Chapter 1361 1 divided into 4

Chapter 1361 1 divided into 4

Chapter 1361 Divided into four

Outside the Cuizhenbao Mountain City, groups of Goguryeo people staggered westward.

Women and children could still ride in carriages, but the elderly had to walk. As for the captured men, they had to carry heavy objects or push the carriages.

But the carriage could only travel for a certain distance. Once they entered Liaoze, they would have to get off the carriage to fill in the mud pits or cut reeds and willow branches to pave the road. In short, it would be a difficult journey.

Murong Xianbei's cavalry watched from afar.

Beside them, teams of Yuwen clan cavalry were heading north. They also had carriages, but most of them were loaded with wealth, cloth, and even some daily necessities—even broken earthenware jars.

Murong Han had just led his men to clean up Cuizhenbao Mountain City, and now he was out of the city for inspection, surrounded by dozens of riders.

The Yuwen Xianbei cavalry watched them from afar and laughed.

After hearing this, the people of Murong clan blushed and became furious.

Murong Han had a demeanor of accepting a spit in the face and was not angry at all.

Compared with Yuwen family, he cared more about Murong Ren's opinion.

This person has already set out from the south, bringing with him the elderly, the weak, women, children, cattle and sheep, and preparing to come to the border of Xuantu County.

The emperor issued an edict: to make Murong Ren the Duke of Xuantu County, with a fief of 8,000 households (about 33,000 people), and to make Murong Han the Commandant of Buyeo, in charge of 5,000 households - theoretically speaking, this Commandant of Buyeo was a temporary official, and once he left his post, he would no longer be able to manage these 5,000 households (about 21,000 people), so it was hard to say what would happen in the future.

The Fuyu commander temporarily governed the Cuizhenbao mountain city.

This city is located in the northeast corner of Xuantu County, but the land under Murong Han's rule is not here. Instead, it is divided into two parts. One is the grassland swamp at the border between Daliang Dynasty and Buyeo Kingdom in the north, and the other is the hilly river valley to the east of Cuizhen Fort.

The latter was the land that the Goguryeo people had encroached upon by crossing the border throughout the dynasties, stretching for dozens of miles from east to west. Now it was all handed over to Murong Han for management.

Jicheng sent them 20,000 pieces of silk as a reward, and left the uneaten jerky, cheese, and grain to Murong Han, but the total amount was still not enough.

On his trip eastward a while ago, Murong Han did not plunder much, just over 10,000 hu of grain and tens of thousands of livestock. Even among the livestock, one-third were pigs, which made Murong Han almost angry.

He knew that the Goguryeo people liked to raise pigs, and the more barbaric Sushen people also liked to raise pigs. People even measured their wealth by the number of pigs they had. But for a nomadic tribe, pigs were really of little use.

Do you eat pig milk?
In a fit of rage, he ordered that all the pigs be slaughtered, pickled and dried to be used as food for the winter; the pig skins could also be tanned into leather.

With the current capital of the Buyeo Duwei Mansion, it would probably be tight and they would have to live frugally to survive until the grass turns green again next year.

This war caused too much loss for the Murong Xianbei, with the loss of cattle and sheep alone amounting to hundreds of thousands.

Everything has to be started from scratch.

With him like this, Murong Ren's life was not easy.

Many tribes were incorporated along the way, but the young men in the tribes were conscripted to fight in the war, and many livestock were also taken away by the Liang army to make up for the shortage of military supplies.

The Liang soldiers are only concerned with fighting and will not consider the livelihoods of these tribes. Anyway, you are losers and you should be beaten to death. At most, if you rebel again, I will suppress you again.

Murong Ren did not dare to rebel at that time, but the result is now very difficult: how can a large number of herdsmen with little property survive the winter?
The court was very "considerate" and granted him a fief of 8,000 households, which was the maximum number of people he could barely support through the winter, and he still had to live frugally.

As for the reward of more than 30,000 pieces of silk given to him by the court, it was useful in the long run but of little use in the short run. It was not as useful as the people, property, food and livestock that Murong Zhi had snatched back from the south.

Murong Han knew that his younger brother was very wary of him because many of his subordinates were his former subordinates.

Murong Han had nothing to say about this. It was already this time, and why were they still arguing about this?
******
When the Murong brothers settled in Xuantu County, the treasurer official Xi led his people into Liaoze.

There were only about 15,000 of his followers left, and the rest either died in the war or fled in the chaos of war and disappeared. Of course, there were also many who were taken away by the Liang court, as many as 8,000 to 9,000 people, and now they have almost reached Changli and are heading towards Youzhou.

There was a noise coming from the front, and soon a soldier came to report: the Liang army's navy had found Murong Huang's location, and was encircling him together with the imperial guards and a part of the Yuwen clan.

Ku Li Guan Xi no longer hesitated, selected two thousand light cavalry, and rode forward.

There were burned-down camps everywhere along the way, with corpses strewn all over the place and the dead and wounded piled up everywhere.

Ku Liguanxi didn't even look at it and went straight west.

If you encounter a place that you cannot pass, dismount and walk; if you can pass, mount again.

After a whole summer, the water level in the swamp rose to its peak, but now it has receded a lot, making it less difficult to walk.

They walked for a whole day and arrived at the designated location. Then someone came to report: Murong Huang fled to the north.

The warehouse official Xi was startled, and after asking about the situation carefully, he learned that Murong Huang was attacked by the Liang army by land and sea somewhere in the south, and he rushed here in a hurry with only a few hundred followers. The army took him in for a few days, but then regretted it and wanted to report him to the Liang people. Murong Huang noticed it in advance and fled north again.

After the Liang army came after them, they regarded this tribe as an enemy and attacked them fiercely, causing the people to flee in all directions. Many of them died in the chaos, and some of the captured cattle and sheep were slaughtered by the Liang people as food for the army, and the rest were sent to Xiangping.

Ku Li Guan Xi sighed and followed the guide north again.

On August 23, the north wind had already picked up and the weather turned further colder.

Ku Li Guan Xi found a series of heads on the road. After careful identification, he could vaguely see the face of Prime Minister Feng Yi.

He was so surprised that he dismounted and walked to the wooden pole. He looked around carefully and confirmed that Feng Yi was dead.

Looking at the other heads, most of them were the familiar guards and officials of Murong Huang. These were the most popular figures in Jicheng before!
Ku Li Guan Xi sighed. Even though he was a close guard beside Murong Huang, he had to be careful with his words, for fear that someone would set him up secretly and cause him to suffer a loss.

Now they are all dead...

Kuli Guanxi was not emotional about the deaths of these people, but he felt a little sad about the deaths and injuries of ordinary tribal people.

The terrain of Liaoze is fragmented and communication is difficult. Out of past gratitude, these tribes accepted Murong Huang, who came to them in desperation. But now they are being harmed by him. Their tribes are defeated, their people are scattered, and even the nobles of the tribes have been beheaded. It is a pitiful thing.

In fact, these people had been taking Murong Huang in for more than a month. It was not until the Liang army's search and suppression became more and more powerful and slowly approached the doorstep that some people finally couldn't stand the pressure and asked Murong Huang and his party to leave, or someone in the tribe secretly informed them, but no one really turned against them and took direct action, which was actually quite nice.

Later on, perhaps some ruthless people would attack Murong Huang. After all, everyone could see that his situation was hopeless and he was really in no condition.

The Liang people didn't even take him seriously and went straight to plunder Goguryeo...

On the 25th, Ku Li Guan Xi received an order at the junction of Xuantu, Changli and Yuwen Xianbei counties. He rushed north for a day and saw Murong Huang surrounded on a mountain top.

It seems that there are still two small tribes willing to fight for him.

Two or three thousand strong men launched a final charge, but were dispersed by Yuwen clan and Liang cavalry. The infantry surrounded them from a distance, cutting off Murong Huang's last escape route.

Kuli Guanxi assigned half of his men to join the siege, but they mainly patrolled the periphery in order to prevent the remaining troops of Murong Huang from breaking out.

He waited until evening, the only thing in his mind was whether Murong Huang would commit suicide.

Sadly no, he was captured.

Ku Li Guanxi felt an indescribable disappointment in his heart. A hero on the grassland should not be like this.

Murong Huang, you are embarrassed.

On the 27th, he went south to meet up with his troops and prepared to set up camp at the northern foot of Yiwulü Mountain.

He got a new position: Wulu Town Commander.

******
Murong Khan had already arrived in Jicheng. He looked at the empty house and remained silent for a long time.

On the 30th, he was summoned by Li Chong and came to the military camp outside the city. He only stayed in the palace but did not enter the city. Since he conquered Ji City, he mostly lived in the military camp west of the city, which shows how cautious he was.

"Four days ago, the royal army captured Murong Huang and more than 200 people, and took them all to Youzhou." Li Zhong said straight to the point: "You surrendered despite the danger of more than 10,000 people. The emperor was pleased and did not punish you. He ordered you to return your family and move to Henan. What do you have to say?"

"I, the sinner, will be eternally grateful for the pardon from Heaven," said Murong Khan.

"Tens of thousands of people in Liaoze have all been relocated to Jianghuai." Li Zhong said, "Only 5,000 households are left, and a garrison commander is appointed. Who do you think can do this?"

"There is no candidate." Murong Khan replied.

Li Zhong glanced at him with interest and said, "You are so cautious and self-protective, haha."

He smiled and said, "Well, it's normal that you don't want to get involved in these things at this point. Before you leave, go to Pingdingshan City and recruit Murong Jun and Murong Biao."

"Yes." Murong Khan replied.

He knew why Li Chong asked him to come forward.

When attacking Murong Ren in Liaodong, he was in charge of transporting food and fodder, and recruiting young men, war horses, and draft animals. He was on good terms with Crown Prince Jun, so perhaps he had some face for himself.

"They are both your relatives, confined to the mountains, living under the control of Goguryeo." Li Zhong warned again: "If you continue to be stubborn, you may not end up well. Do you know that the King of Goguryeo has sent envoys here, willing to expel Murong Jun and Murong Biao? Wandu has been conquered, and the Goguryeo people are terrified. He wants to get away as soon as possible, and he is willing to sell out the uncle and nephew for this. When you meet them, you must talk to them clearly."

"Yes." Murong Khan responded again.

Although it was the end of August and the weather was getting colder, and the soldiers from the Central Plains could not stand the bitter cold and had to withdraw, the Goguryeo people did not dare to bet whether the emperor of Daliang would order the elite cavalry of Tuoba and Yuwen to stay behind. As long as they were promised huge benefits, it would not be difficult for these knights who originally lived in a bitter cold place to adapt to the climate. At least Murong Xianbei dared to go into the mountains and fight Goguryeo in the cold twelfth and first months of the year.

Murong Khan guessed that Gao Zhao had probably known that Wandu had been captured, and he was really scared. In this case, the prince was in a very dangerous situation.

Fortunately, the Liang people now want to weaken Goguryeo, otherwise...

He immediately thought of "Dayan" which had been severely weakened.

The great families and farmhands of the Central Plains were naturally governed by the Liang court, but what about the tribes? Now it seems that only the Fuyu Commandery, the Duke of Xuantu County, and the two town commanders are retained, with a total of more than 20,000 households.

The rest either died in the war, fled and hid, were rewarded to the King of Yan of Liang State, or were relocated to the heartland of the Central Plains, and many were even eaten by the Yuwen Xianbei and Tuoba Xianbei.

Two-thirds of the tribal population was gone, and the once powerful Murong Xianbei became extinct. The remaining 20,000-odd households were also divided and became insignificant.

If Liang Ting himself did not want to wipe out all the Murong Xianbei, these four forces might not even exist.

"Let's set off today, and leave tonight." Li Zhong waved his hand, as if driving away an insignificant person.

Murong Khan bowed and took his leave.

When he returned home to pack his clothes, he saw the Goguryeo envoy coming out of the west gate, escorted by a team of Liang cavalry, traveling day and night and heading west.

(End of this chapter)