Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 401: Politics and Military Affairs

Of course, the little emperor only appeared on the city gate for a while wearing a dragon robe. The so-called shouting was also helped by Su Suan, and then he started his journey westward under the escort of elite soldiers.

However, the people of Luoyang had seen the emperor. During the annual memorial service, the little emperor would walk from Tongtuo Street to the suburbs, and the officials in Luoyang knew the emperor even better.

Such an appearance was naturally to allow the people of the world to see the emperor's whereabouts.

What Su Ze needed was an emperor who could represent the legal system of the world, not a fifteen-year-old Yuan Xu.

The emperor appeared at the city gate and led the escape from Luoyang. Coupled with the fighting in Beizhong City, the flames and shouts in the imperial palace, and the heavily guarded mansions of princes and ministers, all these caused the panic-stricken Luoyang City to erupt into even greater turmoil.

There really were some officials and civilians who quietly packed up their things and followed him out of the city heading west.

However, more people joined in the chaotic carnival in Luoyang, and the emotions of fear eventually brewed the bitter wine of violence. The lower-class people who had long been oppressed by the upper class in Luoyang began to take advantage of the chaos to attack those luxurious mansions that were usually out of reach.

Chaos and disorder took over the city.
-
North Central City, evening.

Gao Huan's left hand was covered in blood, and his armor was also covered with traces of battle. At this moment, he was no longer the defiant man he had been when he went into battle in the morning, but was kneeling in front of Erzhu Rong with his head lowered.

Gao Huan's troops, who were attacking Beizhong City from the south, had been called back by Erzhu Rong.

"I am incompetent! Please punish me by military law, General!"

Heba Sheng in the north was still attacking the city, but there was not much progress either.

The advantage of defending the city was still too great. A Beizhong City was located on the north bank of the Yellow River, blocking Erzhu Rong's 3,000 troops from crossing the river.

Go around?
The floating bridge is narrow, can you cross the river bypassing a military fortress?
Erzhu Rong, who was always strict in military law, did not punish Gao Huan this time.

"It's not my fault. I underestimated my brother. The garrison in this city is not the imperial guards."

Erzhu Rong saw at a glance that the defending army was well organized and was definitely not the Wei official army he had seen along the way.

Moreover, even though two of his fierce generals had been attacking for a whole day, the defenders were still able to put up a tenacious resistance.

Erzhu Rong did underestimate Su Ze, but he also couldn't understand why Su Ze could reach Beizhong City, and where did these elite soldiers in the city come from?
According to Erzhu Rong's plan, Li Shengui who was guarding Beizhong City was not to be feared, and the Luoyang Imperial Guards had no combat effectiveness and will. In addition, with the support of the princes and ministers in Luoyang City, he could quickly enter Luoyang and do as Dong Zhuo did.

But I didn't expect that a small city in North Central would delay me for a whole day.

Gao Huan gritted his teeth and said:
"Please give me another chance, General. I will definitely take down this city!"

Erzhu Rong waved his hand and said:

"Let's see if the imperial envoy can get Li Shengui to open the city and surrender."

Because they marched too fast into Luoyang, the rest of their troops were still left behind.

Since we can’t solve it militarily all at once, let’s look at politics.
-
On the southern wall of Beizhong City, an eunuch messenger was holding an imperial edict, sitting in a hanging basket, being pulled towards the wall little by little.

Just as the eunuch was hung in the air, Su Shouzheng suddenly drew his sword and cut the rope of the hanging basket. With the eunuch's hoarse screams, the hanging basket and the messenger fell heavily to the ground.

"General Su! Are you crazy? That's the eunuch beside the Queen Mother! He's here to announce the decree!"

Su Shouzheng held the blade in his hand, looked at Li Shengui and said:
"The imperial edict is fake."

Li Shengui was about to argue, but when he saw the shining blade in Su Shouzheng's hand, he finally saw the situation clearly and swallowed the rest of his words.

Su Shouzheng approached Li Shengui and said:

"As long as the General holds out until tomorrow, Lord Su, it will be a great achievement."

Li Shengui looked at the sun which was about to set. Erzhu Rong had marched to Luoyang in a hurry, and his soldiers must be exhausted. It was impossible for them to attack the city at night. If they just held on until tomorrow, they could do it.

He immediately said to the soldiers around him:
"The imperial edict is fake! Fight to the death!"

The soldiers on the city wall numbly followed Li Shengui's orders and returned to their positions to defend the city.

Sure enough, when the sun set, Erzhu Rong withdrew Heba Sheng from the northern city wall.

Standing on the city wall, Su Shouzheng looked at Erzhu Rong's neatly arranged camp and let out a long sigh.

If the defenders in the city were all his own people, Su Shouzheng would have absolute confidence in being able to hold off Erzhu Rong for ten days, half a month, or even longer.

But there are only 300 of them, and the head coach is still the spineless Li Shengui.

The other defenders in the city are the Luoyang Imperial Guards. What is the combat effectiveness of the Luoyang Imperial Guards?

Now Luoyang has fallen into chaos again, and the imperial guards are also homesick. Being able to hold out for one day under tremendous pressure is already the result of Su Shouzheng's best efforts.

The soldiers' flickering eyes and the anxiety in their eyes as they looked at Luoyang said it all.

What we guard the city is the people's hearts.

As long as you delay it until tomorrow, you will have accomplished the task.
-
Su Ze, who set out from Hongnong, did not march at night, but camped in a small county.

The Gyeonggi region was already in chaos, and he was marching day and night. It would be terrible if something went wrong during the night march.

In the commander's tent, Su Ze said to the ministers accompanying him:
"Entering Luoyang is a military issue, but even more a political issue."

This time, Su Ze brought Su Liang and Wang Sizheng with him. In addition to them, there were also many representatives of the Guanxi samurai.

Su Liang understood this problem, and so did Wang Sizheng, but many of the Kansai samurai did not.

The reason why Dong Zhuo's several thousand soldiers were able to enter Luoyang City was because Yuan Shao in Luoyang City wanted to let him in.

Similarly, in the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, Erzhu Rong's entry into Luoyang was so smooth because someone in Luoyang wanted to let him in.

Chen Qingzhi escorted Yuan Hao into Luoyang smoothly with seven thousand white horses because someone in Luoyang wanted to let him in.

On the contrary, if everyone in Luoyang is united and doesn't want you to come in, then you can't come in. Sima Yi, who controls Luoyang, can prevent Cao Shuang, who holds the title of regent, from entering Luoyang City because the officials in Luoyang all stand behind Sima Yi.

The Eastern and Western Wei fought several battles around Luoyang, and even though Yuwen Tai had sent out all his elite troops, they were unable to enter Luoyang.

Although Li Mi's Wagang Camp was full of powerful generals, they were unable to capture Luoyang City guarded by Wang Shichong.

Moreover, entering Luoyang does not mean that we can control Luoyang.

There are many more examples like this.

"It is easy to enter Luoyang, but difficult to control Luoyang. Although Luoyang is not far from Guanzhong, it is difficult to transport supplies along the way."

"so,"

Su Ze looked around and said:

"This duke raised the army to obey the imperial edict and to defend the king, not to march into Luoyang."

Now all the representatives of the Guanzhong gentry understood.

This sentence was said to them. Su Ze currently has no ambition for Luoyang, so his attention is still on Guanzhong. This is to appease the Guanzhong gentry.

The gentry in Guanzhong were even happier. There were many high-ranking families in Luoyang. If Su Ze controlled Luoyang now, they would definitely join the fight for official positions.

The Guanzhong gentry has been suppressed for a long time, but they are indeed inferior to others in terms of culture and influence.

They chose Su Ze not because they respected Su Ze, but because Su Ze was the spokesperson for their interests in Guanzhong.

Su Ze clearly stated that the policy of giving priority to Guanzhong and focusing on Guanzhong was to reassure the Guanzhong gentry.

Sure enough, these Guanzhong nobles offered their loyalty one after another. After they left, Su Ze said to Su Liang:

"Luoyang is a hot potato, so let's just give it to Erzhu Rong."

Su Liang nodded repeatedly. He had studied and worked as an official in Luoyang, so he certainly knew how deep the water in Luoyang was.

There are countless conspiracies and intrigues brewing in these palaces, mansions, government offices, and neighborhoods in Luoyang, and countless forces competing for power. This place is a vortex of power.

Luoyang is still a place surrounded by enemies. Now Ge Rong is at the peak of his power, and there is also Erzhu Rong in Bingzhou. Can Su Ze transport logistics from Guanzhong to defend Luoyang?

Normal military decision-making would not do this.

Giving up Luoyang was Su Ze's only choice, but he still led his troops here just for the little emperor.

Even in Su Ze's opinion, the little emperor was a better asset than Luoyang.

A cowardly little emperor is much easier to control than a city full of conspirators.

According to the distance, the little emperor will be picked up tomorrow, and then Luoyang City will be left to Erzhu Rong, his sworn brother, to deal with.
-
It was a long and difficult night. Except for Su Ze in the military camp, no one else slept well.

Erzhu Rong kept communicating with Yuan Tianmu in Luoyang City, trying to find a way to make Yuan Tianmu use political means to make the defenders of Beizhong City surrender. When he learned that the little emperor had been intercepted by Su Ze, he asked Yuan Tianmu to send troops to pursue the little emperor.

Yuan Tianmu had to control the queen mother, contact the kings, and suppress the riots in Luoyang City. He had no way to pursue the little emperor.

Empress Dowager Hu was imprisoned in the Xuanguang Hall and was also tossing and turning in bed.

Even Yuan Ziyou, who escaped from the city, was confused by the ever-changing situation in Luoyang and didn't know how to make a decision.

Looking at Su Shun beside him, Yuan Ziyou asked:
"I know you have been hiding your abilities. Now tell me what you think. What should I choose?"

As a hero who brought the secret decree to Su Ze, joining Su Ze was of course the best choice.

However, Yuan Ziyou also realized that Su Ze was not a loyal minister who could support the country, but an ambitious man as dangerous as Erzhu Rong.

Su Shun stopped pretending and said directly:

"I think Your Majesty should return to Luoyang."

Yuan Ziyou looked at Su Shun, and Su Shun continued:

"The King of Gaoyang is greedy, the King of Hejian is vicious, and there is no one in the royal family who can take on the responsibility. Luoyang needs the king to take charge of the situation."

Yuan Ziyou stood up and said:

"My Great Wei has been supporting nobles for so many years, and in the end, it was you, a eunuch, who offered advice to me. Let's go, I will follow your instructions and return to Luoyang City."
-
The next morning, a hanging basket was lowered from the Beizhong City, and Su Shouzheng walked into Erzhu Rong's military camp alone.

"You mean to let the Beizhong City garrison return to Luoyang City?"

Su Shouzheng looked at Erzhu Rong and said calmly:
"Please General, please stop fighting today. Our army will withdraw."

Gao Huan and Heba Sheng on the side became anxious and said immediately:
"General! It only takes half a day for us to capture this city!"

Erzhu Rong finally said:
"How long will it take you?"

"One day."

"No, half a day at most."

Su Shouzheng nodded and said:
"Half a day is half a day."

"You stay in the camp as a hostage."

"only."

(End of this chapter)