Chapter 264: Living in Huainan, Not the King of Huainan
Tuoba Yuqing led 10,000 cavalrymen to Fukouxing and attacked Yecheng. They dared to do it in the cold winter. I thought Jizhou was empty at this time and should not be prepared. Jizhou Governor Zhao Yi led his army to fight against the remnants of Xuba, the king of Liu Hu, who fled to Jizhou. Previously, the two states maintained a relatively calm situation.

I never expected that Zhao Jiong, the Jizhou official who stayed in Yecheng, was also a tough guy.

When the front team of Bingzhou cavalry charged into the city wall at night, they thought that an insider had successfully opened the door, but they did not expect it to be a plot set up by Zhao Jiong.

The head of the traitor was thrown to the ground, the sluice gate fell, and then thousands of arrows were fired.

The hundreds of cavalrymen who entered the city first were all isolated inside the city wall and shot to death by arrows.

What needs to be said here is that Zhao Er only learned about Tuoba Yuqing's night attack from a report from a hunter in the countryside, so he did not have much time to prepare. He could only quickly capture and execute the city gate captain who was secretly bribed by Tuoba Yuqing.

He then set up an ambush in Wengcheng, because the main force of Yecheng was taken away by his eldest brother, and he only had a few thousand people left.

So such a plan was devised.

Then torches on the city walls were all lit up, making it as bright as day. Tuoba Yuqing took a look and realized that a surprise attack was hopeless, so he could only lead his troops away quickly.

Zhao Er couldn't help but feel relieved as he watched the Bingzhou cavalry sailing away.

Although Tuoba Yuqing retreated, the war between the two sides officially began.

After the wars in the Central Plains, Jianghuai, Jingyu and other places, the heroes in the north could no longer hold back and started to fight.

After a few days of leisure, Li Yuanhui also started to work. His subordinates once again counted and calculated the territory and troops in their hands.

Afterwards, he discussed plans for the new year with his staff including Li Qinglian, Li Baishi, and Zhang Fu.

For Jianghuai, although there have been frequent wars in recent years, Jianghuai is more of a defensive operation, and there is water transportation. Therefore, the loss of personnel and materials is very small compared to other parties.

As a result, the army under Li Yuanhui, including the navy, has reached nearly 150,000 troops.

Of course, many of them were newly recruited navy and surrendered soldiers. The navy commander Lu Qin currently had about 60,000 navy and land forces under his command in Yuzhang County, including the Shangjia Army and Huoshan Army formed by the powerful troops of Lujiang, the surrendered soldiers led by Murong Jing and Shen Shangfa, and the navy originally commanded by Lu Qin.

Liu Yuanqing of Pei County also commanded more than 20,000 troops. The number of troops currently left behind in the three counties of Jianghuai is about 70,000.

The part left behind in Jianghuai was mainly composed of the Eighteenth Battalion, the Guide Army and the Guangwu Army, and was considered to be Li Yuanhui's direct line.

After calculating the current military strength, the autumn grain stored in the warehouse in autumn, and the previous inventory, Li Baishi and Li Qinglian both suggested that they should send troops to Yuzhou after the opening of the city next year.

The time is relatively ripe.

Li Yuanhui did not comment upon hearing this, but soon nodded in agreement with the northward strategy.

Because there were letters from Guanzhong, a handwritten letter from Li Yuan, and an imperial edict in the name of Murong Chang.

The imperial edict appointed Li Yuanhui as the commander-in-chief of Yuzhou's military affairs and added a fief of 1,000 households.

Li Yuanhui is now the governor of Yangzhou. What does it mean to give him the power to command the military of Yuzhou, a state that is not under his jurisdiction?
This is the same concept as the position of Xiangyang prefect given to Guan Yu by Liu Bei.

Yaoling, go and take it down for him.

Li Baishi and Li Qinglian's suggestion was to encroach on Huaibei, but Li Yuan's handwritten letter clearly told him so.

Guanzhong needs to recuperate. You and the third brother must send troops from Jingzhou and Yangzhou respectively to maintain deterrence against Luoyang. You can't let them have time to plot against Guanzhong.

He also said that his uncle Dou Guang was on the way.

Luoyang currently still has control over hundreds of thousands of elite troops, which is enough to pose a threat to Guanzhong.

If Murong Yang always stationed an army of 100,000 in the area of ​​Qiaohan and Hongnong, it would have a significant impact on Li's integration of the court and Guanzhong's recuperation and resumption of production.

If Li Er and Li San had maintained their offensive against Yingchuan in Jingzhou and Yuzhou, the situation would be different. After all, the southern part of Luoyang is not the Yaohan Road, which has natural barriers to defend.

There is no safe place to rely on in the Luonan area.

The time for the military action was probably next year, which was the first year of Yining.
The reign titles of Eastern Yan and Western Yan are now the same: the fourth year of Guangping.

Because theoretically, the emperors on both sides would take over Murong Chao's position.

In later generations, many people believed that Murong Chao was actually the last emperor of Great Yan, while the concept of Eastern Yan should be counted from the death of Murong Chao when the third King of Wu, Murong Yang, ascended the throne.

The reign of Western Yan began when Li Yuan entered Chang'an and established the King of Shu, Murong Chang, as emperor.

But the corresponding statement is that Murong Yingcai was the last emperor of Dayan. After his death, a situation of opposition between Chang'an and Luoyang was quickly formed, and they were already the Eastern and Western Yan.

But no matter what, the rule of the Murong family is already on the decline for the entire Kyushu land.

At present, there are still four emperors in the world, two with the surname Murong and two with the surname Cao.

It seems that the situation is not much different from a few years ago, but if you look at the actual controlled areas, there are many things.

At present, Western Yan actually controls Yizhou, Liangzhou, Yongzhou, as well as Shangyong, Fangling, Xicheng, Nanyang, and Jiangxia in Jingzhou, basically the area north of the Han River, Yuzhang, Huainan, Lujiang, Guangling in Yangzhou, Pei County and part of Xia Pi County in Xuzhou, and half of Runan County in Yuzhou.

In fact, Li Yuanhui did not have much choice in his route of advance. He simply marched along the Yingshui River, taking advantage of the waterways for transporting troops and food, and advancing both by land and water.

As for Li Sanlang in Jingzhou, his only route was to the southern foot of Funiu Mountain and send troops to Ye County.

Moreover, the war in Jingzhou just ended last year, so it is estimated that the food and fodder will have to be supplemented by Jianghuai.

Sure enough, a few days after my father Li Yuan’s letter arrived in Hefei, my third brother also wrote to me.

In his letter, the third brother clearly told Li Yuanhui that he had less than 50,000 troops in Jingzhou, including the surrendered soldiers.

Among them, Xinye, Suixian, Rangxian and Wancheng all need to be garrisoned. In the early spring of next year, he can only lead a detachment of more than 10,000 people to help out and threaten the direction of Ye County. The main force will still come from the Jianghuai Army.

After reading the letter, Li Yuanhui almost hid it from his staff and joked, "Are my father and brothers counting on me to take Luoyang? Hahaha."

Li Baishi and Li Qinglian also smiled, but their expressions showed that they wanted to say something but were hesitant.

Li Yuanhui asked, "Do the Chief Secretary and the Military Advisor have anything to say?"

Li Baishi pondered for a moment before he saluted and said, "General, if a man does not think about the future, he will have immediate worries. You and your four brothers are all outstanding people of the time. If you can share hardships today, can you share the world in the future?"

Li Baishi's move was equivalent to a big move, which directly silenced Li Yuanhui.

Li Baishi and Li Qinglian were already his trusted aides, so Li Yuanhui did not start acting and reprimanded them for sowing discord.

There are some things you must express to your confidants.

You should let these capable people know that you have great ambitions and are not just looking to sit back and do nothing.

Otherwise, who would want to hang out with you? Who doesn’t want to have a wife and children ennobled and a name recorded in history?
You have to give these talented people hope.

So after a moment of silence, Li Yuanhui said softly, "I have thought about this matter, but if brothers quarrel, they will be looked down upon by outsiders. Now is the time for my father and I to build a foundation together. We cannot lose the big picture because of the small. However, I understand your concerns. Although I am deep in Huainan, do I have to be the King of Huainan?"

Upon hearing this, the two Lis bowed down to show that they understood.

What Li Yuanhui meant was, you don't have to worry, I will definitely not be Liu Chang and be killed by my brother Liu Heng.

(End of this chapter)