Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 328 Bronze Bird Terrace

This is a good idea. If this can improve the quality of followers, can't we set up schools to improve the quality of followers on a large scale?
But this dog system seems to have some limitations. So far, Su Ze has only improved the quality of a few of his followers.

However, followers can learn. If they can learn advanced brocade weaving techniques from Princess Nanyang, they can also improve their weaving efficiency.

Su Ze said to his wife:

"I will collect the information about the Weaver Girl. Let's send some food to Chang'an for emergency help."

Princess Chenliu smiled. Since she took charge of the household these days, she had greatly expanded the income of the general's mansion's treasury.

She was good at networking. When she was in Luoyang, she often invited the wives of Su Liang and Feng Shu to hold poetry gatherings, and helped Su Ze to win over his subordinates through her wives.

Now that the inner treasury was well-stocked, Princess Chenliu also had the funds to hold similar events, and even pulled Yu Jin's wife, Li, into this circle.

Women tend to compete with each other, and those of lower status will pursue and imitate the lifestyles of those of higher status. The urban white-collar workers before Su Ze traveled through time were also most keen on pursuing the so-called "upper-class life."

Princess Chenliu was born into the royal family, so what she brought was naturally the "trend" that swept across the northwest. Her dress, food, and daily necessities were all sought after by the wives of generals and officials in Yongle City.

Princess Chenliu also took advantage of this trend and gave some of her own things to the wives of Su Ze's ministers. Every woman who received the reward thanked him joyfully. Some wives who were unable to join the circle of "noble ladies" would urge their husbands to make achievements and make progress after returning home, so that they could enter the core circle of women in Yongle City.

As long as it was not as extravagant and competitive as in Luoyang, Su Ze still encouraged his wife to do so.

To put it bluntly, isn't it just for the sake of living a good life that your subordinates follow you and work hard?
The earliest group of people who followed Su Ze had their needs for food and drink met.

If we want people to make progress, new demands will naturally emerge.

In addition to career advancement, there is nothing wrong with pursuing a richer life, as long as it is not excessive.

Su Ze still said:

"Xiazhou's resources are far inferior to Luoyang's, and the land is also barren. Madam, please do not lead us to waste it."

Princess Chenliu immediately said:

"Don't worry, my dear. I know about this. I just held a wild food party a few days ago and asked Su Shan (the loyal food-tasting slave) to lead everyone out of the city to dig wild vegetables and teach everyone how to make delicious wild vegetable dishes."

Su Ze thought of the various wild vegetables on his table a few days ago. It turned out that these things were all made from wild vegetables?

Princess Chenliu said:

"Those who were extravagant and wasted food have all been taught a lesson by me. Now I always use a two-horse carriage when I go out. No one in Yongle City dares to exceed this, let alone use a sedan chair."

Today's horse-drawn carriages have no shock absorbers, and the city's roads are all dirt, so riding in a horse-drawn carriage is very bumpy and uncomfortable.

In Luoyang, it became popular for nobles to use sedan chairs carried by people, or to build luxurious horse-drawn carriages for the sake of pomp.

For example, when King Yuanshen of Jiangyang was in Luoyang, he competed with King Yuanchen of Hejian for wealth. Yuanshen used eight horses to pull his carriage, while Yuanchen used ten. Yuanshen then had to use ten pure-colored military horses, and that's how Yuanchen was defeated.

Princess Chenliu took the lead in being frugal, and those below her did not dare to go too far. If they had just spent a little more on food and drink, it would not have created a bad atmosphere.

It can only be said that this is true for everything. If you go too far, you will end up with too little. If you correct a wrong, you will go too far. Being too strict is the Qin Dynasty, but being too lax will lead to the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

All Su Ze can do is to restrain himself and his close subordinates. As the saying goes, "what the superior likes, the subordinates must follow." He can only improve the current atmosphere by setting an example little by little.

Su Ze embraced his wife in his arms and said seriously:

"Marrying a virtuous wife is a blessing that Su has accumulated over several lifetimes."

After that, Su Ze's hands started to get naughty again. Princess Chenliu blushed slightly when she heard Su Ze's sweet words, but she held her belly, pushed Su Ze's hand away, glared at him fiercely, and then said:

"I heard from Madam An today that A Jiang seems to be able to call me Grandpa now."

A Jiang was the nickname of the daughter of Su Ze and An Niangzi. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, ginger was considered a top-quality beauty and something to be praised. It was also easy to grow, so girls often used it as their nickname, hoping that they would grow up healthily.

Su Ze said casually:

"Ajahn is not even one year old yet, how can he speak?"

But Su Ze quickly understood what his wife meant. He looked at Princess Chenliu and said:
"No, I will sleep with my wife today."

Although Princess Chenliu knew that Su Ze was trying to cheer her up, she still felt much better. She pushed Su Ze away and said:

"You have a hot temper and the doctor said you shouldn't sleep with me. Go quickly."

Su Ze now has some emotional intelligence. He knows that if he leaves now, the woman will be unhappy again. He still insists on having dinner at Princess Chenliu's house. He waits until Princess Chenliu falls asleep before going to Madam An's room.

Mrs. An, who had just finished breastfeeding her daughter, was very surprised to see Su Ze suddenly appear, and Su Ze grabbed her baby canteen.
-
On August 10, the second year of Xiaochang, Xianyu Xiuli followed Ge Rong's advice and began to attack Yecheng, an important town in Jizhou.

Yecheng was once the capital of Cao Wei, Later Zhao, Ran Wei, and Former Yan. In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, it was also the capital of Northern Qi.

However, after the wars during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, Yecheng had become extremely dilapidated. The person defending Yecheng was Yuan Hongye, the governor temporarily appointed by the Northern Wei court.

Yuan Hongye was also a prince of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The former governor of Jizhou, Zhang Shijun, died in Wuchuan City while suppressing the First Rebellion of Six Garrisons led by Po Liu Han Baling. Yuan Hongye then took over the position of acting governor of Jizhou.

Later, the three states rebelled. Yuan Hongye did not have much prestige in Jizhou and could only withdraw his troops and retreat to Yecheng.

However, Yecheng was too big, and the troops under Yuan Hongye's command were not enough to defend the entire Yecheng, so in fact all his troops were on the three platforms of Yecheng.

The Three Towers of Yecheng are the Golden Phoenix Tower, the Bronze Sparrow Tower and the Ice Well Tower built by Cao Cao. Cao Cao certainly did not build these three towers for the purpose of "locking up the two Qiao sisters in the Bronze Sparrow Tower in the deep spring". These three towers are actually defensive buildings of Yecheng.

"Tai" means high ground. Jinfengtai and Tongquetai are both strategic locations, overlooking the entire city and garrisoning thousands of soldiers. It was on the Tongquetai that Cao Cao put down the rebellion of Yan Cai. If the attack was to be launched from the bottom up, it would require ten or a hundred times the number of troops.

The Bingjingtai was a high platform built by Cao Cao to store ice. It was used to store ice in winter and provide ice in summer. The well was 15 meters deep. Yuan Hongye also stored all the grain, salt and other supplies in Yecheng in the Bingjingtai.

The three platforms are also connected by aerial plank roads, so the garrisons can watch over and help each other.

This is very similar to Taicheng in Jiankang. In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, the great general Hou Jing easily entered Jiankang, but it took a long time to capture Taicheng where Xiao Yan lived.

Therefore, after Xianyu Xiuli easily captured the outer wall of Yecheng, he was helpless against the three towers where Yuan Hongye retreated.

He also sent soldiers to attack, but they were all stopped by Yuan Hongye's elite troops, and his own elite troops suffered heavy casualties, which made Xianyu Xiuli very distressed.

These were the first die-hard followers who followed him in the uprising, but they were killed in the battle to capture Santai. However, Yuan Hongye had stored a large amount of supplies in Bingjingtai, which was enough to sustain them for a long time.

Xianyu Xiuli not only encountered trouble in Jizhou, but also encountered an attack from the imperial army in Dingzhou where he raised his army.

Yang Yu, the Palace Attendant who was originally responsible for resettling the remnants of the Six Garrisons, was appointed as the Governor of Dingzhou by the court and led his troops to Dingzhou to quell the rebellion.

Yang Yu had personally resettled the remnants of the Six Garrisons, so he still had some prestige among the people of the Six Garrisons. He also had some understanding of the situation in the Six Garrisons, so after taking office, he adopted a strategy of suppression and appeasement at the same time, and even recruited a group of troops in Dingzhou, counterattacking and entering Dingzhou.

Ge Rong volunteered to return to Dingzhou to quell the rebellion, but Xianyu Xiuli did not want Ge Rong to continue to grow in power, so he sent Ge Rong's subordinates Yuwen Gong and Yuwen Lian, father and son, to lead troops back to Dingzhou.

As the siege of Santai failed, Xianyu Xiuli had to summon all his generals to discuss the matter. His subordinates were all ordinary people from the Six Garrisons with humble origins, and none of them could come up with any good ideas.

In the end, it was a young man behind Ge Rong who stood up.

"King Zhen, King Wei, I think Santai is difficult to attack, and we should persuade Yuan Hongye to surrender."

Xianyu Xiuli looked over and saw that the person who came out was Yuwen Gong's third son Yuwen Luosheng, who was also a general under Ge Rong.

Although Xianyu Xiuli and Ge Rong joined forces, the two factions were clearly divided.

Xianyu Xiuli was born into a grassroots family, and the people he gathered were basically grassroots.

Ge Rong was originally the deputy governor of Dingzhou and had served as a senior official in Wuchuan and Huaishuo, so he was able to bring people like Yuwen and his son under his wing.

Some of the nobles in the three states also chose to join Ge Rong. After all, Ge Rong had been in officialdom before.

So the result now is that Xianyu Xiuli's army has a large number of troops, but is short of officers and their quality is relatively low.

Ge Rong was the opposite. He had fewer ordinary soldiers under his command, but more middle and high-level officers, as well as powerful generals like Yuwen and his son.

However, Xianyu Xiuli was able to lead the rebellion, so he was naturally not a fool, so he had been suppressing Ge Rong, for example, not allowing him to lead his troops back to Dingzhou to resist Yang Yu, and always trying to poach people from Ge Rong's army.

Xianyu Xiuli had always coveted the Yuwen father and son under Ge Rong. When Yuwen Luosheng stepped forward, Xianyu Xiuli was overjoyed and said:

"Who can persuade Yuan Hongye to surrender?"

Yuwen Luosheng said:
"The general will go where he wishes!"

"Good! If Yuan Hongye surrenders, you will be promoted to general and lead an army!"

This was Xianyu Xiuli's method of poaching talents. He let the generals under Ge Rong lead the troops alone and undermine Ge Rong's influence.

Ge Rong did not say anything. Yuwen Luosheng took the order and left. He got on the hanging basket and went up to the Bronze Sparrow Tower alone.

Half a day later, Yuan Hongye took off his armor and walked down from the Tongque Tower to surrender to Xianyu Xiuli.

(End of this chapter)