With the power of victory, Gao Huan immediately led his army to attack Yecheng.
Yecheng's walls are strong and easy to defend but difficult to attack. A forceful attack is definitely not feasible. I think back then, Ge Rong was defeated by Er Zhurong here. How can we avoid making the same mistakes as Ge Rong?
The resourceful Gao Huan quickly came up with a solution - authentic burning pillars.
He turned his troops into "engineers" and asked them to dig tunnels all the way to the bottom of the city wall. Later, tung oil was poured on the wooden piles supporting the top of the tunnel, and these wooden piles were burned with a fire.
The city wall that lost its support collapsed instantly, and the resulting shaking made the soldiers and civilians in the city feel as if a magnitude 10 earthquake had occurred.
Gao Huan's army took the opportunity to launch a massive attack and captured Yecheng easily.
Due to Gao Huan's intimidation, Qingzhou (today's Qingzhou, Shandong) and other places near Yecheng surrendered to Gao Huan. At this point, most of Hebei was owned by Gao Huan.
At this time, Gao Huan's troops were strong and his horses were strong, and he was unstoppable. His troops were pointing directly at Luoyang, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
The Erzhu family was frightened by Gao Huan's rise. They learned from the experience and decided to put aside their prejudices and speak out unanimously.
The Erzhu family has finally reunited, but Hu Sichun, who seems to be distant from them, is preparing to retreat.
Hu Sichun, a native of Guangmu Fuchang (now Wuyuan County, Inner Mongolia), is a master of speculation. There is a saying that particularly suits him, "If you wander in the rivers and lakes, you will never get knifed; if you often walk by the river, your shoes will never get wet." ".
He defected to Erzhurong when Erzhurong was recruiting troops in Xiurongchuan, and was a veteran of the Erzhurong Group. Because he was good at flattering and charming, he was very popular with Er Zhurong, and he soon became a popular person around Er Zhurong. He successively held important positions such as the regular attendant of the Sanqi, the general of the East Conquest, and the governor of East Xuzhou.
After Erzhu Zhao was killed, he fled to Nanliang for fear of being implicated. But soon he heard that Erzhu Zhao had captured Luoyang, and he returned to the embrace of the Erzhu family. Because his ability to observe words and emotions was unparalleled, Er Zhu Shilong trusted him very much and relied on him as his confidant.
Hu Sichun, who has a keen sense of politics, has already realized that the destruction of the Erzhu family is imminent, and he has the idea of defecting to Gao Huan, but he is also afraid that Gao Huan will hate him for now working for the Erzhu family and becoming his enemy.
So, he and his friend He Basheng formulated a plan: to advise Erzhu Shilong, let Erzhu Zhao, Erzhu Tianguang and others gather all the forces of the Erzhu family to conquer Gao Huan. If the Erzhu family wins, they will naturally have merit. (Of course, this possibility is slim); if the Erzhu family is defeated, they will raise troops to echo Gao Huan, return to Luoyang, kill all the Erzhu families in Luoyang City, and offer their heads to Gao Huan as a meeting gift. (This is going to destroy the group!)
Hu Sichun was a man of action. As soon as he formulated the plan, he first persuaded Erzhu Shilong and asked Erzhu Shilong to send someone to invite Erzhu Zhao, Erzhu Tianguang, Erzhu Zhongyuan and Erzhu Dulu to jointly attack Gao Huan.
The other three people agreed without hesitation, but Erzhu Tianguang was very cunning and always used various reasons to evade and did not want to wade into this muddy water.
After planning for a long time, how could Hu Sichun give up this plan because of Er Zhu Tianguang? He personally went to Guanzhong and persuaded Erzhu Tianguang to send troops with his perfect eloquence and acting skills.
Erzhu Tianguang and his younger brother Erzhu Xianshou stayed in Chang'an, and he personally led an army to attack Gao Huan.
In March 523 AD, under the coordination of Erzhu Shilong, the four armies of Erzhu Zhao, Erzhu Tianguang, Erzhu Zhongyuan, and Erzhu Dulu set out from Jinyang, Luoyang, Chang'an, and Dongjun (now Puyang, Henan) respectively. The Yecheng area gathered together to form the Erzhu coalition army to attack Gao Huan, stationed on both sides of the Huan River (today's Anyang River), with a total strength of 200,000.
In order to prevent the Erzhu family from fighting among themselves over who should be the commander-in-chief, Erzhu Shilong had no choice but to adopt a peaceful approach and appointed veteran general Zhang Sunzhi as Daxingtai to command the various armies of the Erzhu family. (This actually means everyone fights his own way, without a commander-in-chief.)
Facing the 200,000 Erzhu family's army, Gao Huan was very calm. He knew very well that this battle would determine his own fate, the fate of the Erzhu family, and the fate of the Northern Wei Dynasty, so he had to treat it with caution.
After careful consideration, Gao Huan decided to take the initiative and led 30,000 troops to station in Hanling Mountain (now Hanling Township, northeast of Anyang, Henan Province) to face the Erzhu family's army.
In order to strengthen the fighting spirit of the soldiers, Gao Huan sent people to connect a large number of cattle, donkeys and other livestock with ropes to block the retreat, showing his determination to fight to the end.
Taking advantage of the favorable terrain of Hanling Mountain, he arranged his troops into a circular formation. He led the middle army, Gao Aocao commanded the left army, and Gao Yue commanded the right army.
Gao Gao Aocao was born in the Bohai Gao family. He was born with dragon eyebrows and leopard neck, and was majestic in appearance. When Gao Huan entered Jizhou, he joined the Bohai Gao family and joined Gao Huan. He was brave and good at fighting. He can be said to be the most powerful general in Gao Huan's army.
Gao Yue is Gao Huan's cousin. He is tall and has extraordinary bearing. Originally living in Luoyang, after Gao Huan launched an army, Gao Yue and his family defected to Gao Huan. When he first arrived, Gao Huan entrusted him with important tasks, which shows how much Gao Huan valued him.
A great war began.
Er Zhuzhao gathered all his troops and charged with all his strength to capture Gao Huan's central army.
The Qihu cavalry's combat effectiveness was very strong. They fought against Gao Huan's Chinese army, which was mainly infantry, and fought and retreated, and were forced into a blind corner step by step.
At the critical moment, Gao Yue of the right army led 500 cavalry to charge towards the Qihu cavalry from the front, protecting Gao Huan's central army in time; General Hu Lujin led his army to the rear and charged towards the rear of the Erzhu coalition. The army launched an attack; the most deadly one was Gao Aocao's left army. He led more than a thousand cavalry to attack the central part of the Erzhu coalition forces horizontally, and immediately divided the Erzhu coalition forces into several sections.
After the Erzhu coalition forces, which had no unified command in the first place, were divided, they became even more disorganized and had to fight independently. The situation was chaotic and they gradually fell into a disadvantage.
Hu Sichun, He Basheng and others, who had had second thoughts for a long time, suddenly surrendered to Gao Huan in front of the formation, turned back and launched an attack on the Erzhu coalition.
The Erzhu coalition army was in great disarray and could no longer hold on. They were soon defeated and were beaten so that they ran for their lives.
This battle ended with the defeat of the Erzhu coalition forces. This was the famous "Battle of Hanling" in history.
After two battles, the "Battle of Guang'a" and the "Battle of Hanling", the Erzhu family was defeated by Gao Huan and even lost their pants. The two wars caused the once arrogant Erzhu family to completely collapse.
After the defeat of Han Ling, Erzhu Zhao fled back to Jinyang in embarrassment, Erzhu Zhongyuan fled back to Dongjun, and Erzhu Tianguang and Erzhu Dulu led the remaining soldiers to flee to Luoyang.
When a tree falls, the hozens scatter; when a wall falls, everyone pushes it away.
Hu Sichun, He Basheng and others led their troops to march day and night. Xianerzhu Tianguang and Erzhu Dulu returned to Luoyang in one step, deceived the city gates of Luoyang, and captured and killed Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Yanbo in Luoyang city. Killed all the members of the Zhu family in the city. Erzhu Tianguang and Erzhu Dulu, who led the remnant soldiers to flee back to Luoyang, were captured alive by them. Together with the two heads of Erzhu Shilong and Erzhu Yanbo, they were packed up by Hu Sichun and sent to Yecheng to be presented to Gao Huan.
The Erzhu family was almost wiped out. Only the cunning Erzhu Zhong realized that the situation was not good and went south from Dongjun to Nanliang.
Yang Zhong was not a fool. The Erzhu family was at the end of its rope, and there was no need for him to be buried with them. After weighing the pros and cons, Yang Zhong joined the camp of Hu Sichun, He Basheng and others, and joined the command of Dugu Xin, a former Wuchuan fellow, and launched a purge of the Erzhu family.
The overall situation has been decided. General Hussar who once had a wait-and-see attitude, Hou Jing who was in charge of Jizhou affairs (the administrative seat is now Liaocheng, Shandong), Sima Ziru, the governor of Nanqizhou (now Fengxian County, Shaanxi Province), and He Ba, the governor of Kansai who occupied Guanzhong Yue and others also surrendered to Gao Huan one after another. He Bayue also sent general Yuwentai to capture Chang'an and captured and killed Erzhu Tianguang's younger brother Erzhu Xianshou who was stationed in Chang'an.
Whether they were old friends or former rivals, whether they were sincere or not, Gao Huan accepted them all. You give me a peach, and I give you a plum in return. Gao Huan's rewards for them were very generous. Hou Jing was appointed as Shangshu Pushe, Nandao Daxingtai, and Jeju governor. Sima Ziru was appointed as Daxingtai Shangshu, and He Bayue was granted the title of Guanzhong Daxingtai.
The high-spirited Gao Huan led his army into Luoyang with a victor's attitude. But a new problem was placed in front of him. There can only be one sun in the sky, and there can only be one emperor in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Nowadays, in the Northern Wei Dynasty, there are two emperors, Yuan Gong, who was established by the Erzhu family, and Yuan Long, who was established by himself.
what should I do?
Counselor Wei Langen gave him an idea: Yuan Gong was too shrewd to control, Yuen Long was a branch of the family, and his bloodline was too far away. It was best not to establish a relationship with either of them. Pingyang Wang Yuanxiu is the grandson of Emperor Xiaowen. He has noble blood and upright roots, so he is the most suitable candidate.
Gao Huan was overjoyed after hearing this. In Gao Huan's view, establishing a puppet emperor depends on whether the blood is pure or not. A clan prince like Yuan Xiu, with extremely pure bloodline, is naturally the most suitable candidate.
In April 523 AD, Yuan Xiu ascended the throne of emperor in Luoyang according to the old Xianbei system, and was known as Emperor Xiaowu in history. Gao Huan, who promoted him to the throne, was named Prime Minister and Grand Master.
This year, Gao Huan was 37 years old. He had the capital to "clarify the world and sweep the world" and became the actual controller of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He can proudly say to the world: Who is responsible for the ups and downs of the Northern Wei Dynasty? It’s Gao Huan, it’s Gao Huan, it’s still Gao Huan!
Gao Huan also has another biggest worry, He Batayue, who is proud of his troops and dominates the pass.
When they were under Er Zhurong's tent, the two were sworn enemies. How could he sincerely surrender to him? The so-called surrender is nothing more than conforming to the current situation, being hypocritical and making mistakes. Conferring him a title is just to smooth things over and appease people's hearts. One day, the two of them will meet with swords. Both of them knew this very well.
Gao Huan asked Yuan Xiu to issue an edict to summon He Bayue to the throne and to be transferred to Jizhou governor.
As smart as He Bayue, he knew very well that this was Gao Huan's plan to deal with him, so he found an excuse to refuse.
Although Gao Huan was very angry, there was nothing he could do. Now his main enemy is Er Zhu Zhao, not He Ba Yue. Everything can wait until Er Zhu Zhao is dealt with.
Soon after, Gao Huan led his army back to Yecheng, where he controlled the overall situation remotely. In Luoyang, Feng Longzhi, Gao Gan, Sun Teng and other close ministers controlled the government, just like Er Zhurong back then.
As soon as he returned to Yecheng, Gao Huan organized his troops and went out to attack the last fish that had slipped through the net of the Erzhu family in the Northern Wei Dynasty, his former "good brother" Erzhu Zhao.
When Erzhu Zhao heard that Gao Huan was coming, he had no intention of fighting. He was so scared that he even lost his base in Jinyang and fled directly back to his hometown, Xiurongchuan, where the Erzhu family made its fortune.
Gao Huan led his army to capture Jinyang without any bloodshed, and established the Prime Minister's Palace, using Jinyang as his base.
In order to make Er Zhuzhao paralyzed, Gao Huan used the trick "A soldier never tires of deceit"! He claimed four times in a row that he would send troops to attack Erzhu Zhao, but each time he failed to actually send troops. It wasn't until the fifth time that he actually sent troops.
As for Er Zhuzhao, he really thought Gao Huan would come to attack him the first four times, and every time he was ready to make a last-ditch effort. But what was waiting was Gao Huan's repeated cannon fire. By the fifth time, he instinctively thought that Gao Huan was still firing cannons, so he simply ignored him. The careless Er Zhuzhao was defeated by Gao Huan and had no choice but to commit suicide.
At this point, the Erzhu family, which was all-powerful in the Northern Wei Dynasty, completely withdrew from the stage of history.
