Chapter 266 Tian Fengshi Prophecy
Hejian Wang Yuanchen, in addition to being greedy and stingy, was also known for his narrow-mindedness.
He once competed with Gaoyang King Yuan Yong for wealth. After his defeat, he stopped talking to Yuan Yong. Even though Yuan Yong was the head of the Yuan clan, he still refused to greet him.
Yuan Chen was also extremely stingy. Everyone in his house, from his princess to his maids and slaves, could only wear clothes that he had woven himself. Even the offerings to his ancestors in his family temple were not enough.
The result was that Yuan Chen's wife, Gao, originally the daughter of the powerful minister Gao Zhao and the sister of Empress Wen Zhao Gao, could not stand this guy either. After moving out of Yuan Chen's palace, she began to commit adultery with Prince Guangyang Yuan Shen.
Yuan Chen glanced at Yuan Shen and decided to attack Li Chong first.
Yuan Chen said sarcastically:
"General Huqi has written to the emperor many times about the Six Garrisons, saying that the Six Garrisons are going to rebel. He has also led many expeditions to the frontiers, so he must be very familiar with the Six Garrisons. We should let General Li lead the expedition to quell the rebellion."
This sentence is so heartbreaking.
You, Li Chong, say every day that the Six Garrisons will rebel if they don’t reform. Now that the Six Garrisons have rebelled, has that meant you got what you wanted?
Or what role did you, Li Chong, play in the rebellion of the Six Garrisons?
Yuan Chen's intention of sending Li Chong to the war was even more sinister.
Since returning from the last northern expedition, Li Chong has been in poor health.
He was almost seventy years old. Compared with the average lifespan of the Northern Wei royal family of no more than fifty, his lifespan had outlived several Northern Wei emperors.
Asking him to lead the troops to the north at this age would be tantamount to letting him die on the way.
More importantly, there are not many available soldiers in the court now, and the situation in the Six Garrisons is unclear. Once Li Chong is defeated, he will be the one to take the blame.
Yuan Yi glanced at Li Chong, and remembered that Li Chong had once written a letter requesting that the six garrisons be withdrawn and turned into prefectures and counties, and he felt a little dissatisfied with Li Chong.
That's human nature. Most leaders don't like their subordinates to speak ill of them.
And subordinates had better pray that the things they are saying do not come true.
Otherwise, it would be the same fate as Tian Feng after the Battle of Guandu.
The prime ministers and officials of the Menxia Province also agreed with Yuan Shen's proposal. The only one who expressed opposition was Prince Guangyang Yuan Chen. However, Yuan Chen's opposition was completely ineffective because Yuan Yi made the final decision and ordered Li Chong to lead troops to suppress the rebellion in the Six Garrisons.
It was drafted by the Menxia Province and stamped by the little emperor.
The imperial edict was quickly issued, appointing Li Chong to the posts of envoy with special powers, chief minister, commander-in-chief of the northern expedition, and governor of Yanzhou, and ordering Anfeng King Yuan Yanming to lead the Yanzhou army to the north to provide support.
At the same time, Li Chong's son, Li Shengui, the governor of Xiangzhou, was given the title of General Pingbei and ordered to follow his father in the northern expedition.
The governor of Hengzhou, the general of Zhenjun and Prince of Guangling Yuan Gong, and the general of Pingdong and the governor of Jizhou Zhang Shijun were also under the command of Li Chong, and each led the troops of the prefecture to fight against the rebels of the Six Garrisons.
Li Chong had no choice but to arrange his affairs after his death while preparing for the expedition under the urging of the court.
Li Chong is already old, his two sons are not around, and all the friends who fought with him in the past have passed away.
When the servants informed him that a guest claiming to be his friend was visiting, Li Chong was very surprised. Now the whole Luoyang was avoiding him for fear of being summoned to the stage by him, so how could a so-called "old friend" come to visit him?
Li Chong ordered his servants to bring his old friend into the mansion. Only then did he realize that the visitor was Cui Guang, the semi-retired chief academic officer of the Imperial College.
Cui Guang is five years older than Li Chong. He is leaning on a crane stick and looking up at Li Chong.
Li Chong quickly pulled Cui Guang to sit down.
"Supervisor Cui."
The Secretary General was the position held by Cui Guang during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen.
At that time, Li Chong was selected by Emperor Xiaowen to join the expedition against Southern Liang.
Li Chong thought about the time when he followed Emperor Xiaowen. He was full of vigor and vitality at that time, and Cui Guang was planning reforms beside Emperor Xiaowen. He thought about what the court was like at that time.
What does the court look like today?
When he thought of this, Li Chong actually felt a little sad.
After all, he is older.
Cui Guang looked at Li Chong. After the fall of Prince Qinghe, Cui Guang submitted his resignation many times.
However, in order to save face, Jiangyang Wang Yuanyi still retained Cui Guang in the name of Menxia Province and did not let him resign and return home.
"General, before Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang, we discussed the issue of the Six Garrisons in front of the emperor. Before moving the capital, the last thing Emperor Xiaowen did in Pingcheng was to inspect the Six Garrisons and comfort the soldiers and civilians in the Six Garrisons."
"It's a pity that since the last emperor, the court has paid less and less attention to the Six Towns."
Li Chong sighed heavily. The problem of the Six Garrisons had accumulated over time. After leaving Pingcheng, the Six Garrisons became an invisible elephant.
The emperor, his ministers and officials were all reluctant to mention the Six Garrisons.
The Six Garrisons consume a lot of materials every year but cannot generate any income. No one knows when the losers in the political struggle in Luoyang will be sent to the Six Garrisons.
All the ministers were unwilling to discuss the issue of the Six Garrisons, so the issue of the Six Garrisons was shelved indefinitely and delayed until today.
Li Chong sighed and said:
"The six towns should have been changed to prefectures and counties long ago, but no one in the court is willing to discuss this issue."
Cui Guang said:
"Now that things have come to this, the general should think about how to put down the rebellion."
Li Chong sighed and said:
"With the current quality of the Imperial Guards, how can we talk about suppressing the rebellion?"
Li Chong is old.
He was so old that he no longer had the energy to reorganize the imperial guards.
"It would be great if Su Zilin was still in the Imperial Army."
Li Chong began to miss Su Ze very much.
Cui Guang said:
"Your disciple Su Zilin might actually be able to help."
Li Chong looked at Cui Guang in confusion and asked:
"Su Ze? Isn't he in Guanzhong? How can he help with the Six Towns?"
Cui Guang smiled and said:
"You still don't know your old subordinates well enough. Don't you know that Su Ze has already won several battles in Guanxi?"
Cui Guang suggested:
"General Li, you can grant Su Ze the right to control the troops of Lingzhou and Xiazhou, and let him contain the rebels from the Hetao area."
Li Chong opened the map, nodded and said:
“This is indeed a good idea!”
Li Chong became confused again:
"Mr. Cui is so concerned about the war in Guanxi?"
Cui Guang said:
"I was just asked to do this by someone else. Someone wanted to give Su Ze a push, and Cui was just doing a favor."
Li Chong did not ask much, but he also knew that the situation in Guanxi was tense, and Su Ze was afraid that he could only delay some of the rebels and could not have a decisive impact on the war situation.
Li Chong said: "This time, my reputation will be ruined."
Hearing what Li Chong said, Cui Guang also felt a little depressed.
These old ministers from the time of Emperor Xiaowen have all passed away. In fact, he and Li Chong were only casual acquaintances before. One of them was a civil official, while the other was a military official, and they often had different political views.
However, as time went by, the wise leader he had sworn to follow until death had long passed away, and his companions who had worked day and night to plan the reform had almost all died. Li Chong was the only "old man of Emperor Xiaowen" left in the court.
Regardless of the outcome of Li Chong's expedition this time, it is still unknown whether he can come back alive.
Cui Guang finally said:
"Take care, General."
When Cui Guang came out of Li Chong's mansion, he said to his confidants:
"Go to Princess Chenliu's residence and tell her that you have completed the task Her Highness asked me to do."
"Starting tomorrow, I won't see anyone. I'm going to be repairing books at home."
Princess Chenliu sent high-quality paper, saying that she wanted to help Cui Guang print his collection of essays.
This is also the recent popular trend in Luoyang. Scholars will compile their proudest works into collections, which will be copied by copyists and later published in Luoyang.
It is said that this was also the idea of Princess Chenliu. She often organized gatherings of Luoyang ladies and held a poetry club. Every time the poems in the poetry club would be copied into books and sent to each household, which became a popular trend in Luoyang.
Cui Guang wrote a large number of works throughout his life, including hundreds of poems, fu, inscriptions, eulogies, elegies, eulogies, memorials, and letters. Princess Chenliu personally came to Cui Guang and asked him to compile all his life's works into a volume.
For a writer, what could be more tempting than having his articles passed down through the ages?
When Cui Guang returned home this time, he planned to compile his own collection of essays and would no longer be involved in court affairs.
Leaning on his cane, Cui Guang just sighed that people of an era have their own opportunities.
At that time, I seized the opportunity of Emperor Xiaowen's relocation of the capital and reform, and spent the most exciting years of my life.
Now that troubled times are approaching, this is the stage for young people like Su Ze.
In the second year of Zhengguang year, June 28th.
This time, Li Chong was almost forced by the imperial court to lead 30,000 Yulin Huben soldiers to go on the expedition. Luoyang even only prepared 15 days of military rations, and Li Chong was required to raise food and fodder on the spot.
Li Chong knew clearly that these consecutive wars had emptied all the granaries in Luoyang, but the so-called "self-raising along the way" meant allowing the army to rob the food of the nearby people, didn't it?
Li Chong had never been so cowardly in leading troops in his life.
However, the Six Garrisons rebelled and threatened the old capital Pingcheng. The tombs of the previous emperors of the Tuoba clan were all near Pingcheng, and Li Chong could not bear the responsibility.
Before leaving, Li Chong requested the court to let Su Ze of Longxi take charge of the military affairs of Lingzhou and Xiazhou, and delay the rebels heading south in Lingzhou.
The court naturally agreed, and gave Su Ze the task of controlling the military affairs of the two states, and sent envoys to Guanzhong to announce the decree.
-
The reaction of the Northern Wei court can be said to be very quick.
However, the situation in the Six Garrisons deteriorated faster than expected.
Han Baling, the leader of Woye Town, killed Zhen Yuzhen and rebelled, and quickly took control of Woye Town.
The commander Wei Kegu, who had been active near Huaishuo Town and Wuchuan Town, also rebelled and led the Huaishuo rebels to besiege Huaishuo City.
The three towns of Fuming, Rouxuan and Huaihuang all rebelled, the town cities were broken, and all the town generals were killed.
It can only be said that the conflicts in the Six Garrisons had been accumulating for a long time, and once Han Baling, who defeated the Six Garrisons, raised his arm and called for action, all the Six Garrisons rebelled.
The only relatively stable town now is Wuchuan.
However, the reason why Wuchuan Town is stable is a bit dark.
The last time the Rouran invaded, the area around Wuchuan was the most severely ravaged, and the townspeople near Wuchuan suffered the most casualties.
Su Ze led his troops to defeat the Rouran people in Wuchuan, and Wuchuan also received the largest amount of spoils as compensation.
Therefore, compared with the other five towns, although Wuchuan Town General Lou Poqiang was far less prestigious than Yang Jun, Wuchuan actually became the only military town among the six towns that maintained the situation.
Faced with Sima Ziru and Dou Tai who came to ask for help from Yang Jun, Wuchuan Town General Lou Poqiang had no choice but to convene a military meeting no matter how reluctant he was.
"Huaishuo and Wuchuan are closely connected, we must save them!"
The first person to express his opinion was Heba Duba.
Heba Duba was an old acquaintance of Yang Jun. When Yang Jun took office in Huaishuo, he invited Heba Duba's father to Huaishuo to serve as the military leader under his command.
The last time the Rouran invaded, Yang Jun sent Heba and his son to lead troops to rescue Wuchuan. Later, in recognition of their merits, he promoted Heba Duba's three sons, Heba Yun, Heba Sheng, and Heba Yue, to the position of military commanders.
When his old boss got into trouble, Heba Duba naturally wanted to rescue him.
The second person to express his opinion was Yuwen Gong:
"If the rebels capture Huaishuo, they will definitely attack Baidao. If we don't rescue them now, Wuchuan will be unable to hold on alone."
As soon as Yuwen Gong expressed his opinion, the two largest families in Wuchuan, the Heba family and the Yuwen family, reached a consensus, and it was useless for the town commander Lou Poqiang to oppose it.
Most of the troops of the Six Garrisons were controlled by these military commanders and generals. Their soldiers were the children of the tribes, and the general Lou Poqiang could not command them at all.
Lou Poqiang was still unwilling to give up. He knew he should just defend Wuchuan to the death. If the rescue failed, there would be no soldiers left to defend Wuchuan.
He looked at Dugu Xin who stood out in the crowd and asked quickly:
"Dugu Lang, what do you think?"
Dugu Xin said:
"We need to save Huaishuo."
Lou Poqiang was a little angry. So you all have already reached a consensus, so why does this town still need to convene a military meeting?
All the military commanders in Wuchuan reached a consensus, and Lou Poqiang could only give the final order to send Heba Duba, Yuwen Gong and Dugu Xin to rescue Huaishuo!
Sima Ziru was so excited when he got the news that he could hardly control himself.
He knew how brave Heba and his son were, and that the Yuwen family was also a family of heroes.
Dugu Xin went to Huaishuo alone to seek help, and the way he entered the city with his hat tilted is still a legend in Huaishuo.
With the troops sent out by these three families, Huaishuo is saved!
Wuchuan dispatched troops quickly, and in less than three days each family had gathered their troops and headed towards Huaishuo Town.
-
To be fair, the people in Huaishuo Town are now united.
Huaishuo Town General Yang Jun, despite his illness, would climb up the city wall every day to encourage his soldiers.
Gao Huan was appointed by Yang Jun to guard Huaishuo City. He did a good job in defending the city. The garrison was arranged in an orderly manner and all kinds of supplies for defending the city were prepared adequately.
There was still food in the granaries of Huaishuo City, and the defenders also received rewards from Yang Jun who emptied his treasury.
But Huaishuo's situation is getting worse day by day.
Gao Huan's eyes were red. He had been guarding the city wall for five consecutive days. Today he could not hold on any longer. The veteran Dou Le took over the defense, and Gao Huan finally had time to return home.
Lou Zhaojun was overjoyed when her husband suddenly came home. She served Gao Huan his favorite eggnog, which was made by boiling eggs in sweet wine fermented from dairy products. The tumbling egg flowers combined with the sweet milk wine made Gao Huan sweat and his spirits lifted.
"If the imperial court does not come to our rescue, Huaishuo will be unable to survive on its own."
Hearing Gao Huan's words, Lou Zhaojun did not panic like other women. Instead, she looked at her husband and asked:
"What is He Liuhun's plan?"
Gao Huan sighed and said:
"Brother Su wanted to take me away from the Six Towns that day, but I refused. General Yang has done me a great favor, so I will guard Huaishuo City. If the city is destroyed, I will find a way to seek refuge with Brother Su."
(End of this chapter)