Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 188 Wizard
White Horse Fort.

Yao Xiong was riding a tall horse. The horse was red all over except for the white edges of its hooves. It was extremely tall and was not inferior to a blue lion at all.

His face was full of pride, and he rode his horse proudly past the soldiers, unhurriedly, so that everyone could see the steed under his command and his majestic figure.

Among the good horses sent by those people, Yao Xiong took a fancy to this one at first sight. Liu Taozi gave it to him directly as a reward, and Tian Zili helped him give it a name, calling it "Red Hare".

Yao Xiong, a rough man, praised Tian Zili repeatedly and thought that Tian Zili's naming was very skillful, until Cui Gang told him that the name was not originally created by Tian Zili.

There were more than 3,000 people in Baima Garrison.

Among them, there are only four or five hundred elite soldiers, and the rest are mostly young men.

Their new garrison commander was called Li Qihu, who was promoted by Liu Taozi because of his military achievements.

This guy is a man of few words, but he is brave and very good at fighting. In the previous battle, he beheaded eighteen people by himself, including a general.

Of course, no one reported his achievements. After the battle, the temporary generals let them leave. After Liu Taozi learned about it, he, in his capacity as a town general, recommended him as the commander of Baima Garrison and ordered him to temporarily take charge of the army here.

He is considered a well-known warrior in Baima Garrison, and everyone respects him very much.

At this moment, the army gathered in the parade ground, staring at Yao Xiong as he slowly walked up to the general's platform. Yao Xiong had just stepped down from his horse, and a soldier led his horse over.

Yao Xiong said, "Where is Li Qihu?!"

Li Qihu quickly stepped forward and bowed to Yao Xiong, "Greetings, General."

Li Qihu has a square face and a beard. He is about forty years old, and his face is full of traces of weathering.

Yao Xiong looked at him and said, "The general has recommended you for merit and has received an imperial decree to officially appoint you as the commander of the Baima Garrison."

"From now on, you will be in charge here and train the troops. You must abide by the three major prohibitions."

Li Qihu trembled all over, clenched his fists, and saluted Yao Xiong again.

"Thank you, General!!"

"Don't thank me yet. The general has also brought back the rest of your rewards for you. They are all for you!"

Yao Xiong pointed to several large boxes in the distance, then walked forward and took out a sword from one of them. He quickly walked up to Li Qihu and handed the sword to him.

"Those rewards were given to you by the imperial court. This sword was given to you by the general himself. He heard about your achievements in battle and gave it to you specially, hoping that you would make new contributions."

Li Qihu lowered his head and slowly took the sword with both hands.

"Thank you, General!!"

Yao Xiong then looked at the rest of the people, "And your rewards have all been issued!!"

“Start distributing now!!”

The soldiers were overjoyed and shouted in unison: "Thank you, General!!"

"This is distributed by Khan. We should thank Khan!!"

"Thank you Khan!!"

Everyone cheered, and Yao Xiong had the things distributed to them one by one. Li Qihu stood aside, guarding Yao Xiong.

Yao Xiong looked at the ecstatic crowd, then smiled and looked at Li Qihu beside him.

"You are so brave, why haven't you been promoted yet?"

Li Qihu pursed his lips and said, "I used to be a garrison commander, but was demoted to a young man because of my family. I was promoted to a householder because of my military merits, but I cannot be promoted again."

"what?"

Yao Xiong was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand, "It's okay, my general doesn't care about these things. As long as you have made contributions and followed me wholeheartedly, you will be rewarded. The soldiers of Baima Garrison have made mistakes in the past, you must rectify them carefully and don't make the same mistake again."

"only."

Yao Xiong nodded, "I'll leave the rest to you. Hand over those laborers to me so I can take them back and report. We have to go to other places tomorrow."

Yao Xiong muttered to himself, and Li Qihu hurriedly took him to receive the laborers he had prepared.

He offered more than 500 people. All of them were middle-aged men. They did not look too weak and still had some energy. They were considered the strongest Han people here. Of course, not all of them were Han or Xianbei. There were also poor people like bandits and many were captured and sent to perform labor service.

Yao Xiong's men counted the number of people and compared the places they had passed before escorting them away from Baima Fort.

Baimashu is not very close to Wuchuan.

The distances between these border garrisons vary, and the only thing they have in common is that they are all located in the most dangerous places.

Yao Xiong escorted the crowd, humming a tune, and rode his Red Hare towards Wuchuan.

After walking for a few days, we finally arrived in Wuchuan.

They met another team escorting civilians.

Seeing the equally tall horse under the opponent's crotch, Yao Xiong muttered a few words, rode forward, and saluted casually, "Not bad, you didn't get thrown to death by this horse!"

Yan Heita rode on a big horse and said coldly: "General Yao was not killed by falling, so how could I be killed by falling?"

"Haha, you are really lucky. Not only did you kill Ji Jin and get an official position, but you also got such a good horse!"

Yan Heita ignored this guy.

Because he shot and killed many people, and even shot and killed the enemy's 'main general' at a critical moment, he was praised by Liu Taozi for his merits, and his career soared to fame.

This made Yao Xiong extremely envious. Of course, Yao Xiong was now also a military officer with a formal official position, and his status was still higher than others. He just envied the fact that the other party was promoted faster than himself.

Zhang Heizu came to greet the two men. He performed his greetings and then asked someone to count them again and accept the laborers they brought with them.

These civilians were wearing thin clothes and shivering in the strong wind.

It is already November, and the cold wind at the border is enough to freeze people.

Ordinary laborers did not dare to go out, and these people had to wear clothes that were temporarily gathered together from all over the place before they could go out.

"Blackfoot, haven't you gathered enough people yet?"

"General Yao, we haven't gathered enough troops yet. We are still short of 4,000 men."

Yao Xiong looked at the civilians who followed the military officers into the city and asked in a low voice, "Can these people fight?"

Zhang Heizu said solemnly: "You are thin and weak, and I am afraid you can't wear armor."

Yao Xiong sighed, "It seems that your idea is difficult to realize. On the way here, I saw that they were all skinny, and some of them were not even as tall as my waist. If we let these people serve as soldiers, I'm afraid that even if we have 10,000 people, we won't be able to defeat 1,000 of them."

Yan Heita suddenly said, "That's because they eat less and work more."

"If they can eat meat, have enough food, exercise every day, and can lift dozens of kilograms of miscellaneous items, then can't they wear armor?"

Yao Xiong still shook his head, "How much meat do I have to eat to catch up?"

"It's right to listen to the general."

Yao Xiong glared at him and said, "No wonder you got promoted so quickly."

The two were still chatting, but Zhang Heizu had already said goodbye and left.

Zhang Heizu led the laborers to the South Parade Ground.

This place used to be an important place for welcoming guests. Luo had lived here before, but now it was used by Liu Taozi to accommodate the auxiliary soldiers.

In accordance with His Majesty's order, Liu Taozi selected strong civilians from various border areas to add 20,000 auxiliary troops.

At this moment, the South Parade Ground was extremely chaotic, with people coming and going.

The laborers are still being recruited and are not yet full.

Liu Taozi dispersed his personal soldiers and asked them to serve in the auxiliary troops. Ordinary soldiers were appointed as officers at the squadron level, while the officers were promoted higher.

Although many people died in this expedition, many brave men stood out. Liu Taozi selected them and appointed them as army leaders and flag leaders.

Tian Zili once advised him to disperse his personal soldiers to various garrisons and parachute them into positions such as garrison commanders to control the entire border.

Liu Taozi did not follow this advice. He dispersed his personal soldiers among these auxiliary troops, using these old soldiers as the bones and the Han soldiers as the flesh and blood to form this new army. At the local level, Liu Taozi only reported military merits and promoted the bravest of his own people.

People like Li Qihu were not Liu Taozi's old subordinates. He was originally from Baimashu and was only promoted by Liu Taozi.

Zhang Heizu was also appointed as a military leader and became the commander of a thousand men.

It’s a pity that the commander is only these auxiliary troops.

The hotly discussed topic at the border at the moment was still Liu Taozi's killing of the Xiren Shijin and the re-issuance of rewards, as well as the many things that nobles from all over the country had done in exchange for their gifts.

As for the matter of the auxiliary troops, it really didn't cause any waves.

Be it the nobles or the border soldiers, they didn't care about these civilians and never thought that the auxiliary soldiers were something worthy of attention.

At the same time, the beaten envoys also returned to Jinyang and Yecheng crying.

The office of the right prime minister.

The mansion was quite lively. Gao Zhan sat in the upper seat, neatly dressed. He was no longer as dissolute as before, and his clothes were no longer open. He sat in the upper seat with a smile on his face. He looked handsome and mighty, as if he could light up the entire hall.

The distinguished guests sat on the left and right, looking at Prince Changguang above, some of them unable to take their eyes off him.

Radiant.

For some unknown reason, Prince Changguang's temperament suddenly changed.

The Prince Changguang, who used to be arrogant, rude, dissolute, and even often intimidated others, suddenly became humble, kind, and gentle.

He treated the nobles in Yecheng kindly, visited them several times, and wrote letters to nobles from all over the country to repair his relationship with them.

For a moment, everyone's attitude towards Gao Zhan changed.

Just like Gao Yan's mansion in the past, his place also became lively. Distinguished guests came one after another without interruption. Gao Zhan talked to them with great courtesy. He would give gifts to everyone who came to visit him to express his gratitude. It had been less than a month since he came to Yecheng, but his friends were already all over the place, and the name of King Changguang was becoming more and more famous.

At this moment, there were loud singing in the mansion. Gao Zhan sat solemnly in the upper seat without seeming too stern. He looked at the guests on both sides and nodded frequently.

Just when he was happiest, He Shikai walked in and glanced at him.

Gao Zhan quietly got up, arranged for someone to take care of the guests, and then went to meet He Shikai.

The two walked to the backyard, and He Shikai hurriedly said: "My king! Something big has happened!!"

"Liu Taozi accepted the gifts, stole the carriage and servants, beat up the messengers, and asked them to send more gifts. He is shameless, hateful, and a villain."

Listening to He Shikai's curse, Gao Zhan glanced at him.

"It's too much. Just say it's extortion. What about seizing carriage slaves and beating messengers? It's too much of a fabrication."

He Shikai paused and said quickly, "Your Majesty! This is not made up! This is true! He really seized the carriage."

Gao Zhan was stunned. He asked hesitantly, "You mean, it wasn't made up by you guys, he really did all this???"

Gao Zhan's signal to the nobles to give gifts was, as Cui Gang said, to accuse Liu Taozi of extorting nobles and humiliating the people. He didn't care whether His Majesty would care or not, but he cared whether the other nobles would be angry when they heard it.

His Majesty has always favored Liu Taozi, and he would not hold Liu Taozi accountable for what she did.

It would be best if he did not ask for punishment. The nobles would know which side he stands on and would naturally support the people they should support.

But Gao Zhan didn't expect that he didn't even have to frame others, he actually did these things.

Gao Zhan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and laughed.

"What a great Liu Taozi!"

"He knew it would be difficult for him to prove his innocence, so he just did these things!"

"No wonder His Majesty dotes on him so much, it's really extraordinary, extraordinary!"

He Shikai looked at his king in astonishment, not knowing how to respond for a moment.

Gao Zhan laughed for a long time before he stopped. He said quietly, "At the beginning, in order for His Majesty to accomplish great things, I offended many people and endured a lot of criticism. Before the success, he personally promised me that he would make me the crown prince after the success."

"Now that it's done, he has military merit and secured his position, so he left me in Yecheng and made that brat the crown prince."

"Over the years, I have worked hard without complaint, done all the things that offended people, done all the jobs that cost me my life, charged to the front again and again, regardless of life and death, but when it comes time to be rewarded, there is no place for me?"

"Right Prime Minister, Right Prime Minister, assisting the Crown Prince?"

Gao Zhan suddenly laughed and slowly looked at He Shikai standing beside him.

"Do you think this is appropriate?"

He Shikai trembled and dared not speak.

"My only mistake was trusting him too much. He told me to bite a Han official, and I did it. He told me to bite a noble, and I never backed down. In the end, I have nothing."

He said, "If he can do this throne, I can do it too."

"Your Majesty has already had the idea of ​​suppressing the nobles. He asked Liu Taozhi to form a warrior camp. It can be seen that he is also afraid of me."

"No delay."

"I will lead the army of Yecheng and attack him overnight. While he is still conferring titles on his ministers and the crown prince, I will have Gao Guiyan open the city gates, march into Jinyang, and force him to give up his throne."

He Shikai was so frightened that he almost collapsed on the ground. He quickly grabbed Gao Zhan's hand.

"My king, don't be impulsive!"

"If the truth is revealed."

"What are you afraid of? If you are exposed, you will die!"

"How can we hesitate when doing great things?!"

"Your Majesty!! The nobles still trust your majesty. If you send troops now, even if you occupy the palace, how will you deal with the attack from everyone?"

"With the Liu Taozi incident, it's only a matter of time before the nobles become alienated. When the nobles become alienated, Your Majesty can win them over. With their support, won't you be able to accomplish great things?"

"Why is your Majesty so anxious?"

Gao Zhan did not answer, his face was very determined, and He Shikai hurriedly said: "If the king insists on doing this, you can ask a wizard to come and divine to see if the great event can succeed."

Gao Zhan pondered for a moment and looked at He Shikai with a smile.

"Okay, let's do it."

At this moment, a servant suddenly rushed in and saluted Gao Zhan, "Your Majesty! Lord Houmo Chen is here and said he has something important to discuss with you!"

Gao Zhan nodded and asked someone to invite him in.

Houmo Chen Jingui.

He was the second son of Houmochen Xiang, and was capable in both civil and military affairs, and served as General Wuwei.

Jin Gui's face was flushed and he was gasping for air. When he saw Gao Zhan, he knelt down in front of him.

Gao Zhan hurriedly helped him up, "Hou Mochen Jun! Why is this happening?!"

Jin Gui raised his head, his face fierce, "My king, I followed your instructions and sent people to give gifts to Liu Taozi. This guy is too much! Too much!"

"He actually seized my carriage and servants, beat up my messenger, and really blackmailed me! Let me give him some more money!"

"Your Majesty! If I continue to be tolerant, I will not be able to gain a foothold in the palace. I am afraid that I can no longer obey your orders. I must fight him to the death. Please do not stop me!!"

Gao Zhan suddenly had a headache.

The current strategy is to make the nobles look aggrieved and Taozi look bad, so as to win over more nobles who are dissatisfied with the court to stand on his side.

But if they attack Liu Taozi directly, then the show will not be able to continue. It will turn into a fight between the two sides and the situation will be out of control.

He hurriedly comforted her, "Don't be angry, what did the White Water King say?"

King Baishui was Jin Gui's father, Hou Mochen Xiang, a veteran of the Great Qi Dynasty. He was an old man who followed Gao Huan in starting the rebellion, an old man among old men.

Jin Gui said angrily: "My father told me that if I dare not fight back after suffering such humiliation, I should not inherit his title."

Gao Zhan smiled bitterly, and he held the other's hand affectionately, "Please listen to me. Liu Taozi is deeply favored by His Majesty. He had previously blackmailed Murong Jun, but he was not punished. How could he be punished now? Moreover, His Majesty has entrusted the elite troops of Wuchuan to him to manage. Even if you bring your troops with you, can you really fight with your own people?"

"You want revenge, that's fine, but now is not the time. We need to contact more people and ask His Majesty to stand up for us and punish the culprit."

"If Your Majesty favors Liu Taozi and doesn't help us."

Gao Zhan paused and his expression became solemn.

"I will take action myself!!"

"If you can trust me, please tolerate it once more."

Looking at Gao Zhan in front of him, Jin Gui took a deep breath and cursed: "This bastard, what kind of general is he? He is clearly a robber! I sent him a gift with good intentions, but he dared to treat me like this. One day, I will chop him into pieces and feed him to the fish!!"

Jin Gui cursed loudly for a long time until he vented his anger and finally calmed down.

Gao Zhan said helplessly: "It's all my fault that you have been wronged. Please be patient for a while. I will definitely not let him go!!"

After calming him down for a long time, Jin Gui left angrily.

Only then did Gao Zhan sneer.

"This brat is really good at finding trouble. Go call the wizard in, have him go through the side door, and tell me in the backyard whether I can send troops."

"only!!"

(End of this chapter)