Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 373: Monarch, Minister, Father and Son
Linhai County belongs to Yangzhou. It was established by Sun Liang from Kuaiji County in the second year of Taiping in the Eastern Wu Dynasty (AD 257) during the Three Kingdoms period, and Zhang'an County was its county seat.

Chi Min stayed away from the hustle and bustle of the world and lived in seclusion in Zhang'an County.

If a friend comes from afar, we can cook wine with him and reminisce about old friendships, or go boating on the river, listening to the sounds of apes on both sides of the river, and taking in the scenery of the mountains and rivers.

Xi Min's life was quite free and easy.

Until the imperial envoy was ordered to come and knocked on the door of Xi Mansion.

Xi Min received the envoy with the highest courtesy. When he learned that the emperor's kindness was great and that the emperor wanted to appoint him again as the governor of Yuzhou, Xi Min did not hesitate at all. He said seriously:

"Although I am old and ill, with a loyal heart, I should work tirelessly to serve the imperial court."

How could Xi Min refuse? It's not that he coveted the position of governor of Yuzhou. He really wanted to be a prince. When Huan Wen moved to Jingzhou and vacated the position of governor of Xuzhou, as long as he wanted to, it would be difficult for anyone to compete with him.

After all, Xi Jian had only died five or six years ago.

The reason why Xi Min came out of the army again was for the sake of the safety of the clan. If the Huan family could replace the Sima family, it would be gratifying. But if it failed, the Gaoping Xi family would be able to survive the crisis safely with him as a loyal member of the Jin family.

He took Huan Yi out of the other courtyard, then left Huan Yi and went straight to the minister's desk to see Xi Chao, the minister's order.

"Who taught the emperor to use this person!"

Jingzhou, Xiangyang.

At this time, Sima Xingnan was still in Jiankang, but Huan Wen did not dare to bring Le's mother and daughter close to his home. He was holding his daughter who was under one year old in his arms in the other courtyard, his old face smiling happily.

Now that Xi Min is about to replace Xie Shang, Huan Wen suddenly feels frustrated.

More importantly, Huan Wen was very confident that he could push Xie Yi, his in-law and old friend, to the position of governor of Yuzhou.

He greeted Huan Yi and handed over the letters, ready to open them one by one, but as soon as he read the first letter, his expression turned from sunny to gloomy.

Huan Wen got a daughter when he was old. Even if this daughter was just an illegitimate daughter with no status, it would be difficult to stop Huan Wen from falling in love with her.

"It must be Wang Tanzhi, Wang Biaozhi and others who ruined my big job!"

After seeing off the imperial envoy, Xi Min only brought a few changes of clothes and couldn't wait to lead his young man to Jiankang. As for his family, they would pack their bags before setting out on the road.

Just as the family of three was enjoying themselves, Huan Yi, who was left behind by Huan Wen in Xiangyang because of his stupidity, came over.

This is a golden opportunity to seize Yuzhou, and we must not let it go in vain.

Huan Wen hated these people so much that he wanted to get rid of them quickly, but he could never find an excuse.

Knowing that the imperial court selected Xi Min as the governor of Yuzhou made Huan Wen angry, but he was helpless.

No one could answer him, but Huan Wen already had the answer himself:

"Grandpa, there is a letter from Duke Jiankang."

He crumpled the letter into a ball and said angrily:

Looking at the arms full of letters held by Huan Yi, Huan Wen smiled and said:
"It seems that the selection of the governor of Yuzhou has come to an end."

Huan Wen had been in a good mood for the past few days. The news that Xie Shang was seriously ill had reached his ears. Once Xie Shang died, the Xie family of Chen County would completely turn to the Huan family.

After Yin Hao died of illness, Huan Wen took charge of the Shangshu Ling with Xi Chaochao and took charge of the general affairs of the Chu state.

He even thought about it, no matter who the court promoted except Xie Yi, he would have to find fault with him.

When Huan Wen arrived at Xi Chao's desk, he had calmed down. He stepped in and said with a smile:

"Jingxing, I came here specially to congratulate you."

This made Xi Chao, a monk as tall as two feet tall, bewildered as to where his happiness came from.

When Xi Chao asked, Huan Wen sat down and explained:
"The imperial court decided to re-appoint your father as the governor of Yuzhou."

Xi Chao suddenly realized that he knew how much Huan Wen valued the position of governor of Yuzhou, and the promotion of Xie Yi was also the result of Huan Wen and Xi Chao's discussion.

Now that his father was asked to cut off his father, Mr. Chu was probably feeling miserable.

Xi Chao thought like this, he suddenly stood up and said:
"I also ask Duke Chu to wait for a moment while I return to the mansion to get a letter from home and show it to Duke Chu."

When Huan Wen heard this, his heart moved:
Could it be that Xi Min hinted at serving the Huan family in his letter home to Xi Chao?

The more Huan Wen thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was extremely high, and he quickly urged:
"Jing Xing, go and come back quickly. I'll wait here."

After a long time, with Huan Wen's eager anticipation, Xi Chao finally came back. He took out an opened letter from his arms, which was obviously the family member mentioned before, and presented it to Huan Wen.

Huan Wen eagerly took it, took out the letter, spread it out, and read it carefully.

Because Huan Wen had a relationship with Xi Min, he recognized each other's handwriting.

Looking at the familiar strokes, Huan Wen concluded that this was written by Xi Min, and the content of the letter surprised Huan Wen even more.

It turned out that this was a secret letter from Xi Min expressing his loyalty to the Huan family.

Huan Wen repackaged the letter and handed it back to Xi Chao, complaining with a smile:

"Jingxing, why didn't you submit this letter to me as soon as possible!"

I thought that all the ducks in the mouth would fly away, but unexpectedly, another village suddenly discovered that Xi Min was one of our own.

Ah! The world is so big, who can’t understand Huan? However, when Xi Chao took the letter from home, he tore it into pieces under Huan Wen's surprised eyes.

"Why is this?!"

Huan Wen asked in surprise.

"Is it possible that Jingxing is worried that the news will leak out?"

Xi Chao smiled and said:
"How many family letters can Mr. Chu want?"

With that said, Xi Chao wrote on the spot and wrote another secret letter from Xi Min expressing his loyalty to the Huan family. The handwriting was exactly the same as the previous one. Even if Xi Min himself was present, he could not tell the authenticity from the fake.

It turns out that Xi Chao has been learning calligraphy from his father Xi Min since he was a child. Both father and son are famous calligraphers. Xi Chao wants to imitate his father's handwriting, but he can't do it easily.

When Huan Wen saw this scene, the excitement he had finally ignited was poured cold water on his head. He said angrily:
"Since it's Jingxing's fake work, why did you keep me waiting for so long?"

Xi Chao was not afraid, he just smiled and said:

"Wei Chen is waiting for the ink to dry so that Mr. Chu can't see the flaw."

With that said, Xi Chao destroyed the newly written family letter and said to Huan Wen:

"I have practiced my father's calligraphy since I was a child and copied his handwriting. Now it comes in handy."

When Huan Wen heard this, his eyes lit up:
"Jing Xing is saying that you will forge a letter to make the court suspicious of your father?"

Xi Chao shook his head and said:

“The imperial court regards Duke Chu as a savage beast. Even if we interfere and prevent my father from leaving the mountain, the imperial court will choose another person to prevent Duke Xie (Xie Yi) from taking charge of Yuzhou.

"Instead of another fight between dragons and tigers, it is better to acquiesce to this matter and sit back and watch my father take charge of Yuzhou.

"When my father's foundation is strong, I only need to forge a letter to give Duke Chu the full military power in Yuzhou. Is Duke Chu interested?"

Huan Wen was so happy that he couldn't help laughing and said:
"Intentional! Intentional! It is the blessing of our Huan family and the misfortune of the Jin family to have Jingxing as our assistant."

After saying that, Huan Wen asked again:

"Such behavior will turn Jingxing and his son against each other."

Xi Chao said nonchalantly:
“The king and his ministers are father and his son, the king and his ministers are in front, and the father and son are behind.

"As a Chu minister, I should be loyal to the Duke of Chu. As for the personal relationship between father and son, there will be a chance to repair it in the future."

When Huan Wen heard what he said, he sighed repeatedly:

"If all the ministers of the Chu State are as prosperous as Jing Xing, I will have nothing to worry about."

It was not that Huan Wen had no talents under his command, but there were only a handful of people who could be as dedicated as Xi Chao in helping him seek to usurp the throne.

With Xi Chao here, Huan Wen no longer worried about Xi Min becoming his enemy after succeeding Xie Shang and serving as the governor of Yuzhou.

Of course, he also knew that Xi Min must be his enemy. Everyone was a noble clan, and they all knew how to protect themselves in troubled times.

On the same day, Huan Wen replied to the Jiankang ministers who had sent letters, so that they did not need to take any further objections, so as not to damage the harmony with the Gaoping Xi family.

In the first year of Shengping (AD 357), on the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, Emperor Murong Jun of Dayan had issued an edict as early as Yuan Day to abolish the Yuanxi reign name previously used by the Yan Kingdom and change it to Yuan Guangshou. At the same time, he announced that the capital would be moved to Yecheng.

Until today, the ice and snow began to melt, and the monarchs, ministers, soldiers and their families of the Yan Kingdom finally embarked on the journey to move the capital.

More than 100,000 soldiers followed Murong Jun southward, plus Qian Yan's troops originally deployed in Jizhou and Xu, Yan and Qingzhou. Once Murong Jun was ready to launch a foreign war, he could recruit 200,000 troops in a short time.

This is the result of leaving some soldiers to defend the homeland.

There is no doubt that the Yan State moved its capital from Jixian to Yecheng, which enabled the Murong family to devote all their efforts to a series of wars with the Huan family to compete for the Central Plains, Hedong, and then to dominate the world.

Also in this year, Yan State had a new prince.

The former crown prince, Murong Ye, the eldest son who was deeply loved by Murong Jun, died of illness in August last year. This incident shocked Murong Jun so much that his hair turned much grayer. Whenever he recalled the former crown prince with his ministers, Mr. Murong Jun It's tears.

However, no matter how sad it is, the country must have a new prince. Especially in such troubled times, not establishing a prince will always make the officials panic.

Therefore, Murong Jun's second son, Murong Wei, the eight-year-old King of Zhongshan, was succeeded as the crown prince.

As for Murong Zang, who followed Murong Ke on many expeditions and began to rise to prominence in the army. Although he was older, he was only the eldest son of a concubine and could not get the right to inherit.

Of course, Murong Zang himself had no ambitions in this area, otherwise Murong Jun would not have allowed him to follow Murong Ke in battle and accumulate military experience.

Murong Jun himself had a deep brotherhood with Murong Ke, so he naturally hoped that Murong Zang could become Murong Wei's assistant.

At the same time, Huan Xi, who was far away in Chang'an, naturally also learned about the relocation of the capital of Yan State. He said to Wang Meng:

"If I'm not mistaken, Murong Jun will definitely make big moves this year."

Wang Meng nodded and said:
"Murong Junbingfeng only pointed at Luoyang and Hedong counties."

Although the Yan State pushed the border to the north bank of the Huaihe River, the Xianbei people did not focus on the construction of the navy because the north had not yet been unified.

Therefore, even if Murong Jun wanted to start a war, he could not invade Huainan.

(End of this chapter)