Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 149: Turn from darkness to light, General
Wuchuan.

Inside the dilapidated government office, someone was cleaning, moving out debris, sweeping the floor, and wiping the walls clean.

Everyone was extremely busy.

These people were all extremely thin, wearing tattered clothes, some of them were even shackled, with dull faces, working stiffly, and some soldiers were urging them loudly.

At some point, Tian Zili walked in, suddenly stopped and looked at the soldier.

The soldier holding the long whip hurriedly bowed to greet him, but Tian Zili glared at him and said unhappily: "Why are you shouting here? You have time to spare, don't show off your whip here, throw it away!!"

The soldier was a little confused, but still dropped the whip.

Tian Zili looked at the military slaves on both sides with a complicated expression, but strode towards the backyard.

After Tian Zili entered, the soldier picked up the whip in confusion and looked at the slaves on both sides, "What are you all standing there for?! Keep going!"

When Tian Zili walked into the backyard, it was quite busy.

I saw more than ten people who looked like scribes. They were standing there with fear on their faces. They looked around and dared not speak.

Cui Gang walked out and greeted Tian Zilie with a smile. Tian Zilie did not return the greeting and walked quickly into the house.

Cui Gang didn't care. He walked up to the scholars and saluted them. "I am Cui Gang, the secretary of the garrison. The soldiers of the garrison don't know etiquette. I hope you can forgive me if I have offended you."

When everyone saw Cui Gang's clothes and appearance, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly bowed to greet him, but there was still fear in their eyes.

One of the old men trembled and said, "Mr. Cui, we are willing to use money to redeem ourselves. Please don't sell us to the barbarians. We still have money at home."

Cui Gang frowned.

This is all the influence brought about by those scoundrels like He Laigan.

Cui Gang said solemnly: "He Laigan, who did this, has been executed, and his head is hung outside the parade ground. The current great garrison commander would never do such a thing, so don't worry."

"Then you summoned us..."

"The garrison is currently short of a large number of garrison officers. The garrison commander has brought insufficient officers, so I would like to ask you to take up the post."

Cui Gang looked around and said, "Come with me to the side yard and we'll talk in detail."

Everyone followed Cui Gang worriedly into the side yard. Cui Gang then asked everyone to sit down and served tea, which was very polite.

Those frightened people were finally slightly relieved.

Cui Gang continued, "You are all literate people. The garrison lacks talents like you. The governance of the garrison was in complete chaos."

"Until now, we still don't know the exact number of military households. The garrison commander knows nothing about Wuchuan. If you can take on the role, you will receive two meals a day, plus a salary. If you do well enough, you can also be recommended."

Everyone listened to Cui Gang's words in silence, looking uneasy.

Suddenly someone asked, "From Mr. Cui's accent, isn't he from Hengzhou?"

“I am from Boling”

Several people suddenly looked at each other, and someone asked, "Excuse me, is it Cui of Boling?"

Cui Gang nodded, "That's right."

"Ah, then why did you come here? Everyone here is serving in the military."

"I came here with the Great Guard Lord."

Cui Gang realized something and quickly revealed his identity. "Everyone, I have never lied. I am indeed from the Cui family of Boling. Perhaps you have heard that the former Shangshu Pushe Cui Gong is my biological father."

Everyone was shocked and stared at him in amazement. Cui Gang continued, "I can swear in the name of my father that this great garrison commander is definitely not a cruel person. If you are willing to follow him, you will definitely be able to achieve great things in the future."

While Cui Gang was bragging about himself, Tian Zili was already inside the house reporting the situation to Liu Taozi.

"Brother, I took people to check everywhere."

"There are probably more than 10,000 military slaves in the city, not counting the young men. Most of them are Han Chinese. It is a pity that they are being humiliated by the Xianbei. They are naked and hungry. Some are killed by exhaustion, beatings, or starvation every day. Brother, can you think of a way to pardon them all? Save them?"

Tian Zili couldn't stand this the most.

Liu Taozi frowned and said nothing.

Tian Zili said: "Brother, you should go and see it yourself. It is really horrible."

"They all live in a small tent, with more than 60 people. The more than 1,000 military households can live in the city, but these military slaves are squeezed against the wall. I don't know how they can squeeze in."

"That scene is really infuriating!"

"Many people slept outside because it was freezing cold here."

Liu Taozi finally spoke, "It's not the right time yet."

Tian Zili's face turned red and the anger burning in his chest took a long time to calm down.

"First, we need to find out the local situation, the number of military households, the number of military slaves, and all the information in the city."

Tian Zili bowed to Liu Taozi, "Yes."

At this moment, Yao Xiong rushed into the house in a hurry. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said loudly, ignoring Tian Zili who was present: "Brother, I have transported all the things to the granary and armory, and selected the best armor and distributed it to our people. Potala is training them hard, saying that they must not lose to the Xianbei people here."

When the two of them walked out together, Cui Gang was leading those people inside.

Tian Zili glanced at Cui Gang, then lowered his head and sighed.

"Don't think too much. I think Cui Gang is a real person and he won't compete with you for the seat!"

Tian Zili immediately glared at him and said, "Who's afraid of him snatching it? I didn't think so at all!!"

"Then why are you sighing while looking at him?"

"I'm afraid that he will instigate the general. You don't know, people like them are the best at acting like dogs. As soon as they open their mouths, they talk nonsense and twisted logic. I'm afraid that my brother will believe his nonsense."

"It's Cui Gang? He bewitched the general?"

Yao Xiong had a complicated expression on his face. He patted Tian Zili on the shoulder and said, "You may be too tired recently. I think you should take a few days' rest."

He suddenly looked around again, "Why can't I see the stream?"

"Liu led his men to the outside of the city to inquire about the caravan."

"oh.."

The strong wind blew up the dust, making the whole world a little rough.

The particles in the wind hit my face and it was actually quite painful.

Looking around, there are low weeds everywhere. These weeds cannot completely cover the ground, so large areas of soil are exposed. Weeds appear irregularly on the soil, and even those weeds are covered with dust.

There are high slopes on both sides, and two roads in the middle, one on the left and one on the right, converge here. A huge stone stands high up, looking down.

At this moment, Kou Liu was sticking to the stone, squatting on the high slope, looking at the road in the distance.

After watching for a long time, he lay on the ground again and listened carefully.

He looked at the road ahead, feeling somewhat troubled.

If they went downhill and continued to get closer, they would definitely encounter scouts from the caravan. He was not sure he could evacuate when the other party could not see him, but he did not want to alert the enemy.

Suddenly, there was a slight tremor in the ground.

Kouliu quickly turned around and signaled his subordinates in the distance, and the knights all looked for cover.

Kou Liu also hurriedly hid behind a huge rock and did not dare to come out.

Then I saw more than ten knights riding their horses and galloping out from the road on the left. They looked around and stood there discussing for a long time before turning back. Only a few knights stayed and continued to move forward.

Kou Liu stuck his head out at this moment and looked at their appearance, horses, weapons, etc.

He was sure that these were the scouts of the caravan that came to trade.

Kou Liu slowly waved his hand. A knight squatted on the ground without getting up. He moved forward quickly in this weird posture and arrived beside Kou Liu in a few steps. "I will continue to watch them here. You take your men back now and tell the general that the person he is waiting for has appeared at Shuangyang Road. Tell them to be ready!!"

"only!!"

"Please come in, the general has been waiting for a long time!"

Tu Xiyue stood aside, holding the hilt of the knife at his waist with one hand and a fierce look in his eyes.

In front of him, there were seven people, who were at a loss as to what to do. The leader could not help but say, "General, we..."

"Don't call me general, there is only one general in this city!"

"Please come in!"

Tu Xiyue urged again.

Several people then walked into the house. Liu Taozi was sitting in the upper seat, watching the people who came in, without saying a word, just observing them coldly. He looked around and said, "Everyone, go out, guard outside, and don't let anyone in."

"only."

Several soldiers walked out and went outside.

At this moment, the faces of the timid laborers in front of them changed immediately. There was no fear in their eyes anymore. They all looked at Liu Taozi calmly. A thin, black-faced man pushed away the people in front of him, walked quickly to Liu Taozi, took out a silk cloth, wiped his face. The silk cloth was pitch black, but his face was stained.

He then smiled and said, "General, long time no see, are you okay?"

This person was Zhang Siyan, a woman dressed as a man. The other people were standing at the door, looking around.

Zhang Siyan walked cautiously to Liu Taozi's side and asked, "Why didn't the general say goodbye to us when he left Dingzhou?"

Liu Taozi turned to look at her with an extremely ferocious look in her eyes. Zhang Siyan was so frightened that she couldn't speak for a moment.

"I need intelligence from all over Hengzhou."

Liu Taozi spoke.

Zhang Siyan recovered and said, "General, you scared me. General, please don't be so anxious. When you were in Dingzhou, you said that you wanted to give up the dark and join the light. General Wei already knows about this."

"The general attaches great importance to you. He said that as long as you are willing to surrender, you don't have to give up Wuchuan. Just lead your men to the Great Zhou and he will confer you the title of General Pingbei!"

"If you are willing to fight, I will let you stay in the north and give you the opportunity to make achievements."

"Also, you can take as much gold and jewelry as you want."

Zhang Siyan slowly approached Liu Taozi and whispered, "By then, you can have whatever you want."

Liu Taozi spoke again.

"I want information from all over Hengzhou."

The confusion in Zhang Siyan's eyes suddenly disappeared. She cleared her throat and said again: "General, this Pseudo-Qi is not a place for a hero like you to stay? Yang Yin valued you so much and promoted you before, but in the end, he just used you as a tool to kill people and abandoned you after use. How good is the current King of Changshan?"

"Why did he send you here? Isn't it because the people here have many complaints and the children of the rich and powerful control various places. Doesn't he want to weaken these people?"

"If he really took this seriously, he should have sent someone to inform you of the complicated situation in Hengzhou. He should have sent someone to give you a heads up in advance to make things easier for you. But what happened now? You were thrown here without knowing anything."

"When those noble sons take up posts, they all make arrangements in advance, are familiar with the local area, and take up the post easily. How can you be like that?"

"I think even if you succeed here, King Changshan will still abandon you like Yang Yin did."

"My Great Zhou is different. We have always been in harmony and never look down on our meritorious officials."

"Are you worried that your father will be implicated? Don't worry about that. Your father is the Cangtou slave of King Gao. He has so much experience that no one dares to attack him easily."

Liu Taozi nodded.

"That's right. How about this, if you want me to surrender, let Wei Xiaokuan come and invite me personally. If he comes to me one day and asks me to surrender, I will follow him to the Pseudo-Zhou."

The Zhou people behind were furious and were about to step forward, but Zhang Siyan hurriedly stopped them.

She smiled and nodded, "Okay, I will definitely bring it to the general."

Liu Taozi said, "You don't need to say much, just tell me about the situation in Hengzhou. It's still the same old rules. You tell me the situation and I'll be responsible for killing people. Dingzhou is still in chaos. I guess you have already placed many people here. If there is chaos here, it will be more useful to you. Let's talk."

Zhang Siyan shook her head. "Dingzhou is well governed because of you. Spring planting is going smoothly without any chaos. Now you are going to govern Hengzhou. If I help you, wouldn't that be helping the evil?"

"Then I'll trade it for information."

"No need. We may know more about the news in the Pseudo-Qi government than you do."

Liu Taozi nodded and looked outside the door.

"Someone, drag him out and chop him up."

Two soldiers immediately pushed open the door and rushed in.

Zhang Siyan was horrified, "Wait! Wait! General! I have something else to say!!"

Liu Taozi waved his hand and the two soldiers went out.

Zhang Siyan looked at Liu Taozi in astonishment. She was about to say something else, but when she saw Liu Taozi's cold eyes, she sighed and said, "We want Wuchuan's defense map."

"it is good."

Zhang Siyan narrowed her eyes slightly, revealing her little fangs. "What information does the general want to know about Hengzhou?"

"All the information."

Tian Zili and others walked into the house, watched the soldiers lead those people out, and asked suspiciously: "Brother, who are these people?"

"Zhou people."

"what???"

Cui Gang's eyes widened, and Tian Zili hurriedly reminded him: "Brother, it's the Zhou people who surrendered."

"Wei Xiaokuan's bandit army."

Tian Zili frowned, but Cui Gang asked blankly: "General, are you planning a rebellion?"

"Never."

"Then why do we need to contact the Zhou people?"

"The Prime Minister sent me here to do something. I know nothing about Hengzhou, so I need someone to tell me about the various situations inside and outside of the city."

"But what if they use this to threaten the general, saying that the general is planning a rebellion, and want to force the general to rebel?"

Liu Taozi's face remained calm and she did not answer.

He pointed to the many documents in front of him.

"have a look."

Everyone picked up the documents and started to look through them. These were what the Zhou people had just written. They included detailed information about many officials in Hengzhou, as well as details about the many garrisons and counties under Hengzhou.

The details were so horrifying that Cui Gang couldn't help but tremble after reading them for a few seconds.

"This Zhou people actually know so much about Hengzhou. This is unacceptable! General! We must report this to the imperial court as soon as possible!"

Tian Zili sneered, "That's nothing, they might know more about the court!"

"Do you think the officials in the court don't know about this?"

"What's the use of knowing that?"

Cui Gang was still in disbelief, and Yao Xiong hurriedly asked, "General, they left so many documents, so detailed and specific, even the size of the Xi caravan and the leader were written down, what did they want?"

"Defense map."

Several people were shocked, "Then the general gave it to you?"

"Give it."

Tian Zili was also a little anxious at this moment, "General, if they expose this matter..."

"He Laigan sold it."

Liu Taozi gave the answer, and Tian Zili and the others looked at each other, then became determined, "Yes, it's him!!"

Only Cui Gang was still confused at the moment. How come the books he read on weekdays and the situation he encountered at the moment didn't match at all? ?
Is it the book that has a problem, or is it the world that has a problem?

Yao Xiong looked at the situation of the Xi caravan and couldn't help laughing. "Great, great, it's a fat sheep. Sixty carts of goods. No wonder He Laigan is so hostile to his brother. This business is really a big business. It's a pity. If we kill their caravan this time, there will be no such good business in the future."

Liu Taozi ignored him, stood up and gave the order.

"Gather the troops immediately."

"Tell them that they don't need to bring any slaves with them, and should just go out on foot with light cavalry!!"

The familiar sound of drums in the parade ground rang out again, and the whole Wuchuan was followed by the sound. The deafening sound shuttled back and forth in the city, and the whole Wuchuan began to boil.

The group of people who had just walked out of Wuchuan now looked afraid when they heard the heavy drumbeats behind them.

Zhang Siyan's expression was the same.

"Mr. Zhang, are you going to try to report the matter of the defense map to the governor of Hengzhou?"

Someone asked.

Zhang Siyan shook her head. "No, Liu Taozi is not an ordinary general of the Pseudo-Qi. We cannot make decisions on our own regarding him. The general has ordered that all matters concerning him shall be decided by the general himself. Prepare the troops immediately and send the defense map and the record of the previous conversation to the general. Also, let the knight inform the general."

“We really can’t rely on restaurants as our base anymore.”

(End of this chapter)