Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 357 The dust has settled
Fu Jian went south and Huan Xi went north. Wenxi County seemed to be a battlefield for both sides. This would undoubtedly be a disaster for the civilians living here.

Even if Huan Xi and Fu Jian were both people who cared about the people and would not indulge their soldiers in looting, once the winner was determined, who could restrain the defeated troops?

Those defeated soldiers had no food and only armor. If they wanted to return alive, they had no choice but to plunder the people.

It is also not good news for the Wenxi nobles, which means that they cannot continue to wait and see and must make a decision as soon as possible.

Should he continue to support the rule of Yu State, or welcome Huan Xi into the city.

The Pei family of Wenxi was undoubtedly the leader of the Wen County gentry, and even enjoyed a high reputation throughout the world.

Of course, this is all old almanac.

They did not seize the opportunity to travel south. The Langya Wang family, who was once as famous as the Wenxi Pei family, chose to follow Langya King Sima Rui and assist him in rebuilding the Jin Dynasty.

The Wenxi Pei family was divided into three. One of them chose to move westward at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty and defected to the Liangzhou warlord Zhang Gui. Because he moved to Xiliang, he was known as the Western Reunion Pei.

The descendants of Xijuan Pei later served in Qianliang. After Huanxi annexed Liangzhou, Xijuan Pei surrendered to Huanxi.

As Huan Xi's army approached Wenxi, the threshold of the Pei family was trampled to pieces by the little nobles who came in and out.

After all, choosing Huan Xi offended Fu Jian, and choosing Fu Jian also offended Huan Xi.

When Huan Xi attacked Hedong, the branch living in Wenxi County had actually secretly sent his children to serve under Huan Xi, but for Huan Xi, he still trusted Pei Jian more.

Another one is called Dongjuan Pei. Its ancestor was Pei Ji, the son of Pei Mao, the minister ordered at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Because he moved to Hebei and was located to the east of Bingzhou, he was called Dongjuan Pei. It is also one of the five houses in Dingzhu.

But everyone was still arguing.

Pei from the West served as an official in the Liang State, while Pei from the East was an official in the State of Yan because the Murong family occupied Hebei.

But among the three tribes, since the tribe that stayed in Hedong lived under the rule of Fu Jian, there were naturally many outstanding sons serving as officials in the State of Yu. Some people worried that the descending of Liang would affect those tribesmen who served as officials in Jinyang.

However, when Huan Xi went north and prepared to attack Fu Jian at Wenxi, the children of the Pei family living in Wenxi no longer had the opportunity to sit on the fence and watch.

It's not that these people just followed the lead after hearing about Pei, they just shot the first bird. When Wenxi and Pei didn't express their position, no one dared to show up first.

Pei Yan had finished drinking the cup of tea, but the quarrel among the people still did not stop. Pei Jin frowned, and he slammed the tea cup to the ground. With a bang, the room instantly became quiet.

Pei Yan said nothing and sipped the tea by himself.

It stands to reason that compared to the Yu State, the Liang State was more powerful, and Huan Xi's new victory gave him the initiative on the battlefield. When the Pei family heard that they were happy, they should not eat the pot of pulp to welcome the king's army, at least there should not be an outbreak. Such a heated argument.

In Wubao, all the Pei's gathered together. This was a decision related to the rise and fall of the clan, or in other words, their lives.

Of course, even the Wenxi Pei family cannot afford to offend Huan Xi or Fu Jian, but they do not have the power not to make a choice, and there is no possibility of being the leader and the mouse.

The last part is the descendants of the Pei family who stayed in Wenxi County and had been officials of the Yu State until now.

When gods fight, mortals suffer, and none of them can afford to offend them.

After all, Xijuan Pei lives under his rule.

This is also the way for the gentry to survive in troubled times. The three major powers in the north, Liang, Yan, Yu, and the Wenxi Pei family each have their own children. No matter who wins, they will remain standing.

Everyone's eyes fell on Pei Jian.

The reason why he appeared in the Pei family's Wubao was naturally to obey Huan Xi's order and come to find out the intentions of these people named Pei.

Although he also comes from the Wenxi Pei family, he is a descendant of Xijuan Pei, and he can only be regarded as a distant relative to everyone present.

Pei Jin stood up and said in a deep voice:

"I came here on the order of Duke Liang, not to listen to your arguments here. Duke Liang will soon arrive at Pei's Wubao."

As he said that, Pei Jian glanced at everyone and asked:
"Tell me now, fight or surrender!"

Some people still use the same old rhetoric to excuse the clan members who are serving as officials in Jinyang.

Pei Jin snorted coldly:
"Fu Jian is not Fu Sheng, and he is not that cruel. The people in Jinyang can only be demoted and exiled, but their lives will not be in danger.

"After all, you still want to sit back and watch success or failure, and don't think about it in your head. Fu Jian previously led a hundred thousand cavalry in the western expedition and was defeated by two generals, Xie Zixiu (Xie Ai) and Deng Yingyuan (Deng Xia). He fled back to Hedong in embarrassment.

“Now we are leading an army of 100,000 people to the south to face Duke Liang, where is the chance of winning?

"That's it! It seems that my trip today was in vain. If you can let me go, when Liang Jun breaks through Wubao, I will remember the kindness of my fellow clan and collect the corpses for you."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked. The head of the Pei family quickly explained that no one wanted to harm Pei Yan.

After all, Pei Jin was Huan Xi's envoy. Whether he detained Pei Jin or killed him, he was a slap in Huan Xi's face. Moreover, Pei Jin's threat just now was just right.

Of course, the most critical thing is the difference between Fu Jian and Huan Xi mentioned by Pei Jin.

Although both men were equally tolerant and caring for the people, Fu Jian treated the nobles favorably. As for Huan Xi, it was known to the world that he used Wang Meng to attack the nobles. Some of Liang's national policies also harmed the interests of the nobles.

As Pei Jian said, the Pei family rebelled against Yu, and those descendants in Jinyang might still have a chance to survive. Fu Jian might not necessarily kill them, but at most he would no longer entrust them with important tasks.

But if Huan Xi is rejected, maybe Huan Xi will have to kill him as a warning to others, and perform an operation on Wenxi Pei.

Although good people should not be pointed at guns, in this world, sometimes truth and reality are often opposite.

Under Pei Juan's pressure, or in other words, because Huan Xi would arrive in Wenxi County before Fu Jian, the Pei clan living in Wenxi County finally recognized the reality clearly.

On the second day of October in the twelfth year of Yonghe (AD 356), which was the early winter season, Huan Xi led his army to the outside of Pei's Wubao.

At this time, the gate of Wubao was opened, and everyone in the Pei family, led by the head of the house and Pei Jian, gathered outside to welcome Huan Xi.

As the Pei family of Wenxi took the lead in expressing their stance, other nobles in Wenxi County who were waiting and watching also joined in. On the same day, Wenxi County changed its flag, and the Jin-character flag fluttered in the wind.

The Jin Dynasty only granted the three states of Yong, Liang, and Qin to Huan Xi as the territory of the Liang Kingdom.

Although Huanxi was the ruler of the Liang Kingdom, he was also a minister of the Jin Dynasty. Now he has regained Wenxi County, but Wenxi County is not Huanxi's fiefdom. Therefore, Wenxi County is still the territory of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, so it is natural to plant the Jin flag.

That night, Huan Xi hosted a banquet for guests in the county town, and the news that Huan Xi received Wen Xi was soon known to Fu Jian.

Fu Jian was not surprised by this. This is how the nobles were. They would help whoever wins. If one day he could defeat Huan Xi, those scholars would come to him and praise him.

Just as Pei Juan expected, Fu Jian was a good man. He did not massacre the children of the Pei family who stayed in Jinyang. If it was Huan Xi, he would definitely kill them until they were bloody to prevent others from following suit in the future.

But Fu Jian was Fu Jian after all. After putting down the rebellion of the clan and ministers, he just exiled them without taking any lives.

He is not as decisive as Huan Xi, so naturally he will not make people afraid. After all, who would be afraid of a good man.

At this time, Yu's army had already reached Pingyang County, Pingyang County (now Linfen, Shanxi), less than 200 miles away from Wenxi.

Huan Xi did not continue to go north, but stayed in Wenxi County to rest and prepare to wait for Fu Jian to come here to fight with him.

The busiest ones were Liang Jun's sentries. They shuttled back and forth on the border between Hedong County and Pingyang County, reporting Fu Jian's marching speed to Huan Xi every day.

On the fifth day of October, as Fu Jian was about to leave Pingyang County and head south into Hedong County, Huan Xi and his soldiers were also ready for battle. Suddenly, the sentries reported back. Fu Jian retreated and was now returning the same way.

This behavior was beyond Huan Xi's expectation. Quan Yi speculated:

"Could it be that Fu Jian wants to lure Mr. Liang to continue heading north, so that when our army's logistics are difficult to support, it will be the fighter plane Fu Jian wants?"

The longer the front, the more difficult it is to transport supplies.

Huan Xi frowned and remained silent.

He knew that what Quan Yi said was not unreasonable, but if Fu Jian mobilized his troops just to lure him into pursuit, he would be looking down on himself.

Huan Xi did so many things to deceive Li Wei. Now that Fu Jian didn't even act, how could he venture deep into the enemy's territory?

Soon, Huan Xi's doubts were answered. On the day of Fu Jian's class, an urgent report came from Anyi County. Lu Polou led his army to break out at night. Zhu Xu learned the news and immediately led his army to pursue him, but was defeated by Lu Polou. Guang's rear troops were repulsed, and they could only sit back and watch Lu Polou retreat to Dongyuan County.

Huan Xi finally understood that Fu Jian went south with great fanfare, not to compete with him for Hedong County, but to save the 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers of Lu Po Lou.

Since Huanxi was worried that Lu Polou would rush out of the city at the critical moment to fight in Anyi County and cooperate with Fu Jian to attack him, he could only choose to detach a force to monitor the Anyi defenders and lead his troops northward.

Fu Jian almost mobilized the entire country and brought 100,000 infantry and cavalry. Huan Xi did not dare to allocate too many troops. This also led to the lack of troops for him to besiege Anyi, giving Lu Po Lou a chance to break out.

After Lu Po Lou retreats to Dongyuan County, he will definitely pass through Hanoi County of Yan State, cross the Taihang Mountains, and return to the Changzhi Basin.

In the commander's tent, Huan Xi's expression was gloomy and uncertain. When the generals saw this, they didn't know what Huan Xi was feeling, so they kept silent and didn't dare to say a word, for fear of saying the wrong thing.

After a long time, Huan Xi sighed and said:

"I was wrong. It turns out that Fu Jian has given up on Hedong County."

As he said that, a smile appeared on Huan Xi's face:
"Everyone, this war is over, Hedong County is now ours!"

When everyone heard this, they all raised their hands in celebration.

"Long live! Long live!"

(End of this chapter)