Chapter 43 Seven, three cuts in the Central Plains

When Murong Ke died, the first country to get the news was the former Qin Dynasty.Fu Jian deliberately asked Cao Zhu, the great Xiongnu family who had just attached to him, to send envoys to pay tribute to Qianyan, taking the opportunity to spy on the situation.The envoy came back and reported to Fu Jian that the former Yan Dynasty was chaotic, and there was indeed a chance for something to be done. Unexpectedly, there was a small civil strife in the former Qin Dynasty at this time. Fu Sheng's younger brothers Jin Gong Fu Liu and Zhao Gong Fu Shuang entangled the other two imperial relatives Wei Gong Fu Xing and Yan Gong Fu Wu, respectively in Puban, east of Chang'an (now in the south of Shanxi) , Shancheng (now in the area of ​​Shanxian County, Henan Province) and Shangyu (now Tianshui, Gansu) and Anding (now North Jingchuan, Gansu) in the west and other places rebelled. Of course, these were not good news for Fu Jian, and he had to divide his troops to suppress them.

Fu Jian's strategy is to only refuse to take the two cities on the eastern front, and focus on attacking the two cities on the western front that are closer to Chang'an.Surrounded by Qin soldiers, Wei Gongfu was forced to surrender to Qianyan with Shancheng, and asked to send troops to respond. possible attack. On the side of Qianyan, there are still many "savvy people". Murongjun and Murongchui's youngest brother, Fanyang Wang Murongde, immediately went to the school, thinking that it was a godsend for the extermination of Qin to wait until the former Qin fell apart and fratricide each other. It is a good opportunity, as long as the troops are divided into two groups, sending troops from Bingzhou and Luoyang to rescue Fu Liu in Puban and Fu Sin in Shancheng respectively, it is expected to capture the former Qin Dynasty in one fell swoop.

(In fact, it is true. Even though the former Yan had a hundred reasons to perish at this time, if you seize such an opportunity, it is not impossible to destroy Qin. If Murongde’s plan is implemented, it may have another ending, so this It can be said that it is the last possible way out for Qianyan.) This proposal is quite far-sighted, and has already won the support of many ministers in the former Yan Dynasty. So what did the Tai Fu Murong Ping, who held the power alone after Murong Ke's death, say-it can be said to be extremely disappointing. He said: "Qin is a big country. Although we are in trouble now, it is still not easy to plan. As for Yan, no matter how wise the court is, it may not be as good as the late emperor; our strategy is not as good as Taizai (Murong Ke) ). So it’s good that we can retreat and protect the environment, and it’s not our business to pacify Qin.” (Murong commented that this person is very greedy for money and things, but it’s the opposite in politics and military. To deal with major national affairs, it is impossible for Yan State to suffer disaster. At that time, the "rebel" Fu Xiang also saw that Yan State was bound to perish. , Murong Chui sent a secret letter to remind the two of them that such heroes as Fu Jian and Wang Meng have been seeking Yan for a long time. If such an opportunity is lost, there will be a day when the former Yan Junchen regretted it! Although Huangfuzhen and others are sensible, I can only lament that politics are not my own, and watch opportunities slip through my fingers.)

Several rebels in the former Qin Dynasty fought on their own, isolated and helpless, and the result was of course self-evident, and they were quickly put down one by one by Fu Jian.In the midst of troubled times, in response to the phrase "one wave is not calm, another wave rises again", that end of Fu Jian is about to postpone the plan to attack Yan for a few years, and this end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Grand Sima Huan Wen, who has just received the news of Murong Ke's death, is not happy. I am willing to give up this good opportunity to restore the Central Plains easily. In the spring of the fourth year of Taihe (369 A.D.), Huan Wen finally launched the largest third Northern Expedition in his life.He led 50,000 infantry and cavalry to set off from Yanzhou and attack northward into the territory of Qianyan.In the first battle, Yan general Murong Zhong was captured, and he went to Jinxiang (now Jinxiang, Shandong) in April of that year. Then the Jin army won several battles in a row. The former Yan Xiapi king Murong Li was defeated in Huangxu and fled back alone. Gaoping prefect Xu Fan surrendered to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

It seemed that the Eastern Jin army was bound to win. The former Yan Dynasty was in a hurry. Murong Wei sent another prince, Murong Zang, to resist the Jin army, and at the same time asked Li Feng, a regular servant of Sanqi, to ask for help from the Qin Dynasty. Murong Zang was soon defeated. . In July, when Huan Wen arrived at Fangtou (now Junxian County, Henan Province), Sun Yuan, the former governor of Yanzhou in the former Yan Dynasty, raised his troops to meet him.The former Yan court was greatly shaken, and Murong Wei and Murong Ping planned to abandon the capital Yecheng and flee to Helong (now Chaoyang, Liaoning). (Hehe, this step of escape is really big enough!)

At this critical juncture, Murong Chui stepped forward and took the initiative to ask for a fight, and said to them: "Even if I lose this time, I won't lose too badly. By then, it's not too late for you to run!" Murong Wei had no choice but to appoint him to replace Murong Zang as the governor of Chijie and Southern Dispute, and together with Fanyang King Murongde led 50,000 troops to attack Huanwen.At the same time, he sent Le Song, a regular servant on horseback, to ask for help from the former Qin again, with the proviso that he agreed to cede the area west of Hulao Pass to the former Qin (unexpectedly, this would become an excuse for the former Qin to destroy the former Yan in the future).

Fu Jian called a group of ministers to discuss. Everyone believed that when Huanwen attacked Qin, and fought all the way to Bashang, Yan State did not send troops to rescue it; now that it is Yan State, why should Qin State rescue it.What's more, the country of Yan doesn't call us a vassal, so we have no reason to send reinforcements!Only Wang Meng did not express his opinion. After the meeting, Wang Meng secretly told Fu Jian, saying: "Although the Yan Kingdom looks powerful, Murong Ping, who is in charge, is not Huan Wen's opponent. If Huan Wen captures Shandong, advances in Luoyang, accepts soldiers from Youzhou and Jizhou, and wins Bingzhou, The food and grass in Yuzhou, and then send troops to Xiaoshan and Mianchi. At that time, how can His Majesty stop him from advancing? Now it is better to unite with the people of Yan and fight back Huan Wen first. When Huan Wen retreats, Yan Guo will be exhausted. Then we take advantage of its unpreparedness and attack it, isn't it good?" Fu Jian was deeply impressed by Wang Meng's analysis, and sent General Gou Chi and Luozhou Governor Deng Qiang to lead 20,000 troops to rescue.

Murong Chui and Huan Wen confronted each other at Fangtou, avoiding their vigor and attacking the enemy's weakness.The guide of the Jin army was Duan Si, the former general of Yan, and Murong Chui sent his general Xi Luoteng to fight with him, and captured Duan Si alive. During the march, Huan Wen opened the waterway to solve the problem of grain and grass, but Murong Chui took the lead and cut off the Jin army's grain road with Murongde's 10,000 cavalry, and set up an ambush to defeat the incoming Jin army. By September of this year, before Huan Wen's main force had fought Murong Chui, their morale was low, food and grass were exhausted, and bad news came one after another: Qin's reinforcements were coming.Huan Wen knew that there was only one dead end for Jiuliu, so he burned all the ships, discarded weapons and luggage, and quickly withdrew his troops by land.

The generals of the Yan army insisted on pursuing them, but Murong Chui said: "No. Now that Huan Wen has just retreated, he must arrange an elite rear guard. At this time, the attack may not succeed, so it is better to slow down first. He will be glad that there are no pursuers behind him, and he will have to travel day and night, etc. His soldiers are exhausted, if we attack again, we will win a complete victory." So he led eight thousand cavalry and slowly followed Huan Wen. Sure enough, the desperate Jin army dug a well to drink, ran seven hundred miles in one go, and finally arrived at the border of Qianyan after a few days.At this time, Murong Chui gave the order to hurry, and at the same time let Murong De take 4000 elite cavalry to take a small road and lie in ambush in the mountain stream east of Xiangyi (now Suixian, Henan).The Yan army soon came into contact with the Jin army near Xiangyi. How could the exhausted tens of thousands of Jin troops still have the strength to resist? This battle can be said to be the eight thousand elite cavalry of Qianyan slaughtering the Jin army who had lost the ability to resist.As soon as the war was over, the Yan army actually beheaded 30,000 people.

Huan Wen rushed out of the siege with less than half of the remaining remnant soldiers, and then retreated to Qiaocheng. The reinforcements sent by the former Qin arrived just in time, and the Jin army was intercepted and killed again. Ten thousand people. Huan Wen took his life, but he had already suffered the greatest humiliation in his life. He blamed Yuan Zhen, the governor of Yuzhou who had lost his way of food, and demoted him to a commoner (this trick turned Yuan Zhen back, he was based on Yuzhou Surrendering Qianyan and Qianqin, this Northern Expedition was really "not enough successes, more than failures").This was the process and ending of Huan Wen's last Northern Expedition. From then on until his death, he no longer had the confidence and strength to launch a new round of Northern Expedition.

Murong Chui won a complete victory, and returned to Yedu from Xiangyi with even more prestige, which also made Murong Ping, who is virtuous and incompetent but powerful, even more jealous.Murong Chui played to commend the meritorious soldiers, but Murong Ping ignored them.The two often had disputes in the court, and the grievances grew deeper and deeper.The Queen Mother Ke Zuhun, who always hated Murong Chui, also took the opportunity to slander Murong Chui's military exploits, and conspired with Murong Ping to kill Murong Chui.When Murong Chui's nephew and Murong Ke's son Murong Kai got the news, he hurriedly informed Murong Chui and advised him to preemptively get rid of Murong Ping and Le'an King Murong Zang.But Murong Chui expressed that he could not bear to kill each other, and would rather go out to avoid disaster than cause chaos in the country. Murong Chui knew that he was in danger, but he didn't tell his sons.The eldest son Murong Ling came to pay his respects, saw his father's sad face, and asked: "Father has a worried look on his face, could it be because the emperor is young and inexperienced, and the Tai Tuo is jealous of the virtuous and capable, and he is even more jealous after making great achievements?" Murong Chui said in surprise: "Yes, I tried my best to defeat the powerful enemy, and I wanted to save the country, but after I succeeded, I would have no place to stand. Since you know what I think, do you have any good ideas?" Murong Ling replied: "The emperor is weak, and all the power has been handed over to the Taifu. Once a disaster occurs, it will be impossible to escape. If you don't want to cause chaos, it is better to flee to the old capital Longcheng and retreat. .If the emperor can understand our good intentions, we can get back together; if not, we can at least rely on the danger of Dragon City to protect ourselves." Murong bowed his head in agreement. Not long after, Murong Chui left Yecheng in micro-clothes on the pretext of going out to hunt, and was about to go to Longcheng.Something unexpected happened at this time. The youngest son Murong Lin, who had never been loved by Murong Chui, fled to Handan with his father and brother, and then secretly ran back to Yecheng to report to Murong Ping. Murong Ping immediately sent light cavalry to chase after him.They caught up with Murong Chui near Fanyang (today's Zhuozhou, Hebei Province). Fortunately, after Murong ordered the lead troops to die, the pursuers dared not approach for a while. When the incident was revealed, it strengthened Murong Chui's determination to defect.At this critical moment, Murong Ling also believed that it was necessary to raise troops to get rid of Murong Ping and other mediocre people who were in power. The prudent Murong Chui replied, "If your move succeeds, it will certainly be a blessing to the country. If it fails, it will be too late to regret. It is better to go west to the former Qin Dynasty, which is the current surefire strategy." So he ordered to go west, and the group came to the Yellow River ferry, but was blocked by the former Yan guards. Murong Chui went into battle in person, beheaded the Tianjin officials, and crossed the river to Luoyang.Murong Chui led his sons Murong Ling, Murong Bao, Murong Nong, Murong Long, nephew Murong Kai, uncle Lan Jian and others from Luoyang, and fled to the former Qin Dynasty.Of course, he didn't forget to bring the second woman he loved in his life—Xiao Duan, the younger sister of his ex-wife, Duan. The Kezuhun, whom the queen mother arranged for him, was left alone in Yecheng.