Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 193 Under the Tiger Skin
Jinyang.

Sikong government office.

Inside the hall, there was total silence, as if one had lost their parents.

Gao Guiyan sat in the upper seat, and many young men sat on both sides.

Their faces were dull, their eyes were unfocused, and they said nothing.

Gao Guiyan picked up the wine cup beside him, brought it to his mouth, and took a sip.

It's rotten.

From the border to Jinzhou, the military defense force that the Great Qi was most proud of was completely rotten.

Although he had the Queen Mother's edict to protect him, he could still lead dozens of cavalry and kill his way through the border. If Gao Changgong had not gone to meet them, they would have actually killed their way out of Jinyang.

Gao Guiyan didn't dare to imagine what the scene would be like if Gao Changgong didn't go, and Liu Taozi led his men to the outside of Jinyang City, took out the imperial edict and asked to see the emperor.

Gao Guiyan once again looked at the young Chinese talents in front of him.

Looking at their dull and desperate faces, he had no choice but to take another sip of wine.

There aren't many left of the brave men who followed King Gao to expand the territory. For some reason, the talented people in Da Qi often have short lives, and there are not many who live long lives.

Most of these nobles today were extremely powerful in the past.

They rode the best war horses, led their personal soldiers, shouted everywhere, talked about military affairs and fighting, and had endless energy in their bodies. This gave the world an illusion that this group of nobles were no different from the old men at the beginning, and were equally fierce and good at fighting.

But it can be said that since the fifth year of Tianbao, Da Qi has not fought a tough battle involving all the nobles.

There was a second-generation nobleman who won many victories on the frontier, making the Pseudo-Zhou Dynasty suffer terribly and recaptured many garrisons. That man was called Hulugu.

His military achievements made many second-generation nobles clamor that they were no inferior to the first generation.

But when it came to doing real big things, Gao Guiyan suddenly realized that one or two exceptions did not represent the entire group.

They are so different.

"Your Majesty."

Someone spoke up, his face pale, "This time Liu Taozi returns to Jinyang, your Majesty won't hold us accountable, right?"

Gao Guiyan smiled and said, "How should I know? I have never been involved in this matter."

Those people's faces became even more pitiful and touching.

"Your Majesty, if Liu Taozi sees Your Majesty, he will definitely falsely accuse us. General Liu has been killed. Please save him!"

"We will certainly remember the king's kindness."

Looking at these pitiful people, Gao Guiyan pursed his lips and said unhappily: "Whether it is a false accusation or not, you know it in your heart. Since you have decided to do such a thing, why are you afraid of punishment now?"

Someone said: "It's not that I'm afraid of being punished, but I don't want to be punished because of someone like Liu Taozi. He is a villain and is deeply loved by His Majesty. If he frames someone..."

"Your Majesty, we were not involved in the murder of General Zhen."

Gao Guiyan took a deep breath and quickly took another sip of wine to calm down his anger.

"Your Majesty, can you please ask His Majesty for us? We are willing to live in harmony with General Liu from now on."

"Bang!!"

Gao Guiyan punched the table in front of him. He finally lost his composure. His eyes were extremely fierce and he stared angrily at these idiots in front of him.

"Now it's not a question of whether Liu Taozi will frame you or not!!"

"It's not even a question of who's going to murder the town general now!!"

“Now it’s a border defense issue!!”

Gao Guiyan roared, "The twenty-five checkpoints and strongholds along the way can't stop Liu Taozi!!"

"Is this the elite of our Great Qi?!"

"The one who came this time is Liu Taozi! If it was Wei Xiaokuan, we would be trapped in Jinyang!!"

“Shame!! Shame!!”

A young man stood up quickly and said, "General, he was able to pass through completely because of conspiracy and trickery. He held the imperial edict, so the soldiers did not dare to kill him, and there were people who secretly helped him. Besides, the real elites are guarding Jinyang, so let him come to Jinyang if he is capable."

Gao Guiyan smashed the wine cup beside him and shouted, "Bring me some wine!!"

A servant came over with a wine jug, and Gao Guiyan drank from it. After taking a few quick bites, he picked up the wine jug and threw it into the crowd.

"Idiot! Idiot!!"

"You guys are actually responsible for the defense along this road?"

"Deserves to be killed!"

"If you don't die, the Zhou people will sooner or later besiege us in Jinyang! My elite troops of the Great Qi have become a joke!!"

Now, no one dared to refute. They lowered their heads with gloomy faces.

Gao Guiyan was extremely angry. Just as he said, Liu Taozi tore off the strong mask of the current nobles and let the people in the upper class see what kind of people they are.

Of course he didn't know that this mask would actually be lifted by the Northern Zhou general Yang Zhong three years later. He led his troops to fight and marched all the way to Jinyang. In the end, they were only two miles away from Jinyang. The Northern Qi high-ranking officials were horrified to find that the defense they were so proud of had turned into a pile of mud. They hurriedly took remedial measures. After Duan Shao repelled the enemy, they could not wait to re-issue the Equal Field Order and actively recruit Han people from all over the world as soldiers.

Therefore, if we want to reform, we cannot do so by just talking about it. Only after we are beaten and hurt will we know what is wrong.

Gao Guiyan felt palpitations at this moment.

This time when Liu Taozi went to Jinyang, the performance of the checkpoints along the way was simply shocking.

Some directly opened the switch and went out to fight alone, some abandoned the checkpoint and hid in the mountains, some were defeated due to improper command, some were killed by their subordinates, and some simply resigned and ran away.
There were even generals who traveled long distances to conduct an ambush, but ended up taking the wrong road.

This is also the reason why when Gao Yan ordered the killing of Liu Honghui, the nobles did not dare to rise up in resistance.

If they had successfully killed Liu Taozi, they would have dared to stand up and say that they had made amends, or simply denied it, but this was exposed.

For top leaders like Gao Guiyan, the first thing they saw was not the nobles killing people, but their own horrific defense. How could they have the dignity to stand up and beg for mercy?

The atmosphere in the lobby suddenly dropped to freezing point.

There was complete silence, deathly still.

Gao Guiyan sat back in his seat and waved casually.

"Go back, everyone. You have been humiliated to such an extent. If His Majesty wants to kill you, then kill yourselves and save some face for your father and brothers."

Gao Guiyan drove these people out, changed his clothes, got on the car accompanied by several soldiers, and headed for the east gate of Jinyang.

When he jumped off the carriage drunkenly, General Duan Shao was already waiting there.

Gao Guiyan got out of the car and when he saw the other person, his face darkened, but he forced himself into an ugly smile.

"General"

Duan Shao looked at him with a smile, "Is Sikong drunk again?"

Gao Guiyan clenched his fists, then suddenly unclenched them, and said with a smile: "General, you are truly a master of foresight. You figured that out, too?"

Duan Shao immediately looked into the distance and said, "The foreign general is coming. You and I are here to greet him on the orders of His Majesty. We must not lose our composure."

Gao Guiyan also looked at the road in the distance. He took a few steps forward and stood in front of Duan Shao. "General, you wrote in your previous letter that the garrison soldiers in various places had not been trained for a long time and the generals did not know how to use the troops. Now such a big thing has happened, allowing a border general to lead dozens of people all the way to the outskirts of Jinyang. It can be seen that the general is really as good as a god and knows everything in advance. Your Majesty should have listened to your advice a long time ago."

Duan Shao said calmly: "Sikong, now is not the time to discuss other miscellaneous matters."

"If Liu Taozi can fight his way to the outskirts of Jinyang, then the Zhou people can do it too. Although the Zhou people did not issue an imperial edict, Liu Taozi did not bring a large number of troops with him."

"Over the years, we have fought against the Pseudo-Zhou, and both sides have suffered heavy casualties. They have been defeated many times, but their national strength has grown stronger. We have won many times, but our national strength has become less and less significant. It is time for a change."

"If this continues, they will just be the ones attacking and we will be on the defensive. We will never have a chance to advance again."

Gao Guiyan's lips trembled for a moment, and his aura suddenly relaxed.

"I know."

The two stopped talking and just looked into the distance.

A large army slowly appeared in the distance, and the knights gradually stopped and divided into two columns.

Gao Changgong led Liu Taozi and others and rushed towards them quickly.

"Greetings, Sikong!"

"Meet the General!"

Gao Changgong took Liu Taozi to meet the two important ministers.

There were only two important ministers and their guards who came to greet him, and no other officials or generals. Gao Changgong was even surprised. Before he came back, he had never thought that these two people would come to greet him.

These two people are of very high rank, and they are not officials responsible for welcoming people.
Duan Shao and Gao Guiyan both looked at Liu Taozi at this moment.

When they went on the previous expedition, one of them stayed in Yecheng and the other stayed in Jinyang, and neither of them had met Liu Taozi.

Liu Taozi also looked at the two people in front of her.

Gao Guiyan suddenly said, "I recognize you."

Liu Taozi frowned.

Gao Guiyan said quietly, "I lost three hundred guards. I led people to patrol near Cheng'an and met you."

He walked slowly in front of Liu Taozi with a sharp look in his eyes.

Something is wrong with the atmosphere.

Gao Changgong walked forward slowly.

Looking at Liu Taozi, who had a calm face and did not move, Gao Guiyan punched his chest fiercely, "What a pity!!"

"If I had accepted you as my subordinate, wouldn't I have a powerful general who could defeat thousands of enemies by my side now?!"

Gao Changgong's tense body suddenly relaxed.

Duan Shao smiled and walked forward. "Why are you worried, Sikong? There may be opportunities to lead troops to war in the future. When the time comes, you can report to His Majesty and let Liu Zhizhi be your vanguard, right?"

"Hahaha, I'm just afraid that you'll get there first!"

"How dare I compete with Sikong?"

The two of them were smiling and talking in a friendly manner, looking like they were old friends.

Duan Shao looked at Liu Taozi and said, "What a brave man he is! In the past, people said that Gao Aocao was Xiang Yu reborn. I think Liu Zhizhi is not bad either. He is truly a brave general! How brave! How brave!"

"When I was in command of the Imperial Guards, I knew his father. His grandfather was a brave man, just like my father! Just like my father!"

The two of them started to flatter Liu Taozi.

Gao Guiyan's eyes passed by Liu Taozi and looked at the people behind him, "These are the warriors under Zhizhi's command! They are really brave!"

"Come here, everyone will be rewarded with a BMW!"

Listening to the flattery of the two big shots, Yao Xiong felt dizzy and almost floated to the sky.

Are the General and the Minister of Works and Chancellery praising us right now? ?

After talking some nonsense, they got on their horses again, asked Gao Changgong to go back to appease the army, and led Liu Taozi to Jinyang City.

Jinyang City is a rough city. Even the city walls show no signs of careful carving. They were renovated in accordance with the traditional Xianbei idea that the bigger and wider the better. Even the city gates are huge.

The city was extremely solemn and stern both inside and outside. Once inside the city, there were basically no civilians to be seen. There were soldiers patrolling and standing guard everywhere.

Heavily armed.

Gao Guiyan rode his horse and walked in front. He sighed and said, "Zhizhi, I heard about what happened to you this time. I am also very angry."

"Someone actually wanted to murder the town commander. This is truly unforgivable!!"

"Liu Honghui has already been dealt with by His Majesty, and His Majesty will certainly not forgive his many accomplices!"

"It's just that, Zhizhi, you also know that Liu Honghui is a descendant of meritorious officials and has many friends in various places. If His Majesty wants to deal with those involved, I'm afraid there will be too many people killed."

“Some of them are young and do not know the big picture, so they act recklessly.”

"Zhizhi, I am not trying to persuade you to forgive them, but if you can plead for them when you meet His Majesty and save lives, I promise that no one will make things difficult for you in the future. If anyone makes things difficult for you, I will kill him first!"

"Your grandfather and I are old friends!"

"Now that I heard you were coming, I asked to go and greet you in person."

"I think that besides you, no one else can shoulder the heavy responsibility of this frontier. Zhizhi, I know you have been wronged, but most of these young men are descendants of meritorious service, and I have friendships with their grandfathers. I really can't bear to watch them die like this."

"How about you just do me a favor?"

Gao Guiyan said with a smile.

Before Liu Taozi could speak, Duan Shao smiled and said, "Although Liu Zhizhi is brave, he is only 20 years old and is only a fourth-rank general. I'm afraid that this important matter still needs to be decided by your majesty himself. As for admonition, the two of us can write a letter to advise, but I'm afraid his words cannot shake your majesty's determination."

He looked at Gao Guiyan with a sincere expression, "Sikong, how about this? Later, we will talk to His Majesty in person and hope that he can pardon us."

"Liu Zhizhi is your majesty's favorite general. This major event was caused by him. There is nothing wrong with letting him come forward."

Gao Guiyan looked at Duan Shao with a smile.

At this moment, Tian Zili, who was following behind Liu Taozi, seemed to understand why these two people were there.

Gao Guiyan wanted to come to greet them in order to find a way to save the nobles involved in the case and appease his brother, and Duan Shao came, probably at the suggestion of the emperor, to stop Gao Guiyan.

But if the emperor did not want to pardon him, he could just ignore his brother. Why bother letting Duan Shao come to dissuade him?

Tian Zili frowned and thought about it over and over again.

Until they arrived at the gate of the palace, the two men in front were still talking to each other, with murderous intent beneath their friendly smiles.

Entering the palace is not an easy thing. The two in front can enter and exit freely, but on Liu Taozi's side, only Liu Taozi can enter, and he has to be interrogated, even though he is brought by the general and the prime minister.

Those two people went ahead.

After undergoing a detailed interrogation and removing all his weapons, he walked towards the Zhaode Hall under the guidance of a special official.

Emperor Gao Yan sat on the throne with a stern face. He did not speak, but his anger was clearly visible.

These days, the emperor was almost mad with rage, and his cold eyes made people dare not look him in the face.

The ministers sat on both sides, and except for those who stayed in Yecheng, almost all the others were present.

Just like Gao Guiyan’s office not long ago, the hall was silent and the atmosphere was solemn.

"General Liu Taozi is here to see you!!!"

An official shouted at the door.

At this moment, all the ministers looked sideways, and some even ignored the court etiquette, changed their posture, and leaned out to look.

A tall man in official uniform appeared at the door.

He was a burly man, and the baggy military officer's uniform on him made him look even more majestic and strong.

With a resolute face and fierce eyes, he walked quickly towards them. The officials sitting on both sides of the hall door couldn't help but lean back in fear.

Suddenly, exclamations were heard from the crowd.

Several of the ministers looked pale, lowered their heads, and trembled all over.

The nobles still hated Liu Taozi.

But on the basis of hatred, some other kind of fear also grew.

Liu Taozi dug a bloody path and killed people one after another as if he was chopping melons and vegetables, which really scared these people.

Of course, this also made them realize their own weakness.

A group of tiger cubs, still suckling their mother, put on the tiger skins left by their fathers, shouted everywhere, and threatened everyone around them with their fangs, telling the world, I am still that fierce tiger!
But Liu Taozi pulled out their teeth with force and broke their tiger backs with one elbow. He tore off the tiger skin and let everyone see clearly what was under the tiger skin.

Of course there are real tigers in Jinyang, but unfortunately, the real tigers go out to look for food from time to time, and lie down to sleep after eating. They really have no intention of roaring and showing off to intimidate others.

Gao Yan still had a stern face, but a flash of joy flashed across his eyes.

Liu Taozi paid a respectful visit to Gao Yan.

Gao Yan slowly looked at the people in front of him. Sitting here, he could take in all the expressions of these people.

"The generals in our country, who received the imperial edict and returned to the capital, still have to be on guard against their own people."

"The generals along the way tried to obstruct and murder General Zhen in various ways."

"Since the founding of the country, no, since ancient times, I have never heard of this. It really opens my eyes!!"

Everyone lowered their heads and dared not say a word.

At the right time, Gao Guiyan walked out slowly and saluted him, "Your Majesty, Liu Honghui is jealous of virtuous people and deserves death. I am the Minister of the Chancellery, but I cannot discipline my subordinates. Please punish me!!"

Gao Yan ignored him and spoke again:
"You are trying to murder my general. I only think you are evil people, thieves who can't be killed. You abandoned the pass and abandoned your armor along the way. You didn't manage the army well. Some of you were even killed by my subordinates and surrendered the pass."

"King Ping Qin, do you think this is still a matter of jealousy of virtuous people?"

(End of this chapter)