Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 440: Plan for Chang'an New City

Murong Shaozong breathed a long sigh of relief.

Erzhu Rong put too much pressure on people. If he went north regardless of the consequences, Hengzhou would have to bear enormous military pressure.

Now that Erzhu Rong has gone to Qingzhou, Su Ze will have a fairly safe opportunity to deal with Du Luozhou in Dingzhou.

Du Luozhou had a long history in the rebel army and was considered a hero of the Second Six Prefectures Rebellion. However, two consecutive generations of leaders, Xianyu Xiuli and Ge Rong, suppressed Du Luozhou, so that he could only live in peace in Dingzhou.

Du Luozhou was not convinced.

After Ge Rong's downfall, Du Luozhou considered himself the most experienced among the Six Garrisons and should naturally take over the legacy of "Great Qi". He even wrote a letter to Han Lou, wanting to become emperor, but was rejected by Han Lou.

Su Ze said:

"Du Luozhou is short-sighted and arrogant. He even detained my envoy. I am going to personally send troops to attack Dingzhou."

When Gao Guiyi was on a diplomatic mission to Youzhou, Su Ze also sent Su Jie [the envoy seeking death] on a diplomatic mission to Dingzhou.

It was not known whether Su Jie had a sense of sarcasm or Du Luozhou did not want to surrender, but after arriving in Dingzhou, Su Jie was detained by Du Luozhou.

After detaining Su Jie, Du Luozhou even sent an envoy to Su Ze, demanding that Emperor Yuan Xu confer the title of King of Qi on him before he would surrender.

Su Ze's subordinates laughed out of anger when they heard the envoy's request.

Who the hell are you, Du Luozhou? Duke Su hasn't even been crowned king yet, and you dare to ask for the title of King of Qi?

Throughout the dynasties, only those who have made great contributions can be crowned as kings. You, Du Luozhou, can't even leave Dingzhou, and you want to be crowned as a king?
When Han Lou surrendered to Su Ze, he took the initiative to ask for the title of king conferred by Ge Rong, and finally got the title of Duke of Ji County conferred by the court.

However, when Du Luozhou sent an envoy, Erzhu Rong's move was uncertain, so Su Ze simply drove the envoy back to Dingzhou and did not immediately raise troops to attack Du Luozhou.

July.

Su Ze raised his army from Hengzhou and attacked Lingqiu from Feihu Pass.

Chen Qingzhi cleared Hanoi, and Pei County Prince Yuan Xin was driven out of Hanoi and led his men to defect to Yuan Tianmu of Ji County.

The original situation of confrontation between the north and the south was instantly divided into the chaotic era of the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms.
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The most chaotic situation was in Yizhou.

Xiao Ji, the governor of Yizhou in Southern Liang, fled all the way to Jiange and joined up with his 10,000 Yizhou soldiers.

As Xiao Ji's secretary Le Fengye had said at the time, the families of the soldiers from Yizhou were all in Chengdu. When they heard that Chengdu had fallen, the morale of the army was largely demoralized.

Xiao Ji regretted not listening to Le Fengye's advice. Now he could no longer command the Yizhou army in Jiange, and it would be dangerous to continue staying in Jiange. These troops, who were eager to return to Chengdu to rescue their families, could capture Xiao Ji and force him to surrender at any time.

Xiao Ji didn't know what to do now. He called his general Fan Sheng and asked:

"This governor intends to recall Wang Sengbian's troops and ask him to retake Chengdu. What do you think, General Fan?"

Fan Sheng expressed his opposition almost instinctively.

Originally, Xiao Ji's invitation of Jingzhou soldiers to lead the attack had already made Fan Sheng and other Yizhou military leaders dissatisfied, which was also the reason why the Yizhou army had been working but not putting in any effort.

If Wang Sengbian were allowed to fight Hou Jing again, Yizhou would not gain any credit this time.

Fan Sheng urged:

"General! The soldiers and civilians of Yizhou are loyal and devoted, and Chengdu is where the families of the generals and soldiers are. How can we not try our best? General, please let me give it a try."

Hearing that Fan Sheng was willing to lead the troops, Xiao Ji couldn't help but be overjoyed.

Fan Sheng added:
"War requires money, food and fodder."

Xiao Ji immediately said:

"General Fan, don't worry about the food and fodder. All the food and fodder in Jiange will be allocated by you."

Fan Sheng secretly cursed Xiao Ji for playing dumb. What he was talking about was "money, food and fodder". Everyone knew that there was enough food and fodder. What he was asking for was a reward of money and food.

For the army, money and food are two completely different things.

It is natural to eat food during a war. During the Five Dynasties, some unruly armies would even rebel against their commander if they were not given food.

But money and silk are different, they represent rewards and these things can be taken back.

Xiao Ji was a man of extravagant character. He collected a lot of treasures in his palace on Mount Qingcheng and did not forget to take them with him when he escaped.

Fan Sheng hoped that Xiao Ji could take out these treasures to reward the soldiers.

Seeing that Xiao Ji was still playing dumb, Fan Sheng said directly:

"Please ask the governor to take out money and silk to reward the soldiers."

Xiao Ji said with difficulty:

"Since ancient times, rewards are only given for victory. If rewards are given before the battle, how can rewards be given after the battle?"

Fan Sheng cursed in his heart, you are already worrying about the reward before the battle even starts. Do you know that if the reward is not given out, the soldiers will not help you fight?

Fan Sheng continued:

"Please be generous with your rewards, so that the soldiers can fight for their lives." Having said that, Xiao Ji couldn't play dumb any more, so he had to say:

"Then please ask General Fan to gather the troops tomorrow, and I will show the rewards to the soldiers."

After hearing that Xiao Ji was going to give him a reward, Fan Sheng went down.

The next day, Fan Sheng had indeed gathered troops with the help of his popularity. Xiao Ji also set up his general tent and appointed Fan Sheng as the commander-in-chief of the Yizhou army on the spot and gave him his own sword.

Then Xiao Ji ordered his men to bring out a few wooden poles, hang the golden cakes on the poles, and said to the soldiers:
"This is the reward from this commander-in-chief. As long as the soldiers fight for their lives, this commander-in-chief will not be stingy with the reward!"

Seeing these gold cakes, the soldiers roared one after another, and everyone wanted to hold these heavy gold cakes in their arms.

Seeing that the army's morale was good, Fan Sheng immediately led his troops to the battle.

But after the army left, Xiao Ji stayed in Jiange. He ordered his men to put away the gold cake, and then he held it greedily and refused to let go.

After the army left with the food and fodder, Xiao Ji remembered Wang Sengbian who was on the front line of attacking Liangzhou, and hurriedly sent someone to inform Wang Sengbian of what happened in Shu.
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Compared to the chaotic situation outside, the Guanzhong region is very peaceful.

After Yu Jin went to Hongnong City, Hou Jing's father-in-law, Li Gou of the Longxi Li family, was appointed as the magistrate of Chang'an and took over the task of building the Chang'an palace.

Today's Chang'an City is the same Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty.

Yu Jin’s main task in Yongzhou was not to build palaces, and the project had not been progressing smoothly.

Li Gou had been serving in the Ministry of Works. When he went to Chang'an, he brought with him his deputy, Su Daye, a general of the Ministry of Works.

It is said that Su Daye was a relative of Duke Su. When he was in the Ministry of Works, he often proposed some unrealistic plans, which caused his colleagues in the Ministry of Works to exclude him.

But Li Gou knew that he was a talented person, and repairing Chang'an City was a huge project that would definitely require the help of professionals.

After Li Gou and Su Daye arrived in Chang'an, they quickly inspected the old city.

As soon as they entered the city, Li Gou and Su Daye saw an astonishing scene.

It just rained yesterday and rainwater accumulated in the city. Due to poor drainage, sewage and rainwater mixed together and spread on the streets. The whole city smelled like shit!

The two men suppressed their nausea and went to check the situation of the Old Palace in Chang'an.

Just as Yu Jin said, the palaces in Chang'an City were severely damaged and basically unusable.

The government offices in old Chang'an have also been occupied by the people. This phenomenon occurred after the war at the end of the Han Dynasty. Many houses have been ancestral properties passed down for generations. What surprised Li Gou the most was that the Honglu Temple of the Han Dynasty had also been occupied by the people. Dozens of families lived in one Honglu Temple, and people had to queue up to get water in the morning.

Don’t even think about taking back such an office.

Li Gou and Su Daye stayed in the city for another day. They both vomited after drinking the water handed to them by their entourage.

It turned out that due to groundwater pollution in Chang'an City, brine accumulated seriously in the wells, and the water had a strange taste when people drank it.

Seeing this situation, Li Gou was also in trouble. How to repair Chang'an City like this?
Su Daye's heart was burning with excitement, and he immediately told Li Gou about the plan he had been thinking about for a long time.

"Grand Lord, since Chang'an is so dilapidated, how can it accommodate the Duke and his palace? It would be better to choose another precious place outside Chang'an and build a new city."

When Li Gou heard Su Daye's plan, he was so scared that he almost jumped up.

You really dare to say that!
Chang'an is an ancient capital as famous as Luoyang and Yecheng, and has served as the capital for several generations.

A new capital city required palaces, government offices, garrisons, city walls, and a water and drainage network throughout the city.

When Emperor Xiaowen built Luoyang City, it took him a full ten years to complete the entire project. However, he only completed the construction of palaces, government offices and some of the markets. It took him another twenty years to perfect Luoyang and fill up the vacant neighborhoods.

This was a new capital built when the Northern Wei Dynasty was at its strongest after undergoing a Sinicization reform and using the strength of the entire country.

Although Guanzhong is more peaceful than other places nowadays, it is not so extravagant as to build a new capital.

Su Daye also knew that it was impossible to become fat in one go, so he said:

"We can follow the example of Emperor Xiaowen and build Jinyong City in the new city first, create a simple palace for your majesty to move to Chang'an first, and then slowly build and fill the new city."

"this?"

Li Gou was somewhat moved.

When Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang, the new city of Luoyang had not been completed, so he lived in Jinyong City to handle government affairs.

After all, Xiazhou Yongle City was too close to the Yellow River and too close to Bingzhou. It was originally a military fortress and was not suitable as a political center.

Moreover, Li Gou had a vague idea that the reason why Duke Su did not enter Luoyang that year was probably because he looked down on Luoyang. If he really conquered the world in the future, he would most likely make Chang'an the capital.

By then, as the builder of the new capital, I will definitely be able to get a higher position.

Li Gou thought for a moment and said:
"We still need to report this matter to the Duke of the County, but we can first look for a suitable location to build a city."

Su Daye pointed at the map and said, "No need to look for it, Longshouyuan in the southeast of Chang'an City is the most suitable place!"

"This place has beautiful mountains and rivers, and is fertile and prosperous. It is a good place to build a city! It faces Zhongnan Mountain and Ziwu Valley in the south, faces the Wei River in the north, and has the Chan River and Ba River and the remains of the Han Dynasty canal in the east. There is a plain in the west of the city. It is a perfect place to build a city!"

(End of this chapter)