Chaos in the Eastern Jin Dynasty

Chapter 87
Xie Yi paced back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back: "Huan Wen refuses to attack Xiao Jingwen with heavy troops, and it will be extremely difficult to solve the rebellion in Shu."

Xie An, who sat upright on the chair and closed his eyes for a long time, finally said a word: "Qizhi, you and I know that you are not a reckless person, tell me, what do you plan to do?"

Guan Ziyang said: "Actually, I am also guessing, and I still need Mr. An Shi to help me make a decision."

Seeing Xie An nod his head, Guan Ziyang revealed his plan.

In fact, in the final analysis, Huan Wen was in charge of this matter.

"Huan Wen destroyed Cheng Han, his prestige was at the height of the sky, he held a heavy army in his hands, and the eight states in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River were all in his hands. He recruited soldiers and allocated resources by himself. He has formed a semi-independent state. The heart of disobedience is clearly revealed. How can the court I don't know."

"If he wins the Northern Expedition, the time when the squadron returns to the court will be the day when the Jin Dynasty will change."

"Thus, although the Northern Expedition is already on the line, the imperial court will never send Huan Wen there. I heard that Huan Wen recently wrote a letter to 'worship the watch and go'. If the imperial court does not respond, the Northern Expedition is what the people want. I am afraid that Huan Wen will become famous if he takes over Jiankang. .”

Xie An nodded, very pleased: "Well, the absence is not in the court but it is predictable, the analysis is very good!"

"But there is something you may not know. The Empress Dowager and Prime Minister Sima Yu have secretly summoned Yin Hao, and the commander of the Northern Expedition has been finalized."

In fact, Guan Ziyang's predictability is all in the history books, but combined with the present, it can be easily analyzed.

In history, Huan Wen led an army of 351 troops down the river as early as [-] and stationed troops in Wuchang.

The imperial court was terrified and disturbed, so it sent Yin Hao to lead troops to the northern expedition.

But now because Guan Ziyang rescued Ran Min, the main conflict between the former Qin and the former Yan became Ran Wei, which caused Huan Wen to force the imperial court to postpone the Northern Expedition for one year.

Huan Wen kept Xiao Jingwen all the time, besieging and not attacking, because he didn't want to lose his troops and generals at this critical moment. If he lost his vitality and couldn't maintain an even match or advantage with the feudal towns loyal to the imperial court, Huan Wen's long-planned Northern Expedition would come to nothing.

Guan Ziyang said: "Since this is the case, if we attack Zitong County without Huan Wen's soldiers, he must be happy to see it."

Xie An murmured, "You don't need Huan Wen's soldiers? The imperial court is preparing for the Northern Expedition. I'm afraid the Queen Mother Chu will not lend you troops."

Guan Ziyang raised a finger: "One thousand! Give me one thousand elite soldiers, and I can destroy Xiao Jingwen!"

Xie Yi and Xie An looked at each other in dismay, with such a strong tone!Xiao Jingwen has [-] soldiers in Zitong County!
If Guan Ziyang really led 1000 people to attack the city, he would be passive, and he would have to face an enemy defending the city with ten times his strength. No matter what, it would be impossible to win this battle!
Xie An said: "Do you want to borrow soldiers from our Xie family Yuzhou?"

Seeing Guan Ziyang nodded, Xie An got up and said, "Our Xie family can indeed afford 1000 people, but this is too risky, although I already guessed that you should have a plan to break the city."

To be honest, Guan Ziyang was really uncertain. According to his personality, he would not take this risk without being absolutely sure.

But now that the ninth rank is ending, although I have the title of Great Governor on my head, I am still a 'leather bag company'.

With Guan Ziyang's current reputation, he is completely unqualified to take over the Beifu Army!

The imperial court just wanted to use his status as a commoner to establish relationships with the exile commanders and win them over as much as possible.

So prestige is what he lacks most now, and his home is in Fuling, which is too close to Zitong County, and he has also experienced Xiao Jingwen pretending to be a bandit and looting everywhere.

Whether it is to enhance his reputation or protect the safety of his family, it is imperative to eliminate Xiao Jingwen!
Moreover, the personal enmity between Xiao Jingwen and him had already been forged in Cangwu County, Guangzhou.

Although it is a little risky, if it can be successful, the rewards are huge.

In this chaotic world, it is impossible for him to do everything with [-]% certainty. Sometimes a risk is also a kind of opportunity.

Seeing that Guan Ziyang spoke seriously, Xie Yi frowned and said: "Tell me first how you plan to break through Zitong County."

Before Guan Ziyang could speak, Xie An said, "Excuse me! I'll write to you, brother. You and my second brother will go to Yuzhou to lead the army!"

Xie Yi became anxious when he heard it: "Third brother? Although I can trust the lack of ability, but 1000 people attack a city of [-] people? Is it too childish? At least let's help him analyze whether his plan is feasible or not ah."

Xie An smiled and stroked his beard: "Don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious, since Quezhi proposed it on his own initiative, I guess he is at least [-]% sure! Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to go."

Xie Yi was surprised: "[-]%?" Then he looked at Guan Ziyang and asked, "Are you really [-]% sure?"

Guan Ziyang smiled and made a 'nine' gesture with his fingers!

On the second day, the three of them entered the palace together for the morning court.

Above the morning court, Emperor Sima Dan was still looking around absent-mindedly, hoping that today's morning court would end quickly.

Chu Suanzi was sitting next to him, and was discussing the "Northern Expedition" with the officials at the moment. Seeing everyone talking about each other, it seems that the morning court probably will be noon again today.

Sima Dan sighed repeatedly in his heart: "I don't know that cricket of mine..."

At this moment, the court officials were divided into two factions, and they were quarreling fiercely.

"What a waste of my time..."

If it weren't for Chu Suanzi's usual majesty, he was not allowed to leave the morning court early, and in the first two years, he would have disappeared long ago.

Although the Northern Expedition was basically the main battle faction, how to fight this battle is more particular.

Two years ago, Chu Po, also known as Chu Lianzi's father, led the army to conquer Zhao after the Northern Expedition. Because of the lack of food and grass, he returned in a big defeat, and he himself died of illness in grief and indignation.

So the key issue now is food.

If the soldiers and horses are not moving, the grain and grass will go first.

To prepare military rations, it is bound to mobilize the interests of some aristocratic families...

Most of the gentry in Jiankang came from the south in well-dressed clothes. They didn't have much land, so they advocated paying grain by mu,

The four surnames "Gu, Lu, Zhu, and Zhang" in Wu County have developed in Wu since the Three Kingdoms period. The fields are vast and the land is rich. Naturally, it would be a disadvantage to pay grain by mu, so it is advocated to pay grain by county.

How much food a county produces is the same for everyone, which is more fair.

But in this way, the four surnames "Yu, Wei, Kong, and Xie" in Kuaiji quit. Big loss.

Guan Ziyang was at the end of the Taiji Hall, seeing all the officials expressing their opinions, blushing, and sighing in his heart: "Hey, such an Eastern Jin Dynasty was able to survive for more than 100 years under the watchful eyes of powerful enemies in the north. It has to be said to be a wonderful flower in history !"

The imperial power had been reduced to this point, and Chu Suanzi, who was sitting on the throne, looked at the people arguing endlessly, the majestic regent queen mother, but couldn't find a chance to intervene.

Guan Ziyang came out suddenly, raised a little bit of innate spirit, and made his voice more penetrating: "Qi Queen Mother, I have something to say!"

As soon as Guan Ziyang's words came out, the noisy Taiji Hall suddenly fell silent. Everyone looked at the door of the hall. It turned out that it was the first-rank Beifu army commander of the common clan who had just been appointed.

Because this morning was an enlarged meeting, and there were so many people, he was standing at the end of the civil and military officials in the main hall, and he was almost pushed out of the door.

(End of this chapter)