Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 94: Control of the Tunqi Camp (4k, more in the evening)
Su Ze sneered and said, "I'm not going to kill you. This is Yuan Fotu, the official in charge of the Shangshutai. He is the legitimate son of Prince Guangyang. It is the official in charge of the government office that will punish you!"

Su Ze said to the people around him: "Beat the drums and assemble the whole camp!"

Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang immediately climbed onto the military drum stand in the center of the parade ground, took off their shirts and began to beat the military drums.

The sound of drums boomed throughout the camp.

The soldiers of the Tunqi Camp who had already defected to Su Ze heard the drumbeats and started to make a commotion in the barracks. They picked up their weapons and went to the parade ground to assemble.

The veteran soldiers under the command of officers like Huang Yue pretended not to hear the drumbeats and continued sleeping in the barracks.

Most of the soldiers were of low opinion. When they saw others running out in a hurry, they followed them and gathered on the parade ground.

When the drumbeats stopped, Su Ze looked at the soldiers standing on the parade ground and said to Su Suan:

"I'll temporarily appoint you as the military commander of the Tunqi Battalion. Bring the military book to call out the names of the soldiers. If any of the soldiers don't come to the parade grounds, report them to the governor's office and remove them from the Tunqi Battalion immediately!"

Su Suan nodded immediately. He had already prepared the military book and began to call out names according to the book.

The soldiers then discovered that the officers who seemed so majestic on weekdays were now tied up and held on the training ground, with rope balls stuffed in their mouths.

This scene made the soldiers feel confused and frightened, and they obediently accepted Su Suan's inventory.

While Su Suan was calling the roll, he was rewriting the military book on bamboo slips. After he finished the inventory, Su Suan presented the military book in his hand:
"Commander-in-Chief, the roster has been re-created. There are a total of 175 people present."

"Send the new book to the General's Mansion, and ask King Qinghe to review it!"

Su Ze said to the soldiers on the parade ground: "From today on, only those whose names are on the new list can receive their monthly military pay. Those who are not on the new list will be driven out of the cavalry camp!"

Su Ze then said to Su Lin beside him: "Drive out all irrelevant people in the camp. If anyone resists, they will be shot on the spot for trespassing!"

Then Su Ze crossed his arms and said to Yuan Buddha: "Prince, please give me some instructions."

It was the first time that Yuan Buddha had been so majestic. He waved his hand and said to the soldiers under the martial arts stage:
"I am Yuan Buddha, the official secretary of the Metropolitan Government. I am stationed in the Cavalry Camp, from the military commander Huang Yue and below. We have violated military orders and openly drank and solicited prostitutes in the barracks. We are now all dismissed from our posts and taken back to the Metropolitan Government Prison!"

After saying this, the young Prince of Guangyang felt relaxed all over. It turned out that what his father said was right: power is the strongest wine.

He gave a domineering order to the armored soldiers and crossbowmen sent by his father to protect him:

"Take them all away! I want to interrogate them personally! I will report to my grandfather, no, I will report to the minister to convict him!"

All those officers who had been so arrogant in the army were taken away, which had a huge impact on the soldiers on the parade ground.

After this series of operations, the low-level soldiers of the Tunqiying were glad that they were standing on the parade ground at this time, and they were in awe of Su Ze's thundering methods. The image of Su Ze as the brigade commander was immediately established.

"I'll give you one day to tidy up the barracks. I'll personally inspect them tomorrow morning. We'll resume small drills tomorrow!"

After Su Ze finished speaking, the soldiers became depressed again. According to the imperial guard system of the Wei and Jin dynasties, they had to conduct a small drill every three days and a large drill every ten days. The small drill was basic military training such as running in formation, while the large drill was a simulated combat exercise with armor and weapons.

In the first few years after Emperor Xiaowen started to plan and establish the imperial guards, the systems of major and minor drills were implemented perfectly. At that time, there were also military competitions held by Emperor Xiaowen himself. Officers who performed well in drills on a daily basis would be selected by Emperor Xiaowen himself, or rewarded.

But after Emperor Xuanwu ascended the throne, the emperor no longer went out of the city to hunt, nor did he inspect the imperial guards. The paths for promotion in the military were also occupied by the children of aristocratic families. The military system became a hereditary position like iron-clad crops, and the camps gradually stopped training.

Su Ze understood the soldiers' complaints. He himself was also a grassroots soldier in the Yulin Army some time ago. The training was of no benefit to ordinary soldiers and it also wasted their energy, so naturally the grassroots soldiers were unwilling to do it.

Su Ze certainly knew that with the prestige he had established today, he could force the soldiers to exercise. He coughed and said:
"Whenever there is a minor exercise, an extra meal will be given at noon. When there is a major exercise, an extra meal will be given at lunch, along with wine and meat."

At this time, ordinary soldiers only had two meals a day, morning and evening. When they heard that they could have an extra meal at noon during drill, most of the soldiers thought it was acceptable. Moreover, they could also eat meat and wine during drill, which was a treatment only officers could enjoy before.

At this time, the soldiers who had already surrendered to Su Ze immediately cheered:

"Thank you, Commander, for the food!"

After someone shouted, most of the soldiers followed suit when they thought of the officers who were taken away. Su Ze knew that he had initially established prestige in the Tunqi Camp.

After giving the order to disband, Su Ze returned to the tent where the brigade commander lived and worked. Li Tong, who had been watching Su Ze establish his authority behind him, spoke up:
"Your father is old, and Aze has grown up. What you do today is similar to what your grandfather did back then."

Su Ze looked at Li Tong and asked, "Is there anything that you, my father, can teach me?"

Li Tong shook his head and said, "My father cannot teach you. I can only understand the parts about horse riding and archery in the military books passed down by my ancestors. I can only be considered to have a rough understanding of horse lance and sword. I cannot understand the parts about military tactics, training and commanding troops at all."

"People are just different. Your grandfather was the same back then. I only lent him the military book of our ancestors, but he learned the art of commanding troops by himself. What a pity..."

This result is not surprising. If Li Tong had organizational skills, he would not have gone to assassinate King Rourou alone.

The descendants of beggars in the Yulin Army had no organization at all. They were like a pile of loose sand, and many of them had lost the creed passed down by the descendants of beggars.

Su Ze said again: "Then can you teach everyone in the camp how to ride and shoot?"

"That's no problem, but the Tunqi Battalion is not good at archery."

Li Tong had been the cavalry and archery instructor for many camps in the Imperial Guards. He had also witnessed the Imperial Guards’ period of great victory. He said with nostalgia:

"Emperor Xiaowen established the Yulin Huben Army, and among them, five battalions were the most elite. These five battalions were Tunqi, Yueqi, Bubing, Changshui, and Shesheng. Shesheng was also called Caiguan."

"The Caiguan Camp is set up in both the Yulin Army and the Huben Army, while the Tunqi and Yueqi are only set up in the Yulin Army. They are the most elite troops in the Yulin Army."

"The Tun cavalry is mainly composed of Han people from good families, who are good at cavalry assault. The Yue cavalry is mainly composed of the eight tribes of the country, who are good at horseback archery."

"Although the Tuqi also use bows, they are more adept at using horse lances and spears to charge with armor, and they focus on the tactics of 'vertical cavalry attack'."

Li Tong said honestly: "This is not what I am good at." Su Ze understood now that Tunqi was equivalent to the heavy armored assault cavalry, while Yueqi was more like the nomadic people's light cavalry with bows.

Therefore, when Emperor Xiaowen formed these two cavalry units, he used the more disciplined Han family sons to form the Tunqi Camp, and used the Xianbei sons who were more skilled in riding and shooting to form the Yueqi Camp.

Su Ze had a headache. It seemed that if he wanted to retrain the Tunqi Battalion, he would need to find some military books related to the Tuqi, or wait until he could get a Tuqi follower of the same high quality as Su Lin.

Next, Su Ze asked Su Suan to check the accounts in the Tunqi Camp, count the land occupied by officers like Huang Yue, and redistribute the military salaries according to the actual amount. In short, there were so many things to do in the camp that it was very busy.

However, despite being busy, Su Ze still found time to take gifts and go to the Palace of Prince Guangyang to express his gratitude. Prince Guangyang Yuan Shen really did the job in exchange for the money. The capital court quickly confirmed the cases of Huang Yue and others, and dismissed them all for violating military orders. They were imprisoned in the prison of the capital court awaiting their fate.

Prince Guangyang Yuanshen was very satisfied with Su Ze's advice, and even more satisfied with the charges he brought against him.

"Grandpa! Those patrol officers in Cao have surrendered!"

The Patrol Officer was an official in the Capital Officials' Office who was responsible for inspecting the various armies. Relying on the military discipline case in the Tunqiying Camp, Prince Guangyang overturned the case in the Capital Officials' Office and dismissed the Patrol Officer who had inspected the Tunqiying Camp last time on the spot, which severely intimidated the officials within the Capital Officials' Office.

Prince Guangyang carefully wiped the reclining Buddha statue that Su Ze had sent him last time, and said to his son:

"You can get closer to Su Zeduo in the future."

Yuan Buddha had just been crowned, and it was a good time to make friends. When he was in Su Ze's camp a few days ago, he experienced the taste of power. He wanted to get close to Su Ze, but he thought of his father's previous teachings and asked doubtfully:

"Grandpa, didn't you tell me not to associate with warriors?"

Yuan Shen looked at his son. He was completely different from his own shrewd and greedy self. Yuan Buddha was as his name suggested, a very Buddhist person who was easily influenced by others.

Yuan Shen also knew that his reputation was too bad and that he was only a distant prince in Luoyang without any real power. He was afraid that his son would be misled, so he restricted his son's socializing before he was crowned.

However, the bad habits in Luoyang were on the rise, especially among some military officers who were the fastest to become corrupt. Yuan Shen was afraid that his son would learn from them, so he forbade him to associate with military men.

Yuan Shen sighed and said, "This is a different time. You are about to be crowned, and Grandpa will no longer restrict you from making friends."

"The court has been turbulent in recent years, so you'd better make more friends with capable warriors like Su Ze."

Hearing that his father allowed him to make friends, Yuan Buddha was even happier. He thought of a new friend he had made and took the opportunity to ask his father:
"Grandpa, I recently made a friend named Yu Jin, the son of Yu Ti, the governor of Shaanxi. He is also good at martial arts. Can I befriend him?"

Yuan Shen recalled carefully and said, "Yu Ti, is it the Yu Gong who was once sent as an envoy to Gaoche?"

Yuan Fotu nodded quickly, and Yuan Shen said, "The Yu family has suffered a great blow in Luoyang since Yu Zhong lost power. Yu Gong should be a branch of the Yu family, but his official career has also been affected. Did Yu Jin enter the officialdom?"

Yuan Buddha said quickly: "Yu Jin told his son that he had no ambition to serve in the prefectures and counties, and only wanted to be one of the Three Dukes. However, to be one of the Three Dukes, it is useless to just do things, and one needs to wait for the right time to come, so he did not serve in the government."

Yuan Shen laughed loudly after hearing this: "This man is quite interesting. Since Yu Zhong's downfall, all the children of the Yu family have been restricted from being officials. It's not that he doesn't want to be an official, but he just can't."

The Yu surname was also one of the eight Xianbei surnames personally designated by Emperor Xiaowen. His original surname was Wan Yu. Yu Zhong was the minister who supported the emperor at that time. After the fall of the powerful minister Gao Zhao, he became the new powerful minister. He had power over the court and the country, killed court officials indiscriminately, and controlled the court's edicts and the power of life and death.

After Empress Dowager Hu took over the regent, Yu Zhong lost power and the Yu family was also implicated. Yu Jin's words could only deceive the simple-minded Yuan Buddha.

However, although the Yu family lost power, they were not ultimately liquidated, and many of the current governors of provinces and counties are still members of the Yu family, making them still one of the prominent families with the surname Jia.

Yuan Shen, who had once served in a remote area, had already felt the changes in the situation. The uprising of the Mahayana sect in Jizhou was so powerful that the court had already sent General Zhendong Yuan Yao to quell the rebellion. The entire Youzhou was in unrest.

There was no progress in the war on the southern front. The Southern Dynasty was now recuperating and had a strong army. The Northern Wei Dynasty was at a disadvantage in several wars against the Southern Dynasty.

There is also the problem of the Rouran Gaoche in the north, and Guanzhong and the Six Garrisons are also unstable. The entire Wei Dynasty can be said to be full of crises.
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"Brother Su!"

After all, Gao Huan was young and strong, and the wound on his buttocks had almost healed. He poked his head outside the Tunqi Camp and called Su Ze out of the camp.

"I have already inquired with Zhang Lingshi of the Taiwei Mansion. Those elixirs could not have been transported to Luoyang from the military intelligence post system."

"why?"

"After the Battle of Fushan Weir, the Southern Dynasty withdrew its troops. Only a small number of military communication stations were retained in the south. No military information has been sent to Luoyang in the past two months."

"These are all told to me by the young lady from Zhang Lingshi's family."

Gao Huan added, "By the way, I recently heard from the dancers in Sitong City that Southern Dynasty artifacts have gradually increased in the market in recent days, especially Southern Dynasty brocade jewelry, and even hand-copied paper Buddhist scriptures are sold. These things are expensive, but they are very popular in Luoyang."

Su Ze thought of the shops in Sitong City that specialized in selling goods from the Southern Dynasties, which were called "Southern Goods" by the people of Luoyang.

Due to the cultural prosperity in the south, southern products have been sought after by the upper-class officials of the Northern Wei Dynasty in recent years.

Su Ze asked, "There must be shops specializing in selling southern goods in Sitong City, right?"

Gao Huan had lived in Sitong City when he was in Luoyang. He was very familiar with the commodity trading in Sitong City. He said:

"In the past, the imperial court's southern goods were sold by specialized shops, most of which were run by expatriates from the Southern Dynasty living in Jinling, or by the families of soldiers who went on the southern expedition. But now, the southern goods that have appeared are of higher quality, and there are more shops operating them."

"I also asked people to inquire in Sitong City. There are no shops selling Southern Dynasty elixirs. This kind of thing should be very expensive and will not be sold in Sitong City."

Su Ze thought about it and realized that he accepted Liu Bozhi's commission to investigate Zhang Zhongyu in order to prepare for the Yulin Rebellion in advance.

At least according to historical records, the Yulin Rebellion was caused by Zhang Zhongyu's letter to the emperor "suppressing military men".

But now investigation shows that Zhang Zhongyu spent the whole day in the Sikong Mansion Villa taking Wu Shi San and holding banquets, and had no contact with the Yulin Army.

What is the relationship between the sudden appearance of southern goods on the market, the southern "magic pill" in Zhang Zhongyu's hand, and the Yulin Army?
(End of this chapter)