Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 152 What’s the origin?
In the inner room, Heba Cheng rubbed his neck and cleared his throat vigorously.

His voice was still a little hoarse.

Everyone sat in front of the table, with various kinds of meat in front of them. It was not luxurious, but quite substantial.

Liu Taozi sat in the upper seat, while the main general Heba Cheng sat on his left. However, there was no displeasure on his face. Everyone was talking and laughing, cutting slices of meat with a knife and chewing them slowly.

Speaking of which, this was the first time that Liu Taozi hosted a banquet to entertain his minions.

Looking left and right, on the left sat Heba Cheng, Yao Xiong, Kou Liu, Tu Xiyue, Podora Ku, Wang Dameng, Zhang Heizu and others.

On the right sat Tian Zili, Cui Gang, Chu Jiande, Zhang Chong, Wang Bushuang and others.

Among them, Wang Dameng, Zhang Heizu and others were the veterans who followed Liu Taozi during the Cheng'an period.

Heba Cheng rubbed his throat, but Yao Xiong's big face suddenly came closer.

"General, are you feeling unwell?"

Heba Cheng glanced at him silently, and considering Liu Taozi's face, he suppressed his complaints and nodded, "I don't know why, but my throat feels a little uncomfortable."

Yao Xiong secretly took out something wrapped in silk cloth, handed it to Heba Cheng, and said, "Swallow it with water, it can cure your throat."

Heba Cheng opened it and saw that it was a piece of hay whose name he couldn't even tell.

He nodded blankly, and his expression suddenly became complicated.

He suddenly asked in a low voice: "Does General Liu have the bad habit of pinching people's throats?"

"What is the general saying?"

Liu Taozi suddenly asked, and Heba Cheng quickly straightened up and said with a smile: "No problem, no problem, I just had a casual chat with Commander Yao."

Tian Zili smiled and raised his wine cup, toasted him, and asked, "General, have you just arrived here?"

Heba Cheng drank the wine, smiled bitterly and said: "Yes, I was originally in Youzhou, and was transferred here a month ago. It's very hard here. There are no cities, only garrisons. I'm not afraid of the weather or fighting, but I'm afraid of boredom. Even if I want to hunt here, there's nowhere to go."

Tian Zili shook his head. "General, it seems that your uncle values ​​you very much. It's a good opportunity to come here now."

Heba Cheng laughed. After hearing what Liu Taozi said, he naturally understood why his uncle suddenly threw him to this place.

The Prime Minister wants to make military achievements, and here, you can follow the Prime Minister to make achievements. This is simply an opportunity that countless people dream of. No matter how many achievements you make on a normal day, it is not as good as following the Prime Minister to fight a battle. If you fight well, you may be able to "win the emperor's favor" and get promoted and make money. It's just a matter of a word from the Prime Minister!

Heba Cheng smiled awkwardly and patted his forehead, "I usually think of myself as smart, but I made a fool of myself this time."

"But things here are indeed difficult."

"I have no military merits, but my uncle's reputation is great, but I can't make them submit. There are more than a hundred garrisons, and none of them are obedient. They don't obey me at all."

"Fortunately, He Laigan here has some connections with my uncle's family, so I went to him. It's not that I'm greedy for money, but he told me that if I want everyone to obey, I have to have money and food in my hands."

"Here, official positions, titles, and elders are all empty. They obey whoever has money and food."

"He said he had a small business, and as long as I was willing to look after it, he would give me a portion to help me run it, so that I could take control of the garrisons in various places as soon as possible."

"As a result, the money and grain for this month were not delivered, which made me lose face. I came here to ask for punishment, but I never thought..."

He touched his nose awkwardly.

Liu Taozi said calmly: "How can we win over the generals through bribery?"

Heba Cheng sighed, "You don't know, these people are disobedient. When I met them, the garrison commander blocked my way and asked me to give him money and food!"

"How could I tolerate their rebellion? I immediately sent people to capture the garrison commander. As a result, my office was surrounded by them that day. They insisted that I release the garrison commander, otherwise they would attack me. I did not yield, and they broke into my office. I had no choice but to abandon the office and flee. I only brought a few hundred soldiers with me. How could I defeat so many of them?"

"These people are simply lawless. They are not afraid of me at all. What can I do? Can I lead people to fight against my own people? Then my uncle will peel my skin off."

"Ordinary soldiers don't dare to embarrass me and are a little afraid of me, but that's all. Even though they don't embarrass me, they won't obey me either!!"

"I will write to the temple to inform them of the situation here."

"As a result, the scout came back with a letter, scolding me, saying that it was not the soldiers' fault, but because of my incompetence. He also said that if it happened again, I would be put in a prisoner car and sent to Yecheng for punishment."

Heba Cheng's face was full of pain. "I am also a Chinese. I have been to the border, but the Xianbei people here are really barbaric! They have no respect for the king's law and discipline. On weekdays, when there are disagreements in the garrison, they will start a war in private. When there is no money or food, they will plunder the surrounding towns!"

"They say they are the best in the world, but to me they are just a bunch of bandits with horses and armor!"

Tu Xiyue's face was extremely ugly. He suddenly stood up and saluted Liu Taozi, "General, I have something to do at home. I will come to see you tomorrow!!"

Heba Cheng was stunned, but Liu Taozi waved her hand and said, "Sit down."

Tu Xiyue sat down again helplessly.

Liu Taozi said slowly, "The nobles are sitting in Jinyang and other big cities, eating and drinking, enjoying themselves very much, while the knights who followed them to fight are left here, with incomplete food distribution, and officers at all levels withholding and bullying them. They have to do the most dangerous tasks, and they don't deserve such humiliation."

"However, it is also true that military discipline is lax and they should be severely punished."

Heba Cheng nodded, "Yes, yes, I just said the wrong thing."

He looked at Tu Xiyue and said, "Please don't mind, Your Excellency."

Liu Taozi looked at Heba Cheng and said, "General, you must reorganize the garrisons as soon as possible. Before the arrival of the Grand Prime Minister, you must at least suppress these inappropriate practices. Otherwise, the day the Grand Prime Minister arrives will not be a blessing for you, but a disaster."

Heba Cheng frowned.

Of course he understood this logic. Now his uncle asked him to come here to follow the Prime Minister to gain military merits and bring honor to the Prime Minister. But if he messed up, the Prime Minister would want to kill him. His uncle would probably send him to be killed, and he might even have to do it himself.

He knew his uncle too well.

Looking at Heba Cheng, who was full of worry, Tian Zili said softly: "General, you don't have to worry."

"General, what do you think of this Wuchuan soldier? What do you think of my general?"

Heba Cheng was stunned, "I am quite obedient."

"If my general can assist you, perhaps he can govern the various garrisons properly?"

Heba Cheng looked at Liu Taozi, "Brother Liu!"

He stood up and said, "If Brother Liu can help me this time, I will definitely repay you in the future! I would like to call Mr. Liu Ah Gan."

"General, there is no need to do this. Please sit down."

Heba Cheng sat back down.

"I think the general should not return to the office. Instead, he should stay in Wuchuan and set up a temporary new office here."

"If we two work together, we may be able to put an end to all the unhealthy practices so that we can welcome the Grand Chancellor."

Heba Cheng hesitated, "But this doesn't conform to the rules of the temple."

"Since you are here, forget the temple rules. People here don't really follow the temple rules, and the Prime Minister is not a stubborn person. All he wants is results. As for what method to use and whether it violates the temple rules, he doesn't care much."

"If the general still feels afraid, he can write to the emperor and tell him that he was instigated by me."

Heba Cheng shook his head. "How can this be possible? How can this be possible? Brother Liu has said this. Can I still back down?!"

His face also became resolute. "From today on, I will stay here. However, Brother Liu, we have to start working as soon as possible. When I asked my uncle the reason, he said that we would know the reason within half a year."

"I think within half a year, the Prime Minister will come here. If we still can't handle it well by then."

Liu Taozi didn't say anything, but Tian Zili laughed, "General, don't worry!"

"My general has always been kind and benevolent, and is very popular. He has been here for less than ten days, and he has already won the loyalty of the soldiers in the garrison!"

"Half a year? Three months will be enough!!"

Heba Cheng heaved a sigh of relief and felt more at ease when he saw Tian Zilie being so confident.

"it is good!!"

"Everyone get up!"

"From now on, we will work here!"

Heba Cheng helped several assistants in front of him up and said, "Go and tell the guards to get ready. Well, don't worry about what happened before."

The deputies looked at each other, then at Heba Cheng, and then at Liu Taozi.

"General, are you..."

"Don't let your imagination run wild! I have never been held hostage! General Liu is one of us. From now on, when you see him, you should treat him like you see me! Do you understand?!"

Several deputies hurriedly saluted and said yes.

Only then did Heba Cheng look at Liu Taozi.

At this moment, they were standing in the main hall in the center of the government office. Heba Cheng looked around and felt a little embarrassed. "This is Brother Liu's office. If I occupy this place, wouldn't it be inappropriate?"

"The general is my chief commander, there is nothing wrong with that." "The general will work here from now on, and when He Laigan's mansion is cleaned up, the general can use it as his residence."

Liu Taozi gave a few instructions and turned to leave. Heba Cheng walked him all the way to the door and thanked him again and again.

The many knights outside the door were all stunned at this moment.

Weren't they still on the verge of a fight, holding each other hostage and forcing each other just now?
How did it suddenly become like this? ?
Liu Taozi looked at the many knights surrounding him, his eyes sharp, "What do you want?!"

The soldiers were so frightened that they shuddered, "No, no."

The knight who dared to draw his sword against Liu Taozi a few days ago, now had a big smile on his face, saying that he was a noble from Yecheng. His behavior was even worse than that of a border town! !
"What are you still standing there for?!"

“Everyone go back!!”

At Liu Taozi's command, the newly appointed garrison knights fled from here one after another.

After walking out of the office, their faces were still confused.

"What's going on? Didn't you just take it down? Why are you being so polite again?"

"Someone has a sword to your neck, and you are polite."

Liu Chengcai said in fear: "That's the general of the town, not some useless old man from Yecheng! He's the general who commands the border town, fourth rank! The same level as the governor!"

"You still say he's a nobleman from Yecheng, but this person is just a border town!"

"That's right. Even if the other great garrison commanders were dissatisfied with the general, they would at most threaten him and send people to drive him away in a pretentious manner. That would be considered a great ability. They dared to capture the general and hold him hostage. This is the first time I've seen it!!"

"As for being sent out with a smile on his face after being held hostage, I have never seen that in my dreams!"

"Who is this General Liu? Is there a general named Dugu in the court?"

Liu Chengcai slapped his thigh fiercely, "Yes! My cousin!"

He looked at everyone excitedly, "Do you still remember Grand Commander Dugu?"

The others thought for a moment, then suddenly realized, "The Dugu Six Prefectures Commander who was originally stationed in Jinyang?"

"Yes, his last name is Liu. Think about it, where did the general come from?"

“Dingzhou.”

"Yes! Commander Dugu is from Zhongshan. In the past, Zhongshan belonged to Dingzhou!"

Liu Chengcai was overjoyed and turned around to go back, but was stopped by several people.

"What do you want to do?!"

"The general is my family! He is my family!! I have to tell him!!"

The two knights carried him, one on the left and one on the right, and led him out.

"Forget it now. Stop talking nonsense or you'll get beaten with a stick! Go back! Go back!"

Liu Taozi moved into the side yard at this moment, and Yao Xiong and Kou Liu carried things for him. The two were also well-known figures at this time, but they insisted on doing it themselves and did not let the other soldiers do it. They were sweating profusely from exhaustion.

Liu Taozi stood outside the door with a calm expression, watching them busy.

Cui Gang, Tian Zili and others surrounded Liu Taozi, and Cui Gang looked worried.

"General, this is against the law. People will inevitably think you are holding the general hostage."

"This is not called hostage-taking!"

Tian Zili interrupted him, "This is called following the general's orders to the army."

Cui Gang's face darkened, "Mr. Tian, ​​please don't use allusions carelessly. Besides, this is not a good allusion that only loyal ministers can use!"

"Does your family still care about this?"

"you"

Chu Jiande smiled and said, "Don't give the general a headache, Mr. Cui, you don't have to worry. General Heba came here just to get some military merits. You can see that he is scheming. If he is asked to reorganize the army here, I am afraid that he will lose his head as soon as the prime minister comes. Of course, with Tai's protection, his death should not be too ugly. He probably died of illness. He can see it clearly."

"Cooperating with the Lord will only benefit him. With his endorsement, there is no need to worry about what outsiders think."

Cui Gang's expression eased slightly.

He added: "Then we have to find a way to regulate the border garrisons. Now that we have a garrison general here, we can issue orders to all places."

Tian Zili laughed, "Isn't that what I said?"

"We don't give the orders! Let General Zhen give the orders!"

"well."

Tian Zili turned his head away.

Liu Taozi said: "At this moment, we must first make the garrison commanders in various places obey."

"We must send people to various places to ask the garrison commanders or deputy garrison commanders, camp commanders, and army commanders to come and pay their respects, one person at a time."

Tian Zili pondered for a moment, "We can use the name of the Xi people. This time, there are internal traitors colluding with the Xi people and trying to attack Wuchuan. We can use this as an excuse to summon the governors from all over the country to discuss the war against the Xi people. This way, we can have a name. However, Heba Cheng has no reputation, and I don't know if these people will be fooled."

Liu Taozi spoke up, "To discuss important military matters, if you don't come on time, you will be punished by military law."

Tian Zili asked: "What if he really doesn't come?"

"Then we will really deal with it by military law."

Liu Taozi walked into the side room, while Tian Zilie and others started to get busy.

Yao Xiong finished his work with Kou Liu and walked out. Yao Xiong wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a few people with him to walk towards his residence.

Yao Xiong and others also lived in the government office. Yao Xiong chose a position closest to Liu Taozi and lived almost next to Liu Taozi, which made him quite happy.

When I walked into the yard, I saw a half-grown child. When he saw the guests, he hurried forward to greet them, and then started running to prepare seats for them.

Tu Xiyue was stunned and couldn't help but look at Yao Xiong beside him, "Is this Yao Jun's son?"

"Yes, it's my son!"

Tu Xiyue looked at the child again, "Adopted son?"

Yao Xiong laughed, "Yes, I met this kid when I was in Liyang. All his family members were gone, but he was lucky enough to be rescued by Old Chu. So I adopted him and let him stay with me."

Several people sat down one after another, and Yao Xiong asked his son to bring some fruits.

"Use it to sober up!"

Yao Xiong smiled and said, "This guy is so easy to fool. The general just said a few words and he believed it and stayed here willingly."

Tu Xiyue shook his head, "I'm not lying, what the general said is true, the Prime Minister is really coming."

"How do you know?"

"It's not just me who knows this, everyone in the world knows this."

"Then why didn't I know?"

Tu Xiyue pursed her lips, picked up the melon and put it into her mouth without explaining to him.

Kou Liu smiled bitterly and said, "You, I usually ask you to study more, but you just focus on practicing your archery and martial arts, and you don't pay attention to these things at all. Don't you think that the Prime Minister has come to this point, how can he not want military merit? The most convenient thing is of course to get out of here and fight a good battle. Otherwise, why did he send his brother here? Why did the Taibao send his nephew here?"

Yao Xiong seemed to understand a little.

"So brother is in such a hurry to send troops? Just to get military merit for the prime minister?"

"Nonsense!"

"Of course, the Grand Prime Minister has to take the military credit himself. Brother is here to clear the way for the Grand Prime Minister, so that once the Grand Prime Minister comes, we can dispatch troops smoothly without any worries and fight to our heart's content."

"Oh, I see. Before hunting, I have to help him prepare the bow and arrow, and then help him drive the prey when hunting so that he can shoot it himself. Is that what you mean?"

"Oh, it's rare, rare."

Kou Liu nodded, "You finally understand."

Yao Xiong took a big bite of the melon in his hand and said, "Then the Prime Minister is no good either. He needs others to drive the prey for him when he goes hunting. In my opinion, my brother is the most powerful and can shoot the prey himself!"

Everyone fell silent and looked at each other.

Quietly ate the fruits.

ps: I'm offering a book as a sacrifice, "The Long Song of Late Tang Dynasty". I promised to recommend a chapter to someone a long time ago, but my memory is so bad that I've delayed it until now. I'm offering it here to ensure that I have a smooth start to the month, haha
(End of this chapter)