Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 150 Xiren
The slave, whose lower body was only wrapped in animal skins, led an equally old and skinny horse and walked forward with his head down.

The horse's back was full of packages, so it was quite difficult to move forward.

Behind the packhorses, there were many carts with packages piled up like mountains. The old horse took every step steadily and its whole body seemed to be shaking. The carts made a squeaking sound and the wheels rolled over the sparse weeds on the ground, leaving two deep marks.

There were cavalrymen galloping back and forth, shouting and yelling.

The war horses these people rode were not tall, and looked much smaller than those of the Qi people. They were not wearing armor, but were covered with unknown feathers and decorations, which were very flashy. The knights were the same. They wrapped their heads with animal skins and fastened them with colorful ropes. They wore light armor, held short bows, and galloped back and forth on their horses.

This caravan was very large, with pack horses, many carts, and even flocks of sheep.

There were thousands of slaves alone.

There were patrolling cavalrymen in front and behind, a huge force of at least three to four thousand.

The cavalrymen were covered in dust, and many of their horses had heads hanging on their sides.

There were wounded people lying in the car behind.

A strong wind swept in, blurring the vision, and the rough wind rubbed against me, which was actually a bit painful.

At the front of the caravan, there were two people holding flags, walking behind a man who looked like a commander.

Scouts from all over the place frequently travel back and forth, with this place as the center.

"Shi Jin, we are almost at Shuangyang Road, why haven't we seen the people sent by He Lai Gan to pick us up yet?"

"Is this guy going to betray his oath?"

A man followed the leader-like man, looking worried.

Ji Jin laughed, and a hint of anticipation appeared on his rough face. "Don't worry too much. He Laigan is just like that. He always makes trouble every time."

"I'm afraid he wants to propose new conditions and lower the price."

Hearing Ji Jin's words, the big man was full of grievance, "A small garrison commander dares to point fingers at us. It's so humiliating."

Ji Jin shook his head. "It's okay. Didn't the Turks suffer all kinds of humiliation from the Rourans back then? What happened now? The Zhous were forced to behead the Rourans and send their heads over. The Rourans were so powerful, can you still see their flags and totems now?"

"We just suffered some verbal humiliation at the moment, but the benefits were huge."

"The weapons that He Laigan sent are second to none, they are all junk, but the scholars and craftsmen he sent are all good things!!"

"Those craftsmen taught us how to smelt and how to make things. The cars we are making now are already well-known among the tribes. Those scholars taught us writing and systems, which made us more united."

Ji Jin looked into the distance, his eyes seemed to have passed through the endless wind and sand, looking at the fertile land.

"Xianbei, Rouran, Turkic people, one day it will be our turn."

He raised his whip and pointed at the sand in the distance, "Do you see it?"

"As long as you survive this sandstorm, you will see endless pastures."

The big man looked in the direction that Ji Jin pointed. At that moment, his face changed drastically, "Ji Jin!! I didn't see the pasture! I saw the cavalry!!"

Ji Jin hurriedly looked again.

At this moment, he saw clearly.

In the wind and sand on the opposite side, some cavalrymen on war horses appeared vaguely. Those people were staring in the direction where they were, standing in the wind and sand, motionless.

Ji Jin was horrified and quickly ordered the entire army to stop.

"What is He Lai doing?"

"Ah Huina, go and have a look!"

The strong man A Huina, holding a lance, called a few people and ran forward against the wind and sand.

Ji Jin looked ahead vigilantly and issued orders, asking the entire army to begin preparing. The slaves stood there uneasily, at a loss. Lao Ma, who had a rare chance to rest, knelt down on the road, and deep fatigue could be seen on his face.

Ah Huina rushed forward, "Is it General He Lai?!"

"Is it General He Lai?!"

"Whoosh~~~"

"Hey!"

The next moment, arrows flew all over the sky. Ah Huina had no time to dodge. He only left a scream as his last words, and then was shot into a hedgehog. His whole body was full of arrows, as was the horse under his crotch. At this moment, both the man and the horse fell off their horses, and several subordinates behind him were not spared either.

Ji Jin was horrified, "Enemy attack!!"

The cavalrymen were not panicked. They had encountered too many similar situations along the way. The vast desert was a paradise for bandits everywhere.

They quickly began to disperse and picked up their short bows. The slaves were also numb. They squatted on the ground, holding their heads in their hands, not saying a word. Lao Ma also knelt on the ground with gloomy eyes.

In a moment, the huge Xi cavalry scattered like birds and beasts.

This was not a rout, but their primitive tactic. Due to the lack of armor and iron weapons, they did not have the ability to charge like the Xianbei cavalry, so when fighting, they often adopted a dispersed fighting method.

The oncoming cavalry also launched a charge.

The wind and sand swept in, and in the strong wind, the cavalry of both sides met each other.

Liu Taozi pulled the bow and heard a dull "bang" sound. The arrow was as fast as lightning. The knight holding the flag in the distance was pierced by the arrow and flew far away.

Arrows flew from both sides.

The sounds of war horses neighing, horse hooves beating, bows and arrows being released, and knights falling to the ground.

The Wuchuan knights were also scattered, but they were in groups of four. Each time they shot, four of them would often shoot at the same time. In such a harsh climate, the visual range was limited and it was extremely difficult to hit the target. When four of them fired at the same time, the hit rate increased a lot.

They didn't even need Liu Taozi to give any orders, they had already taken the initiative to adopt the correct tactics.

On the contrary, the knights Liu Taozi brought from Boling seemed much more inexperienced, and they had to imitate the locals and adopt the same tactics.

From the previous dynasty to the present, the border towns have frequently fought with the cavalry outside the Great Wall. No matter what tactics they face, they have the best solution.

Ji Jin was also riding his horse at this moment. He was always paying attention to the battle situation. He Laigan had indeed broken his oath. This Wuchuan cavalry was different from the cavalry that had come to rob them in the past. Their combat effectiveness was completely not at the same level. As soon as the two sides encountered each other, the casualties on his side increased greatly. Those people were wearing light armor, which was completely sufficient in such a climate. Arrows stuck in the armor did not even affect the opponent's actions.

The opponent's four-man volley can consistently take out one cavalryman at a time.

The Kumo Xi people had just gained power, and every cavalryman who could draw a bow and shoot an arrow was extremely important.

Ji Jin had already begun to think about retreating, but he could not directly order a retreat, otherwise, it would trigger a brutal chase.

"Scatter all the goods! Scatter them!!"

Ji Jin issued an order.

There were knights scolding the slaves.

The slaves trembled as they took the food and other things off the horses' backs, tore them apart, and scattered them on the ground. They also took the valuables off the carts and scattered them around at random.

Ji Jin then gave the order: "Retreat!!"

The soldiers blew the horns, and the Xi people began to flee along the same route without looking back.

The Xianbei people immediately began to pursue. Looking at the food and supplies scattered all over the ground in the wind and sand, some Xianbei people reined in their horses and looked at them excitedly.

Someone jumped off his horse and stuffed the jewels into his arms.

"Oh!"

The arrow went straight through the knight's chest, and the knight fell heavily on the chariot.

Liu Taozi roared: "Keep chasing!!!"

The knight beside him beat the war drum again, and the drum beat was at a rapid rhythm.

The knights calmed down and chased after the Xi people.

The Xi people galloped on their horses, looking back from time to time and drawing their bows to shoot arrows.

The Qi people's war horses galloped, and the distance between the two sides became shorter and shorter. One after another, the Xi people were shot off their horses and then trampled into meat paste by the galloping horses.

After an unknown amount of time of pursuit, the Qi people's horses began to slow down, while the Xi people's horses were not affected and continued to gallop forward until they disappeared in the wind and sand.

The entire area outside Shuangyang Road was littered with corpses of Xi people and horses.

The caravan remained at its original position. The slaves knelt on the ground, shivering. The wind and sand blew up the scattered food, and no one knew where it was flying to.

Liu Taozi frowned, "Clean up the battlefield!!"

There were laughter and joy in the parade grounds. The knights talked about the harvest from the raid, and their faces were filled with joy.

The training ground was filled with noise, with some people even humming songs excitedly.

They haven't been out doing their old business for a long time.

Liu Taozi walked quickly to the platform. He held the hilt of the sword in one hand, his face solemn, and looked at the noisy crowd in front of him.

The noisy situation gradually died down, the knights looked at him one after another, and the laughter became quieter and quieter. After a while, the parade ground returned to its original quietness.

Liu Taozi then asked, "What do you think of this battle?"

Hearing this question, the knights did not dare to joke with each other as they did when they first met. They looked at each other for a few seconds but did not rush to speak.

Liu Taozi's eyes were fixed on one of the knights, who was the knight who had stopped Liu Taozi before.

"You, just you, tell me, what do you think of this battle?!"

The man looked around and said hesitantly, "General, we beheaded more than a thousand people, killed six enemy generals, captured more than four thousand people, and obtained food, flags, drums, and weapons. Great victory?"

Liu Taozi had a cold face and said nothing.

"Jie?"

"In the face of a sudden attack, they let the bandit leader escape and were unable to annihilate them completely. When they saw the scattered supplies and food, they could not move and their formation was in disarray. Are these the famous Wuchuan Knights?"

"I heard that when Emperor Wenxuan led the Huaishuo Knights to go out to fight, the bandits scattered money and food on the ground in an attempt to disrupt the formation, but the Huaishuo Knights remained unmoved."

"Now it seems that the Takekawa Knight is in trouble!!"

Hearing this, the many knights in the audience were immediately in an uproar. Some of them even put their hands on their swords and shouted, "What did the general say?!"

Yao Xiong's face twitched. He didn't know why his brother always liked to provoke these violent knights. These people had bad tempers to begin with, and his brother kept provoking them. Yao Xiong was worried that these people would rush over to kill him the next moment. If he was captured alive by them, he would lose all face.

The knights gathered and approached Liu Taozi.

The main reason is that Liu Taozi’s words were too hurtful.

If someone said that the Wuchuan soldiers were not as good as the Jinyang soldiers, they would laugh out loud; if someone said that they were not as good as the Pseudo-Zhou soldiers, they would laugh even louder; if someone said that they were not as good as the county soldiers, they would laugh their teeth off; but if someone said that they were not as good as the Huaishuo cavalry, then they would turn hostile.

This was when Liu Taozi led them to victory. If they had dared to say that they were not as good as the Huaishuo soldiers when they met for the first time, it would probably have caused a mutiny and they would have been captured by this group of people and sent to the provincial government.

The provincial government did not dare to manage these people. As the old soldier Changsun County Lieutenant who walked out of here said, if the officials did not like them, they would beat them up and have them hide in the city. No official dared to break into the town to arrest people.

But facing these knights approaching him, Liu Taozi was not afraid. He even took a step closer and stretched out his hand to grab a cavalryman from among those people. He grabbed his neck and pulled him to his side. The knights below shouted even louder. Liu Taozi held the man with one hand and searched something out of his arms with the other hand and threw it aside.

"What's this?!"

What was scattered on the ground was shining gold.

The knight defended himself: "I picked it up."

Liu Taozi threw the man, and he fell directly into the crowd of knights and couldn't get up for a long time.

Liu Taozi looked at them angrily, "Are these Wuchuan soldiers?!"

The knights' faces were filled with anger, but they were speechless.

Looking at those angry faces, Liu Taozi spoke again: "Please forgive me this time. Next month, I will lead you out of the border and capture that Xiren Ji Jin. If you dare to do this again, I will punish you by military law."

He looked at Tian Zili standing aside and said, "Take out all the food and supplies you have captured and distribute them according to the corresponding merits! Do not withhold any of them!"

The knights who had been excited just now suddenly lost their temper, stopped all their restlessness, stared at each other with wide eyes.

Tian Zili narrowed his eyes, stepped forward quickly, and shouted, "General!! No!!"

"Oh?"

Liu Taozi looked at him coldly.

The knights also looked at him. Tian Zili glanced at the many knights below the stage and said loudly: "General, the Wuchuan soldiers disobeyed your command, looted supplies, and let the bandit chieftain go. It would be fine if you don't punish them, but how can you distribute all the spoils to them?"

"Besides, according to the military system, they can only take 40% of the prize. The rest must be sent to Yecheng to show their merit. General, please withdraw the military order!!"

Liu Taozi said seriously, "Military orders cannot be changed lightly. Although there was a mistake this time, they have not fought for a long time. They killed more than a thousand people this time, which is quite meritorious. In the past, the food and grass could not be reissued on time. These things should be the compensation for the past."

"As for Yecheng."

"Cui Gang!!"

"The subordinates are here!!"

Cui Gang walked up quickly, and Liu Taozi ordered him, "You should report now that He Laigan and others in the city colluded with the Kumo Xi people and attempted to start a rebellion. I led my soldiers to defeat them. I killed the rebels He Laigan and others, and defeated the invading Xi people!"

"Have someone prepare the head, flags, drums, weapons, and horses, and send them to Yecheng together."

"To commend the merits of the Wuchuan soldiers, I request a reward from the Prime Minister!!"

Cui Gang saluted hastily, "Yes!!"

The training ground was extremely quiet, and Liu Taozi then looked at the people in front of him.

"Start counting and distributing!!"

"Gather here on time tomorrow. I will arrange for the garrison commanders and make arrangements for all matters in the city!!"

The knights suddenly became solemn.

"only!!!"

Liu Taozi turned around and left. Tian Zilie and others, together with the military officials, began the counting and distribution work.

At this moment, the knights stood straight, but no longer made any noise. They looked straight ahead and watched Liu Taozi leave the parade ground.

Just as Liu Taozi instructed, Tian Zilie began to count the supplies. He frowned and counted the number of supplies again and again.

"Something is wrong. Why are there so many?"

Cui Gang went down to inquire about the situation of these strong men. The knights' attitude towards Cui Gang changed instantly. There was no more teasing and humiliation as before. The smiles on their faces were particularly bright.

"Mr. Cui, my name is Liu Chengcai. I might be a relative of General Liu. I shot and killed six people. You should remember this clearly."

Cui Gang nodded, wrote it down, and then asked, "How many people are there in your family? Tell us the truth. It will be used for rewarding you."

"Oh, good, good. I have a wife and four children. The oldest can run a horse. Cangtounu has eight."

Everyone was busy, but at this moment Liu Taozi appeared outside the city of Wuchuan.

Outside the city wall, there are many wooden fences. These wooden fences are built against the city wall and covered with grass, turning them into simple houses.

The wood didn't look strong and seemed like it would fall down at any moment.

There were many people nestling under the thatched grass. They were dressed in rags, and some were simply naked, with unkempt hair. Dozens of them were crowded together, and when they saw the distinguished person passing by, they all had fear on their faces, and hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

Tu Xiyue followed Liu Taozi and explained the situation here. "Some are locals, but more are conscripted laborers. The strong ones are selected to be servants, and the rest are here to serve as soldiers, repairing the city walls and farming. If we have to go to war, we let them open the way and do transportation. They are quite useful. Last month, more than a hundred people tried to escape, but we caught them and beheaded them according to the law."

"The number of these people is equal to that of the military households. At first, it was said that ten people would support one household, but later on, things got messy. Anyway, they were distributed among the military households. According to the Central Plains, they are our own tenants."

Liu Taozi frowned as he walked through the endless thatched grass. Suddenly, a man came here on horseback, jumped off the horse, and walked quickly to Liu Taozi's side.

Then he bowed.

"General!!"

Liu Taozi turned around and saw that it was the person Liu Taozi had just caught.

He lowered his head at this moment, "General, I was foolish for a moment, disobeyed military orders, and took things. Please punish me. However, I have many children at home, they are all still young, and they were injured before. Staying at home, eating out of the family, there is really nothing to eat at home. Even if you drag me out and beat me with 80 military sticks, I have no complaints. I just ask the general to give me some food and don't cut off my reward."

Liu Taozi glanced at him and said, "Fine twenty military sticks, but your military merits will still be counted."

The knight was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked him, "Thank you, General! Thank you, General!!"

He jumped up, his face full of joy, and ran away leading the horse, shouting as he ran.

"Where can I get the military stick?!"

"Where can I get the military stick?!"

ps: Kumo Xi is another tribe of Xianbei. They were defeated by Murong Huang and fled to the Song Desert. Later, they became more numerous and divided into five tribes: Ruhezhu, Mohefu, Qige, Mukun and Shide. Each tribe had a Shijin. There was a leader named Ahui, who was the most powerful leader. All five tribes were under his command. ——"Book of Zhou·Biography of Jihu Kumo Xi"

(End of this chapter)