Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 106: Frame-up (5k, please subscribe)

It is said that General Su fought in all directions at night, and Lady "Lvzhu" fled in panic.

Su Ze was lying on the couch, talking about the southern goods sold in the four markets of Luoyang. When he mentioned that the person behind the shop was Situ Zhang Yi, Princess Chenliu lay on his chest and said calmly, "It's not surprising that these people do these things."

Seeing that Su Ze didn't know much about the upper echelons of the court, Princess Chenliu said with a smile, "I thought Su Lang knew everything, but it turns out there are things he doesn't know."

Seeing that Su Ze was about to "draw his sword" again, Princess Chenliu hurriedly asked, "Does Su Lang know what position Zhang Situ held before he returned to Luoyang?"

Su Ze thought for a moment and said, "Zhang Yi was once the General of the Western Expedition and the Governor of Qinzhou."

Princess Chenliu suggested, "Guanzhong."

Princess Chenliu drew a circle on Su Ze's chest and said, "Father, the Emperor Taihe, reformed the system and promoted high-ranking Han people. Most of the high-ranking Han people with the surname Jia are scholars from Hedong."

"Guanzhong was also the capital of the Qin and Han dynasties, and it is also full of talented people. However, this dynasty places particular emphasis on Hedong, and many scholars in Guanzhong cannot be appointed as officials. Since they cannot be appointed as officials, they have to make money."

Princess Chenliu's words gave Su Ze some understanding of the current situation.

The so-called noble families with Han surnames are also divided by region.

Among the scholars in the north today, the ones that can be called a group are Hedong, Guanzhong and Shandong.

Shandong was devastated during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, not to mention the Northern and Southern Dynasties which were also a battlefield for the struggle for hegemony between the north and the south.

Today, the government is controlled by the scholars of Hedong. The Qinghe Cui and the Taiyuan Wang are all powerful Hedong aristocratic families, and Hedong is also the most economically developed region in the entire Northern Wei Dynasty.

However, things changed. The scholars in Guanzhong later combined with the military families in Longxi to form the Guanlong Group.

The Li Tang Dynasty established by the Guanlong Group suppressed the Hedong scholars. Finally, the Hedong scholars defected to An Lushan, launched the An-Shi Rebellion, and buried the prosperous Sui and Tang Dynasties.

These aristocratic families fought until the end of the Tang Dynasty, and finally perished together.

Although Zhang Yi was born in Qinghe Zhang, he served as an official in Guanzhong for a long time and gathered many Guanzhong scholars under his command.

After listening to Princess Chenliu's words, Su Ze finally understood the current situation in the court.

The top class were naturally the princes, followed by the Han nobles who intermarried with the Northern Wei upper class. Among them, the scholars in the most economically developed Hedong region had the most say.

The status of the Guanzhong region is somewhat embarrassing.

As the former capital of the Qin and Han Dynasties, and also the former capital of the Former Qin and Later Qin during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the scholars in Guanzhong originally had considerable influence.

However, in the Northern Wei court, the scholars from Guanzhong were suppressed.

Princess Chenliu said: "The most recent influential minister of the Guanzhong Li family is Li Chong, who served as the imperial attendant during my father's reign. The equal distribution of land and the three-chief system were proposed by Lord Li. When my father left the capital for hunting, Li Chong was also appointed as the governor of Luoyang."

"But during one of the garrisons, Li Chong suddenly clashed with Li Biao, a Han Chinese minister who was also on duty, and both died."

"Since then, it has become increasingly difficult for scholars in Guanzhong to enter officialdom. The Jingzhao Wei family was able to be highly valued in the Southern Dynasty, but in our Great Wei, not even the Jia family was considered a high-ranking family, and their descendants have gradually declined."

Jingzhao Wei family, Su Ze thought of this family. It was Wei Rui who came from Jingzhao Wei family who defeated the Northern Wei in the Battle of Zhongli.

Li Chong is called Crouching Tiger, but Wei Rui is called Wei Hu, he is a real tiger.

Wei Rui's family fled from the north, and some of them stayed in Jingzhao.

Among the clansmen who stayed in Jingzhao, there was Wei Xiaokuan, a famous general of the Western Wei Dynasty who defended Gao Huan's Happy Yubi City and killed Emperor Shenwu of Northern Qi.

However, Wei Xiaokuan's talents did not even qualify him for an official position, and he only got the opportunity to lead troops during the turbulent times. This is enough to show the suppression of the Hedong scholars over the Guanzhong scholars.

But how could a soldier from Guanzhong support the entire southern goods smuggling business?

Su Ze felt that there was something fishy. Guanzhong was certainly connected to Shu and the Southern Dynasty. If the Shu brocade on the market was smuggled from Guanzhong to Luoyang, then the Buddhist scriptures, history books, embroidery and porcelain popular in Jiankang, the capital of the Southern Dynasty, could not have been smuggled from Guanzhong as well?
Princess Chenliu saw Su Ze's confusion and said in a teasing tone: "Su Lang, who in Luoyang knows the most about the goods of the Southern Dynasty?"

Su Ze almost blurted out: "Duke Danyang!"

Xiao Baoyin, Duke of Danyang, led troops to fight in the Northern Wei's two major wars against the south, the Battle of Zhongli and the Battle of Fushan Weir. Xiao Baoyin played an important role and had a high prestige in the southern states.

As a member of the royal family of the Southern Dynasties who could not escape, Xiao Baoyin, Duke of Danyang, was the one who knew the Southern Dynasties goods best. Moreover, he not only knew about the Southern Dynasties goods, but also knew what Southern Dynasties goods the Northern Wei upper class needed.

Princess Chenliu showed an expression of teachable child. These secrets in the court were not necessarily understood by ordinary ministers. If Princess Chenliu had not been spreading her net in Luoyang over the years and secretly won over many confidants in the ministers' houses, she would not have discovered the secret connection between Duke Danyang and the Guanzhong gentry.

And Su Ze thought of even more.

On the historical timeline before he traveled through time, just six years later, the bandit leaders Mozhe Niansheng and Wanqi Chounu in Guanzhong were rebelling, and the Northern Wei court sent Xiao Baoyin to suppress them.

Xiao Baoyin acted ambiguously in Guanzhong, fought a few years of bad wars, and finally planned to establish independence in Guanzhong.

The Northern Wei Dynasty sent Li Daoyuan as ambassador to Guanzhong to pacify the people. Xiao Baoyin was afraid that the matter would be exposed, so he sent people to assassinate Li Daoyuan and rebelled.

This also explains why Xiao Baoyin was relatively loyal to the Northern Wei court after returning north, but rebelled when he arrived in Guanzhong to quell the rebellion. It turned out that he had been colluding with the Guanzhong gentry for a long time, and only dared to rebel with the support of the Guanzhong gentry.

However, Xiao Baoyin overestimated the support of the Guanzhong gentry for him. After seeing that the Northern Wei court was not yet doomed, the Guanzhong gentry quickly abandoned Xiao Baoyin, the puppet. In the end, Xiao Baoyin was defeated and killed.

Then the matter was very clear. The private sale of southern goods was a means for the Guanzhong gentry to make money in Luoyang.

The Guanzhong gentry relied on ministers such as Zhang Yi who had connections with Guanzhong, and defected to Xiao Baoyin, the Duke of Danyang. They relied on the connections Xiao Baoyin had left in various southern states and counties during several southern expeditions, and smuggled large quantities of Southern Dynasty goods for profit.

As for whether there are other people behind the Guanzhong gentry, there must be some, but this speculation is close to the truth for Su Ze.

Hou Yuan rushed headfirst into such a powerful force. I really don't know if he was ignorant or fearless, or both?

Princess Chenliu saw Su Ze was in a daze and ignored her, and asked angrily, "What are you thinking about?"

Su Ze looked up and saw her shiny skin, his heart warmed up again, he threw her down and said, "I miss you!"

"Why are you here again!"

In the middle of the night, Princess Chenliu, disguised as Lu Zhu, fled in a panic on the carriage. Su Ze then opened the system and picked up the chess piece to check the map of Sitong City.

[Shitong City Treasure Pavilion, Yellow Area, Challenge Level: 30. ]

[Wenchang Bookstore in Sitong City, yellow area, challenge level: 25. ]

. . .

The challenge levels of these stores are all around 30. Su Ze led the team and several red areas appeared on the map.

[Sitong City Guard Camp, red area, challenge level: 35. Attacking shops in Sitong City may attract support from the City Guard Camp.]

[Xuanyang Gate City Gate Officer's stronghold, red area, challenge level 40, attacking the shops in Sitong City may attract the support of the City Gate Officer. ]

The city has a city guard, which is the force responsible for maintaining public order in the market. After crossing the Yongkang Floating Bridge in Sitong City is the Xuanyang Gate, where there are city gate captains guarding the Xuanyang Gate. If Sitong City asks for help, these city gate captains will also provide support.

It seems that a strong attack is not going to work, so Su Ze picked up Su Dao and Su Bai's chess pieces and decided that it would be better to search stealthily.

However, some directional evidence still had to be left behind, so Su Ze picked up several chess pieces including Su Lin and [Reckless Shield Axeman] and placed them in a shop to carry out the robbery mission.

Su Ze put on black clothes for night travel. He was really destined to work hard. He had just fought a "battle" for half the night and now he had to continue fighting.
-
At the residence of General Hou Gang of the Left Guard, Hou Yuan had been kneeling in the ancestral hall for a whole night. His upper body was stripped of clothes and his entire body was tied up with brambles. If he moved the slightest, he would be pricked by the thorns.

But at this time his knees were numb, and because he could not support his body, he always touched the brambles, and every time he let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

Finally, when the cockcrowed, Hou Gang walked in with a ruler in his hand.

"You rebellious son! I told you to behave yourself in the Yulin Army, but it's been less than a month and you're causing trouble again!"

Hou Yuan led his troops to surround the shops in Sitong City today. When he returned home in the evening, he was tied up by his father and taken to the ancestral hall to apologize to his ancestors.

Seeing that his father's anger had subsided a little, Hou Yuan quickly said, "Grandpa, I know I was wrong!"

Looking at this good-for-nothing son, Hou Gang could only have someone untie the whips on his body as the Hou family was small. He felt that he must have committed a sin in his previous life, so he had to be the grandfather of this evil boy in this life.

"Tell me, where did you go wrong?"

Hou Yuan immediately said, "The mistake was that for the sake of the small profit from the southern goods, I offended the people behind the scenes."

Hou Gang picked up the whip and was about to hit him again. Hou Yuan quickly hid behind the ancestral tablet and said in a crying voice: "Grandpa, I really didn't know!" Hou Gang put down the whip and said: "You rebellious son! As a lucky minister, I can be greedy and cruel, but I can't be stupid!"

"These are the only shops selling southern goods on the market. Do you think the other people in the Imperial Guards don't know who is behind the southern goods business?"

"They push you to take the lead just to make you the first one to take the lead!"

"How could you be so good? You didn't ask any questions, and you didn't even inquire about the people behind you, and you just led your troops to charge forward."

"If I wait until you smash the shop and then tell you that this is Zhang Situ's shop, what will you do?"

Hou Yuan nodded repeatedly, but Hou Gang knew that his son was not listening to anything he said.

It’s not that he can’t listen, but he just doesn’t have the brains to understand.

Hou Gang had a headache again. If he had known earlier, he should have demoted him to Liuzhen to suffer a little.

After his father had vented his anger, Hou Yuan thought of Zhang Zhongyu's smug face and couldn't help saying, "Grandpa, you are also the General of the Left Guard. Why are you afraid of Zhang Situ who is retired due to illness?"

"Of course I'm not afraid of Zhang Yi, but Zhang Yi's son Zhang Shijun married the daughter of Cui Liang, the Minister of Personnel. Do you need to go through the Ministry of Personnel when you are appointed to an official position in the future?"

Hou Yuan's face changed immediately. Hou Gang said, "These Han families are related by marriage, and their connections are complicated. Even Emperor Xiaowen could only win them over through intermarriage. You have offended Situ Zhang all of a sudden."

"My future is certainly fine, but if you want to be selected as an official, you must go through the Shangshu Province."

"In our Great Wei, the official position you start with is the most important. If you can't get a noble official position, you won't be able to become an important official in the future."

The Nine-Rank System established in the Wei and Jin Dynasties set thresholds in all aspects.

The official positions granted to those who have just entered the officialdom are called starting positions, with the most high-ranking ones being Zuoshulang, Jiaoshulang and Sanqichangshi, the so-called "Zhu, Jiao, San". Many important officials were promoted from these three positions, and these three positions are also closest to the emperor and the empress dowager.

The core members of the Jia family, such as Zhang Yi's eldest son Zhang Shijun, were appointed as Zuozulang when they entered officialdom. Now he is Shangshu Zuominlangzhong and the acting governor of the military governor Yuan Yao. He went to Jizhou to deal with the rebellion of Mahayana Buddhism.

As long as he returns to the court with merit, Zhang Shijun will be able to be appointed as the governor of a state and become one of the important officials.

In contrast, the second son Zhang Zhongyu, who was not a key training target of the family, started out as a Jieshi Zhong and is still a Jieshi Zhong now, which is much slower than his elder brother.

Hou Yuan finally became afraid because his future was at stake. He immediately knelt in front of his father and said, "Grandpa, what should I do?"

Hou Gang kicked the rebellious son away and said:

"Are you scared now? Tomorrow evening, follow me to Zhang Situ's residence to plead guilty!"

Thinking of Zhang Zhongyu's usual contempt for him, Hou Yuan was unwilling in his heart, but seeing his father's stern eyes and thinking of his future prospects, he could only say: "Yes."

Early the next morning, Su Ze went out yawning. Just as he was about to go to Tunqiying, he saw Gao Huan in a hurry.

On weekdays, Gao Huan's daily schedule follows the opening time of Sitong City, and he would not get up until noon. Seeing Gao Huan like this today, Su Ze knew that yesterday's actions had worked.

"Brother Su! The shop selling southern goods in Sitong City was robbed!"

Su Ze didn't look too surprised, he was checking the report commissioned by the team yesterday.

[Su Bai, the envoy of Bailu Cao, has discovered the location of the guards of the Treasure Pavilion.]

[The reckless shield-axeman broke through the gate of the Treasure Pavilion, attracting the attention of the guards. ]

[The dog-doctor Su Dao entered the warehouse of the Treasure Pavilion and was stealing. ]

[The Yulin Knight Sulin, who is good at archery, shot a guard in the shoulder. ]

[Everyone received the signal from Su Dao and was preparing to evacuate. The reckless shield axeman refused to evacuate and was dragged out by ordinary Yulin soldiers and Su Lin.]

[The battle alarmed the city guard camp, which prepared to provide support. ]

[The archer who was afraid of blood shot a soldier in the thigh. He felt sick when he saw the blood and almost vomited.]

[The city guards beat the gongs and drums, calling for support from the patrol officers. Your squad has already withdrawn from the battlefield.]

Looking back on yesterday's battle, it can be said that there were many unexpected events, but in the end we managed to escape unscathed.

As expected, followers with negative attributes will be troublesome to use. Once the negative attributes are triggered, it will have terrible consequences for the battle situation.

In comparison, the ordinary blue followers like [Ordinary Yulin Army] actually perform better in action.

Su Ze also had some vague ideas about the use of followers. Followers like [Reckless Shield Axeman] would definitely play a good role in the first assault. If he could gather a bunch of followers with the reckless attribute, wouldn't it be equivalent to forming a trap camp?

[The Blood-sick Archer] is more effective in long-range and support combat, but is prone to blood-sickness when used in offensive operations.

The result was naturally a safe outcome. The purpose of framing Su Dao by stealing the spoils from the Treasure Pavilion was achieved.

The arrows left at the scene were all standard arrows of the Shesheng Camp. The [Reckless Shield Axemen] and [Ordinary Yulin Soldiers] were all dressed like Yulin Soldiers, and they had all fought with the shop guards.

As expected, Gao Huan said excitedly: "The store guards said that they were attacked by the Yulin Army! There are also Yulin arrows left at the scene! Henan Prefecture has sent people to surround the scene!"

"Brother Su, why aren't you surprised at all?"

Su Ze yawned. Gao Huan was indeed a shrewd man. He covered up and said, "Hou Yuan is an impulsive person. He doesn't hold grudges overnight. This is also expected."

Gao Huan nodded repeatedly and said, "I know that the Hou family father and son are the enemies who killed Brother Su's father! As long as they fight, Brother Su will have a chance to take revenge!"

Su Ze sighed and said, "It's easier said than done. The Hou family father and son have the support of King Jiangyang. My father-in-law advised me not to be impulsive, otherwise the hatred of killing my father would be irreconcilable. I would have killed Hou Yuan to avenge myself long ago."

Hearing Su Ze say this, Gao Huan quickly pulled him aside and said, "Brother Su, don't be impulsive. There will be a day when you will get your revenge!"

Filial piety is a quality that people value. Su Ze bears the revenge for his father. If he doesn't even shout out the slogan of revenge, he will definitely be looked down upon by others.

However, the gap in status between the two sides was too great, and Hou Gang was pardoned by Empress Dowager Hu herself, so it was understandable that Su Ze did not take revenge first.

Gao Huan gloated and said, "Brother Su, I'll go back to Sitong City and keep an eye on it. I'll tell you if there's any news!"

When Su Ze arrived at Tunqiying, he saw a gorgeous carriage.

Yuan Buddha got off the carriage, followed by a young man wearing a martial cap. It was Yu Jin, whom he met last time in the Imperial College.

"Prince?"

Yuan Buddha got off the carriage and complained, "Brother Su, I am following the order of my grandfather, oh no, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, to check the arsenals of the Yulin camps."

They acted really quickly. It seems that southern goods are indeed the lifeline of some people in the court. After being attacked yesterday, the Duguancao under Yuan Shen’s charge was mobilized this morning to check the arsenal in the Yulin Army.

Or was Yuan Shen also involved in the smuggling of southern goods? That's why he was so active?
Considering Yuan Shen's greedy personality, it is not impossible.

However, Su Ze was not afraid of the investigation. He did not use the equipment in the armory, and he had just reorganized the armory of the Tunqiying. Yuan Buddha was actually trying to clear his suspicion.

As expected, after a quick inspection, Yuan Buddha left with his subordinates. He pointed at Yu Jin and said:

"Brother Yu would like to observe Brother Su's military training. Is it convenient for Brother Su?"

I heard that Yu Jin wanted to watch me train? Su Ze quickly agreed: "I heard that Brother Yu is familiar with the art of war, so we can discuss it."

PS1: In today's historical discussions, the concept of the Guanlong Group has become outdated. However, when Mr. Chen Yinke proposed the Guanlong Group, he was mainly studying the issue of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, so it is still meaningful in this book.

However, the group here is also a broad concept. In fact, if you have read my previous book, you will know that the enemies of the Hedong gentry in the middle of the Tang Dynasty were not the Guanlong clans. At that time, the Guanlong clans had been severely damaged by the fight with Wu Zetian.

Many of the talented people during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang were actually the sons of commoner families in Luoyang promoted by Wu Zetian.

In fact, the power of the aristocratic families in the Tang Dynasty had been weakened a lot.

The Northern and Southern Dynasties period is actually closer to the European Middle Ages, and this style will be revealed when the book comes to the local areas.

Ps2: 8k completed today, and I will update twice a day from now on. am to pm, thank you all.

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(End of this chapter)