Chapter 167 Helian Bobo's Strict Selection (5k)
Hu Xia was founded by Helian Bobo, a famous murderer during the Sixteen Kingdoms period.
Su Ze then remembered that Hu Xia started out in Xiazhou, but also once occupied Guanzhong.
When Liu Yu entered Guanzhong during the Northern Expedition, he suddenly encountered a major change. Liu Muzhi, his most trusted deputy in the Eastern Jin court, died of illness. Liu Yu had not yet usurped the throne at that time, and he was already quite old, so he could only hurriedly return to the south to prepare to usurp the throne.
Liu Yu could only leave his son and generals to continue guarding Chang'an, which gave Helian Bobo, who had always coveted Chang'an, an opportunity.
Wang Maide, a counselor under Helian Bobo, suggested that Helian Bobo immediately attack Guanzhong after Liu Yu's army retreated, and finally occupied the entire Guanzhong in one fell swoop.
However, after Helian Bobo's death, the Northern Wei Dynasty quickly conquered the Hu Xia capital, Tongwan City. The Hu Xia lingered in the Heliang area for a few more years, but was eventually conquered and destroyed by the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Therefore, it is normal to find Helian Bobo’s sword and guards in Guanzhong.
Just this [Daxia Dragon Bird]?
It is recorded in the "Book of Jin" that when Liu Yu conquered Guanzhong, he fought with the Hu Xia and obtained this sword. The sword was then brought back to the south and became a royal collection of the Southern Dynasty. Now it should have been passed to the hands of Xiao Yan, the Emperor of Southern Liang.
However, after the end of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, this knife was never seen in history books again, and it must have been lost.
Then, is the [Daxia Dragon Bird] in his hand a replica of the system? Or is it a precious sword forged by Helian Bobo himself?
Su Ze had no way of being sure, but what was certain was that this Great Xia Dragon Bird was a sword that could cut through iron like mud, and the [Great Xia Dragon Bird Bodyguard] that he had obtained was a loyal guard.
Su Ze gave the Great Xia Dragon Bird to this new follower and said, "From now on, you will stay by my side and protect me."
"only!"
The next two purple followers are also related to Helian Bobo.
【The City Builder of Tongwan City】
Grade: Purple;
Effect: Fortified City. The city walls repaired and built by this follower will be stronger than ordinary city walls.
Comment: "When Helian Bobo was building a city, he steamed the earth to build the capital. If an iron spike penetrated an inch into the city, he would kill the person who built it and then build it together."
Price: 200 wen and baht coins, enough to fill one's stomach every month.
Helian Bobo is worthy of his name. He would kill people if they failed to build the city properly and give them Hu bing to fill their stomachs every month, but he actually managed to build the Tongwan City.
It's a pity that his descendants were not up to the task. When the Northern Wei attacked Tongwan City, they simply lured the defenders out of the city and easily conquered this fortress that Helian Bobo believed would never fall.
Finally, the Northern Wei Dynasty leveled Tongwan City, and this most solid city during the Sixteen Kingdoms era also came to an end along with the chaotic Sixteen Kingdoms era.
[The bloodthirsty Huxia cavalry]
Grade: Purple;
Effect: Bloodthirsty, with a stronger fighting spirit than other soldiers, but the reputation of murder will cause the enemy to fight desperately.
Comment: "Killing prisoners is unlucky."
Price: 500 Wen Tai and Wu Zhu coins, local supply and no maintenance fee. The desire to kill needs to be satisfied, otherwise the combat effectiveness will gradually decrease.
My goodness, supplying on the spot means looting on the spot, right?
Think about it, the cavalrymen who can serve under the command of a murderer like Helian Bobo must be bloodthirsty, right?
However, the system seems to have determined that [Bloodlust] is a neutral affix. The Huxia cavalry is a typical Xiongnu light cavalry, and the blank ones should also be purple followers.
The Huxia cavalry in the cartoon icon is wearing light armor, but this time the system may have taken into consideration that the armor of the Huxia cavalry is relatively cheap, so it still gave them horses as a gift.
The blue follower is [Reckless Huxia Cavalry], and the four green ones are just to make up the numbers, [Ordinary Laborers]*2, [Sly Laborer Captain], and [Huxia Cavalry's Quiver].
However, these two oranges and two purples were a great harvest, but it was a pity that Su Ze used up all the rewards this time.
I don’t know when this damn system will issue new tasks, and after leaving Luoyang, I can no longer absorb Princess Nanyang’s good luck.
As expected, Su Ze didn't draw any decent followers along the way.
The group arrived in Chang'an and had a brief rest. Today's Chang'an is still very desolate, and there is no sign of the prosperity of Han Chang'an at all.
The city of Chang'an also suffered greatly during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Chang'an's most recent glory was the time when Fu Jian was the capital of Chang'an.
With the assistance of Wang Meng, Fu Jian built water conservancy projects in Guanzhong and rebuilt the city of Chang'an, which brought stability to the north for more than ten years. Chang'an once regained its prosperity as the Chang'an of the Han Dynasty.
Unfortunately, after Fu Jian's defeat in the Battle of Feishui, the Former Qin Dynasty fell apart and Chang'an was occupied by Yao Chang of the Later Qin Dynasty.
Although both Qin and Later Qin were called Qin, Later Qin had nothing to do with "Qin" at all. Since its founding, it had been suppressed by surrounding forces. Even its capital Chang'an had been lost several times. Even the Former Liang regime that occupied Heliang could bully it.
Finally, Liu Yu led the Northern Expedition into Guanzhong. The common people of Chang'an welcomed the royal army with food and drink, thinking that the world would be unified from then on.
It was a pity that Liu Yu's Northern Expedition failed, and then Guanzhong was occupied by the murderous Helian Bobo. Finally, Hu Xia was destroyed and the Northern Wei occupied Guanzhong, and then the country was stabilized.
During these hundreds of years of chaos, Guanzhong's water conservancy facilities suffered severe damage and the population also suffered huge losses. In historical books, there are several records of the population of Chang'an city being "left with only one tenth of its population".
Only after Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang did Guanzhong become somewhat more stable.
However, the upper-class Han people in the Northern Wei Dynasty were from Hedong, and the Han people in Guanxi were marginalized, so Guanxi had never been vigorously developed.
The current Chang'an City is still the Han Chang'an City. It was not until the Sui Dynasty when Daxing City was built next to the Han Chang'an City that Chang'an City changed its location.
Su Ze went to Chang'an city to check in specifically, hoping to get some followers related to the Han Dynasty. However, in the end, he only got a green [Jar of Han Wuzhu Coins]. Su Ze was so angry that he almost smashed the jar.
Su Ze now gave up completely. This system was only working for a while. Now the sky was blue and the clouds were white again. He no longer thought about opening it along the way and began to speed up. After passing Chang'an, the group started to head north, speeding up towards Hezhou.
Su Ze and his companions took the Qinzhou Road of the Silk Road. Going north, they arrived at Qizhou where Cui Yanbo was about to take office. However, Cui Yanbo indulged in pleasure along the way and accepted bribes along the way, and was left far behind by Su Ze and others.
After passing Longzhou, Qinzhou and Weizhou, Su Ze will be separated from Yu Jin.
Gaoping County, which is today's Guyuan, was the seat of Yuanzhou during the Sui and Tang Dynasties and an important town for the northwest defense.
The Northern Wei Dynasty's administrative system was a three-level system of prefectures, counties, and counties, but there were many exceptions. For example, there was no prefecture in Gaoping County. Gaoping County was an important border defense area, so it was a directly-administered county.
Gaoping County, like the Six Garrisons, was actually part of the entire northern defense system. The situation of Gaoping was similar to that of the Six Garrisons. As the military focus of the court moved south, Gaoping County gradually became a place of exile for officials from a frontier county that had made great achievements in the past.
The former prefect of Gaoping returned to Luoyang immediately after smoothing over relations with the court. No one wanted to stay in the frontier and suffer the bitter cold.
Li Shizhe called Yu Jin over and said some words of advice from his elders, such as to implement virtuous policies when arriving at a place, to cooperate with local powerful people, and not to cause trouble.
In fact, Li Shizhe was not satisfied with the marriage arranged by his father for his daughter. The Yu family had been in decline since the fall of Yu Zhong, and Yu Jin was not a direct descendant of the Yu family.
Li Shizhe was only appointed as a county magistrate because of his military merits. He wanted to marry into the court officials, preferably the big families with the surname Jia.
But Li Shizhe thought so because the noble family with the surname Jia looked down on him. Li Shizhe also knew that he was appointed to Hezhou this time because of his father's face, so he did not dare to object.
Li Shizhe hoped that Yu Jin would do his job as the prefect of Gaoping County well, and then arrange a job for him in Luoyang after he returned to Luoyang, so that his daughter would not have to suffer in Gaoping.
Yu Jin listened patiently to what his future father-in-law said. Su Ze pulled Yu Jin aside and said,
"Si Jing, Gaoping is very close to Hezhou. If there is any change in the territory, send someone to find me immediately."
Yu Jin nodded quickly. Since entering the northwest of Guanzhong, public security has become obviously chaotic.
Gaoping, like Hezhou, is a region where Han and Hu people live together, and the situation in Gaoping is even more complicated than that in Hezhou. Since the Han Dynasty, Gaoping has been the front line against the north, and like the Six Garrisons, many tribes that could not survive on the grasslands would choose to submit to the Han Dynasty. During the Han Dynasty, a large number of Xiongnu people from Gaoping submitted to the Han Dynasty.
Gaoping had been fighting with Gaoche for a long time, and many local Gaoche tribes had surrendered to the Gaoping government. For example, Hu Chen, the most prestigious general in Gaoping, was from the Gaoche tribe.
There were also a large number of Qiang people living in the northwest region. In addition, Tuyuhun also had its eyes on Gaoping, a node on the Silk Road, and often sent people to harass it.
The only advantage is that Yu Jin once defeated the King of Gaoche with Su Ze, so he still has a deterrent effect on the Gaoche people.
Su Ze took off the sword from his waist again. This was the sword that the King of Gaoche "voluntarily" gave him after he captured the King of Gaoche. It was also one of the symbols of the Gaoche Khanate.
"This knife is for Sijing. If the Gaoche people inside and outside Gaoping are not at peace, we can just fight the Gaoche King again!"
Yu Jin was touched and said, "This is the captain's precious sword for self-defense!"
Su Ze smiled and said, "I already have a sharp blade for self-defense. Sijing, you need this blade more than I do. Take it."
Yu Jin could only accept the sword of the Gaoche King. Su Ze then summoned a green messenger and handed it to Yu Jin, saying:
"If Si Jing has any urgent military information, please send this messenger to me."
"Thank you Captain!"
Finally, Su Ze advised: "Si Jing has arrived in Gaoping County. Don't neglect military affairs. You must reorganize the army and suppress the local warlords."
Yu Jin had also been to the Six Garrisons. He understood the current situation in the Northern Wei Dynasty and Su Ze's thoughts. He quickly said, "Don't worry, Captain. I will definitely strengthen the city defense and prepare the army when I get to Gaoping!"
Su Ze was also confident in Yu Jin. Among his subordinates, Yu Jin was the only one who could be considered both civil and military.
Moreover, the historical Yu Jin was as his name suggests, he was cautious all his life. With Yu Jin in Gaoping City, Gaoping would be able to remain stable even if Guanzhong became chaotic in the future.
After saying goodbye to Yu Jin, Li Shizhe urged Su Ze to speed up and escort him to Jincheng, Hezhou to take up his post.
These days, as Li Shizhe's motorcade was about to arrive in Hezhou, more and more powerful merchants went to his motorcade to greet him. Li Shizhe's motorcade also began to add a few more cars from time to time, which meant that after Jin left, Li Shizhe's motorcade was a little longer than when he set out.
Of course Su Ze knew what had happened, even the account book of Li Shizhe's corruption was clearly visible to Su Ze.
["Li Shizhe's Bribery Report No. 5"]
Su Ze took a casual look at it. This was the report submitted by Su Suan, and it was also the account of Li Shizhe's bribery yesterday.
For a son of a nobleman like Li Shizhe who had been working in Luoyang, the biggest difficulty in being appointed as the governor of a large province was the lack of trustworthy talents under his command.
Since he had no experience in local government, and without the help of officials who understood civil affairs, Li Shizhe would have no chance of becoming a governor.
Governing a local area is a very technical matter, and power is maintained from the bottom up. If the chief official knows nothing, it is easy for the people below to be deceived and manipulated. It is very common for provincial governors to be manipulated by local tyrants.
For example, when Su Ze's mentor Li Daoyuan took office as governor of the state, he was impeached by local powerful people for enforcing the law too strictly. Li Daoyuan was also described as a cruel official in history books.
However, after Su Ze's contact, it was obvious that Li Daoyuan was driven out by the local powerful because he violated the interests of local powerful people by strictly enforcing the law.
In addition to his father Li Chong's team, Li Shizhe also had some cronies in Luoyang, but he soon discovered that these people's abilities were totally insufficient.
Finally, Li Shizhe took a fancy to Su Suan, who was beside Su Ze, and found him to be a "talent", so he forced Su Ze to take him away.
Su Ze didn't know whether Li Shizhe had a keen eye or was blind. Su Suan, the "corrupt household clerk", was indeed a capable official who understood local affairs and was very familiar with the unspoken rules of government.
However, he was by Su Ze's side, being watched by a "strictly enforcing military judge", and under Su Ze's daily warnings, so the negative term "corruption" did not cause much harm.
But this guy does a lot of things in his work, such as taking bribes, and if you're not careful he'll take advantage of you.
But considering that Li Shizhe was the governor of Hezhou, although the General Huqiang had no administrative subordinate relationship with the governor of Hezhou, Su Ze's base was in Hezhou, and he also needed Li Shizhe's help to coordinate money and taxes. If Li Shizhe was really sidelined, it would not benefit him either.
Su Ze could only "reluctantly" hand Su Suan over to Li Shizhe, and told Li Shizhe to keep a close eye on Su Suan.
But what Su Ze did not expect was that under Su Ze's command he could only be considered a petty corrupt official, but after coming under Li Shizhe's command he was like a fish in water, and within a few days he became Li Shizhe's confidant.
Su Suan even helped Li Shizhe to come up with ideas and assisted him in corruption.
So this is how the term [Corruption] is used? Not only can it corrupt other followers in your team, but it can also [Corrupt] the natives of this world?
The only benefit was that Su Suan still followed Su Ze's instructions and submitted reports on Li Shizhe's bribery every day.
Su Ze knew why Li Shizhe was in a hurry to go to Jincheng to take up his post. Su Ze also decided to follow Li Daoyuan's words and move the General's Mansion of the Protector of the Qiang from Jincheng to Baohan, and was determined not to work in the same city with Li Shizhe.
-
Just as Su Ze was rushing to send Li Shizhe to Jincheng to take up his post, in the Luoyang Imperial Palace, a young eunuch was following an older eunuch, walking in the cold Ye Ting Palace.
"You have come to a good place. Your Majesty has not yet been crowned. These are the most comfortable years in the Ye Ting Palace."
The older eunuch was wearing black clothes, which was a type of clothing that only eunuchs of a certain rank could be granted in the palace. This older eunuch was none other than Zhang Ye, the Imperial Palace's Eunuch Commander.
The young eunuch was good at observing people's words and expressions. He saw that the older eunuch was trying to show off, so he immediately said, "I am stupid, please teach me, Your Excellency."
Seeing that this boy was smart, Zhang Ye, the eunuch of the palace, felt much better.
Zhang Ye was one of the palace maids that Princess Chenliu made friends with. As the imperial palace was the core of power in Luoyang, many princes and ministers had spies in the palace.
Princess Chenliu made friends with Zhang Ye when he was still a Zhonghuangmen. He was able to take up the post of Ye Ting Ling with the help of Princess Chenliu's financial support.
So when Princess Chenliu asked him to bring the young eunuch into the palace, Zhang Ye agreed immediately.
Su Shun was the name he registered in Shuntian Prefecture. When Su Chao left Luoyang, he personally handled a civil registration file for him to prove his clean background. The only drawback was that he was a little older, so it was not Su Shun's turn to guard the Yellow Gate and the palace, so Princess Chenliu arranged for him to enter the Ye Ting.
"What the people in the palace fear the most is our Ye Ting and Yong Xiang."
"But the Ye Ting is responsible for 'the affairs of the noble ladies and concubines in the harem', while the Yong Xiang is responsible for 'officials, maids and servants', so do you understand the difference?"
Su Shun still pretended to be stupid and shook his head, which satisfied Zhang Ye's personality of being a teacher. He said:
"To put it simply, Yongxiang is responsible for the maids, eunuchs and servants who have made mistakes in the palace, and our Ye Ting is responsible for the concubines and nobles who have made mistakes. Now that His Majesty has not yet taken power and taken concubines, the concubines are well behaved, so Ye Ting has been very idle in recent years."
"It's different over in Yongxiang. Over the years, there are always servants and maids who make mistakes and are sent to Yongxiang. The Yongxiang Order is the same age as me, but now he looks ten years older than me, hahahaha!"
Su Shun said quickly: "I see, I see. It is such a blessing to be able to work under the order of the Great Master!"
Zhang Ye was in a good mood. In fact, for the eunuchs in the palace, the continuation of power was more important.
Eunuchs are eunuchs. Without descendants to support them in their old age, they need adopted sons to take care of them. Therefore, since the eunuch system came into being, senior eunuchs have been keen on becoming godfathers.
However, the profession of eunuchs is not of high status, and many of them come from poor families. Apart from officials who have been castrated, which child of aristocratic family would castrate himself and enter the palace?
Therefore, for a low-level eunuch like Zhang Ye, it is very difficult to find a reliable successor.
Those who come from humble backgrounds lack knowledge and ability, and even fewer of them can stand up to the public. People like Su Shun, who can read people's expressions, are top-notch talents.
Zhang Ye had the idea of training Su Shun. He said, "From today on, you will stay by my side. Listen more, watch more, and talk less. If you don't understand anything, come and ask me during the break. Do you understand?"
After Su Shun heard this, he immediately knelt on the ground and said, "Thank you, foster father!"
Zhang Ye accepted Su Shun's kneeling and felt even more satisfied with this young eunuch.
-
In Hezhou, after Su Ze sent Li Shizhe to Jincheng, he received a shocking news.
(End of this chapter)