In the first year of Zhaode (548), on April 19, more than a month after the issuance of the edict of the Southern Expedition and the document on the Liang Dynasty, the 450,000 people who were conscripted in Hedong, Hebei and Guanzhong all gathered in Luoyang, and the 150,000 people in Henan gathered in Yuzhou.

Compared with Emperor Xiaowen's pre-war mobilization after the edict of the southern expedition, Gao Cheng was able to have such a speed, thanks to the fact that he and his henchmen had long been preparing for the southern expedition and transporting materials in advance.

On the same day, Gao Cheng led the crowd to Bishan to worship his deceased father Gao Huan, and successively summoned many ministers in Beijing, including Dou Tai, Gao Longzhi, Sima Ziru, etc., in the Mingguang Palace, and arranged them one by one, and did not return to the dormitory to rest until late at night.

In the early morning of the next day, the harem concubines and the Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun bid farewell outside the gate.

It's just that Lou Zhaojun always has a straight face in front of Gao Cheng, not smiling, the reason for this is still Gao Yan's army, as for Gao Yang, she really doesn't care.

However, Gao Cheng doesn't pay much attention to her mother's thoughts, whether she is satisfied with herself or disgusted, Gao Cheng will not take it to heart, as long as the other party is not a demon in the rear.

The last bit of friendship between the mother and son in Huaishuo in the early years had long been extinguished by Gao Zhan's death, otherwise Gao Cheng would not insist on taking Gao Yan away.

Gao Yang and Gao Yan followed the army, and in addition to the eighth son Gao Yu, who had never been loved by Lou Zhaojun due to dystocia, only the youngest son Gao Ji, one was twelve years old and the other was nine years old, so that Gao Cheng could rest assured.

Ignoring Lou Zhaojun, who was hugging Gao Yan and wiping away tears, Gao Cheng explained that after she left, if she was really bored, she would move to Yanran Pavilion to live for a while.

She was already withdrawn, but since she became pregnant, her spirit has become increasingly depressed, Gao Cheng founded the country, and she was the last, but living in the deep palace has exacerbated this situation.

Gao Cheng was helpless about this, he could only hope that living in Yanran Pavilion would improve the other party's depression, how to say that he had also stayed in Yanran Pavilion for six years, in addition to his uncle Bald Tujia, more contact with Rouran villagers should make her miss her homeland some comfort.

After saying goodbye to the rest of the concubines one by one, Gao Cheng called his five sons to his side, explaining that they were not in Luoyang, and they must not relax their studies, as for his daughter, he is very relaxed, he is willing to learn, and if he is not willing to learn, he will not be persecuted, as long as they are happy, even if they are illiterate, they will marry into their husband's family in the future, and they will not be looked down upon if they have their own support.

Gao Cheng also warned the younger brothers who came to see him off, especially the seventh brother Gao Lian, who had been evil with Gao Yan, if Song Youdao caught the fault again, he would not be easily forgiven.

Gao Lian was beaten last time, and he learned a little lesson, so he quickly said yes.

Gao Cheng then asked the family to return to the palace, and the young king's mansion to go back to the young king's mansion, and he led the ministers who saw him off to Jianchun Gate.

The so-called Young King's Mansion is actually the former Qi Wangfu, after Gao Cheng usurped the country, he raised his younger brothers who were not yet adults in the mansion and renamed it the Young King's Mansion.

Out of the Spring Gate, to the bank of Luoshui, Gao Cheng did not build a new platform, but on the Shouzen platform to review the 150,000 steps of the expedition.

With Gao Cheng's prestige in the army now, there is no need to stand on a high platform and boost morale hoarsely like when he was a teenager.

He was dressed in black armor and climbed on the Zen platform, and the 150,000 horsemen under the stage shouted longevity in unison, including Xianbei language, Eile language, Qihu language, Xiongnu language and Chinese.

In the past, Fu Jian led the allied armies of various ethnic groups to the south, but was defeated by the river, and the huge empire fell apart.

However, although the group of Hu people under Gao Cheng's command have different clans, their loyalty to the Gao family is far from being comparable to that of the two or five boys under Fu Jian's command.

On the Zen platform, Cui Jishu was reading Liang Liang's text aloud for Gao Cheng, and the guards spread the content of the text, but not many of the soldiers in the audience were listening carefully at all.

Gao Cheng waited for Cui Jishu to finish reading the text, and once again reiterated with the officers and soldiers of the whole army that meritorious service must be rewarded and punished, if you donate to the country, your family will have a pension, and if you are disabled due to injury and lose your labor force, you can also be taken care of by the state.

When the three armies heard this, they cheered and thundered.

Compared with the so-called justice, they care more about such practical benefits.

Some of the 450,000 people have already escorted the grain and grass to set off ahead of schedule, and the rest are also waiting for Gao Cheng's order on the periphery.

As Gao Cheng stepped down from the Zen platform and got on the car, with only one order, 50,000 cavalry, 100,000 infantry and hundreds of thousands of people all followed him to the east to the slip platform and joined the 150,000 Sanhe Prefecture soldiers gathered on the slide.

As Gao Cheng left Luoyang, spies from all sides spread the news, and the battle of the Northern Qi and Southern Expeditions began.

At the same time, it had been more than ten days since the 50,000 sailors of the Di Gan arrived in Huaibei, and they had several battles with the Southern Liang sailors in the Huaishui water system, but they suffered several defeats in a row.

Di Gan asked Gao Cheng for guilt, but Gao Cheng didn't care much.

It has only been seven years since the formation of the Northern Qi Water Division, and now it is only the first time to go to the battlefield, and no matter how much you practice, it is not comparable to actual combat.

Gao Cheng ordered Di Gan to lead the army first, so that he could train with the Nanliang Naval Division on the Huaishui River, so as to lay the foundation for the decisive battle on the Yangtze River in the future.

In the final analysis, the Northern Qi family has a solid background, as long as it is not for the water division to suffer a devastating blow, it is still acceptable to suffer a few defeats.

However, Di Gan's face has not been very good, after all, he has not suffered such a loss since he participated in Xindu Jianyi, and he was not present for Gao Huan's first expedition to the west.

The warships of the Northern Qi Naval Division were not smaller than those of the Southern Liang, and the number of people was greater than that of the other party, but if they really wanted to fight, they were always at a disadvantage, which was not only the reason for the ineffective combat of the soldiers, but also the problem of the commander's ability.

Even in the past six or seven years, he has been humbly seeking advice from his subordinates, such as Governor Fu Meng, Guo Yuanjian and others, but compared with the generals of the Liang Army, he is like a soldier under his command, who is new to actual combat and commands a water war, and it is inevitable that he will be at a loss.

Di Gan couldn't wait to call the generals of the Southern Liang Naval Division, and everyone abandoned the ship and made a few moves on land.

Some time ago, he suffered another big defeat, losing more than 20 small ships and more than 600 people killed, so he simply assigned 50,000 sailors to the generals to command, divided into small units to take turns to fight with the Liang army, and he himself learned actual combat command on the side.

For the Northern Qi Water Division, several actual battles with the Southern Liang Water Division have gained a lot, and Wei Digan has learned a lot from watching from the sidelines, in fact, he has already reported to Gao Cheng many times, feeling that he is not the material for water warfare, and asked for another general to be in charge of the water army.

But Gao Cheng really did not have a general who was proficient in water warfare, as for Fu Meng, Guo Yuanjian and others, they were not confidants, and Gao Cheng was not at ease to hand over 50,000 sailors to them.

He could only let Di Gan continue to suffer and take charge of this army for him.