Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 88 No Hope (4k, please subscribe)

The situation in Luoyang changed, but it was time for Su Ze to take office.

"Brother!"

Su Yuyao took out a new set of clothes and handed them to Su Ze, saying, "Brother, I made this by myself, imitating the embroidery lady. Put it on first, brother. Don't let the soldiers in the army look down on you."

Su Ze looked at the crooked needle and thread, but felt his sister's intentions. Just when he was about to go out, there was a noise outside the door again, and a carriage stopped in front of Su Ze's house again.

A masked maid in a water-green skirt got off the carriage, handed a new set of clothes to Su Ze and said:

"General Su, this is the new dress given to you by Her Royal Highness the Princess."

After saying this, the masked maid got into the carriage and left quickly.

Looking at the two new clothes, Su Ze still wore his old clothes to take up his post.

He led the horse out of Jianyangfang and rode towards the Yulin camp outside the city.

The name Tunqi comes from the military positions set up by Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. There are eight schools including Zhonglei, Tunqi, Bubing, Yueqi, Changshui, Huqi, Shesheng and Huben.

Emperor Xiaowen imitated the systems of the Han and Jin dynasties and established two armies, the Yulin and Huben, in Luoyang. The Yulin were cavalry and the Huben were infantry. He also selected Han young men who were good at riding from the Yulin to establish the Tunqiying.

However, the Tunqi of the Northern Wei Dynasty was different from the Tunqi when it was first established in the Western Han Dynasty. It was a Tuqi.

The so-called Tuqi are armored cavalry equipped with lances, horse armor and body armor. Different from the Yueqi Battalion which is good at riding and shooting, the Tunqi Battalion focuses on charging into battle and is the elite among the elite in the Yulin Army.

Su Ze was still a little nervous when he took office. He originally learned the light cavalry tactics of horse riding and archery in the Yulin Army. Now he was suddenly asked to be the front-line commander of the armored cavalry. Fortunately, he had Li Tong, who was familiar with the Yulin Army, to accompany him.

"Father, this troop has a special horse farm. They are indeed the elite of the Imperial Guards."

Li Tong did not directly answer Su Ze's question, but said: "Wait until you get there and see the situation before you tell me."

When Su Ze arrived at the exclusive horse farm of Tunqiying, he saw a scene that surprised him.

All he saw were the bustling crowds of Yulin soldiers coming in and out of the horse farm, just like the Sitong Market. But when Su Ze went in, he found that it was just a busy market.

A military market? Isn't this the horse ranch of the Tunqi Battalion?
Are these still the elite Yulin soldiers?

Li Tong sighed and said, "When Emperor Xiaowen first formed the Tunqi, they were indeed elite troops who had fought in hundreds of battles. They were all the most elite Han Dynasty soldiers selected from Pingcheng and Luoyang. They also needed to undergo three years of training before they could become regular Tunqi soldiers."

"Each cavalryman also needs to bring two high-quality war horses that can carry armor, a lance, and a set of complete saddles. In addition, the commander will provide each regular soldier with a set of armor tailored for him. Even the horse armor is tailor-made for him."

“But now.”

Li Tong looked at the bustling military market and said:
"Now the Tunqi Battalion has already fallen along with the other Yulin Battalions."

Su Ze had never expected that the once-famous Tunqiying would become such an army. He came to the barracks with a cold face and called the soldiers who were on guard.

After Su Ze revealed his identity and took out the Yin-Yang wooden contract proving his status as the brigade commander, the garrison soldiers immediately summoned the officers in the camp and invited Su Ze into the barracks of the Tunqi Camp.

Su Ze saw that the main hall in the barracks where people held meetings had become a warehouse for storing goods, and he suppressed his anger and asked:

"When the commander of the Tunqi Camp is absent, who is in charge of the camp affairs?"

A short, fat man with a round face stood up and said, "In reply to the brigade commander, I am Huang Yue, the Sima of the Tunqi Battalion. The previous brigade commanders all entrusted me with the management of the Tunqi Battalion."

Huang Yue then made eye contact with several centurions behind him, and two centurions immediately brought up a heavy wooden box. Huang Yue flatteredly said:

"Commander, this is your allowance."

Seeing them like this, Su Ze calmed down instead. The most elite Tunqi Battalion had become like this, and he had just taken office when he was given gifts by his subordinates. It seemed that the entire Yulin had fallen beyond redemption.

It is no wonder that during the Rebellion of the Six Garrisons and a series of chaos in the Northern Wei Dynasty later, the records of the Yulin and Huben in history books were not even as good as those of the border county soldiers. The Northern Wei court had to recruit soldiers from various states to quell the rebellion. The Yulin and Huben could not even fight a defensive battle, let alone fight a tough battle. Later, Erzhu Rong and Gao Huan could come and go freely in Luoyang, which shows the low combat effectiveness of the imperial guards.

Su Ze asked calmly, "Why is the camp so noisy?"

Seeing that Su Ze did not even directly refuse the gift like the previous brigade commanders, Huang Yue's smile became even bigger. He thought he had figured out Su Ze's thoughts and said directly:
"Commander, in addition to daily training, our Tunqi Battalion is also responsible for the transportation of rent and goods throughout the capital region. This is a tough job, so after escorting the rent and goods to the yard, we will also bring back some small 'specialties' from various places and sell them in the camp. This is also something that the previous lieutenant tacitly agreed to."

Huang Yue brought up the captain, and Su Ze finally understood why they were so blatant.

The Tunqi Xiaowei was nominally the superior of the Tunqi Battalion. In reality, the Tunqi Xiaowei did not work in the Yulin Army at all. Instead, like the Yulin Lang, he assisted the Empress Dowager and the Emperor in handling military affairs in the Forbidden City.

The current Tunqi Xiaowei position is also vacant, but the previous Tunqi Xiaowei was a member of the Yuan clan, who was quickly promoted after gaining experience in this position.

Li Tong, the father-in-law of the emperor, once said that many nominal Yulin Huben captains had never even entered the military camp, but were promoted just by a brief visit.

The military position of Yulin Huben is almost hereditary, which not only means that the military system can be passed on to future generations, but also means that there is almost no possibility of promotion after holding a military position, and one has to sit in one position until death.

The reason why Su Ze had the good fortune of encountering the vacancy of the commander of the Tunqi Battalion was because after the Longhua Temple case, the Tunqi Battalion, which was responsible for the security of the stockpile, performed extremely poorly. The furious King Qinghe dismissed the former commander, which gave Su Ze the opportunity.

Su Ze continued to ask: "How many soldiers do we have in the Cavalry Battalion? Where is the barracks and armory? Where is the military grain warehouse?"

Hearing that Su Ze was coming up to check the accounts, Huang Yue was not panicked at all. He immediately said, "After the previous brigade commander was dismissed, the barracks, arsenal and warehouses have been sealed, and the military books and records are also in the warehouses. Do you want to see them now?"

Su Ze nodded, and a thin man who looked like a clerk walked out from behind him, his eyes rolling around, looking greedily at the box in front of Su Ze.

"This is my guest Su Suan. Please ask Sima Huang to make him an identity card. You can take him to the warehouse to have a look."

Huang Yue's face looked a little ugly now. Before Su Ze took office, he had also inquired about Su Ze's background.

Although Su Ze's father had been a Yulin Lang, their family was originally a commoner family in Luoyang. After the death of Su Ze's father, the family quickly declined and became a lower-level Han Yulin.

Such a poor person suddenly becomes rich because of good luck. The worst that can happen is that he just has to pay a little more and give some gifts.

Huang Yue guessed that Su Ze did not have the ability to manage the Tunqiying. As long as he was allowed to "back down when faced with difficulties", he would obediently divide the spoils like the previous brigade commander, take his share of the benefits, and become a tool responsible only for stamping.

However, Huang Yue's expression soon returned to normal. The accounts of the Tunqiying had been in a mess for 20 years. A few days ago, the Shangshu Tai's Duguan Lang Cao Shangshu had just taken office and had sent people to the Tunqiying to check the accounts. These experienced officials had checked for several days but could not sort out the accounts, and finally ended the investigation hastily.

Su Ze, a poor man, brought one person with him and wanted to check the military books and accounts of the Tunqiying Camp? This was too contemptuous.

Huang Yue smiled and nodded in agreement. Su Ze then said, "I'll go to the armory and the stable to take a look."

The Tunqiying was set up outside the city, so it was naturally impossible for it to go to the armory to collect armor and weapons like the imperial guards in the city. If that were the case, there would be no point in fighting.

Therefore, the imperial army camps outside the city had their own armories, but these armories were also managed by officials sent by Zang Shuling, and were nominally independent of the Tunqiying.

However, it was just nominal. The clerk Zang Shu stationed in the Tunqiying had been assigned to the Tunqiying for a long time and had long been mixed with Huang Yue and his gang. Su Ze easily entered the armory of the Tunqiying.

Opening the dusty armory, Su Ze smelled a strong smell of rust, followed by the stench of decay.

Li Tong followed behind Su Ze and saw the broken armor in the armory. He couldn't help but sighed and said, "It's true. The armory in the palace is better preserved by comparison."

"Father, are all the Yu Lin's arsenals like this?"

Li Tong nodded and said, "About the same. The cavalry have more armor, so this problem is naturally more serious."

Su Ze picked up a piece of armor that had been completely torn apart and scattered all over the ground and asked, "Can this armor still be used?"

Li Tong said: "If there is a master craftsman from the Ministry of Works to repair it, it is not impossible to put the armor back on, but now the Ministry of Works is busy building palaces, so there is no one to maintain the armory."

Su Ze thought of the burned-down wooden pagoda of Yongning Temple. He had heard from Su Cho last time that Empress Dowager Hu wanted to rebuild the wooden pagoda and asked Henan Prefecture to coordinate the conscription of labor.

There were so many temples built in Luoyang City, and the Chief of Works had to conscript laborers to do the work, so naturally no one was willing to do things like maintain the armory.

Li Tong added: "In the past, when Emperor Xiaowen was in power, there were spring hunting and autumn military parades every year. The emperor would personally review them, so the chief military officer naturally did not dare to slack off."

"When Emperor Xuanwu came to power, he only sent ministers from the royal family to participate, and the imperial guards became increasingly lazy."

"Since the current emperor ascended the throne, the spring hunting and autumn performances have been directly cancelled, which makes him even more slack."

Su Ze called over the clerk in charge of the armory and asked, "How many sets of armor are there in this armory?"

The clerk in the Zang Office said, "One hundred sets of armor and two hundred sets of horse armor."

Li Tong suddenly asked, "Why is it so few? According to the camp system, shouldn't we have 500 sets of armor and 1,000 sets of horse armor?"

The clerk in the Zang Office said, "The arsenal has not been replenished in the past ten years, and with the loss and transfers, there are only this many left. Besides, the arsenal belongs to the Zang Office, and the Zang Office Commander has no objection to this number, so why is Commander Su asking more?"

Next, Su Ze took Li Tong to see the stables. The situation was similar to that in the armory. There were less than a hundred war horses in the Tunqi Camp, and most of them were inferior horses. Not to mention carrying cavalrymen wearing foot armor, they couldn't even carry light cavalrymen wearing leather armor.

The officials in charge of the war horses in the Tunqi Camp were also from the Imperial Household Department. They were not convinced by Su Ze's audit and just said that there were no discrepancies in the account books, and then they let Su Ze and Li Tong leave the stable.

Li Tong said to Su Ze: "How about it? Aze, if the Rouran come to attack, how can we defeat them with the Yulin Tiger Guards?"

"Although your method is better than mine, as long as the King of Rourou is not convicted, there is still a possibility of a comeback. Don't you have a past relationship with the Governor of Henan Prefecture, Li Lingyin? Can you ask him to make the case an ironclad one so that the King of Rourou cannot turn the tables?"

Su Ze shook his head. He took advantage of Li Daoyuan's integrity when he framed the Rouran King for the assassination.

But it was precisely because of Li Daoyuan's uprightness that the case of King Rouran has not been closed for a long time. Because the two assassins of King Rouran have been reluctant to confess, there is still a lot of discussion in Luoyang as to whether King Rouran was the mastermind behind the assassination of King Qinghe.

Therefore, the Rouran King has not been charged with any crime so far and is only imprisoned in the Siyi Hall.

Su Ze was helpless about this, and he said to Li Tong: "Father, Li Lingyin will not be partial to others."

At this moment, Su Ze saw a figure in white at the gate of Tunqiying.

"Ling Chuo?"

The person who came was Su Cho. Since the last Siyi Hall case, Su Cho has been staying in Henan Prefecture, serving as Li Daoyuan's personal aide.

Li Daoyuan did not have a government office and had no power to recruit subordinates, so Su Cho and Li Daoyuan did not form a monarch-subject relationship, and the Su family just let Su Cho do as he pleased.

When Su Chao saw Su Ze, he said excitedly: "Brother Su, the government wants you to come over for a chat."

Li Daoyuan invited himself?
Su Ze was a little puzzled. After the assassination that day, Li Daoyuan had personally questioned and recorded Su Ze's confession, and the two had no contact since then.

Su Ze knew Li Daoyuan's character, but why did he summon him at dusk?

Li Tong said to Su Ze, "I'm in the camp, you go ahead, Commander."

Su Ze rode on Benxiao and left the Tunqiying camp side by side with Su Cho. As they walked, Su Cho excitedly told Su Ze about what had happened recently:

"By the way, Brother Su, Lord Li has been officially promoted to the position of Grand Prefect. When you see him, you must call him 'Ming Fu'."

Li Daoyuan was finally promoted to the governor of Henan Prefecture. Su Ze was secretly happy for the people of Luoyang. With Li Daoyuan as the governor of Henan Prefecture, the people of Luoyang could at least live a good life for a few days.

"What about Hou Gang?"

Su Chao was well-informed, and he immediately said, "Hou Gang was recommended by King Jiangyang and promoted to the position of Palace Attendant and General of the Left Guard. He has also left Henan Prefecture. Brother Su does not need to worry about seeing him in Henan Prefecture."

Upon hearing about Hou Gang's position, Su Ze's heart skipped a beat. It seemed that King Jiangyang Yuan Yi was also speeding up his layout and transferring Hou Gang to the Forbidden City to take up such an important position. It seemed that Yuan Yi would not be long in taking action against King Qinghe.

Historically, Yuan Yi launched a coup in the first year of Zhengguang, which was 520 AD, two years later. He killed Yuan Yi when Prince Qinghe entered the palace, imprisoned Queen Mother Hu, and supported the young emperor to rule the country.

Now, because of Su Ze’s time travel, it is unknown whether Yuan Yi’s plan will be advanced.

Su Chao said mysteriously: "Today, there is a distinguished guest in Henan Prefecture. If Brother Su can gain his respect, things will be much easier in the Tunqiying in the future."

Two in one, there will be another update in the evening

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(End of this chapter)