Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 34 Who can be the hero? (Second update)
Liu Gui mentioned several more people, but they were all rejected by Su Ze one by one.

Liu Gui became more patient, and looked at Su Ze with more admiration.

Su Ze's comments on these ministers were very appropriate. More importantly, Su Ze's analysis was very comprehensive. It was not just an analysis of the level of official positions and the size of power, but an all-round analysis of the pros and cons. He truly made plans tailored to Liu Gui's needs.

Moreover, Su Ze's comments were sharp. Liu Gui had been in the aristocratic circle for many years, but he had never seen a young man who could see through all the ministers in the court like Su Ze.

This kind of sophistication has never been seen even in those elders in high positions, which makes Liu Gui more certain that Su Ze is a direct descendant of a wealthy family!
If you are not a direct descendant of a wealthy family, how can you develop such knowledge!

Liu Gui had already talked about all the important officials in Luoyang, and Su Ze had found various reasons for them not to join his service.

Liu Gui counted on his fingers and said, "General of the Army, Third Official of the Imperial Court, Envoy with Special Envoyship, Palace Attendant, and Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of Yangzhou, how about Chang Sun Zhi?"

Chang Sun Zhi? Su Ze was a little dazed when he heard this name.

Changsun Zhi was the ancestor of Emperor Taizong of Tang's Empress Changsun and his brother-in-law Changsun Wuji. When Su Ze heard this name, he vaguely realized that the Northern Dynasties were actually not far from the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

Su Ze had been fluent in "criticizing" the ministers before, but he stopped at Chang Sun Zhi. Liu Gui asked curiously, "Brother Su, do you think I should go to General Chang Sun?"

Su Ze shook his head and said, "No, although the Southern Liang was defeated at Fushan Weir, Xiao Yan, the island barbarian, implemented the Tuduan and set the thirty-six ranks of officials, which made the scholars loyal. I'm afraid that it will be difficult to make achievements in the war against the Southern Liang in recent years. Instead, if we lose the battle, we will be punished by the court."

Liu Gui thought for a moment and said, "The same is true for General Wei, the Minister of the Palace, the Envoy with Special Envoyship, and Duke of Danyang Xiao Baoyin?"

Su Ze nodded, the Northern and Southern Dynasties was truly a magical era.

Xiao Baoyin, Duke of Danyang, was a member of the royal family of the Southern Qi Dynasty. When Xiao Yan replaced Qi with Liang, Xiao Baoyin fled to the Northern Wei Dynasty. Not only was he taken in by the Northern Wei Dynasty, he also repeatedly asked the Northern Wei Dynasty for permission to attack Southern Liang, and the Northern Wei Dynasty actually gave him troops.

In the Battle of Fushan Weir, Xiao Baoyin also performed well and was commended by the court and promoted to the court.

However, Xiao Baoyin continued to submit petitions to go to Huainan to fight against Southern Liang, and was the toughest minister against the South in the Northern Wei court.

The Northern Wei Dynasty had the "Crouching Dragon" Xiao Baoyin, and a few years later the Southern Liang Dynasty also had a similar "Phoenix Chick" Yuan Hao.

A few years later, Yuan Hao defected to Xiao Yan of Southern Liang because of the Ge Rong Rebellion and was treated well by Xiao Yan. When Erzhu Rong caused chaos in the north, Xiao Yan sent Chen Qingzhi to escort Yuan Hao back to Luoyang. Chen Qingzhi miraculously made his way into Luoyang and supported Yuan Hao to become the emperor of Northern Wei.

The internal struggles among royal families during the Northern and Southern Dynasties were extremely brutal, but royal families from other countries who surrendered to the enemy were treated well. They were not only supported with high positions and generous salaries, but they were even entrusted with important tasks.

Liu Gui mentioned so many important ministers in one breath, but they were all rejected by Su Ze. He was already a little desperate at this time.

There is no one in the court who can serve as an official for me?
Liu Gui took a sip of wine and said:

"What about the six northern garrisons? How about Heba Duba, the commander of Wuchuan, and Yang Jun, the commander of Huaishuo?"

Su Ze pointed at Gao Huan on the table and said, "Brother Liu, shouldn't you ask Brother Gao about this?"

Gao Huan had been listening to Su Ze's detailed comments on important officials of the court and had no chance to interrupt.

He couldn't even report the official titles of these important officials, let alone evaluate them.

But when the six towns in the north were mentioned, Gao Huan immediately perked up, because this was his hometown!
Among the six towns in the north, the most important ones are Wuchuan and Huaishuo.

A town was a state in other parts of the Northern Wei Dynasty. In a military state, all the people were soldiers. The town commander was equivalent to the governor of the state and the governor-general, holding absolute military and political power. Under the town commander was a military commander. Gao Huan was favored by the military commander of Huaishuo Town and was sent to Luoyang to deliver a letter.

When mentioning the six towns in the northern border, Gao Huan puffed out his chest and said, "I am from the northern border, but I advise Brother Liu not to come to the northern border."

"Once you enter the military state, you will be enlisted in the military. Although the Six Garrisons are in the northern border, they have been very powerful in recent years. Forget about earning military merits. It would be great if you can just hold on."

"Over the years, everyone who was able to find a way to leave the military has fled. Now there are only two types of people left in the Six Towns."

"A desperate man who doesn't care about his life, and an incompetent wimp."

After listening to this, Liu Gui looked at Su Ze and couldn't help but have the thought that the world was so big but he had no place to stay. Was there no place for him in the Wei Dynasty?
Su Ze said:
"Brother Liu, have you forgotten your origins?"

Liu Gui raised his head, looked at Su Ze and said, "Are you talking about Erzhu Rong, the chieftain of the Xiurong tribe?"

Su Ze nodded slightly, and Liu Gui frowned and said, "Erzhu Rong is a guerrilla general and a chieftain. He is indeed qualified to open a government. I also heard that General Erzhu is quite popular in Xiurong, and the Qihu tribe is also the most powerful among the tribes in the northern border, but."

Liu Gui’s hometown is Xiurong, so he naturally knows Erzhu Rong, but that doesn’t mean Erzhu Rong is a big shot now.

The chief of the people sounds like a high-ranking official, but in fact it is a special position granted to some leaders of nomadic tribes after the reform of Emperor Xiaowen. This official position can be high or low, and the Khitan was not a particularly large tribe in the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Guerrilla general was an even more common position. The Northern Wei Dynasty was a military power, so even civil officials were given various general titles. There were titles such as general of cavalry, general of cavalry, etc. Guerrilla general was just a position that was neither high nor low.

To put it bluntly, in the eyes of the bigwigs in the court today, Erzhu Rong is just a country chief.

Although Erzhu Rong would bring a large number of fine horses to give to officials and ministers when he came to Luoyang every year, and often praised the Erzhu family in the court, he was still on the periphery of Northern Wei politics.

Su Ze looked at Liu Gui and said:

"Brother Liu, why don't you go to Xiurongchuan to have a look? When Yanchen came to Yan last year, Erzhu presented the most fine horses. At that time, the horses lined up along Camel Bell Street outside the city. The glory of General Erzhu was seen by all of Luoyang."

"And there's one more thing: age."

"General Erzhu inherited his father's title and has worked hard to govern the country. He is not even thirty yet. The imperial court is tired of using military force. With his age and ability, he will surely have a chance to make a name for himself."

Liu Gui was completely persuaded this time. His family had connections with the Erzhu family, and Erzhu Rong had also invited the Liu family to serve as officials.

Age is also an important issue. Li Chong is too old, while Erzhu Rong is not even 30 years old!

Liu Gui also realized that the world was gradually changing. Local powerful figures under the age of 30 who were in their prime would always have the opportunity to make meritorious deeds unless unexpected events happened. Besides, it was better to work for an unpopular family now than to work for those powerful officials who had already made their fortunes, right?
Erzhu Rong was not in Luoyang and was far away from the internal political struggles in Luoyang, which made him a safer choice.

Thinking of this, Liu Gui also made a quick decision. He bowed to Su Ze and said:

"Thank you for your words, Brother Su! I will return to Xiurong to pay respect to my ancestors in a few days!"

ps: There will be another update at night, and there will be a lot of updates in the next few days!
Yanchen was a special position in the Northern Wei Dynasty. For example, tribal leaders such as the chieftain of the people would return to Luoyang to report on their work every year like wild geese. They would usually stay in their own territories, which was similar to the tradition of the Jiedushi in the early Tang Dynasty who had to return to Chang'an regularly to stay in the backyard. It was a means for Luoyang to control local factions.

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(End of this chapter)