Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 316: Drawing
Yuan Tianmu nodded slightly and said to Erzhu Rong:
"Please help me, brother Erzhu."

Erzhu Rong smiled handsomely and said to his nephew Erzhu Zhao:

"Erzhu Zhao, you will lead two thousand soldiers and follow the Yuan governor to Jinyang. Everything will be done according to the Yuan governor's orders!"

Erzhu Zhao was the nephew of Erzhu Rong. He was good at riding and shooting since he was a child, but he was reckless and impulsive. Simply put, he was brainless.

Erzhu Zhao looked at Yuan Tianmu and felt somewhat dissatisfied. He didn't know what kind of magic this guy had drugged his uncle into doing what he said. Not only did he promote him to be the governor of Bingzhou, but he also asked him to obey Yuan Tianmu's orders.

However, Erzhu Zhao still accepted the order, but Erzhu Rong said:

"Erzhu Zhao! Military orders are as heavy as a mountain, why are you hesitating?!"

Then Erzhu Rong said to his men:
"Someone, come! Drag him away and give him ten lashes."

The personal guards around Erzhu Rong stepped forward quickly, not caring at all that Erzhu Zhao was Erzhu Rong's favorite nephew. They took off Erzhu Zhao's armor, dragged him to the side and started whipping him.

Erzhu Zhao was whipped, but he dared not say a word until he was whipped ten times and then he returned to Erzhu Rong.

Then Erzhu Rong took the whip from the guard's hand, handed it to Yuan Tianmu and said:
"Brother Tianmu, this whip is for you. If this fellow disobeys military orders, use this whip to whip him."

Yuan Tianmu looked at the blood on the whip, nodded and said:

"Brother Erzhu is strict in military discipline, and Tianmu has learned from his teachings."

Everyone around Erzhu Rong was accustomed to this. Erzhu Rong had always been so strict in his use of military law to govern things.

Erzhu Rong's style of commanding the army was very similar to that of Huo Qubing.

Erzhu Rong was not the kind of general who often visited grassroots soldiers and cared about their treatment.

On the contrary, he advocated clear hierarchy in the army and governed the army with extremely strict military law.

In Erzhu Rong's army, the treatment of soldiers, team leaders, battalion leaders, brigade commanders, and colonels at each level was different. The treatment of officers and ordinary soldiers could be said to be very different. Even among the soldiers, there were "elite cavalry" and "guards", which were the levels of veterans and recruits, and the difference in treatment was also very large.

As long as one makes merit and gets promoted, his treatment in the army will increase rapidly, so Erzhu Rong's soldiers are proud of making merit.

In Erzhu Rong's army, there is no room for bargaining with superiors. Even if the superiors' orders are wrong, the subordinates must carry them out without fail.

Only after completing the task would Erzhu Rong evaluate the orders issued by the officers. Those officers who obviously issued reckless orders or were afraid of death would be executed directly by him.

Erzhu Rong's attitude towards military management turned his army into a sophisticated machine that obeyed his personal will. The clearly hierarchical military merit system and the pursuit of meritorious service and advancement became the only pursuit for soldiers to become officers.

Looking at this army, Yuan Tianmu felt that his decision to cooperate with Erzhu Rong was absolutely correct.
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"General! The survivors of the Six Garrisons have rebelled again."

Su Chao, who was in charge of intelligence work, took Wei Xiaokuan into the barracks where Su Ze lived.

Since their marriage, Su Ze and Princess Chen Liu have lived in Baichi Tower. Just last month, after the [skillful medical prodigy] diagnosed that Princess Chen Liu was pregnant, Su Ze was driven out of Baichi Tower and moved into the military camp.

Su Ze was very angry about Princess Chenliu's behavior of "destroying the bridge after crossing it" and "forgetting the person who dug the well after drinking the water". The only thing that made him feel a little better was that Princess Chenliu also sent Lu Xiuning and Lady An to Su Ze's side to serve him.

However, it was not convenient for Su Ze to bring female family members into the military camp, so he just arranged them in the outer house.

Unlike Erzhu Rong, Su Ze took a different approach to commanding the army.

Su Ze himself lived in the military camp and led the way. When he had nothing to do, he would inspect the barracks and listen to the soldiers' ideas. During the war, Su Ze would often inspect the sick children's camp and even personally bring soup and medicine to comfort the grassroots soldiers.

After every war, Su Ze would also visit the families of the dead soldiers. As for the children of the dead soldiers who had lost their parents, Su Ze would take them into the Solitary Brave Camp and raise and educate them.

Su Ze's leadership style is more similar to that of Yue Fei and Qi Jiguang. He uses his personal charm to sympathize with his subordinates and gain the support of his troops.

But this does not mean that Su Ze was not strict in military discipline. Like Erzhu Rong, he attached great importance to military law and would never tolerate any officers or soldiers who violated it.

The ways to command an army are nothing more than the two ways of kingship and hegemony.

It’s just that Erzhu Rong is more domineering, while Su Ze is more kingly.

The news about Su Cho was naturally sent by Xuan Jingsi.

After the establishment of the Xuan Jing Si, Su Suan (the envoy who is well versed in human nature), the envoy of the Luoyang rear courtyard, was naturally incorporated into the Xuan Jing Si and became the head of the Luoyang Xuan Jing Si.

The Luoyang Imperial Palace at this time was as leaky as a sieve. After Empress Dowager Hu drafted the decree, before it was sent out of Luoyang, the news that the survivors of the Six Garrisons had rebelled again spread throughout Luoyang.

Su Suan confirmed the news from the eunuchs in the palace through the relationship with Su Shun (a eunuch who changes his attitude according to the situation). Su Suan immediately reported the news to Su Ze. At the same time, through the information network of Xuan Jingsi, he rode north to Bingzhou on horseback, and then crossed the Yellow River from Longmen to Yongle City.

However, Su Chao and Wei Xiaokuan did not expect that the remnants of the Six Garrisons would rebel so quickly!
In fact, Su Ze had already received Su Suan's report through the system, but he still pretended to have read the document delivered by express horse.

Seeing how Su Ze remained calm, Wei Xiaokuan secretly admired him. The general was indeed an extraordinary person. He was so calm when hearing such important news.

Seeing Su Ze so calm, Su Chao also calmed down. Yes, the Six Towns would rebel again. Su Ze's staff had already anticipated it and had discussed how to deal with it. Why was he so flustered when he heard the news?

It’s because I’m not good enough at cultivating my energy.

Su Chao reflected on himself, and gradually regained his composure. He said to Su Ze:

"General, since the Six Towns are in chaos again, we have to speed up."

Su Ze nodded. This was Su Chao's reminder that it was time to take action.

After hearing that the court had placed six garrisons in the three states, all of Su Ze's staff believed that the three states would be in chaos.

The three states were too far away from Su Ze's territory, so when the six towns were in chaos again, Su Ze's staff came up with a unified response strategy, which was what Dugu Xin said at the time - "Total resistance to Guanxi to defend ourselves, and wait and see what happens."

There are now five forces of varying sizes in Guanzhong.

The one with the largest territory is Su Ze, who has been developing quietly. Now he owns five states and one county, covering the corner areas of the entire Guanzhong region.

The nominal commander of Guanzhong was the Western Expedition Commander-in-Chief Xiao Baoyin, who only occupied Yongzhou and part of Qizhou. However, these places were rich and their population was similar to that of Su Ze's territory, which had accepted the remnants of 100,000 Six Garrisons.

King Yuan Hao of Beihai retreated to Huayin City, the capital of Huazhou. After Su Ze defeated Hu Chen's rebel army in Jingzhou, King Yuan Hao of Beihai barely recovered some towns and nominally regained control of Huazhou. But in reality, the entire Huazhou was riddled with bandits and various small rebel groups.

The above are government troops, and the remaining two are rebels.

Mozhe Tiansheng, who occupied Qinzhou and most of Qizhou, claimed to have gathered 200,000 people and was the largest rebel force in Guanzhong.

However, according to the intelligence from the Xuan Jing Division, with the population conditions of Qinzhou, even if the population plundered by Mo Zhe Tiansheng was included, Mo Zhe Tiansheng only had 50,000 regular troops at most.

This number of troops was barely gathered after Mozhe Tiansheng implemented a cruel conscription policy of "selecting three out of five men".

The Northern Wei Dynasty began compiling the Huang Book of Household Registration from the time Empress Dowager Wenming began, stipulating that "Both boys and girls are considered Huang when they are born, four years old is considered Xiao, sixteen is considered Zhong, twenty-one is considered Ding, and sixty is considered Lao."

Males are men between the ages of twenty-one and fifty-nine.

Such a conscription policy is tantamount to completely giving up economic development, and it can be said to be a system in which every citizen is a soldier.

Shi Hu, the most brutal emperor during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, once implemented the most brutal conscription order, which was to select three out of five men.

However, the recruitment standard implemented by Xiao Baoyin in Yongzhou was "one out of five men", and Xiao Baoyin only recruited registered civilians, and did not recruit the hidden population of the gentry and powerful. This had already led to public resentment in Yongzhou and the point where the scholars in Guanzhong cursed him.

Mo Zhetian was born under the order of "selecting three out of five men", while Hu Chen, who occupied Jingzhou, executed the conscription order of "retaining one out of five men".

The population of Jingzhou originally exceeded that of Qinzhou, but last year Mozhe Tiansheng defeated Liu Kai and captured a large number of people from Yongzhou.

So although Hu Chen claimed that he had 300,000 rebels, according to the calculations of the Xuan Jingsi, the number was only 40,000 at most.

Battle reports can be deceiving, but battle lines cannot.

Hu Chen's "300,000 troops" were stationed on the border between Qinzhou and Jingzhou, but were defeated more than they won by Mozhe Tiansheng's "200,000 troops", and the battle line was pushed to Jingzhou.

Of course, it is doubtful whether Hu Chen and Mo Zhe can mobilize all the population with their natural grassroots organizational abilities, but Qinzhou and Jingzhou have already conscripted able-bodied men from door to door.

In addition to these five forces, there are countless rebel groups of all sizes throughout Guanzhong. They are active in the countryside and mountains, causing great turmoil in Guanzhong.

Therefore, according to the plan that the Shogun's Office had already made, once there was unrest in the Central Plains, the first target would naturally be the weakest of the five forces, that is, King Yuan Hao of Beihai who was hiding in Huazhou.

Huazhou is the gateway to Guanzhong, and Tongguan, the main road into the pass, is under the jurisdiction of Huazhou. In order to achieve "completely rejecting Guanxi and defending oneself", it is necessary to capture Huazhou.

Although Su Ze already knew that Su Suan had bribed Queen Mother Hu and ordered King Yuan Hao of Beihai to hand over the defense of Huazhou to Su Ze.

But Su Ze didn't think that King Yuan Hao of Beihai would obey him under such circumstances.

King Yuan Hao of Beihai had written to the court several times, requesting to take over his position, but those were always the times when he was beaten.

Recently, Hu Chen has been busy competing with Mo Zhe Tiansheng for territory, and King Yuan Hao of Beihai feels that he is capable again.

In the historical time before Su Ze traveled through time, the experience of King Yuan Hao of Beihai was very legendary.

King Yuan Hao of Beihai was ordered to suppress the uprising of the Six Garrisons, but failed miserably. Fearing that he would be held accountable by the court, he fled to Southern Liang, where he was unexpectedly treated well by Xiao Yan.

Later, Erzhu Rong held a "diving competition". Xiao Bodhisattva felt that he was capable again, so he ordered Chen Qingzhi to escort Yuan Hao. Miraculously, they fought their way back to Luoyang from Jiankang and turned Yuan Hao into the emperor of Northern Wei.

However, before Yuan Hao could firmly establish himself as emperor, he began to indulge in drinking day and night, neglected state and military affairs, and was defeated and killed in less than three months.

In Su Ze's opinion, Yuan Hao was an opportunist. Such a person would never be willing to give up his military power and return to Luoyang to become an idle prince.

(End of this chapter)