Chapter 820: How many people have wise ministers while their rulers are incompetent?
In the Hedong area, a faint smell of blood came from all directions, and countless corpses were lying everywhere.
In the Yan army camp, Murong Ke and other high-ranking military officers sat together with smiles on their faces and eyes.
It was probably because the war in Hedong was going more smoothly than they had expected, and they felt like "I haven't even put in any effort, but you're falling down."
The fighting capacity of the Wei army soldiers was not weak.
The arrows shot by the Wei army soldiers were very powerful, the stones thrown by the soldiers defending the city were also powerful and heavy, and their armor was also excellent. When small armies met, the soldiers were also elite and brave, and it seemed that everything was fine.
But under the normal appearance, Wei State has not won a single battle in Hedong until now!
Anyone can see how wrong this is. As for why this is happening, there is only one saying: an incompetent general can lead to the exhaustion of the entire army.
Murong Ke coughed lightly and was about to speak when the tent was suddenly opened and Murong Chui walked in from outside the tent with the gait of a dragon and a tiger.
The fourteen-year-old boy was full of sharp aura. When he saw him walk in, Murong Ke in the camp was all smiles, while the others lowered their heads, as if their eyes were hurt by the cold murderous aura.
During the several months of the Battle of Hedong, Murong Chui shone brilliantly and quickly grew from a small general who could only lead a small army to the vanguard of the Yan army.
As we all know, the vanguard is usually the strongest in an army, and the vanguard officer has the important responsibility of charging into battle, killing generals and capturing flags.
Murong Chui was able to defeat a group of Yan State's Hu and Han generals and received this honor because of his outstanding military achievements, which made people have to admire him.
Not only is he good at commanding small-scale troops, he also has a good sense of the overall situation and can assist in military affairs.
He had suggestions for almost all the major wars. This scene reminds people of Murong Ke's sudden rise in the Yan army.
In just a few years, Murong Ke became a world-famous god of war. Therefore, Murong Chui, relying on Murong Ke's prestige, became even more unapproachable.
Previously, Murong Ke sent Murong Chui to attack the counties in Hedong along the Fen River all the way north, while he attacked all the way south, which was a coordination between them both to replenish military supplies and to strike at the Wei army.
I didn't expect Murong Chui to come back so soon.
When he saw Murong Chui holding a package that was bleeding, he knew that Murong Chui must have a surprise waiting for him, so he asked him, "Seventh brother, you're back so soon?"
Murong Chui walked into the camp with an excited look on his face. He knelt on one knee and threw the bloody head wrapped in cloth on the ground. He clasped his fists and saluted. Then he said directly: "Brother, I have a gift for you. This is the general of Wei who came to rescue Hedong, Cao Dao, Marquis of Fenyang. He was the regent of Wei. He came with 30,000 troops. I found out about it and defeated them in a battle west of Fenshui. I chased them for more than 80 miles, killing people and beheading more than 20,000 people. I took Cao Dao's head. Our casualties were only more than 2,000 people."
Murong Ke was completely stunned. Not only him, but everyone in the camp had the same expression. Murong Chui led 5,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry to the north and encountered 30,000 Cao troops, but he was able to achieve such a great victory.
Murong Ke just said that the fighting effectiveness of Wei soldiers was not bad, it was just that the commander was incompetent. However, this incompetence was relative to Murong Ke, and it was incompetence in a large army, not incompetence in small-scale battles.
After a brief moment of daze, Murong Ke immediately raised his head and laughed. He walked forward to pull Murong Chui up and sat him in the first seat. He first carefully looked at Murong Chui to see if he was injured. Seeing that he had no scars, he smiled and asked, "Good boy, brother was right about you. It seems that the title of Great Yan God of War will belong to you from now on.
Tell me, what happened to achieve such a great victory? How did you fight the reinforcements from Guanzhong?"
Murong Chui said happily: "Brother, I followed your orders and led eight thousand men all the way north. We were invincible and defeated all the troops from the counties that tried to go south to rescue.
So they began to defend the city. I knew that I was outnumbered and could not attack the big city, so I bypassed those strong cities, conquered those small cities, and took advantage of the enemy. I caused a great disturbance in the northeast of the river and set traps to let them harass my food team. I led my army to attack these troops leaving the city.
During the battle, I captured a spy from the Wei State and, through torture, learned the route that the Wei reinforcements would take. I then sought confirmation from many sources and found out that it was true, and then I set an ambush there.
I knew that a large-scale surprise attack was impossible, so I placed most of the troops on the route of retreat.
As expected, the Wei army appeared. I quietly waited for them to get tired and start marching to rest, and then I suddenly led a thousand elite cavalry to attack. Although the Wei army was thirty times larger than mine, they were just pigs and sheep waiting to be slaughtered. "
Hearing this, everyone was shocked beyond words. For a thousand people to charge into a camp of thirty thousand people, simply robbing the camp was normal, but if they really wanted to take it down, the most important thing was not to do it at night, but during the day. Is this something a normal person could do?
Murong Ke smiled slightly and deliberately asked for the others: "Seventh brother, a thousand people dare to charge into a camp of thirty thousand people, and it's not at night, aren't you worried about being killed in return?"
Murong Chui laughed loudly and said, "If we raid the camp at night, the Wei army will certainly be heavily guarded. How many people can successfully raid the camp? Brother, I will not bet that the general of Wei is a waste who knows nothing about military affairs.
The reason why I dared to choose daytime is because my brother had already surveyed the terrain of that area. There are hills in the west and rivers in the east. Fog often rises during that time period. With this fog, the effect is almost the same as at night, and it is completely possible to catch the Wei army off guard. The final result is exactly as I expected."
Murong Ke looked around and said with a smile: "Do you understand?
This is the difference between an ordinary general and a victorious general. Although my seventh brother is still young, he has already achieved great things. After the battle in Hedong, the future campaigns of my Great Yan can be handed over to him.
"Seventh brother, please continue."
Everyone was very convinced by Murong Ke's words, and the army was most convinced by people with strength. Murong Chui's record was there. Since the first time he participated in a war, he had never failed in any battle, whether it was a big one or a small one.
This is an achievement that even Murong Ke has never achieved. Murong Ke has lost some insignificant battles.
Murong Chui had admired Murong Ke since he was a child. Now that he had been recognized by Murong Ke, he was so excited that he continued, "My Great Yan Erlang has descended from the sky like a divine soldier. The Wei army hastily fled, and I am chasing them all the way behind.
Then they fell into the trap I set. I ordered the soldiers to light a big fire in the mountains and let the war horses run back and forth dragging branches, raising countless dust to create the feeling of a huge army. The sun gradually set in the west.
The Wei army was so panicked that they had no fighting spirit at all and died in large numbers without any resistance.
Brother.
Among these people, there are at least several thousand elite armored soldiers. I saw them in the Wei army camp later. Among them were a large number of Wei imperial guards and a battalion of tiger and leopard cavalry. This group of troops is the elite of Wei!"
Imperial Guards, Tiger and Leopard Cavalry!
As soon as these two words were uttered, there was another uproar in the camp. Let's not talk about the Wei imperial guards for now, after all, the Wei emperor had not led the army in person for a long time, but the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry had always been the most elite army of Wei.
After the Wei State established its capital in Chang'an, it selected sons of good families from the six counties. It was established completely in accordance with the regulations of the Yulin Guard during the pre-Han period. Although large counties such as Tianchu and Chengluo had been renamed or abolished, the traditional six counties still existed.
Now even Murong Ke could not sit still. After asking Murong Chui a few more questions, such as the number of beheadings, he suddenly realized that even if this battle did not capture Hedong, the results were far beyond his imagination.
He looked at the military judge and said solemnly, "Write a battle report to Jicheng immediately to report the good news to His Majesty and the Queen Mother. At the same time, ask for an imperial decree to reward Murong Chui and his men to boost the morale of the entire army. Request that Murong Chui be named the King of Hedong. Go quickly."
The military judge was shocked. Seeing Murong Ke's expression, he hurried away. Murong Chui was a little stunned and asked, "Brother, why now?"
He still remembered that Murong Ke had said that after completely defeating Wei and taking Guanzhong, he would be granted the title of Marquis of Guanzhong. Why did he have to be granted the title of Marquis of Hedong now?
Although his contribution is great, rewarding him in advance will definitely have an impact in the future, and Murong Ke must know this.
The people in the tent were all Murong Ke's confidants, all of whom were the staff of the Taiyuan Palace. With Murong Ke's status, of course he was the one who opened the palace. He did not shy away from it and said directly to Murong Chui: "This battle of yours has made me realize something.
First of all, the news about the Wei army that you got is very strange. If only one or two people knew about the army's march, I think it is normal, but you arrested a few more people and they all knew about it. This is not normal. How could such an important military secret be spread everywhere?
This can only mean that someone deliberately sent it to you. This person is not our spy, nor can he be a spy from other countries. The most likely person is a big shot in the Wei State.
I guess it is most likely Cao Chengsi!"
Murong Chui was a strong man in military affairs, but he was a little confused when it came to conspiracy and intrigue. He asked in confusion: "Brother, why would a big man in Wei do something that would make his relatives sad and his enemies happy? What good would it do him?"
Murong Ke said softly: "The benefit is that we can get rid of Cao Dao, our political enemy. As for the saying that the pain of loved ones makes the joy of enemies, how did it come about?
It is because such things have occurred repeatedly in history, and because such things are so common, there are too many to count, that those people are willing to sell out, even the country itself, for their own benefit.
At the end of the Warring States Period, the nobles of Qi State directly surrendered to Qin State. Is this something a normal person could do?
Seventh brother, you must remember not to think about what those people do with your normal thinking. This will restrict you.
What's more, the main messenger probably just wanted to make things difficult for Director Cao, so that he wouldn't win so easily, or make him experience some failures. But he never expected that Director Cao would meet you, a natural god of war, and destroy such an elite army in one battle.
It can be said that man's plans are not as good as God's plans. If the government is too clever, it will lead to the failure of national affairs. "
Murong Chui suddenly understood what he said, and Murong Ke said: "From this incident, we can see that the infighting in Wei is indeed very serious. This is a great opportunity for us, Great Yan, and we have the opportunity to provoke internal fighting in Wei.
In addition, Wei's elite troops have just suffered heavy losses. If we can destroy all of Wei's elite troops in Hedong, it is very likely that Great Yan will be able to directly cross the Yellow River and attack Guanzhong.
If we can get the guidance of the Wei nobles, it is not impossible to directly attack and destroy the Wei State. Faced with such a huge opportunity, how can I not change my plan?
I will seal you in Hedong. After we take over Hedong, this will be the base for our Great Yan to attack Guanzhong. You will be the commander-in-chief of the attack on Guanzhong. Do you think this plan should be changed?"
Murong Ke's words made everyone excited. The wonderful prospect was so exciting, not to mention Murong Chui, the main member of this plan.
He is the protagonist of this plan, with a huge burden on his shoulders, but great glory is also waiting for him. He couldn't help stroking the sword at his waist, and a chilling murderous aura rose from his body.
"But the imperial decree for the canonization must be approved by His Majesty and the Queen Mother, which is difficult to pass. They have always been biased against His Highness."
A voice came from the end of the tent. It was a scholar. Seeing everyone looking over, the scholar continued, "Your Majesty and the Queen Mother are most likely to change your title from Grand Marshal to Prince of Hedong."
There was silence in the tent. Murong Chui clenched the hilt of his sword. Murong Ke pinched Murong Chui's wrist and then shook his head. There was serious strife in Wei State, and the situation in Yan State was not much better. It was just that he was in power, and Wei State had not yet reached this point. It was just that a person who could control everything appeared.
…
The Yan army took advantage of the defeat of the first batch of Wei reinforcements and the arrival of new reinforcements, and launched a fierce attack on the counties in Hedong. All the major county towns fell one after another. Most people believed that the fall of Hedong was only a matter of time.
The Wei court received the news that Cao Dao's entire army was annihilated. This devastating news was like the coldest north wind blowing through the crowd wearing only thin clothes, shocking everyone in the Wei State.
Including the instigator Cao Chengsi.
Murong Ke's guess was not wrong. Cao Chengsi did the right thing, but he would never have thought that an army of 30,000 would be completely wiped out. Among them were thousands of armored soldiers, who were the most elite troops of the Wei State.
It was gone just like that, and Cao Chengsi felt a little panicked.
At the grand court meeting, facing all the civil and military officials, Cao Chengsi shouted: "Director Cao is incompetent and has ruined the army and the country!
It is a shame for our Cao family. The reason for the defeat in this battle is that Cao Dao was stubborn and self-righteous. He was obviously incompetent but arrogant, which led to this great defeat. It is a pity for our Wei soldiers, who died in vain on the land of Hedong. "
In any case, let's pass on this blame first. Cao Chengsi did it very cleanly.
Moreover, it must be said that Cao Cao's 30,000 troops were no match for Murong Chui's 1,000 troops. They were chased and killed, and they even had to escape into an encirclement and ambush. They fell into one trap after another. It was indeed Cao Cao's own fault. He cannot escape the blame for the annihilation of the entire army, and there is no problem in sharing the blame equally with Cao Chengsi.
Now Cao Chengsi is alive and well with a sense of righteousness, Cao Dao is dead and cannot speak, and his sons and subordinates either died in that disaster or were criticized by Cao Chengsi so much that they could not even raise their heads.
The Queen Mother of Wei waited until Cao Chengsi finished speaking, but she still couldn't calm down and asked in a panic: "My lords, now my army has been destroyed in Hedong, the defenders of Heluo are fighting with Liang State, and the Hedong army is retreating step by step. What can we do?
Am I just going to watch the State of Yan take over my Hedong land?
If we lose Hedong, won't the Yan army be separated from our Sanfu by the Yellow River? Then won't Chang'an be under the iron hoof of the Yan people all the time? "
The Queen Mother of Wei was worrying too much. Even if Hedong was lost, Guanzhong would not be captured so easily. The problem of grain transportation alone was not easy to solve. In the absence of water transportation, the resources required to transport grain and grass forward for every hundred miles would increase several times.
The food and fodder supply over a distance of thousands of miles might even be eaten by 99% of the 10% of the food and fodder on the way. When Emperor Wu of Han fought against the Huns, he claimed that he won the war by paving the road with gold, which was by no means an empty statement.
If it were so easy to conquer Guanzhong, Murong Ke would not have asked Murong Chui to guard Hedong first and then slowly make plans. However, if wars like the Battle of Fenshui happened two or three more times and all of Wei's combat forces were completely destroyed, even a person who seeks stability like Murong Ke would probably seek to destroy Wei in one battle.
Seeing that there was some chaos in the court, Cao Chengsi stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty, don't worry too much. The incompetence of Cao Dao does not mean that the rest of our Wei are incompetent. Although his army was completely destroyed, our Wei still has another army. Fortunately, I have been worried for a long time and did not hand over the entire army to him alone.
Now our Great Wei has another main force, with nearly 10,000 elite armored soldiers heading for Hedong, and tens of thousands of auxiliary soldiers accompanying them. Such a powerful force will definitely be able to defend Hedong and will never let the Yan State be in danger of entering Guanzhong.
Queen Mother, our Great Wei has a natural barrier in Guanzhong and is a country surrounded by mountains on all sides. It is the most stable place in the world.
During the Warring States Period, all the states attacked Qin together but still could not break into it. Now, there is only one Yan State, so there is no need to worry. No one can break into our Great Wei Guanzhong."
The Queen Mother of Wei was a woman in the deep palace, and not a politician like Empress Lu who could rule the world. At this time, she could only trust Cao Chengsi. What Cao Chengsi said was so confident, clear, and well-reasoned that she had to believe him. The existence of another army also made many people gradually feel relieved.
The huge State of Wei would not fall apart just because of the failure of a battle.
After all, the State of Wei had been established for nearly a hundred years and had gone through six generations of kings. It was far from being comparable to those countries that were established in one generation. Such a long-established country naturally had the inertia of orthodoxy. Unless it caused the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, even if there were two incompetent kings, it would still be as stable as a rock.
Cao Chengsi walked out of the palace. This time he didn't dare to do anything small, for fear of killing another army. However, he would still keep a close eye on the war in Hedong. If the war situation improved, he would do something.
After he returned to the mansion, he received an extremely important piece of news, which was about Murong Ke's reward for Murong Chui. The ability of Wei's spies was still very strong.
After Cao Chengsi learned about this, he knew that his chance had come. "Murong Ke, Murong Ke, you are really smart all your life, but confused for a moment. Are you too loyal to the state affairs and neglect yourself?
Then I won't be polite to you. You gave me this knife yourself. How can I be worthy of you if I don't kill you?"
…
The envoys who left Hedong went all the way from Bingzhou to Jicheng, with almost no obstacles along the way. Murong Ke had spent several years in Taiyuan, and his greatest achievement was repairing roads in Bingzhou and suppressing bandits.
The war in Hedong is now the top priority of the State of Yan. A steady stream of war reports are gathered in Jicheng. Any news about Hedong is delivered to the palace as soon as possible. After Murong Ke left the court, those who stayed here naturally could not be his political enemies, but were still his political allies.
Usually, letters concerning Murong Ke would be replied to quickly, but this time the letter was piled up for a while. Murong Ke’s political allies didn’t know what was written in the letter and felt a little uneasy for a while.
In the palace, the emperor was still young and had never ruled the country. When the empress dowager saw the letter, she was furious. She ignored the eunuchs and maids around her and said, "I wanted to reward my brother, but Murong Ke did not allow it. Now he is seeking such a high position for his brother.
My relatives have made contributions to the country, but Murong Chui, relying on his brother's contributions, wants such a high position. Murong Ke has made contributions himself, but he doesn't want it and instead wants to give it to Murong Chui. What does he want to do?
Can the country's military merit system be corrupted in this way?"
The emperor read the letter beside the empress dowager, also with a look of anger, and rarely expressed dissatisfaction with Murong Ke, saying: "Uncle Wang really shouldn't do this. The country's military merit system cannot be destroyed at will. Uncle Wang should make merit himself. He is my grandfather's biological son. If he really has great merit, he should be rewarded as a prince, but he can't do it this way."
Facing the furious empress dowager and the angry emperor, the officials and maids in the palace had already prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to breathe. They only felt a chill spreading throughout the palace. Perhaps the thing they regretted most now was staying here.
The Queen Mother and the Emperor of Yan did not believe in Murong Chui's military achievements at all. They thought that Murong Ke had given the credit to Murong Chui. After all, Murong Chui was only fourteen years old. Who could believe that he could kill more than 20,000 Wei troops and thousands of elite soldiers in one battle?
The Queen Mother had no intention of granting Murong Chui such an important county as Hedong, let alone the title of prince. Deep down, she still resented Murong Ke for preventing her from granting honors to her own relatives.
The emperor knew that Murong Chui was a legitimate prince. Not to mention the Prince of Hedong, even if he was a prince, there would be no problem at all. However, the emperor himself did not want to reward Murong Chui with the title of Hedong. Letting Murong Chui lead Liaodong was enough.
The Liaodong of Yan State has long been an empty shell, and the Liaodong today is no longer the same as it used to be.
In other words, all the prefectures and counties now are no longer the same, just as the Wei State made the Heluo area into a prefecture, and the Liang State made the Nanyang area into a prefecture.
The states have changed from the huge thirteen states to large or small ones. Some states are not even bigger than a county because the state was once a county.
Nowadays many states and counties are much smaller than before. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is related to the titles. Since the titles of Duke of County and Prince of County became common, it was destined that the counties would become smaller.
After all, a marquis once was just a county. How could a prince's fiefdom be given to a county now? The only thing to do is to change the size of the county, turning it into a small county that can accommodate two or three counties, and then confer titles on the county duke and prince, and then everything will be fine.
The same principle applies to the kingdoms of Chu, Liang, Zhao, etc. during the Han Dynasty, which were actually only equivalent to a county and were completely different from the kings during the Bang Zhou period.
After venting her anger, the Queen Mother of Yan looked at the letter in her hand again and became a little hesitant. Now Murong Ke was leading the troops outside, and he had an outstanding reputation. Especially since he was not seeking credit for her, it would be too embarrassing if she refuted it. The Queen Mother of Yan was actually a little afraid of Murong Ke.
Murong Ke had always been very respectful, without any of the domineering attitude of other powerful ministers. But the more he was like this, the more afraid the empress dowager felt. She always felt that Murong Ke was a treacherous person. Although he was a good man on weekdays, he would lead his troops into the palace and execute her and the emperor at the slightest change.
Naturally, there would be no shortage of rumors about a powerful official of Murong Ke's status. When Ji Zhao was regent, there were also rumors. These rumors did not stop until he returned from the Eastern Expedition and proved that he could overthrow King Kang of Zhou at any time.
Because Ji Zhao has already proved with facts that he really does not want the throne of the emperor, not that he cannot have it.
Murong Ke didn't care about these. He took King Luo Wen as his role model. He was not encouraged by the world's praise, nor was he discouraged by the world's criticism. He believed that time would prove everything, and the rivers and streams would prove his sincerity.
The Emperor of Yan was very smart. He saw his mother's hesitation and knew what she was thinking, so he said, "Mother, we should still reply to the letter from the King of Taiyuan. Let's discuss it at the grand court meeting. Such a big thing must be known to the court officials."
This was not a solution. Deep down in her heart, the Queen Mother knew that she could not refuse. There was a feeling in her mind that told her that she could not refuse, otherwise misfortune would come.
The matter was put aside for the time being and would be discussed at the next grand court meeting. The next grand court meeting was still four days later. The empress dowager was still uneasy while dressing up, so she summoned her clansmen into the palace and told them about the matter, hoping to get some opinions.
The Queen Mother's brother is considered to be in a high position in the current Yan State, but he has no power because he is an uneducated and dissolute second-generation playboy, and is disliked by Murong Ke. He is one of the people that Cao Chengsi focuses on, and for Cao Chengsi, he is a candidate that is quite easy to manipulate.
After hearing this, the Queen Mother's brother complained, "Murong Ke is just a Hu..., ahem, he is not the biological prince of the ancestor, and I don't know why he dares to be so rampant. This Murong is not that Murong, it's really annoying."
He originally wanted to call Murong Ke a Hu bastard, but he took it back because it was not allowed to say such things in the State of Yan. The last royal grandson who said such things was now demoted to a commoner, and it seemed that he had no chance of being reinstated.
Moreover, he himself has the blood of Dugu clan. Let's not talk about the second brother, the Queen Mother said in a deep voice: "I am not here to listen to your complaints. What should we do now? We must discuss a countermeasure. I mentioned to Murong Ke that I would give you official positions a few days ago, but then the war of Hedong broke out, resulting in it not being implemented yet. Instead, he asked Yu Lai for the position first. It is really infuriating."
What the Queen Mother is saying now is her greatest dissatisfaction with Murong Ke. In her opinion, for a country as big as Yan, it is not excessive for one of her sons to be the emperor and the other sons to be kings. It is also normal to give some dukes and marquises to relatives.
But Murong Ke disagreed and used those big principles to pressure her, saying that the territory of Yan State was not big enough and the population was not large enough. If all of them were given to the kings and dukes, plus the hidden population of the gentry, the court would have very few soldiers to use, which would be detrimental to the country.
This made her very indignant. She was only asking for fiefdoms for her sons. What was wrong with that? Moreover, how could the Yan State be so big that there would be no land and population after enfeoffing a few kings?
Moreover, after being crowned as kings, her sons can still lead the army to fight against Dayan. It is not like they are no longer the people of Dayan after being crowned as kings. Now it is no longer the kind of fiefdom as in the Bang Zhou period. It is just a vassal state.
So the Queen Mother thought that Murong Ke was deliberately targeting her, especially after what happened to Murong Chui, she became even more angry. It turned out that you, Murong Ke, were not unwilling to be crowned king, but you were unwilling to give the title of king to an outsider. When it came to crowning your own brother as king, you were very willing to do so.
Hedong County!
Hedong County is richer than Bingzhou, has a larger population than Bingzhou, and has extremely superior geographical conditions. With such a good place, plus Murong Ke's title as the Prince of Taiyuan, Murong Chui can advance eastward to Bingzhou to establish his own regime, and advance westward to Guanzhong to establish the Western Qin. It can be said that he is blessed by nature. What are you planning, Murong Ke?
Although the Queen Mother did not say these words explicitly, this is what she thought in her heart. She was suspicious, deeply suspicious, and suspicious of anyone who might seize the throne.
Seeing that the Queen Mother was really angry, her brother fanned the flames and said, "Queen Mother, why don't you send a message to Hedong, saying that the divination a few days ago said that reckless use of force now will be detrimental to the national strength of our Great Yan, and may even affect the national destiny of our Great Yan, and then recall Murong Ke.
In this way, Murong Ke could not continue to make contributions in Hedong, and Murong Chui's merits could be divided among several people, or the position of the Prince of Hedong could be reduced. In short, they could not occupy Hedong County.
Now the Wei State is struggling in Hedong County and is vulnerable. Anyone who goes there will be able to win. Once Murong Ke is called back, I am willing to lead the army to conquer Hedong County. I will surely be able to make great achievements. By that time, we will have to see what Murong Ke can use to hinder us.
Moreover, Queen Dowager, you can also enfeoff the second and third sons of the emperor in Hedong, one as King of Jin and the other as King of Hedong, and add a Duke of my family. Let's see what kind of waves a mere Duke of Taiyuan can cause.
After the grand court meeting in a few days, I will find someone to oppose this matter, so the Queen Mother does not need to worry. "
It was not just him, the eunuchs close to the Queen Mother also assisted at the right time. Murong Ke had a good character in the political arena, so he would naturally attract a group of people, and he could not even decide this by himself.
The Queen Mother of Yan was not a very smart person, and people like her were too common.
They can easily believe rumors, easily be moved by emotions, easily confirm a fact, and easily believe those seemingly logical words. Such people will always be cannon fodder and tools of those smart people to accomplish one thing after another that others want to use them for.
Amidst all these voices, the Queen Mother of Yan was already somewhat unable to think rationally. Her last concern was Murong Ke's accumulated prestige, which made her finally say hesitantly: "Let's wait and see what the other ministers have to say at the court meeting. Once a war starts, it won't be so easy to stop. How can I, a woman, understand all this?"
Although she said so, her spirit had already been shaken, and this was naturally grasped by others. The look that the evil plan was about to succeed appeared in everyone's eyes, with a hint of viciousness. Murong Ke, Murong Ke, aren't you invincible in the world?
Aren't you extremely proud and look down on people like us?
When the day comes that you are behind bars, I want to see how you can still put on that face and look at me with those contemptuous eyes.
Shadows fell on every corner of the imperial palace, whether it was Wei or Yan. Legend has it that the imperial palace was the most glorious place in the world, but if you look closely, you can only see countless filth and conspiracies here.
…
The time for the grand court meeting finally arrived. Originally, the ministers thought it was just a normal court meeting. Since the Hedong war, basically all major events revolved around this war, until Murong Ke's letter was revealed to the world at the court meeting.
The ministers were first excited that Murong Ke had achieved such a great victory in Hedong, but were then shocked by the subsequent reward for Murong Ke. If this achievement was really made by Murong Chui, the ministers believed that this reward was normal.
After all, Murong Chui was not a fake relative like Murong Ke. He was the son of Emperor Wu of Yan, Murong Chengguang, the founder of the Murong Yan Kingdom, the brother of the previous emperor, and the uncle of the current emperor. It was no problem for him to be crowned a king simply by virtue of this identity. It was also reasonable for him to be crowned a king of a large county for his military exploits.
In the State of Yan, bloodline and military achievements are the most important, and this has always been the rule.
But half of the ministers in the court kept their heads down and said nothing. They understood too well why the empress dowager and the emperor wanted to discuss the matter at the grand court meeting. It was obvious that they were unwilling to give it, but it was not easy to refuse directly, so someone had to find a reason for them, and then they could refuse on the grounds that someone disagreed.
But who dares to take this up?
Those officials who are neutral between the Queen Mother and Murong Ke will never get involved in this mess. They cannot afford to offend anyone, so they might as well just watch the two sides fight each other.
In fact, this kind of major event at the court was a display of the strength of various factions. Officials on Murong Ke's side certainly agreed with this proposal. The reason was very simple. Not to mention that this was what Murong Chui deserved, this huge reward to the front line could greatly boost morale and would be of great benefit to the progress of the war.
But at this time, the Queen Mother's people stepped out to object and said, "Your Majesty, Queen Mother, I have something to say, please listen carefully.
Since ancient times, there has been the concept of rewarding people based on merit, but rewards were always given after the war. How many rewards were given before the war?
The war in Hedong has not yet ended. I think it is inappropriate to confer the title of Prince of Liaodong at this time.
Although saying this may seem like boosting others' ambitions, I still want to say this: if my Great Yan encounters a defeat and the Prince of Liaodong encounters a defeat in the future, should the title of Prince of Hedong that was awarded to him be taken back?
The title of a prince of a county was taken back in such a short period of time. Isn't this a blasphemy to the title of a prince of a county?
Isn’t this treating the national system as a joke?
I think that we cannot give rewards, and we should wait until after the war to calculate all the merits and give rewards together. This is just my humble opinion, but it is full of my sincere heart. I hope Your Majesty and the Queen Mother will personally consider it. "
The Queen Mother of Yan's eyes were full of surprise. She didn't expect that her brother could find such a sharp-tongued person. What he said was reasonable and well-founded. It was really a great way to save face.
The officials on Murong Ke's side naturally could not admit defeat upon seeing this. Moreover, there was of course a huge flaw in his words. Since ancient times, rewards were common during wars, especially to boost morale, and many of them were directly paid on the battlefield. This could not be called a joke at all.
As for being crowned king and stripped of title, aren't such things uncommon?
Rewarding for merit and punishing for faults is not just a joke. Instead, it can make people feel awe for the national system. Even the princes have to abide by this rule, not to mention other people. It can effectively deter other powerful people in the State of Yan.
But just as they were about to open their mouths, they were interrupted by another person who had come prepared. It was the Chief of the Astronomical Bureau who said, "Queen Mother, I observed the sky tonight and saw Mars moving westward. This is an ominous sign."
The Queen Mother thought to herself, "Here it comes, here it comes."
But he pretended to be serious and asked loudly: "An ominous sign? Any explanation?"
The Chief of the Astronomical Bureau bowed and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, I calculated that Mars is moving westward, which corresponds to the war with Wei. I divined and the hexagram I got is that even if we win the war in Hedong, it will be very bad for our Great Yan. It will bring disaster to our Great Yan and even affect our national destiny."
"What!"
There was already an uproar in the palace. The Queen Mother asked in disbelief, "Are you sure? Will it really affect the fate of our Great Yan?"
The Chief of the Astronomical Bureau said solemnly, "I am not sure, but the hexagram shows this. I am only informing the Queen Mother and Your Majesty because I think it is important to let them know."
The Queen Mother stood up and looked around at everyone, saying, "The matter of divination is serious. Immediately send the Western Expedition Marshal, Taiyuan King Murong Ke, to issue a golden order and lead the army back to Jicheng!"
Return to Jicheng!
There was silence in the hall for a moment!
————
Wei had a successor, so it suffered the defeat at Fenshui and almost lost the country; Yan had a treacherous queen, so it was urged by the Jin Order and failed to complete its mission. Since ancient times, there have been many cases where the rulers were incompetent and the ministers were virtuous. The ruler is the most important thing for the country. - "Emperor Model"
(End of this chapter)
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