Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 413 Chen Qingzhi's Northern Expedition

Ordinary year six, February.

When the grain price in Jiankang doubled again, Zhu Yi finally took action and announced that the government would purchase grain at market prices.

As if by magic, the originally empty military camp was suddenly filled with food.

Chen Qingzhi was shocked to the extreme. No wonder His Majesty relied on Zhu Yi so much. He really had the ability to accumulate treasures and make money!

However, Chen Qianzhi didn't know that the grain had actually been transported to Jiankang a long time ago, but the merchants who transported the grain got the news in advance and deliberately withheld the grain and refused to sell it.

These merchants even spread rumors in Jiankang, saying that the army would requisition grain before going on an expedition, causing the people of Jiankang to panic and hoard grain.

Zhu Yi waited until the grain price doubled before he announced the purchase of grain. News also spread in the market that Chen Qianzhi's expedition would require a long period of time to transport grain from Jiankang, which triggered a peak in the people's scramble for food.

Food prices have risen by another 30%, and are showing a tendency to remain high.

If it were in the past, the government still had the motivation to stabilize prices, but for the current Southern Liang court, money is just a number.

As long as a few more iron smelters were added to produce iron coins, the court would have endless money.

On the streets of Jiankang, a handsome young man looked at the grain prices in the market, touched the iron coins in his arms, sighed, and left the team.

This man was named Yang Zhong. He was from Six Garrisons. After the first Six Garrisons Rebellion, he fled to Taishan County and met his wife Lu Kutao in Taishan County.

After the marriage, Yang Zhong heard that King Yuan Hao of Beihai was recruiting heroes in Xuzhou, so he took his wife to join him.

He was seven feet and eight inches tall, had a beautiful beard, a sturdy build, and extraordinary martial arts skills. Yuan Hao chose him and made him the captain of his personal army.

When Yuan Hao defected to Southern Liang, Yang Zhong also came to Jiankang.

However, after Yuan Hao arrived in Jiankang, he forgot about Yang Zhong. Yang Zhong had no choice but to stay in Jiankang and make a living by doing odd jobs for others.

When he first came to Jiankang, Yang Zhong had a good time.

At that time, iron coins had just been issued. He relied on his martial arts to do some guard and escort work. His wife, Lu Kutao, also came from a poor family, and helped the rich do some laundry work. The iron coins they earned could buy a lot of food, and they could even eat some meat every now and then.

During his wanderings, Yang Zhong became a devout believer in Buddhism and gave up the idea of ​​continuing to serve in the army. He prepared to live a good life in Jiankang, the Buddhist kingdom on earth.

But the good times did not last long. The good days of Yang Zhong's family did not last long. As more and more iron money appeared in the market, although the money earned by Yang Zhong and his wife was about the same as before, the things they could buy became less and less.

In order to maintain her original life of food and clothing, Lu Kutao had to get up early and work late to wash clothes, and her hands were soaked and rotten.

Yang Zhong also had to take on those escort missions on long journeys that he was originally unwilling to take, so that he could make ends meet.

This time, the rise in food prices completely crushed Yang Zhong's family.

Food prices are the cornerstone of all prices, and most commodity prices are linked to food prices.

The price of grain has increased, and there is no reason why the prices of meat and vegetables should not increase. If meat is cheaper than grain, wouldn’t that be a joke of “Why not eat meat porridge?”

Once food prices go up, everything will go up in price, including daily necessities like linen and firewood.

The only thing that has not increased in price is the wages of ordinary people.

There were so many people pouring into Jiankang City that Yang Zhong heard a rich man say to them in a domineering manner, "If you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will do it!"

Yang Zhong thought about it and decided that it would be better to join the army.

He said to his wife:

"Ku Tao, I heard that General Chen Qingzhi will escort Beihai King Yuan Hao to Luoyang to ascend the throne. I want to go and ask the king to let me join the army again."

Lü Kutao had tears in her eyes. Yang Zhong hugged his wife and said:

"General Chen's army is equipped with armor and war horses. If I join the army, I can sell my armor and weapons and exchange them for some food. When I return from the army and get a position, I will take you to enjoy life."

Lu Kutao originally didn't want her husband to join the army, but if they continued like this, they would either starve to death or die of exhaustion, so she had no choice but to nod and agree.

Things went very smoothly afterwards. Yuan Hao was going to return to Luoyang to ascend the throne, and naturally he had his own team. He remembered Yang Zhong, the brave young man with beautiful beard, and happily took him under his command and personally introduced him to Chen Qianzhi.

After Chen Qingzhi tested Yang Zhong's martial arts, he recruited him into the army as a captain and gave him a piece of silk to leave for his wife.

On February 15th, Chen Qingzhi swore an oath to his troops outside the city of Jiankang.

The seven thousand soldiers were all wearing white robes, which fluttered in the spring breeze.

The people of Jiankang also went out of the city to watch the army go out. They were all impressed by Chen Qianzhi's army and cheered.

Xiao Yan also raised the imperial carriage and personally ascended the platform.

Xiao Yan was the great emperor and Yuan Hao was the child emperor. The ritual officials thought about it for a long time and finally came up with an incongruous ceremony for Yuan Hao's enthronement. The twelve tassels of the emperor's crown were changed to nine tassels, and Xiao Yan presented the crown to Yuan Hao.

After this awkward ceremony for both parties, Xiao Yan personally bestowed upon Chen Qingzhi the sword for making decisions on the spot, and also gave him the military flag.

Originally, the army needed to offer three animals as sacrifices before going to war, but since Xiao Yan became a Buddhist, he no longer used living animals for sacrifice. After completing a set of rituals to worship the god of war Chi You with the singing of the ritual officials, Chen Qingzhi drew his sword and announced the march.

Yang Zhong stood in the army and looked back at Jiankang City. For some reason, he had a strange premonition and he didn't know whether he could return to Jiankang City.
-
Also in February, Erzhu Rong returned to his loyal city of Jinyang.

When he returned to Jinyang City, Erzhu Rong was obviously much more relaxed. Compared to the intrigues in Luoyang, he preferred the feeling of preparing for war in Jinyang.

Gao Huan had been leaving home early and returning late these days, and even neglected Lou Zhaojun, who had just become pregnant, which attracted a lot of complaints. His wife, who was originally considerate and shared joys and sorrows, became increasingly irritable after she became pregnant, and even beat up a maid, which Gao Huan could not understand.

It just so happened that there were a lot of things going on in the army during this period, so Gao Huan simply stayed in the military camp.

After today's military meeting ended, Liu Gui grabbed Gao Huan.

"He Liuhun, Brother Heba has also returned to Jinyang today. Would you like to meet at my house?"

Among the Heba brothers, Heba Sheng was left near Luoyang to guard Hangu Pass and naturally would not come back. The one Liu Gui was referring to was Heba Yun who guarded Yanmen Pass, and Heba Yue who was sent by Erzhu Rong to guard Jingxing.

Hearing this, Gao Huan immediately realized something and said:
"The general has recalled Heba Yue. Does that mean he is not going to go to Jingxing anymore?"

Liu Gui said:

"When a man has been away for three days, he should be looked at with new eyes. When did He Liuhun become able to see the big picture from the small details?"

"Brother Liu, please stop laughing at me. The general has called back Heba Yue who was stationed in Jingxing. He will definitely not go through Jingxing. It seems that he will go through Fukouxing. Is he going to attack Yecheng directly?"

Liu Gui was a close confidant of Erzhu Rong and was responsible for the logistics of Erzhu Rong's army. In fact, he had received specific orders long ago.

He responded to Gao Huan with an approving look, and Gao Huan immediately understood what he meant. It seemed that his guess was correct. Erzhu Rong was going to attack Yecheng directly and have a decisive battle with Ge Rong.

"He Liuhun deserves an important position!"

Liu Gui had his reasons for saying this. Gao Huan had once fought for Yecheng under Ge Rong. He also had a certain reputation in Jizhou and the support of the Gao family, a prominent family in Jizhou. If Erzhu Rong chose Yecheng as his strategic direction, he would have to use Gao Huan, who was familiar with the situation in Yecheng.

Gao Huan said quickly:

"I will never forget the kindness that Brother Liu gave me that day!"

"When you become famous in the future, just don't lose Liu's wealth and honor."

It's strange to say, Liu Gui obviously has a higher status in the Erzhu Rong group, but he said such words to Gao Huan, and there was no sense of incongruity.

Gao Huan was secretly excited. If the strategic focus was on Yecheng, then he would have a stage to perform.

But Gao Huan became worried again. Although Yecheng had been in ruins after several wars, Ge Rong had so many troops after all. If he really defended the city, Jinyang's troops would not be able to take it down.

Does the general have any good ideas?

Gao Huan couldn't think of any strategy that Erzhu Rong had to defeat the enemy.

He was pulled into Liu Gui's home, and Gao Huan met Heba Yun, whom he had not seen for a long time.

Heba Yun used to be Gao Huan's military commander and was considered Gao Huan's old superior. Gao Huan paid homage to Heba Yun with a military salute from a subordinate, but was then pulled up by Heba Yun.

"Now that we are both under the command of the general, He Liuhun does not need to be so polite."

Compared with Heba Yun's enthusiastic attitude, Heba Yue was much colder.

Among the three Heba brothers, Heba Yun was the closest to Gao Huan. When they were in the Six Garrisons, it was Heba Yun who recommended Gao Huan.

The relationship between Heba Sheng and Gao Huan was average, but as they were both from the Six Garrisons, they still had some ties of kinship.

The only person who was at odds with Gao Huan was Heba Yue.

When Gao Huan was in the stable, he once suggested that Erzhu Rong raise an army to purge the court of corrupt officials. When Heba Yue, who was guarding Jingxing, learned about this, he immediately wrote a letter to Erzhu Rong, asking him to kill traitors like Gao Huan.

The reason is very simple. Heba Yue hated Gao Huan's repeated betrayals and thought that Gao Huan was an erratic villain.

In fact, Liu Gui also wanted to ease the relationship between Gao Huan and Heba Yue when he organized this meeting.

It's a pity that the two still had little communication at the table. Even though Liu Gui and Heba Yun tried to ease the relationship, Heba Sheng still didn't look Gao Huan in the eye.

Seeing that there was no hope of easing the relationship, Liu Gui said:
"I came here today to ask the three of you to take care of my son."

"?"

The three were stunned.

Liu Gui said:

"The general asked me to go on a diplomatic mission to Ge Rong."

Everyone was shocked. Ge Rong was the leader of the rebel army in the Six Garrisons and was irreconcilable with the government army. It was no wonder that Liu Gui had to entrust his relatives with the task, as it was a life-threatening mission.

Liu Gui said:

"The general wants to challenge the upright Ge Rong to a duel."

Make a fight?

Heba Sheng and Heba Yun immediately said:
"Is the general confused? The enemy army is large and our army is small. The enemy army is an infantry that is easy to line up, while our army is a mobile cavalry. How can we give up our advantages and challenge the enemy army to a battle?"

But Gao Huan was silent for a long time, and finally said:
“Maybe this is how our army will win.”

(End of this chapter)