Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 355 Fu Jian goes south
Deng Qiang got off his horse, came to Huan Xi, and bowed:
"Thanks to Liang Gong's divine craftsmanship, the general will be able to live up to his fate.

"Three thousand enemies were killed in this battle and tens of thousands were captured. Congratulations to Duke Liang and Congratulations to Daliang for this great victory!"

The generals who participated in the battle at the southern foot of Zhongtiao Mountain followed suit and celebrated Huan Xi.

Huan Xi no longer suppressed his inner excitement at this time.

"Okay! Great! Good job!"

He lifted the generals up one by one and cheered happily.

Although it was different from his own plan, he originally wanted to lure Murong Ke to take the bait and severely damage the Yan army, but now he caught the big fish Li Wei and captured him alive, which also achieved the goal of forcing the Yan army back.

One can imagine how happy Huan Xi was.

It is true that even if Li Wei failed to be captured in this battle, if the war turned into a competition of national strength between the two sides, Huan Xi would still win in the end.

But such a victory will definitely consume a lot of money and food.

Yang An ignored Li Wei's angry roar and went about offering his prisoners to Huan Xi:

Vehicles loaded with silk cloth were pushed out of the camp one after another. There was no need for a dormitory, and there were ten thousand horses. This was prepared by Huan Xi in advance.

Without Yang An's signal, someone kicked Li Wei's knees from behind, causing him to kneel to the ground.

Li Wei struggled to get up, but someone held his shoulders firmly, preventing him from moving.

The reason why he did not reward the other generals but only Yang An was because Huan Xi had promised that anyone who could get Li Wei's head would be given 10,000 pieces of cloth. Now it was time to fulfill his promise.

Now that Murong Ke has withdrawn from Hedong in embarrassment, and Lu Polou is trapped in Anyi City, how can he not be happy to give it to Huan Xi.

Looking at the carts full of cloth, all the generals were envious.

"Mr. Liang refused to kneel down in front of me!"

Huan Xi praised:

After Yang An stood up, he winked at the cronies behind him.

Yang An shouted:

"The last general was lucky enough to capture the enemy general alive, and I came here to offer it to Duke Liang."

When an army goes on an expedition, of course it is necessary to prepare a large amount of property. When the situation is in trouble, the property can be moved out to motivate the soldiers.

"Among thousands of armies, if you capture an enemy general alive, then the general will be defeated by ten thousand people."

Apart from anything else, even if Liang Guo occupied Hedong County, it would at least take a long time to recover.

As soon as Huan Xi finished speaking, Quan Yi said loudly:

Although Li Wei became a prisoner and could not control his life or death, he was obviously unwilling to bow his head and kneel to Huan Xi. He snorted coldly and turned away.

The confidants understood and escorted Li Wei forward.

Of course, Yang An's ability to capture Li Wei had nothing to do with his personal bravery. It was purely because he frightened the Yu army cavalry who wanted to shoot Li Wei.

Naturally, Yu Guo could not persist, and for Huan Xi, it was also a strain on his muscles and bones, which would definitely affect his subsequent plans.

"Liang Gong has an order to strengthen General Yang An. If he has successfully captured the thieves, he will be given ten thousand pieces of cloth."

As for the rewards for the other generals, they should be rewarded for their merits after returning to Chang'an.

Yang An was grateful and thanked him repeatedly.

Huan Xi patted Yang An on the shoulder with a smile on his face:

"This is what you deserve."

After saying that, Huan Xi looked at Li Wei who was still struggling and asked:
"Are you willing to surrender?"

Li Wei snorted coldly:
"If you want to kill or behead me, please do as you please."

Huan Xi was not annoyed either, he smiled and said:
"If I don't kill you, you will still be of great use to me."

After saying that, Huan Xi turned to Shen Chiqian and shouted:
"Chi Qian, keep an eye on this man for me. When the army sieges the city, I have to escort him to the city to show the public."

This was undoubtedly a huge blow to the morale of the defenders and a humiliation to Li Wei himself.

Of course, the Yu army lost its leader and its morale had already hit rock bottom. Huan Xi escorted Li Wei to Anyi City, but it was actually more to humiliate Li Wei.

He disliked Li Wei very much. The reason should be due to Li Wei's affair with Queen Mother Gou.

It's not that Huan Xi coveted Empress Dowager Gou and wanted to be Fu Jian's stepfather. Empress Dowager Chu Suanzi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was his favorite.

In Huan Xi's view, Li Wei, as a minister of Yu, had an affair with the Queen Mother, which was a heinous crime.

After all, Li Wei did what little Huan Gong only dared to think about now. Although they were of the same kind, Huan Xi didn't like him at all.

Li Wei saw that Huan Xi wanted to take him to the city to show him to the public, but he did not want to suffer this humiliation. He loudly insulted Huan Xi and only wanted to die quickly.

But after he just cursed, his mouth was blocked, and he could only hum and couldn't hear what was said.

Huan Xi lost interest in him. He just waved his hand and asked people to take Li Wei away. Perhaps when he was no longer useful, he would die. As for now, Huan Xi can't let him die. Even if Fu Jian goes south and shows Li Wei to everyone in front of the two armies, it will be a blow to the reinforcements.

As for the 10,000 prisoners captured by Deng Qiang, Huan Xi did not treat them harshly, but kept them well fed and well fed.

After all, Huan Xi is not Murong Jun, and he cannot do stupid things like killing prisoners.

Really, even if Murong Jun was afraid of Duan Bu Xianbei, there were only three thousand people on his left and right. It would be better to send them as cannon fodder on the battlefield and let them die than to kill them in a trap.

Killing prisoners may feel good when you do it, but the impact is really bad.

Huan Xi never mistreated prisoners. Only some people who were destined not to be used by him would be demoted as slaves after the war.

Just like the Di clan guards who were captured following Fu Chang.

After Deng Qiang led his army back to camp, Huan Xi did not immediately send his troops eastwards.

Murong Ke broke camp yesterday and had already reached Wenxi County. Lu Polou had also retreated to Anyi City.

Huan Xi is not afraid that Lu Po Lou will run away. If he really abandons the city and leaves, it will save Huan Xi the effort to attack the city.

After all, in this battle, Huan Xi no longer cares about killing and wounding. He only needs to take all Hedong County, including Jie County Yanchi and Anyi Salt Pool, and he can force Yu State into a desperate situation.

After resting for a night, Huan Xi personally led more than 80,000 soldiers, escorting tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers, towards Anyi City in the early morning of the next day.

Forty-five miles eastward, Huan Xi set up camp five miles away from the city to the east in the afternoon.

Huan Xi summoned Shen Chiqian and ordered him to lead the Zuolang Guards to escort Li Wei around the city to show the public. For safety reasons, Huan Xi also asked Huan Qian to take the guards Yi Cong, and Yang An to take the Guanlong Tuqi. With these two Elite cavalry responded.

As long as Lu Po Lou dares to go out of the city to rescue, he will play into Huan Xi's ambitions.

At the same time, Huan Xi ordered Zhu Xu to take 30,000 Hexi Xianbei soldiers and escort the prisoners of the Yu army to the city, and publicize the Liang army's policy of preferential treatment of prisoners to the defenders on the city in order to undermine the enemy's fighting spirit.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the city tower on the west side of Anyi. Shen Chiqian took the Youlang Guards to escort Li Wei around the city to ensure that the defenders on the four walls could clearly see the embarrassed appearance of their general.

To the west of the city, the captured soldiers were still speaking good words for Liang Guo and shaking the morale of the army.

The surface of Lu Po's building was as heavy as water. He didn't know how many people had secretly lost their fighting spirit to resist. He only knew that if Fu Jian didn't come, he wouldn't be able to defend Anyi at all.

So, will Fu Jian really come?
The news of the defeat on the front line and Li Wei's capture had spread to Jinyang, which caused a nationwide uproar.

Faced with Lu Po Lou's request for help, Fu Jian did not hesitate at first. He could not abandon Hedong County, nor could he abandon the soldiers under Lu Po Lou's command.

Although they are all second-line troops, there are still more than 50,000 people left.

In troubled times, population is the most important thing. Li Wei led 70,000 troops southward. Once they were all trapped in Anyi, it would be a major blow to the Yu State.

However, just when Fu Jian was preparing to go south, news of Murong Ke's withdrawal also came.

"King of Heaven! We can't send troops! Now that the Yan people have retreated, Huan Xi has deployed heavy troops under Anyi City. If we go south at this time, it will be tantamount to throwing ourselves into a trap. Please think again, King of Heaven!"

The minister's right servant shot Liang Pinglao into the palace to stop him.

He was not the first person to come to persuade Fu Jian, nor would he be the last.

Fu Jian himself was also wavering in his heart, whether he should save Lu Po Lou or not.

At this time, it is no longer time to blame Lu Po Lou for not returning to Jinyang. After all, Hedong County is too important. Once given up, Yu State will completely lose the two salt ponds of Jie County and Anyi. The consequences are not something Lu Po Lou can bear. of.

This is the reason why Huan Xi is accustomed to conquering in person instead of staying in Chang'an to enjoy himself. The battlefield is ever-changing. When faced with some issues related to the fate of the country, it is difficult for ministers to lead troops and make choices according to changes.

If Fu Jian was conducting the expedition in person and learned that Murong Ke was about to retreat, he might have followed suit after some weighing.

But Lu Polou couldn't because he didn't know whether Fu Jian would give up Hedong County because of Murong Ke's departure.

Once Fu Jian was unwilling to admit defeat and decided to compete with Huan Xi for Hedong County, but Lu Po Lou had already withdrawn first and left Hedong to Huan Xi, then Lu Po Lou would be the sinner of the entire Yu Kingdom.

In the main hall of Jinyang Palace, people were coming and going, all trying to persuade Fu Jian not to go south. The ownership of Yanchi was only temporary. After regrouping in the future, he could join forces with the Yan army and send troops to regain Hedong County.

Even Queen Mother Gou stepped in to stop Fu Jian.

In fact, Empress Dowager Gou was really to blame for Li Wei's defeat on the front line. After all, Li Wei had done a good job before and was able to hold his own against Huan Xi without making any rash moves.

It was because Empress Dowager Gou, who did not understand military matters, was urging him from the rear that he was forced to look for a fighting opportunity, and was eventually defeated and captured.

Of course, Queen Mother Gou also knew her sin. When the news came back to Jinyang, Queen Mother Gou blamed herself and cried all day long and couldn't eat.

It was Fu Jian who personally served the food so that she could have a few bites.

Now that Huan Xi had an absolute advantage in Hedong County, Empress Dowager Gou did not want Fu Jian to risk rescue, so she came to dissuade him.

Fu Jian repeatedly expressed relief and claimed that he would consider it carefully until Xue Zan entered the palace and discussed with Fu Jian. Fu Jian finally ignored everyone's dissuasion and insisted on going south to rescue Lu Polou.

Queen Mother Gou was so angry that she pointed at Xue Zan and yelled at him for encouraging the king to take risks.

If it weren't for Fu Jian's protection, Xue Zan's life might not be saved.

Of course, when Fu Jian went south to rescue, it was impossible to bring only the 40,000 cavalry who followed him back to the Yu Kingdom.

The next day, 100,000 soldiers who had already been ordered to assemble in Jinyang followed Fu Jian south in a mighty manner.

(End of this chapter)