My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 167 The storm is coming
Prince Gaoyang, Yuan Yong, immediately stepped forward and showered Yuan Xu with compliments, which greatly pleased Yuan Xu.

Yuan Xu continued, "The Prince of Guangyang proposed that the six towns be changed into prefectures, and that all the refugees from the six towns and the surrendered rebels be resettled in the northern frontier. The court should allocate funds and grain to rebuild the six towns and the two prefectures of Heng and Shuo, and request that the people of Heng and Shuo prefectures and the northern frontier be exempted from taxes for two years."

"I wholeheartedly agree. Two years is probably not enough. In my opinion, taxes should be exempted for three years. What do you all think?"

No one answered.

All the ministers were glancing out of the corner of their eyes at Empress Dowager Hu, who had not yet expressed her opinion.

A flash of anger crossed Yuan Xu's eyes.

He is the emperor! He is the emperor! He is the emperor!
But how many of these ministers actually regarded him as the emperor?
Remembering Yuan Ziyou's words, Yuan Xu could only suppress his anger and looked at Empress Dowager Hu with utmost respect, "What does Your Majesty think?"

Empress Dowager Hu then spoke slowly and deliberately, "If any of you have any good suggestions, you may speak to His Majesty."

As soon as she spoke.

Prince Yuan Hui of Chengyang immediately stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, I feel this is inappropriate."

"Oh? Is there something wrong with it?"

“The Prince of Guangyang is also suspected of harboring bandits to enhance his own power. In the past two years, the court has given the Prince of Guangyang a lot of power in order to quell the rebellion.”

"If the people of the Six Garrisons continue to gather together, and if they rebel again at the slightest mistake, how will the court reclaim the power of the Prince of Guangyang?"

"Since the six prefectures of Heng and Shuo are unable to accommodate these 200,000 people, it would be more appropriate to... transfer them to the three prefectures of Ji, Ding, and Ying for food!"

"Furthermore, in the past two years, the Prince of Guangyang has established great prestige in Heng and Shuo prefectures. In order to prevent him from having any disloyal intentions, Your Majesty should issue an edict to allow the Prince of Guangyang to go to Dingzhou with the people of the Six Garrisons and appoint him as the governor of Dingzhou."

Yuan Hui spoke with reason and conviction, displaying an air of righteous indignation and selflessness.

But the young emperor Yuan Xu knew.

Yuan Hui and Yuan Shen had a grudge. When Yuan Shen was still in Luoyang, he had an affair with Yuan Hui's wife and cuckolded Yuan Hui. Therefore, Yuan Hui held a grudge in his heart, but he spoke in a dignified and reasonable manner, which even the young emperor could not refute.

He had no choice but to avoid the question.

"The Prince of Guangyang also said that this great victory was entirely due to the grain and warhorses sent by Yuan Tianmu. The Erzhu clan also made outstanding contributions. Those who have made contributions should be rewarded. I have decided to appoint Yuan Tianmu as the governor of Bingzhou and Erzhu Rong as the governor of Sizhou. What do you all think?"

Empress Dowager Hu looked at him and then spoke.

“What the Prince of Chengyang said is absolutely right. Let’s proceed according to his suggestion. Your Majesty’s words should also be taken seriously. In my opinion, let’s approve them all.”

………………

"Gao Lang, His Majesty has already issued an order in court to appoint me as the governor of Sizhou."

Erzhu Rong soon received a secret letter from Xi Yi, his trusted confidant in Luoyang. The official documents had not yet been sent over, but Erzhu Rong already knew everything about the affairs of the court.

"Should we resettle the more than 200,000 surrendered civilians from the six garrisons to the three prefectures of Ji, Ding, and Ying for food?"

Gao Yu was extremely surprised when he saw this decision.

Erzhu Rong, however, did not think much of it. "It is also a helpless move by the court. Heng, Shuo and the Six Garrisons certainly cannot support more than 200,000 people. If more people starve to death, there will definitely be more people who will rebel. Ji, Ding and Ying are fertile lands and the granaries of the Great Wei. There is surplus grain there, so at least people will not starve to death."

"Furthermore, Ji, Ding, and Ying prefectures are located in the heart of the Central Plains, where there are many powerful and aristocratic families of Han people. These surrendered people can be absorbed into our own farms. Even if someone causes a rebellion, the retainers of these powerful families can help the court quell the rebellion."

Gao Yu shook his head and asked in return, "Since you know that these three prefectures are fertile lands and the granaries of Great Wei must not be disturbed, if these three prefectures also fall into chaos, where will the imperial army procure grain? If the grain supply is insufficient, how can the imperial court send out a large army to quell the rebellion?"

"As for the Han Chinese aristocratic families? Why would they help the court quell the rebellion?" The court's thinking was simply too naive, and in Gao Yu's view, it was a recipe for disaster.

If powerful clans were willing to sacrifice their strength to help the court quell the rebellion, then the Western Jin Dynasty would not have fled south in the first place.

For these powerful and aristocratic families...

Staying in the fortified village to protect oneself and preserve one's strength is sufficient.

So what if the world outside has changed?

They have the power, and the new dynasty is unlikely to go through the trouble of eliminating them. It's just a matter of changing the emperor, and they can continue to be the superior people they are.

Gao Yu was certain that if chaos broke out in these three prefectures, the scene the imperial court had imagined—where powerful families would send troops to quell the rebellion—would not materialize at all.

Upon hearing this, Erzhu Rong was taken aback at first, but then felt that it made sense. He couldn't help but give Gao Yu a deep look. "These powerful families are truly despicable! They have received imperial favor for generations, yet they do not pay taxes or rations. When the country is in crisis, they do not think of serving their country!"

"The powerful clans monopolized knowledge and books, and were closely connected and deeply intertwined, wielding immense power that even the imperial court could not control."

"According to Gao Lang's words, this move by the court might trigger a rebellion?"

"It is highly likely that Tianbao should first consolidate Sizhou and improve relations with the other two prefects, Yuan Jingzhe and Wei Qingbin. If these three prefectures fall into chaos again, then... Bing, Fen, and Sizhou will be the court's last resort!"

"Very well, then let it be as you say, Gao Lang!"

Gao Yu quickly bowed and pleaded, "Since the court has already issued a decree, my brother and sister-in-law will definitely go to Ji, Ding, and Ying prefectures. Please send someone to these three prefectures to inquire about their whereabouts so that I can bring them to Xiurongchuan and reunite the family."

"Don't worry, Erlang. I also have an old friendship with Dalang. I will send someone to find out the news myself."

"Then thank you, Tianbao!"

........................

July of the first year of Xiaochang (525 AD).

Gao Huan, who had been a bandit for almost a year, had also received the news and learned that the imperial court had changed "Zhengguang" to "Xiaochang".

He gathered everyone together to discuss the matter.

"The imperial court has issued an edict to resettle more than 200,000 of us surrendered people in the three prefectures of Ji, Ding, and Ying for food. What do you think?"

"go with!"

Hou Jing was incredibly excited. "There's nothing to rob here. We're all penniless. Even if we become bandits, we should go to fertile lands. I've heard that Ji, Ding, and Ying are the richest places in the Great Wei. If we can't survive there, we can just go back to the mountains and become bandits!"

Cai Jun nodded and said, "We've heard news of Erlang after so long. Erlang has old ties with the Han elites, so perhaps... he's already there? Why don't we go together!"

Gao Huan nodded. "If that's the case, then let's make preparations in the next couple of days. We'll set off for Dingzhou now and make further plans once we get there. We can also inquire about Erlang's whereabouts."

Two days later, Gao Huan led his people to join the migrating procession, heading in a grand procession towards the three prefectures of Ji, Ding, and Ying.

Except...

Ge Rong, Xianyu Xiuli, Du Luozhou, Huli Jin, Yuwen Luosheng, and others were all in this grand procession.

(End of this chapter)