Chapter 156: Gou An
Previously, Dayan sent General Zhao Yi, the left commander, with tens of thousands of troops to fight them, while its attention was always focused on the various royal family members who had evil intentions.

Although the Luoyang court had suffered a series of heavy blows and had also lost Guanzhong, the two "Yan Dynasties" were now competing against each other.

However, as the orthodox Luoyang court, it still has enough influence on most of the world. If Wagang does not negotiate peace with Luoyang, then the Luoyang court is very likely to concentrate all its strength to eliminate Wagang first.

Because they have no way to deal with "Western Yan" for the time being, but they have the strength to defeat Wagang first, so as to stabilize the rear.

The Chang'an court must now also digest the Guanxi counties and even Longshang, and is unable to attack the Luoyang area.

For Wagang, the best option now is to accept the amnesty, get the benefits first, and win the opportunity for development.

Zhai Rang may not be able to think through all the problems, but there are people who can.

So after Yang Sui spoke, Zhai Rang asked everyone to calm down and asked someone to take the envoy to rest first, saying that they wanted to discuss something.

"Lord Zhai, Qingzhou is close to the sea, with the benefits of salt and iron, and the dangers of the Yellow River and Mount Tai. It is enough to support a hundred thousand soldiers. Qi can become one of the Five Hegemons based on this. We can stay there temporarily and make plans when there is a change in the world."

Zhai Rang nodded when he heard this. Zhai Hong wanted to say something else, probably because he felt he had lost face, but Zhai Rang simply waved his hand at him to signal him to stop talking.

"Everyone, we are not gathering here for Zhai's high position and generous salary, but for a meal to eat, so that we don't have to die in the ice and snow of Liaodong, or die of exhaustion in the canal. Now the court has given us the land of Qingzhou, which is enough for us to have food and drink. But if we don't respond to the court in Luoyang, we will immediately fight them to the death. Even if we win by chance, will others be willing to let us go? It's just making wedding clothes for others. If we use the blood of our brothers just to exchange for some useless title of king for Zhai, then what use is there for Zhai?"

"And the lips and teeth are interdependent. Now the Turks are wreaking havoc in Hebei. If we continue to quarrel with the imperial court, the Turks may take advantage of us."

After hearing these words, everyone calmed down. After all, they were so heroic, but if a war really broke out, they really didn't get any advantage from the court.

They just relied on their large military force to bully the soldiers and militiamen in various counties.

Before this, Zhao Da had more than 20,000 elite troops in the central army chasing after tens of thousands of them.

What else can I say? What else can I say?

After much discussion, Zhai Rang finally demanded all the counties east of the canal in addition to Qingzhou.

These include Dongping, Lu County and Rencheng County.

However, the Dongjun, Shanyang and Jiyin that they currently occupy must all be exchanged to the Luoyang court.

These messages were quickly recognized by Luoyang after being conveyed by Li Xiaoyan.

Ten days later, Luoyang officially issued an edict.

Zhai Rang was conferred the titles of "General Zhendong", "Governor of Qingzhou", "Grandmaster of the Three Departments", "Golden Purple Guanglu Doctor", "Duke of Wei", and "Envoy with Special Envoyances".

The personnel power of Qingzhou and the counties east of the canal was also given to him.

After reading the imperial edict, Li Xiaoyan handed it to Zhai Rang and said, "Congratulations, General Zhai. We will be colleagues in the future."

Zhai Rang smiled and said, "Thank you Li Sanqi for your mediation."

Afterwards, Li Xiaoyan and Yang Sui exchanged greetings, "Brother Yang, it's been a long time since we last met. I hope you are well."

"Li Dalang, how are you?"

The Li and Yang families did not have a special relationship, but as both were prominent families in Guanlong, they had some old acquaintances with each other.

Although Li Jia Silang was the victim of Yang family, they each served their own masters at that time. Now that the Yang family followed Zhai Rang and belonged to the imperial court again, some things should be remembered in mind, and there is no need to talk about them all the time.

After the matter was settled, Li Xiaoyan and Murong Wuji left Puyang and prepared to go west and return to Luoyang.

However, he did not expect to meet Cui Xiaotong, Qin Bogui and five others at the city gate.

"Have I met you guys before?" Li Xiaoyan didn't recognize who the five of them were, but he felt vaguely that they looked familiar, so he must have met them before.

Cui Xiaotong clasped his fists and said, "Mr. Li, we are the former subordinates of the governor of Qi County. Two years ago, when we were in Luoyang, we once stayed in your house and received the kindness of Li Pingnan. We are here to see you off." Li Xiaoyan was stunned when he heard this. Li Pingnan? Then he realized that this was the official position previously held by his fourth son.

"Hahaha, it seems that you are not well-informed. My brother Silang has now been appointed General Zhennan and the commander-in-chief of Yangzhou's military affairs. He led his troops to Luoyang some time ago. Later, Jiangdong was in danger, and now he has returned to Jianghuai to take charge of the situation."

Cui Xiaotong and others also smiled when they heard this, "I didn't expect that Mr. Li would be so successful in his career. It's really unexpected."

After they finished talking, they insisted on escorting Li Xiaoyan and others to the large ship of the Yan army navy on the Yellow River north of Puyang, and then said goodbye and left.

Li Xiaoyan looked at the backs of the men leaving and said, "These men are extraordinary and loyal men. I never thought that my Silang has such a wide network of contacts and that there are old friends of his in the Wagang Army."

Murong Wuji smiled and said, "My late father told me that Li Zhennan is a man of great fortune."

Li Xiaoyan smiled upon hearing this, "I didn't see any great fortune, but Fourth Brother's luck is indeed good. Prince Gaoyang Zhen Yu You Si Lang helped him and was the matchmaker between Si Lang and Her Royal Highness Princess Jinyang. What a pity."

Having said this, the smiles on their faces disappeared.

After Murong He's death, he was posthumously named "Zhen" and awarded the title of Taiwei, so he was called King Zhen of Gaoyang.

Murong Wuji remembered the advice his father had given him long ago. Now it seemed that Dayan was really in a precarious situation.

He couldn't help but sigh that although his father Murong He had never been known for his talent and intelligence, he was even once considered a sycophant in the court who only knew how to flatter the late emperor.

But now it seems that his father is not such a superficial person and should have seen the problems of Dayan a long time ago.

If my father had given advice to the late emperor earlier, could the situation have been changed?
Thinking of this, Murong Wuji shook his head in self-mockery. It was impossible. The reason why his father chose to be a treacherous minister was because he knew the late emperor. Being a loyal minister would definitely not end well.

Therefore, it is better to pretend to be ignorant while knowing the truth. You can have all the power and wealth, but just don't be too capable.

But in the end, he still became a loyal minister of the late emperor.
In Luoyang, the returning King of Wu, Murong Yang, asked to serve in the army, even if it was just as a small soldier. He knelt in the hall and cried, saying that he wanted to serve the country.

In this way, all the ministers had no way to object, and Murong Chao could only agree to let him join the central army which was still in the process of being formed and reorganized.

The new central army, with 100,000 men, was divided into eight armies, with each army having 12,500 men.

They were named Left and Right Yu Lin, Left and Right Huben, Left and Right Long Wu, and Left and Right Bao Tao. All previous military titles were abolished.

He then appointed the left general Zheng Guoqian as the left Yulin general, and the former general Zhou Wang Murong Fengxian as the right Yulin general.

Jincheng County Prince Murong Ling was appointed as the Left Huben General, and the Right General Pu Gusu was promoted to the Right Huben General.

Later, General Xue Qi was promoted to General of the Left Dragon and Martial Arts, and General Duan Wuchen of the Huben Army was promoted to General of the Right Dragon and Martial Arts.

Chen Leng, a general of the Huben Army, was appointed as the General of the Left Bao Tao, and Wei Xiaoju, a general of the Huben Army, was appointed as the General of the Right Bao Tao.

At the same time, Wu Wang Murong Yang was appointed as the Central Guard General, Zuo Yulin General Zheng Guo was also appointed as the Central Commander, and Xia Wang Murong Hui was appointed as the Central Protector General, who were in charge of all the armies and supervised the generals.

He ordered General Li Shenfu to be the commander-in-chief of the army, to command the governor of Xuzhou Pei Minzhi, the governor of Jingzhou and the King of Changsha Murong Deyu, the governor of Yuzhou Fu Xiuzhi, and the Yin of Henan Gao Huaili and their troops, a total of 70,000 troops, to cross the Yellow River to the north to resist the Turks and support the Weijun front.

He also announced to the whole country that the governors of each county were allowed to recruit soldiers and organize militias on their own, and that the wealthy and powerful families in each state and county could form associations and gather soldiers to defend their hometowns.

This edict is actually somewhat redundant, because people with foresight are already doing it.

Powerful families and wealthy people in various places had long begun to build forts and castles, and organized tenants to train and practice martial arts to resist the looting of bandits.

Some large docks can gather tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people, and can gather thousands of soldiers in an instant.

For such a force, all they lack is a title.

(End of this chapter)