Chapter 244: Year of Xinchou
In November of the first year of Zhengguang, envoys from the imperial court entered Liangzhou from Chencang Road.
Originally, Su Ze was meeting Hou Jing in Mianyang County to inquire about the situation in Qiuchi Mountain.
After receiving the news from Su Liu, Su Ze quickly led his men back to Nanzheng, and in the city of Nanzheng, the capital of Liangzhou, he received the imperial edict in front of all the Liangzhou nobles.
After Su Ze obtained the seal of General Pingxi, he immediately promoted his old subordinates who had followed him.
The General Pingxi has twenty subordinates. Unlike the previous ones, at the level of General Pingxi, the subordinates are divided into civil and military officials.
The civil officials included the Chief Clerk of the General’s Office, the Attendant of the Central Army, and the Gongcao; the military officials included the Lieutenant General and the Assistant General.
There is also a Sima who can be both civil and military. The Gongcao Sima is a civil official, and the Xingjun Sima is a military officer.
Su Cho, Hou Jing, Murong Shaozong and others were originally officials of the General's Mansion, and were also promoted to corresponding ranks according to Su Ze's official position.
Su Cho was also the chief secretary of the Pingxi General's Mansion and was in charge of confidential secretary. He stayed in Hezhou and was responsible for the daily work of the General's Mansion.
Hou Jing and Murong Shaozong were lieutenant generals in the General's Office.
Several of Su Ze's former subordinates, Yang Zongjia, Fan Dalang, and Wang Hui, also accumulated enough military merit and were appointed as military officers in the General's Office of Pingxi.
Feng Shu was also appointed as the Gongcao of the Criminal Department, mainly responsible for criminal and judicial work, and was in charge of the military law of General Su Ze's mansion.
Su Liang and Yang Kan were already officials of the Western Expedition Camp, and Su Ze had no way of granting them official positions.
Then Su Ze asked Su Liang to draft the first military order of General Pingxi. On the grounds that "Qinzhou was in rebellion and roads were cut off", he declared Liangzhou, Hezhou, Liangzhou, and Longxi County, three states and one county, as war zones, and required officials at the state and county levels to be temporarily evaluated in the general's office.
The first assessment of the Pingxi General's Office was scheduled to take place after the summer grain collection in the second year of Zhengguang. For officials who failed the assessment, the Pingxi General's Office would use the power of "holding the power of the imperial seal" to dismiss these officials.
If Li Chong had done the same when he went on the expedition, the censors in the court would have reported Li Chong for his domineering behavior.
Su Ze also wants to thank Xiao Baoyin for this.
A while ago, Xiao Baoyin used his power as an "envoy with special powers" to seize the right to evaluate officials in Huazhou, Yongzhou and Jingzhou, but the Northern Wei court turned a blind eye.
After the Xuanguang Incident, the ministers of the Qinghe King's party were expelled, and those who remained were the ministers who bribed Yuan Yi.
Everyone was busy making money and no one cared about Xiao Baoyin's "domineering" behavior.
Since Xiao Baoyin could do it and Su Ze could do it too, it was natural for Su Ze to take over the power to evaluate officials in three states and one county, and it was natural for him to take over the civil power in three states and one county.
Next, Su Ze issued the second decree from the General's Office of Pingxi, reaffirming Emperor Xiaowen's "Equal Field Distribution Order" and requiring all localities to re-create the population register and register all citizens equally.
Su Ze also allowed all counties to open registration and allowed all wealthy people to supplement the registered slaves.
After seeing the power of General Su Ze's mansion, some smaller wealthy families in Liangzhou became afraid. They went to the county government office and registered their hidden slaves.
However, the Yang family, a prominent family in Hanzhong, still did not take any action.
Su Ze did not rush, but extended the time to the end of the year, and made the household registration of the people a key content of the assessment of local officials next year.
After announcing these orders, Su Ze led Hou Jing to Wuxing County and personally recruited the Baima Di people on Qiuchi Mountain.
After Hou Jing's "education", Yang Shaoxing is now much more honest.
The reason why Su Ze didn't kill him was because he had two good sons.
Yang Zhihui and Yang Bixie received the news and went directly down from Qiuchi Mountain to Wuxing City to surrender to Su Ze.
Next they saw a scene outside Wuxing City that they would never forget.
Su Ze wore Ming Guang armor and sat in the center of the army. Hou Jing personally beat the drum and demonstrated to these Baima Di people what elite troops meant.
The charge of the armored cavalry shook the earth, but the infantry forming the Queyue formation remained calm and fearless in the face of such a shocking cavalry charge. Both the infantry and cavalry under Su Ze demonstrated extremely high tactical qualities.
Such elite troops are invincible!
The tribal chiefs who followed Yang Zhihui and Yang Bixie down the mountain imprinted this idea firmly in their hearts.
When they came to Su Ze, the two brothers saw that their father Yang Shaoxing was safe and sound, and they kowtowed to Su Ze to apologize.
Su Ze pointed at Yang Shaoxing and said:
"The court was gracious and released Duke Wuxing, but he did not appreciate the court's leniency and instead led his troops to harass the local area."
Hearing Su Ze say this, the two brothers breathed a sigh of relief.
After Yang Shaoxing was defeated by Yang Zhi twenty years ago, he was sent to Luoyang and imprisoned.
In order to unite the Baima Di people on Qiuchi Mountain, Luoyang not only did not kill him, but also conferred him the title of Wuxing Duke and kept him in Luoyang with good food and drink.
Su Ze defined the incident as "local nuisance" and also recognized Yang Shaoxing's position as "Duke Wuxing", which shows that Su Ze was not prepared to characterize this incident as a rebellion.
In this case, there is room for bargaining.
Yang Shaoxing lowered his head, like a child who had made a mistake.
His eldest son Yang Zhihui said:
"General, be merciful."
Su Ze stopped his flattery and gave his own price.
"Duke Wuxing was conferred the title by the imperial court, so how could he not have a residence? This general has already built a residence in Wuxing City, so Duke Wuxing will live in the residence in the city from now on."
Wuxing County was a county controlled by Su Ze, and the so-called Wuxing Mansion was nothing more than a prison where Yang Shaoxing was imprisoned.
However, the two brothers were already very satisfied that Yang Shaoxing was not killed by Su Ze. They even wanted Su Ze to keep their father under guard to prevent him from causing trouble in the future.
Yang Zhihui said quickly:
"General Dorasu, take care."
Su Ze looked at the Di leader behind the two brothers and said:
"Lord Wuxing also needs capable people around him. All departments must send people to the mansion."
The chiefs of the Di tribe behind the two brothers had ugly expressions on their faces. This meant Su Ze was asking them for hostages.
However, this is also a normal requirement. When the Di tribes fought each other, the loser would send his heirs to the victorious tribe as hostages.
In the name of serving Yang Shaoxing, the Duke of Wuxing, Su Ze brought the heirs of various tribes to Wuxing City. In addition to controlling the tribes, he also learned Emperor Xiaowen's policy of sending geese to serve as ministers and educated them in Chinese.
Then Su Ze said:
"The imperial court is planning to deploy troops, and Duke Wuxing will also contribute to the imperial court."
The two brothers immediately understood what Su Ze meant, and Yang Zhihui said:
"I am willing to provide two thousand soldiers and horses for the general to lead in suppressing the rebellion."
"Three thousand, they must be young and strong."
Yang Zhihui and Yang Bixie looked at each other. The number of people Su Ze was holding was almost at the psychological limit of the Baima Di people.
Although the Qiuchi State claimed that it could send out 30,000 troops, the 3,000 young and strong men were already the core force of the Di tribe on the Qiuchi Mountains.
The two brothers finally chose to surrender.
Su Ze looked at the two of them and said:
"You two are my lieutenants. After the New Year, you will reorganize your troops and report to Wuxing."
These days, through the [gossiping merchants], Su Ze used the caravans trading on Qiuchi Mountain to inquire about the situation of the Baima Di.
In the Baima Yang family, Yang Shaoxing is a fool, but his two brothers are talented and have high prestige in the Di tribe.
And these two brothers are very filial.
With Yang Shaoxing detained in Wuxing, Su Ze was not afraid that the two brothers would not serve. However, Su Ze also wanted to make a promise to the two brothers:
"Only the talented are recruited under my command. As long as you two can achieve military merit, I can also grant you official positions in the court."
The two brothers looked at each other and saw the expectation in each other's eyes.
No one wanted to be a local tyrant in the mountains. After seeing Su Ze's elite troops, the two of them were not opposed to serving under Su Ze.
The two men bowed to Su Ze and said:
"General, I am willing to be your dog and horse."
Su Ze was very satisfied, and he said to the Di tribe leaders in the back:
"Whether your sons or daughters are generals or officials, as long as they are talented, I will recommend them to the court."
Everyone smiled and bowed down to Su Ze.
Su Ze wanted to establish a blood-drawing mechanism in Wuxing to extract talents from the Baima Di tribe and use them for his own purposes, so that those who remained in the tribe would not be able to rebel.
At this point, except for the Yang family of Hanzhong, the affairs of Liangzhou have come to an end. Su Ze followed Su Liang's advice and stayed in Liangzhou for the New Year this year, leaving the Yang family of Hanzhong to make trouble for a while.
-
Mozhe Tiansheng returned to Tianshui City and quickly sent people to control several restless rebel leaders and regained control of Tianshui City.
Mo Zhe Tiansheng knew very well that after his father and brother were defeated, his subordinates had changed their minds.
According to Hou Gang's analysis, it was caused by the loss of the "program".
When the Qinzhou uprising began, their earliest demand was to kill the evil governor Li Yan.
However, after killing Li Yan, the entire Qinzhou rebel army expanded rapidly without proposing a new target.
Although Hou Gang was established as the King of Qin, what was the goal of the rebels?
When people follow you in rebellion, there must always be something to look forward to.
The same was true in the military. After the Qinzhou rebels rose up, they had no rules for fighting. They just ran around like bandits, biting off a piece of meat when they met a soft persimmon and knocking out their teeth when they met an iron plate.
Mo Zhe Tiansheng absorbed Hou Gang's advice and after returning to Tianshui City, he announced the establishment of the name "Da Qin" and changed the era name to Tianjian.
Mozhe Tiansheng called himself the King of Heaven, demoted Hou Gang to the position of Prime Minister of Qin, and set up hundreds of officials in Tianshui.
At the same time, Mozhe Tiansheng proposed the military strategy of "defending the west and attacking the east".
This is also Hou Gang’s suggestion.
Since Su Ze is strong, don't fight him.
The rebels should play to their strengths. Hou Gang suggested that Mozhe Tiansheng attack Jingzhou and Huazhou. If they could control Tongguan, the government troops in Guanzhong would be trapped.
Mo Zhetian rewarded him with an official position and sent his men to infiltrate Jingzhou.
Then Mozhe Tiansheng received the envoy of the "True King", Po Liu Han Kongque.
Po Liu Han Kongque was dressed in linen. After Mozhe Dati started the rebellion, he stayed quietly in Tianshui City. When Mozhe Dati died in the battle and Tianshui City was in chaos, he did not take the opportunity to leave.
Seeing Po Liu Han Kongque, Mo Zhe Tiansheng asked directly:
"When does the True King plan to raise his army?"
Mo Zhe Tiansheng didn't like any "true king". In his opinion, it was difficult to communicate with such a superstitious religious lunatic.
But what Hou Gang said was not wrong. If they only relied on the rebels in Qinzhou, they would not be able to hold out for long under the full-scale crackdown by the Northern Wei court.
Only when the entire Wei Dynasty is in chaos and the waters of the whole world are muddied, will they have a chance.
Po Liu Han Kongque looked up at Mo Zhe Tiansheng calmly and said:
"Before I set out, the True King told me, 'In the year of Xinchou, the world will be blessed with good fortune.'"
Xinchou?
Next year is the Year of Xinchou. Is the True King going to start a rebellion next year?
Mo Zhe Tiansheng and Qin Gonghougang, who was sitting below the seat, looked at each other and saw excitement in each other's eyes.
Po Liu Han Kongque looked at Mo Zhe Tiansheng with some disdain in his heart.
Compared with the great ideals of the True King, these guys in Qinzhou are purely for their own interests.
However, Po Liu Han Kongque thought that if the True King could work hard in this corrupt world for his ideals, then for the True King's ideals, he could also endure the nausea and temporarily cooperate with these insects from Qinzhou.
Thinking of this, Po Liu Han Kongque said again:
"Heavenly King, the True King also has some believers in Jingzhou. If the Heavenly King does not abandon me, Peacock is willing to be the king's vanguard in Jingzhou and call on the believers in Jingzhou to rise up and welcome the Heavenly King's army."
Mo Ze was very happy. He had originally planned to seize Jingzhou, and Po Liu Han Kongque was like a pillow for his sleepiness.
So Mo Zhe said enthusiastically:
"The True King is just like me. Both of them stand up for the talents of this world. When the time comes, I will be in the west and the Heavenly King will be in the north, and the Pseudo-Wei will be settled!"
"Someone come! Bring some wine!"
Soon after, his men brought over fine wine, and Mo Zhe Tiansheng and Po Liu Han Kongque swore an oath of blood covenant.
Immediately afterwards, Po Liu Han Kongque went to Jingzhou under the "protection" of the guards sent by Mo Zhe Tiansheng, contacted the local forces in Jingzhou, and jointly resisted the court.
-
The last day of the first year of Zhengguang, Luoyang.
After the Xuanguang Incident this year, Empress Dowager Hu was imprisoned in the Xuanguang Hall, so this year's New Year's Eve banquet was held in the Taiji Hall in the Central Palace. This was also the first large-scale banquet convened in the name of the young emperor after he ascended the throne.
Yuan Xu was very excited today. With the help of palace maids, he put on the emperor's crown with twelve tassels and carried the emperor's sword across his body. The twelve-year-old emperor showed a hint of heroism.
"Prince Changle, today is New Year's Eve, why do you look so grim?"
The person who accompanied Yuan Xu to change his clothes was his long-time study partner, Yuan Ziyou, who was newly conferred the title of Prince of Changle this year.
Su Shun, a eunuch who changed his attitude according to the situation, was gambling with several eunuchs around the emperor at this time, which created a rare opportunity for Yuan Xu and Yuan Ziyou to have a secret talk.
Yuan Ziyou knew very well that the eunuchs around the emperor were all Liu Teng's adopted sons and grandsons. It was also thanks to Su Shun's cleverness that he had the opportunity to have a good talk with the emperor.
After the palace maids left, Yuan Ziyou said:
"I think your majesty is not in good shape."
Yuan Xu asked doubtfully:
"This imperial robe was sewn just before the New Year. Doesn't it fit well?"
Yuan Ziyou said:
"Very similar to Emperor Xiaowen."
Although Yuan Ziyou had never met Emperor Xiaowen, he often heard the old palace servants talk about this emperor.
Yuan Xu's face changed and he understood what Yuan Ziyou meant. In name, he was already in power, but the power was in the hands of Yuan Yi and Liu Teng.
He said dejectedly:
"Then let's change into the same crown dress as last year."
Yuan Xu said dejectedly:
"If this continues, when will I be able to rule the country?"
Yuan Ziyou said:
"Your Majesty, there is an opportunity now."
Yuan Xu quickly asked, "What opportunity?"
Yuan Ziyou carefully looked around to confirm that there were no spies of Liu Teng, and then he said:
"Right Guard General Xi Kangsheng did not participate in the coup by King Jiangyang. His son Xi Nandang is a Qianniu attendant to Your Majesty. They are all loyal officials of the court."
Transition chapter, I have some cold symptoms recently, please take care of your health
(End of this chapter)