Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 330 Returning Envoy
In the 10th month of the second year of Xiaochang, Pucheng, Huazhou.

"Dugu Jijiu, a group of civilians escaped a few days ago."

Dugu Xin was working in Zhechou Mansion near Pucheng. When he heard the report from his subordinates, he put down his pen, stood up, put on his armor, mounted his horse, and went to the camp where the refugees were accommodated.

Pucheng is the front line and borders Jingzhou. Many refugees who cannot survive in Jingzhou will flock to Pucheng.

It is now the autumn and winter season. Under Su Ze's rule, it is the harvest time, but for Jingzhou, which has been in chaos for a year, it is the time when the surplus food is exhausted.

Dugu Xin had been to the Six Towns, and he knew what people looked like when they were hungry.

Of course, refugees will not flee when their food runs out. It will be too late when winter comes and there is nothing to eat.

Those who can escape to Pucheng now are the stronger ones among the refugees from Jingzhou.

Dugu Xin's position was Military Advisor and Chief Academician, which was not a formal court official position, but a staff assistant position privately created by Su Ze.

But in Huazhou, a general's private servant like Dugu Xin was more popular than those positions in the imperial court, especially since Dugu Xin worked in the Zhechoufu and was deeply respected by the soldiers.

Nowadays, Su Ze’s soldiers mainly come from three sources.

The first type is the army brought by Su Ze himself, which includes the imperial guards when Su Ze entered Hezhou and the army recruited by the system.

The second type is the military recruited in various states. Basically, Hezhou, Liangzhou, Xiazhou, Huazhou, Longxi County and Gaoping County are all implementing the military system.

The first two types already account for most of Su Ze's troops.

The remaining small half was the army invested by the wealthy families in Liangzhou, Hezhou and Longxi County, and most of the soldiers were the private soldiers of these wealthy families.

Unknowingly, Su Ze had the army in his hands.

This is also the difference between him and Xiao Baoyin. Su Ze is never hindered by local powerful families when fighting.

Dugu Xin's job was to promote Zhechoufu in Xiazhou and Huazhou, and he was responsible for granting land to the soldiers in the mansion. He was fair and thoughtful in his work, and the soldiers all knew his reputation, so they respected him very much.

The person guarding Pucheng is Yang Zongjia, one of Su Ze's earliest followers. Su Ze has been training him over the years, but unfortunately Yang Zongjia is still unintelligent and can never stand on his own.

But this is normal. Even in modern society where knowledge is popularized and management books are in vogue, management talents who can manage a company of dozens of people are a scarce species. To lead an army in battle, one must lead tens of thousands of people, and each of them is a famous figure in history.

Although his ability is not good enough, sometimes loyalty is all that is needed when hiring people.

Yang Zongjia was loyal to Su Ze. Although he had average abilities, he was obedient, so Su Ze arranged for Yang Zongjia to guard Pucheng.

Su Ze's requirements for him were simple. If Hu Chen attacked, he just had to defend Pucheng. For generals guarding important cities on the front line, the test is more about loyalty than ability.

Yang Zongjia is also an old soldier, and with the help of Su Ze's men, it is not difficult to guard Pucheng.

However, after the autumn harvest this year, a large number of refugees from Jingzhou poured into the vicinity of Pucheng. The identities of these people were unknown, and Yang Zongjia did not dare to let them into the city. He could only ask for instructions from the shogunate while asking Dugu Xin, who was setting up the Zhechou Mansion in Huazhou, to deal with them.

Dugu Xin's approach was also decisive. He appointed a captain to lead a hundred soldiers under Yang Zongjia, and he mobilized some reserve soldiers from the nearby Zhechoufu to set up a refugee camp within the control of Pucheng. He first gathered and settled these refugees, and then asked the general's office to register these refugees and grant them land.

The general's office handled the matter very efficiently. Su Cho agreed to Dugu Xin's plan and asked him to identify the refugees in Pucheng and then settle them in Huazhou.

This is already the third batch of refugees, and this time there are more than two thousand refugees, so his subordinates reported to Dugu Xin and asked him to handle it personally.

Before Dugu Xin arrived at the refugee camp, he received news that these refugees had rebelled again!

Facing the panicked captain under Yang Zongjia, Dugu Xin calmly asked:
“Why did the refugees in Jingzhou rebel?”

The captain said:

"When they heard that they were going to be separated and resettled, they started to spread rumors that we were going to sell them to the big families in Huazhou as slaves. They rebelled last night."

Dugu Xin asked:
"Has the camp been lost?"

The captain lowered his head.

Dugu Xin asked a few more questions, but the other party didn't know the answers to any of them.

The captain said:

"I have already sent an envoy to Pucheng to ask for help. Lieutenant General Yang should be here tomorrow."

Dugu Xin looked at the sky. It was already dusk and it was impossible for Yang Zongjia to send troops at night.

But if we wait until tomorrow, this group of refugees will be organized.

The refugee camp was set up by Dugu Xin himself. He rode a horse to get close to scout it, and after inciting the rebellion, he returned and said:
"There are still shouting and quarreling in the camp, and the damaged camp has not been repaired. When the rebels occupy the city tomorrow, it will be difficult to attack. We can't wait for Lieutenant General Yang."

The captain saw that there were less than a hundred people behind Dugu Xin and said quickly:

"Master! There are thousands of people in that camp!" Dugu Xin said to the Zhechoufu garrison soldiers behind him without further ado:
"Hold sharp!"

This group of garrison soldiers immediately drew their weapons in unison, shocking the captain under Yang Zongjia.

The garrison soldiers of Zhechoufu were all regular soldiers. They were responsible for protecting Zhechoufu and, during the slack season, were also responsible for training the surrounding reserve soldiers.

When the government soldiers were being mobilized, they were also responsible for leading them to the designated assembly point.

These days, Dugu Xin has been training these garrison soldiers.

Dugu Xin changed his usual nonchalant look, holding a long spear and looking extraordinary and heroic. He pointed to the refugee camp not far ahead and said:
"Anyone who stands in my way is a spy for the Jingzhou rebels and will be killed without mercy!"

Dugu Xin, with one man against a thousand men, quickly broke into the camp from a weak point.

Dugu Xin had the terrain of the camp memorized, and he led the cavalry to advance left and right, beheading several refugee leaders who tried to resist.

By the time Yang Zongjia led his troops hurriedly the next day, the rebellion had already been quelled.
-
Su Ze in Yongle City was not able to pay attention to this small rebellion. At this time, he was outside the city to welcome Gao Hui who was returning from his diplomatic mission to Rouran.

The last time the Rouran borrowed troops, Gao Hui played a big role, but it was obvious that the Northern Wei court had forgotten this envoy from the Great Wei who had been on many diplomatic missions.

There was no other way. The Northern Wei court was already preoccupied with its own internal affairs, so Empress Dowager Hu naturally did not dare to hope for the so-called "tribute from all nations".

However, Gao Hui seemed to have no interest in returning to Luoyang. The family of this fake General Pingxi, who was appointed by the court, was the first to defect to Su Ze after Su Ze took office in Hezhou.

The Gao family is a low-key family, but their early investments have reaped rich rewards. Gao Hui's nephew Gao Ren has now been appointed as the governor of Hezhou.

Hezhou, the place where Su Ze started his career, has always had little presence.

However, as the saying goes, those who are good at fighting may not have great achievements. In recent years, Hezhou has undergone earth-shaking changes, and the number of households has quietly caught up with the originally more prosperous Liangzhou and Liangzhou.

Not only the number of households, Hehuang was also the first place to be reclaimed. The excellent land resources in the Hehuang Valley have produced bumper harvests for three consecutive years. Hezhou provided tremendous support to Su Ze's conquests in recent years.

However, Hezhou’s efforts were not in vain. Now under Su Ze’s rule, the largest number of officials are from Hezhou.

Towards the veteran Gao Hui, Su Ze's attitude was to hold him in high esteem, just as he had done towards the Liangzhou governor Yuan Yu.

But when Su Ze saw Gao Hui, who had gray hair and a weathered face, outside Yongle City, Su Ze took his hand and said:
"Gao Gong has made great contributions to the country, but it is bitterly cold outside the Great Wall. Gao Gong must take good care of himself!"

Su Ze's words were full of sincerity, and Gao Hui was also somewhat moved.

He knew that Su Ze was sincere, and said:

"No matter how hard it is, it can't compare to the efforts you made by General Pingxi in protecting the country and the people. On this journey, only the northwest can be regarded as a paradise on earth. Only in troubled times can we understand how difficult it is to live in peace!"

After this round of flattery, the subordinates who followed Su Ze to welcome Gao Hui started to flatter him. Su Ze was in a good mood and directly pulled Gao Hui into Yongle City.

Gao Hui explained to Su Ze in detail about his mission to the Rouran royal court. Su Ze also asked indirectly about the recent situation of Rouran Kehedun Princess Shouyang. After hearing that Princess Shouyang and her son were safe, Su Ze nodded slightly.

After Gao Hui finished describing the situation of the Rouran people, he continued:

"The Rouran Khan is young, and although Princess Shouyang is very politically savvy, she is a woman after all. As I have been here, the Rouran people's control over the grassland has become increasingly weak."

"The Uighurs, who originally herded horses for the Rourans, and the Turks and Tiele, who worked as ironworkers for the Rourans, became increasingly powerful."

Gao Hui was afraid that Su Ze didn't know about the Turks, so he explained:
"The Turks are a different kind of Xiongnu. Their surname is Ashina. They were subjects of the Rouran and served as iron-smelting slaves of the Rouran."

"The Tiele people are not much different from the Turks. They also make a living by smelting iron. During the Six Garrisons Rebellion, the Turks and Tiele people plundered a large number of craftsmen and returned north, and also annexed many of the survivors of the Six Garrisons."

Gao Hui said with some worry:
"The Rouran are weak, and the grassland tribes are rising. I don't know whether it is a blessing or a curse."

Gao Hui was indeed an expert in diplomatic affairs. It was the Uighurs and Turks who later divided up the Rouran people's dominance over the grassland.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, thirty years later the Turks officially defeated the Rouran and became the new overlords of the grassland.

From this perspective, the Rebellion of the Six Garrisons not only led to the demise of the Northern Wei Dynasty, but also had a profound impact on the situation on the grassland.

However, these two tribes are only showing a trend of rising. Su Ze has no time to look to the north now, so it is not a bad thing for these two tribes to contain the grassland.

Even though the Rouran Khan was his own son, Su Ze still did not want a powerful grassland empire to emerge.

After Gao Hui finished talking about what he had seen in the north, he said to Su Ze:

"General, when I returned to Xiazhou this time, I brought back some survivors of the Six Garrisons. They fled to Rouran after the Six Garrisons riot. I heard that you took the initiative to surrender in Xiazhou."

"One of them is named Hulu Jin, the chieftain of the Hulu tribe of the Twelve Chile tribes. I see that he has the ability to lead troops, so I specially recommend him to the general."

(End of this chapter)