Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 310 Loyalty
After three rounds of arrow rain, a group of men in black walked out of the dense forest. The leader was not wearing a black scarf, but he had an ordinary appearance, so people would naturally ignore his appearance features.

Li Daoyuan felt that the leading man in black looked familiar, but he still held the sword and pointed forward. Li Daoyuan could not be sure whether this group of men in black were friends or enemies.

The leading man in black stepped forward and said:
"Mr. Li, I am Su Bai from the Xuanjing Division under General Su. I am here to protect you on General Su's orders."

Those who escorted Li Daoyuan were all imperial guards. Many of them had heard of Su Ze and knew that he was Li Daoyuan's disciple.

The guard leader said excitedly:

"Mr. Li, we are saved!"

Li Daoyuan did not feel the joy of being saved, but frowned and asked:
"Are you Su Bai?"

Su Bai grinned and said:

"I didn't expect that Lord Li still remembered me."

Li Daoyuan then asked:

"How did you know that I was in danger? When did you follow them?"

Su Bai said frankly:
"After Lord Li entered Tongguan, the general knew that Lord Danyang was going to harm Lord Li, so he asked Su Bai to secretly protect Lord Li."

Hearing this, the imperial guards who were protecting Li Daoyuan looked at Li Daoyuan. It was really enviable to have such a disciple!
However, there was no joy on Li Daoyuan's face. Instead, he said in a cold tone:

"In other words, your general has long known that Duke Danyang has rebellious intentions?"

Su Bai was stunned for a moment, but still said:

"Duke Danyang resented the imperial court. This is something that everyone in Guanzhong knows."

Li Daoyuan said:

"Everyone knows it, why don't I know it?"

Everyone looked at Li Daoyuan in confusion. Xiao Baoyin is going to send people to kill you, so aren't you rebelling?

Li Daoyuan thought of his disciple Su Ze, and felt conflicted. He softened his tone and said:
"What else do you want from your general?"

Su Bai said:

"The general asked us to escort Lord Li north. The general is in Xiazhou."

Li Daoyuan said decisively:
"I dont go."

Su Bai was stunned, and the imperial guards who had been protecting Li Daoyuan along the way were also stunned.

Li Daoyuan said:
"I am entrusted with a mission from the imperial court. How can I go to the northwest without permission?"

"I want to ask the Duke of Danyang in person whether he wants to rebel or not."

The imperial guards who had been following Li Daoyuan all the way were also anxious. They said:

"Lord Li, these people are all under the command of Lord Danyang. They are here to kill you! By attacking and killing the imperial envoy, Lord Danyang is not planning a rebellion?"

Li Daoyuan said:

"Duke Danyang and I have different political views, and the Guanzhong nobles are hostile to him. I caught these guys bullying the people, and these are the reasons they attacked and killed me. It doesn't mean that Duke Danyang has any rebellious intentions."

Li Daoyuan added: "The Six Garrisons have just been pacified. How can you force the generals of Guanzhong to rebel again just because of my personal interests?"

"I must go to the Western Expedition Camp."

After saying this, the imperial guards around Li Daoyuan were also infected by his patriotism. Su Bai wanted to persuade him again, but was interrupted by Li Daoyuan:
"Tomorrow I will show the envoy's Zuo Yu banner. If Xiao Baoyin dares to attack and kill me, it means he really has rebellious intentions. The court can make preparations to suppress the rebellion early."

"If Xiao Baoyin is not planning to rebel, then I will only report to the court that he is not strict in governing and has bribed ministers."

Su Bai opened his mouth. As expected, both the master and disciple were extremely stubborn once they had their goals in mind. Li Daoyuan could not persuade them.

Su Bai was helpless, but he still had the task of protecting Li Daoyuan, so he could only blend into the team and set up camp with Li Daoyuan.

After nightfall, Li Daoyuan summoned Su Bai to the tent again. Li Daoyuan sighed and said:
"Go back and tell your master that as your teacher, I have received favors from the court and can only be loyal to the court."

Then Li Daoyuan took out the books behind him and said:

"This is the last version of the Shui Jing Zhu that I have reviewed. Please bring it back to your master."

"From now on, all matters concerning my school will be decided by him. If you want to accept disciples and teach them, you don't need to ask for my permission."

"These books are all good books I have read in recent years. This agricultural book was written by my good friend, Jia Sixie, the governor of Gaoyang. Lord Jia has the heart to benefit farmers all over the world. You bring this agricultural book to your master, and he should be able to make the most of it."

Then Li Daoyuan said:

"My wife died young, my sons are all worthless, and there is nothing to tell you about after my death."

"In my life, I met a wise master in the first half and rose to prominence. In the second half, I wasted my career, but I was able to accept two good disciples."

"I can only be Lu Zhi. I just hope your master can be Liu Xuande instead of Gongsun Zan."

Now Su Bai also understood Li Daoyuan's thoughts. Lu Zhi was a famous Confucian scholar in the late Han Dynasty and had been a teacher of Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei.

After Dong Zhuo took control of the government, Lu Zhi was dismissed from office after he contradicted Dong Zhuo, and lived in seclusion until his death. This was Li Daoyuan's way of expressing his feelings, that he was only willing to be loyal to the Northern Wei court.

It can only be said that the Northern Wei Dynasty today is only twenty years away from its most glorious era, and it is still supported by some such old ministers.

But Li Chong and Cui Guang are both old, and they cannot support the team alone.

The younger generation of elites are either extremely disappointed with the court or directly stand on the opposite side of the court.

Su Bai did not expect that his lord's teacher would be so stubborn and still hold on to the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor and refuse to let go.

The next morning, Li Daoyuan left Su Bai behind and took the imperial guards onto the official road, heading towards Xiao Baoyin's western expedition camp.

The Xuan Jing Division messengers who followed Su Bai looked at each other and asked Su Bai:

"Deputy Envoy, what should we do?"

Su Bai gritted his teeth and said:

"Send someone to deliver these books to the Lord, and we will chase after him to protect Lord Li!"

"If all else fails, tie him up and bring him to see the Lord!"
-
After receiving Su Bai's report, Su Ze sighed and shook his head.

During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, there was Dong Zhuo, who was loyal all his life but deposed and enthroned emperors, and there was Lu Zhi, who refused to take up an official position and retired.

There was Cao Cao, who first wanted to restore the Han Dynasty but ended up being a traitor to it, and there was Xun Yu, who died of poison after hearing that Cao Cao had usurped the Han Dynasty.

Li Daoyuan is upright and tough. Su Ze understands that even if Su Bai kidnaps him and brings him to Xiazhou, he will still complete his mission.

Being able to turn a blind eye to him was already a "concession" made by Li Daoyuan after he was completely disappointed with the court. If Li Daoyuan was still the governor of Henan, and knew that Su Ze wanted to rebel, he would probably be the first one to send people to take him down.

Su Ze could only instruct Su Bai to continue following Li Daoyuan to protect his safety and let him complete the mission first.
-
Xiao Baoyin also knew that the court was suspicious of him, so his western expedition camp was always set up near Chang'an and he never entered Chang'an city.

As the rear base, Chang'an maintained a certain degree of stability. It was originally the base camp of the Guanxi people, and many aristocratic families on the front line also moved their families to Chang'an.

However, since Liu Kai's defeat last time, some changes have taken place in the Guanxi gentry in Chang'an. Their trust in Xiao Baoyin has dropped to freezing point, and they no longer trust him to be able to defend Chang'an. Many gentry have begun to move out of Chang'an again.

After the New Year this year, several noble families came to Princess Nanyang's mansion to bid farewell.

This time it is a branch of the Jingzhao Wei family.

The aristocratic families that only hanged themselves on one tree have long been extinct. The Wei family is a large family and of course they know how to diversify their investments.

Su Ze had always won battles in Guanxi, while Xiao Baoyin had always lost battles in Guanzhong. It was obvious who he would join.

If Wei Sui had not been appointed as the vanguard general, the main branch of the Wei family would still remain in Yongzhou, but the branch would have quietly gone north to join Su Ze.

In addition to the Jingzhao Wei family, the Guanzhong gentry sent larger branches to Xiazhou. This was their voting with their feet.

Also because these gentry took away wealth and population, Chang'an this year is much more depressed than in previous years.

Princess Nanyang's maid said:
"Humph! The Wei family is such an ungrateful bunch! Your Highness taught them brocade weaving techniques, but they actually ran off to Xiazhou!"

Princess Nanyang has become much thinner, no longer as plump as she was in Luoyang. Her original noble air of luxury has dissipated a lot, and she has become a little more cold and aloof.

She said calmly:

"If General Su can put down the rebellion, it will be a good thing for Guanzhong, but it's a pity that you don't want to."

These days, there are rumors in Chang'an that the court will replace Xiao Baoyin with Su Ze as the commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition to be responsible for suppressing the rebellion.

The Guanzhong gentry also hoped that Su Ze could send troops to attack Mozhe Tiansheng and Hu Chen, and lead Guanzhong to quell the rebellion.

To the extent that now Xiao Baoyin could not even hear the name of Su Ze, and even executed two nobles who conspired to contact Su Ze, causing greater resistance from the nobles in Guanzhong.

Princess Nanyang was also tired of life in Guanzhong. She thought that if she quit her job and returned to Luoyang, her husband would still be the Duke of Xiang and she would still be the princess of Wei, and her life would go back to normal.

But in Princess Nanyang's heart, she vaguely knew that she could never go back to the past, and she also felt tired.

When Princess Nanyang thought about the judgment that Bian Ji gave her at Longhua Temple, she became confused again.

"Send the pieces of brocade I woven before the New Year to Xiazhou. Although the Danyang Mansion sent gifts to the emperor's younger sister when she got married, this is a gift from me, her elder sister, to her."

Princess Nanyang ordered her maid to go to Xiazhou to deliver brocade to Princess Chenliu, and then she selected the wives of several major aristocratic families in Chang'an and invited them to a party at her house.

Compared with the increasingly bad reputation of Danyang Duke Xiao Baoyin, Princess Nanyang had an extremely good reputation in Guanzhong.

Some even say that Princess Nanyang single-handedly raised the level of Guanzhong brocade weaving. She sincerely taught all those who came to learn brocade weaving. She also opened a weaving workshop in Chang'an and recruited women from small families to practice brocade weaving.

In such chaos, Li Daoyuan finally arrived at Xiao Baoyin's Western Expedition Camp.

Just after Li Daoyuan read out the imperial edict of condolences and appeased Xiao Baoyin, he suddenly received an urgent report from Xiazhou -

"A swarm of locusts appeared north of the Yellow River, covering the sky and the sun and heading northward."

Upon receiving this news, Xiao Baoyin immediately panicked and looked at Li Daoyuan with a pleading look.

Li Daoyuan sighed deeply. Could it be that the Wei Dynasty had really lost its mandate from heaven?
(End of this chapter)