Chapter 1169: Taking Protons

Chapter 1169: Taking Protons

At the moment, Northern Qi is not without any strength to fight. Although Tongtanshui lost the battle miserably, the main force retreated from the battlefield at least. Later, some of them stayed in Huiting and continued to confront the Wei army under the leadership of Duan Shao. Some of them were transferred to Yedu for resettlement, and then followed Gao Yan in the uprising.

The number of this part of the army alone reached more than 80,000. Coupled with some garrison forces deployed in Jiexiu and other places, as well as inside and outside Jinyang City and the Beishan Great Wall, the number of men and horses in Northern Qi who are visible in the accounting books and can be dispatched is still far more than 100,000.

If the scope of recruitment is further expanded, and all local armed forces in Hebei, Henan, Shandong and other states and counties are mobilized, Northern Qi will be able to gather at least nearly 200,000 fighting men!

But this is only a theoretical and ideal state, but in actual operation, some armed forces in Henan, Shandong and other states and counties have been difficult to flexibly recruit as early as the Gaoyang period.

The powerful clans who control the local armed forces will try every means to avoid various military service tasks, pushing them upwards and squeezing them downwards. Before that, the Northern Qi Dynasty itself had a strong national power, and it did not pay much attention to these local armed forces whose combat effectiveness and organization were not very high. As long as the powerful local factions could hand over a certain amount of money and material compensation to the court, that was all. Turn a blind eye.

Now that Northern Qi's national power is visibly declining, its control and deterrence will inevitably be greatly weakened. If local troops are forcibly recruited again, the rule will inevitably become more and more precarious.

It is difficult to mobilize the armed forces of local states and counties, and the troops in the core ruling areas cannot be mobilized at will.

Although in the end Gao Yan still received the edict of succession announced by Gao Yang in public, and he inherited the throne legitimately, but all the operations before that were already known to everyone. With the cooperation and compromise of the top dignitaries in the country, Only then did he gain control of the situation. Although he has become the emperor now, it is still unknown whether the powerful ministers will strictly follow his orders.

After Gao Yan succeeded to the throne, he immediately rewarded a number of so-called meritorious officials. First of all, He Baren, the Taifu and King of Anding, was the Taishi and Prime Minister of the Left; Gao Zhan, the King of Changguang, was the Minister of Records and the Prime Minister of the Right, and also the Governor of the capital; Gao Guiyan, King of Ping Qin, was the Taifu and the Minister, and the leading generals remained as before. , King Hu Luguang of Xianyang was the general and the right servant of Shangshu.

Others include Duan Shao, king of Pingyuan, as Taiwei and governor of Bingzhou, Gao Sihao, king of Nan'an, as governor of Jizhou, Lou Zhongda, king of Puyang, as governor of Dingzhou and governor of six states, etc.

In addition, there are many veteran generals among Jinyang's nobles who were not crowned kings in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China because of their junior qualifications. They were also crowned kings by the new emperor's enthronement.

It can be said that everyone is happy with such a reward. At least for now, the nobles of Jinyang have received generous rewards for following Gao Yan and making changes. Not only have they received great promotions in official titles, but important internal and external positions have almost been completely occupied by the clan and the nobles of Jinyang. occupied.

But it is precisely because the distribution of internal and external power is too dispersed that Gao Yan cannot concentrate power as highly as Gao Yang in his own hands. Even since he succeeded to the throne, he has not issued a profound edict covering the entire Northern Qi Kingdom.

Nowadays, the military and political leaders in the DPRK and the local frontier officials have also maintained a relatively silent state. They rarely expressed any clear-cut opinions on this war. They probably just wanted to see something. Look at the methods and talents shown by the emperor in handling this crisis, and then consider the way and attitude of getting along with him in the future.

The conditions proposed by the Western Wei Dynasty not only made Emperor Gao Yan furious, but also soon spread in Jinyang City. The arrogant attitude revealed by this unreasonable request immediately made the people in Jinyang City boil. Although many people did not agree with starting another war with the Western Wei Dynasty, they had gained the upper hand after years of confrontation. For a while, they were angry at being treated with such contempt and humiliation.

As a rising star in the Northern Qi army, Gao Changgong felt extremely indignant after learning about this incident.

At the moment, he has no official position as a guard, and cannot go in and out of the palace to see the emperor directly. He can only come to Bingzhou Prefecture with resentment. When he saw Duan Shao, the king of Pingyuan who had just taken office, he raised his hands and said, "Excuse me, your Majesty, when will your Majesty send troops to the south to conquer?" Qiang thieves? The general is incompetent, but he has a passion for killing the enemy. He is willing to be the vanguard of the army and kill the Qiang thieves for the sake of our country’s strength!”

"Who told you that the Supreme Being will send out a large army to fight against the Qiang thieves?"

After Duan Shao heard this, he immediately frowned and asked.

After Gao Changgong heard this question, he said matter-of-factly: "Who can tell me this? The Qiang thieves are so unruly and arrogant that they want to intimidate the Supreme Being to give up his title. They are really arrogant to the extreme, which is intolerable! The only way to do this is to summon the inner and outer masters." Brigade, attack the arrogant bandit army until their corpses litter the fields, so that we can avenge this shame!"

"How can Cao Cao easily plot such a grand military plan? The Supreme Being will weigh whether to go to war, and all the princes will also have suggestions. Don't be incited by rumors and fantasies."

After Duan Shao heard this, he said in a deep voice. He admired Emperor Wenxiang's son very much. He also knew in his heart that a young man of this age would inevitably have some youthful energy and nowhere to vent his energy, so after hesitating for a moment, he continued Said: "Now that the overall situation of the country has been decided, it is the time to recruit people both internally and externally. The young men of your clan have talents to offer. Don't indulge in these angry voices anymore, just for sighing, straining your nerves and damaging your will. You can practice the army in your free time. , Practice strategies and use them when the time comes.”

"However, the Qiang thieves are so arrogant, do they have to endure it? Even if the superiors commit suicide, how can the soldiers relieve their worries and anger? It should be noted that when the late emperor was there, the country was at its peak, who would dare..."

Such an answer certainly did not satisfy Gao Changgong, and he even felt vaguely in his heart that Duan Shao looked like a carnivore with no ambition.

Duan Shao's expression changed immediately when he heard this, and he slapped the table and shouted: "Shut up!"

Gao Changgong saw that Duan Shao was so strict with him, so he couldn't help but panic when he saw it. He closed his mouth in a hurry and said nothing, but there was still a look of dissatisfaction on his face.

Duan Shao stood up in person and came to the corridor. He waved his hand to the guards and waiters standing outside the hall to step back temporarily. Then he turned back to the hall, looked at Gao Changgong and said in a deep voice: "At any time, you must remember the consequences of misfortune. Say it out of your mouth! Do you really know that this statement should not be made lightly? How can you make others expect great things when you are so angry?

The thief is strong and I am weak, is this the same as before? I will accuse you of your short-term experience. Because of their weakness, the Qiang people have suffered humiliation and coercion in the past. But are the Qiang people angry and eager to fight? Nowadays, our country is indeed in chaos for a while and is weaker than others, but it is far from the end of life and death. There is no need for young and naughty boys like you to be angry and ask for war and boast about your bravery. When it comes to a real life-or-death decision, courage and timidity will tell the difference! "

"I, I am not boasting about my bravery, but the Qiang thieves have really been humiliated this time. Besides, there will eventually be another battle between the two countries. Even if we grovel for peace at this time, it will be difficult to rest easy..."

Gao Changgong lowered his head again and said in a low voice.

"Is there anything in this world that is born to be high and cannot be lowered? Even the well-dressed and well-dressed people with bells and pans for food were nothing more than a bunch of lambs waiting to be slaughtered when the butcher knife of the Zhu family in Heyin was swung in the old years. The Qi family has been in existence for less than ten years now. Forcing me to lose my honorary title is a life-threatening matter? If I can get three years of rest and be able to fight, what's wrong with it?"

As someone who came from the most turbulent era and followed the Gao family and his son in creating this career, Duan Shao also upheld pragmatism. He looked at Gao Changgong and continued: "Since you know that the two countries will eventually have to fight again, then You should keep your ambition and cultivate your talents, instead of being blindly angry and unable to assess the situation. It is human nature for the soldiers to be dissatisfied and clamorous. As a general, you should control them, not accept them. Coerced by vulgar sentiments and driven by emotion!”

After Duan Shao taught him a lesson, Gao Changgong was no longer as angry as he was at the beginning, but he still couldn't let go. After being silent for a while, he couldn't help but ask: "So, is the Supreme Really serious about this?" Agree to the Qiang thieves' request and give up your title in exchange for Wei's withdrawal? "

Duan Shao fell silent after hearing this. After a while, he slowly shook his head, but he did not clearly say whether his denial meant that the emperor would not do this, or that he did not know what the emperor would choose.

Duan Shao's current situation is somewhat embarrassing. Although after the coup, he was appointed to the important position of governor of Bingzhou, but compared to his qualifications, this is not actually a reward.

Because he had been stationed in Jinyang before, the emperor's appointment was not meant to be a compliment, but more of a comfort, saying that he would not care about Duan Shao's previous private negotiations with the Western Wei Dynasty, and During the coup, he did not directly choose who to take sides with, and even vaguely wanted to be loyal to the king.

Therefore, Duan Shao currently takes a relatively cautious attitude towards major matters in the country and will not make any statements easily. He just concentrates on his own duties. Before privately negotiating peace with the Western Wei Dynasty, he would not make any statement on whether war or peace would follow. He would just wait for the emperor to make a decision and order.

Once adults, especially politicians, are separated in their hearts, communication will become unsmooth. Duan Shao did not dare to express his position easily, but the emperor did not make a decision directly. He was still weighing and thinking in the next few days. But in fact, the most important thing is to wait for the statements of important figures including Duan Shao, but he was disappointed when he took over.

Just when this kind of silence made everyone involved feel depressed, things took a new turn. The latest news came from the mission, that is, the Western Wei Dynasty also knew what it had proposed before. The requirements were too harsh, so he took the initiative to lower himself to a lower level. Instead of asking the Lord of Qi to give up his title, he instead asked Northern Qi to send his clan to the Western Wei Dynasty as hostages, and the names must be direct descendants of Emperor Shenwu!