Chapter 20 19. The First Meeting of Shuangjiao

The news of Gao Huan's rebellion reached Jinyang, and Er Zhuzhao realized that he had been cheated.He mobilized 20,000 infantry and cavalry, went out of Taihang Mountain from Jingxing, and took back Yinzhou.Erzhu Zhongyuan of Yanzhou also Chen Bing Yangping (now Guantao, Hebei), was preparing to fight Gao Huan. The unlucky Er Zhuzhao still couldn't avoid the fate of being played by Gao Huan.Gao Huan sent people to make countermeasures. On the one hand, he said, "Brother Er Zhu Shilong wants to kill Er Zhu Zhao", and on the other hand, he said, "Er Zhu Zhao and Gao Huan conspired to increase troops to Er Zhu Zhongyuan, who went northward", which caused Er Zhu Zhao and Er Zhu Zhongyuan to interact with each other. Suspicion, dare not attack easily.

Gao Huan took the opportunity to raid Guang'a (now east of Longyao, Hebei) with light cavalry, defeated Er Zhuzhao, and captured 5,000 people. Digging a tunnel, using pillars as support, and setting fire to the pillars after the tunnel was completed, causing the ground to sink and the towers to collapse. Yuan Shao once used this method to attack Gongsun Zan’s Youzhou, and Gao Huan was also very good at using this method to attack the city), The city of Ye was broken.Liu Dan, the governor of Xiangzhou who refused to lend food to Gao Huan a year ago, became Gao Huan's prisoner. The fall of Yecheng made Er Zhu Shilong of Luoyang panic.His hussar general Hu Sichun couldn't understand Erzhu's actions, and thought it was a good time to wipe out Erzhu's family, so he volunteered to Erzhu Shilong and went to Guanzhong to invite Erzhu Tianguang to leave the pass.

Erzhu Tianguang held great power in Guanzhong, and had a good time, and didn't want to disturb the muddy waters of Guandong.Hu Sichun said: "Gao Huan is causing chaos, those people in the Kanto are trash, and the prince will not be able to calm down without leaving the horse!" Hu Sichun's words touched Erzhu Tianguang's heart, he did not listen to He Bayue's advice to stick to the pass, and left his younger brother Erzhu Xianshou to guard Chang'an, and led the army to Yecheng triumphantly. Knowing that Erzhu Tianguang would be defeated, He Bayue discussed countermeasures with Yu Wentai.Yu Wentai suggested that Hou Mo Chenyue, the governor of Qinzhou, be persuaded to send troops to take Chang'an in a false attack, and personally go to Hou Mochenyue's army to do ideological work.As expected, Hou Mo and Chen Yue were persuaded by Yu Wentai, and together with He Bayue they captured Chang'an and captured Erzhu Xianshou.He Bayue won Guanzhong without bloodshed, and he attached great importance to Yu Wentai.He appointed himself the Daxingtai in Kansai, appointed Yuwentai as the Zuocheng of Xingtai, and handed over all matters to Yuwentai.

Er Zhuzhao and all Erzhu's troops gathered outside the city of Ye, claiming to have an army of 200,000.Er Zhurong killed Ge Rong here four years ago, so Er Zhuzhao naturally wanted to review his uncle's achievements.But although the enemy soldiers were still Ge Rong's Sixth Soldier, the enemy generals were several grades higher than Ge Rong's, not to mention that he himself was not Er Zhurong who was good at tactics. Gao Huan left Feng Longzhi behind to defend Yecheng, and personally led more than 30,000 infantry and cavalry troops out of the city to meet the enemy.In this army, apart from the Xianbei cavalry who are mainly town soldiers, the most conspicuous ones are Gao Aocao's three thousand Han soldiers.

These three thousand Han soldiers were carefully selected and practiced by Gao Aocao in Jizhou Township for a long time. Everyone has a good skill, no less than Xianbei soldiers.Gao Huan was worried about the combat effectiveness of the Han soldiers and wanted to incorporate the Xianbei soldiers into Gao Aocao's army. After hearing Gao Aocao's explanation, he was greatly impressed, so he arranged Gao Aocao's troops on the left wing of the army, and ordered his cousin Gao Yue He led his troops on the right wing and set up a circular formation at the foot of Hanling Mountain (now northeast of Anyang, Henan Province) in the south of Yecheng.

Er Zhuzhao saw Gao Huan from a distance, and reprimanded loudly: "I swear to be brothers with you, but you want to turn against me? What's the reason?" Gao Huan replied coldly: "Yes, I wanted to work together with you to assist the government. But where is today?" Er Zhuzhao knew that he was wronged: "Emperor Yong'an (that is, Emperor Xiaozhuang) killed General Tianzhu in vain. I just want to take revenge." Gao Huan snorted, and said: "General Tianzhu wanted to be the emperor back then. I saw and heard it with my own eyes. You were under the tent at that time. Isn't it considered a rebellion? What's more, the emperor killed the ministers, what kind of report did you get?" Enmity? Today I will sever ties with you!" (Gao Huan's cunning is that he has his own opinions and knows what to say to whomever he sees. Er Zhurong's desire to become emperor has his share of "credit" ", and now it has turned into a crime of criticizing Er Zhuzhao. And when Er Zhuzhao was wronged, people who support Gao Huan rarely care about Gao Huan's previous actions.)

Er Zhuzhao was furious, and sent his troops to kill Gao Huan.The two armies were at a stalemate, and Gao Huan had few people, so he was forced to retreat.Er Zhuzhao took advantage of the momentum to pursue fiercely, and the cavalry of Gao Yue and Gao Aocao on the two wings suddenly launched an attack from the front and the middle.Er Zhuzhao's army was so numerous that it was difficult to respond from the beginning to the end. It was cut off by Gao Aocao's Han soldiers, and it was in chaos.Gao Huan returned to the army to launch a counterattack, Er Zhuzhao was defeated and fled to Jinyang.He Basheng and others surrendered before the battle.

Seeing the defeat of the Erzhu family, Hu Sichun, who had been watching for a long time, returned to Luoyang with his subordinates, killed Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Yanbo brothers, and captured Erzhu Tianguang and others who had fled to the Heqiao area in embarrassment, and offered the city to Gao Huan .Gao Huan's army marched into Luoyang, killing all the Erzhu family and their followers in the city.Only Er Zhu Zhongyuan, who ran the fastest, defected to Liang Guo and escaped death. Gao Huan has two puppet emperors in his hands, and there is no second day, so one of them should be abolished logically.In terms of blood relationship, Emperor Jiemin is a close relative of the royal family, and Gao Huanli's Yuen Long is a distant relative. It is okay to continue to support Emperor Jiemin.However, Gao Huan was worried that Emperor Jiemin was too old and not easy to manipulate, so he sent people to look for emperor candidates from among the descendants of Emperor Xiaowen.It seems that Wang Yuanxiu of Pingyang, the third son of Wang Yuanhuai of Guangping, is not bad. He is in his early twenties, and he is quiet, so he is suitable to be a good puppet. (You can't judge by appearance, Gao Huan miscalculated.)

In April of the second year of Zhongxing (AD 532), Gao Huan established Yuan Xiu as emperor, changed Yuan Taichang, and later changed Yuan Yongxi. This was the last emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty——Emperor Wei Xiaowu.Gao Huan was granted the titles of Prime Minister, General of Tianzhu, and Taishi, and Er Zhurong was awarded all the titles. His eldest son, Gao Cheng, who was only twelve years old, was named a servant and a general of hussars.After that, Gao Huan poisoned Emperor Jiemin and the other two deposed emperors Yuan Ye and Yuen Long one after another. (Although the Er Zhu family abolished Yuan Ye, they did not kill him. In this regard, it is considered kind. Gao Huan is very similar to Liu Yu. He finally climbed from the bottom to the position below one person. For the "emperor" "This thing is the least trustworthy. Anyone who has worn a crown can be killed. Among the three emperors, the cause of Emperor Jiemin's death is slightly controversial. According to historical records, Emperor Xiaowu killed him, but I personally think that Gao Huan was at least one of the participants. Regardless of whether he killed the second emperor or the third emperor, Gao Huan opened the curtain of the competition to kill the emperor in the last years of the Northern Dynasty. Miserable...)

In the past few years following Er Zhurong, Gao Huan summed up many pros and cons from Er Zhurong.He is like an improved version of Er Zhurong, using Er Zhurong as a template, and can be modified.He executed Qiao Ning, Zhang Ziqi and other generals who betrayed the Erzhu family and surrendered on their own initiative, and sounded a wake-up call to his subordinates.He married his eldest daughter to Emperor Xiaowu as the queen, and firmly controlled the emperor's eyes and ears. Gao Huan stabilized the affairs of the DPRK and China, led troops and the governor She Digan to enter Bingzhou from Fukou and Jingxing respectively, defeated Erzhuzhao, and captured Jinyang.Er Zhuzhao fled to Xiurong to the north, and Gao Huan ordered the governor Dou Tai to be the vanguard, leading the fine cavalry day and night, and soon caught up with Er Zhuzhao's remnants and defeated generals.At the end of his life, Er Zhuzhao hanged himself to death.Erzhu's power ruled the roost for more than five years before and after the Northern Wei Dynasty, and finally collapsed.

Murong Shaozong took Er Zhuzhao's family and the rest of his troops to Gao Huan's army to surrender.Gao Huan cherished his talent and admired his loyalty to the Erzhu family, so he pardoned his sins.From then on, Gao Huan had an unwritten rule: the more servile and treacherous generals he was, the more he wanted to kill them; and those who were loyal and forced to vote at the last minute, he gave him special treatment. Gao Huan has a special liking for Jinyang, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. He ordered the construction of the prime minister's mansion in Jinyang, moved the office there, and controlled the court remotely like Er Zhurong. (He may not have thought that this office location has not changed until his death) Guandong is in hand, but Gao Huan is always thinking about the fat in Guanzhong.He Bayue claimed to be a minister to Luoyang in name, but in fact he was alone in one side, which was difficult to control.He recruited He Bayue to be the governor of Jizhou, trying to keep this thorn in his eyes.Xue Xiaotong, the deputy of Xingtai Youcheng under He Bayue, believes that Guanzhong is the foundation of self-preservation, and if he goes to Guandong, he will be controlled by others.He Bayue rejected Gao Huan's recruitment according to his calculations, but whether Gao Huan wanted to be Huo Guang or Cao Cao, he still had doubts.When he was in trouble, Yu Wentai proposed to go to Bingzhou to find out the truth for He Bayue. Therefore, Yu Wentai went to Bingzhou to meet Gao Huan in the name of He Bayue's envoy.For the first time, opponents on the future battlefield met in Jinyang.However, this is a meeting between a subordinate and a superior. Yu Wentai knows Gao Huan, but Gao Huan does not know Yu Wentai (at least he has heard the name).He had never noticed that there was such a young, promising and extraordinary general under He Bayue's command.Gao Huan asked about the military in Guanzhong, and Yu Wentai answered fluently.While talking, Gao Huan became interested in talents and wanted to keep Yu Wentai in the army.Yu Wentai politely rejected Gao Huan's "good intentions" and returned home after a starry night.Gao Huan regretted it (it's time to regret it in his intestines), and sent people to chase him all the way to Tongguan, but he couldn't catch up after all. Yu Wentai returned to Guanzhong, and analyzed He Bayue: "Gao Huan is definitely not a minister, and he is still afraid of Ming Gong brothers, and dare not usurp without authorization. Hou Mo and Chen Yue are mediocre, just need to be on guard, and it is not difficult to deal with. We might as well move our army to the west, subdue the refugees in Hexi, take over the Di and Qiang tribes, and then return to Chang'an to fight against Gao Huan. He Bayue was overjoyed and started to manage Guanzhong, and sent Yu Wentai to contact Emperor Xiaowu in secret.The signs of a split in the Northern Wei Dynasty loomed.