Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 348 Political Idiot
On April 20th of the third year of Xiaochang, when a messenger on horseback rushed into the imperial city, Empress Dowager Hu finally learned the news of the annihilation of the imperial army.

After receiving the news, Empress Dowager Hu collapsed on the imperial couch and could not utter a word for a long time.

At this time, the favored ministers around Empress Dowager Hu, the Minister of the Central Secretariat Zheng Yan, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat Xu He, and the General who Conquers the East Li Shengui, all stood silent.

Yuan Shen led the last force directly under the Northern Wei court. When this force was destroyed, even if one no longer had a political sense, one knew what this meant for the court.

They looked at each other in silence, even Li Shengui, who usually talked eloquently about military affairs, fell silent. Empress Dowager Hu knew that such a big matter could not be resolved by discussing it with these three young ministers, so she had to summon the ministers to discuss it together.

Li Shengui hesitated for a moment and said:
"Your Majesty, would you like to see His Majesty?"

Before the Tang Dynasty, the empress dowager was also called "Your Majesty". For example, the imperial edicts submitted by the ministers to Empress Lü addressed her as "Your Majesty".

After Empress Dowager Hu came to power again, in order to distinguish herself from the emperor, she began to have the ministers call her "Supreme".

So when Li Shengui referred to His Majesty, he was referring to the young emperor Yuan Xu.

These days, Empress Dowager Hu seemed to have noticed the little emperor's little actions and stepped up surveillance on him.

Empress Dowager Hu announced to the public that the little emperor was ill. Even royal family members had to be supervised by Empress Dowager Hu's confidants when visiting the little emperor, and they had to pay their respects to the little emperor from afar, which was tantamount to imprisoning the little emperor.

Li Shengui suddenly mentioned the little emperor. Empress Dowager Hu was a little unhappy at first, but she still said:
"This Great Wei is the kingdom handed down to your Majesty by our ancestors. Your Majesty, please come over."

At this time, Empress Dowager Hu finally thought of passing the blame. After all the important ministers arrived at the Xuanguang Hall, Empress Dowager Hu told them the military situation on the front line, and everyone showed expressions of horror.

The young emperor Yuan Xu was originally happy that he could see his ministers again, but when he heard this shocking news from his mother, he clenched his fists and stared at Zheng Yan and Xu He beside Empress Dowager Hu, wishing he could eat them alive.

For the young emperor, Empress Dowager Hu was his mother. Yuan Xu was indecisive by nature and could not feel hatred towards his mother.

Therefore, he placed all his resentment on Zheng Yan and Xu He, believing that it was these two people, Lao Ai, who had caused chaos in the palace, and had bewitched Queen Mother Hu into believing in slander, which had led to the current situation in the court.

After digesting the news, the ministers began to blame each other.

There is no way out. Not everyone can take the blame for destroying the last military power of the Wei court.

It would be fine if the Great Wei was fine, but if the Great Wei was destroyed, it would be recorded in history books and would be forever engraved on the pillar of shame.

Hejian Wang Yuanchen, who had been attacking Yuan Shen, immediately jumped out and said:
"The crime of this battle lies with Yuan Shen alone! If he hadn't been so greedy and reckless, how could he have sacrificed the best troops of the imperial court? He should be executed!"

As Yuan Shen launched the attack, his followers jumped out one after another to join him, and soon almost all the ministers expressed their agreement, with only a few people remaining silent. However, no one came to defend Yuan Shen.

Yuan Shen was the commander-in-chief of an army and the commander-in-chief of the expedition, so he must take the blame.

Empress Dowager Hu did not hesitate and immediately said:

"Send an envoy to Wulu to bring the military supervisor and Yuan Shen to Luoyang and hand them over to the Ministry of Personnel for questioning."

After the number one person responsible was identified, the ministers began to attack each other. Prince Yuan Ziyou of Changle, who was standing in the team of princes, clenched his fists tightly while watching the performance of these insects at the top of their lungs.

If it weren't for Empress Dowager Hu's chaotic command and the ministers' lagging behind, how could Yuan Shen have been defeated?
Looking at the bewildered little emperor sitting on the throne, Yuan Ziyou unclenched his fists again.

The court is full of treacherous officials, and Your Majesty only has one loyal minister left. You'd better endure it for now.

The ministers argued for half an hour, and Empress Dowager Hu could not stand it any longer. She said sternly:
"We can discuss the crimes after Yuan has penetrated deep into Luoyang! How should the court deal with the rebels now?"

When Empress Dowager Hu asked this question, the entire Xuanguang Hall fell silent.

Empress Dowager Hu set her sights on Yuan Chen, who had just made the most noise.

Hejian Wang Yuanchen cleared his throat and said confidently:

"Your Majesty, please do not disturb me. The Governor of Yanzhou, Yuan Yanming, is a fierce general of our Great Wei. A few days ago, he led his troops to attack Jizhou. The court may wish to appoint him as the Grand Commander of the expedition and recruit troops from Qing, Xu, Yan, and Ji states to attack him."

Empress Dowager Hu's eyes lit up, but at this moment, a eunuch hurriedly ran into the hall from the side hall, climbed onto the jade steps, and whispered a few words to Empress Dowager Hu.

Empress Dowager Hu turned pale, and she slammed the throne and said:

"The front line just reported that Yuan Yanming underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly. He was lured deep into the enemy's territory by the thief general Gao Huan and was defeated at the foot of Yecheng. He barely escaped back to Yanzhou!"

Upon hearing this news, the ministers' faces turned even paler.

Yuan Chen panicked for a moment, but he quickly calmed down and said:
"Your Majesty, please do not disturb me. Yang Yu, the governor of Dingzhou, is a good fighter. Last month, he killed the rebel general Yuwen and his son. Let Yang Yu take over as the commander-in-chief of the expedition and recruit Hedong overseas Chinese soldiers from Bingzhou to counterattack the rebel army."

Empress Dowager Hu's expression calmed down a little, and then another eunuch rushed to the steps and brought her a shocking news.

Empress Dowager Hu almost fainted. She looked at Yuan Chen and said:

"Yang Yu suspected that Yuan Shen had colluded with the rebel army to deliberately cause defeat, so he secretly beheaded Yuan Shen in Wulu. His former subordinates followed Yuan Shen and launched a rebellion. The rebel leader Ge Rong took advantage of the chaos to attack, and Yang Yu, the governor of Dingzhou, died for his country." All the ministers were dumbfounded.

The military forces that were sent to encircle the three states of Hedong were completely wiped out, and the court was now completely without any soldiers available.

Yuan Chen calculated quickly, and finally he said:

"Your Majesty, General Pingbei, the chieftain of Xiurong, Erzhu Rong, is good at fighting, and the Erzhu tribe also has elite troops. Why not let Erzhu Rong lead the troops to quell the rebellion?"

"No!"

Empress Dowager Hu stood up immediately and glanced at the little emperor beside her. Erzhu Rong was someone she was extremely wary of.

This is not only because Erzhu Rong was an old subordinate of Yuan Yi, but more importantly, Erzhu Rong was also the father-in-law of the young emperor.

A military general would not threaten Empress Dowager Hu's position, but an emperor's relative would be the empress dowager's natural enemy.

Hejian Wang Yuanchen begged for mercy and then returned to the ranks of ministers.

Empress Dowager Hu looked around and finally realized that in such a huge court, there was not even one person who could help her share her worries.

Since no conclusion could be reached by continuing the discussion, Empress Dowager Hu had no choice but to ask all the ministers to disperse and return home to submit proposals for countermeasures.

Empress Dowager Hu obviously didn't know why in every dynasty, small meetings were held for big events and small meetings were used for big events.

She openly discussed Yuan Shen's defeat at the court meeting, and then announced the news of Yang Yu and Yuan Yanming's defeats in public. Before evening, the news of the court's multiple defeats had spread throughout Luoyang City.

Even the rumor had changed from a major defeat in Hedong to a statement that the rebels were about to target Luoyang.

What spread faster than the rumors was the price of grain in Luoyang.

When the news of the defeat on the front line came, the price of grain in Luoyang immediately doubled, and the grain merchants who had high-ranking officials behind them increased their prices even faster and more fiercely.

After the families of the Luoyang imperial guards learned the news of the court's defeat and the annihilation of the entire army, those whose families had followed the army cried loudly. The families of the imperial guards who wanted to pray for their family members rushed into Longhua Temple. Longhua Temple immediately held a prayer ceremony in the temple. Su Suan also sent supplies to Longhua Temple to aid the families of the imperial guards who were in need.

Su Suan even publicly raised the banner of Su Ze. The families of the Luoyang Imperial Guards remembered this General Pingxi who came from the Imperial Guards. When Su Ze went to the northwest, he once recruited soldiers from the Imperial Guards, but most people at that time believed that Hezhou was a frontier area, and only a few people were willing to follow him.

I heard that the old subordinates who followed Su Ze to Hezhou have all become prosperous, and even Yang Zongjia has become a genuine military officer of the shogunate.

Those imperial guards who had dealt with Su Ze before were filled with regret. If they had known what would happen today, they would have followed Su Ze to the northwest!

If it were in the past, Su Suan would never be so high-profile, but now all the elite troops of Hedong have been lost, and the last bit of prestige of the court has been lost.

Prestige is inversely proportional to the cost of ruling.

Simply put, the greater the prestige, the lower the cost of ruling.

When the court loses its prestige, everyone will find out that the high and mighty government is just a paper tiger. When everyone openly disobeys the court's orders and is not punished, then what's the harm in making a small mistake?
The defeat in Hedong did indeed destroy the elite forces directly under the court, but the Wei Dynasty still controlled many areas. If there were really capable generals who could recruit new soldiers, it might be possible to form another team.

However, after Empress Dowager Hu's actions, it has become difficult for her to recruit soldiers from the Luoyang Imperial Guards, and the areas near Luoyang have fallen into panic and chaos, losing their last bit of trust in the court. So who would be willing to help you fight?
When Su Suan returned to the backyard, he found the table was full of visiting cards.

No need to look, these were sent by ministers who had had dealings with Su Ze in the past. They were planning a way out for himself.

The world is in turmoil now, and there are only a few places to go.

Qingxu, Henan, Jinzhong, and Guanzhong.

The Qingxu side had experienced the Northern Expedition of the Southern Liang last year, and Yuan Yanming of Yanzhou was defeated by Gao Huan, and is now also under the threat of the rebels.

Henan is the area near Luoyang. Luoyang is no longer safe. Henan is an area surrounded by wars and has no strategic locations to defend.

Jinzhong is one direction. Erzhu Rong does have an elite force, but no one knows whether they can fight.

The only thing left is Guanzhong.

Although Xiao Baoyin is now the commander-in-chief of the Guanzhong Western Expedition, everyone with a discerning eye in the court knows that Xiao Baoyin cannot even defend Yongzhou, and the one who can really fight in Guanzhong is Su Ze.

These people are responsible for choosing a way out for their family and descendants.

Su Suan opened the visiting cards, copied them down from greatest to smallest according to their influence in the court, and sent them to Su Ze via a report.

Soon after, Su Suan became excited again. Luoyang was in chaos, so there was a chance for him to stay in the backyard and do some activities.

(End of this chapter)