Chapter 10 The Battle of Feishui(21)

Second, apart from Wangmeng, FuJian’s selection of officials are problematic, even blindly. It was also an important reason for his defeat in the battle of Feishui. Fu Jian favored the upper echelons of the ethnic minorities who had surrendered to the former Qin, loyal and treacherous, while he was wary of Han officials who were loyal to him, so he did not give further attention to them. Even Wang Meng, though Fu Jian said that their relationship was "if Xuande meets Kongming", was wary of it. After the death of Wang Meng, Fu Jian believed himself to be a hero and became more proud of himself, choosing men who were selfish and foolish. Fu Jian would no longer listen to the honest advice of his officials, but highly appreciated the flattering words that were agreeable to his ears. On the topic of attacking Jin, he refused to listen to all the useful dissuasion from his vassals, instead he listened to the slandered remarks of ambitious Murong Chui and others. He went his own way, "headstrong admonition against the plan", "merit is not rewarded, guilty is not punished", so he failed to form a strong and united leadership group, and his defeat was predictable. [29]