Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 559 Chaos
Yuan Ziyou immediately summoned his ministers to discuss the matter.

At the court meeting, the ministers had different opinions and all kinds of statements. The court meeting turned into a market for quarrels. Yuan Ziyou knew that these people could not put forward any effective opinions, so he could only leave trusted ministers to discuss the matter.

Yuan Ziyou's trusted ministers were Xi Yi, Gao Aocao and Yang Zhong.

When the court officials dispersed, Yuan Ziyou felt for the first time that the throne in the Taiji Hall was so hot.

Yuan Ziyou's gaze fell on Xi Yi.

Xi Yi was also very anxious.

Xi Yi originally thought that he was more capable than Yuan Tianmu, but was not valued in the Erzhu Rong group. He wanted to take a gamble and turn the tables by joining Yuan Ziyou.

However, after Yuan Ziyou took power, Xi Yi discovered that it was really difficult to govern the local area.

Not to mention governing a country, even governing Luoyang and the Henan area around Luoyang was a task that filled his desk and often caused chaos.

After working hard for more than a month, Xi Yi found that he was really inferior to Yuan Tianmu in civil affairs. He could only recruit staff and assign the tasks to them, while he hid in the backyard to enjoy himself.

But when the news came that Su Ze had defeated Erzhu Rong, Xi Yi knew that the sky had fallen.

After experiencing the beatings of reality in this period, Yuan Ziyou and Xi Yi, the king and his minister, knew very well that the basis of their existence was the struggle for supremacy between Erzhu Rong and Su Ze. Since both sides had no time to pay attention to them, they could only survive in the cracks.

The reason why Su Ze did not attack Luoyang was not because Yuan Ziyou was so strong, but because he was too weak.

The territory is just this large, and there are also negative assets of the royal family and nobles in Luoyang.

Anyway, the valuable things in Luoyang city had long been looted, and the once prosperous Luoyang market was now overgrown with weeds.

If the situation of competition between Su Ze and Erzhu Rong continued, Yuan Ziyou could still survive.

But now that Erzhu Rong was defeated, Su Ze would lead his troops to Luoyang soon. Yuan Ziyou did not think he could defend Luoyang.

But the world is so big, where can I find a safe place to live?
Now that Southern Liang is in civil strife, even the path to joining Southern Liang is cut off.

You must know that Southern Liang was the last refuge for the royal family of the Northern Dynasties, and Yuan Ziyou now had many relatives in Southern Liang.

Xi Yi opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word. He really had no other choice.

Yuan Ziyou was disappointed, but he also knew Xi Yi's abilities, so he looked at Gao Aocao again.

Gao Aocao's idea was simple. He said directly:
"Your Majesty, why don't you just surrender to Su Ze?"

Gao Aocao participated in Yuan Ziyou's coup because he had a grudge against Erzhu Rong for murdering his father.

Now that Su Ze has killed Erzhu Rong, Gao Aocao has no psychological pressure to surrender.

Moreover, he heard that his old boss Gao Huan had surrendered to Su Ze. Although he was not reused, he saved his life and it would not be difficult for him to become a rich man in the future.

He, Gao Aocao, is a descendant of the Gao family of Bohai. Now that Bohai has belonged to Su Ze, the worst that can happen is that he returns to Bohai and becomes a local tyrant.

Yuan Ziyou also knew that Gao Aocao was chivalrous and good at fighting, but too naive in politics.

He, Gao Aocao, could surrender. Yuan Ziyou had already proclaimed himself emperor. How could he surrender to Su Ze?

Su Ze was going to usurp the throne in the future. Even if he was magnanimous, he could at most spare Yuan Xu's life. Once Yuan Ziyou surrendered, he would be imprisoned for life at best, or beheaded as a traitor at worst. He would have no way out.

Yuan Ziyou secretly decided that Gao Aocao could not be allowed to guard Luoyang, and was ready to send him to Henan. In the end, Yuan Ziyou could only look to Yang Zhong.

Yang Zhong was the biggest surprise after Yuan Ziyou took power.

This surrendered general from the Southern Dynasty had military ability comparable to Gao Aocao and was also very politically savvy. Yuan Ziyou had him do a good job recruiting soldiers in Luoyang.

The most important thing is his background. Unlike Gao Aocao, who was born into a Bohai noble family, or Xi Yi, who was an old subordinate of Erzhu Rong, Yang Zhong was innocent. In Luoyang, he could only be loyal to himself.

Yang Zhong is worthy of the word "loyalty". He is loyal to Yuan Ziyou. Now Yuan Ziyou only has him to rely on.

Facing Yuan Ziyou's gaze, Yang Zhong could only express his thoughts:
"Your Majesty, whether it is war or surrender, you must fight first."

Yuan Ziyou nodded repeatedly. He immediately understood what Yang Zhong meant.

Even if you surrender, you have to fight first and then surrender, so that you can get preferential treatment.

If you surrender before fighting, you will be at the mercy of others.

After understanding this, Yuan Ziyou did not hesitate and directly handed over all his troops to Yang Zhong.

Yuan Ziyou ordered Yang Zhong to lead his troops to guard Beizhong City to block Su Ze's army that might move south.
-
Shouchun.

King Xiao Yi of Chu, together with his general Wang Sengbian, finally tricked the gate of Shouchun city into opening.

King Xiao Yi of Chu immediately killed the former subordinates of Wei Fang, the prefect of Shouchun, took control of the area near Shouchun, and finally seized a base.

With the support of Heba Sheng, the third son of the emperor, Xiao Gang, ascended the throne in Jiankang and honored Xiao Yan as the emperor emeritus, imprisoning him in a Buddhist temple on Taicheng.

Xiao Gang controlled the areas around Jiankang and Yangzhou, which was considered the most important capital area of ​​the entire Southern Liang Dynasty.

The fifth prince Xiao Lun served as the governor of Xuzhou. When Heba Sheng started a rebellion, he did not send troops to Jiankang to support the king. However, when Xiao Gang ascended the throne, Xiao Lun did not go to Jiankang to congratulate him. His attitude was very ambiguous.

However, in order to win over his younger brother, Xiao Gang also sent envoys to confer a title to Xiao Lun, continuing to appoint him as the governor of Xuzhou and increasing his royal title to King of Lu.

The sixth prince Xiao Xu, as the earliest leader of the army to support the emperor, immediately led his troops to flee Jiankang after seeing that the situation was not good.

Xiao Xu came and went like the wind. He was very fast when he went to Jiankang to support the king, and he was also very fast when he escaped. Now he has retreated to his fiefdom of Guangzhou.

Xiao Xu is Xiao Gang's brother from the same mother. Although Xiao Xu was the one who took the lead in attacking Xiao Gang back then, Xiao Gang still wanted to win the support of his younger brother.

After Xiao Gang captured Taicheng, he rescued his mother, Concubine Ding, from the cold palace, and after he ascended the throne, he honored her as the empress dowager.

Empress Dowager Ding personally wrote a letter to her son Xiao Xu, asking him to submit to his elder brother, and the two brothers worked together to support the family.

Liu Zhongli, a general under Xiao Xu, believed that this was Xiao Gang's delaying tactic. He requested Xiao Xu to immediately raise an army in Guangzhou so that they could retreat to Lingnan to protect themselves.

However, Xiao Xu may have been frightened by the defeat in Jiankang, so he accepted the title bestowed by his brother Xiao Gang and became the first vassal king to pledge allegiance to Xiao Gang.

However, this did not mean that Xiao Gang's life would be easier. Officials in Wujun, Kuaiji and Qiantang had all risen up in arms to support the king. After returning to their places, they still refused to recognize Xiao Gang's legitimacy.

In addition to these internal troubles, there are also external threats.

After Hou Jing occupied Jiangling, it was unknown when he would be able to sail south, and Jiankang City could be attacked from the north at any time.

(End of this chapter)