Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 387 Acting Skills
Liu Gui, who was attending the banquet, also put down the Hu Bing in his hand and looked at Gao Huan.

Gao Huan said without hesitation:
"The only heroes in the world are you, my Lord and Duke Su."

Hearing this, Liu Gui also sighed slightly. Anyone with a little political wisdom can see that although Erzhu Rong and Su Ze have no conflict of interest now, and can even be in step with each other when dealing with court issues, there will definitely be a battle between the two in the future.

Even the fact that Erzhu Rong was unwilling to launch an uprising to purge the court was actually because he was concerned about Su Ze's power.

If he raised an army and the empress dowager and the emperor fled to Guanzhong, then even if he occupied Luoyang City, he would lose his righteousness and become a scapegoat for Su Ze.

Liu Gui had already served Erzhu Rong, but he and Su Ze were old friends from Luoyang, and there were some conflicts between them.

Gao Huan, who was also an old friend of Su Ze, gave such an answer, which was actually saying indirectly that Erzhu Rong and Su Ze would inevitably embark on a path of confrontation.

Everyone knows that there is only one true dragon. As for who is the true dragon and who is the false dragon that serves as the forerunner of the true dragon, no one can see clearly when they are in the situation.

Erzhu Rong was very satisfied with this answer. There were not many people in this world that he looked up to, and Su Ze was one of them. Therefore, in Erzhu Rong's heart, he had no intention of becoming an enemy of Su Ze for the time being.

However, in this battle for the dragon, as the two top men in the world, there must be a final battle.

Erzhu Rong was quite satisfied with Gao Huan's answer, and even more satisfied with Gao Huan.

Then Erzhu Rong looked at Liu Gui and said:
"Guizhen, when we were in Luoyang, you and my brother were in constant contact. I heard a few days ago that he had a child and his sister just got married. Please go to Yongle City to give me a gift."

Liu Gui was startled. This was Erzhu Rong asking him to go to Yongle City to check on Su Ze's true situation in the name of giving gifts. He quickly agreed.
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When the opponents are evenly matched, it always makes people feel that fate is fickle, always sending down so many heroes in these troubled times, just to add countless variables to the troubled times.

Today, Su Ze brought his confidants to the Xuan Jing Division. Su Bai (the [inconspicuous egret messenger]), who was in charge of the Xuan Jing Division, hurriedly led the messengers of the Xuan Jing Division to greet them at the door.

Su Liang, who was behind Su Ze, was once briefly in charge of intelligence work, but since the Xuan Jingsi was established independently, he has never set foot in this mysterious yamen.

It can be said that apart from Su Ze, none of his trusted and important officials had ever come to Xuan Jingsi.

However, as a department that can report directly to Su Ze, both the Political Affairs Hall and the Shogun's Office are very curious about this mysterious department.

Although everyone knows that Su Ze established the Xuan Jing Division mainly to spy on the enemy.

Although this department is mysterious, it still sends a large amount of intelligence to the Shogun's office and the Government Affairs Hall every month, and this intelligence is eventually proven to be correct.

It can also be said that everyone will come into contact with the Xuan Jing Division.

This department, which seems very close to everyone but is actually very far away, has always made the officials both fearful and curious.

Such a spy agency that holds secrets is always feared by people, and no one wants to have a few Xuan Jingsi envoys hiding in his or her own house.

I am curious about how such a department that can always provide accurate intelligence actually operates, and whether the Xuan Jingsi is also collecting intelligence on the ministers?
Therefore, various rumors about the Xuan Jing Division were circulating within the Duke's Mansion.

This time, Su Ze generously led his ministers to inspect the Xuan Jing Si. All the ministers put down their work and followed him to the Xuan Jing Si, wanting to take a peek at this mysterious organization.

"My Lord, these are the intelligence that Luoyang just sent."

Everyone saw various documents, including long speeches with many words that seemed to have been transmitted through the formal official document system.

There is also a kind of paper ball rolled up into a ball and hidden in a pigeon tube.

The clerks of the Xuan Jing Division copied the information onto ordinary official paper and then sent it to the next department.

"My Lord, this is the News Office. All the intelligence sent here must be integrated and analyzed, and finally gathered into the final intelligence."

I saw a group of people wearing Xuan Jingsi official uniforms sitting at a table, checking off various intelligence, which finally gathered in the hands of a middle-aged man.

[The Messenger of News with Superb Memory]

Name: Su Chaoqun;

Grade: Orange;
Effect: Hearing the news, good at analyzing intelligence from case documents.

He has an excellent memory and is good at memorizing various details in documents, which improves his ability to analyze intelligence.

Comment: "The Wenbao Division was an intelligence agency that Liu Yu left in Chang'an after the Northern Expedition, specializing in collecting intelligence from the northern countries."

Selling price: 500 wen tai and 200 baht coins, and a monthly maintenance fee of wen tai and baht coins is required, and office expenses such as paper or bamboo slips need to be paid.

Su Chaoqun quickly wrote and drew from a pile of materials, and finally compiled a briefing, which Su Bai handed to Su Ze.

After reading the briefing, Su Ze said to Su Liang beside him:
"The government troops were defeated in Xiangzhou."

Su Liang was shocked.

The intelligence system of the County Duke's Mansion was very powerful. The news of Prince Anle Yuanjian's rebellion in Yecheng had long since reached Yongle City. At that time, the Shogun's Office quickly made a judgment that with Yuanjian's prestige and ability, he was simply not capable of occupying Yecheng and rebelling.

Not long after, news came from the rear courtyard that Pei Yan and Yuan Ziyong had pacified Yuan Jian.

Although Ge Rong occupied Xindu and cut off the government army's retreat, a group of military advisors including Su Liang believed that the main force in Pei Yan and Yuan Ziyong's hands was still there. Even if they cut off contact with Xiangzhou, they could still get supplies through Jizhou, Qizhou, and Qingzhou in the rear, and would fight with Ge Rong for a while.

But now the Xuan Jing Division has come to the conclusion that the government army has been destroyed, which naturally makes everyone look surprised. Su Ze said:

"The price of rice in Luoyang has tripled again, and the number of carriages leaving the city has doubled compared to last month. The important officials in the court have all moved their families out of Luoyang. The front line must have suffered a great defeat, which is why the princes and ministers in Luoyang are so panicked."

Su Liang said:

"The price of rice in Luoyang has risen three times a day. Maybe someone is hoarding it. As for the turmoil in Hedong, the nobles have been fleeing Luoyang. This alone cannot mean that the front line has suffered a great defeat, right?"

Su Ze said again:
"A large number of Xiangzhou refugees have flooded into Luoyang, and the Xiangzhou nobles have fled one after another. Doesn't this indicate a problem?"

Su Liang still said:

"Since the war, refugees have fled everywhere, and it is common for powerful families to relocate their families."

Su Ze finally said:
"During the discussion at the Ministry of Personnel, Prince Yuan Ziyou of Changle proposed that Yuan Tianmu, the governor of Bingzhou, be appointed as the Grand Commander of the Eastern Expedition to lead the troops to quell the rebellion, but in the end the Queen Mother rejected the proposal. Doesn't this explain the current situation?"

When Su Liang heard this, he realized that Su Ze's judgment was correct.

For a long time, suppressing Erzhu Rong was the only policy that Empress Dowager Hu adhered to for a long time after she came to power.

Yuan Tianmu and Erzhu Rong were sworn brothers, and the Menxia Province even began to discuss letting Yuan Tianmu lead troops to quell the rebellion, which showed that there was really a big problem on the front line.

Su Liang immediately said:

"I am stupid. The defeat of the government army in Xiangzhou is of great importance. Please make plans early!"

Su Ze helped Su Liang up and said:
"Jingshun doesn't know the details of the incident, so naturally it's impossible to make an accurate analysis. This time when we go back, we need the Shogun's Office to come up with a plan on how to deal with the crisis in Luoyang."

In fact, Su Ze had already learned the news of Pei Yan and Yuan Ziyong's defeat through his entourage on the front line.

The reason for this defeat was also due to infighting among the government troops.

After defeating Yuan Jian, Pei Yan and Yuan Ziyong had a disagreement.

Pei Yan had a deep hatred for the rebels. His benefactor Yuan Shen was killed by the rebels. When he heard that Ge Rong had captured Xindu, Pei Yan believed that he should take the initiative to advance and defeat Ge Rong in one fell swoop while he suffered a series of defeats in Jizhou.

But Yuan Ziyong had a different opinion. He wrote to the court: "The rebels are short of food and can only plunder everywhere. We should build high walls and deep fortifications. The rebels cannot fight and plundering will not gain anything. In a few months, the rebels will naturally be defeated without food."

Yuan Ziyong hoped that the court would allow him to control several states in the Qi and Lu regions, and directly use the food in these places to defend the city and exhaust the rebels to death.

The court received the two men's separate memorials and they began arguing again.

It was obvious that Empress Dowager Hu preferred Pei Yan's plan.

The area that Luoyang can now control is the Yellow River Basin from Luoyang to Qi and Lu.

Yuan Ziyong's words about controlling Qi and Lu made Queen Mother Hu even more suspicious. Did he also want to keep the enemy at bay?
Faced with two different strategies, Empress Dowager Hu finally supported Pei Yan and ordered the government troops to march to Xindu immediately.

Yuan Ziyong once again submitted a petition requesting a postponement of the attack. If this was not possible, he would let Pei Yan advance alone.

But the imperial court still did not listen to Yuan Ziyong's advice, so Yuan Ziyong had to join Pei Yan in the attack.

When the army reached Zhangqu, northeast of Yangping County, Ge Rong led an army of 100,000 to fight. Pei Yan and Yuan Ziyong were both defeated and killed.

When Empress Dowager Hu learned of the defeat at the front, Li Daoyuan immediately wrote to her, asking her to block the news so as not to cause panic in Luoyang.

This time, Empress Dowager Hu finally accepted Li Daoyuan's suggestion, but the upper echelons of the Northern Wei Dynasty had long been as leaky as a sieve, and the news of the defeat still spread among the upper echelons in Luoyang.

This led to the rise in rice prices and the escape of officials.

The important officials in Xuan Jingsi felt much more relaxed because of Su Liang's "misjudgment" this time.

In fact, everyone present was a smart person, and Su Liang's several "misjudgments" also allowed them to see how Xuan Jingsi was gathering intelligence.

That is to start from various information, integrate various semi-public information, and infer important intelligence.

Xuan Jingsi, who seems to be omniscient, is not omnipotent and has to combine information from various sources to infer the truth.

Only a Xuan Jing Si like this can make the ministers less afraid.

Su Ze saw that the ministers seemed to be thinking about something, and this time his cooperation with Su Liang would make the ministers less hostile towards Xuan Jing Si.

In fact, there was no need for so much trouble. Su Ze had followers lurking among the government troops on the front line, and they had already known the news of the government troops' defeat in Luoyang in advance.

Seeing the reactions of his subordinates, Su Ze also sighed.

With Su Ze's current prestige and strength, the entire group is also in a period of growth and development. No one is stupid enough to have ulterior motives and jump ship. Of course, it has not yet reached the point where the Xuan Jing Division is needed to monitor the ministers.

But people’s hearts always change. Just because something is not useful now may not be useless in the future.

(End of this chapter)