Chapter 248: King Wei of Yan
The Jianghuai navy was expanded and formed based on the Chaohu navy.

They have great independence and professionalism. Fortunately, Lu Qin was very aware of the current situation and always carried out Li Yuanhui's military orders without compromise.

Therefore, Li Yuanhui was also willing to give Lu Qin a relatively transcendent status.

In addition to Lu Qin, there was also the deputy commander of the navy, Liang Yun, who led a small force to defeat the troops of Zhu Jun, the right general of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, during the Battle of Xunyang. He was promoted to the rank of General Caiguan and deputy chief of the navy.

Naval captains Liao Zhongyong, Yu Tongyuan, Lu Jinmian and others were also promoted to generals of the navy because of their military achievements.

In addition, the first batch of camp leaders, Yin Gong, Zhou Ben, Xiahou Yuanhong, Guo Xing, He Gui, Zhang Jian and others all received official titles, Yingyang Langjiang.

Those who were originally Yingyang Langjiang, such as Chen Zhen, were promoted to Huben Langjiang.

Zhang Gonglie, the leader of the powerful forces in Guangling who brought money into the group, was appointed as the general manager of the army. He reorganized the powerful forces under his command into the Guangwu Army.

More than 20,000 powerful troops from Lujiang were divided into two armies, named "Shangjia" and "Huoshan".

The so-called Shangjia is taken from the "Lujiang Shangjia" mentioned in the Records of the Three Kingdoms. As for Huoshan, it is one of the names of Dabie Mountains.

The commander-in-chief of Shangjia Army was Zhou Qiu, and the deputy commander-in-chief was Qiao Xiaojie; the commander-in-chief of Huoshan Army was Li Su, and the deputy commander-in-chief was Wang Shiyan.

Xiao Shizhi was relieved of his post as the guard and became the commander-in-chief of the Guide Army. Chen Qiong, the younger brother of Chen Zhen, who was previously in charge of military farming, was appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief.

Li Qinglian, the military advisor and chief priest, also served as the Central Guard General.

Li Baishi, the secretary of the imperial court, was later promoted to the chief secretary of the Minister of Works.

Xie Xun, the former chief secretary, was transferred to Lujiang Prefecture and Jiangbei Guard.
With two prefects vacant, Li Yuanhui was given a greater title, and with the restructuring of the new army, almost everyone in the Jianghuai Group was promoted.

Gao Zhixing and Lu Xiang, the two former governors and provincial governors, were both given empty titles. One was a Nine Ministers and the other was a Vice Minister, and these titles could only be fulfilled when they entered the court.

But the problem is that the road to Chang'an has not been opened yet, and these two people also want to wait and see, so they are unemployed.

Of course, Li Yuanhui still tried to comfort the two of them, treating them as his juniors and being polite.

Liu Yuanqing, who was guarding Pei County, was also appointed as the commander-in-chief, Sun Lingxiu as the deputy commander-in-chief, and Lu Xun as the prefect of Pei County.

In addition, Chen Xun, an aide from Tianzhu Mountain, was sent as a guard general to serve as a military supervisor.

All aspects are taken care of.

However, because there were still too few of their own people, the military system of having two top military and political leaders, which imitated the military system of later generations, could not be fully implemented.

After all, if someone is not particularly trustworthy, it is better not to send him to a supervisory position like the Guard.

None of the relatives and friends that Li Yuanhui brought to Jianghuai are idle now, and all of them hold important positions.

Therefore, the Tianzhu Mountain forces that had surrendered to Li Yuanhui earlier, as well as the Zhang family who were considered Li Yuanhui's in-laws, all became an important talent pool for Li Yuanhui's selection.

Even if some of them have less ability, as long as they are willing to be obedient and serve as attendants by our side for a period of time, and their character is considered acceptable, they will be entrusted with important positions.

In addition, Li Yuanhui's personal guard Wuwei Camp was also expanded into the Wuwei Army.

He appointed Han Quan and Luo Shixiang as the left and right generals. In addition, he appointed Wang Fobao as the general of the Yamen, commanding 600 elite guards in front of the yamen. Li Yuanhui did not move Gao Ang's 2,500 men, even though he had already made them into elite troops. However, Gao Ang's father, General Gao Da, was still in Luoyang. Although he was not in good health, he was still alive. Appointing him at this time would be a pitfall for him.

It will be idle, but at least Luoyang will not make things difficult for the Gao family.

After a series of adjustments, appointments, promotions, and military reorganizations, Li Yuanhui, who was already Li Sikong, sent the naval commander Lu Qin to lead a land and sea force of more than 40,000 soldiers to go upstream along the Yangtze River to attack Jiangxia in Jingzhou in early June.

He led more than 50,000 infantry and cavalry, passed through the northern foot of Dabie Mountains, crossed the Huai River and marched from Runan, seemingly intending to attack Yiyang occupied by the Western Wei.

More than half a month ago, brothers Li Dalang and Li Erlang served as the left and right generals, leading their troops out of Wuguan and besieging Nanyang.

News also came from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River that the eldest sister led tens of thousands of troops out of Yong'an and had already captured Yiling.

The third brother Li Xuanqing and the governor of Jingzhou Sima Xiuye, together with 60,000 troops, attacked Xiangyang.

The Jianghuai side dispatched more than 90,000 infantry and cavalry by land and sea to cooperate with the brothers and sisters in order to capture the Jingchu area in one fell swoop and open up the connection.

This was a very dangerous situation for the Western Wei regime.

It was still called Western Yan, but the Guanzhong power group, now ruled by the Li family, launched a joint attack with 300,000 troops from four directions.

Li Yuan's sons and even his daughter went out to fight, putting the Western Wei forces in Jingzhou, which had been established for several years, in imminent danger.

At the critical moment, Cao Xuan used a very wise diplomatic method to seek help from the Luoyang court.

"When Liu Bei led his army to attack Wu, if Emperor Wen had also sent troops at the same time, Wu would have perished. Sun Quan surrendered to Emperor Wen, and in return, our Great Wei stood idly by. This prevented Wu from being attacked from both sides, and led to the victory of Yiling and the situation of three powers standing side by side. Today, the Li family is holding the young lord hostage and recklessly starting a war to invade our Great Wei. Now is the right time to make friends with Luoyang. Even if we surrender, if we can get Yan to send troops to help us and save us from the crisis, it is not a bad idea."

So, after discussing with all the generals, Cao Xuan used this impassioned speech to gain their support, and then sent envoys to Luoyang to formally submit a petition, declare himself a vassal, and ask for help.

The envoy was the prime minister of "Great Wei" Kuai Wenxian himself, who also made an impassioned speech when meeting the new emperor Murong Yang.

The four most direct and touching words to Murong Yang were, "Lips and teeth are interdependent; if one is gone, the other will suffer."

But Murong Yang did not agree immediately, as he felt that he could not make the same mistake as Cao Pi. But the situation seemed a little different from the Battle of Yiling.

So he summoned all the prime ministers and generals to the palace to discuss the matter.

After Murong Yang expressed his concerns, General Zheng Guo immediately said, "Your Majesty, this is a different time. At that time, Emperor Wen of Wei and Sun Quan were on the throne, and they watched him defeat Liu Bei, which was their mistake. But now, the sons of the Li family have occupied four states. If we don't rescue them, Cao Xuan will die, and the Li family can get Jingzhou, which will be connected to Jianghuai. At that time, they can own half of the country. How should we, Great Yan, deal with it? I think that if the Wei thief Cao Xuan is willing to be our vassal, we must send troops to help, so that the Li family will not get Jingzhou alone."

Zuo Pushe Xue Chu also said: "Your Majesty, I deeply agree with what General Zheng said. All the sons of Li are talented, and Li Yuan is good at soothing people's hearts. Therefore, Guanzhong and Yizhou are both highly respected. If we sit back and watch them annex Jingzhou, the strategic passes of Xiaohan will not be enough to defend. Li can lead his army directly to Wanluo. By then, there will be no strategic passes to defend, and Luoyang will be in danger. Your Majesty, please send troops to help Jingzhou repel the enemy, and then you can plan for Jingzhou."

After hearing the last sentence, Murong Yang perked up and nodded, saying, "Since Xue Pushe and General Zheng both said so, we should send an order to General Lou to rescue Jingzhou and order him to control the war."

Therefore, Cao Xuan, a member of the royal family of the Former Wei Dynasty and a separatist force that had already proclaimed himself emperor, submitted a memorial to the new emperor Murong Yang in Luoyang, relinquishing his imperial title and accepting the official position granted by the Emperor of Dayan.

After the new Emperor Murong Yang of Great Yan agreed, he ordered General Lou Jushi to lead the Chinese and foreign troops of Yuzhou to provide support, and at the same time ordered General Duan Yihong to attack Tongguan again.

As the angel from Dayan arrived in Luoyang with the imperial edict, Cao Xuan went on stage to receive the gift, knelt on the ground, and accepted the imperial edict from the Emperor of Dayan with the etiquette of a subject.

King Wei of Yan makes a grand appearance.

(End of this chapter)