Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 438: The Fall of the Yu State (Part )

Li Wei returned to the Jianning Mansion with a heavy heart. At this time, people inside and outside Jinyang were in panic.

As soon as he entered the room, his wives, concubines, nephews and nieces all surrounded him, wanting to know what the court's attitude was now.

Li Wei had no time to pay attention to them. He sent everyone away and immediately called his confidants and ordered:

"Bring Wang Yuan here quickly."

Wang Yuan was secretly delighted at this moment, because anyone with a discerning eye would know that with Fu Jian's defeat and death, the State of Yu would be like a grasshopper in autumn and would not be able to jump for a few more days.

Wang Yuan was the first among the civil and military officials of the State of Yu to surrender to Huan Xi. Once Huan Xi took control of Jinyang, it was natural that he would enjoy wealth and glory.

Therefore, when Wang Yuan was brought to the Jianning Mansion, he was determined to hide himself well and not let Li Wei see any clues. He only needed to wait until Huan Xi's army arrived at the city and his mission would be accomplished.

However, the first words Li Wei said when he met Wang Yuan after dismissing his personal followers left him dumbfounded:

"Mr. Wang, I need you to go to Hedong County to meet Lord Liang for me."

Wang Yuan thought Li Wei was testing him, and said quickly:

"Although I have been an envoy to Liang State and was lucky enough to succeed in my mission, Huan Xi is still determined to destroy Dayu. I am afraid I cannot persuade him to withdraw his troops."

Li Wei sighed:
"Sir, there are only you and me here. I have nothing to hide from you. Please be honest with me.

"It is inevitable that the Fu family will lose their country. I also have to consider my own family. I hope you can express my feelings to Lord Liang on my behalf. Li Wei is willing to do his best to persuade the Queen Mother to surrender the whole country."

Wang Yuan was still pretending to be confused:

"The safety of the Di people is not something that I, a Han official, can interfere with. Please ask Lord Jianning to select someone more capable."

Li Wei didn't want to beat around the bush any more, so he said:

"Mr. Wang has done so much for the State of Liang. Don't you want to make another contribution to Lord Liang?"

Wang Yuan was horrified when he heard this:
"What does Lord Jianning mean? Although I am not a Di person, I am loyal to Dayu and have never had any second thoughts."

Li Wei looked at Wang Yuan deeply, and then told him the messages he had secretly passed on to Huan Xi one by one.

The more Wang Yuan listened, the more frightened he became, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He thought he had acted carefully, but he never expected that Li Wei had already seen through it.

However, since Li Wei did not expose him but waited until today to make the matter clear, Wang Yuan felt relieved. At least Li Wei had no ill will towards him.

Wang Yuan wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked with a wry smile:
"May I ask Lord Jianning, when did you know that I was secretly working for Lord Liang?"

Li Wei said truthfully:
"As early as when I was in Chang'an, I knew that Mr. Wang had a close relationship with Mr. Liang."

At first, Huan Xi was planning to send Li Wei to Jiangnan as a slave, but Wang Yuan's arrival actually persuaded Huan Xi to change his mind and decide to release Li Wei. He even allowed Li Wei to travel with Wang Yuan to Hedong County first, and wait for the ransom to be paid before returning north.

Li Wei had long guessed that Huan Xi's move was to get Wang Yuan closer to him.

But he did not make it public. After losing Hedong County and watching Huan Xi occupy the two salt lakes in Jie County and Anyi, Li Wei knew that the Yu Kingdom could not last long.

So, he pretended to be ignorant and kept Wang Yuan by his side, just so that he could have a channel to communicate with Huan Xi in secret in times of crisis.

The demise of the Yu State was impossible to change, and Li Wei wanted to use his influence on Queen Mother Gou to sell the Fu family for a good price.

Now that Li Wei and Wang Yuan are speaking frankly to each other, there is no need for the previous twists and turns.

Li Wei needed Wang Yuan to contact Huan Xi for him, and Wang Yuan was willing to make contributions for Huan Xi under the cover of Li Wei.

After all, who would complain that they have made too many contributions?

On the same day, Wang Yuan secretly left Jinyang and went to Hedong County to look for Huan Xi, carrying Li Wei's handwritten letter.

At the same time, Fu Jian's funeral was hastily held under the auspices of Li Wei. Although the funeral was hastily held, the ritual vessels were still made according to the specifications of the emperor.

However, before Fu Jian was buried, the ministers in mourning started arguing again in front of the coffin. It was nothing more than a dispute over the route between the surrender faction and the resistance faction.

Everyone was arguing and having a great time. Empress Dowager Gou could not stand it any longer, but she was unable to calm the dispute, so she had to move to a side hall.

"Go and call Lord Jianning."

The exhausted Queen Mother Gou gave the order.

Soon, Li Wei arrived at the side hall and was about to pay his respects when he heard Empress Dowager Gou say:
"Lord Jianning, let's not talk about these empty formalities between you and me. I invited you here today because I have something to discuss with you."

"May I ask the Queen Mother, what is the matter?"

Queen Mother Gou sighed:

"Now most of the Han officials are in favor of surrender, while most of the Di people are in favor of war. Some people have submitted a memorial, saying that the country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Now the country is in danger, and the prince is young, so the older ruler should be appointed. Please let the Duke of Pingyang ascend the throne.

"Lord Jianning, what do you think of this matter?"

Duke Pingyang was Empress Dowager Gou's second son, Fu Rong. He was both talented in civil and military affairs, and was known for his filial piety. He was deeply loved since childhood.

After hearing this, Li Wei hesitated for a moment and said:
"The Queen Mother has already lost one son, and now she wants to kill another one?"

Queen Mother Gou changed color when she heard this:

"Lord Jianning! What do you mean by that?"

Li Wei and she were old lovers, so he was not afraid and said frankly:
“The throne of the king of Yu is now a hot potato. No matter who sits on it, there are people who want to borrow his head and offer it to Huan Xi in order to seek wealth and glory.

"The Queen Mother promoted Duke Pingyang to the throne of Heavenly King. Isn't that harming him?"

Queen Mother Gou was silent for a long time after hearing this, and then she spoke with difficulty:

"Lord Jianning, do you also think that our Fu family's kingdom will be destroyed?"

Li Wei sighed and said:

"The Queen Mother has been living in the palace for a long time and has no idea of ​​what is happening outside. The soldiers have suffered successive defeats and now they are trembling with fear when they hear that the Liang army is coming.

"The government and the people are openly divided into two factions, and they are arguing with each other, but secretly, I don't know how many people are flirting with the Liang people.

"Duke Pingyang is not as talented as the previous king. The previous king suffered defeat after defeat. How can Duke Pingyang turn the tide now that he has taken over the throne?"

Empress Dowager Gou did not refute, she knew that Li Wei was telling the truth.

Even his own nephew Gou Chang has now betrayed Dayu. How can the ministers in the court really divide their positions based on ethnicity?

The two looked at each other in silence for a long time, and then Queen Mother Gou said:

"Duke Guangping requested that Rong'er be made the Lord. He said that if Jinyang can be defended, then we can defend it. If not, we can move north and establish a foothold in the desert."

Li Wei shook his head and said:
“Migration to the north is easy to say but difficult to implement.

"The tribes of Dai were afraid of the power of Yu and obeyed orders. Now that the country is in decline, the tribes of Dai have become obstacles. They all want to bite off a piece of meat from us and offer it to Huan Xi.

"Queen Mother, my Dayu army is no longer able to be driven, please think twice."

Queen Mother Gou felt exhausted both physically and mentally. She waved her hands feebly:

"I understand, please step back."

(End of this chapter)