elite soldiers, and stationed them on the southern border, waiting for opportunities; and sent envoys to Liangzhou to invite Zhang Chonghua to attack Hou Zhao together.

The situation in the Central Plains continued to develop in a direction that benefited Qianyan. As soon as Ran Min proclaimed himself emperor, Murong Jun believed that the time had come. As the vanguard, we launched the southward invasion in three ways. It turned out that the guards and generals of Hou Zhao's territory had long been disheartened by the civil strife, and they had no fighting spirit. "Pioneer" Murong Ba's army marched to Sanxing (now Luan County, Hebei), Anle guard Deng Heng burned his warehouse and abandoned the city, and fled to Jicheng to guard with Youzhou governor Wang Wu.Sun Yong, the governor of Murong Ba's army, led his troops into Anle to put out the fire, and the Yan army received a large amount of rations, which is a huge profit.

Murong Ba joined forces with Murong Jun and continued to press on Jicheng. Wang Wu saw that he still couldn't hold it, so he left a general and continued to retreat southward to Lukou (now Raoyang, Hebei) with Deng Heng.It didn't take much effort for the Yan army to capture Jicheng, an important place in Youzhou.Soon after, Murong Jun moved the capital to Jicheng. The Central Plains scholar-bureaucrats probably saw hope from Murong Jun again, and went to surrender one after another. Murong Jun exchanged a small loss for a favorable position in the Central Plains hegemony. The Wei-Zhao war between Yecheng and Xiangguo was not interrupted by the intervention of "Yellow Bird" Qianyan.Ran Min still regarded Shi Zhi as his only military opponent. At that time, the total number of Ran Wei's soldiers reached more than 300,000, surpassing the time when Zhao Quansheng was later, it can be seen that Ran Min's soldiers were extremely poor.After repelling Shi Kun's attack, he personally led 100,000 infantry and cavalry to besiege Xiangguo.Shi Zhi stayed in the city for more than a hundred days, but couldn't take it anymore, so he had to give up the title of Emperor, changed his name to King Zhao, and sent people to beg Murong Jun and Yao Yizhong for reinforcements.

Murong Jun and Yao Yizhong sent Yue Wan and Yao Xiang to rescue Shi Zhi respectively, and Shi Kun also led troops to support Xiangguo.Ran Min sent his generals to block the arrival of reinforcements, but all failed. Unwilling to be frustrated, Ran Min planned to attack in person.General Wang Tai dissuaded him and said: "Nowadays, all kinds of troops are gathered to rescue Xiangguo. If they go to battle, they will inevitably be attacked by the enemy. It is better to hold on and wait for changes. What's more, your Majesty is on the battlefield in person. If you miss the opportunity, the big thing will be over." Ran Min wanted to listen to his advice, but Fa Rao, a Taoist priest next to him, came out to talk: "Your Majesty has besieged Xiangguo for many days, but he has not achieved a measure of success; now that the bandits are coming again, if you avoid fighting, how can you order the soldiers!" Ran Min belongs to the authentic reckless general, after being provoked by him, where would he think about it?He rolled up his sleeves and said loudly: "I have made up my mind to fight, and those who dare to discourage the army's morale will be killed!" Ran Min led an all-out army, Yao Xiang, Yue Wan and Shi Kun's reinforcements attacked from three directions, and Shi Zhi attacked Ran Min's back again. The Wei army was defeated, and the officials and soldiers belonging to Hu Han were wiped out.Ran Min fled back to Yecheng with only a dozen cavalrymen. Ran Min regretted not listening to Wang Tai's dissuasion, turned his anger on Farao, and dismembered Farao and his son.The victory or defeat of the war caused the overwhelmed protagonist to start to reverse. Shi Zhi took advantage of the victory and sent his general Liu Xian to lead an army of 70,000 to attack Yecheng, and in turn wanted to destroy Ran Wei.Ran Min hurriedly called Wang Tai into the palace to discuss countermeasures.This Wang Tai is also an ignorant master, because the previous opinion was not adopted, and he actually excused his illness to see the emperor.Ran Min wanted to come to express condolences in person, but he also said that he was seriously ill and could not receive him.Ran Min became angry with embarrassment, and said: "Wang Tai is shameless, do I really have to rely on you? Hmph, let me retreat the Hu soldiers first, and then kill Wang Tai!" Then he led all the troops in Yecheng to battle , defeated Liu Xian, pursued to Yangping (now Guantao, Hebei), and beheaded more than 30,000 levels. Liu Xian was frightened, and secretly sent someone to ask for surrender. The seller begged for glory, and expressed his willingness to kill Shi Zhi for Ran Min. Then Ran Min withdrew his troops and returned to Yecheng.Ran Min did not forget to fulfill his promise, charged Wang Tai'an with intentional defection, ordered him to be executed, and wiped out the three clans. (Although Ran Min is a Han, his brutality is no less than that of the Hu people. During the post-Zhao period, especially the later period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, it was a very dark period. Ran Min served under the Shi family for many years, and he was contaminated with too much humour. If we say that killing Hu If people’s terrible slogans are based on national revenge, then killing people indiscriminately based on personal likes and dislikes here is regarded as a defect in his own character.) In April of the second year of Ranwei Yongxing (AD 351), Liu Xian really killed Shi Zhi and his important officials, and sent his head to Yecheng.Ran Min, who hated Shi Zhi so much, burned Shi Zhi's head on fire in the street, which was regarded as an announcement to the world, and Zhao arrived here to finish the game.However, what Ran Min never expected was that his own doomsday was also approaching.