Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 216 Go Get It
The Zhou knights galloped on their horses.

The sound of bowstrings continued to come from behind, and with the screams, the number of knights continued to decrease.

On the side, you can see a towering mountain. The road at the foot of the mountain is rugged and narrow. If the warhorse takes a few more steps to the right, it will fall off the mountain road and leave no trace.

The leader had a serious expression on his face and was running at full speed. He didn't dare to look back, but just shouted again, asking everyone to throw away anything that would affect their speed and flee at full speed.

They had already gotten what they wanted, and the rest didn't matter.

They took off their armor and threw away their weapons, and as expected, they once again distanced themselves from the pursuers behind them.

Just as they were about to go around a rugged mountain road again and rush down the mountain to return to their own territory, dozens of cavalrymen appeared at a distant intersection. They completely blocked the narrow intersection in front of them. Those people were all wearing heavy armor and holding bows and crossbows, aiming in their direction.

At this moment, the leader was in despair.

He roared and attacked the enemies that stood in his way.

However, they were unprotected and were no more than cattle and sheep to be slaughtered when facing the crossbows. A round of arrows flew out and the knights fell to the ground with screams. A few of them who were unwilling to be captured jumped off the cliff on their horses.

After a while, there were no more enemies on the mountain path.

The pursuers came to meet them.

The commander of the pursuing troops, Li Qihu, saw the knights blocking the road in the distance, and hurriedly reined in his horse, jumped off his horse in a hurry, walked forward a few steps, and bowed his head to salute.

"General!!"

The many knights behind him were horrified and dismounted to salute.

"General!!!"

In the border town, there is only one general, and he does not need to be given a prefix.

Liu Taozi rode on the green lion, his face calm, and put away the bow: "Get up."

"The thief was found in the White Horse?"

"They were discovered by civilians near Huguan Pass. The Huguan Commander sent someone to ask for help from my subordinates, and I chased them here."

"Get on the horse now."

"only!!"

Li Qihu got on his warhorse and ordered his men to check the bodies and search for clues on them. He then rode to Liu Taozi's side. Liu Taozi led him forward and pointed his whip in the distance, "Do you know where that is?"

Li Qihu looked in the direction Liu Taozi pointed, and then nodded quickly, "General, I know there used to be a fort there, called Wangshan Fort, which was quite large, but it was burned down in the war, and no one has settled there since then."

As he was speaking, he suddenly saw thick smoke billowing from that side.

Li Qihu was stunned. "Zhou people?"

Liu Taozi nodded and said, "Yang Zhong's vanguard troops have set up camps over there, not just here, but also in Jinhe, Wanshou, Huaishuo, and even in Wuchuan and Huaihuang."

"They are just civilians. They don't even try to hide their identities. They set up camp right in front of us."

"You have been here for many years. I want to ask you, is there any mountain path around Wangshan Fort that outsiders don't know about?"

Li Qihu shook his head seriously, "Never heard of it."

"Then why did he set up a camp at Wangshan Fort? This place is sandwiched between Wanshou and Baima, but it is not a must-go place. The terrain is high and not close to water sources. Once the war starts, no matter how high the fort is built, as long as the two mountain passes are blocked, they can be annihilated."

"Lure the general to attack."

Li Qihu said without hesitation: "Yang Zhong has always been known for his swiftness in battle. He rarely uses the tactic of setting up camps and attacking steadily. He doesn't want to set up camps at all. He just wants to force the general to attack and attack his civilians and troops."

Liu Taozi looked at the distance calmly without saying anything.

After a while, Liu Taozi looked at Li Qihu and said, "You have done a great job in Baima Fort. Your troops have captured the most scouts. I recommend you as the commander of the fort. You must not neglect it."

"Thank you, General!!"

Li Qihu saluted again.

Liu Taozi led many knights, turned around and disappeared in the distance.

The training ground outside Jinhe.

As soon as Liu Taozi arrived on horseback, Tian Zilie hurried forward and took the Green Lion. Liu Taozi dismounted, and Tian Zilie handed the Green Lion to another person, then hurriedly followed Liu Taozi into the tent.

Tian Zili frowned, his expression extremely solemn.

"Brother, the Zhou people have sent more people, and they are now building fortifications outside the Jin River."

Liu Taozi spoke up, "Don't panic, let's go in and talk."

Tian Zili did not say anything else. The two entered the camp and returned to the main tent. An armored soldier took off Liu Taozi's armor. Tian Zili then said, "Brother, disasters keep happening."

"Our backer has collapsed."

"The enemy has become the supreme ruler of the world."

"Yang Zhong is pressing forward step by step, and seems ready to send troops at any time."

Tian Zili's face looked a little dull and his voice became lower and lower.

There was a strong cold wind outside, as if to encourage his words. The whole tent was shaking, and the sound of the wind outside was like the howling of ghosts and wolves.

Liu Taozi had taken off his armor and sat down at his desk. He picked up a few documents in front of him, looked at them for a moment, and then asked, "Has Cui Gang arrived in Hengzhou?"

Tian Zili finally came to his senses and hurried over to sit down next to Liu Taozi.

"When he arrived, he brought more officials with him. Now, all places in Hengzhou are our officials."

“The orders are being implemented gradually.”

"Are there enough officials?"

"We have recruited a large number of students from the local area. In ten days, another group of students will be able to take the exam. We will send them as well. There will be enough for us."

Liu Taozi nodded and continued to look through the documents, but Tian Zili could not help but asked, "Brother, what about Yang Zhong?"

"He wants to send troops, but judging from the current situation, Yuwen Hu will not allow it."

"He built camps everywhere, some of which were real and some of which were fake. He wanted to disperse our forces and make it difficult for us to figure out where he was going. He also wanted to lure us into sending troops so that he would have a reason to write to Yuwen Hu again."

Tian Zili asked again: "Brother, should we help?"

"Yang Zhong set up camps in various places, and the soldiers were all on alert. Officials from various places frequently wrote to the emperor, saying that there was unrest in the city."

Liu Taozi slowly put away the documents in front of her.

"Don't worry, wait for Kouliu to come back first."

Tian Zili had a bitter look on his face. He shook his head and said, "Alas, our petition to the imperial court was not approved. None of the people you praised for their achievements were promoted. Gao Zhan's words and deeds are inconsistent. This guy will harm my brother sooner or later."

Liu Taozi ignored him and Tian Zilie had no choice but to get up and continue with his work.

After walking out of the main tent, Tian Zili was still worried.

At the beginning, he thought that they should take advantage of the fact that Gao Zhan had not yet ascended the throne to attack Jinyang directly, but Cui Gang disagreed. Now, there are enemies all over the north and south. With a powerful enemy at the door, there is no one he can rely on inside.

Tian Zilie returned to his tent and led many military officers to start preparing for this year's winter.

After Gao Zhan came to power, food and winter clothes were still distributed on time, but the needs of the auxiliary troops were withheld a lot, far less than when Gao Yan was in office. It seems that by next year, the government will give even less, which is a disguised way of weakening their own power, but they are powerless to do anything about it.

Tian Zilie sat in the tent, calculating this year's consumption and his own reserves over and over again. He led his men to calculate several times in a row and came to extremely bad conclusions.

Sitting in the tent, he felt that his breathing was not smooth, as if something was blocking his throat and making him feel very stuffy. He asked his subordinates to continue working while he went out of the tent. The cold wind from outside the Great Wall made him much more sober.

"This cold winter is going to be hard to endure."

At this moment, there was a noise in the distance. Tian Zilie looked up and saw Kou Liu leading a group of people and riding horses towards them.

Kou Liu's face turned red as he rode his horse forward, almost bumping into Tian Zili who was running towards him.

He suddenly jumped off the horse, and Tian Zili asked hurriedly: "How is it? Have the winter supplies been delivered?"

Kou Liu's face suddenly turned ferocious, and Tian Zili then realized that his blushing was not just due to the cold.

"Detained!"

“They are all in Shuozhou!!”

"what?!"

Tian Zili was furious, "Huo Luxian is going too far!!"

"cough"

Someone cleared his throat and walked out from Kou Liu's side. The man was wearing a thick cloak and raised his head.

Kou Liu suppressed his anger and introduced: "This is General Hulu."

The three of them came to Liu Taozi's tent again.

Even after Tian Zili learned the other party's identity, he did not give him a good look.

When Huluxian walked into the tent, he couldn't help laughing. Liu Taozi stood up and was about to salute, but Huluxian helped him up and said, "We are family, why should we be polite?"

"After some time, when you and my niece get married, you have to call me uncle!"

Kou Liu interrupted him directly and said bluntly: "Brother, this year's winter clothes and other items are said to have been put into the Shuozhou warehouse and will not be distributed." Liu Taozi nodded, "You should go and rest first."

Kou Liu took out a few letters from his sleeve, placed them in front of Liu Taozi without any explanation, turned around and left. Tian Zili pondered for a moment, then followed him and did not stay.

After the two of them came out, Tian Zili hurriedly asked, "Why is he here? Can he leave Shuozhou privately?"

Kou Liu shook his head. "I don't know either. I met him on the way. I thought they were suspicious, so I wanted to subdue him, and I met him. I met him on my way back from my mission to the Pseudo-Zhou with my brother."

At this moment, Huluxian sat with Liu Taozi. He rubbed his red, frozen hands and said with a smile, "Your subordinates are really amazing!"

“Even I was caught by them!”

"I originally wanted to sneak in and meet you, but I was discovered and captured so easily."

"I've completely lost face."

"My dear brother and nephew."

Huluxian changed his words and said seriously: "I swear to God, I really didn't see any winter clothes or charcoal sent to the border."

Huluxian said seriously, "The messengers who were transporting supplies did come to Shuozhou, but their carriages were empty. There was nothing in them. They left someone to pass on a message for them and then went back directly. I still can't find them!"

"Also, there is something very important."

"I am no longer the governor of Shuozhou."

Huluxian took out an imperial edict and threw it in front of Liu Taozi, "There are also thieves in Luoyang who are ready to make a move. I have been sent there to resist the Zhou people."

Liu Taozi glanced at the imperial edict and asked, "When was the edict issued?"

Huluxian grinned, "You're right."

"The imperial edict was issued ten days ago, and the supplies were delivered five days ago."

"When the messenger brought the imperial edict, he was very anxious and urged me to set off early. It seemed that the Zhou people were about to attack Yecheng. I was cautious at the time and said that I was not in good health and wanted to go by car and rest along the way. I couldn't be too anxious. The messenger agreed."

"As expected, once I left Shuozhou, it became Shuozhou that swallowed up the food and grass that I had given you."

"Fortunately I didn't just ride away, otherwise I wouldn't be able to wash myself clean even if I jumped into the river."

"I came here specifically to make it clear to you that this matter has nothing to do with me!"

Listening to Huluxian's words, Liu Taozi slowly said:
"Thank you."

The tent became somewhat quiet, and the strong wind outside seemed to be getting stronger and stronger, constantly pulling at the entire tent.

The two people in the room did not move at all.

Huluxian looked ahead dimly, and after a long silence, he suddenly said, "Sometimes, I really can't figure it out."

“But I don’t want to find out.”

"Too much trouble, too complicated, too disgusting."

"I just want to win a few battles, be awarded an official title, and leave my name in history. I don't want to get involved in other things, but I can't help but get caught up in this mess."

"I like you very much. I hate Wei Xiaokuan, but you can make him suffer a great loss!"

"But, since you and I are related and we live in two neighboring states, I dare not get close to you. If we have frequent exchanges, I will lose my official position, just like now."

Liu Taozi looked towards the door, "Zili."

Tian Zili walked in quickly.

"Prepare some drinks."

"what?"

Tian Zili was a little surprised, but still hurried out to prepare.

Liu Taozi looked at Huluxian and said, "General, since you are no longer a governor, it is a good time for you to have some wine."

Huluxian was very happy.

The two of them drank heavily for a long time, until they were hot all over and their conversation was no longer so unfamiliar. Huluxian suddenly smashed the wine cup on the table and cursed: "Damn it, isn't this just framing me?!"

"Which beast came up with this plan?"

"I have become a villain who covets border supplies. You can't send out supplies. I don't know how many people will die. In the end, they will all be controlled by the government!"

“Disgusting!!”

Huluxian took another sip of wine and looked at Liu Taozi standing beside him. "These bastards will get their comeuppance sooner or later!"

Liu Taozi took a sip of wine and didn't answer.

Huluxian reeked of alcohol, but his eyes were determined. "My dear brother, I didn't come to you this time to ask for your help!"

"I'm not complaining to you!"

"Although I don't have the talent of my brother, I am not someone who can be bullied. If someone wants to ruin my reputation and make me bear the blame, I will never do it!"

"I just came to tell you that I wasn't the one who did this. Just remember that."

"After I return to Yecheng this time, if someone uses this to frame me, I will explain myself. The first thing I want to explain is to you. This is not something I did!"

Liu Taozi nodded, "I understand."

Huluxian was filled with anger, but had no place to vent it at the moment, so he could only continue drinking. However, the more he drank, the angrier he became.

I don't know how much wine he drank, but Huluxian fell to the ground drunk, gasping for breath, and kept cursing. I don't know who he was cursing, but his curses were indeed ugly.

Liu Taozi called his subordinates and took Huluxian away to take care of him.

Tian Zilie stood at the door and watched several soldiers carry Huluxian out, then he hurried into the tent.

At this time, Liu Taozi was still sitting at the desk with a calm face, reading the letter that Kou Liu had just sent in, and he did not look drunk at all.

"Huo Lüxian has been transferred to another place, and Gao Zhan has sent a new governor."

Liu Taozi looked at the letter and said slowly.

Tian Zili was stunned and hurried forward, "Brother? Who did you send?"

"Is it King Lou or King Lanling?"

"Gao Ana Gong."

"who??"

Liu Taozi handed the letter to Tian Zilie. Tian Zilie looked at it for a few seconds and the veins on his forehead couldn't help but jump.

"What a Gao Zhan! He just ascended the throne and he already wants to kill his brother!!"

The letter in Tian Zilie's hand came from Yecheng and was a secret report from Zheng Daoqian.

Zheng Daoqian reported three situations in detail in the letter.

The first one was that Gao Zhan gathered everyone together to predict the good or bad consequences of murdering General Anxi.

The second is that Gao Zhan sent Gao Anagong to serve as the governor of Shuozhou. This person came to Shuozhou to weaken Liu Taozi and find a way to kill Liu Taozi.

The third one is that Gao Zhan recently promoted a man named Zu Ting. This man is extremely weird, very evil, and always does bad things. He hopes that Wuchuan can send someone to get rid of him.

After reading this, Tian Zili was furious, "Brother! We can't wait any longer!"

"Let's raise an army!"

Liu Taozi looked at the document in her hand.

"It's not yet time."

Tian Zili hurriedly said, "Brother, they have already begun to weaken us. They have not even sent us winter supplies. It is clear that they want to starve our people and soldiers to death!!"

"There will be more and more cases like this in the future. Instead of waiting for them to slaughter us one by one, it is better to take action first!"

Liu Taozi glanced at him and asked, "Who said the temple didn't distribute winter supplies?"

"The government clearly distributed the money, and the carriages entered Shuozhou. Kou Liu saw it with his own eyes."

Tian Zili was stunned, "What do you mean, brother?"

"The traitors in Shuozhou have withheld the grain that Your Majesty has distributed to the border. If I don't seek revenge on the traitors in Shuozhou, do I have to raise an army to cause chaos?"

The anger on Tian Zili's face disappeared immediately, "Brother, are you going to rob and take back the supplies from Shuozhou?"

Tian Zili stroked his beard and murmured, "Yes, Huluxian is gone, and Gao and others haven't come yet. Shuozhou is not prepared now. Besides, Shuozhou has the most powerful families, and the winter supplies are abundant. Now Shuozhou is just an empty city, right? There are no generals and no one to command."

"Brother, let me go!"

"No need."

"This time, I'll go there myself."

"It's just right. I can also meet Gao Anagong who is related to Zhang Zhiyong."

(End of this chapter)