Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 345 Monkey
The pregnant Princess Chenliu didn't know why Su Ze suddenly became so serious, but the sensitive her also realized that something big had happened.

However, she still put armor on Su Ze with her belly bulging, and then watched her husband walk away.

Seeing that Princess Chenliu was a little depressed, Luzhu asked doubtfully:

"Your Highness, the general is victorious in every battle. You have nothing to worry about."

Princess Chenliu sighed deeply and said:

"It is precisely because you are always victorious that I need to worry."

Lu Zhu was a little confused. Princess Chen Liu hugged her bulging belly and murmured:

"Marry a chicken and follow the chicken. It's my grandfather's unworthy descendants who can't keep the family business. What does it have to do with others?"

Luzhu did not hear Princess Chenliu's mumblings, and Princess Chenliu quickly put on her usual amiable expression.

She said to Luzhu:

"Is Sister Yuyao coming today?"

Unknowingly, Su Ze's sister Su Yuyao has reached the age to get married. In the past, Su Ze was fighting in wars everywhere, and his only relative, his father-in-law Li Tong, was an old bachelor and had no way of arranging Su Yuyao's marriage.

Now that Su Ze is married, as the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother, it is natural for her to put her younger sister-in-law's marriage on the agenda.

The customs of the people in the Northern Wei Dynasty were still very open. It can be seen from "The Peacock Flies Southeast" that people at that time also had a pursuit and yearning for love.

Princess Chenliu also selected a group of young talents under Su Ze's command, but according to Su Ze's opinion, they must meet before marriage.

Tomorrow is Buddha's Birthday, which is now a very lively festival in both the north and the south.

"Tomorrow is Buddha's Bathing Festival. I will go to the temple to pray for a child. Let Sister Yuyao come with me to pray for a marriage."

Lu Zhu immediately understood what Princess Chenliu meant. Buddha's Bathing Festival is a major festival and Buddhist temples will hold activities on this day. Although Princess Chenliu was pregnant, going to the temple to pray for a son was also a normal activity for the upper-class nobles.

There is only one temple in Yongle City, so most people will go to the temple to participate in the Buddha Bathing Festival. At that time, the young talents in Yongle City can be asked to Su Yuyao for a look, and if there is a suitable one, she can consider it.

According to Su Ze, he only has this one sister, so he has to respect Su Yuyao's wishes.

Princess Chenliu also took the initiative to pursue love. She had already had an affair with Su Ze when Su Ze was just a low-level officer in the imperial guards. So it is understandable that Su Ze was thinking.

After all, throughout history, marriage is no less than a second life.
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Su Cho looked out the window with some confusion. The day before and after the Buddha's Birthday was an official holiday, and the General's Mansion was also on vacation. The General's Mansion was actually beating the drum at this time, which seemed to indicate that an extremely urgent military situation had occurred.

Su Cho put down the Buddhist scripture he was copying and hurriedly rode his horse towards the military camp in the city.

When Su Chao arrived, his brother Su Liang had already arrived.

Of the two brothers now, Su Chao is more inclined towards government affairs, while the elder brother Su Liang is more like Su Ze's military and political chief, responsible for the evaluation of the military system and military law and other work.

Therefore, Su Liang knew more about military intelligence than his younger brother, but after meeting his brother, Su Liang was also full of confusion.

"Brother, don't you know why the general beat the drum?"

Su Liang shook his head and said:

"The Xuanjingsi has been separated from the Shogun's shogunate and now reports directly to the Shogun."

Su Chao nodded. It was already quite a favor for the two brothers to be in charge of military and political affairs respectively. If the intelligence work was also in their hands, it would be hard to say whose "Su" this was.

In fact, as Su Ze's system construction became increasingly complete and standardized, the responsibilities of the Su brothers were becoming more and more professional. Many of the affairs they originally handled were gradually handed over and distributed to newly promoted talents.

In fact, Su Liang also took the initiative to hand over his work in Xuan Jingsi. In any era, being in charge of intelligence work is not something that can be tolerated in public, and being in charge of intelligence work for a long time will also make colleagues fear you.

No one likes to work with someone who knows their secrets.

Su Ze readily accepted the advice and replaced Su Bai, who was protecting Li Daoyuan in Qinzhou. Now Su Bai is in charge of the work of Xuan Jingsi and is only responsible to Su Ze.

The civil officials and staff were faster as they did not need to wear armor. The first military general to enter the barracks was Hou Jing, who was about to get married.

Hou Jing was originally a bit rebellious, and now that he was going to marry a daughter of the Li family, he was even more proud among the generals. He invited people to his home to drink and show off every day.

The worst one was Murong Shaozong, because he was also unmarried, and Murong Shaozong was the one who was shown off the most.

Hou Jing walked into the military camp loudly, but when he saw the brothers Su Chao and Su Liang, he immediately shut up and stood aside obediently.

The generals came in one after another, and half an hour after the drum was beaten, Su Ze walked into the big tent on time.

After taking his seat, Su Ze said:
"Prince Guangyang was defeated and the imperial army was annihilated."

Su Ze had no time to hide the question of why the system transmitted messages so quickly. He just asked what secret method Xuan Jingsi had to transmit messages.

Of course, such news must be released as soon as possible, and the Shogun's office must also be prepared to change direction.

Sure enough, when most people heard the news, they showed expressions of shock, panic and disbelief on their faces.

There was no way. In the past three years, Yuan Shen succeeded Li Chong and became the pillar of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Now that this pillar has collapsed, Luoyang will definitely become even more chaotic.

Su Chuo crossed his hands and said:

"General, please send troops to quell the rebellion in Guanzhong as soon as possible!"

All the generals and soldiers came to their senses and followed Su Chao in begging Su Ze to send troops.

Su Ze nodded slightly. Even Hou Jing, a rough man, knew Su Ze's current strategy - "Guanzhong and spy on the world."

The reason why he did not take action in the early stage was, on the one hand, to digest the remnants of the Six Garrisons and complete the preparations before the war. On the other hand, he was also concerned about the court. What if Su Ze really put down the rebellion in Guanzhong and the court summoned him back to Luoyang?
If he goes back then, he will surely be demoted and stripped of his power, and be put on death row like Li Chong was in the past. If he does not go back, it would be tantamount to open rebellion, which would be a loss to the greater good and his reputation.

Now that the government army led by Yuan Shen was defeated, the last direct military force of the Northern Wei court was destroyed. This means that the court has officially lost its authority, and a situation of many heroes fighting for supremacy like that of the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms has been formed.

At this time, even if Su Ze disobeyed orders, the court would be unable to do anything to him, and might even give him an official position to persuade him not to rebel.

If history really has nodes, then Yuan Shen's defeat can be declared the node of the Northern Wei Dynasty's demise.

Even if the Rebellion of the Six Garrisons was quelled after this, the Northern Wei Dynasty was no longer the same Northern Wei Dynasty. From today onwards, any action taken in the name of the court were just attempts by ambitious people to go public through backdoor listing.

All in all, now that the imperial court is just a shell of itself, Su Ze, the powerful figure from Guanzhong, has to start grabbing territory.

Su Ze said:

"Su Cho, the chief secretary of the shogunate."

"Chen is here!"

"After the Buddha Bathing Festival, the daily rest and bathing will be cancelled. All officials will perform their duties and prepare food, fodder, armor, and war horses."

"I accept your order!"

Su Ze looked at Su Liang again and said:

"Military Advisor, Su Liang."

"The minister is here."

"Send the shogunate's military assistant Sima to inspect each camp, enforce strict military discipline, and prepare the army for war."

"I accept your order."

Su Ze called out the names of his generals and asked them to return to the barracks to reorganize their troops.

Everyone else's name was called, except Hou Jing. He was anxious like a monkey on hot pot, thinking that Su Ze didn't take him with him on this expedition because he was going to get married.

But now the system of the Shogun's office is strict, and even someone like Hou Jing doesn't dare to jump out and question Su Ze directly like he did before.

Hou Jing had to wait until the military meeting was over and Su Ze ordered the generals to disperse before he dared to come up and asked with a flattering face:
"General, where is this general?"

Su Ze looked at the monkey face and couldn't help but want to tease it. He smiled and said:

"Hou Jing, you should stay in Yongle City and get married."

When Hou Jing heard this, he couldn't help rubbing his hands and said:

"General, please don't. Getting married is a big deal, but fighting a war is even bigger! Hou Jing wants to make merit for you!"

Seeing Hou Jing's look, Su Cho, who was always serious, smiled. Now, only Hou Jing and a few others could still make jokes with Su Ze.

Su Ze then said:

"It will take a while for the army to gather. You should go back and get married first. I will naturally need you after you get married."

Only after getting Su Ze's promise did Hou Jing feel relieved and then started to smile.

Hou Jing asked again:
"General, who should we beat first?"

Su Ze did not directly answer Hou Jing's question, but nodded and said:

"Of course, I'll beat the one who's easiest to beat."

Hou Jing immediately said:

"I understand!"

When all the generals left, the only ones left were the civil and military officials in Su Ze's core circle.

Su Chao then said:

"General, are you planning to take Mozhe Tiansheng first?"

Su Ze looked at Su Chao and said:

"The one who understands me is Lingchuo."

At this time, Hou Jing looked very proud that he had guessed it right, but Yang Zongjia looked puzzled. He asked:

"General, aren't we going to attack Hu Chen? Hu Chen was just defeated by our army, and he is also the weakest among the forces in Guanzhong. Why are we going to attack Mozhe Tiansheng?"

Hou Jing looked very proud at this time. He stood up and said:

"Didn't the general say it? We should fight the one who is easy to fight! Hu Chen is the best at escaping. Jingzhou is not easy to attack, and anyone who is captured will be a beggar. Of course we have to fight Mo Zhe Tiansheng!"

Hou Jing said again:
"General, when I was in Liangzhou, I got news from the scouts sent by Chencang Road. Mo Zhe Tiansheng relied on the fact that Duke Danyang could not fight and occupied a lot of good land. His father and brother were both killed by you, so wouldn't it be easier to attack him? And attacking him is the most cost-effective. Now all the good land in Yongzhou is occupied by Mo Zhe Tiansheng."

Hou Jing said again:
"And to defeat Mozhe Tiansheng, we can advance from Longxi County, Hezhou, Gaoping County, and Liangzhou at the same time. The general did not transport all the grain from last year to Yongle City, but set up granaries in Jincheng and Hanzhong respectively. Isn't it for this purpose?"

Su Ze raised his head and looked at Hou Jing. This monkey hadn't been seen for half a year, and yet he had grown so much?

(End of this chapter)