Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 277 Review

The food was served: a plate of water shield, a plate of pickled sunflower, a bowl of stewed fish, and a bowl of rice.

Liu Daogui usually eats like this.

Liu Muzhi came from a poor family, so this treatment wasn't bad.

Unexpectedly, he half-jokingly said, "Oh dear, the governor is now so wealthy and powerful, is this how you entertain old friends? There is neither wine nor meat, nor a banquet. It's disheartening to see such a sight."

"My apologies, Brother Liu, please forgive me. Have something to eat first, I'll have someone prepare it right away!" Liu Daogui slapped his forehead. He was used to being frugal and treated him like one of his own, so he had indeed been a bit inadequate in his hospitality.

He immediately went to the kitchen and asked the cooks to prepare a sumptuous dinner.

Chicken, duck, fish, mutton, pork, and beef were all prepared, and they were cooked and roasted. They also sent people to the market to buy good wine.

The items were dazzling, and two large cases were displayed.

Liu Muzhi ate heartily, one bite after another, completely disregarding his manners.

"Eat slowly." Liu Daogui hadn't expected him to have this habit.

However, this is much better than taking Wushi San, which is effective for both men and women.

Liu Daogui isn't short of food these days.

Having eaten almost all of it, Liu Muzhi took out another betel nut and chewed it with a look of pure bliss.

Liu Daogui gazed at him quietly.

After a long while, he opened his eyes and said with a mocking expression, "When I was young, my family was poor and I was hungry and cold. I begged for food at my wife's brother's house. After the meal, I would eat betel nuts and be laughed at. My wife couldn't bear to see me humiliated, so she cut off her hair and took it to the market to exchange for money to buy wine and meat to pay for her brother's food..."

He spoke lightly, but Liu Daogui sensed the sorrow in his voice.

However, the fact that he was able to recount these past events shows that he considered Liu Daogui a close friend.

This experience actually brought the two closer. In his early years, Liu Daogui also lived a miserable life, often going hungry. "If we poor people are like this, what about those from commoner families?"

"The governor is diligent in governing the country and treats the people well, which is a blessing for the common people. The world is in turmoil today. In the north, the powerful Wei is fighting against the two Yan states, and in the south, Huan Xuan is causing chaos. This is the time for heroes to show their skills."

Liu Muzhi seemed to have drunk too much; his face was flushed.

The Yan state suffered a heavy blow, but it was not destroyed. Murong Chui's uncle, Lan Han, staged a coup, lured and killed Murong Bao, Crown Prince Murong Ce, and more than a hundred people including princes, dukes, and ministers, and annexed their forces. He became the Grand General, the Great Chanyu, and the King of Changli, and changed the era name to Qinglong.

Murong Sheng went to Longcheng to offer condolences, gained Lan Han's trust, secretly contacted the old Murong clan members, launched a coup, killed the entire Lan clan, and exercised the power of the Yan emperor as the Prince of Changle. He granted a general amnesty, changed the era name to Jianping, and established the Northern Yan.

Murong De entered Qingzhou from the south, ascended the throne and became emperor, thus establishing the Southern Yan.

During this period, Murong De also repelled two invasions by the Northern Wei, and firmly established himself in Qingzhou.

Liu Daogui asked, "In your opinion, Brother Liu, is Huan Xuan incapable of succeeding?"

Men all have the same problem: when they drink too much, they talk too much.

"Huan Xuan is a pampered son of a noble family, colluding with the powerful clans. How can he last long? This man is good at internal strife and is not a great leader. Although he has the will to revitalize the state, he is short-sighted and single-mindedly focused on dealing with the Northern Army. His defeat is imminent!"

Freezing three feet is not a day's cold.

The Jin dynasty was already terminally ill, but Huan Xuan simply changed the form without changing the substance, compromising with the aristocratic families and keeping everything the same.

If things continue like this, it will just be another Sima family, without solving the mess left by the Sima family.

"Now that the Northern Army is leaderless, I'm afraid they are no match for Huan Xuan..."

Liu Daogui took a sip of wine.

Liu Muzhi waved his hand repeatedly, "Without destruction, there can be no construction. The Northern Army consists of refugees from the north, forming their own faction. Unless Huan Xuan slaughters hundreds of thousands of people in Jingkou and Guangling, the Northern Army will not perish. Eliminating Liu Laozhi and the generals of the Northern Army will not only fail to eliminate the threat, but will also benefit others." "Brother Liu, your insight is brilliant!"

The Northern Army is different from the Western Army. The Western Army was integrated by Huan Wen and lost its bottom-up wildness.

The military power of the Northern Army was dispersed among various generals.

Huan Xuan's elimination of these veteran generals not only freed the Northern Army from its constraints but also created enmity between them.

As long as the refugees from Jingkou and Guangling remain, the Northern Prefecture will not perish.

If it were Liu Daogui, he should have tried every means to win over and appease the generals of the Northern Army, or launched a Northern Expedition to deplete the Northern Army's manpower.

"The Northern Prefecture will one day fall into the hands of you two brothers..." Liu Muzhi suddenly tilted his head and, by sheer coincidence, fell asleep.

However, he certainly didn't say that without thinking.

His elder brother Liu Yu was a renowned figure in the Northern Army. With Liu Laozhi's death, he was undoubtedly the chief general of the Northern Army.

Sun En's bandit army has already proven this point; it's useless for anyone to go up there, they'll just be throwing their lives away. Only Liu Yu's few thousand men have been cutting down Sun En's head all the way...

One man hunts down a thousand, and those thousand are reduced to over ten thousand...

If we weren't born in this era, who would believe this is true?
Even the mighty overlord of yesteryear was nothing more than this.

The Northern Army is like a wolf pack caught in the cracks of history; the alpha wolf, Liu Laozhi, is dead, and a new wolf king is about to be born.

If his elder brother Liu Yu could secure control of the Northern Army in the south, and he himself could establish a foothold in the Huai and Si regions in the north, who in the world could rival him? Huan Xuan's end would be nigh...

Liu Muzhi's words immediately cleared Liu Daogui's mind.

I never imagined that power would be so close to me.

The saying "No destruction, no construction" perfectly encapsulates the current situation.

The Jin dynasty was in such a mess that it was beyond saving. Not to mention Huan Xuan, even Huan Wen and Xie An back then couldn't have saved it.

Huan Xuan's choice to side with the aristocratic clans was a grave mistake...

Liu Daogui ordered someone to bring a fur cloak to cover Liu Muzhi. His heart was filled with emotion and he could not calm down for a long time. If he and his brother could rise up in this storm, then the Northern Expedition would be just around the corner.

In the days that followed, Liu Daogui and Liu Muzhi worked together seamlessly.

He provided manpower, money, and power as he desired, and even the Jianwei Central Army was at his disposal, allowing the land occupation order to be implemented rapidly.

Sixty to seventy thousand refugees migrated to Taishan, Dongping, Shanyang, Jiyin and other counties. Some were allocated houses, some were occupied with land, and amidst the busy activity, a vibrant scene of life unfolded.

However, things weren't quiet in the south either.

Less than three months after Huan Xuan took office, a series of problems arose. The eight prefectures of the Three Wu regions suffered from war for many years, and a great famine broke out. The wealthy and powerful families, who had gold and silver treasures, could not exchange them for food and starved to death in their homes.

Huan Xuan could not provide enough grain to relieve so many people.

Wang Yu, the Prefect of Kuaiji, not only failed to transport grain and fodder, but also ordered the people who went out to find food to return to the city, and eight or nine out of ten of them fell to their deaths on the road.

Huan Xuan ignored these people and instead used the excuse of failing to provide disaster relief to kill Gao Su, the governor of Wuxing. He then arrested Zhu Qianzhi and Zhu Lang on charges of being accomplices in treason and imprisoned them. Without trial, they were beheaded.

Everyone in Jiankang City felt insecure.

Even Gao Yazhi, who was stationed in Guangling, could no longer stay. However, he was truly incompetent. His own father died a violent death, but he dared not raise an army to avenge him. Instead, he abandoned the city with Sima Shangzhi, Liu Jingxuan, Liu Gui, and others who had fled Jiankang, crossed the sea to the north, and went to join Murong De.

(End of this chapter)