My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 228 The Emperor Greets the Crowd!

Inside the Mingguang Hall of the Imperial Palace.

Yuan Ziyou frowned, angrily threw the official document in his hand away, and roared, "Under the emperor's nose, in the most virtuous region! How dare these bandits be so bold! They've plundered all the way to Hanoi Prefecture, are they about to come and plunder Luoyang?"

"Where is the dignity of the Great Wei? Where is the dignity of me?!"

While Erzhu Rong and his men were discussing matters in his own residence, he also took the opportunity to send the latest news to the palace.

His chest heaved violently, but this was the only way he could express his dissatisfaction with Erzhu Rong.

Currently, most of the imperial guards, attendants, and maids in the palace are spies planted by Erzhu Rong to monitor him. His every move in the palace is under Erzhu Rong's control.

He knew very well that what he was saying would be recorded and relayed to Erzhu Rong.

so what?

He was deliberately making veiled criticisms.

"Damn it!"

“This fellow is utterly despicable. He actually tried to coerce me into moving the capital in this way. I would rather die in Luoyang than live a shameful life as Emperor Xian of Han in Jinyang.”

Yuan Ziyou isn't stupid.

If Ge Rong's power were truly that great, Erzhu Rong would not have remained in Luoyang, sitting comfortably in his position.

In his view, Erzhu Rong did it on purpose!
They're not cooperating with the relocation of the capital, are they?
Then let the bandits and enemy troops besiege the city, and use that as leverage.

It turns out that Yuan Ziyou misunderstood Erzhu Rong. Ge Rong's army's invasion and plundering of Sizhou caught everyone off guard.

After venting his anger, Yuan Ziyou forced himself to calm down.

To ensure his safety, he first needed to regain control of the Imperial Guards, cultivate trustworthy confidants, and then have them secretly train an army for him. As long as he had an army, he could contend with Erzhu Rong, and at least he wouldn't have to be at Erzhu Rong's mercy in everything he did.

Although he seemed to have annoyed Erzhu Rong several times with his reward to Gao Yu, he actually paid a heavy price for it each time.

Nothing has changed at all.

Erzhu Rong continued to promote his confidants to various key positions, and also successfully sent Erzhu Ying'e into the harem to become his empress, monitoring his every move.

"Erzhu Rong has ordered the Right Guard General to quell the rebellion, and is awaiting further military developments..."

"I can only take action after Erzhu Rong leaves Luoyang."

Under Erzhu Rong's watchful eye, Yuan Ziyou couldn't cause any trouble.

The next day.

Inside the Tai Chi Hall.

After the officials had finished their homage, Yuan Ziyou spoke first, "Prime Minister, Ge Rong, the bandit leader from Hebei, has already led his men to plunder Qinshui. Does the Prime Minister intend to continue to turn a blind eye?"

"If we do not quickly send troops to quell the rebellion and appease the people, and allow the bandits to continue plundering the people in Sizhou, and allow the fleeing people to spread rumors along the way, I'm afraid that before the bandits even reach the outskirts of Luoyang, the people in other places will think that the Great Wei has fallen!"

Erzhu Rong merely raised his eyelids and said with a slow and unhurried smile, "Your Majesty, the Right Guard General has already led troops to quell the rebellion. Your Majesty has personally praised the Right Guard General's bravery. What? At this moment, Your Majesty has become suspicious of the Right Guard General who once praised you so highly? Does not trust that he can defeat the rebels?"

Yuan Ziyou's expression changed drastically, and he quickly changed his words, "I naturally trust the Right Guard General very much. What I mean is that wherever the bandits pass, it's like a locust plague, and the people will surely suffer terribly. Has the Prime Minister already discussed with the ministers how to provide disaster relief and how to settle the people in the future?"

"Your Majesty is wise. For such a magnanimous people to have such a benevolent ruler is truly a blessing for the people of Great Wei."

Erzhu Rong paused for a moment, then continued, "Your Majesty, I was just about to submit a memorial..."

Just as Erzhu Rong was about to continue speaking, he heard a soldier from the Imperial Guards reporting from outside the palace.

"Report! Military intelligence has arrived from the front!"

Everyone in the Taiji Hall looked on in astonishment and turned around, while the Imperial Guard soldier who came to deliver the message broke out in a cold sweat.

So fast?
Could it be that Ge Rong really went mad, forcibly besieged Gaodu, and then succeeded?

Erzhu Rong had all sorts of guesses running through his mind, but his face showed no sign of it.

Yuan Ziyou was also unsure for a moment.

No one thought of a great victory, after all, Gao Yu had just set off with his troops, how could it be so fast?

"Go and bring the official documents over."

Yuan Ziyou waved his hand, and his attendant tiptoed quickly to the palace gate, handing the official document from the imperial guards to Yuan Ziyou.

Yuan Ziyou opened the official document and took a look.

He stood there, stunned, his mouth slightly agape, with an expression of disbelief.

This greatly worried the officials and ministers in the palace. They were extremely anxious, especially the more impatient members of the Erzhu clan, such as Erzhu Zhongyuan and Erzhu Zhao, who wished they could rush forward and snatch the official document from Yuan Ziyou's hands.

But Erzhu Rong didn't move, so they could only suppress their impatience.

"Your Majesty, what urgent military situation is this?"

Erzhu Rong asked in a deep voice.

Yuan Ziyou looked up at him, revealing a strange smile, and then burst into uncontrollable laughter, "A great victory! The Right Guard General has utterly defeated the enemy army, annihilating and capturing more than 20,000 bandits, causing them to flee in disarray!"

"Hahaha! As expected of the exceptionally brave Right Guard General, with him personally leading the charge, the bandits were indeed wiped out in no time!"

"I never imagined that Ge Rong, the Hebei bandit leader who had repeatedly caused our Great Wei army to suffer defeats, would be so easily defeated in front of the Right Guard General!"

Yuan Ziyou was extremely excited, and his expression was beaming with joy.

Erzhu Rong, however, remained expressionless, with a hint of worry in his eyes, as if this great victory was nothing to make him happy.

He didn't care about anything else and asked directly, "Your Majesty, does the official document mention whether the bandit leader Ge Rong has been executed?"

Yuan Ziyou shook his head and said regretfully, "The Right Guard General's report said that Ge Rong escaped by accident. It's a pity... If we could capture and kill the bandit leader, we shouldn't be greedy." No one noticed that Erzhu Rong's expression softened considerably upon hearing that Ge Rong was not dead, and a hint of joy even flashed in his eyes.

Gao Huan's guess was correct.

Ge Rong was the target that Erzhu Rong had set his sights on.

If Erzhu Rong didn't want Ge Rong to become too powerful, he could have simply sent troops when Ge Rong was vying with Du Luozhou for the position of "number one" in Hebei.

They haven't sent troops.

This refers to Ge Rong leading the refugees from Hebei to frantically stir up trouble, depleting the last remaining strength of the imperial court and exhausting the last bit of life force of the Great Wei.

At the same time, they also need to use the refugees to ruthlessly exploit the bloodlines of Han Chinese aristocratic families in Hebei.

He wasn't afraid of Ge Rong becoming too powerful.

Erzhu Rong knew very well that Han Chinese aristocratic families looked down on people of Ge Rong's background. Even if Ge Rong possessed the most fertile land in the world, Hebei, he could not fully digest it, precisely because the Han Chinese aristocratic families would not cooperate with him.

These powerful families look down on even the Erzhu clan, so why would they look up to someone from a border town?
But if the refugee army can't survive, they will definitely fight to the death with these aristocratic families hiding in their fortified villages.

Drive away the wolves to devour the tiger.

All I need to do is find a suitable opportunity to step in.

Either the powerful families would bow down to him, or even if they didn't, they would have already been beaten half to death by Ge Rong, and the cost of forcibly taking over by force would be much lower.

His base of operations was in Shanxi, so even if Hebei was ravaged and deserted, it was none of his concern.

"Your Majesty, may I have a look at the report of victory?"

Yuan Ziyou handed him the official document directly.

Erzhu Rong quickly browsed through the information, searching for the news that mattered most to him.

They annihilated or captured more than 20,000 people and seized countless supplies and provisions.

it is good!
Erzhu Rong was overjoyed!
This was the result he wanted. Ge Rong risked his life to go deep into Sizhou to seize grain, proving that they did not have much grain in stock. This time, the grain he seized was intercepted by Gao Yu.

A hint of joy flashed in Erzhu Rong's eyes; he already had a plan in mind!

Inside the Tai Chi Hall.

Everyone was utterly astonished.

How long has it been?
If I remember correctly.

Gao Yu led his troops out two days ago.

The distance from Luoyang to Gaodu is nearly two hundred miles.

Gao Yu completed the entire process of leading troops into battle, defeating bandits, and sending people back to relay frontline intelligence in just two and a half days.

That is to say...

Conservative estimate.

Gao Yu had already defeated the bandits yesterday, which means that Gao Yu probably only spent one night to march to the outskirts of Gaodu City.

Erzhu Zhao looked at the astonished expressions on everyone's faces.

A smile spread across his face!

My Erlang is fierce, isn't he!

My son-in-law!
They didn't care whether they were inside the Taiji Hall or whether the emperor was present.

He laughed triumphantly, "As expected of the Right Guard General! Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Such a march is extremely rare, even after searching through all the history books! Even the ancient overlords could not have done this well, could they?"

Erzhu Shilong and others, unusually, did not utter a rebuttal.

Husi Chun, who was opposing for the sake of opposing, also wisely kept quiet.

This battle report is truly shocking.

Heba Yue and Heba Sheng exchanged a glance, both equally surprised, and finally couldn't help but sigh.

"As expected of Gao Lang, even if I were to lead the army to besiege Gaodu, I would not have expected that Gao Lang could bring his troops so quickly, let alone Ge Rong."

Heba Yue did indeed witness firsthand how Gao Yu marched so rapidly.

but……

The more experience someone has in leading troops, the clearer they understand the challenges of playing like Gao Yu.

He must have terrifying leadership skills, high prestige among his soldiers, and lead an exceptionally valiant army.

Each factor is indispensable.

Not to mention within the Taiji Hall, there is probably no one else in the world today who could accomplish such a feat.

Yuan Ziyou was overjoyed and said, "The Right Guard General has performed a great feat!"

"This is the first time our Great Wei has achieved such a great victory against a bandit leader! A reward is warranted! A generous reward is in order!"

"Quickly send someone to find out the whereabouts of the Right Guard General. The Right Guard General has upheld the dignity of Great Wei and my dignity, Prime Minister..."

"I intend to personally go out of the city to welcome the Right Guard General's triumphant return. What is the Prime Minister's opinion?"

Erzhu Rong did not object; on the contrary, he cooperated fully.

"The Right Guard General has made outstanding contributions, so it is not a problem to go out and greet him."

(End of this chapter)