Chapter 176 We Are the Only Heroes in the World
Su Ze was a little confused about this Pingxi General Gao Hui.
Logically speaking, after he returned to Hezhou, he should have returned to Luoyang to report. Although his mission to the Hephthalites was unsuccessful, he had worked hard. Returning to Luoyang, he should not only be promoted, but also be given a good job and be well-paid.
But Gao Hui refused to leave Hezhou!
At that time, in order to suppress the Qiang generals headed by Liang Zhao, Su Ze also borrowed the power of the Gao family, so he was very polite to Gao Hui. When he was going to Xiping, Su Ze naturally took him with him.
In addition to Gao Hui, Su Ze also brought with him his summoned followers, sixty armored cavalrymen, and one hundred Xiliang cavalrymen who had received simple training in Baohan City. The group marched towards Xiping City in a mighty manner.
Along the way, Gao Hui talked to Su Ze from time to time, and the questions were all about Hezhou:
"General Su, you have taken Xiping from Tuyuhun this year. Tuyuhun will definitely not give up. How are you going to deal with it?"
"General Su, Xiping is an important town on the Silk Road. How do you plan to run it?"
"General Su, what do you think of the war in Hexi?"
Su Ze was annoyed by his repeated questions and directly expressed his views on the Western Regions:
"General Pingxi, I think the court should follow the Han example and set up a Protectorate in the Western Regions to regain control of the Silk Road."
After hearing Su Ze's answer, Gao Hui stopped asking him questions about the Western Regions, and they were about to arrive at Xiping City.
The defenders in Xiping City have received the news, and Hou Jing and his men are already standing outside Xiping City to welcome Su Ze.
Hou Jing, dressed in armor, stood straight. When he saw Su Ze's team, he immediately went to greet them. After Su Ze's horse stopped, Hou Jing immediately stepped forward to help Su Ze dismount.
Su Ze did not exchange pleasantries with Hou Jing, but asked directly:
"How is the situation in Xiping?"
Hou Jing immediately said, "A few days ago, Linqiang City sent people to attack at night, but they were defeated by me. I wanted to pursue and capture Linqiang City, but was stopped by Gao Ren, the deputy governor of Hezhou."
Su Ze frowned and said, "Gao Biejia did a good job in stopping them. Linqiang City is one of the three cities along the Huangshui River. The city walls are tall. The Tuyuhun people have already learned their lesson. Do you still want to trick them into leaving Linqiang?"
Linqiang, Xiping and Anyi were the three cities built along the Huangshui River by Emperor Taiwu Tuoba Tao after he pacified Hezhou. These three cities were built along the river in sequence and were important towns for controlling the Hehuang Valley.
It’s a pity that by now, Linqiang and Xiping had fallen into the hands of the Tuyuhun people. It was only thanks to Su Ze’s recapture of Xiping that most of the control over the Hehuang Valley was regained.
Hou Jing certainly knew the importance of Linqiang City, so after Gao Ren supported Xiping, he kept urging Gao Ren to join him in attacking Linqiang.
"General, I have already found out that there are only 1,500 Tuyuhun troops in Linqiang City, 500 of whom are the remnants who escaped from Xiping. If we wait for Tuyuhun's support to arrive, it will be difficult to fight."
Hearing Hou Jing say this, Su Ze was also somewhat tempted. The core of the three cities of Huangshui is Xiping, and Tuyuhun leader He Luo is stationed in Xiping. Linqiang is originally a small city.
If Linqiang was captured, Su Ze could push the defense line forward to the end of the Huangshui River and gain greater strategic depth.
"Tell me more about it after we get to the city."
Hou Jing was smiling happily, while Murong Shaozong was shaking his head behind him. Although he also supported the attack on Linqiang, he did not support Hou Jing's adventurous combat style.
Su Ze and his group continued walking towards Xiping City, and saw a middle-aged man in civil servant uniform at the city gate.
When the man saw Gao Hui behind Su Ze, he immediately stepped forward and saluted, "Uncle!"
Hou Jing said to Su Ze: "General, this is Gao Biejia of Hezhou."
After Gao Ren asked about his uncle's well-being, he straightened his clothes and respectfully saluted Su Ze: "Hezhou's deputy governor Gao Ren, I pay my respects to General Su."
Su Ze enthusiastically helped Gao Ren up and pulled him side by side into Xiping City. The Gao family of Hezhou was originally the target of his wooing. Gao Ren sent troops to defend Xiping, which was already a great kindness, so Su Ze naturally had to repay the kindness.
Su Ze returned to Xiping this time, naturally, to hold a celebration banquet.
The art of war says, "Rewards and punishments must be given promptly." Both rewards and punishments must be distributed promptly. Delays will cause soldiers to complain.
Whether it is attacking Xiping or defending Xiping, these merits must be rewarded, and only Su Ze can reward them personally.
So after he finished dealing with Baohan's affairs, he rushed to Xiping without stopping to give out the reward.
Su Ze held a banquet in Xiping City. All the soldiers who had launched a surprise attack on Xiping attended the banquet. The soldiers from Gaoping who had come to support Xiping were also invited. Su Ze announced the rewards equally for all the soldiers, and all the soldiers were rewarded with a piece of silk and a sheep.
In fact, this was also Su Ze's way of offering a favor. After conquering Xiping, Su Ze discovered that the treasury of Xiping City was full of silk.
Xiping is an important town on the Silk Road. Silk is not only the most important commodity on the Silk Road, but also the most powerful currency.
Heluo, the leader of Tuyuhun, was greedy and stored nearly 1,500 pieces of silk in the treasury, all of which were distributed by Su Ze.
The soldiers were naturally cheering when they received the rewards, and Su Ze then announced the rewards for the generals.
Hou Jing was promoted to Lieutenant General of Cavalry in the General's Office of Protector of the Qiang, and Murong Shaozong was appointed as Military Officer of the General's Office of Protector of the Qiang. All those with military positions were promoted one level higher, with deputy team leaders becoming team captains and team captains being promoted to brigade commanders.
Officers of higher ranks were given more silk as rewards, and even the 500 Hezhou reinforcements brought by Gao Ren were rewarded by Su Ze.
Although the treasury was emptied in one go, Su Ze won the hearts of the soldiers in Xiping City.
Gao Hui, who was sitting on the main seat, glanced at his nephew Gao Ren, and then looked at Su Ze thoughtfully.
After the banquet was over, Gao Hui went straight to Su Ze.
"Gao Pingxi is going to Liangzhou to persuade the Yuan governor to appoint Xiping to me?"
Gao Hui stroked his beard and nodded.
Su Ze, however, was full of doubts. He had become accustomed to the intrigues and deceptions among the nobles in Luoyang, and always habitually thought about things from the perspective of interests.
He and Gao Hui had no relatives or friends, and the only thing they had was that Su Ze helped him defeat the Tuyuhun people who were chasing him.
Now that Gao Hui offered to help, Su Ze began to doubt what he was thinking.
Gao Hui seemed to have seen through Su Ze's thoughts. He said, "I have known Governor Yuan since I was in Luoyang. He is talented and elegant since he was young. Governor Yuan will definitely not compete with the general for the credit of recovering Xiping."
Only then did Su Ze remember the historical evaluation of Yuan Yu.
This prince of the Northern Wei Dynasty was truly fond of literature, and Su Ze had also heard of his articles when he was in Luoyang.
However, such a prince who was interested in literature was arranged by Empress Dowager Hu to serve as the governor of Liangzhou.
Su Ze still remembered that in the history before he traveled through time, after the Rebellion of the Six Garrisons, Yuan Yu was appointed by the court to be responsible for suppressing the rebellion, and then he was defeated in a battle with Po Liu Han Baling.
To put it bluntly, in a normal dynasty, Yuan Yu would have been worshipped as a mascot of the royal family, allowing him to concentrate on literature in the capital and decorate the empire.
But this was the Northern Wei Dynasty, which was not a normal dynasty.
After hearing what Gao Hui said, Su Ze also felt that this matter could succeed, but Su Ze still couldn't see through what Gao Hui was thinking.
Gao Hui said, "General Su, are you wondering why I want to help you?" Seeing his thoughts, Su Ze said generously, "That's exactly what I'm wondering. Why does Gao Pingxi want to help me?"
Gao Hui said directly: "Because I think General Su can realize my ideal."
"What is your ideal?"
"Open up the Western Regions just like the Han Dynasty did."
Gao Hui said to himself:
"General Su, do you know how big the Western Region is?"
Without waiting for Su Ze to answer, Gao Hui continued, "I have been an envoy to the Hephthalites twice, and it took more than a year just to reach the Hephthalites' territory. To the west of the Hephthalites there is a country called Persia. To the west of Persia there is the ancient country Daqin mentioned in the Book of Han. To the west of Daqin there are other countries."
"The court officials will not understand the significance of the Western Regions and the Silk Road to the Central Plains, and our elegant Yuan governor will not understand it either, but I know that General Su understands."
"So I want to help General Su. As long as you can hold Xiping, you will have a fulcrum for opening up the Western Regions."
Gao Hui's words were full of sincerity, but Su Ze couldn't confirm whether he really meant it.
However, since he was willing to help him go to Liangzhou to persuade Yuan Yu, the governor of Liangzhou, it would be regarded as helping Su Ze solve a worry, so of course he would not have any objection.
Su Ze said to Gao Hui: "Then I'll have to trouble General Pingxi!"
-
A few months later.
The Lantern Festival in the second year of Shengui seems to be right before our eyes. Time flies, and in the blink of an eye it is the season of lush grass and flying birds.
Also on Changxing Bridge, Jiangyang King Yuan Yi, whose power in the court was growing, was seeing off his ministers.
When Emperor Xiaowen was alive, he always attended the farewell ceremonies for Yan Chen in person. He would also present Confucian classics to the chieftains who came to Yan Luoyang, encouraging them to study Confucianism well after returning to their territories.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanwu, he rarely attended such occasions, but he would entrust the ruling ministers to see him off and reward the Yan ministers with gifts.
However, since the young emperor ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Hu had no interest in entertaining these country chiefs, and the ruling Prince Qinghe was also very arrogant towards these "barbarians", so no one from the court came to see him off.
Prince Yuan Yi of Jiangyang did not wear official court uniform, but came to see him off in a private capacity.
There were cavalrymen standing behind the young Erzhu Rong, and he was also somewhat moved that King Jiangyang personally saw him off.
Yuan Yi helped him up, pulled him aside and said apologetically: "General Erzhu, this time I recommended you as the governor of Bingzhou, but you were replaced by someone recommended by my brother, the Prince of Qinghe. Next time there is a vacancy in Bingzhou, I will definitely continue to recommend you."
During the suppression of the Mahayana Sect, Gao Chuo, the former governor of Bingzhou, was transferred to be the governor of Yuzhou for his contribution in logistics transportation, and the position of governor of Bingzhou became vacant.
Erzhu Rong's grandfather had once served as the governor of Bingzhou. Erzhu Rong came to Luoyang this time to make use of his connections and wanted to be appointed as the governor of Bingzhou.
However, the person recommended by Prince Qinghe got there first and was appointed as the Governor of Bingzhou by Empress Dowager Hu.
Erzhu Rong was naturally angry about this appointment by the court, but he also knew that in the eyes of the court, he was just a generous country chief. The powerful families in power regarded the position of governor of a large state as something in their pockets and would not allow someone like Erzhu Rong to get involved.
When he entered Luoyang this time, Erzhu Rong also saw what the officials in the court were thinking, and he lost his last glimmer of hope.
Erzhu Rong once again humbly bid farewell to King Jiangyang Yuan Yi, and before leaving, he presented King Jiangyang with several fine horses. Only then did he "reluctantly" leave Luoyang.
When they could no longer see the palace walls of Luoyang City, the young knight beside Erzhu Rong said angrily: "Uncle! The people in Luoyang treat us like bumpkins, taking money but not doing anything. I told you last time, uncle, don't send horses to Luoyang anymore!"
The person who spoke was Erzhu Rong's nephew Erzhu Tianguang, who had just reached adulthood. He was young and hot-tempered, and had suffered a lot of humiliation in Luoyang, so naturally he did not have a good impression of Luoyang.
Erzhu Rong ignored his nephew. At this moment, a team of cavalrymen holding documents with swan feathers on them quickly headed towards Luoyang.
Erzhu Rong knew that this was the messenger from the court reporting victory. He gave a look and two cavalrymen behind him rushed out like arrows and intercepted the messenger team.
When the messengers saw the two knights in full armor, they knew that they were elite soldiers of the imperial court, and they were afraid that they had run into some dignitaries on a trip.
Erzhu Rong rode over and asked, "Where is the victory report you are delivering?"
The messenger said honestly: "This noble man has good news from the northwest."
northwest?
The messenger continued:
"General Su Ze, the Protector of the Qiang, has recaptured Linqiang City and recovered the three cities along the Huangshui River!"
Erzhu Tianguang, who was beside Erzhu Rong, exclaimed, "So fast!"
Years ago, the report of Su Ze's recovery of Xiping City had been sent to Luoyang. The court had not yet discussed how to reward Su Ze, but unexpectedly, at the beginning of spring, Su Ze recovered Linqiang and completely took all three cities of Huangshui into his possession.
In other words, less than half a year after Su Ze took office in Hezhou, he completely drove the Tuyuhun people out of the Hehuang Valley.
This is too fast!
Erzhu Tianguang was in his rebellious period when he was fearless except for Erzhu Rong. He was very dissatisfied with his sworn brother whom his uncle Erzhu Rong highly praised.
Erzhu Rong was overjoyed when he heard this, and ordered his men to give the envoy a reward in the letter, and then said with emotion:
"I was right! Su Ze and I are the only heroes in this world!"
Erzhu Tianguang was horrified when he heard his uncle's outrageous words. Erzhu Rong looked at his useless nephew and whipped him with a horsewhip:
"Useless thing! You are the one who usually disobeys my brother, how come you can't even say a harsh word now?"
Erzhu Rong looked back towards Luoyang and saw a flock of geese migrating back to the north flying overhead.
When spring comes and flowers bloom, it is the time when wild geese return to their nests. Erzhu Rong became more determined after communicating with Su Ze. He decided to store more food and train more soldiers after returning to Xiurong.
A neat team of cavalry, chasing the returning geese in the sky, headed towards Xiurong.
-
A large caravan, braving the cold wind of the Dadouba Valley, crossed the ancient road in the Qilian Mountains and headed towards Xiping.
When the caravan walked out of the Dadouba Valley, the wind that had been blowing across the canyon finally stopped howling, and the temperature gradually warmed up as the altitude decreased.
On the camel in the center of the caravan, the woman took off her felt hat and tore off her windproof scarf.
Deep eyes, long eyelashes, a high nose bridge, healthy wheat-colored skin, curly hair, and a beautiful face full of exotic charm.
The caravan guide came up to the beautiful woman and said respectfully, "Madam An, Xiping City is just ahead!"
There are a lot of things to do at home on weekends, so I can only spend 8k a day on normal weekends from now on.
Let’s not talk about the debts from the past. Anyway, I will update 8 times on weekdays and times on weekends. I will do my best to make sure you enjoy the post!
Please follow up, thank you everyone.
(End of this chapter)