Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 148 Are there any restaurants in the city?
In the courtyard, headless corpses lay flat on the ground, sleeping peacefully.

A strong smell of blood was lingering in the courtyard. Tian Zilie, carrying a bunch of heads, quickly returned to Liu Taozi.

Cui Gang was still doubting himself at this moment. Tricked him into coming in? ? Me? ?
Tian Zili chopped off the heads of these guys and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He hated these bastards who didn't treat Han people as human beings the most.

But after venting, he immediately realized the dangerous situation.

Tian Zili frowned, "Brother, the Xianbei people here are very good at fighting. I just led people to raid He Laigan's Wubao. Even though we were unprepared and outnumbered, they still injured more than 40 of us!!"

"These people are different from the people in the Central Plains. They are barbaric and ferocious. They don't care about the law or the chief officer. They even dare to kill the angels sent by Yecheng. If we don't recapture the city as soon as possible, I'm afraid they will attack the government offices once the city is in chaos."

"I'm afraid our hundreds of cavalrymen are not enough to fight them."

When Potuo Luo Ku heard what he said, he was very displeased. This man was the son of Potuo Luo Fu, the leader of the Anping Xianbei Army. Potuo Luo Fu was old and stayed in the local area, but his son came here with Liu Taozi. After hearing what Tian Zili said, Potuo Luo Ku argued: "Who said we can't beat them? It's just that their armor is stronger and their weapons are sharper!"

Tian Zili ignored the warrior and continued, "These people have been doing business in Wuchuan for many years, and they must be related to each other. Even if the things here can be kept secret, the things in He Laigan's mansion cannot be kept secret. If these military households find out, they may gather together to cause chaos!"

Liu Taozi looked at him again and said, "Take another 200 people with you to transport the things found in He Laigan's mansion to the Grand Parade Ground in the west of the city."

Liu Taozi looked at the others and said, "Follow me to the parade ground!"

Liu Taozi rode on the green lion and took the lead, and the others followed him, galloping all the way.

The roads in the city are extremely flat, allowing large-scale cavalry to pass through, and there are few bends. The main roads of the entire city are connected by four city gates. Standing on the city wall, you can see that the city is divided into a cross by two avenues. Many buildings are located in the four corners of the "cross", and in the middle are government offices. You can go anywhere at will, which is convenient for leading troops to go to war.

Hundreds of knights rushed towards the west gate, which also aroused the vigilance of many people.

Why are there so many cavalrymen traveling back and forth today?

Liu Taozi quickly led his men to the large parade ground in the west of the city, which was the largest gathering point in the city.

The parade ground here was built on a very large scale. The entire parade ground was connected to the west city gate. It was almost like building another city outside the west gate of Wuchuan, forming a special outer-city urn.

The surrounding city walls are not very thick, but they are very high, and the wooden boards on the walls are guarded inwards.

Liu Taozi came to the general's platform. Standing here, he could easily see the huge parade ground in front of him.

Tu Xiyue stood obediently aside, not knowing what Liu Taozi was going to do.

"Give the order, gather."

Liu Taozi gave the order, and Tu Xiyue did not dare to delay. He hurriedly called a few soldiers and came to the west side of the parade ground. There were many big drums placed here, a total of six big drums, which seemed difficult for ordinary people to move.

He picked up the hammer himself and began to beat the drum frantically.

Suddenly, the rumbling sound of war drums rang out from the parade grounds.

The sound of war drums spread all the way into the city. The next moment, fierce war drums were heard from the west of the city, followed by the east of the city. A moment later, fierce war drums began to sound all over the city.

The whole city was filled with rumbling roars.

The door of the house was suddenly kicked open, and a man rushed out naked. Several Han people wearing gray turbans rushed up and quickly put armor on the man. Someone came over with a few horses. The man put on the armor at a very fast speed, jumped on the horse, and led the group of Han people wearing gray turbans, shouting and galloping towards the parade ground. The Han people behind him, some riding horses, some holding weapons, and some carrying military supplies, ran wildly behind the horses.

This scene happened everywhere in the city and even outside the city.

Liu Taozi stood on the podium, with his minions standing around him, and the sound of war drums throughout the city was deafening.

It was the first time that everyone had seen such a scene.

The rumbling sound of the war drums seemed to ring in everyone's heart. Every rhythmic beat made them tremble all over, their blood boiled and their scalp tingled.

Yao Xiong touched his arm in astonishment and got goose bumps all over his body.

He looked at the war drum in amazement, "This is the first time I've seen a drum with such a loud sound!"

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came from the front, and the rhythm of the hooves seemed to match the rhythm of the drum. Then a knight was seen rushing in from the west gate, followed by four Han people on horseback and lightly armored, and more than a dozen Han people running on foot. I don't know how they could catch up with the horses.

After him, knights rushed in one after another. After rushing in, they galloped along the parade ground without colliding with each other. More and more people rushed in, but the scene was not chaotic at all. They passed each other and brushed past each other. But after both sides rushed past, they still maintained the formation before entering the city. The corner of Po Duo Luo Ku's eye twitched, and Yao Xiong and others were stunned at this moment.

Yao Xiong muttered something, as if cursing something.

They quickly began to line up in front of the general's platform. At this moment, Tian Zilie finally understood why Cui Gang said that the soldiers here were not from the Central Plains.

These are indeed not soldiers, they are more like low-level officers. Each of them has his own army, with knights as the core, forming a combat unit. When it is said that those small garrison lords have thirty people under their command, it actually means that there are thirty such combat units.

Because of the ancestral system, Han people could not serve as soldiers, so when calculating, these slaves were often not counted, only knights were counted, and then the records would show that more than a hundred people defeated tens of thousands of people.
A moment later, the area in front of Liu Taozi was already filled with military households.

Without the command of middle-level officers such as the garrison commander, they still formed a battle formation. Looking around, the knights were holding lances, armed to the teeth, with armor flashing coldly, their eyes were fierce, looking straight ahead, with ferocious looks, swords on their waists, and large bows on their horses. The gray-headed slaves standing on their left and right were also standing straight. They were not the same as the slaves outside the city who were about to starve to death. They were also tall and had extraordinary momentum.

There are no civilians in this city, only knights, their families, their slaves, and the slaves' families.

The knights gathered and looked at the stranger on the podium, but they could not see their lord anywhere.

Suddenly they started talking loudly.

Yao Xiong looked at this large army of knights and swallowed his saliva. After following Liu Taozi, panic appeared in the eyes of this warrior for the first time. If he couldn't suppress it well, he would be slaughtered directly.

Tian Zili realized that those in the deputy garrison commander Wubao should be his own military slaves, not Xianbei soldiers. In other words, he was almost killed by a group of slaves while leading his men? ?
A knight said to his left and right: "That's the new great lord!!"

He was the one who stopped Liu Taozi at the city gate, and at this moment he was saying something excitedly to those around him.

Liu Taozi took a step forward and looked at the army in front of him.

"I am the new Grand Guardian, Liu Taozi!!"

Hearing this, several knights suddenly laughed, "Why did you send fruit?! Why not send meat?!"

Someone laughed out loud, and the scene became noisy again.

Liu Taozi shouted, "I'm here to distribute meat! Someone come here!!"

He shouted.

His voice was so loud that it could even overpower the knights in front of him.

Then I saw people pushing carts all the way towards the general's platform. Those carts were filled with food, money, and dried meat.

The knights looked at this scene in astonishment, and the parade ground suddenly fell silent.

There were more and more cars, and soon, there was a mountain of supplies piled up on the side.

Liu Taozi looked at everyone, "I didn't bring these! When I came here, I came empty-handed!"

"Every year, the Khan distributes a large amount of food and attaches great importance to Wuchuan!!"

"But every year, they say there is not enough food to distribute, and that the soldiers are starving."

"The Khan really didn't understand why this happened, so he sent me to investigate!"

"I found a witch and asked her to tell my fortune. The answer was: It's not that there's not enough food! It's that there's a thief inside stealing food!!"

"He Laigan from the garrison led the other garrison commanders to withhold the money and food that was distributed to you! These were all found in his mansion, and they are not all!!"

In an instant, there was an uproar in the parade ground. Both the knights and the bald-headed slaves beside them became extremely chaotic.

Liu Taozi looked at Tian Zilie again, and then the knight brought the heads of these people to the podium and threw them casually in front of Liu Taozi.

Looking at these familiar heads, the many knights under their command had different expressions, some were frightened, some were angry, some were suspicious, and some were happy.

Liu Taozi looked at them again, "Now, the meat is available."

"But, are you qualified to eat meat?!"

Liu Taozi asked loudly. The knights were furious, and some of the slaves hit the ground with their weapons to express their dissatisfaction.

There was a lot of noise and some knights were eager to try and prepare to capture the great lord.

This group of people are good at fighting, but they are also really fierce. The famous Weizhou soldiers who later sold the Jiedushi's stuff on the street, "Heshuo Three Towns" are similar to this place.

Liu Taozi was not afraid at all. He shouted, "The Khan has supported you all for a long time. Why haven't you seen Wuchuan make military achievements in the past few years?!"

The knight shouted, "Who dares to go out to fight without a military order?! It's clear that the government doesn't allow us to fight, so how can we get military merit?!"

Liu Taozi looked at Tu Xiyue who was standing aside, "Is that so?!"

Tu Xiyue was stunned and quickly replied: "General, this is all because of He Laigan and others. They asked for benefits from the enemy and promised them not to go out to fight, so they failed to make any military achievements."

At this moment, a knight was already cursing, "Damn He Laigan, how come I didn't know about this?"

Liu Taozi looked at everyone again, "He doesn't dare to lead you to fight, but I do!!"

"Military pay and weapons, I have plenty of them here!! But it depends on whether you are qualified to get them!!"

"Chu Jiande!!"

Liu Taozi opened her mouth again, and saw a man flash out from behind her and walk quickly to her side.

At this moment, he had already put on the outfit of a charlatan. Once this outfit was on, even the most ferocious knight would have to restrain himself a little. Liu Taozi said, "Come and tell me which day is suitable for going out to fight!!"

Chu Jiande started the ritual immediately, and it was still a familiar feeling. He circled around Liu Taozi, jumping back and forth with strange steps. The magic tools in his hands made a clattering sound and he hummed something.

The entire training ground was exceptionally quiet, and everyone was staring at him intently.

After a long time, Chu Jiande threw some stones from his arms, lay on the stones, and looked around.

He finally stood up and looked at Liu Taozi beside him.

"My lord, in three days, head to the northeast and you will achieve a great victory!"

Cui Gang was stunned. He just recognized this guy's voice. Isn't this the ugly doctor? How did he become a wizard? And what is this divination?
The knights looked at each other. Liu Taozi raised his sword and looked at everyone. "Listen to my command and go back to rest. Three days later, go to the northeast of the city and join me in the battle!!!"

A few sharp-eyed people looked at the familiar sword and their faces suddenly changed.

They did not respond, but they did not rush forward to capture Liu Taozi either.

Liu Taozi led the rest of the people, took some food, left the parade ground and returned to the government office.

And in the next moment, the entire parade ground became extremely noisy.

The most prestigious knights among them gathered together.

"what to do?!"

"Do you want to listen to him?"

Someone frowned, "If you don't listen to him, then who should you listen to? He chopped off all the people who gave orders, and the only one left is Tu Xiyue, who has become his dog."

"This guy is really quick."

"Did you see his sword just now? That sword looks familiar to me."

"Never mind the sword. If he can do what he says and can really lead us to military merit and get rewards, and can make up for the military pay, then why not listen to him?"

"Then let's wait and see. If he can really do it, then we'll listen."

"What if it can't be done?"

"Hehe, then let Khan send someone else who can do it!"

Everyone was talking openly and loudly. At the same time, Liu Taozi led people to the government office. Cui Gang followed Liu Taozi and tried to persuade him.

"General, how can you use divination to make military decisions?!"

"This is really inappropriate. Even if it is the Book of Changes, it is fine to use it for divination, but it is ridiculous to use it for war!!"

Cui Gang mustered up his courage. He pointed at Chu Jiande and said, "Besides, what he did just now was not Zhouyi at all. That was the method of the Hu people. It really cannot be used in war."

Chu Jiande couldn't help laughing when he heard him say that. "Then are you willing to make a bet with me?"

Cui Gang frowned and said seriously: "I am not trying to compete with you, I just think it is inappropriate to do so."

Yao Xiong stepped forward and said, "You think you are not sure, how dare Old Chu speak so recklessly? Four days after Zili searched He Laigan's house, he and the Xi people were going to trade at Shuangyang Road in the north of the city."

"We are going to attack the Xi people's caravan this time."

Cui Gang suddenly asked: "But what if the news gets out and the Xi people fail to arrive on time?"

Tian Zili then said quietly, "I have already inquired clearly. It takes 20 days to get here from where the Xi people are grazing. That is to say, the Xi caravan is already on the way. Even if they know the situation here, they are still on the way back. Besides, they just said that we can win by heading northeast in three days, but they didn't say how long it would take. If we don't meet them, we can just go north and pass the Great Wall. Are we still afraid of not meeting the Hu people?"

Cui Gang was immediately speechless.

Tian Zili said, "I know that Mr. Cui has read many books. However, although we are dull and uneducated, we know the principles of doing things. We will not speak without thinking and act recklessly. Mr. Cui should not look down on us."

Cui Gang was quite anxious, "I didn't, I just..."

"Okay, get ready for war."

Liu Taozi spoke, and Tian Zili glanced at Cui Gang again without saying anything.

Yao Xiong smiled and said, "Brother is still the most capable. These people are really different from the Xianbei people in Cheng'an and Boling. So, who are those people with turbans around them?"

"Cangtou slave."

Cui Gang explained: "The original six military households were not all Xianbei people. In fact, they were mixed. There were all kinds of people, including Han people, Xianbei people, and Xiongnu people. Even among the current Wuchuan knights, there are probably not many real Xianbei people. There are still many other ethnic groups."

"They gathered here, thinking they were frontier soldiers, and looked down on the other ethnic groups in the Central Plains. Even the Xianbei people in the Central Plains were looked down upon by them."

"Those around them are their followers, most of whom are Han slaves. They are responsible for carrying supplies and following in battle. They are fundamentally different from other slaves. Other military slaves are responsible for hard labor and farming, and can be killed at will. But the slaves are the knights' followers and are highly valued. If the knights become prosperous, their slaves can also be promoted and become generals. In the current court, there are generals who were born as slaves."

Liu Taozi's eyes flickered as if she remembered something.

"Tu Xiyue!!"

Liu Taozi suddenly shouted, and Tu Xiyue walked quickly forward and lowered his head towards Liu Taozi.

Liu Taozi asked, "Is there any restaurant in this city?"

Tu Xiyue was stunned, "No."

"What about the surroundings?"

"There is a market on the way to Huaishuo from Qinpopo. Merchants from Jinyang usually do business there. There is a big restaurant there whose owner is very friendly and often gave us food in the past. He also has good relations with several garrison commanders."

Tu Xiyue asked suspiciously: "General, why are you asking this?"

"No problem."

"Go now, take two people with you, and bring back all the people in the restaurant. If they are obedient, treat them with courtesy. If they resist, try to capture them alive."

"only!!"

(End of this chapter)