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When the backyard of the Eastern Jin Dynasty caught fire, Yanzhou, far away in the Central Plains, was invaded by Hulu.

The Central Plains is the land of four wars, and every time there is a hint of wind and grass, it is always the first to be invaded.

Counting it carefully, it has only been more than a year since the Jin Army's Northern Expedition to recover Qingyan.

During this period, due to Liu Yu's guard, the people of Qingyan finally passed a period of peace.

Unexpectedly, with the rebellion of the Southern Heavenly Master, the Jin court had no time to take care of the vast area south of the Yellow River, including Luoyang.

Since the first year of Long An, this place has gradually attracted the attention of one person, and that is Murong De, the lord of the Southern Yan Kingdom.

In the face of the continuous invasion of Hexi and Wei, Murong De set his sights on the Qingqi area, where the Jin army was weak.

Yecheng, threatened by the Northern Wei Dynasty in the north and infested by Hexi in the west, is not a place to stay for a long time.

In late June, Murong De crossed the river from Liyang Ferry and headed south, officially kicking off the southern invasion.

Jin Nanyang Taishou Lu Qiu Xian and Ning Shuo general Deng Qifang received a report from the scouts and hurriedly led 20,000 troops to crusade.

Murong De ordered the general of the Chinese army, Murong Fa, the king of the northern land, Murong Zhong, and other generals to go south to meet the battle.

The two sides fought in Guancheng, Deng Qifang, Lu Qiuxian and others were defeated and fled back single-handedly.

This battle allowed Murong De to own several cities south of the Yellow River, which was considered to be a temporary foothold.

However, because the first battle was won too easily, Nanyan had a disagreement about the future strategy.

In order to stabilize the morale of the army and unify the mind, Murong De convened an important military meeting after the great victory.

At the meeting, Don't drive Han Zhuo to Murong De: "Now that the Wei army has entered Yecheng using the name of our army, Hexi and Wei will soon become a mess. ”

"Taking advantage of the fact that they have no time to take care of my Dayan for the time being, I dare to ask the king to seize a piece of territory as soon as possible to consolidate the foundation."

"And then slowly build up strength to make a long-term plan."

Murong De agreed with Han Zhuo's words very much, and echoed in his voice: "Ladies and gentlemen, although we have temporarily defeated the Jin army, the situation we are facing is still very dangerous. ”

"And because of the abandonment of Sizhou, it can be said that there is a strong enemy in the front, and there is no basis in the back."

"As Bei Driver said, you have to find a foothold as soon as possible. 、”

"I wonder if you have any suggestions for this?"

Someone suggested: "King, Pengcheng has mountains and rivers and dangerous obstacles, and it was the old capital of Chu State, why don't you take advantage of the situation and take it as a foundation place?" ”

Pengcheng is a large city in Huaibei, and Xuzhou is a large state, with a large population, which is more attractive to the people of Nanyan.

Don't drive Han Zhuo to strongly oppose the foothold in Pengcheng, he believes: "Pengcheng is an important place occupied by the Southern Jin Dynasty for a long time. ”

"If you take it rashly, the other party will definitely compete with me."

"At the same time, it is very close to the Yangtze River and the Huai River, and the water transportation is developed, and there is a lot of rain in summer and autumn.

"Moreover, water warfare is the best tactic of the Jin army, but it is the shortest of our army."

"Even if Pengcheng is temporarily conquered today, it is not a long-term solution."

"On the contrary, Qingzhou is fertile for thousands of miles, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Qi is known as the 'Eastern Qin State', which is strong for a while."

"The land of Qingqi, there are more than 2,000 miles of land, more than 100,000 households, the sea in the east, Mount Tai and other dangers in the west, it can be said that it is a country of force."

"And after Liu Yu went south, the three Qi were in a mess, and there was no Ming lord and virtuous monarch."

"The county is built by Cao Wei, and the mountains and rivers are dangerous, which is very suitable as the capital of the imperial kingdom."

"Pingyuan Taishou Bilu Hun used to be an old minister of Yan State, and the minister thought that the king only needed to send a lobbyist to persuade him to surrender."

"In this way, the king will have no trouble taking the land."

"After occupying Qingzhou, we will close the dangerous pass, recuperate, and wait for the opportunity."

After hearing what Han Zhuo said, Murong De no longer had any doubts, and hurriedly dispatched troops to prepare to use force against Qingzhou.

At the same time, the situation in Yecheng is developing in the direction he expected as planned.

……

Xindu City, belongs to Jizhou City, is located in the hinterland of the North China Plain, and there is a rare plain freshwater lake in the north of the city - Hengshui Lake.

From the former Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, the Jizhou administrative office was changed repeatedly, but most of them governed the capital.

After the fall of the Eastern Yan, the king of Wei, Tuoba Jue, imitated the old practice of the two Han Dynasty and still ruled by Xindu.

Because Xindu is close to Yecheng, if necessary, the Wei army's iron cavalry can bypass Xiangguo, Handan and other important towns, and take Yecheng directly.

Now, as the situation in Yecheng becomes more and more tense, even Xindu has been greatly affected.

In addition to the Wei army's iron cavalry patrolling back and forth inside and outside the city, even the entry and exit of the people were strictly checked.

In the city, there is a large mansion covering an area of dozens of acres, which has been uninhabited before.

A few days ago, a group of people suddenly came and cleaned the house inside and out.

Looking at the renovated mansion, the people in the city don't know who lives in it.

Of course, for ordinary people, no one will care who the owner of the house is.

In troubled times, as long as the family only wants to be safe and sound, they will never meddle in their affairs.

On this day, in the evening, a carriage and a hundred and ten cavalry drove into Xindu from the south gate and stopped directly in front of the mansion.

An entourage took the initiative to knock on the door, and after a while, the middle door was opened, and the group entered the house with cars and horses.

Then the door closed again as if nothing had happened.

When the door of the room was again cut off from the outside world, the carriage door opened, and out of it came a scholar, about fifty years old.

This person is Tuoba Moumou, although his dress is very ordinary, but it is still difficult to hide his unique temperament.

At this time, an attendant came up and said, "Changshi, the king is waiting in the study. ”

"Lead the way."

The chamberlain took Zhang Yan and hurriedly walked to the inner house.

This mansion originally belonged to Murong Sheng, and later after the Wei State pacified Hebei, it fell into the hands of the Wei King Tuoba.

And as the Wei army marched south, this mansion temporarily became the temporary residence of the King of Wei.

In the study of the inner house, Tuoba was drinking tea while reading quietly.

In view of the importance of the battle over Yecheng, Tuoba Jue was unwilling to sit in the rear and wait, so he secretly infiltrated Xindu with his henchmen.

As a result, as soon as he came to the capital, he received a secret report that Murong De, the king of Yan, intended to cooperate with Wei.

Tuoba Jue did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly sent Shi Zhangyan south to have a secret meeting with Murong De, while he himself stayed in Xindu to wait for news.

Unexpectedly, this wait is several days.

Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and Changshi Zhang Yan's voice also sounded.

"The minister Zhang Yan paid a visit to the king.

Tuoba Jue was stunned at first when he heard this, and then hurriedly got up and came to the door.

He pushed open the door and saw Zhang Yan standing respectfully outside the door.

"Hong Long, how did you talk to Murong De? Didn't he send someone with you? ”

"Murong De was so busy going south that he couldn't spare any manpower to come over."

"As for the negotiations, wait for Rong Chen to report to the king in detail."

"Well, the widow understands! Okay, come in and talk about it. ”

The two of them walked into the study one after the other, and before Zhang Yan could sit down, Tuoba Jue asked impatiently.

"What exactly does Murong De mean? Isn't he fighting with Hexi, why does he suddenly want to unite with Great Wei? ”

"King Qiqi, the main reason is that last time Hexi forced Yan to cede Hanoi and Jijun, which annoyed Murong De."

Tuoba Jue was overjoyed when he heard this, if Murong De really fell to the Wei State, then he would be more sure of capturing Yecheng.

He pinched his chin, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "What about Hexi?" Is there any awareness on the west side of the river? ”

"Judging from the information currently available, Hexi has not found that Wei Yan has united."

"But don't be too happy, the king."

"Chen thinks that even if Hexi doesn't find anything abnormal, he will definitely take precautions."

"What about Murong De? What are his plans? ”

"Hahaha, Murong De is cunning and cunning, he just wants to secretly help my Great Wei take Yecheng, but he doesn't want to show his face in public."

"Does the king know what this means? It shows that Murong De wants to be left and right. ”

"He wants to take revenge on Hexi with the power of my Wei State, but he doesn't want to completely offend Wei Shuo."

"In the final analysis, this Murong De is still ambitious."

"He doesn't want to take refuge in any side at all, he just wants to take advantage of the contradictions between Hexi and Wei."

Tuoba nodded, indicating that he had expected this.

Then, he remembered an important thing and asked, "How exactly does he plan to secretly help my Great Wei?" ”

"According to Murong De's plan, he plans to steal beams for pillars, so that Wei Jun will pretend to be Yan Jun and secretly enter Yecheng."

"And then in the name of offering the city, the Hexi army was deceived to Yecheng."

"In the end, once the Hexi army was deceived, the Wei army stationed in Xindu ran a long distance and killed the Hexi army in one fell swoop."

"Tut-tut! This Murong De is not simple, he wants to provoke a war between Wei and Hexi. Tuoba's eyes flashed.

"But no matter what, with the help of the Yan Kingdom, it will give my Great Wei a great advantage in the battle for Yecheng."