Chapter Seventy-Seven: Playing with Fire and Self-Immolation

In March 409 A.D., the report of the urgent battle at the border pass reached Jianye, the capital of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and Liu Yu, the general who gradually controlled the government of the Eastern Jin Dynasty by quelling the Huanxuan rebellion, felt that his prestige was insufficient, and he wanted to increase his prestige, so he tried his best to override the public opinion and personally led the army to the north to attack Southern Yan.

In April of the same year, Liu Yu led the army across the Huai River to Surabaya, the Southern Yan Emperor Murong Chao learned the news of the Eastern Jin Dynasty's large-scale Northern Expedition, and no longer had the intention of singing and dancing, and hurriedly convened the ministers to discuss countermeasures, and the Minister of Politics Gongsun Wulou said: "Liu Yu marched quickly, it can be seen that he was bold and decisive, at the beginning of his march, the soldiers were in full swing, and our army could not fight a decisive battle with it, the emperor should send troops to guard the Dayan Pass (now southeast of Linqu), intercept Liu Yu from entering the hinterland of our country, delay time, take his morale to decrease, and then send elite cavalry to march along the coast to cut off its grain route, The Jin army will inevitably be defeated by the enemy on its back, which is the best policy; The emperor can also order the local guards to defend by danger, burn all the grain, grass and baggage used by the garrisons in various places, and eradicate the crops in the fields together, so that the Jin army can not get grain on the spot, and then wait for the opportunity to counterattack, which is the middle strategy; Let the Jin army pass through the Dayan Pass, and the emperor will lead the troops to fight a decisive battle with it, this is the next policy! ”

As soon as the words fell, all the ministers were full of praise for Gongsun Wulou's words, but Murong Chao disagreed, and said: "The capital is rich and there are many people, it can't be turned into defense immediately, and at this time, the green seedlings are all over the field, how can they all be eradicated, if the country is really conservative at the cost of green seedlings, how can the people eat, I can't bear it, now I have the land of five states, the mountains and rivers are dangerous, the war horses are ten thousand horses, and there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers, it is better to let the Jin soldiers pass through the Dayan Pass, I will lead the army to meet the enemy, and Liu Yu will be captured!" ”

When the clan general Murong Zhen heard this, he hurriedly said: "If the emperor insists on a quick battle with Liu Yu, he should go out of Daxian Pass to face the battle, even if he is defeated, he can still retreat." You should not give up the danger and put yourself in a predicament. When Chu and Han were fighting, Chen Yu lost Jingcheng Pass and was finally surrendered by Han Xin; When the Three Kingdoms were competing for deer, Zhuge Zhan was not at risk of Shu Road and was finally captured by Deng Ai. Weichen thinks that the time is not as good as the location, and it is the best policy to stick to Daxian Pass. ”

Murong Chao said with a smile: "You are too worried, I led the army to fight in person, how can I not win." ”

When the ministers heard this, they were dumbfounded, and they all went to the table, and bitterly persuaded Murong Chao to change his mind, Murong Chao was furious, left angrily, and issued an edict to gather soldiers and prepare to drive the expedition in person. When the ministers saw that the wood was completed, they had no choice but to withdraw from the order.

In June of the same year, Liu Yu led the army through the Dayan Pass smoothly, straight to Linqu, the Southern Yan Emperor Murong Chao learned that the Jin army was strong, regretted not at the beginning, had to lead the army to meet the battle, and listened to the advice of Gongsun Wulou to send his light cavalry to cut off the Jin army's water source, but Liu Yu had already taken precautions, had left an ambush at the water source, Gongsun Wulou was defeated and died, Liu Yu led the army to attack the victory, repelled the Southern Yan army led by Murong Chao, entered and occupied Linqu, Murong Chao led the troops to fight again, the morale of the Southern Yan soldiers was completely lost, and the general Duan Hui was killed, Murong Chao was so frightened that he had to retreat to the capital Guanggu with the remnants of the defeated army.

Liu Yu led the army with the power of a great victory to force Guanggu, and Murong Chao had to send an envoy to the Later Qin Emperor Yao Xing for help, and moved the soldiers and civilians from the outer city of Guanggu into the inner city to wait for help.

However, the envoy sent by Murong Chao returned from Guanzhong, and saw that Hou Qin was under Hu Xia, although Yao Xing agreed to send 10,000 troops to rescue, but it was a drop in the bucket, so he simply went directly to Liu Yu, Liu Yu attacked the city for months, and he was anxious, and he was overjoyed when he saw the envoy coming to vote, so he let him shout outside the city: "Yao Xing was defeated by Liu Bobo, and there will be no reinforcements coming!" ”

The defenders of Nanyan heard the shouts of the messenger, morale declined, Murong Chao was furious, ordered the sergeant to release arrows, shoot away the messenger, and sent someone to see Liu Yu, wanting to call the vassal and seek peace, but Liu Yu was not allowed, Murong Chao had no choice but to send the minister Han Fan to envoy Hou Qin to beg for help, Hou Qin Emperor Yao Xing had sent Yao Qiang to lead 10,000 troops to rescue Nanyan, so Han Fan led the way, but halfway through, Liu Bobo, the lord of Hu Xia, led the troops to attack Hou Qin, Yao Xing had to send someone to chase Yao Qiang's department back, Han Fan was desperate and had to vote for Liu Yu again, and Liu Yu took him around Guanggu City to inspect, When the defenders of Nanyan saw that Han Fan also surrendered to Liu Yu, the army was disheartened and had no intention of defending the city.

At the beginning of 401, on Chinese New Year's Eve, the Southern Yan Emperor Murong Chao, who had been trapped in the isolated city for several months, summoned his courtiers and killed horses to reward him

Defend the city soldiers, add the vassals, But at this time, the Eastern Jin Dynasty army continued to increase the siege and consolidation, and the soldiers and people in the city fled out of the city and surrendered to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

In February of the same year, Yue Shou, the minister of Southern Yan, opened the city gate and let the Jin army enter the city, Murong Chao had to lead dozens of guards to break through the chaos and was captured by the Jin army. Since then, Nanyan has perished, from Murong De becoming king to Murong Chao being captured, enjoying the country for 12 years.

After the fall of Nanyan, the Later Qin, who had been friendly with it, was blown away by the blow of Liu Bobo, the lord of Hu Xia, and Hu Xia gradually reached its peak under Liu Bobo's rule.

If you know whether Hu Xia will replace Later Qin and rule Guanzhong, and what the fortunes of Later Qin will be, please see the next chapter.