Chapter 265: Defense of Luoyang
Chapter 265: Defense of Luoyang
Pei Kang moved into Wang Yan's house. After the two old men discussed for a while, they called several more people over.
The most prominent one was Liu Tun, the governor of Luoyang and the minister of the left, and his son Liu Bai also came with him.
There are more than ten other people, all of whom are powerful figures in Luoyang——
Pei Xia, the chief clerk of the royal palace, was the son-in-law of Wang Yan and the nephew of Pei Kang.
Pei Miao, the military supervisor of the royal palace, was Pei Kang's nephew.
Yang Jun, a clerk in the Ministry of Rites, was born into the Hongnong Yang family. His father, Yang Zhun, was a famous scholar who had served in Sima Ying's mansion and was good friends with Pei Wei and Le Guang.
Wang Xuan, a military officer in the Situ Mufu, was the son of Wang Yan.
Pan Tao, the Chief Clerk of the Situ Palace.
Zhou Xi, the chief secretary of the shogunate of General Zhenjun Sima Pi (son of Sima Yue), served successively as Secretary and Minister of Personnel.
The prince washed the horse Weijie.
Wen Qiao, the chief priest of the East Pavilion in the government office of the Grand Marshal (Wang Yan).
……
In fact, the relationship between these people is very interesting.
First of all, Wang Yan formed his own lineage, and his son Wang Xuan and chief priest Wen Qiao were both his people.
The Pei family is a separate branch, headed by Pei Kang.
Pan Tao, Yang Jun, Wei Jie, Zhou Xi, Liu Tun and Liu Bai are considered "independents", the third faction.
But there are inextricable and complicated connections among the three factions.
For example, Pei Xia was Wang Yan's son-in-law.
Yang Jun had a good relationship with Pei Wei and Le Guang, and Wei Jie was Le Guang's son-in-law.
Pan Tao and Wang Yan also had some shameful relationship in private.
By the way, Wen Qiao is also a good friend of Yu Liang.
Zhou Xi and Liu Tun had a good relationship.
Zhou Xi's younger brother Zhou Mo defected to Shao Xun and was appointed as the magistrate of Yangdi.
Liu Tun and Shao Xun have a good relationship.
In short, if we look closely, we will find that the relationships between the aristocratic families are very complicated.
When all is said and done, these people in front of us all have one thing in common: they are related to a certain person named Shao.
The fact that they got together today didn't mean that they had joined Shao Xun.
In fact, this is a political group that is being reorganized and formed, with its own interests.
"The Minister of Justice summoned his staff yesterday to discuss countermeasures." Wang Yan said straight to the point: "He is skeptical about the Xiongnu's invasion of Luoyang, and today he has sent envoys to Henei and Hongnong to investigate."
When saying this, Wang Yan was more or less helpless.
He had some connections in Hedong and Taiyuan. After his youngest daughter sorted out the materials, she made it clear that the Huns would definitely come to Luoyang.
Pei Kang was a member of a prominent family in Hedong and was better informed about news in Hedong, Pingyang and other places than Pei Kang himself. He also said that the Huns were going to invade.
However, Situ still didn't quite believe it and insisted on checking it out on the spot before making a decision.
Even the emperor who was imprisoned in the deep palace sent people to inquire about the matter, but Situ was still stubborn and refused to change his mind. What could be done?
"It's not a bad thing that Si Tu is cautious." Pei Kang excused his son-in-law, saying, "In fact, once the Xiongnu set out, they will be discovered when they cross the river. It will still be in time to make preparations. I'm just worried that even if the Xiongnu come over in a swagger, we won't be able to stop them in the end. I'm sure you all know what the imperial guards are like now."
Everyone sighed when they heard this.
The backbone of the imperial army was broken by Sima Yue, and the morale was still very low. Even if they made preparations in advance, could they really defeat the Xiongnu? No one dared to be so optimistic.
"The Imperial Guards aren't the biggest problem..." Pan Tao made eye contact with Wang Yan and said, "Situ's serious illness is difficult to recover from. This is the most worrying thing."
Hearing this, Liu Tun, who was stroking his beard, paused.
If Sima Yue was the de facto supreme commander in Luoyang, then Liu Tun was the nominal Grand Commander of Luoyang.
Everyone knows Sima Yue's physical condition, so there is no need to explain more - this is also an important reason why they gathered here.
Once Situ passes away, who will integrate the Luoyang court and who will control the army? This is a question worth studying in detail.
That's incredible power, who wouldn't be jealous?
Wei Jie and Zhou Xi listened silently on the side. They both regretted coming here today.
Situ hasn't died yet, but a group of people are already eyeing him and want to divide up his inheritance. It's really unreasonable.
Fortunately, Wang Yan wisely ended the topic.
He was just testing the waters. At this point, as Situ's body weakened day by day, his orders could no longer be carried out well.
There are more and more people who are indecisive.
More and more people are looking for a way out.
In the end, when Situ breathed his last, perhaps the power had been redistributed.
The successor took office directly without any delay, and everything happened naturally and logically.
The only uncertainty in this process will be the one in the palace. "Luyang County Duke Shao Xun refused to go to Bai Ma on the grounds that he was exhausted from the long battle and lacked food and weapons." Wang Yan said, "The king sent a letter to request Shao Xun to go east, and was willing to help with money, food and weapons. The Minister of Justice has agreed, but I think Shao Xun may not agree. At this time, we should make up for the relationship between Luyang and the Minister of Justice. We cannot cause chaos when facing a powerful enemy."
"Let me take care of this matter." Liu Tun said, "It doesn't matter if the transfer order is issued a few days later, just delay it for ten days first."
Wang Yan smiled and nodded.
In official circles, there are countless seemingly reasonable ways of procrastination.
Let’s wait for five or ten days and see how the situation develops.
"Hongnong prefect Yuan Yan requested to move the capital to Yiyang again. The prime minister rejected it last time, and it will probably be the same this time." Wang Yan continued, "Luyang County Duke also submitted a petition, saying that Hongnong was in ruins and asked to move the capital to Yiyang to defend it. Not only will it not be effective, it may even backfire. At this juncture, it is better to suppress it."
Wang Yan looked at Yang Jun.
Yang Jun nodded and said, "Don't worry, Commander."
The group then discussed other things.
The handling method took into account the interests of everyone as much as possible, while strengthening tacit understanding and trust.
This is the negative impact of Sima Yue’s serious illness.
When he is unable to control the situation and cannot hold a "big meeting", his subordinates will divide into several small circles to hold "small meetings".
The power of the shogunate had actually been transferred bit by bit.
Perhaps the only thing Sima Yue could effectively control was the army. After all, there were too many people from Xuzhou in the army. After purging the old generals of the imperial guards, Sima Yue replaced them with officers from Xuzhou and Yanzhou.
Some things cannot be changed by human will and will eventually change little by little.
After everyone left, Pei Kang and Wang Yan had a private conversation for a while.
"Is what Liu Ling said accurate?" Wang Yan confirmed again.
"That should be right." Pei Kang said, "I have received some news from Hedong and Pingyang. All the tribes of the barbarians have gathered in Hedong. If they don't fight, Liu Yuan won't have the money to send them away. They will definitely come."
Wang Yan sighed when he heard this.
The most worrying thing happened. The Huns have more than 100,000 infantry and cavalry. Can the imperial guards withstand it?
Just now, Liu Tun had agreed to use his limited authority to dispatch a part of the troops to defend various key points on the periphery.
But Wang Yan was not very optimistic.
He couldn't explain why, but he just felt pessimistic. It would be dangerous if he suffered a series of defeats and was forced to the outskirts of Luoyang.
At the same time, he was somewhat dissatisfied with Shao Xun's attitude.
He looked like he was sitting still in Yiyang, not moving at all, which was a bit too much.
We agreed to advance and retreat together at the beginning, but now he is playing tricks, this boy!
"Let's leave it to fate." Wang Yan said gloomily.
Luoyang faced two major crises: one was the invasion of the Huns, and the other was Sima Yue's serious illness.
If either of these two things is not handled properly, it will cause huge turmoil.
But Wang Yan was not sure about these two things.
******
On the eighth day of October, when Luoyang was still suspicious, the area outside Anyi City had become a sea of cavalry.
Five people, including King Liu Cong of Chu of the Han Dynasty, King Liu Yao of Shi'an, King Liu Jing of Ruyin, Shizhong Wang Mi, and General Huyan Hao, stood on the high platform and accepted the thunderous cheers.
A moment later, Liu Cong, Liu Yao and Huyan Hao stepped down from the platform one after another, then mounted their horses and rode away in a cloud of dust.
More than a thousand riders followed closely behind.
Then there were several thousand cavalry, ten thousand cavalry, twenty thousand cavalry...
It took two or three days for a total of 40,000 cavalrymen to complete the journey, roaring eastward, out of the Chenguan Pass, and rushing to Hanoi.
Liu Jing and Wang Mi led 10,000 cavalry, more than 20,000 Han infantry (Wang Mi's troops), and 6,000 Xiongnu infantry, crossing Zhongtiao Mountain to Dayang.
That night, the first group of several hundred cavalry crossed the river by ferry, and the rest supervised the construction of a pontoon bridge. On October 12, most of them had crossed the river and once again attacked and occupied Shan County.
In Pingyang, further north, Grand Marshal Hu Yanyi collected a batch of food and sent a group of people to Hebei (a county name, a county under Hedong County) and Dayang, ordering them to cross the river and come under the command of Liu Jing and Wang Mi.
On the 13th, Hongnong prefect Yuan Yan led a group of soldiers and civilians south to Zhuyang.
On the 14th, the county town was captured by the Huns.
On the 16th, they captured Hu County again and looted everything.
In another direction, Liu Cong and others led 40,000 cavalrymen to roam across Hanoi, looting everywhere.
At the same time, they collected food, fodder and strong men from the forts and ramparts, and the team grew stronger.
Henei Governor Pei Zhengfei petitioned for help.
At this point, no one doubted the Huns' determination anymore.
They did go south, and their troops were divided into two groups. One group went out of the Chenguan Pass and headed for Henei, while the other group went south to Hongnong and captured several cities in succession. It seemed that they were planning to approach Luoyang via the Xin'an Road - but perhaps it was just a feint.
Anyway, here they are.
Sima Yue's staff once again proved themselves useless.
The overwhelming Xiongnu cavalry in Hanoi were also silently mocking them.
The Battle to defend Luoyang is about to begin.
(End of this chapter)