Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 329 Corruption
Xianyu Xiuli was naturally very happy when Yuan Hongye surrendered. You know, he was the first member of the Northern Wei royal family to surrender, which also had extraordinary significance for the rebel army.

In addition, the army led by Yuan Hongye was able to defend Santai for such a long time, and was also the elite force coveted by Xianyu Xiuli.

Therefore, Xianyu Xiuli gave Yuan Hongye very high treatment. Not only did he directly give him the title of leader of a group, he also allowed him to continue leading his old subordinates and did not even confiscate their weapons and equipment.

After Xianyu Xiuli captured Yecheng, he went straight to the Bronze Sparrow Tower to hold a celebration banquet. Amid the congratulations from everyone, Xianyu Xiuli gradually lost himself and did not notice the flickering eyes of the ambitious people below.

Soon after, good news came from Dingzhou. Yuwen Gong and his son Yuwen Lian won a small victory over Dingzhou Governor Yang Yu and captured his general Mao Puxian.

Mao Puxian was once a vanguard general under Yuan Shen. He knew the Yuwen father and son on the battlefield. Yuwen Gong knew his abilities and sent him to Yecheng to be dealt with by Xianyu Xiuli.

By this time, the rebel army had occupied the entire Jizhou, most of Dingzhou, and Yingzhou, and was still fighting with Yanzhou Governor Yuan Yanming. However, the rebel army had the advantage in numbers, and Yuan Yanming was almost driven back to Yanzhou.

In addition, Du Luozhou of Yanzhou and Han Lou of Youzhou also achieved good results.

Now the situation of the Hedong righteous army was not just good, but very good. Xianyu Xiuli opened the treasury of Yecheng and gave rewards to the entire army. He also allowed the soldiers to rob the women and property of the wealthy families in Yecheng.
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In the ninth month of the second year of Xiaochang, Luoyang City.

Su Suan (the envoy who is well versed in human nature) once again brought gifts and visited the residence of Prince Yuan Ziyou of Changle.

Su Suan came out from the backyard, but did not go directly to Prince Changle's mansion.

A few days ago, several of his [White Egret Messengers] followers reported that a large number of White Egret Messengers were spotted near the Changle Palace.

This result did not exceed Su Suan's expectations. He was surprised that Empress Dowager Hu had such low political acumen that she allowed Prince Changle Yuan Ziyou, the young emperor's closest companion, to stay out for so long.

Yuan Ziyou had been under surveillance by Empress Dowager Hu, so Su Suan certainly couldn't go to his house to meet him openly, so he went to the monks' quarters in Longhua Temple to wait for Yuan Ziyou to come and worship Buddha.

Although the whole Luoyang is in a state of desolation, the incense at Longhua Temple is more popular than before.

When the news that Monk Bian Ji was favored in the Southern Dynasty and became a monk in front of Xiao Yan reached Luoyang, Empress Dowager Hu, who had always worshipped Buddhism, was not angry but extremely remorseful.

She said to those around her:

"If I had known that Master Bianji had great supernatural powers, I would have regretted not being able to use him."

So Empress Dowager Hu allocated a large sum of money to Longhua Temple, allowing it to renovate the monks' quarters and erect a monument to commemorate the place where Bian Ji and Liu Lingzhu had fought.

This meant that Bian Ji had received the most official endorsement from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and he instantly became the top monk of the time.

What? You said that Bian Ji was just pretending to be a god and gaining fame in vain?
So the supreme rulers of both the north and south are blind and stupid? You are the only one who understands?
This made Longhua Temple, originally the ancestral temple of the imperial army, the most prominent temple in the whole of Luoyang. The Buddhist scriptures left by Bian Ji became sacred texts that the people of Luoyang competed to surpass. The monk's quarters where Bian Ji lived was simply renovated by Longhua Temple and turned into a quiet room for dignitaries to comprehend Buddhism.

The most lively place is the safest place.

Su Ze has a close relationship with Longhua Temple. Ever since Bian Ji entered the temple, Su Ze has been infiltrating and controlling Longhua Temple.

Today, the chief of the Dharma Objects Department of Longhua Temple is Su Tong (a monk who is good at casting statues) left behind by Su Ze, the receptionist was appointed by Su Ze (a monk who changes his attitude according to the situation), and even the craftsmen who renovated Longhua Temple were arranged by Su Ze. He specially left secret passages and secret rooms in Longhua Temple.

Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, Prince of Changle Yuan Ziyou finally announced that he had recovered his health and began to resume his activities in Luoyang.

Empress Dowager Hu was very wary of this young but capable prince, but she could not directly defeat Yuan Ziyou as she would deal with ordinary political enemies.

Fortunately, Yuan Ziyou's activities were not too outrageous. Apart from clan elders, Yuan Ziyou only often visited a few Buddhist temples.

Yuan Ziyou traveled with a small entourage, but Longhua Temple did not dare to neglect him. The receptionist personally greeted him outside the temple and took Yuan Ziyou to a magnificent monk's house.

When the door of the monastery was opened, a clever monk changed into clothes similar to Yuan Ziyou's and sat quietly in the monastery. Then a steady monk led Yuan Ziyou into the secret passage and finally came to the secret room underground.

"Your Majesty."

Su Suan has met Yuan Ziyu here twice.

After losing Princess Chenliu, his upper-class source of information, Yuan Ziyu became an important partner of the Liu Backyard.

Yuan Ziyou said:
"Queen Su Liu, the Queen Mother has allowed me to enter the palace on a daily basis and continue to study with Your Majesty."

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

Su Suan immediately congratulated him. This not only meant that Yuan Ziyou was back to the center of power, but also meant that Empress Dowager Hu had finally made concessions and freed the little emperor.

But Yuan Ziyou's brows were still furrowed, and he said:

"It's just studying. The government affairs of the court are still in the hands of those three treacherous people!"

The treacherous and flattering people that Yuan Ziyou was referring to were naturally the three lovers of Empress Dowager Hu.

Su Suan echoed a few words. Although Yuan Ziyou was young, he was thoughtful. Su Ze had a close relationship with Li Chong's family. He knew that he had spoken out of turn, so he changed the subject and said:

"The court is preparing to re-establish Sizhou. General Wei Qingbin will serve as the governor of Sizhou and will assign part of Xiurongchuan to Sizhou."

Upon hearing this news, Su Suan immediately understood that the court was afraid of Erzhu Rong and wanted to weaken his power. Sizhou was a prefecture established during the Tuoba Tao period. It governed Yong'an County, Xiurong County, and Yanmen County, and its seat was Jiuyuan (Xinzhou, Shanxi).

Later, the Erzhu family was granted Xiurongchuan, and with the expansion of Hengzhou and Bingzhou, the court temporarily withdrew Sizhou and assigned its territory to Hengzhou and Bingzhou.

Now the court wants to re-establish Sizhou. This is because it sees that Bingzhou Governor Yuan Tianmu is too close to Erzhu Rong and wants to weaken Erzhu Rong's control over the entire Shanxi region.

Yuan Ziyou said worriedly:

"Wei Qingbin had a grudge against Erzhu Rong in his early years. It's too obvious for the court to do this."

Yuan Ziyou was also very conflicted. As a prince, he did not oppose restricting Erzhu Rong.

However, as a follower of the young emperor, Erzhu Rong was a reliable relative. The court's action against Erzhu Rong was actually aimed at the young emperor.

Su Suan sneered in his heart. This is the case at the end of any dynasty, with political struggles in full swing. But in the face of absolute strength, what use are conspiracies and tricks?

So what if Sizhou was re-established? Although Wei Qingbin was one of the eight Xianbei Jia surnames and had once served as Shangshu Pushe, what did he have to take office in Sizhou?

It can only be said that Erzhu Rong was too close first to Yuan Yi and then to the young emperor, which greatly stimulated Empress Dowager Hu.

In contrast, Su Ze, who married Princess Chenliu, was able to hide himself from various attacks in the court and develop well.

Yuan Ziyou talked about the secrets of the court again:

"It has been a few days since the King of Beihai returned to the court from Huazhou, and he has been active in the palace again, wanting to be appointed to Pengcheng."

Beihai King Yuan Hao was driven back to Luoyang from Huazhou by Yu Jin. It was probably because the expenses in Luoyang were too high and he did not gain much benefit in Huazhou, so he went back to seek an external post to make money.

Yuan Ziyou said angrily:

"If he can get through to Zhongshu Ling Zheng Yan, he should be able to draft an imperial decree to be appointed as the governor of Xuzhou."

Although the Prince of Beihai was a prince, he colluded with the corrupt officials around the Queen Mother, which naturally disgusted Yuan Ziyou.

After Yuan Ziyou finished talking about the intelligence he had recently collected, he asked Su Suan:
"What is your general's attitude toward the court?"

These days, Su Suan was getting free rides from Yuan Ziyou, but this guy was like a fox and did nothing.

Regarding the matter of the secret letter, the young emperor was more inclined to favor his father-in-law Erzhu Rong. After all, Bingzhou was closer to Luoyang. The young emperor fantasized that as long as Erzhu Rong led his troops into Luoyang, he would be able to expel the treacherous officials from power.

However, Yuan Ziyou felt that the court's fear of Erzhu Rong was not entirely due to Empress Dowager Hu targeting Erzhu Rong.

The unauthorized annexation of Nan Xiurong and the keeping of so many soldiers would make any pig think that the Erzhu family had ill intentions for a long time.

It was precisely because Bingzhou was too close to Luoyang that if Erzhu Rong really came to power, it would be difficult to control his power.

Moreover, compared with the high-profile Erzhu Rong, the quietly developing Su Ze has influence in the Luoyang Imperial Guards and also has the capital in Guanxi.

But the same problem still exists, Yuan Ziyou cannot guarantee Su Ze's loyalty.

Su Suan took out a letter and handed it to Yuan Ziyou, saying:
"These officers of the Imperial Guard were all made friends by my master in Luoyang. Some of them are already military officers of the Imperial Guard. They are all loyal to Your Majesty."

Yuan Ziyou opened the letter and was a little disappointed when he saw only ten names.

These people are far from enough to launch a palace coup, but seeing a few familiar names among them, they can also make life a little better for the little emperor.

After receiving the list, Yuan Ziyou stood up. He had decided not to reveal any information to Su Suan until Su Ze told him more.

After seeing Yuan Ziyou off, in fact, the news had already been passed to Su Ze through Su Shun (a eunuch who changed his attitude according to the situation) who was beside Yuan Ziyou.

However, maintaining the relationship with Yuan Ziyou was also the task that Su Ze assigned to Liu Houyuan.

Su Suan stood up. Now the situation in Luoyang was turbulent. The court was full of insects and felt that the front line was not chaotic enough.

Su Suan came out of Longhua Temple and was about to return to the backyard when he suddenly saw a group of messengers in brocade clothes leaving the city along Tongtuo Street.

Needless to say, this was another envoy sent by the court to Hengzhou.

Counting the days, this is the third wave of envoys sent by the court to Hengzhou in the past ten days.

Hejian Prince Yuanchen kept impeaching the commander-in-chief Yuan Shen who led the troops to suppress the rebellion. As soon as the court's army arrived in Hengzhou, Empress Dowager Hu began to urge Yuan Shen to immediately mobilize troops to suppress the rebellion.

It seemed that everything would be fine as long as Grand Commander Yuan Shen launched an attack before winter.

But in the eyes of an outsider like Su Suan, with the court in such chaos, it was impossible for Empress Dowager Hu to give blind orders.

(End of this chapter)