My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 156 The Heavenly Pillar General's Massive Bleeding
Luoyang, the Imperial Palace.

Inside the Tai Chi Hall.

The young Emperor Yuan Xu looked around at the assembled officials in the hall, but his gaze eventually settled on Yuan Yi and Yuan Yong.

With his help, Yuan Yong gradually acquired the ability to rival Yuan Yi in the court, which was the art of checks and balances that Yuan Ziyou taught him.

He is the true emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty; both power and fame belong to him.

The more balanced the power of Yuan Yi and Yuan Yong, the harder it is to distinguish between them. It is necessary to use the emperor's authority and righteousness to suppress the opponent and force them not to oppose him. In the end, the decision will be handed over to him as the emperor, and he will completely control the imperial power that belongs to him.

"King Zhangwu submitted a memorial stating that within the territory of Sizhou, there is a rebellious subject named Qifu Moyu who has gathered fugitives, usurped the title of king, and caused chaos in Xiurong City. There is also a rebellious subject named Wanyu Qizhen, who was originally the shepherd of Nanxiurong. He killed the Grand Master of the Palace, Lu Yan, and gathered a crowd to rebel. He went to Xiurong to join Qifu Moyu. Now the two traitors have joined forces, and Sizhou is in grave danger. King Zhangwu requests the court to send troops to Sizhou to help quell the rebellion."

"Xue Luan, the governor of Sizhou, also submitted a memorial to the court, requesting that the court quell the rebellion."

Prince Zhangwu, Yuan Jingzhe, was the governor of Sizhou, and Xue Luan was also the governor of Sizhou. Why would there be two suns in one Sizhou?

In fact, under normal circumstances, a state has three governors and three suns. Not only that, a prefecture has three prefects, and a county has three magistrates.

This dates back to the reign of Emperor Daowu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuoba Gui.

As a relatively small nomadic people, after unifying the Central Plains, they sought to consolidate their rule and prevent local rebellions.

Although Tuoba Gui continued to use the previous three-tiered system of 'state, prefecture, and county' in the local official system, he made certain changes and adopted the 'three-chief system', with three governors appointed for each state, divided according to the ratio of one member of the imperial clan and two members of different surnames.

The imperial relatives were similar to military supervisors, overseeing two other governors of different surnames, who were not subordinate to each other.

This is equivalent to setting up multiple layers of firewalls.

If a prefect wants to rebel, he will first be discovered by a prefect who is related to him, and he will also have to persuade another prefect who is not related to him to rebel with him.

It's extremely difficult.

Not to mention that the Great Wei often did things like assigning two people who were openly at odds to the same prefecture as governors.

This is indeed an effective way to prevent local areas from becoming too large.

Similarly, many more 'official positions' have been created out of thin air, with more vacancies for those 'prospective' officials.

Yuan Yi already knew about this, but he remained calm and didn't rush to speak.

This puzzled the young emperor Yuan Xu. Wasn't Yuan Yi always thinking of sending Erzhu Rong to Sizhou?

Now, surprisingly, no one took the opportunity to speak up.

Instead, Yuan Yong spoke up, "Your Majesty, this matter cannot be delayed. We must immediately dispatch troops from the Central Army to Sizhou to quell the rebellion. Currently, Hengzhou and Shuozhou are suffering greatly from the chaos caused by the rebels. If Sizhou falls into chaos as well, Hengzhou and Shuozhou will be attacked from both sides, and the originally promising situation will be lost!"

"Furthermore... Fenzhou and Bingzhou have also suffered as a result. If there are rebellions in these two prefectures, Luoyang will be in grave danger!"

This was truly desperate; the knife was practically at the throats of these Luoyang gentlemen.

Even if the Six Garrisons and even the two prefectures of Heng and Shuo were completely destroyed, none of the court officials or princes would be worried.

Because they are far away, it won't affect them.

But after Sizhou comes Bingzhou, which is directly above Luoyang. Moreover, from a geographical perspective, Bingzhou is high up and overlooks Luoyang, and can send a large army south at any time to trample Luoyang.

Although Luoyang is located in the center of the country, it has no natural defenses around it.

Bingzhou and Fenzhou are the last line of defense north of Luoyang, and they absolutely cannot be allowed to fall into disarray.

Yuan Xu nodded, then looked at Yuan Yi and asked, "I wonder what brilliant ideas the Prince of Jiangyang has?"

Yuan Yi smiled slightly, "I can understand Your Majesty's concerns, but Your Majesty need not worry about this matter."

"Oh? Why? Could it be that the Prince of Jiangyang already has a good plan to defeat the enemy?"

Yuan Yi smiled mysteriously, bowed slightly to Yuan Xu, stood up and took two steps forward to stand in front of the young emperor. He then turned around and looked around with a smug expression, "Qifu Moyu and Wanyu Qizhen, these two traitors, have been executed!"

All the officials and ministers in the court looked astonished.

The official document from the governor of Sizhou was only sent over a few days ago. The court has not yet discussed countermeasures, but Yuan Yi says that the matter has already been quelled.
Could it be that he performed a ritual in Luoyang to have Heaven take away these two traitors?

Yuan Xu was also secretly alarmed, but still pressed on, "How to quell the rebellion?"

Yuan Yi turned around and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten that the Erzhu clan's fiefdom, Xiurongchuan, is located near Xiurong City? Upon learning of the rebellion, the Erzhu clan immediately dispatched its bravest warriors to quell the uprising, and they utterly defeated them! The ringleader was executed, and his head has already been sent over!"

"Someone! Summon General Erzhu Rong!"

Erzhu Rong, who had been waiting outside the hall, slowly walked into the hall, carrying a wooden tray with two sealed wooden boxes on it.

He immediately bowed and said, "Your subject, Erzhu Rong, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

"Get up."

Yuan Xu waved his hand, then asked, "Is this wooden box containing the thief's head?"

"Indeed! I feared that this filthy thing would offend Your Majesty's eyes, so I sealed it in a wooden box."

Yuan Xu had lived in the palace since childhood. Although he would go hunting, he had never actually seen a dead person, but he did not want to be looked down upon.

As the emperor, how could he not even have the courage to look at people's heads?

He took a deep breath and mustered his courage to say, "It's alright, open the wooden box."

"Here!"

Erzhu Rong put down the wooden tray, picked up one of the wooden boxes, and then opened it.

It attracted the attention of many officials and nobles, but after actually seeing it, many people were so frightened that they took several steps back. Yuan Xu, however, suppressed his fear, pretended to be calm, and even forced a smile.

But he was very scared inside, which made his smile seem forced and incongruous.

"Excellent! Erzhu is indeed a descendant of the imperial family and a pillar of the nation."

The Erzhu clan rose to power because they became maternal relatives and were exempted from various taxes; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them imperial relatives.

Yuan Yi then spoke up, “Now, Heng and Shuo prefectures are besieged by the rebels, causing unrest among the people of Si prefecture. Although the rebellion was successfully quelled this time, it is difficult to appease the people of Si prefecture. I implore Your Majesty to appoint Erzhu Rong as the governor of Si prefecture and have him return to Xiurong immediately to gather the brave warriors of his clan to prevent any rebellious people from causing trouble again.”

Yuan Xu was at a loss for words.

He originally planned to follow the example of Yuan Yi's previous attempt to secure the positions of prefect for Yuan Hongye and Yuan Faseng, in exchange for Yuan Yi relinquishing more power within the Imperial Guard, such as arranging trusted individuals like Gao Qian for the position of Director of the Imperial Guard.

But right now.

Yuan Yi's request was reasonable, and Erzhu clan had successfully quelled the rebellion, so they certainly deserved a reward.

I have no suitable reason to refuse.

Just as he was caught in a dilemma, Yuan Yong spoke up again, "In my opinion, this matter is not appropriate."

"What's wrong with that? Erzhu clan has rendered meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion; shouldn't they be rewarded?"

Yuan Yong chuckled and said, "I never said that merit should not be rewarded, why is the Prince of Jiangyang so angry?"

Yuan Yi sneered and retorted, "Then what's wrong with it!"

Yuan Yong suppressed his smile and bowed to Yuan Xu.

Yuan Xu was very satisfied.

This was exactly the effect he wanted. Previously, both Yuan Yi and Yuan Yong were extremely disrespectful in court.

But now the two of them are extremely respectful to me, which is a huge change. It proves that they both have the idea of ​​winning over Emperor Yuan Xu to support them and suppress their opponents.

Yuan Yong spoke up, "Your Majesty, the merits of the Erzhu clan are not solely those of Erzhu Rong; how can they be conflated?"

"The Erzhu clan has rendered meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion and deserves a reward. However, the court has already exempted the Erzhu clan from taxes for a hundred years. The Erzhu clan has already received the Emperor's favor for generations. Sharing the Emperor's burdens and relieving the country's difficulties is simply the Erzhu clan's duty. Why should they be rewarded again?"

Erzhu Rong kept his head down expressionlessly, but a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes as he glanced at Yuan Yong's back.

With just a few words, Erzhu's contributions were wiped out.

The elite Qihu cavalry he had painstakingly trained had suffered a loss of over four hundred men, and Yuan Yong just dismissed them with a few words?
In this Luoyang, you are a prince, you hold great power, you are remarkable...

Damn it, you just wait!

“What the Prince of Gaoyang said makes some sense.”

"Your Majesty, wouldn't such actions dishearten the Erzhu clan?"

Upon hearing this, Erzhu Rong immediately bowed and denied it, saying, "It is a blessing for the Erzhu clan to relieve Your Majesty's worries."

Yuan Xu smiled and said, "I know that Erzhu is loyal to me, and the general is also loyal to me."

Yuan Yi realized he had misspoke. Even if he was going to say something, he shouldn't have said it in Erzhu Rong's presence. He felt slightly embarrassed.

Yuan Yong seized the opportunity, saying, "Your Majesty, it is now the dead of winter, and the rebels in the north are unable to fight. This is a rare chance for Heng and Shuo prefectures to catch their breath."

"Your Majesty should seize this opportunity to quickly send the central army north to provide support, and also send another envoy north to the grasslands to discuss with the Rouran King the matter of marching south to suppress the rebels. Once the harsh winter is over, the rebels will be severely weakened. At that time, a pincer attack from the north and south will surely be able to quell the rebels in the north in one fell swoop!"

"Brilliant, brilliant! The King of Gaoyang's plan is truly ingenious. Even if Zhang Liang and Chen Ping were alive today, they could not have achieved anything like it."

Yuan Xu clapped and cheered repeatedly.

Yuan Yong glanced at Erzhu Rong and then delivered the most heart-wrenching blow!

"Because Mu Ziwan Yuqizhen led the rebels to cause trouble, the warhorses that were supposed to be sent to the north were seized by the rebels. I have heard that the Erzhu family is extremely wealthy. Every time Erzhu Rong returns to Luoyang from Xiurong, he brings countless fine horses to give to the officials in the court."

"The number of warhorses owned by the Erzhu clan was so great that they could be counted by the valleys according to their coat color, and the number of cattle and sheep was countless."

"In the past two years, there have been natural disasters, rebellions by rebellious people, and the confrontation with the Southern Dynasty in the south. The court's finances are already running a deficit."

"Since the Erzhu clan is so wealthy, why not have them prepare warhorses and provide cattle and sheep for the central army to take to Heng and Shuo prefectures to reward the soldiers on the front lines, boost morale, and this can also be considered as the Erzhu clan helping the court quell the rebellion."

Erzhu Rong was burning with rage, but he couldn't find the words to refute her.

Since joining Yuan Yi's tutelage.

There can't be two suns in the sky, so he naturally couldn't send gifts to Yuan Yong's faction again.

Previously, Yuan Yi was powerful, so Yuan Yong dared not use this to attack him.

But right now.

You like giving gifts, right?

Then send more; it won't end up in his pocket anyway.

Yuan Xu was overjoyed, but seeing that Yuan Yi's face had turned ashen while Erzhu Rong remained expressionless, he asked, "Is what the Prince of Gaoyang said true? Is the Erzhu clan really that wealthy?"

Erzhu Rong looked flustered and quickly knelt down to deny it, "Your Majesty, my Erzhu clan was blessed by the late emperor and was able to graze our livestock in the fertile land of Xiurongchuan. We do have many warhorses, cattle and sheep, but it is not as exaggerated as the Prince of Gaoyang said."

Yuan Xu countered with a question, "Then...would the general be willing to share my burdens?"

How could Erzhu Rong possibly refuse?

He gritted his teeth and practically squeezed out a sentence, "Of course I'm willing. As long as I can share His Majesty's burdens, what's wrong with me donating all my family's wealth?"

"Hahaha, General, you flatter me. I am not the kind of person who does not understand my subjects. However, the court is indeed facing a tight budget. Therefore, the Erzhu clan shall be responsible for the warhorses, provisions, cattle, and sheep for this northward expedition."

Erzhu Rong's heart was bleeding!

How many elite Qihu cavalrymen could he train with this money?
But since things had come to this, he could only grit his teeth and nod, saying, "Yes! Your Majesty, on behalf of the entire Erzhu clan, we thank you for granting us the opportunity to relieve Your Majesty's worries."

"it is good!"

Yuan Xu immediately made the decision, and then said, "Issue my decree, ordering Yuan Tianmu, the Imperial Censor, to take charge of the Grand Commandant's duties, carry the White Tiger Banner, and select brave soldiers from the central army to go north and comfort the various armies on my behalf!"

Hear the news.

Yuan Yi's expression changed drastically, and Yuan Yong also turned around to look at the young emperor in astonishment.

Apparently...

This was a personnel appointment that surprised everyone.

Yuan Tianmu's ancestors were not from the same branch as Tuoba Gui. In terms of blood relation with the current young emperor, they were beyond the fifth degree of kinship, making him an absolute marginal figure in the imperial clan.

Just look at his current position and you'll understand.

The Imperial Food Tasting Officer was someone who tasted the emperor's food. If someone poisoned the food, the Imperial Food Tasting Officer would be the first to die.

However, because he could meet with the young emperor every day and deal with him for a long time, he could be considered a confidant.

Many people in high positions also looked at the young emperor, and these shrewd individuals seemed to have figured something out.

Is the young emperor being guided by a mastermind?

He actually copied the ways of his grandfather, Emperor Xiaowen, Tuoba Hong.

Emperor Xiaowen particularly liked to appoint peripheral relatives to key positions to check and balance the imperial relatives in Luoyang.

such as……

Those brothers who were closely related to Emperor Xiaowen by blood would be appointed to various positions or even high positions in the court.

However, key positions such as General of the Army and General of the Palace Guard, who were responsible for the emperor's close protection, would always be filled by someone from a peripheral member of the imperial family.

The purpose is to establish a balance of power!

Yuan Xu's smile faded, and he countered, "Does anyone have any objections to my decree?"

He then raised his voice and said coldly, "Why don't you bring it up?"

Yuan Yong quickly replied, "I have no objection and am willing to obey Your Majesty's decree!"

The high-ranking officials and ministers also bowed down.

Although Yuan Yi was extremely unwilling, he had no choice but to follow suit and bow down.

Yuan Yong certainly wouldn't care.

His power is far from being on par with Yuan Yi.

Today, Erzhu has suffered a massive hemorrhage.

Who doesn't know that Yuan Yi has planted a large number of his trusted confidants in the central army?

Who would the young emperor's trusted confidants choose from among the bravest warriors to go north?
(End of this chapter)