Chapter 1167 Weak Allies

Chapter 1167 Weak Allies

Chapter 1167 Weak Allies

In late spring in April, the mountain flowers are still in full bloom.

Murong Yun was invited to attend a banquet.

Behind him followed more than ten people, all wearing narrow-sleeved, cross-collared Hu clothing with intricate patterns and bright colors.

Especially Murong Yun, who was conferred the title of Duke of Xiping, was dressed in a scarlet hunting suit with a knife hanging from his waist. On the handle of the knife was a lifelike wolf head, which collided with the jade belt from time to time, making crisp sounds.

After arriving at the destination, Murong Yun first glanced left and right, then dismounted.

The grass is covered with felt carpets, dotted with wild flowers, and the stream is gurgling. When the wind blows, the forest waves are surging, which is quite interesting.

Good place!
Several ox carts were coming down the gentle slope not far away.

Wang Yue, the eldest son of Prime Minister Wang Dao, got off the carriage. He was dressed in a plain robe, holding the hands of two servants on his left and right, and stepped onto the mossy stone steps, walking up the gentle slope.

The second person to get off the ox cart was Wang Dao's second son, Wang Tian. He was wearing only a dark-colored robe, waving an ivory-handled fan in his hand, with dishevelled hair and shaking his head.

Following Wang Tian in the room was Xie Kun’s son Xie Shang.

He was even more unique. While others wore plain or solid-colored robes, he wore clothes embroidered with bright flowers. He kept whistling while walking, but his skill was still inferior to that of his father - Xie Kun could whistle even though he was missing a front tooth. This level was not something that ordinary people could achieve.

More than ten steps behind Xie Shang was Shan Wei.

He was wearing a wide-sleeved robe, a turban on his head, wooden clogs on his feet, a cane in his left hand, and a copy of Zhuangzi in his right hand, talking non-stop with Ruan Ning...

Murong Yun retracted his gaze, threw the whip to his follower, walked forward and exchanged greetings with everyone.

Among Murong Yun's followers there was a little boy, about eight or nine years old, who seemed to be following his elders to gain experience, but he was probably not the eldest son, nor the legitimate son, and might just be a concubine's child, otherwise how could he have sailed southwards? This was risky.

"Ran Gan, what are you looking at?" another person asked, stroking his little head.

"Uncle, why are the people of Jin like this?" Ran Gan asked in a low voice.

"What do you mean?" The person who spoke was Murong Ping, the illegitimate son of Murong Wei. He and Ran Gan were uncle and nephew, but he was not very old either, probably in his early twenties.

"Father has met the Liang people in Yanshan. Their general is very powerful," said Ran Gan.

"Oh? How powerful?" Murong Ping asked with a smile.

Ran Gan was young after all, and after a long while, he could not describe his thoughts in words. Finally, he could only say: "Those Jin people in front are so weak that they look like old men who are about to be sent to the mountains."

The old man sent to the mountains...

Murong Ping wanted to laugh when he heard this. Indeed, the weak ones were weak, the listless ones were listless, and the crazy ones were crazy. Is this the person in heaven?
Someone had been to Jianye before and told people what he had seen and heard after returning. Murong Ping did not believe it at first, but now that he had seen it with his own eyes, he no longer had any doubts.

Just like Wang Yue, who had just greeted his uncle (Murong Yun), he was so weak that he could be blown down by a gust of wind. Such a person would have difficulty handling official business, let alone fighting in the battlefield. What's more frightening is that he might not be able to pass on his family line - he guessed that Wang Yue was childless.

When did the people of Jin become like this?

To put it bluntly, although they were enemies, he still thought the Liang people were more pleasing to the eye, at least the men were masculine and courageous. It was said that Emperor Shao Xun of Liang was tall and strong, and looked like a bear. He could probably lift Wang Yue with one hand.

The elegance of Wei and Jin Dynasties and the demeanor of scholars are so ridiculous!

Only their food, clothing, housing, transportation and daily life could make Murong Ping look at them with a high regard, because they indeed lived a comfortable life, but these weak people in front of him were really not worthy of enjoying it.

After Murong Yun finished greeting everyone, he introduced his entourage one by one. In addition to Murong Ping and Murong Ke (Ran Gan), uncle and nephew, there were also children of nobles from other tribes such as the Duan family or children of gentry who moved to Liaodong. Murong Wei's wife was from the Duan tribe of Xianbei and gave birth to three sons. When Wang Jun was stationed in Youzhou, in order to befriend the Murong family, Duan Jilujuan married his granddaughter to Wei Zihuang. However, this kind of marriage was obviously useless, and the war had to be fought. But some of the Duan tribe of Xianbei did move to Liaoxi and took refuge with the Murong family.

Wang Yue was gentle in his attitude. He greeted everyone one by one and chatted with them for a few words, but the attitudes of others were different.

Wang Yue's brother Wang Tian knocked the bow and sword on Murong Ping's waist with the handle of his fan and asked with a smile: "In such a refined place, you are holding a bow and sword, aren't you afraid of scaring the deer sleeping in the forest?"

As he spoke, Wang Tian lightly tapped the jade pendant on his waist, which produced a ringing sound that echoed with the stream flowing beside him, making Wang Tian very enjoyable.

Murong Ping could not hear anything unusual about the knocking sound, he just felt it was very boring and artificial. He turned around, looked at someone and nodded.

The man didn't say much. He took a bloody wild deer from the back of a horse not far away, walked to the river, gutted it, cleaned and cut it on the spot.

Xie Shang frowned. He wanted to go to the stream to wash his feet and sing a song, but now he had no interest in doing so.

Murong Ping said, "With this bow and sword, we can roast a deer for food today. Isn't that wonderful?"

Wang Tian was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter and said, "Great!"

The maids went up the stairs and brought wine and food.

As they moved, the felt carpets and mats were soon filled with fruits, cakes and, most importantly, wine.

Wang Tian let Murong Ping go directly, sat on a mat as if no one was around, picked up a pot of wine, and drank it all in one gulp.

After drinking, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said with a smile: "It must be the fine grape wine brought from the Liang Dynasty, it's wonderful."

The steam from boiling tea rose nearby.

Xie Shang gave up the idea of ​​washing his feet, took out a writing brush, dipped it in the teapot, and began to write on a large bluestone.

The kid brother Murong Ke was a little confused watching from the side. These people were really weird, they didn't even greet the guests, just minding their own business, is this how Central Plains entertainment is?

Fortunately, Wang Yue couldn't bear to watch it anymore. He gently waved his hand and invited Murong Yun and Murong Ping to his side. He said, "They are used to being unrestrained and have taken some medicine. After taking medicine, they have no other thoughts in their eyes. In fact, they have no bad intentions."

Murong Yun and Murong Ping looked at each other.

"You don't have to feel restrained. Just treat it as your own home." Wang Yue added, "The return ship will have to wait for another month and a half. We can only go north after the south wind blows strongly. If you don't like entertainment, you can go hunting. But in recent years, fewer and fewer people like hunting..."

"I heard that there are many scholars in Henan who like hunting. When Shao Taibai was selecting a son-in-law, he also tested their riding and archery skills. I thought that people in the north and south were the same, but I was wrong." Murong Ping said with a little resentment.

After these words came out, Wang Yue's face didn't look very good.

They were originally northern scholars who had just migrated south. Wang Yue had heard about what the northern scholars were doing now.

The most energy-consuming thing for them was farming, which meant running to a deserted place, enclosing fields and clearing them out.

The second thing was hunting, discussing military affairs, and practicing martial arts, all of which were actually to please Emperor Shao Xun of Liang.

Furthermore, there were a lot of soldiers in the countryside, so perhaps there wouldn't be an open conflict, but wouldn't it be strange for a small conflict to break out between an honorary official and a scholar? If a fight broke out, it would be embarrassing if you didn't have any skills.

The atmosphere among scholars in the north is indeed different now.

They are less prone to dissipation and value martial arts and masculinity, while the south is more prone to dissipation and values ​​luxury and effeminacy.

The Murong Xianbei people probably felt that the northerners were more to their liking, while many of these southern scholars had difficulty even controlling their wives, and a large number of them had no descendants, let alone fighting in battle.

But when these words come out of someone else's mouth, it's a bit harsh.

"The land of Wu and Yue is full of lakes, rivers, mountains and forests, which is not conducive to riding and shooting." Wang Yue said: "The old country has very few cavalry troops, and relies on the fleet to protect the entire country. However, the Murong cavalry gallops across the grasslands, and can break into the land of Yan and Zhao and take the cities and people of Shao. In this way, the King of Yan can be worthy of the name."

Murong Yun and Murong Ping looked at each other again and said nothing.

Their main target now is the Yuwen Xianbei.

Although Yuwen Qidegui was still alive, he was as good as dead. This state was very beneficial for Murong's attack.

Looking back many years ago, let alone the behemoth like Tuoba Xianbei, Murong Xianbei could not even compare to them. Just take their neighbor Yuwen Xianbei for example, their strength was several times that of Murong Xianbei. It is truly incredible that they could win big with small and defeat the strong with the weak.

The war has been going on till now, and they are only a few bites away from swallowing Yuwen Xianbei. Once they are swallowed up, Murong Xianbei will have the strength to truly rule the Central Plains. On this point, the Murong clan is very clear-headed, and the Jin people who serve as officials in the country also persuaded them to do so.

They now have no intention of going south to the Central Plains at all. They only want to swallow up the Twelve Yuwen tribes bit by bit, and by the way, defeat the flank threat Goguryeo to strengthen themselves. That's all.

So Murong Yun quickly replied: "Chang Yu is wrong. Now Goguryeo is in the east and Yuwen clan is in the west. The two are in a pincer attack, which is really annoying. Once the army goes south, the rear will be empty and it will be difficult to stabilize."

"Goguryeo has been defeated repeatedly, and must have lost its courage," said Wang Yue.

"No." Murong Yun shook his head and said, "They are still training soldiers, raising war horses, and forging weapons. They have threatened revenge several times, and it's not just talk. Besides, there are Tuoba Xianbei and Yuwen Xianbei who are eyeing them covetously."

“You can spread the word that Yuan Zhen, Dai Jing and others are not descendants of Tuoba, but illegitimate offspring of Shao. And support Shi Yijian well, Tuoba will surely be in chaos. Once Tuoba is in chaos, Yuwen clan will be frightened and will not dare to send troops.” Wang Yue said.

"May I ask Minister Wang, why doesn't the Great Jin send troops north?" A person behind Murong Yun suddenly spoke up.

Wang Yue remembered that this man was called Gao Zhu, and was from the Bohai Gao family, a very low-class family. His sister Gao was the concubine of Murong Wei's eldest son Murong Huang. In addition, he was also Murong Ke's uncle.

"Even if we can't march north to the Central Plains, we can still conquer Shu by land and sea." Gao Zhu continued, "I heard that the Cheng Kingdom was destroyed not long ago, and there are still people in the counties who are loyal to Li Cheng. Maybe we can send troops from two directions, one from Jingzhou and the other from Ningzhou, and then contact the remnants of Li Cheng, and there may be a chance to succeed. Why not do this?"

Wang Yue was speechless for a moment.

Li Cheng's country had just been destroyed, and the people of Shu might not necessarily obey the rule of the people of Liang. Logically speaking, there was indeed a chance, but -

Wang Yue didn't know what to say.

Are you saying that the Jin Dynasty’s troops were too weak and couldn’t defeat the Liang troops?
It is said that officials of the Jin Dynasty did not want to take risks and only wanted to live in peace?

It is said that the scholars who migrated south are colluding with the north, but the other side already knows about it before they even send troops?

No matter how you say it, it's embarrassing and will make Murong Xianbei look down on you.

"The Liang Dynasty is powerful, dozens of times stronger than the Yan Dynasty. If the Jin Dynasty cannot cooperate in the Northern Expedition, wouldn't it be a suicide mission?" Gao Zhu continued to ask.

"Shut up." Murong Yun stopped Gao Zhu from speaking, and looked at Wang Yue again, saying, "Minister Wang, you are wise. This matter does need to be carefully considered. However, we all know that the lips and teeth are cold, and I hope that the gentlemen of Jianye can think about it carefully."

Wang Yue felt a little relieved.

These words showed that Murong Xianbei did not want to completely lose this ally that was blocked by Liang State - yes, the Jin Dynasty and the Murong clan were nominally monarchs and subjects, but in reality they were allies.

After all, the Murong clan was still worried that Shao Xun would attack them, so they still had certain expectations for the Jin Dynasty, hoping that they could tie up part of the Liang Kingdom's troops and supplies, and prevent it from fully focusing on attacking the Xianbei.

However, after they had been here for several months, they seemed to be looking down on the Great Jin Dynasty and even the scholars.

Wang Yue sighed secretly, then put on a smile, put the matter aside, and invited everyone to have a feast and have fun together.

(End of this chapter)