Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 351 Inconsistency
Jinyang was right in front of him, and Fu Jian felt like he was in another world.

He finally became the monarch of Yu State by launching a palace coup. Although it was said that Fu Sheng brought his own destruction, he ultimately gained the throne incorrectly.

Originally taking advantage of Huan Xi's funeral, Fu Jian wanted to secure his position with a victory.

Thinking about how heroic Qianyun was when he marched west with 100,000 infantry to attack Hetao, but now he retreated in disgrace, Fu Jian was inevitably a little frustrated.

He looked at Xue Zan beside him and sighed:

"I personally went on an expedition in vain, and I really don't know how to deal with the ministers in the court."

Xue Zan comforted him and said:
"Your Majesty, it was because Huan Xi invaded our territory and Duke Jianning (Li Wei) was unable to expel the bandits that he voluntarily abandoned the Hetao and returned to Hedong to aid. How can it be said to be a failure?"

Hearing this, Fu Jian blushed, but he accepted this statement.

He had to maintain his authority, so he could only use Li Wei as a shield.

"Let's go, don't let the ministers wait outside the city gate for too long."

Fu Jian spoke for Li Wei, which comforted Empress Dowager Gou a little. In fact, she was also worried that Fu Jian would alienate mother and son because of his personal relationship with Li Wei.

Among the ministers of the Yu State, Xue Zan was not the only one who was eye-catching. None of the ministers who came to greet him mentioned Fu Jian's failure on the northern front. Instead, they all expressed their gratitude, thinking that Fu Jian's timely return of reinforcements would surely enable him to march south. Afterwards, Liang Jun was expelled.

Although there were many soldiers under his command, they were all second-line troops. When Fu Jian himself led the elite and was defeated by Xie Ai and Deng Xia, it was really difficult for Li Wei to defeat Huan Xi with a mob.

In fact, Fu Jian was very satisfied with Li Wei's performance. He had no hope that Li Wei could force Liang Jun back. As long as there was no major defeat on the front line, he would be thankful.

Fu Jian stamped his feet and said:

"Urgentness leads to chaos. My mother is now urging Duke Jianning to use troops. In desperation, if Huan Xi uses a trick to lure the enemy, Duke Jianning will definitely be ambushed by him, and the frontline army will be in danger!"

After Fu Jian exchanged greetings with the officials, he went straight to the palace to pay a visit to his mother, Queen Mother Gou.

Fu Jian said, urging his mount, and 40,000 soldiers followed him towards the north gate of Jinyang ahead.

"Jiantou, it's really hard to travel all the way."

Queen Mother Gou smiled and said:
"There is no need to worry about Jian Tou. I have issued an order for Princess Jianning to take action. I believe there will be good news soon."

But now hearing what Empress Dowager Gou said, Fu Jian's heart was in his throat.

As for Empress Dowager Feng who started the Sinicization trend in the Northern Wei Dynasty, she poisoned Emperor Xianwen. That was because their mother and son were fighting for power, not because Emperor Xianwen insisted on killing Empress Dowager Feng's male favorite Li Yi.

Fu Jian was not worried at first. The situation in Hedong County had entered a stalemate stage. For a while, he was afraid that there would be no winner. He was fully prepared for the battle.

For most women, their lover is not as important as their son.

Queen Mother Gou stroked Fu Jian's face and said:
"I only regret that Duke Jianning is afraid of the enemy like a tiger and does not dare to fight Liang Jun. I have to help you travel thousands of miles to come back for reinforcements."

Moreover, under the system where Zigui's mother died in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Empress Dowager Feng was only Emperor Xianwen's aunt, not his biological mother.

In order to protect her son, Queen Mother Gou of course had to pass the responsibility of retreating to Li Wei.

After all, although Li Wei is quite talented, he is no match for Huan Xi.

Queen Mother Gou was in her forties, but she still looked charming.

"Mother! You're confused!"

"Mother, please do not blame Duke Jianning. Huanxi is cunning and wise. Duke Jianning should use his troops carefully."

As a woman, Queen Mother Gou certainly didn't understand military matters, but she also had her own reasons. She saw Queen Mother Gou put on a serious face and reprimanded:

"Jiantou! Are you scolding me?"

Fu Jian was startled, realizing that he had made a mistake, and quickly apologized to his mother.

He was deeply influenced by Confucian culture and naturally respected filial piety. Even when his mother had an affair with his late father's sworn brother, Fu Jian turned a blind eye. If it wasn't for a moment of urgency, how could he have contradicted his mother in person.

Queen Mother Gou did not calm down, she complained:

"You have been leading troops abroad and have put all the national affairs on my wife. Do you know how much food has been spent on the war in Hedong County that has been delayed to this day?"

Fu Jian was speechless and had to apologize again.

Of course Queen Mother Gou knew that Fu Jian made the mistake unintentionally, and she did not dwell on the mistake. She only said:
"Now that you are back, from now on, you will take care of the state affairs yourself, so as not to blame me, a woman, for being short-sighted again."

After saying that, he asked Fu Jian to retreat.

Fu Jian paid his respects again and walked out of Empress Dowager Gou's palace. He hurriedly called his confidants and ordered:

"Go to Anyi quickly and tell Duke Jianning not to act rashly. When I go south, there will always be a way to force Huan Xi out of the camp."

The cronies took the order and immediately ran out of the palace city and rode southward.

At this time, Zhou Qiong and Mao Muzhi had already led 10,000 elite infantry to escort bows, arrows, grain and grass across the Yellow River.

Huan Xi mobilized grain and grass in Hongnong County, but Zhou Qiong and Mao Muzhi, for safety reasons, did not take the Yellow River Bridge, but took the pontoon bridge of Fenglingdu via Hongnong.

Since they were on the way, Zhou Chu, who stayed behind in Hongnong County, naturally asked the grain team to follow Mao Muzhi's Chu army. After Zhou Qiong walked across the pontoon bridge, she looked back and could no longer see clearly her father's face on the other side.

He shook his head, putting this reluctance behind him, and reminded Mao Mu of the way:

"You can only catch big fish by laying heavy bait. Now we are traveling with this food team. Once the enemy invades, it will never be a small force. General Mao still needs to be alert and must not take it lightly."

In fact, Zhou Chu also followed Huan Xi's instructions.

After Huan Xi learned that Huan Wen had sent 10,000 elite infantry to the north for reinforcements, he immediately instructed Zhou Chu to hand over the important task of guarding the grain team to this Chu army.

If Murong Ke intended to rob grain, he would have to send out heavy troops. After all, Huan Xi was not busy just to swallow up the enemy's small troops.

There was no need for Zhou Qiong to remind Mao Muzhi that he should be extremely alert. The purpose of his trip was to show his face in front of Huan Xi and perform well so that the monarch of Liang and the crown prince of Chu could Make a lasting impression on yourself.

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhou. As long as the enemy dares to covet the grain team, my general will definitely be able to cooperate with Liang Gong to annihilate him and teach him how to come back."

Mao Mu's words are conclusive.

After crossing the Yellow River, the route they will take is the route Huan Xi used to attack Hedong County.

From Fenglingdu to the east, we marched along the Zhongtiao Mountains, passing through Hebei (now north of Ruicheng, Shanxi) and Dayang (southwest of Pinglu, Shanxi) counties, and then headed north from Dayang, crossing the Zhongtiao Mountains to Yanchi.

Although Hebei and Dayang have now become the occupied areas of Liang State, it is not safe along the way.

Especially after crossing the Zhongtiao Mountains, there is a high possibility of encountering an attack.

In fact, Li Wei had already led 20,000 cavalry out of camp at night. They marched day and night towards Zhongtiao Mountain.

On September 356, the twelfth year of Yonghe (AD ), when the messenger arrived at the Yu army camp, only Lu Polou was still in charge of military affairs.

"Where is Duke Jianning? The King of Heaven has a message to deliver."

the henchman asked anxiously.

Lu Polou did not hide it. He recognized that this person was a close official of Fu Jian.

"Gong Jianning led his troops out of the camp three days ago to ambush the enemy's grain team."

When the confidant heard this, he cursed in his heart, and said to Lu Polou:

"Lord Lu, please send an envoy to ask Jianning Gong to return to the camp as soon as possible. The King of Heaven has an order and is not allowed to attack without permission. We will wait until the King of Heaven leads the army south to make further calculations."

Lu Polou was dumbfounded. The reason why they took the risk to ambush Huan Xi's grain team was because they were urged by the court and could no longer withstand the pressure, so they had to take this dangerous move.

He hoped to force Huan Xi to retreat after running out of food.

Now another command came, but it was completely opposite to the previous one. Fortunately, the two commands were not from the same person, otherwise, Lu Polou and the frontline soldiers would have been driven crazy by him.

Of course, Fu Jian's order came just in time, and Lu Polou actually didn't want to take any risks.

The previous agreement with Li Wei to send troops was just a last resort due to Empress Dowager Gou's urging. Now that Fu Jian asked them to wait for the opportunity, Li Wei and Lu Polou naturally did not need to consider financial issues.

"I will send someone to call Duke Jianning back right away."

Without further ado, Lu Po Lou quickly found his confidant and asked him to go to Li Wei's hiding place immediately. Lu Po Lou was also preparing to personally lead an army to go south to meet Li Wei.

At the same time, he did not forget to inform Murong Ke of the matter.

At least for now, Yu State and Yan State are still allies that can trust each other.

If Yu Jun has any movements, he must tell Murong Ke.

At the Yan Army camp, Murong Ke received the envoy from Lu Polou. After hearing what the envoy said, Murong Ke nodded and said:
"You go back and tell Mr. Lu that I already know."

In fact, Murong Ke did not want to continue the stalemate. He was also actively looking for opportunities to fight. However, the food team's intuition told him that it was Huan Xi's trap. Even if he wanted to set up a counter-ambush, it would not be that easy.

Since Fu Jian was about to go south and ordered Li Wei to hold his troops still, Li Wei would not say anything about the general being outside and not accepting military orders.

Murong Ke said to Feng Yi:
"Lieutenant Feng, it seems that we have to find another fighter plane. Li Wei will return soon, and our army no longer has to spend a lot of time going south."

Murong Ke was actually ready to use Li Wei to fish.

Feng Yi didn't have any other opinions on this. After all, even if the stalemate continued, Yu State's money and food would be wasted.

Fu Jian himself wasn't in a hurry, so why should Feng Yi be in a hurry?

However, everyone overlooked a key point, which was whether the person who sent the message south could stop Li Wei in time.

Mao Muzhi escorted the grain team northward. Along the way, the outside was loose and the inside was tight, and they traveled sixty miles a day. For an army full of baggage, this was already a great speed.

You know, the reinforcements in Hetao walked on the official road in Guanxi with their food, grass and baggage, and they only walked fifty miles a day.

After Li Wei learned about the speed of the grain team, he said to Lu Guang who was traveling with him:
"The grain team is moving at such a speed that Huan Xi must be running out of food, so he is urging him hard."

(End of this chapter)