Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 405 Heyin
The chief of the guards ordered to guard the new emperor was Gao Huan.

After the setback in Beizhong City, Gao Huan failed to gain military merit, but Erzhu Rong still thought highly of him and asked him to come to Huiyindian to guard the new emperor.

It's a good job, but also a tough job.

The work that leaders value is good work, and it is also the work that is easiest to achieve results.

It was because Gao Huan patrolled day and night and did everything personally that he was able to keep a close eye on Yuan Ziyou.

But this was also a tough job, not just because the work was hard, but because this made Gao Huan an outlier among his colleagues, and he suffered countless ridicules behind his back.

There was no other way but to purge the court and imprison the emperor. There were also some people within the group who sympathized with the Wei Dynasty. Some people also had to bear the moral burden by doing this.

But of course we cannot curse our lord about this matter. After all, everyone has benefited from this coup.

Then the fact that Gao Huan had once suggested moving south was dug up, and coupled with the fact that he was now in charge of guarding the emperor, and that he had betrayed his master many times along the way, he was naturally criticized on the moral high ground.

Gao Huan also knew this, but in order to make progress he had no choice but to endure it.

Coming from a humble background, he could only cling to Erzhu Rong.

"Attendant Su."

Although Gao Huan was responsible for imprisoning Yuan Ziyou, he was very polite to the new emperor. He was also equally polite to Su Shun, the eunuch beside the new emperor, and always referred to him as a "constant attendant."

Although the Northern Wei Dynasty did not have the position of Changshi, the deeds of the Ten Changshi at the end of the Han Dynasty were so powerful that the term Changshi is still used to refer to the eunuchs in power.

"General Gao, your majesty misses his family and wants to invite the King of Pengcheng and the King of Shiping to the palace to see him. Could you please ask the King of Taiyuan?"

Su Shun was good at observing people's words and expressions. He knew that although Gao Huan was polite to him, he was a loyal dog of Erzhu Rong. It would be useless to beg Gao Huan for such a thing. He could only ask him to ask Erzhu Rong for help.

Gao Huan thought about it and was unwilling to completely offend the new emperor, so he said:

"This general can only give it a try. If King Taiyuan doesn't allow it, there is nothing I can do."

"Thank you, General!"

Gao Huan did not just give Su Shun a perfunctory response, but actually asked for an audience with Erzhu Rong and conveyed Yuan Ziyou's request to him.

Erzhu Rong's expression did not change at all, but he asked:

"Your Majesty, are you going to see these two?"

Gao Huan nodded repeatedly, and Erzhu Rong asked again:
"Besides these two, who else has Your Majesty shown closeness to?"

Gao Huan thought for a moment and said:
"Your Majesty admires Confucianism and highly respects Wang Zunye, the Huangmen official who preaches Confucian classics, and often praises his knowledge."

"Let the King of Pengcheng and the King of Shiping enter the palace, but arrange for someone to record the conversation between your majesty and them, and send it to me immediately no matter how late it is."

"only!"

In the next few days, King Pengcheng and King Shiping went to the palace every day to see Yuan Ziyou, but every time they discussed some daily matters, basically some trivial matters between the kings of Luoyang.

In addition to the two Wangs, Huangmen Lang Wang Zunye also began to teach some content other than Confucian classics, which Gao Huan could not understand, so he could only urge the Confucian scholars to record them.

Gao Huan recorded every detail and then sent it to Erzhu Rong in Yongning Temple. Erzhu Rong praised Gao Huan for his good work, but did not stop Yuan Ziyou from contacting these people.

Time soon came to the day before the grand ceremony of state and country.

Five-colored soil refers to pure natural soil in five colors: green, red, yellow, white and black.

The Sheji Altar, built with five-colored soil, symbolizes people's worship of the land, and expresses the meaning of "All under heaven belongs to the king."

In the past, a grand ceremony for the state and the people was held every New Year. However, after the death of Emperor Xuanwu, the young emperor was still young, so the ceremony for the state and the people was performed by the princes on his behalf, and its importance declined a lot.

Erzhu Rong had sent Heba Sheng to the suburbs to repair the Five-Colored Altar of Land and Grain in advance, and Heba Sheng had been busy until today when he returned to report.

In the Buddhist hall of Yongning Temple, a Buddha statue several meters tall looked down at all living beings. Erzhu Rong stood in front of the statue with his hands behind his back and his head held high, while Gao Huan followed behind Erzhu Rong.

The three Heba brothers were all friends with Gao Huan, but their attitudes towards him were not exactly the same.

Heba Sheng had always been somewhat rival to Gao Huan in the army. Now that he heard that Gao Huan had become a lackey who imprisoned the emperor, Heba Sheng looked down on him even more.

The three Heba brothers had impeccable resumes. They were forced to defect from Hengzhou to Erzhu Rong due to the situation. Moreover, Erzhu Rong was also an official of the court at the time, which did not hinder the loyalty of the three brothers.

As Heba Sheng also came from the Six Garrisons, he could understand and sympathize with Gao Huan's experience of being "forced to follow the bandits", but now Gao Huan was persecuting the royal family on his own initiative in order to gain power.

This also shows that the Great Wei still has weight in the hearts of various forces. At least, the emperor should not be insulted easily, which is still the consensus of the people in the world.

After listening to Heba Sheng's report on the repair of the Five-Colored Altar of Land and Grain, Erzhu Rong looked at the Buddha statue and asked Gao Huan beside him:
"Have you figured out what the people Your Majesty has been dealing with and what they have been saying these days?"

Gao Huan broke out in a cold sweat. He knelt down and said:
"My Lord, spare my life!"

Erzhu Rong said coldly:

"You are loyal to your duty, why should I spare your life?"

Although he said so, Erzhu Rong did not let Gao Huan stand up, but asked:

"Tell me what you think." Gao Huan said with a stiff face:

"The Prince of Pengcheng and the Prince of Shiping have been in the palace these days. The princes they talk about on a daily basis should be the followers that the two princes secretly made friends with after they understood your majesty's hints."

Erzhu Rong nodded and said:
"Since you know, why don't you report it to me?"

Gao Huan kowtowed and begged for mercy:
"My lord, please spare me! These subordinates are just guessing, and have no evidence. I am afraid that their reckless remarks will alienate the relationship between the king and his subjects!"

Erzhu Rong softened his attitude and said:
"Get up, I understand your thoughts."

"Everyone around me is like this. The Great Wei has been working in Luoyang for twenty years, let alone the others in Luoyang?"

"Have you written down the list?"

Gao Huan nodded repeatedly, and Erzhu Rong continued:

"You visit each person on the list one by one and make sure that everyone on the list will attend the state ceremony tomorrow, and I will forgive you."

Gao Huan thanked him quickly:

"Thank you, my lord! Thank you, my lord!"

"There is also Huangmen Lang Wang Zunye, who will accompany Your Majesty to the Altar of Land and Grain."

"only!"

When Gao Huan left, Heba Sheng felt his hands and feet cold. Although he didn't know what Erzhu Rong was going to do, given his lord's character, he was afraid that no one on the list would have a good ending.

He wanted to advise, but didn't know how to start.

This is the downside of the group founder having too high a reputation.

When everyone in the group follows this person's decision, no advice will work.

The 8,000 soldiers and horses in Luoyang are all loyal to Erzhu Rong. Who can stop him from doing what he wants?

As the saying goes, "The overlord is often arbitrary, and the Duke of Pei is often consulted by many people." Did Liu Bang not want to be arbitrary? It was because he did not have the ability to do so in the early stage of his business.

Erzhu Rong said coldly:

"I gave them a chance, but they didn't cherish it."

"Heba Sheng, who do you think the Buddha will hold responsible for this debt?"

Heba Sheng lowered his head, unable to give Erzhu Rong an answer.

Erzhu Rong said to himself:
"Every cause has its own effect. Today's cause and tomorrow's effect are all their own fault."
-
The next day, Erzhu Rong changed into a dragon robe, hung a sword on his waist, and rode a BMW.

Under the escort of soldiers, the emperor's sedan chair came out of the palace and headed towards the Five-Colored Altar of Land and Grain on the bank of the Yellow River.

In addition to the emperor, the empress, and the ceremonial officials in charge of the grand ceremony of state and country, including Gaoyang Prince Yuanyong, Hejian Prince Yuanchen, Sikong Yuanqin, Yiyang Prince Yuanlue and other kings who stayed in Luoyang, Huangmen Lang Wang Zunye also followed behind the imperial sedan chair.

Most of these people were "invited" by Gao Huan who brought his troops to their homes yesterday.

But they really had no reason not to come. This was not only a grand ceremony to worship the country and the gods, but also a ceremony to enthronize the new emperor. It was just that the coronation ceremony was not held in the imperial palace, but was held together with the ceremony to worship the country and the gods. This was the first time.

Yuan Ziyou's two brothers, Yuan Zinene, Prince of Pengcheng, and Yuan Zizhen, Prince of Shiping, also followed on horseback behind the imperial sedan chair.

Officials from the three provinces and thirteen departments, the meritorious military officers who remained in Luoyang, and their followers, a mighty force of thousands of people, headed towards Heyin.

The only important person absent was Empress Dowager Hu. The reason given to the public was naturally that the Empress Dowager was in poor health.

In order to "protect" these princes, nobles and officials, Erzhu Rong mobilized two thousand cavalry to "escort" everyone to the altar for the grand ceremony.

After riding for a while, the pampered princes such as Prince Gaoyang Yuan Yong couldn't stand it anymore. The Yuan family, which had conquered the world, had some young princes who couldn't even ride a horse. It was also thanks to Gao Huan's careful preparation that he had prepared the carriage in advance.

The journey was supposed to take an hour, but the group finally arrived at noon. Erzhu Rong waved his whip and pointed at the riverbank not far away and said:
"Go over there and rest for a while."

Some people complained and were unwilling to move forward. At this time, Gao Huan and his group of guards knights rode forward. Everyone could only swallow their complaints and obediently followed Erzhu Rong to the river bank.

By now some people had sensed that something was wrong, but when they tried to escape, they were surrounded by Erzhu Rong's cavalry and driven back into the crowd.

Yuan Ziyou, who was sitting on the imperial sedan chair, looked pale. He had some bad guesses in his mind. Could it be that Erzhu Rong was going to hold a ceremony of abdication here?

Why do you want to establish yourself as the emperor if you want to abdicate? Wouldn't it be better to just establish a puppet emperor?

Yuan Ziyou could not figure out Erzhu Rong's intention. Driven by two thousand cavalry, more than a thousand Luoyang dignitaries finally climbed onto the river bank.

By the time everyone climbed up the riverbank, Erzhu Rong had already left the riverbank with Yuan Ziyou's imperial sedan chair. Riding on a white horse, Erzhu Rong shouted to the dignitaries on the riverbank:

"dismount!"

Everyone had realized that something was wrong, but with Erzhu Rong's order to dismount, two thousand cavalrymen stepped forward and surrounded the river bank.

(End of this chapter)