Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 322 Return the favor
Su Shun lowered his head. The most important reason why he was able to gain Yuan Ziyu's trust was that he knew when to remain silent.

Su Shun was recommended to the palace by Princess Chenliu. Yuan Ziyou actually did not trust him that much and had tested him many times.

However, Yuan Ziyou's father was defeated in the political struggle at the end of Emperor Xiaowen's reign, and there was no one capable of being used in the family. Su Shun was indeed very well-behaved and had passed Yuan Ziyou's several tests, so he was increasingly valued by Yuan Ziyou over the years.

Yuan Ziyou sighed heavily.

After the coup that overthrew Yuan Yi, the situation that Yuan Ziyou had expected, where the emperor and empress would rule the country together, did not happen. After Empress Dowager Hu came to power again, she showed a stronger desire for power than before and exercised tighter control over the young emperor.

Even in Yuan Ziyou's opinion, the treatment of the little emperor now is worse than when he was sidelined by Yuan Yi.

At least when Yuan Yi was in power, the young emperor could still meet with ministers and summon his companion into the palace.

Now that Empress Dowager Hu is in power, even Yuan Ziyou finds it difficult to see the little emperor, except for the ministers she selects. Every time he enters the palace, there are many people watching him closely, and Yuan Ziyou will also be strictly interrogated when he leaves the palace.

However, Yuan Ziyou still hid the edict written by the little emperor in his belt and secretly took it out of the palace.

Like Emperor Xian of Han's Yidaizhao, the young emperor's Yidaizhao was an edict summoning foreign officials to Luoyang and support the emperor to rule the country.

However, Yuan Ziyou hesitated about who to give the secret decree to.

Logically speaking, Prince Guangyang Yuanshen, who led the troops to quell the rebellion, was the most suitable candidate. He had a large army, was a member of the royal family, and was feared by Empress Dowager Hu.

However, Yuan Ziyou was not clear about Yuan Shen’s attitude, and if Yuan Shen led his troops back to Luoyang, would he be another Yuan Yi?
In addition, the same goes for the Yanzhou Governor, Anfeng King Yuan Yanming, and the Hengzhou Governor, Guangling King Yuan Gong. In terms of fighting ability and prestige in the army, they are not as good as Yuan Shen.

Next were several other relatives of the royal family, including Princess Nanyang's husband, Duke Danyang Xiao Baoyin, who had quelled the rebellion in Guanzhong, and Princess Chenliu's husband, General Pingxi Su Ze.

The Duke of Danyang was too incompetent, and Yuan Ziyou did not think he could fight back to Luoyang.

In comparison, Su Ze, who has unknowingly controlled six states and two counties (Liang, He, Xia, Liang, Xia, Hua, Gaoping County, and Longxi County), is a better choice.

In addition to Su Ze, Erzhu Rong, who has elite troops stationed in Xiurongchuan, is another option. He is the father of the young emperor's concubine Erzhu and can also be considered the father-in-law of the emperor.

The young emperor Yuan Xu naturally preferred Erzhu Rong. Erzhu was quite favored in the palace, and Erzhu Rong was very close to Luoyang in Xiurong. If Su Ze from Guanxi wanted to go to Beijing to support the king, he had to enter the pass first, which was too slow.

Yuan Ziyou still persuaded the young emperor not to engage in internal strife before the Hedong rebellion was quelled, giving him time to examine the candidates for the Yidaizhao.

This led to the meeting between Yuan Ziyou and Su Suan.

However, Yuan Ziyou did not know that Su Ze was already fully aware of the matter of the Yidaizhao, and he had no intention of responding to the summons to Luoyang and wading into the muddy water of the Northern Wei court.

The current Northern Wei court is a quagmire where conspirators gather. Getting involved will only bring you trouble.

As long as I occupy Guanzhong, no matter who is in power, they will have to give me some face.
-
The second year of Xiaochang, May 20th.

Gao Yi, the governor of Bohai County, who had just taken office for less than a month, was defeated by Ge Rong, the King of Wei appointed by Xianyu Xiuli.

Gao Yi could only lead all his troops to move to several counties and towns in Licheng (now Jinan) between the Yellow River and the Ji River to defend themselves.

Therefore, the Northern Wei court set up Dongjizhou between He and Ji, and appointed Gao Yi as the governor, and added the titles of General Zhendong and Marquis of Lecheng County.

Gao Yi's third son Gao Aocao was dejected. He thought that his martial arts skills were unparalleled, and he led a team of heroes from Bohai to make merit on the battlefield.

However, he did not expect that the brothers Yuwen Lian and Yuwen Luosheng under Ge Rong were so powerful that they defeated Gao Aocao's army in just a few rounds. If his father Gao Yi had not sent troops to rescue him, Gao Aocao would have died in the army.

After experiencing the battlefield in person, Gao Aocao finally restrained himself a little, and even took out the military books in his family collection, wanting to avenge his previous humiliation on the battlefield.

Gao Aocao had just picked up the military book and was beginning to feel a little sleepy when the book boy beside his father came to invite him over.

Gao Aocao threw down the military book and went to his father's study. When Gao Yi saw his son, he asked:
"Have the folks who followed us been arranged?"

Gao Aocao held his breath and said:
"The local nobles in Heji were unwilling to sell their land. Only after I showed them the official document from the governor's office did they give up some land. Grandpa, these guys are worse than the rebels!"

The Hedong region is rich, and the land of Heji also has owners. With so many wealthy families from Bohai County pouring in all of a sudden, the land of the newly established Dongjizhou suddenly became tense.

The foundation of powerful aristocratic families is land, and now the Gao family’s land in Bohai County is occupied by these six-garrison rebels.

Although Gao Yi, in the name of the governor of Dongjizhou, asked the wealthy families in Heji to "distribute" some land, land was the lifeblood of the wealthy families. How could they possibly give it up obediently?

The result is that Gao Aocao led his men to "expropriate land" in the past few days, which triggered resistance from the local forces in Heji. Just now, several clan leaders of local powerful families filed a complaint with the governor's office, and some even threatened to go to Luoyang to file a complaint.

Gao Yi tried many methods and finally appeased the local wealthy families in Heji. However, the land owned by both the Gao family of Bohai and the Bohai gentry who followed him had shrunk greatly, and their retainers and tenants fled on a large scale.

But in comparison, Gao Yi was lucky. After he fled to Heji, he was appointed governor of Dongjizhou by the court. With his official status, he was able to use his position to settle the fleeing nobles in Bohai, and the local scholars did not dare to be too harsh on them.

Xing Gao was a descendant of the Xing family of Hejian and had once served as an official in Youzhou. The Xing family of Hejian was also a noble family with the surname Yi like the Gao family of Bohai and had a large number of followers in Hejian.

However, after Xianyu Xiuli launched his rebellion, although Xing Gao called on the nobles of Hejian to resist, they were quickly defeated by Xianyu Xiuli.

After Hejian was occupied by Xianyu Xiuli, Xing Gao could only lead the remaining troops to flee to Qingzhou.

When he arrived in Qingzhou, Xing Gao finally understood why the people of the Six Garrisons wanted to rebel.

Because his hometown was occupied so quickly, Xing Gao did not take much property with him.

In fact, property is useless. During a war, property has no value at all. Those exquisite jewelry can only be exchanged for a little food to fill the stomach.

The five states of Hedong rebelled, and Qingzhou was also in turmoil. In addition, Qingzhou had a large population, so the fugitive scholars like Xing Gao soon enjoyed the same treatment as the people of the Six Garrisons.

The local wealthy families in Qingzhou tore off the veil of warmth and kindness of their fellow aristocratic families.

Some people took advantage of the situation and tried to use some food to make Xing Gao's servants and followers slaves.

Some even resorted to ruthless tactics and directly attacked the exiled Hedong gentry, robbing them of their property and people, and even taking some of the gentry's women as slaves.

Just as the nobles of Ding, Ying and Jizhou treated the survivors of the Six Garrisons in the past, the nobles of Qingzhou should now treat the fleeing nobles of the Five States in the same way.

The little bit of food that Xing Gao brought with him was soon no longer enough to feed so many troops, and even some branches of the family began to starve.

It was not just the Qingzhou nobles who suffered this fate; basically all the nobles who fled from the five states suffered the same treatment.
-
The second year of Xiaochang, June 10th.

The governor of Hengzhou, Prince of Guangling Yuan Gong, received three orders from the Grand Commander Yuan Shen, asking him to immediately lead his troops back to Hengzhou.

However, Yuan Gong ignored Yuan Shen's orders. The last time the Six Garrisons were pacified, Yuan Shen almost took all the credit, leaving Yuan Gong, who had worked hard in the northern border for more than a year, without getting any benefits. He still had to stay in Hengzhou as the miserable governor.

During the first Six Garrisons Rebellion, the ones who actually fought against the people of the Six Garrisons on the battlefield were the imperial guards that Li Chong later handed over to Yuan Shen, and the Rouran people who were invited to help.

Therefore, Prince Yuan Gong of Guangling looked down on the Six Garrisons, thinking that they were just a group of rabble who just looked numerous.

So when Yuan Gong learned that Xianyu Xiuli of Dingzhou had rebelled, he immediately led more than 10,000 troops from Hengzhou and headed directly south to attack Dingzhou.

"My lord, Lingqiu is ahead!"

Lingqiu was named after King Wuling of Zhao, who promoted the Hu clothing and horse riding during the Warring States Period and was buried here.

This is a gap in the Great Wall of the State of Zhao during the Warring States Period. It was known as the "key point of Yanyun" in ancient times and has been a battleground for military strategists throughout the ages.

This gap in the Warring States Great Wall is still empty today. When the Northern Wei Dynasty took control of Hedong, they started their army from Pingcheng and entered Hedong through the gap in Lingqiu.

Historically, it was not until the Ming Dynasty that a pass was built to block this gap, and the name of this pass was called Pingxingguan.

Yuan Gong marched from Lingqiu in order to take the initiative and defeat Xianyu Xiuli's troops. There was nothing wrong with this from a strategic point of view.

The only problem was that Yuan Gong overestimated his own abilities and the fighting power of his soldiers.

On June 10, Yuan Gong successfully broke into Lingqiu, and Xianyu Xiuli did not even deploy any defenses there.

Yuan Gong sneered at Xianyu Xiuli for his lack of military knowledge, so he continued to move south along the Fenshui River, preparing to attack Zuoren City where Xianyu Xiuli raised his army.

Xianyu Xiuli in Dingzhou City immediately led his troops north to fight Yuan Gong at the bank of Fenshui River.

When Yuan Gong actually saw Xian Yu Xiu Li's army, he finally realized something was wrong.

Where is the refugee army?
What happened to the agreement that the survivors of the Six Garrisons were unarmed?

Why is it different from the beggar army I imagined?

Yuan Gong had already backed down in his heart, and just when he was hesitating, Xianyu Xiuli took the lead in launching an attack.

The people from the Six Garrisons, who were skilled in archery and horsemanship, wore simple armor, used crude weapons, and held resentment against the government troops. They broke through Yuan Gong's front line before Yuan Gong could react.

By the time Yuan Gong reacted, the defeat of the front army had spread to the central army, and a major rout had begun.

(End of this chapter)