Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 153 I shouldn't have

Jinyang.

The straight road leads directly to the east gate of Jinyang.

At this moment, both sides of the road were filled with soldiers.

These soldiers were fully armed and holding spears. They were lined up at intervals of ten steps, extending from the road to the city gate.

Behind the soldiers stood many civilians, most of them were old men with white hair. They were probably used to it and all looked towards the middle of the road.

There were knights walking on the road, and behind them were carriages piled with human heads.

Various kinds of skulls were piled together to form moving hills. Many of the skulls had their eyes open, staring around, which was creepy.

Behind several horse-drawn chariots were sundry items such as flags, war drums, and military equipment.

Some slaves were tied up and staggered behind the carriage, moving forward numbly.

At the east city gate, Prime Minister Gao Yan was standing upright, looking straight ahead with a serious expression, with many important ministers and confidants standing on both sides of him.

Emperor Gao Yin was standing behind him, his face haggard and pale, trembling all over.

He looked around, trying to find a figure who could make him feel at ease, but no matter how he looked, he could not find any friendly eyes.

Even Lord Cui was standing behind Gao Yan at this moment, ignoring the emperor who was looking at him eagerly.

The group gradually approached the city gate and the knights dismounted one after another.

A man walked quickly to Gao Yan and bowed to him.

"Grand Prime Minister!!"

"Some Xi people rebelled and attempted to attack Wuchuan. They were defeated by the great garrison commander Liu Taozi, who beheaded more than a thousand of them and captured about 3,000 of them. They also took away flags, swords, shields, bows, war horses, etc."

The man read out the number of spoils aloud.

In fact, Liu Taozi's memorial and spoils of war had already arrived in Jinyang three days ago, but Gao Yan needed them to come in again. Even the people who were responsible for escorting and shouting were all carefully selected by Gao Yan.

Gao Yan nodded and stepped forward, allowing Gao Yin to face the group directly.

"Your Majesty, Wuchuan has made great contributions."

When Gao Yin looked up, he saw the piled up heads.

At this moment, his face turned even paler, his teeth stuck together, and he was trembling and unable to speak.

Gao Yan didn't wait for him too long and returned to his original position again, "Your Majesty, you have made a great contribution!!"

The knight hurriedly shouted: "Thank you, Prime Minister!!"

The knights shouted.

Gao Yan's brows then showed some joy, but the nobles around him all looked extremely unhappy.

Many people were whispering something with fierce looks in their eyes.

Gao Yan let them enter the city and walked around Jinyang for a few rounds.

As for himself, he led the rest of the people directly back to the Prime Minister's Mansion, and sent a few confidants to send the frightened emperor back.

Gao Yan sat in the bright lobby.

Many nobles and important ministers were sitting on his left and right. The important ministers were fine, but these nobles all had gloomy faces at this moment.

Before Gao Yan could even open his mouth, Heba Ren stood up first and saluted him, "Grand Prime Minister!!"

"The people of the border towns will never do anything to collude with foreign enemies and attempt rebellion!!"

"Please, Prime Minister, give them justice!"

After Heba Ren, the other nobles couldn't help but shout, "This is all a frame-up by the Han people!!"

"How could the Chinese do such a thing!"

The whole hall suddenly became noisy, but the Han officials just looked straight ahead without saying a word.

Gao Yan listened to them solemnly, then slowly picked up a piece of paper and shook it a few times.

"The account books have been delivered. All the evidence is conclusive. I have not punished you for your poor discipline, but you want to redress your wrongdoings?"

Gao Yan suddenly looked at Heba Ren who stood up first.

"I heard that Heba Taibao, the rebel He Laigan, has a grudge against you?"

The ferocious Heba Ren was stunned. He stammered, "Your Majesty, I, I don't know, I..."

"Someone, come here, Heba Ren is colluding with foreign enemies, take him out and lock him up!!"

Heba Ren was shocked and quickly knelt in front of him, "Your Majesty, I have never had an affair with the foreign thieves! Your Majesty! It's unfair!!"

Immediately, a large number of nobles stood up and pleaded for him.

Gao Yan frowned, stood up angrily, and walked quickly in front of them. At this moment, he was extremely irritable, "Unfair?!"

"I regard you as my most trusted ministers and have high hopes for you!"

"What did you do?! Not to mention corruption and bribery, you protected your relatives, withheld food and fodder, and resold it? This is what my henchmen did?!"

"You have always disregarded the law and acted recklessly, all because I was too indulgent!!"

Heba Ren hurriedly shouted: "Your Majesty! I know I was wrong!!"

"I know I'm wrong, I know I'm wrong, what do you know I'm wrong?!"

Gao Yan untied his belt and hit him on the head a few times. Gao Zhan then rushed forward and stood in front of him, "Grand Prime Minister, please forgive them. From now on, they will never dare to act recklessly again!"

The faces of the other people were also quite frightened, and they all bowed and apologized.

Seeing this scene before them, the many Han officials in the hall were finally moved. They looked at each other, and their dead, stiff and dull faces began to fluctuate again.

Gao Yan put away his belt and said, "If anyone relies on his status to act recklessly and ignore the law again, I will punish him severely without mercy!!"

After saying this, he waved his hand and asked everyone to leave.

The nobles left dejectedly, with dim eyes and aggrieved looks.

However, there was a look of joy on the faces of the important officials.

Cui Jishu, Wang Xi, Lu Yao, Gao Zhan and others stayed where they were.

After everyone left, the anger on Gao Yan's face disappeared a little. Cui Jishu walked up to him with a smile and said, "Your Majesty, I just looked at the faces of the ministers and they are beginning to waver."

"Next, we can formally issue orders to restrain illegal behavior."

Gao Yan did not answer, but looked at Lu Yao beside him. His eyes became gentler. "Mr. Lu recommended a talented person to me. Excellent, excellent."

Lu Yao stood there in a daze, only giving a helpless bitter smile.

After Gao Yan took office as the Prime Minister, he immediately promoted Lu Yao from the position of Cheng'an Ling to the position of Zhonglang (Secretary of the Prime Minister), making him an important deputy to Gao Yan in governing the court.

The surprise came so suddenly that Lu Yao himself was caught off guard.

He then looked at Cui Jishu and said, "I approve all the merits Liu Taozi has reported. In addition, I will reward him with ten sets of armor in the name of the Prime Minister's Office. I will let him make new merits and then promote him again."

"only!!"

Gao Yan glanced at Gao Zhan and asked him to follow him, and then the two of them left in a hurry.

Several counselors respectfully saw them off.

Cui Jishu then raised his head and looked at Lu Yao with a smile, "Mr. Lu, your ability to identify people is getting stronger and stronger. Recommending such a talented person to the court will definitely bring you great achievements in the future."

Cui Jishu got along very well with everyone in the court, including Lu Yao, and they also had a decent personal relationship, but Lu Yao just couldn't laugh at all.

When he learned that Liu Taozi had killed many people in Dingzhou and killed many people from big families, Lu Yao felt dizzy and fell ill.

The illness was not cured until Gao Yan promoted him to be a Zhonglang in the Prime Minister's Office.

As Liu Taozi's sponsor, he could imagine the many troubles he would face in the future.

He regretted it so much that his intestines turned green. If he had known this would happen, he would have listened to Qian Zhubu's advice and resigned and returned home. It would have been better than sending him to prison.

This sending was actually like sending out a killing god, who killed countless heads in various places. The name of the gibbon had already resounded throughout the Central Plains, and the power of the cruel official was feared by everyone.

As the events of Dingzhou spread, Liu Shanxiao's name became almost obscure among the great families in the Central Plains. When scholars and talented people mentioned him, they gnashed their teeth and wished they could eat his flesh and drink his blood.

As the recommender, Lu Yao's once good reputation also fell into disgrace.

He doesn't have many friends left at the moment, and only those around Gao Yan are willing to deal with him.

But now, this god of death has started to attack the nobles again.

Thinking of the ferocious looks of these nobles, and then thinking of their expressions after they knew that it was him who recommended Liu Taozi, Lu Yao slowly raised his head and sighed.

“Why did I recommend him in the first place?”

Huaishuo.

This place is completely different from Wuchuan, as there are not many defensive fortifications here.

There are only three training grounds and a sentry tower outside the city. Apart from that, there is nothing else. As far as the eye can see, it is all flat.

Even though it is a city, it doesn't look that tall and solid.

The cold wind blew, and the parade ground outside the city was particularly lively. The high platform inside and outside was occupied by those soldiers, most of them were topless, rough and wild, and roared loudly.

In the middle, there are two slaves.

The two men looked at each other, their eyes were mostly filled with fear. Both of them were wearing torn clothes, holding swords in their hands, and slowly approached each other.

"kill!!"

"kill!!!"

The crowd roared, and the two men slowly moved forward in the waves of sound, looking at each other's faces.

Just yesterday, they were still good friends. Because they were of the same age, they often worked together. When they were tired, they occasionally reminisced about their hometown together and said a few words to each other, making themselves more like human beings and not like corpses.

But today, the two were captured and forced to fight each other.

Just as Heba Cheng said, there is really nothing fun about the border town. It is boring and dull. Everywhere you look, there is nothing but wasteland and weeds. You can't even catch any prey here.

Therefore, the nobles here will never miss any way of entertainment.

Including forcing his subordinates to commit suicide in pairs.

The Xianbei have always had this habit. For example, the Baibao Xianbei would constantly fight against each other to select the bravest one.

Of course, slaves like these were not eligible to serve in the army.

They killed each other just for fun.

The two men approached slowly. They were both only in their teens, perhaps not yet adults. They looked somewhat similar. They seemed to be very scared and were trembling all over.

The two men were getting closer and closer, and were within a killing distance from each other.

The noise became more and more urgent, and everyone was shouting.

In such a moment, both of them suddenly could not hear the sound. They looked at each other, but there was no murderous intent in their eyes.

One of them dropped his sword and looked at his friend.

The friend hesitated for a moment, then loosened his hand and dropped the sword.

"farewell."

"Farewell."

Just as the two finished speaking, they heard the angry roar of the Xianbei people. A man riding a horse rushed over and slashed with his sword left and right at an extremely fast speed. After a moment, he held up the two heads and showed them to the Xianbei people around. Then they cheered loudly.

At this moment, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from a distance.

The crowd was in chaos and trumpets sounded from the city wall.

Cui Gang took a deep breath, raised his head and looked at the knights charging towards him.

Many knights surrounded them from three sides in front, leaving only the way to the back.

A man walked out slowly from among the knights, looked at Cui Gang's clothes, and then looked at the knights behind him.

The man had a conspicuous black tattoo on his face, extending from his right cheek all the way to his body.

The tattoo was a series of horizontal lines, and it was hard to tell what the meaning was, but it was really scary.

More and more knights gathered behind him, all with ferocious looks on their faces. Some of them had already pointed their bows and crossbows at Cui Gang with hideous grins.

Cui Gang felt an indescribable fear.

He said, "I am Cui Gang, the secretary of Wuchuan. I am here on the orders of the general to summon the chief of Huaishuo to Wuchuan."

There was a noticeable tremor in his voice.

Half a month ago, he was still a sage student who never left the house. Such a place of martial arts was really scary for him.

Hearing his words, the many knights in front couldn't help laughing.

Several people even imitated his accent, "I am Takekawa Shuzuo"

Cui Gang frowned and dared not say a word.

The tattooed knight slowly approached and looked at Cui Gang in front of him with disdain, "What is General Zhen doing in Wuchuan?"

"The Xi people attacked Wuchuan and have been defeated. The general has called everyone together to discuss the matter of the Xi people."

"Xi people? What can Xi people have to discuss?"

"I am the deputy commander of this place. Go back and tell the general that if he wants to attack the Xi people, he should prepare money and food and send it to us. The Wuchuan troops are not able to fight, so we have to fight. As long as we have enough money and food, we can always drive the Xi people back thousands of miles and capture their Ji Jin alive."

Cui Gang took a deep breath and trembled as he said, "The general said that this is a major military matter and cannot be delayed. If you fail to arrive in time, you will be punished according to military law."

Apparently, Cui Gang's threat made them laugh again.

The deputy commander shook his head and looked at Cui Gang with a complicated expression, "Does the general have no one else to use? Why are they sending someone like you to read out the general's orders to us?"

His face suddenly became solemn and he made a gesture to pounce.

Cui Gang was so frightened that he almost fell off his horse.

The man was extremely angry. "Are you qualified to deliver military orders?! Go back and tell the general, I still say the same thing, if we give him money and food, we can go to fight anyone he wants. If we don't have money and food, don't talk about discussing important matters, it's ridiculous!"

"But if you delay the military mission..."

"We are delayed, you must ask him to come to the military court for punishment as soon as possible!!"

"roll!!"

Cui Gang lowered his head, his face full of anger, but he led the people around him and turned away.

Watching them leave, those people laughed again, and someone came forward and said, "Master, why don't you just capture this person? Maybe you can get something in return."

"Bullshit! It's just a word, that's General Zhen's man, you really dare to arrest him? What if he goes all out and reports to the court? Others will be fine, but we will be in trouble. Just let him go."

The man asked again: "So we really aren't going?"

The tattooed man was furious. "Go to hell! If it was somewhere else, it would be fine, but it had to be Wuchuan!! He is just a Xi person, and you are talking about military secrets and military punishment. It's ridiculous!!"

"If he wants to use us, let him show his sincerity. Otherwise, why should we listen to him?!"

Everyone nodded, and under the leadership of this man, they shouted and rushed back to the training ground.

Cui Gang walked on the road, his eyes full of frustration and anger.

"This is too much."

Wuchuan.

official office.

Cui Gang was telling everyone about the humiliation he had suffered, and his whole body turned red as he got excited.

At this moment, even Tian Zili did not have the slightest bit of joy on his face. On the contrary, he was even angrier than Cui Gang.

Liu Taozi and Heba Cheng had the calmest expressions. Heba Cheng looked at Liu Taozi with a wry smile.

"Brother Liu, I've already said that it's impossible for him to come. It would be fine if you sent someone else, but this Mr. Cui... Alas, he doesn't look like he can deliver military orders at all."

"I know."

Liu Taozi spoke.

Heba Cheng did not respond, but he was quite disappointed. He thought the other party could come up with a good idea, but he did not expect that his subordinates would suffer such injustice.

Tian Zili asked: "Brother, what about other places?"

"There is no need to send anyone to other places."

"Just the biggest one will suffice."

Hearing these words, everyone around suddenly remembered something, even Heba Cheng's face changed drastically.

"Brother Liu, you don't want to..."

Liu Taozi raised her head and looked outside through the window.

"Wait for two more days."

"If Huaishuo still disobeys military orders and is unwilling to obey orders, immediately declare him a treason and gather the army to attack him!"

"No!!"

Heba Cheng was the first to jump up. His face turned pale with fear. "Brother Liu, you can't lead troops to attack and kill your own people, especially Huaishuo and Wuchuan! You can't do that!!"

Liu Taozi looked at him calmly, "General, you are in command of all the garrisons. If a garrison refuses to obey your orders, according to military law, this is tantamount to treason and should be swiftly punished and executed."

Heba Cheng swallowed his saliva, "That's what I said, but how can I do that? Besides, even if we really fight, it's hard to say whether we can win. The Huaishuo soldiers are known as the best, and their size and number are much larger than Wuchuan. Anyway, we can't do this, Brother Liu, calm down. Let's think of a compromise."

"No."

Liu Taozi interrupted him, "At present, if we want to recapture the garrisons, the best way is to make Huaishuo bow his head. If you can't even do this, and the Prime Minister comes here in person and asks you to gather the army to be his vanguard, what are you going to do? Go and ask the Prime Minister for money and food?!"

Heba Cheng's face turned pale, and then he covered his head in pain.

"Well, then. Then I'll follow the general's advice."

ps: Qi Prime Minister Yan used Wang Ruhuan. Lu Yao, the assistant to the Prime Minister, was about to go on a diplomatic mission and shook hands with him to persuade him to go on the mission. ——Zizhi Tongjian

(End of this chapter)