Chapter 1341 Conflict becomes public

Chapter 1341 Conflict becomes public

Chapter 1341 Conflict becomes public

Murong Huang is now struggling with one thing. He clearly listened to Feng Yi's advice and placed all the messengers in the guesthouse and forbade them to contact the outside world. How come the news still leaked?
However, when he saw the anxious looks of the tribal nobles, he could not vent his anger and just looked at everyone.

Gao Xu, the internal historian of Yan, was a little anxious and said, "Your Majesty, maybe you can send another envoy to persuade Yuwen clan to withdraw their troops and the crisis will be resolved."

"Ridiculous! If you were in a different position and you were the Yuwen clan, would you not take action when you had the chance to take revenge? The two families have been feuding for decades." Lan Rong took two quick steps and rushed to Gao Xu, angrily saying, "If it weren't for this incident, it wouldn't take a few years for the king to reorganize the army and start to destroy the Yuwen clan. We have already discussed what to do at that time more than once, and it was you who came up with the idea."

Gao Xu’s face was tense.

It is obvious what he did after destroying the Yuwen clan. Except for retaining a few nobles, he "killed all the leaders" and made the 12 Yuwen clans scattered and unable to unite again, and eventually they were slowly annexed by the Murong clan.

Would the Yuwen clan leaders not think of this? No, they knew it too well. Now that they were following the Liang people, they could even do the opposite and "kill all the leaders" and annex the Murong Xianbei tribes.

Which of the Yuwen and Murong families will disappear into history depends entirely on the outcome of this battle.

"What a weird theory." After Lan Rong finished speaking, Gao Xu rebuked: "The terrain of Liaoze is so complicated that even people who live there often cannot fully understand it. How can the Liang people achieve a decent result?"

It would have been fine if he hadn't said it, but Lan Rong was furious when he said it, "Gao Xu, just because your sister is a lady in the palace, you don't take me seriously? Yes, it's my sister's fault that she died too early, and no one speaks for my family. You stray dogs are the most untrustworthy. Madam Gongsun's two relatives, one is the Lingzhi magistrate, and the other is the Changli magistrate, both of which are in important places, but they surrendered as soon as the Liang army arrived, and refused to fight to the death. The Gongsun family surrendered, and I think the Gao family will also surrender sooner or later-"

"Shut up!" Murong Huang couldn't stand it anymore and told Lan Rong to shut up immediately.

Gao Xu's face turned pale when he heard this.

There are some things that people won’t say when everyone is happy, even if they think so in their heart. But when they are angry, they may not say them.

Just then, the Xianbei chieftain Qiuliju (which means "sheep" in Xianbei language) stood up and shouted, "Gao Xu, do you dare to say that you have no other intentions in trapping the king in Jicheng?"

Gao Xu frowned and looked at him.

This man was one of the chiefs of the Xianbei tribe. He originally lived in Liaodong and later migrated to Changli to graze. This time the main force of the tribe withdrew in advance, but it is not known whether there were any losses.

When such a person speaks out, even the King of Yan has to take him seriously.

Qiu Liju had no intention of stopping. He seemed to have figured it out. He threw aside all his concerns and said everything that he had been reluctant to say before. "You, the Gao family, came here because you are in dire straits. You should have behaved yourself. But what did you do? You relied on Madam Gao's favor to occupy farmland everywhere. You occupied no less than 300 hectares near Jicheng alone. Your servants were also extremely arrogant. They couldn't cultivate the land themselves, and it was overgrown with grass. You also didn't allow other herdsmen to graze. Is Changli the Murong family or the Gao family?"

"I think you are reluctant to let these wealth fall into the hands of Liang people, right? Yes, once Jicheng is captured, we can break out by ourselves, but you can't escape, and your property will be divided up by Liang people, so you don't want to leave. Not only do you not leave, but you also don't allow others to leave, so that the king falls into such a crisis. Gao Xu, is this how your Gao family repays the Murong family?"

It's over! Murong Huang is not stupid, he knows it's over when he hears this!

There are some things that everyone may have thought about in their mind, but keeping them in your heart and saying them out loud are two different things.

Qiu Liju's words inevitably brought the conflict between the farming and grazing factions within Murong Yan to the surface.

It is not necessarily divided according to Hu and Han, because many Xianbei and Wuhuan people also farm, and a few Han people also herd livestock. However, the Hu people who farm are obviously moving closer to the Han people, while the Han people who herd livestock are slowly becoming more Huized.

Needless to say, most of those who support defending Jicheng are people who have homes and businesses in Changli and countless properties. It is really difficult for them to leave, as if they leave, the accumulation of two generations will be gone.

But the tribesmen who mainly engaged in grazing did not have so many concerns. The ancestors of the Murong clan came from the north and were able to live here because of their meritorious service in the conquest of Liao by Guanqiu Jian and Sima Yi. Since they could come here, why couldn't they leave? At worst, they could just go back to the north.

This is the core contradiction.

The Murong Yan State was a typical agricultural and pastoral dual system country. Now the farming faction holds power and has suppressed the nomadic faction. To be honest, it is somewhat similar to the struggle between the New Party and the Old Party of Tuoba Xianbei back then.

The New Party was mainly composed of Han people, Wuhuan people and a few enlightened Xianbei people. They combined agriculture and animal husbandry, with a very high proportion of farmers. The Old Party was a purely nomadic tribe. Everyone has seen the consequences of the struggle between the new and the old. The country fell into long-term chaos and even civil war. In the end, Shao Xun reaped the benefits, and both the New and Old Parties were dealt with together.

Although the struggle between the old and the new was a tortuous one, the new party usually won in the end. In history, one of the reasons why Tuoba Shiyijian and Murong Yan went to war was that Murong's cavalry trampled the farmland near Pingcheng, not to mention the Yinshan frost, which symbolized the extreme importance attached to agricultural planting.

In the end, the New Party won the Tuoba Dynasty, so it is not surprising that it was the Central Plains scholars who held power in Murong Yan.

But now that the conflict has broken down, it is hard to say whether it will evolve into assassination or war between the new and old factions of the Tuoba Dai Kingdom. In any case, Murong Huang has realized the seriousness of the problem.

Now the old nobles are forcing the emperor to abdicate. People led by Lan Rong and Qiu Liju are looking at him, forcing him to make a decision. Who are you relying on?

"It has been raining for days and the roads are muddy. Please be patient and let me think about it." At the critical moment, Murong Huang still tried to smooth things over.

Everyone was a little disappointed.

Gao Xu secretly sighed, the King of Yan was becoming more and more vacillating, which made him quite disappointed. However, it was indeed difficult to make a decision, and it would be the same for anyone. ******
After Murong Huang returned to the rear quarters, he was still distracted.

Princess Duan led Madam Gao and Madam Gongsun to greet them from afar, but Murong Huang acted as if he didn't see them. He went into the house and sat down while thinking.

"Your Majesty." Duan asked softly, "Tonight..."

"There will be a night attack tonight." Murong Huang said casually.

Duan was startled, while Gao and Gongsun looked at each other.

Murong Huang reacted and said, "It's already this hour, and you're still trying to control a woman? I don't have the heart to do that."

Duan asked Gao and Gongsun to leave, then sat down next to Murong Huang and said softly, "Are you worried about the war situation, my husband?"

As she spoke, she noticed that blisters had formed at the corners of her husband's mouth, and she felt a little pity for him.

The Duan and Murong tribes were enemies, and their ancestors had been fighting each other. When the two families were on good terms, they would marry each other, but when the relationship was bad, they would go to war. There were even cases where they would marry off their daughters one day and then kill each other with knives the next day.

But after she got married, her husband did not treat her harshly and she even gave birth to the prince Jun.

Although her husband later became obsessed with other concubines, he still respected her very much, and his status as the crown prince was not shaken. This was enough.

Whether they are in love or not is secondary, as long as they look okay on the surface.

"All the leaders of the tribes have advised me to leave and not to defend Jicheng to the death." Murong Huang sighed, "But the officials in the country have advised me to stay and defend to the death and wait for a turnaround. I really can't make a decision, so I am worried."

"What are the advantages of running away? What are the disadvantages? What about staying?" Duan said, "Husband, you might as well think about it carefully. No matter how difficult the decision is, you have to make it."

Murong Huang was silent for a long time before he said, "After leaving, the farmland, courtyards, schools, and workshops that we had worked hard for for many years are gone. Everything is gone. In the year of disaster, we can no longer rely on the allocation of food and straw to help the herdsmen get through the difficulties. In the time of war, iron armor, large spears and the like will be difficult to raise. Losing one less thing will be one less thing. It will be good enough to ensure that there are enough arrows. More than half of the people will be gone, and most of them are households that can provide you with food and cloth."

Duan listened quietly, and when she saw that Murong Huang was a little excited, she gently stroked his shoulder and whispered, "What are the benefits?"

"The advantage is that fighting is not that difficult." Murong Huang said, "If you can win, fight. If you can't win, just hide and wait for the right time. Liao is a land of high mountains and dense forests, with many rivers and lakes. There is always a place for the enemy to stay. Even if the enemy wants to attack us, it will not be worth the loss. The successor of Liang may not be able to organize the army of Shao thief today. Even if Liang is stronger than it is now, it is not possible. In this way, the Murong family will be safe."

"Can the Murong family rise again then?" Duan asked.

Murong Huang thought about it seriously and said, "There is a chance. I can only say there is a chance, but it is actually hard to say."

"Is it that Goguryeo and the Yuwen clan won't let us go?" asked Duan.

"They will definitely take advantage of our misfortune." Murong Huang said, "You are also aware of the strength of the Murong, Yuwen and Duan clans. When my father first rose to power, the Murong and Duan clans combined could only compete with the Yuwen clan. Now the Duan clan is declining and has been divided into three. The Yuwen clan has also lost a large number of people, many of whom are from my Murong clan. Will they think of taking back their ancestors' pastures, people and cattle and sheep? Besides, Goguryeo is not a good country and is ambitious. Once the clans are divided, I dare not say whether they can still defeat Goguryeo. They are also close at hand, which makes it much easier for them to send troops than Liang State. After a long stalemate, I dare not imagine what the outcome will be."

"That is to say, by then the odds of winning against Goguryeo will be fifty-fifty, so there is still a chance of winning, right?" Duan asked.

Murong Huang was stunned for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"Then why not secretly ally with Goguryeo." Duan said, "This way, we can avoid enemies on one side and focus on dealing with the Yuwen family. In the future, we can find an opportunity to reconcile with the Yuwen family and stop fighting. In this way, Goguryeo's ambitions will be greatly aroused, and the Yuwen family's strength will also increase greatly. They will inevitably become a thorn in the eyes of the Liang people and may have a chance to rise again. Are you afraid of losing face, my husband? In fact, it's nothing to be patient for a while. Even now, you can actually send an envoy to meet the Emperor of Liang and explain the pros and cons. My husband has already given up his title of king and dismissed his close ministers. As long as he is respectful on the surface and asks to defend the border for Daliang, maybe he won't have to rely on Goguryeo."

"Shao Xun insists that I go to the Central Plains." Murong Huang waved his hand and said.

"He Laiba is still in Xiangping. If he stays..." Duan said in a low voice.

Murong Huang was stunned at first, and then became angry.

Duan was startled and said quickly: "Husband, I am not..."

"That's enough!" Murong Huang pushed her hand away and stood up, saying, "How can a woman interfere in military and national affairs?"

After saying that, he turned around and left.

Duan sighed softly, feeling that she had said something wrong. But she also keenly felt that her husband's inclination was becoming more and more obvious, and he was forced into it.

(End of this chapter)