Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 454: Luoyang is broken again and again
Gao Huan pointed to the Yellow River not far away and said:

"General, we are here to attack the traitor Yuan Hao, not to fight to the death with Chen Qingzhi. Although the Southern Army is brave, they do not have the determination to defend Luoyang to the death."

"But if there were no fake court in Luoyang, the southern bandits would not be able to gain a foothold in Hanoi."

"So our army only needs to cross the Yellow River and attack Luoyang."

Gao Huan's plan soon gained the support of many generals.

Even Erzhu Rong was somewhat tempted.

Instead of fighting to the death with Chen Qingzhi in Ji County, it is better to attack Luoyang directly.

After cutting off Luoyang, the Henei area south of the Yellow River was surrounded by the Erzhu family's forces.

No matter how good Chen Qianzhi was at fighting, he could not independently support himself in the Hanoi region where he had no foundation.

But there was also a problem facing Erzhu Rong - he had no boat.

The Yellow River flooded and almost all the floating bridges on the river were washed away. Without a boat, he had no way of crossing the river.

At this moment, someone suddenly reported that Xi Yi, who stayed in Anyang, had come to the camp.

Erzhu Rong frowned. He left Xi Yi in Anyang so that he could keep an eye on Emperor Yuan Ziyou.

Why did he leave Anyang and come to his own camp?
But after all, he is his confidant and cousin, so maybe something big happened in Anyang.

Erzhu Rong waved his hand and had someone bring Xi Yi in.

When everyone saw Xi Yi, they all showed disapproving expressions, and the contempt in the eyes of the Heba brothers could no longer be hidden.

There was no way. Xi Yi had no military merits, and within a military merit group like Erzhu Rong, he would definitely be looked down upon by the generals going to the battlefield.

Xi Yi saw all of this, suppressed his anger, and said to Erzhu Rong:
"General Tianzhu, before leaving Luoyang, His Majesty ordered General Fubo Yang Yu to collect the ships near Luoyang."

Erzhu Rong was somewhat surprised to hear this, but Yuan Tianmu, who was also familiar with Luoyang affairs, said:

"I heard that a few days ago, Yang Yu took his ships and surrendered to Hedong County."

I only heard Xi Yi say:
"Although General Fu Bo Yang Gui has already surrendered to Su Ze, his Changshui Captain Yang Xie led the fleet to withdraw to Fangtou Shijijin."

Hearing this, the generals in the tent finally smiled. If there really were boats, the army would not have to fight with Chen Qianzhi and could directly attack Luoyang.

But Chen Qianzhi had no boat, so he had no way to cross the Yellow River.

When the puppet regime in Luoyang was eliminated, the army of Southern Liang would no longer have any reason or capital to stay in Henei. At that time, Henei would be surrounded by the forces of the Erzhu family and there would be no room for resistance.

This was the plan proposed by Emperor Yuan Ziyou when he was escaping.

Xi Yi also smiled. Although the plan was proposed by the emperor, without his support and operation, the emperor's plan would have no possibility of being realized.

General Fu Bo Yang Yu and Captain Chang Shui Yang Xie were uncle and nephew. The naval ships collected in Luoyang were divided into two and surrendered to Erzhu Rong and Su Ze respectively.

Betting on both sides is a common method used by aristocratic families. As long as there are people at the card table, the family will prosper.

The same was true of their Xi family. After Xi Kangsheng's branch was exterminated, they fled to Xiurong and joined Erzhu Rong.

But Erzhu Rong suddenly said:

"Is this your majesty's plan?"

Xi Yi nodded.

Erzhu Rong said to Xi Yi:

"You also think that His Majesty's plan is feasible, so you went to recruit Yang Xie in His Majesty's name?"

Xi Yi nodded, but Erzhu Rong suddenly raised his voice and asked:

"Why go in the name of His Majesty?"

Xi Yi was stunned. When they were escaping from Luoyang, the country was in chaos and war. The name of Emperor Yuan Ziyou would be most useful at such a time. Of course, he should use the emperor's name, right?

Although Xi Yi had some tacit understanding with the emperor and made some small moves in private, for now, the interests of Yuan Ziyou and Erzhu Rong were the same.

Yuan Ziyou's original position was very delicate. The legitimate emperor Yuan Xu was in Guanzhong, and he was forcibly established as emperor by Erzhu Rong.

Although Erzhu Rong deposed the young emperor Yuan Xu in the name of Empress Dowager Hu, it was obvious who had more legitimacy.

At least by relying on Luoyang City, some legitimacy was maintained.

After being driven out of Luoyang City by Chen Qianzhi, Yuan Ziyou's legitimacy became shaky.

This is also the reason why Yuan Ziyou was willing to help Erzhu Rong to come up with ideas and retake Luoyang City.

Erzhu Rong's gaze wandered around the big tent and finally fell on Gao Huan, who proposed the plan to cross the river and attack Luoyang.

Gao Huan was so frightened that he knelt down and said to Erzhu Rong:
"General! I have no contact with Your Majesty or Lord Xi! We are not in cahoots with each other!"

Gao Huan didn't care too much. He was the first person among everyone present to figure out Erzhu Rong's thoughts. If he didn't draw a clear line now, he would be doomed.

Erzhu Rong's attitude towards Emperor Yuan Ziyou was very clear.

Yuan Ziyou was too capable as a puppet emperor.

When in Luoyang, Erzhu Rong had limited the emperor's influence by keeping him in the palace and not allowing him to meet with outsiders. But this time, Luoyang was broken and the emperor fled, which weakened his control over Yuan Ziyou.

Whether Xi Yi did this intentionally or unintentionally, these actions helped Yuan Ziyou increase his influence.

This was something Erzhu Rong could not tolerate.

What Erzhu Rong could not tolerate even more was the collusion between his subordinates and the emperor.

Gao Huan already felt guilty about the Gao Aocao incident, and now he wanted to distance himself from the matter on the spot.

This time Xi Yi's face changed. He didn't expect that his good intentions would arouse Erzhu Rong's suspicion.

Erzhu Rong thought for a moment and said:
"Replace all the palace servants and personal guards who serve His Majesty."

"Erzhu Shilon, from today on, you are the general of the imperial guard. You will lead a hundred cavalrymen to Anyang to protect the emperor."

Xi Yi felt a chill in his heart, he really messed up.

The General of the Imperial Guard was the commander of the imperial palace guards, and this position was originally given to Xi Yi by Erzhu Rong.

Now that this position was directly awarded to Erzhu Shilon, Erzhu Rong's dissatisfaction with Xi Yi was obvious.

However, Xi Yi did offer advice and made contributions after all, and Erzhu Rong felt that Xi Yi might not have any ulterior motives in helping the emperor.

So after hitting him with a stick, Erzhu Rong threw out another sweet date. He said to Xi Yi:

"Xi Yi made a great contribution by offering advice, and his city will be increased by 5,000 households."

When Xi Yi heard about this reward, he did not feel happy at all. Instead, he hated Erzhu Rong even more.

In fact, at this time, Xi Yi may not have the idea of ​​betraying Erzhu Rong.

He was close to the emperor simply because he was from a noble family with the surname Jia and had lived in Luoyang before, so he was naturally close to the emperor.

Yuan Ziyou also had good personal charm, which made Xi Yi feel the rare respect in the Erzhu Rong group. Only then was he willing to do things that were beneficial to Emperor Yuan Ziyou within the scope of his authority.

For example, helping the emperor recruit some manpower, or helping the emperor do some simple things.

Xi Yi even paralyzed himself, thinking that what he did was to ease the relationship between Erzhu Rong and Yuan Ziyou.

But it was not until today that Xi Yi realized that there was no possibility of easing the tension between Erzhu Rong and Yuan Ziyou.

Come to think of it, it would be impossible for a powerful minister in the prime of life and a young monarch who is unwilling to be the king of a fallen country to coexist peacefully.

All we can say is that Xi Yi, like Xi Kangsheng who was executed, was too naive politically.

Erzhu Rong looked at his cousin, and after calming down, he also eliminated his doubts about Xi Yi.

Xi Yi's current status was given to him by Erzhu Rong. It would be of no benefit to Xi Yi if he betrayed him.

Erzhu Rong warned his cousin, hoping that he could correct his position and not be too close to Yuan Ziyou.

However, Erzhu Rong did not calculate the mind of his cousin. This time, being criticized by Erzhu Rong in front of all the generals made Xi Yi feel even more embarrassed.

Both he and the emperor had good intentions. It would have been fine if he had not been rewarded, but he was even insulted like this!
Xi Yi felt extremely humiliated and he lowered his head to accept the "reward" from Erzhu Rong.

Erzhu Rong then sent Heba Yue to Fangtou to meet up with Yang Xie's navy. After confirming that Yang Xie was sincere in his surrender, Heba Yue brought Yang Xie's navy to meet up with Erzhu Rong.

At this time, Chen Qingzhi, who was opposite Erzhu Rong, also discovered Erzhu Rong's unusual movements. He sent troops several times to try to stop Erzhu Rong, but was intercepted by Gao Huan sent by Erzhu Rong. Chen Qingzhi's army had begun to lack food and epidemics were also spreading, so Chen Qingzhi could only retreat to Ji County for defense.

Chen Qingzhi also sent his men to cross the Yellow River in small boats to inform Yuan Hao in Luoyang City and ask him to immediately organize an army to defend Luoyang City.

But only God knows whether Yuan Hao can defend Luoyang City.

After receiving the news from Chen Qingzhi, Yuan Hao was also very frightened.

Chen Qianzhi's troops were now south of the Yellow River. Heavy rains had destroyed all the floating bridges over the river, and all the ships had been taken away by General Yang Biao.

If you want to defend Luoyang City, you can only rely on yourself.

Yuan Hao only remembered to summon his ministers at this time, but he soon discovered that as his trusted aides behaved recklessly, almost all the capable ministers in Luoyang City had fled!

Yuan Hao sent people to look for his prime minister Yuan Yu. When they arrived at Yuan Yu's mansion, they found that Yuan Yu and his family had already left.

Yuan Hao could only summon his favorite ministers, grant them official titles and promise them promises, and let them lead troops to guard Luoyang City.

However, these treacherous people are good at flattery and oppression of the people, but they do not have the courage to fight a decisive battle with Erzhu Rong.

Yuan Hao asked people to recruit soldiers again. Luoyang City suffered from floods and epidemics, and the remaining people had long hated Yuan Hao.

The officers who were recruiting soldiers were beaten so badly that they could not leave the neighborhood.

After finally gathering 3,000 soldiers, Yuan Hao appointed his cousin, General Yuan Guanshou, as the general to lead the troops to guard Hulao.

He also ordered General Yang Zhong to guard the imperial palace and load all the gold, silver and jewelry that had been searched in recent days onto the carriages.

But before Yuan Guanshou took office, Erzhu Rong had already led his troops to the city of Luoyang.

The soldiers guarding the city gate could not see how many people there were, and were frightened by Erzhu Rong's reputation, so they let Erzhu Rong rush into Luoyang city!

(End of this chapter)