Chapter 281 Please save him!
Su Ze learned the whole process of the coup through his followers who stayed in Luoyang.
It can only be said that after the death of his political partner Liu Teng, given Jiangyang King Yuanyi's dull political acumen, his downfall was only a matter of time.
The chaotic and complicated situation in Luoyang further strengthened Su Ze's idea. He should not go to Luoyang in the short term. Even if he controls half of the world in the future, he must move the capital. He cannot stay in Luoyang and fight with these guys.
There is no way. Luoyang is the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty. No matter how disloyal the Wei Dynasty is, there are always loyal ministers in Luoyang.
The situation in Luoyang is complicated and there are many forces. Entering Luoyang rashly is equivalent to playing court politics with others on someone else's territory.
This is really not what Su Ze is good at.
In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, his sworn brother Erzhu Rong, after pacifying almost the entire north and purging the Luoyang nobles in the Heyin Incident, still fell into a political conspiracy in Luoyang.
After this, his successor Gao Huan lived in Yecheng and Jinyang for a long time and was unwilling to make Luoyang the capital.
Su Ze thought about it and decided to learn from Cao Cao. If he conquered the north in the future, he would have to build a new capital in Xuchang to house the royal family and ministers. Only in this way could he control the court.
The five hundred imperial guards who participated in the coup were immediately returned to Yuan Fotu after completing their mission, and escorted Princess Chenliu into Guanzhong to get married as planned.
Su Ze could only say that this time the imperial court showed amazing unity in dealing with Yuan Yi, and that this coup was the result of planning by many parties.
The several memorials submitted by Prince Gaoyang Yuanyong were not a reflection of his own political wisdom, but rather a plan drawn up after consultation among the entire Luoyang royal family and important officials.
But Su Ze was very clear that the partners in this coup would quickly fall apart after Yuan Yi's fall.
One of the key contradictions has been reflected in the change of the reign title.
"Xiaochang", as the name suggests, means that only "filial piety" can "prosper".
The keyword "filial piety" became the major policy of the entire country from the day of the change of the era name and was placed in the most important position.
There is a sense of humor in this, which is like "I hope the holy dynasty will govern the world with filial piety."
The reason why "filial piety" is emphasized is to promote the more noble status of Empress Dowager Hu.
From today on, the two parties of Emperor and Empress, which were originally united in struggle, will officially split into the Emperor Party and the Empress Party.
The conflict between the growing little emperor Yuan Xu and the Empress Dowager Hu who regained power was almost irreconcilable.
Judging from the reign title, Empress Dowager Hu and her party won a complete victory.
On the first day after the change of the reign title, Empress Dowager Hu and the young emperor appeared in the Taiji Hall at the same time, and Empress Dowager Hu once again took charge of the government.
This time, Empress Dowager Hu did not sit behind the emperor behind a curtain, but sat on the jade steps side by side with the emperor, with the Empress Dowager sitting in the west seat and the little emperor sitting in the east seat.
When the officials in the Taiji Hall saw this, they all knelt down and bowed to the Queen Mother sitting in the west seat.
After the little emperor returned to his bedroom, he complained to Prince Yuan Ziyou of Changle:
"When I go to court, all I can see are the butts of the officials in the court!"
Yuan Ziyou had no choice but to persuade the little emperor to continue to be patient.
The one who made the greatest contribution to the coup was Prince Gaoyang Yuan Yong, who stood on the side of the Queen Mother and was given the position of prime minister in charge of the Ministry of Personnel.
Yuan Shen and his son were also rewarded, and Yuan Shen was appointed as the Minister of the Chancellery. Recently, the Ministry of Personnel has also been discussing whether Yuan Shen should replace Li Chong and lead the northern expedition to the Six Garrisons.
Yuan Ziyou, the Prince of Changle, who acted as a collusion and even commanded the imperial guards to besiege Yuan Yi's residence and finally poisoned Yuan Yi, was only given a nominal position as a Palace Attendant.
The court even gave the imperial guards that Yuan Ziyou had commanded to Yuan Fotto, and sent them to Guanzhong to escort Princess Chenliu to her marriage.
It is estimated that according to the court's intention, this army was given to General Pingxi Su Ze, which completely deprived Yuan Ziyou of his military power.
There's nothing we can do about it, since Yuan Ziyou is the closest to the little emperor.
Yuan Ziyou was well aware that the Queen Mother's party was powerful and he had to bide his time.
The young emperor felt somewhat resentful, but there was nothing he could do as he was not yet an adult and it was a tradition for the empress dowager to rule the country.
His grandfather, Emperor Xiaowen, also had to endure until the death of Empress Dowager Wenming before he truly gained power.
I just don’t know how long I have to endure this kind of life.
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In the third month of the first year of Xiaochang, Huaishuo Town.
I don’t know how long the little emperor can endure this, but Gao Huan, who is guarding Huaishuo, really can’t stand it anymore!
From July last year to March this year, Huaishuo Town has been under siege for more than half a year!
What about the imperial army?
Please save him!
After Huaishuo was besieged, last year, the Wuchuan Army leader Yuwen Heba led his troops to support Huaishuo. At that time, Gao Huan was still full of hope.
Yuwen Gong and his son Heba Duba were indeed brave and won several battles under the city of Huaishuo.
But there are too many enemies!
Even if you chop melons and vegetables every day, you will get tired.
Immediately afterwards, Li Chong led his troops into the Six Garrisons, bringing hope to Huaishuo.
At that time, Li Chong also sent people to break into the besieged Huaishuo Town and inform the town commander Yang Jun that there would be a way out as long as they held on.
But what can we do? !
Then came the devastating news.
Wuchuan City was broken!
Now both Yuwen Heba and his son were uneasy. Wuchuan was their hometown and their family members were all in Wuchuan City. The morale of the army they brought was unstable and they had no intention of leaving the city to fight again.
Then the news came that Li Chong's army defeated Po Liu Han Baling in Wuyuan!
The hearts of the people in Huaishuo were in tension again!
Will Huaishuo be safe next?
Unexpectedly, after Li Chong won the great victory, he ignored Huaishuo and led the army directly back to Pingcheng.
Now everyone in Huaishuo was in complete despair!
After Wei Ke Gu captured Wuchuan, he waited until winter was over and finally led his troops to attack Huaishuo.
The pressure of defending the city increased sharply!
Gao Huan knew very well that Huaishuo City could no longer be defended.
Huaishuo was already very powerful. It defended the isolated city for more than half a year, and even hundreds of thousands of rebels outside the city were unable to capture it.
But even the strongest man can't stand such torture!
What made the people in Huaishuo City even more angry was the court’s attitude towards Huaishuo!
The six prefectures were all in chaos, and only Huaishuo was struggling to hold on. However, since Li Chong retreated to Pingcheng, no envoys from the court have come once!
The Northern Wei court seemed to have completely forgotten Huaishuo!
(In fact, the Northern Wei court not only forgot Huaishuo, but also the entire Six Garrisons.)
Yang Jun lying on the hospital bed was cursing loudly. He was the most loyal general to the court, but now he could not hold on any longer.
Wei Kegu launched another siege on the city in recent days. Now the city walls are full of corpses. Gao Huan has to send people to move the corpses away from the city walls at night, otherwise the rebels will be able to climb up the city walls tomorrow by stepping on the corpses of their companions.
In addition, a part of the earth wall has collapsed, which also requires craftsmen to lead laborers to repair it. However, all the women and children in Huaishuo Town have already joined the battle, and several craftsmen have died of exhaustion. The earth walls of the houses in the city have been demolished to repair the city wall. Manpower and military force have been extremely scarce.
Huaishuo could no longer be defended. Not only Gao Huan thought so, but the generals defending the city also thought so.
"General Gao, I'm here to bring you food."
Gao Huan looked back and saw that it was Yuwen Tai, the youngest son of Yuwen Gong.
All we see is Yuwen Tai wearing Qisuifu, a mourning dress made of coarse linen. Because of the edging around the dress, it is different from the raw edges of Zhansuifu and is a mourning dress specially worn to mourn one's brother.
There was sadness on Yuwen Tai's face as he was mourning for his elder brother Yuwen Hao.
Just a few days ago, Yuwen Gong went out of the city to inquire about the situation, but accidentally encountered Wei Kegu's main camp. These were Wei Kegu's elite troops, and Yuwen Gong was quickly besieged.
To make matters worse, Yuwen Gong accidentally fell off his horse by the river, and Wei Kegu's elite cavalry was about to surround Yuwen Gong. At this time, Yuwen Hao had already broken out, but he immediately rode back, helped his father onto the horse, and single-handedly blocked Wei Kegu's men who were swarming over him.
Yuwen Hao fought hard with dozens of people, but was finally outnumbered and died on the spot. Yuwen Gong watched his son die in battle, and risked his life to fight his way back to Huaishuo Town under the protection of his subordinates.
Yuwen Hao was extremely brave and was the eldest son of the Yuwen family. He had a high prestige among his brothers.
Yuwen Hao was the heir of the Yuwen family. It goes without saying that Yuwen Gong was very sad to see his younger brother die at an old age. His other brothers also put on mourning clothes, cut off their hair and vowed to avenge their brother.
Gao Huan sighed. He saw with his own eyes how Yuwen Tai, this heroic young man, gradually became silent.
In such a depressing environment like Huaishuo, even the most optimistic and contented person would not be able to bear it.
The death of his brother in battle made Yuwen Tai fully realize the cruelty of the battlefield, and finally all his youthful liveliness disappeared.
Gao Huan took the food box, asked his confidant to call the soldiers guarding the city, distributed the food in the food box to the soldiers, and said to Yuwen Tai:
"Black Otter, do you have any cake?"
Yuwen Tai nodded, took out a millet cake and handed it to Gao Huan.
This was the daily ration for ordinary soldiers, a cake made by mixing corn and ground beans and then drying them.
This kind of cake was baked very dry and had to be dissolved in water in the mouth before it could be swallowed. Gao Huan choked on the cake and started coughing violently.
Yuwen Tai hurried forward to pat his back, and Gao Huan was saved from choking to death by the millet cake.
Looking at the sunset, Yuwen Tai asked:
"Brother He Liuhun, if Huaishuo City is captured, what are your plans?"
Gao Huan drank a sip of water and finally stopped coughing. He looked at Yuwen Tai's face and said through gritted teeth:
"I have defended the city for nine months. I have lived up to the salary given by the court! If the city is captured, I will surrender."
After saying this, Gao Huan looked at Yuwen Tai again. Wei Kegu had a grudge against him for killing his brother, so Gao Huan was worried about Yuwen Tai's reaction.
But Yuwen Tai was very calm.
Gao Huan said:
"The court is really disheartening!"
Yuwen Tai remained silent. Gao Huan looked at the youngest son of the Yuwen family. Among Yuwen Gong's four sons, only Yuwen Tai was different from his three elder brothers.
Yuwen Hao, who died in battle, his second son Yuwen Lian, and his third son Yuwen Luosheng, were all typical people from the Six Garrisons. They were brave and heroic, and were greatly respected and loved by the soldiers.
But the fourth son, Yuwen Tai, was often silent. He liked to hang out with Dugu Ruyuan, who loved to wear fancy clothes and dress up. No one knew what he was thinking in his mind.
However, Gao Huan had a hunch that the youngest son, Yuwen Tai, was the most difficult one to deal with in the Yuwen family.
Yuwen Tai suddenly raised his head, looked at Gao Huan and said:
"Brother He Liuhun, I'm sorry."
Before Gao Huan knew what was happening, two strong men suddenly rushed up from behind Yuwen Tai and controlled Gao Huan.
Immediately afterwards, Yuwen's troops rushed to the city gate and quickly took control of it.
Gao Huan now understood everything. Why Yuwen Tai said sorry? It was their Yuwen family who wanted to surrender the city!
Immediately afterwards, Gao Huan saw the Heba brothers in the team, and also saw Dugu Ruyuan, who was still as handsome as ever in military uniform.
This is a collective rebellion of the Wuchuan people. They want to offer Huaishuo City in order to gain promotion in the rebel group!
Gao Huan was a little angry. He originally thought that everyone was from the Six Garrisons and they were united in defending the city. He was very grateful for the reinforcements from Wuchuan.
But now he realized that Wuchuan people are Wuchuan people, and Huaishuo people are Huaishuo people, they are completely different.
Then, Gao Huan saw Sima Ziru and Dou Tai who were tied up, and he became more certain of his thoughts.
People from Huaishuo and Wuchuan can't even pee in the same pot!
On March 5, the first year of Xiaochang, the generals of Wuchuan tied up Gao Huan and other Huaishuo defenders and surrendered to Wei Kegu outside the city.
The Huaishuo City, which had been under siege for more than half a year, was finally broken. Wei Kegu was very happy. He gave special treatment to the Wuchuan generals and allowed them to continue to lead their troops and form a Wuchuan Army, led by the Wuchuan Army Lord Heba Duba.
But the people of Huaishuo were not so lucky.
After hearing the news, Yang Jun, the sick commander of Huaishuo Town, died of grief and anger that night. He was not humiliated by the rebels.
Dou Le, the commander of the Huaishuo Army, was a veteran general who vowed to never surrender. After Wei Kegu entered the city, he vowed to defend the town's mansion to the death. He was surrounded and fought by Wei Kegu's men for two hours before he died in battle.
Gao Huan, Sima Ziru, Dou Tai and other leaders of the Huaishuo Army were imprisoned by Wei Kegu.
The most miserable people were the people in Huaishuo City. After the rebels entered the city, they first looted Huaishuo's granary, and then began to plunder Huaishuo City.
The rebels took out their resentment for attacking Huaishuo on these ordinary people. Countless men were slaughtered and women were raped.
Thanks to Yuwen Tai's intervention, the families of Gao Huan, Dou Tai and Sima Ziru were safe, but the families of many of their soldiers were broken up.
The irony of history is that on the day Huaishuo City was captured, the court finally issued an order to change the six towns into prefectures and counties, allowing the people of the six towns to change from hereditary military status to civilian status, and allowing them to move inland to seek refuge.
Yuan Shen, Prince of Guangyang, succeeded Li Chong as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition and was responsible for suppressing the rebellion in the Six Garrisons.
Also in March of the first year of Xiaochang, Yu Jin led his troops south to prepare for a battle against Hu Chen's rebels who were wreaking havoc in Huazhou.
Just when Yu Jin was leading his troops south, Su Qinmingda, a former general of Hu Chen who had originally surrendered to Su Ze, took the opportunity to defect from the military camp.
Su Ze had already been on guard against Wanqi Chounu and Su Qinmingda, two generals under Hu Chen, and was just about to send people to hunt down Su Qinmingda.
Su Liang offered advice to Su Ze:
"My lord, I have a plan. Please take this opportunity to send Su Liu ([Ordinary Golden Sword Messenger]) to send Su Qinmingda to Mozhe Tiansheng's Qinzhou rebels."
Su Ze's eyes lit up!
Yuan Shen, actually his original name was Yuan Yuan. You can find this name if you look up historical materials.
The reason is very simple. The history books of the Northern Dynasties were compiled by people in the Tang Dynasty. In order to avoid the taboo of Li Yuan, the historians of the Tang Dynasty changed Yuan Yuan's name from "Yuan" to "Shen".
(End of this chapter)