My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 324 The general trend of the world
Only after Gao Huan had walked far away did Prime Minister Wang hesitate for a long time before finally speaking up to remind him, "Prime Minister... do you really intend to let He Liuhun meet with the surrendered people of the Six Garrisons?"

Erzhu Rong glanced at him and chuckled, "What harm is there in letting him see it?"

"But if that's the case..."

“No matter what He Liuhun said, he was only giving face to the Gao brothers. I didn’t make any promises. Even if the surrendered people of the Six Towns had any unwarranted expectations, they would only resent the Gao brothers.”

Wang Xiang and the others then realized what was going on.

Erzhu Rong knew better than anyone that the six townsmen who surrendered and were captured in Hebei were ticking time bombs within the borders of Bing and Si prefectures.

How could he not know that this group of battle-hardened, bred soldiers from the corpses of the Six Garrisons were the elite of the elite? If he could absorb and integrate them, it would greatly enhance his strength.
It's indigestible.

In ancient times, apart from blood relatives and relatives by marriage, people from one's hometown or community were the most trustworthy.

People from the same place will naturally huddle together for mutual support, even if they have never met before.

Why is the imperial court powerless against powerful families?
Because a prominent family rooted in a certain place not only benefits the local people—for example, when they encounter natural disasters or man-made calamities, the family will often open its own treasury to help the local people, thus cultivating its prestige—but also, the family and the local people are naturally neighbors.

The people don't help their fellow villagers, but help complete strangers, and the court sucks their blood, demanding taxes and various corvée labor from them.
Even if Yuan Ziyou hadn't tried to divide him and Gao Yu, Erzhu Rong wouldn't have dared to use this group of surrendered people from the six towns so easily.

There are too many people.

Initially, there were over 200,000 surrendered people. If such a large force were handed over to Gao Yu, then in the Erzhu Group, whose fist is the biggest and who is the boss?

He couldn't even distribute the supplies in batches to the people from his six garrisons who came to surrender to him.

Those who came to join the Six Garrisons were given the lowest political treatment under Erzhu Rong. He prioritized Erzhu clan members, followed by his trusted confidants from the Dai region, and lastly, those from the Six Garrisons.

Gao Yu's prestige in the Six Garrisons was so high that even if he distributed these people equally among the people of Huai Shuo and Wu Chuan, they would eventually spontaneously gather under Gao Yu's command.

Prevent problems before they arise.

Not to mention that he and Gao Yu are now on the verge of a complete break, and he has been tormenting these surrendered people from the Six Garrisons for several years. Their resentment towards the Erzhu clan has reached the point of irreconcilable enmity.

Erzhu Rong was very cunning.

How could he not see that Gao Huan was after this group of people?
How could he not know that Yuan Ziyou was thinking of getting these people out and making them a hindrance to him?
Go ahead.

In any case, Gao Huan was only giving face to himself and Gao Yu. Since he ultimately failed, the surrendered people of the Six Garrisons would definitely transfer their hatred to the two brothers.

Once the number of people decreases further, he can confidently support the Heba brothers to fight Gao Yu in the arena.

When they followed Erzhu Tianguang to quell the rebellions in Guanzhong and Longxi, the Heba brothers also demonstrated extraordinary abilities.
"Don't worry about it too much, let He Liuhun go see him."

After saying this, Erzhu Rong looked at Wang Xiang and instructed, "You shall set off for Luoyang in the next few days to see Wu Cheng. The frequency of writing a letter every two days is too low. From now on, we shall write a letter every one or two days. You must keep in touch with me at all times. Also... take a group of maids selected from my Erzhu clan to the palace. They will take care of Ying'e's daily life from now on."

He instructed Ying'e to be careful in everything and not to have any contact with other people.

"Yes."

"Go."

After explaining everything, Erzhu Rong went to the map.

This is a rough map of the Great Wei territory, showing the approximate jurisdiction of each state. The territory currently under Erzhu Rong's control can be roughly seen at a glance.

Longxi and Bazhou are still in chaos, but they are remote. As long as Guanzhong is firmly under control, they will not affect him for a while. Guanzhong is already under Erzhu Rong's actual control. He has gone to great lengths to win over the people of Wuchuan.

He managed to carve out two more territories from Yongzhou: North Yongzhou and South Yongzhou. He also forcibly split up Qizhou and Binzhou to the west of Yongzhou.

By breaking up the territory into smaller, more fragmented sections, many more governorships were created out of thin air. This allowed him to demonstrate his intention to promote people; he did indeed give governorships to the Heba brothers, and even to Li Hu, Dugu Xin, Houmo Chenyue, and others.

However, in reality, the core territories of Yongzhou, Binzhou, Qizhou, and other places are still under the control of their own people.

As for the three Herba brothers?
The most capable Heba Yue was appointed as the governor of Yongzhou, but the exceptionally brave Heba Sheng was temporarily assigned by Erzhu Rong to the command of Erzhu Dulu, who was far away in Xixuzhou. The eldest brother, Heba Yun, was even further away in Yan and Ping, under the command of Hou Yuan. The three brothers were practically separated, scattered across the country.

Guanzhong and Shanxi were already completely under Erzhu Rong's control.

The situation in the prefectures of Hebei is quite mixed.

For example, although Erzhu Shilong is now the governor of Xiangzhou, Sima Ziru and others are also governors. Hou Jing is the governor of Dingzhou. This is one of the ways Erzhu Rong divided Gao Yu's subordinates.

The governor of Ji Province was Yang Shun, and the governor of Dongji Province was Gao Yi.

However, since Yanzhou, Youzhou, and Pingzhou were all in Erzhu Rong's hands, it wasn't a big deal that he didn't have control over the eastern provinces.

The only areas truly out of control are Shandong and Henan.

The current governor of Yuzhou is Yuan Zigong, the grandson of Yuan He. His original surname was Tufa. Yuan He was originally from the Southern Liang, and successively served the Western Qin and the Northern Liang before finally joining the Northern Wei. He gained the appreciation of Emperor Mingyuan Tuoba Si and survived many political upheavals in the Northern Wei court. He was also a veteran official who witnessed the Northern Wei unify the northern border.

Especially when Emperor Xianwen, Tuoba Hong, abdicated, Yuan He supported Emperor Xiaowen, Tuoba Hong, to succeed to the throne, which was a meritorious act of helping the emperor ascend the throne.

In his later years, he even helped Emperor Xiaowen, Tuoba Hong, quell the rebellion of the Tiele tribe.

He can be described as an absolute die-hard royalist.

Yuzhou was located next to Sizhou, controlling multiple waterways for transporting grain to Luoyang, and was itself a large granary suitable for farming.

This is also what Erzhu Rong is most worried about.

That's why he forcibly split up Xuzhou in the first place.

If Xuzhou is not divided into east and west, it would be equivalent to Gao Yu and Yuan Zigong's territories bordering each other, allowing them to support Luoyang in Sizhou at any time.

At least for now, they have forcibly separated the two by splitting off West Xuzhou.

"We must take Qizhou and Jizhou, block Moheduo in Shandong, and complete the abdication before the news spreads. Then the world can be settled with a proclamation."

All that's needed is Yuan Ziyou's abdication edict.

Erzhu Rong then ascended the throne as emperor, while Gao Yu, who was confined to Shandong, had no natural defenses and could not even become a separatist force.

At that point, Gao Yu probably wouldn't dare to go against him.

Then you can truly rule the world!
Think of this.

Erzhu Rong's gaze became intense, and his breathing became rapid!

The throne!

The supreme ruler of all under heaven!

If I can win over the hearts of my subordinates, with so many elite troops and fierce generals, I can march straight to the Southern Dynasty!
Then the long-divided land of China will finally be stitched back together in his hands!
Having made such a contribution, even if his rise to power was not so honorable, no one would find fault with him.

In later historical records, his status will be similar to that of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Gaozu of Han...

He can sit at the same table with these historically significant figures when he eats!
(End of this chapter)