Chapter 194: Wind Rising in Longxi
When Su Ze finished his inspection and returned to Dunhuang City, the envoy of Yuan Yu, the governor of Liangzhou, was already waiting in front of the Dunhuang city gate.
The envoy's name was Jia Yuan, a descendant of the Guzang Jia family. When he saw Su Ze, he immediately came forward and said, "General Su, the Yuan governor invites you to Guzang City to discuss the matter of suppressing the rebellion in Guanzhong."
This was not the first time that Yuan Yu sent envoys to invite Su Ze, but Su Ze always delayed the visit with various reasons. The Jia Yuan sent this time was the deputy governor of the Liangzhou Governor's Office. If he did not go to Guzang again, the next person to come to Dunhuang would be Yuan Yu himself.
To be fair, Yuan Yu is a pretty good boss.
Su Ze occupied Dunhuang and Yumen, and Yuan Yu did not say much. Instead, he recognized Su Ze's territory.
Yuan Yu was not greedy for money or lustful. He did not cause any trouble in Guzang City and got along well with the powerful people in Liangzhou.
According to Gao Hui, the goal of this Yuan governor was to complete his term as governor of Liangzhou and then be transferred back to Luoyang. His main goal in governing was not to seek merit but to avoid mistakes.
But this time Yuan Yu was really anxious.
There had been rebellions in the past, but few of them resulted in the killing of the governor, as in Qinzhou and Nanqinzhou. The Qinzhou rebels took complete control of Qinzhou in just one month, which terrified Yuan Yu.
He had realized that the authority of the court was declining rapidly, and that he could no longer control the restless local tyrants simply by relying on court appointments.
The local powerful forces in Liangzhou are also quite strong. For example, Jia Yuan, the Liangzhou Beijia in front of Su Ze, is from the Guzang Jia family, and his ancestor is Jia Xu, a famous strategist of Cao Cao.
Jia Xu's descendants also achieved high positions in the Cao Wei group.
But the glory of the Jia family ended here.
The Western Jin Dynasty fell into the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, followed by the Invasion of the Five Barbarians. The Jia family retreated back to Guzang City and became a local tyrant.
After that, Emperor Xiaowen divided the family names into different categories, and the Jia family could not even squeeze into the second-class family names, so they could only stay in Liangzhou.
There are many families like the Jia family. Among the powerful families in Liangzhou, there is the Jia family, a family that originally started in Liangzhou.
There were also noble families from the Central Plains who fled to Liangzhou to escape the war during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Guzang City was the capital during the Five Liang Period and is now the seat of Liangzhou, where many family forces are deeply intertwined.
So compared to going to Guzang City, Su Ze would rather stay in Dunhuang and farm.
Wouldn't it be better to wait for the troops to grow through farming and then just push forward?
It's a pity that even though I have received a favor from Governor Yuan, I still have to share his worries. I have to go to Guzang to make Yuan Yu feel at ease.
"Jia Beijia, this general will set off for Guzang in three days."
When Jia Yuan heard that Su Ze agreed to go to Guzang, he relaxed and he also talked about the situation in Liangzhou.
"General Su, now 'True King Envoys' have appeared in various states in Longyou. They are connecting with each other in various places to respond to the rebellion in Qinzhou. Recently, the flames of war have been raging in Longxi County. Governor Yuan wants to invite General Su to Longxi County to quell the rebellion."
"Longxi County?"
Su Ze said doubtfully: "It's normal for other places to have rebellions, why is Longxi so uneasy? Longxi has the natural barrier of Longshan Mountain, can't the Li family of Longxi suppress the local area?"
The Longxi Li family is the only Han Chinese aristocratic family in the Guanxi region that is among the high-ranking Jia families. The common ancestor of the Li family is the monarch of Western Liang, King Wu Zhao of Liang, Li Hao.
The Li clan was listed among the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Clan, and the royal families of the later Sui and Tang dynasties also had an unclear connection with the Longxi Li clan.
Generally speaking, counties with such large families in charge are rarely involved in local rebellions like Hou Gang's. Their families are deeply rooted in the local area, and they also have a large number of private soldiers and fortress owners and generals who obey their orders. At least they can defend the city and not surrender to the rebels.
Jia Yuan said: "The Longxi Li family has long been in decline. Although it is one of the five surnames, there is no important official in the court who is from the Longxi Li family. The highest-ranking Longxi Li official in the court is Li Shao, the governor of Dingzhou."
Su Ze thought about it and it seemed to be just as Jia Yuan said. The Longxi Li family only had the empty appearance of a noble family with the surname Jia, but their children did not seem to have prominent official careers.
Jia Yuan said: "In fact, the Longxi Li family can be listed among the five surnames because Emperor Xiaowen likes Li Chong."
Li Chong and Su Ze suddenly realized, that's how it is.
Li Chong was an important figure who assisted Emperor Xiaowen in carrying out Sinicization reforms during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen.
Li Chong was so important that several major measures of Emperor Xiaowen's Sinicization reform, including the "Three-Chief System", "Equal Field System" and "Implementation of Sinicization", were all proposed by Li Chong and promoted during his administration.
In addition, Li Chong was also Emperor Xiaowen's main adviser on the matter of moving the capital to Luoyang, and the work of rebuilding Luoyang was all presided over by Li Chong.
The Northern Wei Dynasty's legal code, "Wei Law", was also compiled by Li Chong, who was also the teacher of Crown Prince Yuan Xun of Emperor Xiaowen at the time.
However, such a person died suddenly at the end of Emperor Xiaowen's reign. From then on, the Longxi Li family fell into a long period of decline, and even did not fare as well as the Yi family.
After traveling through time, Su Ze found it more and more strange.
Li Chong was to Emperor Xiaowen what Zhang Bin was to Shi Le, Wang Meng was to Fu Jian, and Cui Hao was to Tuoba Tao. He was the main planner of Emperor Xiaowen's reform movement. Given the tradition of Chinese civilization that especially loves reformers, Li Chong should be given special mention.
In fact, Li Chong's deeds in history books are very brief, and it can even be said that they were deliberately concealed and ignored, causing people to overlook his important role in Emperor Xiaowen's reforms.
There must be some unknown secret behind this.
Jia Yuan said: "Although there is the Longxi Li family in Longxi County, Longxi is also the prefecture that implements the equal-field system and the three-chief system most perfectly. The Longxi Li family is also the most prominent family with the least land among the five surnames."
So that's how it is. Now Su Ze understood.
Among the many reforms proposed by Li Chong, the one that most undermined the foundation of aristocratic politics was the three-chief system.
The Three Chiefs System stipulated that if five households formed a neighborhood, there would be a neighborhood chief; if five neighbors formed a village, there would be a village chief; if five villages formed a party, there would be a party chief. The Three Chiefs System and the Equal Field System complemented each other. The duties of the Three Chiefs were to check household registration, collect rent and taxes, and conscript soldiers and corvée labor.
The Three Chiefs System is the state extending its hands into the countryside, using the Three Chiefs as capillaries to manage the villages. This is the foundation of the manor economy system that truly cuts off the aristocratic politics. When the Three Chiefs System was proposed, it was fiercely opposed by the court. Even Emperor Xiaowen, who had always supported Li Chong's reform measures, could only agree to try out the Three Chiefs System in some areas in the face of attacks from his ministers.
However, Su Ze did not expect that Li Chong had such a lofty spirit of reform. He took the lead in reforming the three-chief system in his own territory, and changed it so thoroughly that only Sanchang Village was left in Longxi County.
The advantage of this is naturally that when the imperial court is strong, the areas under the three-chief system can collect more taxes and provide more high-quality soldiers from good families. This is also what Su Ze implemented in the Hehuang and Dunhuang areas.
The disadvantage is that the villages with the three-chief system have no leading powerful people, and the three chiefs are often just small farmers who are slightly richer in the village. They are also untrained farmers. Once they are caught in war, it is difficult for these three-chief villages to have anyone to take the lead in resistance, and they will be quickly defeated like a pile of loose sand.
Another disadvantage is that these loosely-knit Sanchang villages lack the ability to fight against the government. Once the government begins to become corrupt rapidly, these Sanchang villages will be assigned more corvee labor and taxes. Unlike local tyrants, they do not have the opportunity to bargain with the government and are more likely to be bullied by the government.
After hearing that all the villages in Longxi County were three long villages, Su Ze felt like he saw a piece of fat meat and couldn't help drooling.
And what is Longxi County? It is the most important area in Guanzhong!
The so-called Guanzhong is the key to the world!
Emperor Guangwu of Han fought here for four years, and when Zhuge Liang came out of Mount Qishan, all he fought for was Longxi!
The wind rises in Longxi!
Now Longxi has completed the prerequisites for the fubing system, and Sanchang Village has joined the list.
No wonder that in the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Yuwen Tai, who occupied Guanzhong, eventually implemented the military service system and the land grant system, completed the redistribution of land, and finally gained the upper hand in the confrontation with Northern Qi.
It turned out that the Guanlong area had a good foundation and already had a base of local soldiers.
During the Tang Dynasty, the Zhechouxiaowei Mansion was established to manage the government troops, and Guanzhong accounted for more than one-third of the country's troops.
Since there was such a big piece of fat meat in front of them, Longxi County had to be saved.
After Su Ze arranged the affairs in Dunhuang, he led his confidants to Guzang City.
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After receiving the order from the "True King", Po Liuba Kongque went south from Woye Town and first arrived in Gaoping County.
When Po Liuba Kongque arrived in Gaoping County, he heard the news of Hou Gang's rebellion.
Po Liuba Kongque immediately became excited. If there was chaos in Guanzhong, the Northern Wei court would definitely send a large army into Guanzhong to quell the rebellion, and it would be more convenient for the "true king" to start a rebellion in the Six Garrisons.
So after arriving in Gaoping, Po Liuba Kongque immediately began to contact Hu Chen, a local handsome man from Gaoping County.
Originally, Po Liuba Kongque wanted to make an agreement with Hu Chen to start a rebellion together, but when Po Liuba Kongque inquired in Gaoping City, he heard that Hu Chen was imprisoned by Gaoping County Magistrate Yu Jin!
Upon hearing the news, Po Liuba Kongque was horrified. He hurriedly tried to contact Hu Chen's two subordinates, the Xiongnu general Wanqi Chounu and the Qiang general Su Qin Mingda. However, he found out that these two were also imprisoned by Yu Jin. Po Liuba Kongque immediately realized that something was wrong. When he was about to leave Gaoping City, he found that the entire Gaoping City was under martial law and he could no longer leave the city.
Po Liuba Kongque could only hide in Gaoping City and look for an opportunity to leave the city.
Young Yu Jin sat in the court. Since the rebellion in Qinzhou, the situation in Gaoping Town had deteriorated rapidly.
If Su Ze had not reminded Yu Jin, he would have decisively put the local leader Hu Chen in prison and controlled Hu Chen's cronies in Gaoping City. At this time, Yu Jin would probably be like Li Yan, with his head hanging in Gaoping City.
During the search of Hu Chen's mansion, Yu Jin found evidence of collusion between him and local heroes. Hu Chen also had dealings with Mozhe Dati who rebelled in Qinzhou. What made Yu Jin feel even more frightened was that there was a mastermind named "True King" who had infiltrated the entire Guanzhong area.
Yu Jin felt that an invisible network was spreading rapidly in the Guanzhong area. This network included the Mo Zhe family who rebelled in Qinzhou, as well as Hu Chen and other powerful generals in Gaoping City, and even had connections with local powerful people in the entire Guanzhong area.
Yu Jin felt that all the local tyrants in Gaoping could not be trusted. He ordered his cronies to blockade Gaoping City, and then sent two groups of people out of the city. One group asked the court for support and reported the situation of the true king, and the other group went to Liangzhou. Yu Jin remembered Su Ze's words and asked Su Ze for reinforcements!
I don’t know why, but Yu Jin vaguely felt that asking Su Ze for help was more reliable than asking the court for help, perhaps because Su Ze had never let him down.
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Outside Qizhou City.
After taking control of Qinzhou, Mozhe Dati "recommended" Hou Gang as King of Qin and Mozhe Dati as general and prime minister.
Several of Mozhe Dati's sons were also appointed generals. His eldest son, Mozhe Tiansheng, was appointed General Wei and led his troops out of Qinzhou to attack Qizhou.
Mo Zhe Tiansheng learned military tactics from his father since he was young. This time, when attacking Qizhou, Mo Zhe Tiansheng brought with him the elite troops accumulated by the Mo Zhe family over the years, with the goal of capturing Qizhou in one fell swoop.
As long as Qizhou is captured, Chang'an will be undefendable. As long as Chang'an is occupied, troops can be sent to Tongguan, and then there will be a real foundation for separatist rule.
Originally, Mo Zhe Tiansheng thought that he could easily take over the small Qizhou.
In fact, in the early stage of the uprising, local tyrants in Qizhou also responded to "Hou Gang's" manifesto, killed officials, occupied counties, and rose up to respond to the "Qin Wang's Army."
However, Cui Yanbo, the governor of Qizhou, was not an easy person to deal with. After all the counties and prefectures in Qizhou rebelled, Cui Yanbo still controlled Yongcheng, the capital of Qizhou.
It would be fine if Cui Yanbo only controlled the isolated city of Yongcheng, the capital of Qizhou.
After stabilizing the situation in Yongcheng, Cui Yanbo led his troops out of Yongcheng and attacked the surrounding counties. He slaughtered entire families of several powerful families near Yongcheng, and their properties were looted by the soldiers led by Cui Yanbo.
With this method, the soldiers under Cui Yanbo's command became more and more excited, and Cui Yanbo also changed his previous greedy attitude and distributed all the looted property to the soldiers in Yongcheng. This made the soldiers more dedicated, and several attacks yielded fruitful results, scaring the rebels near Yongcheng away.
Mozhe Tiansheng really couldn't understand it. Cui Yanbo, like Yang Dayan, was a veteran general during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen. How come he could always lead the charge in every battle?
If the "Qin King's Army" wants to attack Chang'an, then Yongcheng cannot be bypassed. Mo Zhe Tiansheng was sent by his father to control Qizhou.
Seeing that Cui Yanbo was a tough guy, Mozhe Tiansheng, in the name of King Qin, summoned the rebels from Qizhou to meet under Yongcheng and jointly besiege Yongcheng.
With a leader, local powerful people in Qizhou led their troops to Yongcheng. The problem was that after Cui Yanbo took office in Qizhou, he exploited the people in Qizhou too harshly. The powerful people in Qizhou wanted to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin, and the hatred exploded with amazing cohesiveness.
For a while, all the camps near Yongcheng were connected, and the morale of the defenders in Yongcheng was low.
However, Cui Yanbo remained calm. He personally climbed up the city wall, looked at the enemy camp, and said to his men, "You see, the enemy camp is disorganized and each one is set up independently. This is a sign of the rebels' lack of unity."
"There is no need to worry about such a traitor. Follow me out of the city tonight to rob the camp!"
Transition chapter, I really can't write anymore, next chapter 5k
(End of this chapter)