Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 208 Threats and Inducements
At night, everything was quiet.

Along the official road, several bonfires were emitting dazzling light.

There were many corpses lying in the distance. They were stripped of their clothes and lay naked on the ground, neatly arranged. Their empty eyes looked up at the sky, as if they wanted to get an answer.

Several skinny horses were tied up, looking at their dead master and shaking their heads anxiously.

He Shikai was looking at the bonfire in front of him.

The flames were boiling, and new flames were constantly emitting from the dismantled wood of the carriage, splashing everywhere.

He Shikai glanced at the generals in the distance and muttered unhappily, "Barbaric warriors."

His own knight approached him and asked in a low voice: "He Gong, we will enter Beishuo tomorrow. Will these people really be useful?"

He Shikai glared at him and said, "Do you really expect these guys to scare Liu Taozi?"

He Shikai untied the water bag from his waist, took a big sip with relish, and said slowly: "Liu Taozi is not afraid of them. Bringing them with you has other uses."

The knight narrowed his eyes and whispered, "Lord He, that lieutenant and his men are all drunk. Why don't we take this opportunity to kill him and have a few of our men commit suicide? Then we can tell Huluxian that we were attacked and put the blame on Liu Taozi!"

"That's bullshit."

He Shikai said coldly.

The knight was afraid to speak, and looked at him again, "I tell you, without my order, no one is allowed to act on their own, and no one is allowed to act rashly."

"I came here this time to appease Liu Taozi. He will not surrender to the king, but we must at least make sure that he will not surrender to the Pseudo-Zhou."

"If he brings his trusted followers to join the Pseudo-Zhou and opens the gates of various checkpoints, the Zhou army will be able to reach Jinyang in 15 days."

He Shikai also felt a little tricky at this moment.

Gao Zhan hated Liu Taozi with a vengeance. Because Liu Taozi grabbed him like that, Gao Zhan missed many opportunities.

But he still had some fear in his heart.

He was not afraid that Liu Taozi would lead his troops to rebel. The poor place of Liu Taozi could not even be self-sufficient in food. Besides, this was his own base camp and those military households were his family. Even if he led the military households to rebel, without food and weapons, he would be doomed sooner or later.

Each time the temple transported military rations, it was allocated according to the half-year quota of the number of local soldiers, which was very meaningful.

What Gao Zhan was afraid of was that Liu Taozi would surrender to the enemy.

Among the military households at the border, there were not only his own family members, but also the family members of the pseudo-Zhou.
The military rations for the Pseudo-Zhou have always been relatively sufficient. With these two combined, there would be no need to fight for the throne of the Great Qi.

He Shikai came to the border this time with two purposes. The first was to restrict Liu Taozi's continued development, disrupt his exchanges with Shuozhou and Hengzhou, and isolate him!
The second is to try to appease Liu Taozi, so that he won't do anything desperate.

He Shikai rubbed his hands, thinking constantly in his mind how to tame the tiger.

He was quite excited.

He quite enjoyed this feeling.

The next day, at daybreak, everyone continued on their journey.

The official road led to the distance, and there were gradually more dense forests on both sides. He Shikai was riding a horse and could vaguely sense some malicious prying eyes from the dense forests on both sides.

Fortunately, there are not many dense forests here, and we walked through them in a short while.

The wild dog disappeared from the hillside not far away with the bone in its mouth. The crows cried loudly but could not find its location.

After passing through the valley entrance, we saw a simple checkpoint.

There was no checkpoint here originally. Of course, it can’t be considered a checkpoint now. It is just a simple fence and chevaux de frise, with soldiers setting up camp here.

On the opposite side, there was also a fence with several soldiers standing guard around it.

The two sides faced each other, their faces solemn, their hands on their knives, their eyes unfriendly.

He Shikai and others showed their pass and were allowed to pass. The general guarding the pass said in a muffled voice: "There are bandits and robbers in the north, everyone, please be careful!"

He Shikai smiled and nodded, officially stepping into Beishuo's territory.

A border soldier stopped them, checked the passage, and then sent someone to take them there.

He Shikai was a little surprised. He didn't expect that these border people were so polite and actually sent people to escort him.

Walking on the road, you can see many saplings on both sides. Those saplings are planted at fixed intervals, but they are not like road protection forests and are not that dense. Looking around, the saplings extend all the way. He Shikai smiled and asked the escorting soldier, but the soldier didn't say anything, as if he couldn't hear anything.

After walking for a long time, we saw a group of busy people in the distance. They were repairing the village.

When we arrived at the river, we saw some people apparently dredging silt, and in the distance a brand new arrow tower rose from the ground.

The deputy general from the big city looked disdainful and raised his head high.

He Shikai's face became increasingly serious.

Since he stepped into Beishuo, he no longer saw beggars along the road, nor did he see wild dogs holding bones. All he saw was a group of busy people.

Everyone was busy and seemed to be doing something.

But what really made He Shikai feel uneasy was that he did not see any officials holding whips or knights holding crossbows next to those people who were doing the work.

He felt something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

The further you go, the more lively Beishu becomes.

In many places, you can see newly built villages and castles, people busy working on the farmland, and shepherds pulling oxen passing by in the distance.

He Shikai finally couldn't help it. He pulled the general beside him and asked in a low voice: "Where did he get so many things?"

"what?"

"Who?"

"General Liu Liu, this place is the most barren. Where did he get so much money and food? He is building large-scale projects everywhere. There is no idle land along the way. Where did he get so much money and food?"

The deputy general hesitated for a moment and said, "I guess I robbed him."

"When he first took office, many people came from Beishuo, saying that Liu Taozi sent evil officials to confiscate homes and kill people everywhere. He destroyed all the temples in Beishuo, leaving only one small temple."

“They were all stolen.”

He Shikai's expression eased a little.

He looked at the desolate land around him again, and his heartbeat was not as fast as before.

If we just rely on robbing, it will be a one-time deal and cannot be sustained. If we use it for construction now, we will not be able to sustain it in the future, and we will not be able to develop to the point of being self-sufficient. That's easy to say.

They passed through many new towns and villages along the way.

Of course, these cannot be considered cities. With a good warhorse, one can jump over their walls.

However, it was much more lively than before, with people coming and going. Some people were sitting at the door to rest. When they saw the distinguished people passing by, they were not afraid at all and pointed and talked about something.

The deputy general was furious and was about to draw his sword.

"General, this is Beishuo. Beishuo is not Shuo. Indiscriminate killing is not allowed here."

The knight who led the way for them suddenly spoke.

He Shikai was stunned, damn it.

You can talk, kid?!

The deputy general looked at the knight and became even more angry. He drew his sword and said, "Does Beishuo not follow the laws of the Great Qi?"

"Go ahead."

"The Great Qi Law does not stipulate that others cannot look at you when you are walking."

"Hahaha, I think you are deliberately going against us. It was like this in Jinhe and it is still the same now!!"

Just as the two were roaring, the villagers in the distance suddenly stood up and ran back to the village.

After a while, a group of people rushed out, there were more than sixty of them. They could not be called armored soldiers because they were not wearing armor, but they had weapons. Among them were three powerful crossbows, which were aimed at He Shikai and others.

After them, more than a hundred young and strong men came out with hoes, stones and sticks, and surrounded them tightly.

The general never dreamed that one day he would be surrounded by a group of auxiliary soldiers and civilians! !

He was so angry that he yelled, "Come on, if you have the ability, go ahead"

He Shikai hurried forward and stopped him, "General, calm down, calm down. This is what the governor has told you to do. Do you want to disobey his orders?"

Only after hearing Huluxian's name did the deputy general calm down his anger.

He Shikai apologized to the knight and wanted to give him some money, but the knight did not accept it. He came forward and asked everyone to disperse, and then led them to move on.

The deputy general stopped talking, just pursed his lips with a fierce look in his eyes.

He Shikai's expression wasn't much better either.

If this continues, the frontier will know the general but not the imperial court.
Wuchuan.

The streets were particularly noisy, with knights riding their horses galloping past from time to time.

He Shikai took a deep breath and looked at the general beside him.

"General, General Liu is a hot-tempered person. You can just sit aside for a while. Don't get angry, and don't get into any conflict with him!"

"I'm really worried that the general will suffer a loss!"

The deputy general was furious, "No matter how many people he has, he can't scare me!!" "I am not afraid of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, so why should I be afraid of Anxi?!"

He Shikai's face was full of worry, but he was quite relieved in his heart. This was exactly the effect he wanted. He had originally wanted to cause some minor confrontation, but now it seemed that he didn't need to say anything more.

He Shikai led him and strode into the government office.

This was his second time coming here, and the changes were so great that even He Shikai found it hard to accept.

The government office was not luxurious, nor was it as majestic and spacious as those in the Central Plains, but there were just as many officials inside. As soon as you walked in, you could hear noise coming from all over the place, and it seemed that every room was packed with officials.

The officials at the door were piled together and had to queue up to leave.

They were brought to the front of the house and two soldiers opened the door for them.

He Shikai took a deep breath, repeated the words in his mind, and then walked quickly into the house.

"He Shikai pays homage to General Anxi!!"

"The general is so wise and brave, how dare I disrespect him in the past!!"

He Shikai raised his head, said nothing, and slapped himself hard.

"Crack~~"

The sound was extremely loud, and the face turned red instantly. The slap mark remained on the face, and He Shikai felt a little dizzy.

For a moment, the house was extremely quiet.

He Shikai slowly looked up, but saw a scholar. The scholar looked at He Shikai blankly, and He Shikai looked at the scholar in astonishment.

The two looked at each other for a moment, and He Shikai just asked: "Where is General Anxi?"

"The general hasn't arrived yet. You have to wait a while."

He Shikai's lips trembled, "Okay."

The scholar left in a hurry. He Shikai stood up and looked back at the deputy general beside him. The deputy general was also stunned at this moment. He looked at He Shikai in disbelief, cleared his throat, and said, "You don't have to be so afraid."

"Um"

He Shikai nodded.

After a long time, the door was pushed open and a tall and strong man pushed it open and walked in. He stood there, almost blocking the door. He walked quickly towards He Shikai and the other man with a fierce look.

The person who came was Liu Taozi!
Behind him were a few trusted aides who followed him in.

He Shikai organized his emotions and bowed deeply to Liu Taozi.

"He Shikai pays homage to General Anxi!!"

"I dared to be disrespectful to the general in the past. I really deserve to be punished!!"

"Crack~~~"

He Shikai raised his hand and struck again without holding back at all.

The burning pain finally made his face symmetrical.

Liu Taozi walked between the two of them, went straight to the upper seat and sat down. His confidants stood beside him, and He Shikai hurriedly adjusted the direction of his salute.

Liu Taozi looked at He Shikai in front of him without saying anything.

Yao Xiong suddenly smiled and said, "Hegong has been eating well recently. His face has become a lot fatter."

He Shikai gave an awkward smile.

Yao Xiong suddenly looked at the general standing beside him and shouted, "Who the hell are you?! How dare you not bow to General Anxi of Daqi?!"

He Shikai was delighted and secretly looked around.

"General Gao Changshi pays his respects to General Anxi!!"

The deputy general suddenly knelt down in front of Liu Taozi, and his manner of greeting was much more formal than that of He Shikai.

He Shikai's eyes widened. General Huluxian was a fierce general, but his trusted personal guard leader had such a character? ?

Tian Zili said quickly: "No need to do that. My general hates those complicated etiquettes the most."

Liu Taozi motioned for everyone to sit down. He Shikai and the general sat on the left, while Yao Xiong and Tian Zilie sat on the right.

Liu Taozi looked at He Shikai and asked, "Why did you come to see me?"

He Shikai was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "I am here to see the general on the orders of my great king."

"Oh, so what does your king want to do?"

He Shikai had met many people over the years, but no one was like Liu Taozi, who didn't exchange small talk or be polite, but directly asked about the purpose of the visit.

He Shikai had no choice but to say, "General, I want to talk to you alone."

Liu Taozi waved his hand and asked the soldiers to take the deputy general to rest. Yao Xiong and Tian Zilie remained here.

He Shikai had no choice but to continue:

"The king knows that there were some misunderstandings in the past, so he sent me here to clear them up."

"My king loves you very much. You probably saw it when you went to Yecheng before."

"The king personally welcomed him and hosted a banquet for him, even at the cost of offending others."

"The king is a straightforward person, and so is the general. So I will be a straightforward person too. The king sent me here to make peace with the general."

"The Queen Mother detained the King in the palace. The King was of course very angry, but he said that he knew you did this for your monarch. When he thought that the General could do this for his monarch, he liked the General even more and felt that the General was a subordinate he could trust."

"The king once said to me: He is willing to be Xiaobai, and the general can be Guan Zhong."

Liu Taozi looked at him calmly, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. There is no personal grudge between you and me. We each serve our own master. You may go back now."

He Shikai was quite helpless, so he had to explain it more clearly.

"General, His Majesty is seriously ill."

"And the prince is less than ten years old."

"If your majesty dies, who will inherit the throne?!"

Liu Taozi looked at him and said, "It's still unknown."

He Shikai stood up suddenly, "Only my king!"

"My king is the legitimate son, and he is also a man of great talent and strategy. All the officials in the court admire him, and the nobles all associate with him! Apart from him, who else is qualified?!"

He Shikai looked at Liu Taozi again, "General, if you are willing to support my king to ascend to the throne, the future will be limitless!"

Liu Taozi calmly replied: "This is the emperor's family affair."

"I have already informed the king that outsiders do not interfere in family affairs."

He Shikai nodded, "Then you just wait and see here. As long as you don't oppose, you will be my king's man."

"General, my king thinks highly of you."

"He rewarded General Liu with a lot of money and property, because your official rank is equal to his. In order to maintain etiquette, he also submitted a petition to the imperial court to promote him. At that time, he was the same as the third official, and he was already the first rank."

"As for those who are friendly with you, Lu Qubing, Shi Yao, Dugu, Cheng Zhe and others, my king also commended them one by one, gave them rewards, and sent soldiers to protect them."

"And your hometown, Zhangjia Village, the king has sent people there many times. The village officials there said they wanted to send the people there, but my king thought it was inappropriate because the journey was too long. Those people were either old or young, how could they travel so far?"

"The king specially sent some money and rewards, and also sent people to protect them."

The next moment, Yao Xiong stood up suddenly, his face fierce, "I'll enter you"

Tian Zili hurriedly grabbed him and sneered, "Is Prince Changguang planning to use these people to hold the general hostage? To intimidate the general?"

"Do you really think my general cares about those people? Using a few untouchables to threaten the general is ridiculous!!"

He Shikai was horrified. "What are you talking about? How dare I threaten you? You have made too many enemies in the country. My king wants to protect them. General, you misunderstood! Misunderstood!"

Liu Taozi looked at him, the corner of her left eye twitched, and a hint of ferocity flashed in her eyes.

He stood up and looked at Yao Xiong beside him, "Capture this man, chop off his head, and send it to Prince Changguang."

Just as He Shikai was begging for mercy, Yao Xiong pounced on him and punched him in the face. He Shikai fell to the ground immediately. Yao Xiong untied his belt and began to tie him up, then pulled out a knife and pointed it at He Shikai's neck.

He Shikai was so frightened that he cried and trembled all over.

"Please spare my life! General, please spare my life!"

Tian Zili hurried forward to stop him and said, "General, you can't turn against me so easily."

"So many people are still under Gao Zhan's control. If he rushes into action, he will definitely kill people!"

Liu Taozi waved her hand and said, "They are just some untouchables. Let him kill them."

"But this person threatened me and must die today."

Tian Zili reacted quickly and hurriedly grabbed his hand, "General, lock him up first. I'll talk to him and let him live first!!"

He Shikai cried out, "General!! It was a misunderstanding!! I won't do it again!! Spare my life!!"

(End of this chapter)