Chapter 1327 Court Discussion

Chapter 1327 Court Discussion

Chapter 1327 Court Discussion
There were two main teams under Murong Huang's rule, one was the Yan State officials, and the other was the Pingzhou Shogunate.

The former was headed by Prime Minister Feng Yi (from Bohai, Jizhou), Sima Han Shou (from Taiyuan, Bingzhou), Fengchang Pei Kai (from Hedong, Sizhou), Sili Wang Bin (from Bohai, Jizhou), Taifu Wang Yu (from Xinxing, Bingzhou), Dali Li Hong (from Bohai, Jizhou), Nanyan Ling Du Qun (from Jingzhao, Yongzhou), etc., and there were also Changbo Song Gai (from Pingyuan, Jizhou), Liu Mu (from Zhongshan, Jizhou), Shi Cong (from Leling, Jizhou), Rongqi Changshi Huangfu Zhen (from Anding, Yongzhou), Yang Xie (from Yuyang, Youzhou), etc.

General Ping Xi of the Left Army, General Zhang Hong of the Right Army (from Fanyang, Youzhou), General Lan Bo (a Xiongnu), General Gao Xu of Guangwu (from Bohai, Jizhou), General Song Hui of Yanglie (from Xihe, Bingzhou), General Mu Yu Ni of Dangkou as well as military officers such as Commandants Zhang Meng, Zhao Pan, Mu Yu Gen, and Gao Zhu were also present.

To be honest, this official system has a retro style, more like a mixture of ancient and modern times, and I don’t know what they were thinking.

The Pingzhou shogunate was mainly composed of Military Advisor General (no taboo) Murong Ping, Left Chief Secretary Wang Ji (from Bohai, Jizhou), Right Chief Secretary Song Gai (concurrently in charge), Left Sima Han Jiao (from Taiyuan, Bingzhou), Right Sima Feng Yi (concurrently in charge), Military Assistant Ju Yun (from Donglai, Qingzhou), and Recorder Xian Yuliang (from Beiping, Youzhou).

In addition to the two teams, there are also——

In the General's Office, the staff were mainly composed of Chief Clerk Liu Xiang (from Pingyuan, Jizhou) and Sima Ju Peng (from Donglai, Qingzhou). They had little power and their main task was to assist the emperor.

As well as officials of the Prince of Yan's Palace, such as the Internal History Gao Xu (concurrently in charge), the Lieutenant Zheng Lin (from Beihai, Qingzhou), the Doctor Ling Yang Jing (from Yuyang, Youzhou), etc.

There are still quite a lot of officials.

Compared with the Liang Dynasty, Murong Yan had only a few hundred thousand people, but the proportion of officials was much higher.

Of course, this is a historical issue.

When the Central Plains was in turmoil, the people sought refuge in three places. One was of course to Jiangdong in the south, another was to Zhang Gui in Liangzhou, and the third was to Wang Jun in Youzhou. But Wang Jun was not a good man, so he went to Murong Wei.

Murong Wei was very happy and tried every means to settle these Central Plains scholars. He allowed them to continue to lead their own troops and even become officials. Even the Xianbei people were under their jurisdiction.

These Central Plains scholars did demonstrate their ability to govern the local area. They were at least much better than the illiterate tribal chieftains of Murong Xianbei. They helped Murong Wei develop Changli County, and managed Xuantu and Liaodong counties with great effectiveness, which convinced people.

For example, Liu Pei of Hejian was appointed as the prefect of Xuantu, Du Qun concurrently served as the prime minister of Liaodong, and the prefect of Changli was previously Pei Yi, who was later appointed as the commander of the Dongyi Army and concurrently held the post of prefect.

As for several overseas counties, such as Lelang, Chengzhou, Jiyang, Yingqiu, Tangguo, etc., all of them were Han scholars serving as prefects or internal historians, without a single Hu person, and the county magistrates under them were not much different.

The Murong clan could only manage the tribes, and even their tribes were under the control of local governors, because they did not set up a Chanyu Tai to specifically manage the "nationals" and "six barbarians" like Liu Han did, and the system was relatively rough.

There must be contradictions within, but they are suppressed by victory after victory.

To be honest, Murong Yan was not as stable as Liu Han. This was doomed to fail. They had no experience in managing a dualistic Hu-Han state. Even if they were lucky enough to enter the Central Plains, internal conflicts would still break out.

The father and son Murong Wei and Murong Huang were too accommodating to the scholars in the Central Plains, which reflected a strong inferiority complex. They even often handed over the command of the army to Han scholars, making them generals, and all the Hu and Han soldiers were under their command.

There are probably two reasons for this. First, these scholars who fled north abandoned many of their own habits in the difficult environment, began to become down-to-earth, and demonstrated their abilities, whether in governing the local area or marching and fighting. Second, "no Hu people have ever been emperors since ancient times", or it was the inferiority complex that was at work.

If the Hu people don't take control of the Central Plains several times, they won't be able to boost their morale.

At this time, Murong Huang summoned his generals and subordinates to discuss matters, and the first person to speak up was the Han scholar.

"The Liang people came with all their might, claiming to have a million soldiers, causing fear in the country. Most of the tribes said they would abandon Jicheng and flee to avoid the enemy. This is a big mistake." Prime Minister Feng Yi stood up and said with emotion, "If we abandon Jicheng and flee, what about Xuantu? Should we abandon it? Should we also abandon Xiangping? Should we abandon the manors and ranches you have bought, and the king's gardens? The first lord worked hard to build this prosperous place today, why would you say we should abandon it?"

Murong Huang remained silent after hearing this.

In the past two days, many tribal nobles have been whispering in his ears, saying that we live wherever there is water and grass, and have no fixed place, so why should we be confined to one place? The Liang soldiers are indeed powerful, and if we can't afford to provoke them, can't we hide? While their main force has not arrived yet, quickly pack up your belongings and livestock and flee to the northeast.

There is a large area of ​​barren grassland between Buyeo and Goguryeo, with no human habitation and only a few tribes grazing there. You can go there first and then wait and see what happens.

After hearing this, Murong Huang was shaken, so he sent an envoy out, saying that he had given up his title of king, dismissed the six ministers and other close officials, and asked the people of Liang for peace.

However, this matter was soon known to the Han scholars, who came to the government office to advise the emperor, thus leading to today's "court discussion".

After Prime Minister Feng Yi finished speaking, he glanced around and saw no one objected.

Well, of course no one objected.

Most of the tribal nobles who were the foundation of the Murong Xianbei were not even qualified to participate in high-level decision-making meetings. The direction of the country was basically controlled by the Murong clan and the Han people. There might be some tribal nobles who were promoted because of their military exploits, but their number was too small, and their positions were often very delicate. "Your Majesty." Gao Xu, the internal historian of the Prince of Yan's Palace and the General of Guangwu, stood up and said, "The Liang army is said to have a million soldiers, but most of them are false numbers. There are only 100,000 soldiers who can fight. Now we can follow the example of the former lord, defend the city firmly, dissipate the enemy's spirit, and then hide strong cavalry outside. When the Liang people are exhausted and suffer heavy casualties, we can attack them from both inside and outside, and perhaps we can win a great victory."

This is about the time of Murong Wei, when Cui Bi, Yuwen Xianbei and Goguryeo besieged the city. At that time, the armies were also large and the people were in panic. Later, Cui Bi and Goguryeo were forced to retreat by strategy, but Yuwen Xianbei was still much stronger than Murong Xianbei. In the end, the two sides fought a decisive battle outside the city. Murong Huang led the elite troops as the vanguard, Murong Han led his troops to attack from the flank, and Murong Wei personally led the infantry in a square formation. As a result, Yuwen was defeated and the strength of the two sides was reversed.

That was more than ten years ago. Now the State of Yan is stronger than ever. Can't we defeat them?

Murong Huang was shaken again by what he said, so he asked, "Can Jicheng be defended?"

Everyone looked at the commander Mu Yugen, who was the "Chengda" of Jicheng - "Chengda" was a Xianbei official position, in charge of the city's defense.

Mu Yugen stood up and said, "Your Majesty, our country has been working hard for thirty years, farming and training soldiers, with 100,000 soldiers under armor. Not only is our cavalry strong, but we are also not inferior in infantry combat. Daji City is high and deep, and has been expanded for many years. It has sufficient food and weapons, and is strong enough to hold out. It is now May, and the Liang people have not yet arrived in large numbers. Your Majesty only needs to hold out here for three months, and when the wind and snow suddenly come, the Liang people will have to retreat even if they don't want to. At that time, gather the elite cavalry of the tribes and chase them, and you will surely win a great victory."

Murong Huang was hesitant.

Mu Yugen wanted him to guard Jicheng in person to stabilize the morale. In other words, he couldn't leave and had to stay here.

The tribes can avoid it for a while, but they need to prepare fast horses and elite troops and be ready to attack at any time.

"How many soldiers can be stationed in the city? How long will the food and supplies last? Do you have any idea?" Murong Huang asked.

"With more than 10,000 infantrymen and 3,000 elite cavalry, we can hold out for more than half a year without any problem." Muyugen said.

Murong Huang was still a little hesitant.

Seeing this, Mu Yugen tried even harder to persuade him: "Your Majesty, have you ever thought about why the Liang army was so slow to act?"

"Why?"

"It is to make the king think that he is no match for the enemy and flee far away." Mu Yugen said, "Once the king leaves, the Liang people will be more powerful, and the mayors, officials, and nobles of each city will be discouraged and disappointed, and they may surrender to the Liang people. The king must not fall into the trap. I have seen that the thief Shao likes to use force to suppress others. He must hope to see the king retreat and not fight, and then easily accept the surrender of the cities and tribes. When he withdraws his troops in September, if he is worried that the king will come back, he will most likely forcibly relocate the people of each city and tribe, leaving the king with only an empty space. In this way, if he sends troops again next year, even if it is not a million-strong army, how can the king resist the enemy?"

Murong Huang nodded slowly, already having a preference in his mind.

"Your Majesty, rumors are spreading everywhere and people are confused. I would like to send elite troops to Liucheng to kill some of the bandits to boost morale." Li Hong of Dali suggested: "It doesn't matter if there is no victory. We must let everyone see your determination to hold on."

Chang Bo Liu Mu agreed, "Your Majesty, we should fight. Some tribesmen are shouting everywhere, saying they want to leave. If this continues, people will be confused. We should take the initiative to attack. Winning or not is not important. What is important is to quell the rumors. Simply defending will not work. Perhaps we can send cavalry to pass through the mountain passes and harass the enemy's food supply. There are many places to fight in the 400-mile mountain road from Youzhou to Liucheng, and the Liang people cannot take care of them all."

Seeing that no one agreed to retreat, Murong Huang slowly made up his mind. He slammed the table, stood up and said, "I have been on the throne for three years, and it is unacceptable to leave without a fight. In this case, let's fight to the death with Shao the thief to see who is more powerful, his million-strong army, or the bravery of my Murong family's elite cavalry."

After saying this, he discussed the next arrangements carefully with his generals and officers.

The first step was to transfer the elite troops of the tribe to Jicheng, a total of 2,000 cavalrymen, all equipped with fine armor and large spears. These 2,000 armored cavalrymen were regarded as the elite and were thrown into the battlefield at the critical moment to defeat the enemy with one blow.

Another two thousand elite horse archers were transferred and stationed in Jicheng.

The tribes coordinated to move their pastures a little further away from the main battlefield, so that they could gather fresh troops and attack when the Liang army had been besieging the city for a long time, suffered heavy casualties, and was plagued by diseases and was exhausted.

The capable infantrymen gathered in Jicheng, stored food and weapons, and prepared to hold out for a long time.

He also sent envoys to various places to explain the pros and cons to Goguryeo and make them understand the principle of "the lips and the teeth are cold".

As for the Yuwen family, there was no possibility, but Prime Minister Feng Yi insisted on sending people, saying that Yuwen Yidugui's prestige was average and he could not command the entire Yuwen twelve tribes. They could bypass him and contact the chiefs and nobles below in private to persuade them not to send troops.

Even the Duan tribe of the Xianbei, who had defected to the Liang people for many years, could send people to persuade them.

Yi Yi (a native of Pingyuan, Jizhou), the Liaodong guard general who temporarily rushed back to Jicheng to ask for food and grass, requested the pardon of Murong Ren, Murong Jun, Murong You and Murong Zhi, and called on them to surrender for the sake of family justice, and launched a counterattack against the Liang people.

Murong Huang agreed with everything and had already made up his mind - at least for the time being.

(End of this chapter)