Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 389 Intending to Capture the Dragon?

A large number of military intelligence documents were sent from the front lines in Henan to Jinyong City in Luoyang. Murong Shaozong and other officials of the Prince of Qin's mansion kept a close eye on the progress of the war.

However, compared to the tension among the officials of the Qin King's Palace, the atmosphere in the entire city of Luoyang was not affected by the war in Henan.

After six months of reconstruction, the framework of Luoyang, which had been severely damaged in the war, has been put back in place.

With Tongtuo Street as the central axis, the government offices, residences of the imperial family and nobles, granaries and treasuries in the inner city of Luoyang have all been restored, and the east and west markets and Sitongfang in the outer city have also been rebuilt.

Compared to the original Luoyang city, the current Luoyang East and West cities have been resized, each occupying four neighborhoods.

Luoyang originally had more than two hundred neighborhoods, but most of the neighborhoods in the outer city had been destroyed in the war and are now being replanned and rebuilt. In the winter, construction is in full swing in the neighborhoods, with a large number of houses under construction and craftsmen and servants coming and going every day.

After Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai's residences were completed in Huantai Lane, the two planned to return to Hebei. Before their departure, Li Shuang met with them.

Having not returned to Hebei for a long time, Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai were eager to go back.

Gao Huan is alright; he's not in Ye City, but he still has a group of Huai Shuo brothers there, so the situation isn't too chaotic.

But Yuwen Tai was different; he was of a lower generation, and Yuwen Hu, who was left behind in Fanyang, was of an even lower generation. In his absence, the Youji region was thrown into chaos.

Li Shuang did not try to persuade them to stay. During this period, with Li Yuanzhong in charge, Xiangguo's iron smelting center had already taken shape. Letting these two return would further stabilize the situation in Hebei.

Having experienced the Rebellion of the Six Garrisons and the rebellion of the Hebei aristocratic families against the Erzhu clan, Hebei emerged from the chaos of war, and order began to stabilize, making it the perfect time to resume production.

Hebei was a prosperous region and was once the core area of ​​the Northern Wei Dynasty's rule, providing a large amount of tax revenue for the Luoyang court.

Today, the population of the Hebei prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of the imperial court in Luoyang is less than one-third of what it used to be.

While war directly caused population deaths, the large number of fleeing households and powerful families hiding their populations were also important reasons.

Li Shuang did not immediately intend to investigate the population of Hebei. Instead, he used the name of the Luoyang court to bring the Hebei aristocratic families back under his control and cooperate with them.

There's no other reason than that I lack the strength.

During the chaotic period of the Five Barbarian Invasions, the Han Chinese aristocratic families in Hebei had already developed methods to deal with the barbarian cavalry.

Build a fortified village!
The manor economy, centered around fortified villages, provided significant leverage for Han Chinese aristocratic families during times of chaos.

The fortified villages were sturdy, and the Northern Wei's once purely cavalry forces had little way to deal with them. After all, the nomadic tribes raided for money, food, and people. Spending a great deal of time, energy, and resources to attack a fortified village yielded little reward even if won, and a defeat would be a loss of face and substance.

If we don't want a lose-lose situation, then cooperation is the only option.

After the Sinicization reforms, the Northern Wei Dynasty not only ranked the noble families of the country by their ancestral home, but also ordered the local noble families to dismantle their fortified villages.

Of course, these aristocratic families did comply. However, they weren't entirely without precautions. After all, the technology was still available.

Upon seeing the rebellion in the Six Garrisons and the impending chaos in the land, the powerful clans and wealthy families revived their former skills and built fortified villages.

When Li Shuang was in Hedong, he built his own fortified village. Not only that, but other powerful families in Hedong, such as Pei Xue, also built fortified villages.

This situation only changed after Li Shuang conquered Taiyuan, and the powerful clans of Hedong, such as Pei and Xue, began to dismantle their fortified villages.

Hebei today is just like Hedong in the past; it is unrealistic for Li Shuang to force the aristocratic families to dismantle their fortified villages.

Li Shuang couldn't muster an army of over 100,000 to eliminate the fortified villages of powerful clans one by one along the various prefectures and counties of Hebei, thus eradicating their influence.

Of course, even if Li Shuang had the ability, doing so would be meaningless.

If Hebei falls into chaos, it will only create opportunities for the Liang army in the south and the Hu people in the north.

Similarly, if you don't want a lose-lose situation, then cooperation is the only option.

However, what is advantageous for Li Shuang is that while the aristocratic families of Hebei cannot extend their influence to Guanzhong and Hedong, Li Shuang can infiltrate Hebei through the imperial court in Luoyang and gradually control the major cities of various prefectures and counties in Hebei.

This is not a goal that can be achieved quickly; it may take a long time and involve repeated back-and-forth struggles.

Currently, Hebei is mainly controlled by three forces.

The Qin Prince's Mansion and the powerful clans of Yinzhou and Dingzhou who clearly sided with the Qin Prince's Mansion, the outside forces of the Six Garrisons represented by Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai, and the local aristocratic clans of Hebei.

Standing atop the Hundred-Foot Tower, watching Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai leave the city, Li Shuang smiled.

Perhaps the situation in Hebei will change again in the future, and the outside forces represented by Gao Huan and Yuwen Tai will integrate with the local aristocratic families in Hebei to form a new force.

At that time, the main forces in Hebei will still be three parties, but they will become the Qin Prince's Mansion, the Yecheng Army led by Gao Huan, and the Fanyang Army led by Yuwen Tai.

However, Li Shuang was happy to see this happen.

This suggests that Li Shuang is close to achieving his goal of controlling Hebei.

Murong Shaozong walked up from behind, cupped his hands and said:

"Your Majesty, the battle report from Xuzhou has arrived."

"Yuan Xin has repelled Yuan Yue's rebel army and Liang's army, and entered Pengcheng?"

Murong Shaozong smiled slightly upon hearing this.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The outcome of this battle was not much of a surprise.

Liang Jun did not launch a large-scale northward expedition to provide aid; even the provision of money, food, and supplies was merely symbolic.

For more than a hundred years, except for Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Yu, who pushed the Southern Dynasty's defense line to the Yellow River, the two dynasties were locked in a tug-of-war between the Yangtze, Huai, Si and Ji rivers for most of the time.

The two important towns that the Northern Wei and Southern Liang dynasties fought over for decades were Shouyang and Pengcheng.

Both of these important towns were well-defended, and even an army of tens of thousands of men might not be able to capture them.

In the thirteenth year of the Tianjian era, in order to seize Shouyang from the Wei army, the Liang army occupied the entire Huai River defense line and devised a water attack strategy.

The Southern Liang dynasty mobilized 200,000 people from Xu and Yang prefectures, spent tens of millions of catties of iron, and took two years to build the Fushan Dam on the Huai River.

Liang Jun planned to use the Fushan Dam to flood Shouyang. However, four months after the Fushan Dam was built, the Huai River swelled, the dam collapsed, and hundreds of thousands of people downstream were swept into the sea, turning fertile fields into swamps.

This incident severely damaged the Southern Liang dynasty, and it has taken many years to recover.

Since the uprising of the Six Garrisons, the Northern Wei Dynasty was in great chaos. Taking advantage of this, the Southern Liang Dynasty encroached on a large amount of Northern Wei territory to the north. Not only did they capture Shouyang, which they had failed to capture despite spending a huge amount of manpower and resources, but they also occupied the entire Huai River and pushed their defense line northward, capturing places such as Woyang.

Shouyang was a thorn in the side of the Northern Wei on the Huai River. Once the Northern Wei was in internal strife and unable to provide large-scale support to the front line, Shouyang would eventually fall into the hands of the Liang army.

But Pengcheng is different.

During the Zheng Guang era of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Yuan Faseng rebelled and surrendered Pengcheng to the Southern Liang Dynasty. Emperor Xiao Yan sent Xiao Zan and Chen Qingqian to take over the city, but their efforts failed due to Xiao Zan's surrender, and Pengcheng was lost again.

A major reason for this was that Liang Jun lacked reliable logistical support, which led to their dispersal.

Pengcheng's strategic location is important, and the Southern Liang Dynasty is well aware of this.

However, Liang Jun's memories of Pengcheng were painful.

To completely control the city and eliminate the influence of the Wei army, Southern Liang must invest 100,000 troops and a huge amount of resources.

Xiao Yan's mindset over the years has always been to accomplish great things with minimal expenditure.

By supporting the Yuan clan members who had fled south from the Northern Wei, they aimed to influence the situation in the north.

Just as the Prince of Beihai, Yuan Hao, did back then, the Prince of Runan, Yuan Yue, is doing now.

However, compared to Yuan Hao, Yuan Yue was far inferior.

Yuan Yue is homosexual and has a violent temper, so he doesn't have a good reputation among the people. Moreover, he is very difficult to control.

Therefore, Xiao Yan did not invest many resources, and his main approach was to try his luck regardless of the outcome.

It would be best if we could take it; if we couldn't, it would just be a pity. After all, Shouyang was already under the control of Liang's army, and the Huai River defense line was already secure.

Murong Shaozong handed the battle report to Li Shuang and said:

"Your Majesty, after Yuan Yue was defeated at Pengcheng, he abandoned the land and fled south to join Chen Qingzhi."

"It doesn't matter. Even if Yuan Yue successfully escapes to Jiankang, he will be of no use to Xiao Yan."

Yuan Yue's rebellion not only cost him all his resources but also depleted the Yuan clan's manpower in Luoyang. Now that it has failed, he has lost his value in Jiankang.

There were quite a few members of the Yuan clan who went south to join the Liang state. If Xiao Yan wanted to find a puppet more controllable than Yuan Yue, he had plenty of options.

Li Shuang glanced at the military report, then at Murong Shaozong.

"Once the situation in Xuzhou stabilizes, I will transfer you to Qingzhou. What do you think?"

The situation in Henan is much simpler than in Hebei.

Because of the long-term tug-of-war between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Henan's population was not as large as Hebei's. In addition, due to the actions of the Erzhu clan, even more people fled.

The Liang and Wei armies mainly fought for control of cities along major rivers such as the Wo River and the Ying River.

After Pengcheng was defended, Qi, Ju, Henan and other places were stabilized.

Before Yuan Xin set off, Li Shuang had already dispatched Gao Ang to Qugao City to guard the various prefectures in Henan. The next step was the Qi and Ju regions.

Murong Shaozong thought for a moment and said:
"promise!"

……

Jiankang.

Taicheng.

When news of the defeat reached Jiankang, Emperor Xiao Yan of the Southern Liang Dynasty returned to the palace from Tongtai Temple and summoned the crown prince and several close ministers to an audience.

This emperor, who had renounced worldly life multiple times, was a vegetarian for a long time and had a thin face, yet his imposing presence was extraordinary.

Xiao Yan attached great importance to this defeat report not only because the Prince of Runan, whom he had supported, had been defeated, but also because the army led by Yuan Xin, the Prince of Guangling.

What does this represent?
Since the Rebellion of the Six Garrisons and the Incident at Heyin, the Northern Wei Dynasty had ended its period of division.

After the defeat of the Erzhu clan, the Prince of Qin, who has now entered Luoyang and established the Tiance Mansion in Jinyong City, has integrated the various forces within the Northern Wei.

This is not good news for Nanliang.

The key point is that this King of Qin is still very young.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will be a long-term rival of Nanliang.

But Xiao Yan was already old, nearing seventy.

This is also why this emperor was very cautious about waging war abroad.

But this does not mean that the old emperor has become senile; on the contrary, his mind remains sharp.

"Your Highness, what do you think?"

Xiao Gang served as the crown prince under Xiao Yan and was extremely respectful.

Feeling Xiao Yan's gaze, Xiao Gang lowered his head and said:
"Your Majesty, I believe that Prince Li Shuang of Qin has already taken control of the government in Luoyang, and the lands of Hebei, Henan, Qi and Ju have also been pacified."

Anyone who has read the military reports sent by Liang Jun from the front lines can draw this conclusion.

Xiao Yan did not stop there, and continued to ask:

"Do you think this King Li Shuang of Qin will be the next Erzhu Rong?"

Xiao Gang paused, finding the problem somewhat thorny.

Just then, Liu Jin, a courtier of the Crown Prince and also Liu Zhongli's father, cast a glance at Xiao Gang, which strengthened Xiao Gang's confidence.

"I don't think so!"

Xiao Yan became interested and asked:
"Why?"

"Your subject believes that Li Shuang, though rising from humble beginnings, is more difficult to deal with than Erzhu Rong. After entering Luoyang, he disciplined his soldiers, treated the people well, and comforted the imperial family and nobles. He did not engage in the cunning and tyrannical acts of Erzhu Rong."

Xiao Yan already knew the answer to this question.

Hearing Xiao Gang say this, he couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"If he is Erzhu Rong, then things are simple. If not, he is a great threat."

As he spoke, Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Gang and gave the instructions:

"I am getting old, and I entrust most of the military and political affairs to you. You must manage them carefully. Once Li Shuang's power base is secure, the northern barbarians may invade the south again."

Xiao Yan planned to delegate power to Xiao Gang, allowing him to manage the Huai River defense line.

Although Xiao Yan was advanced in years, his knowledge remained profound and his judgments were very accurate.

He had profound insights into the more than three hundred years of chaos.

From the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the present, it has been extremely difficult for the Southern Dynasties to maintain their defense line along the Yellow River.

Even a military strongman like Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Yu, could achieve this, but later rulers could not maintain it.

This is related to the military structure of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

The Northern Dynasties had no shortage of horses and had many cavalry, but the Southern Dynasties' armies were mainly composed of infantry and navy.

After Liu Yu, Emperor Wen of Song, Liu Yilong, can be considered a wise ruler.

The Yuanjia era was hasty, but it served as a warning to every emperor of the Southern Dynasties who followed.

Therefore, as a second-best option, securing the Jianghuai defense line became the top priority for the Southern Dynasty.

Especially now, Emperor Xiao Yan is increasingly prioritizing stability.

Taking advantage of the internal turmoil in the Northern Wei Dynasty, he advanced northward and gained many strategic buffer zones, but he had no intention of seizing Henan, pushing the defense line to the Yellow River, or even unifying Hebei.

Xiao Yan was no longer young and could personally lead an army of 100,000 northwards. Even when he was young, he did not have the same ability as Liu Yu.

The best strategy is to rely on the Jianghuai defense line and fight a defensive counter-attack.

Xiao Gang was very pleased to receive Xiao Yan's authorization.

As Xiao Yan watched Xiao Gang's departing figure, he turned to his favored minister Zhu Yi and asked:

"Can the Crown Prince handle this matter?"

Zhu Yi and Xiao Gang did not get along, but he dared not go against Xiao Yan's wishes. It was Xiao Yan's order to send Xiao Gang to reorganize the Jianghuai defense line, and Zhu Yi dared not object even more.

He was a favored minister, but not a powerful one.

"With the help of loyal and brave men like Chen Qingzhi and Wei Can, His Highness the Crown Prince will be able to do a good job."

Xiao Yan murmured softly:
"I have cultivated for many years and accumulated merits with great difficulty. Why must I encounter such a person at this time? Is it a calamity or the will of Heaven?"

……

(End of this chapter)