Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 218 Loyal Ministers and Rebels

Gao Anagong, with a smell of alcohol on his face, walked quickly forward accompanied by several warriors.

Gao Anagong did not allow the soldiers from Yecheng to enter the city, and arranged for them to rest outside the city.

When Gao Anagong walked out of the city accompanied by several people and walked along the path to the southernmost side, he saw the hungry and exhausted soldiers of Yecheng making fires and setting up camps to rest. The old dog was reluctant to let them live even in the parade ground.

The soldiers had stern faces and were busy. Gao Anagong came here and looked at the many soldiers in front of him with a complicated expression.

There are more than 2,000 knights here. These are elites carefully selected from Yecheng. They were Gao Zhan's subordinates when he served as the Grand Commander of the Capital.

Gao Zhan asked these people to go to Shuozhou with Gao Anagong. The purpose was very clear, which was to guard against Liu Taozi. The local army of Shuozhou alone could not compete with Liu Taozi's border troops, and these people could protect Gao Anagong from being held hostage by the local forces of Shuozhou. At the same time, as officers, they could integrate the entire Shuozhou soldiers. With more than 2,000 elite soldiers, combined with the local armed forces, it would be easy to form a combat force of tens of thousands of people.

They were indeed elite troops. Even when they were resting, they were in good order and there was no chaos. Everyone had his own division of labor. Even when they were making a fire, they did it according to the direction and a certain distance. Even without the commander's orders, they could manage themselves according to their own small organization.

Tian Zili stood beside Gao Anagong, one hand on the sword, staring at him.

The soldiers noticed Gao Anagong coming, but they didn't care and just continued to do their own things coldly. Three officers and the secretary came out and paid their respects to Gao Anagong.

"General."

Looking at the three officers in front of him, Gao Anagong suddenly fell silent.

This place is the gateway to Shuozhou. In fact, it only takes one hour to escape from here to one's own territory by riding a horse.

And the people in front of him were carefully selected elites. He had just entered the camp and checked the scale of the camp. The enemy's strength here was definitely no more than three thousand people.

If I give the order directly, the soldiers from Yecheng will cover my retreat.

Gao Anagong had a lot of thoughts in his mind.

Liu Taozi is planning a rebellion! !
A governor of Hengzhou sneaked into Shuozhou, controlled the checkpoints of various cities, and took advantage of the heavy snow in the cold winter to cut off the news to the Central Plains. Now he wants to hold me hostage and appoint officials. If this is not treason, what is it? ?

If you don't resist, you will be a bandit in the future, waiting for the government to send troops to attack you.
Seeing that Gao Anagong had remained silent, the three officers all frowned, and the leader asked, "General, is there something wrong?"

Several soldiers in the distance slowly put down the firewood in their hands, stood up, and looked over here.

Gao Anagong glanced at the several soldiers around him and saw a cold light flashing in the distance. It should be a crossbow arrow.

Tian Zili came forward with a smile and said, "Mr. Gao just drank too much wine."

He stood between Gao An'nagong and the armored soldier, and asked with a smile: "Mr. Gao, do you want me to prepare some hangover soup?"

Gao Anagong reacted suddenly, he smiled and shook his head, "No, no, I drank some wine, and the wind blew like this, and I feel a little dizzy."

He looked at the soldiers in front of him, hesitated again, and said stiffly: "Everyone, just obey this lord's orders and go to various places to garrison."

The officer frowned, looked around, and then looked at Tian Zili.

Tian Zili smiled and saluted them, "Everyone, I am Shi Daozhi, the Sima of Shuozhou! At present, the pseudo-Zhou people and the Turks frequently attack the border, and there have been many battles outside the Great Wall. At present, there is a lack of elite troops to guard the various passes, so I will trouble you."

The officer slowly returned the salute and asked again, "Mr. Gao, are you okay?"

Gao Anagong nodded, "No problem, I'll go to the admissions office."

Tian Zilie then sent people forward and issued many orders to assist in the defense. These knights were dispersed to various front-line checkpoints. They picked up the documents used for reporting, no longer set up camps, and simply led their teams away.

Gao Anagong stood there, watching these people leaving, clenching his fists tightly, with resentment in his eyes.

damn it! !

And they say they are elite!!
Just leaving like that?!

Tian Zili was very considerate and prepared food and drinks for them for the journey. It was so cold and they needed drinks to warm themselves up.

The two officers rode out, and one of them turned back, looking at Gao Anagong who was staring at them eagerly in the distance, and whispered, "I feel like something is wrong."

"Why did Gao Anagong suddenly become so well-behaved? Does he seem to have some unspeakable secret?"

"Haha, why do you care about this old dog?"

"We were escorted all the way by him, and he drove us like cattle and sheep. But more than a dozen of our brothers died during the march. With such a great achievement, what was his first sentence after arriving in Shuozhou?"

"They actually said that the Shuozhou soldiers were strong and they wanted to punish them!"

"Let us scatter to different places right now. I think this guy doesn't trust us. If he wants to use his Shuozhou soldiers, then let him use them!"

"We are at the front line, and there are many battles. There are so many opportunities to gain military merit. Why should we care about him?"

The officer who asked the question thought for a moment, nodded, and cursed: "That's right, this bastard, seriously, if he takes me out to fight, I will shoot him in the back!"

"As long as he can accomplish something great, that's good enough! Ignore him!!"

Gao Anagong stood helplessly in the strong wind, watching the elite soldiers going further and further away, completely ignoring his intentions.

It was not until they completely disappeared that Tian Zili looked at him with a smile.

"Mr. Gao."

"Tian Jun."

"Boom."

Tian Zili hit Gao Anagong's abdomen with the handle of the knife. Gao Anagong screamed, curled up his body and knelt on the ground. Tian Zili then hit him hard on the head with the handle of the knife.

"Old dog! What were you hesitating about just now?!"

"Want something big from the bad general?!"

"You dared to be rude to the general just now, do you want to die?!"

Gao Anagong fell to the ground in the snow, screaming in agony. Tian Zili had no idea how many times he had been beaten, until his head was bleeding and he lay on the ground groaning. Tian Zili then had him arrested and said fiercely, "If you dare to do it again, I will peel off your skin and let the soldiers eat it!"

Gao Anagong was really frightened at this moment.

For him, fighting in the war was something that happened many years ago. During these years, he concentrated on personal advancement, going to banquets and sleeping in bed. He had not encountered such a situation in many years.

He didn't expect that the other party would actually dare to take action, and be so brutal and merciless.

Gao Anagong was awakened by the beating, his eyes full of fear, "I won't dare to do it again! I won't dare to do it again!"

"Begging for life!!"

Tian Zili sneered and asked the soldiers on both sides to take him away. He wiped the blood off the handle of his knife and strode into the camp.

Back in the main room, Liu Taozi was writing something.

Tian Zili sat aside respectfully, "Brother, it's done. The soldiers from Yecheng have left."

"Ah."

Liu Taozi glanced at the handle of Tian Zili's knife, as if he realized something, but he didn't ask.

"You should stay in Shuozhou."

"Thank you, brother!"

"I will definitely keep an eye on Gao Anagong and won't let him have any private contact with anyone!!"

Tian Zili said seriously.

Liu Taozi shook her head calmly, "It was very cold that day, and the roads were blocked by ice and snow, so the news could be concealed. When spring comes, Yecheng will know the true situation here."

"Even if these people fail to run out and spread the word, Wei Xiaokuan will help to inform them."

Tian Zili frowned, "Brother, I thought these were not a big deal. Most of the county soldiers were Han men. In the past, they were not valued by the Xianbei generals. Many of them were forcibly captured and were no different from civilians. They were just a little better than the county soldiers in the Central Plains."

"They have special respect for their elder brother. Moreover, we distribute food and winter clothes in a timely manner, which can win their hearts."

"It's even worse for the clerks, whose treatment is worse than that of the soldiers, and eighty to ninety percent of them are Han Chinese."

"As long as we have the soldiers and officials in our hands, the rest is not worth mentioning."

Liu Taozi didn't say anything, but Tian Zili continued, "In the past, I always thought that officials were very important, but Cui Gang made me realize that officials are actually dispensable!"

"Cui Gang and Zhang Heizu captured many officials in Hengzhou and sent them to govern the local area. Without the intervention of officials, the officials were still able to do their jobs and they were able to do them very well. The local area was under their control."

“It’s not that we don’t need officials.”

"But it's better not to have these officials in Da Qi."

Liu Taozi put away the document in front of him, put it aside, and looked at Tian Zili, "I'll let Kou Liu stay to assist you." Tian Zili hurriedly said, "Brother, no need. The battle with Yang Zhong is imminent, and I am enough. Let Kou Liu stay with you."

"Zhang Heizu is currently leading his troops to Hengzhou, and Yao Xiong is in Beiheng fighting against the Turks. If Kouliu stays here, won't there be no one around you, brother?"

Liu Taozi shook her head gently, "No problem."

"It's already the first month of the year, Yang Zhong has no chance to send out troops."

"You must seize this time. This is your first time to govern a large state. Read Yang Gong's book more and fill in the gaps."

"The most important thing is not to treat others with prejudice. Among the Hu people, there are people like Hulugu, and among the Han people, there are people like Han Jinming."

"only!!"

Liu Taozi called a knight, handed him the letter, and asked him to deliver it to Yecheng. Then he stood up and was about to leave.

Gao Anagong got what he wanted and sat in the carriage, no longer having to suffer the wind and frost. Liu Taozi rode a green lion, and Tian Zilie followed behind him, and they set off towards Zhaoyuan together.

The blue lion took big strides, walking in the front, taking the lead.

The roads were clear and clean with little snow, no high banks of stinking dirt piled high up.

Although there are no high slopes covered with snow and soil, you can still see some graves from time to time along the road.

There were traces of fresh earth-moving on the ground, and endless grave mounds were concentrated at some important intersections, where there were usually paths leading to distant villages and towns.

Thick smoke can be seen from time to time outside the villages and towns in the distance.

After walking for a long time, we arrived at Sanggan County at the foot of Yinshan Mountain.

Outside the county town, there were heads hanging everywhere.

The heads on the city wall were strung together and were now fluttering in the wind.

There were knights escorting the crowd, frequently walking out of the city. Just outside the city, a ditch was dug on the ground in front of a stable. The people were escorted here, knelt in front of the ditch, and were chopped off with a knife. Their heads fell off and their bodies were thrown into the ditch.

Some people collapsed, screaming and cursing, some cried and begged for mercy, and some said nothing.

The soldiers here cooperated very well. Some escorted, some wielded swords, some buried the bodies, and some dealt with the heads.

It was extremely lively outside the city, with heads falling every moment.

When the soldiers discovered the approaching army, they immediately reported it to their superiors, and soon an officer came hurriedly to pay them a visit.

"General!!"

The visitor was Liu Chengcai. He greeted Liu Taozi and said, "Another rebellion has been quelled in the city, and the mastermind is being executed."

Before Liu Taozi could even open her mouth, Tian Zili rode out on his horse and asked, "Who is plotting a rebellion?!"

"Three major families in the city, Zhang, Dugu, and Lu, used their private soldiers and servants to attack government offices and the city gates, but I took them down."

"Oh, I'm still too merciful to them."

He looked at Liu Taozi standing aside and said, "Brother, you shouldn't collect supplies. You should just kill them and exterminate their clan!"

Liu Chengcai laughed, "I have wiped out their clan and also dug out two places where they hid money and food. It's enough for the whole city to eat for many years!!"

Tian Zili looked at Liu Taozi and said, "Brother, please go into the office first and I will handle it."

Liu Taozi led the others into the city, while Tian Zilie asked Liu Chengcai about the rebellion here.

Once you enter the city, you can see soldiers walking around from time to time. Some of them are walking around with knives in their hands, and blood can be seen on the blades. From time to time, they would pick out a few people and take them out of the city.

But when we arrived at the government office in the south of the city, it was packed with people.

The people completely blocked all the roads, and no one was able to enter or leave.

The scene was noisy, with people crowded together, and from time to time the angry roars of the scattered officials could be heard.

Liu Taozi rode on a war horse and could see very far.

Outside the government office, many clerks were seen, some of whom were taking notes, while others were distributing winter clothes and firewood. Shuozhou had suffered several heavy snowstorms since the beginning of winter, and Sanggan was the worst hit.

It is still the same routine, verifying the identity of the visitor in detail, and then distributing materials and granting arable land.

The scattered officials were all receiving and distributing the gifts, and there were soldiers maintaining order to ensure that there would be no looting.

The Equal Field System promoted by Gao Yun was rarely implemented in Shuozhou. Everything remained the same, and the officials under Liu Taozi were quite familiar with this system.

But there are also differences.

When the official was handing out the gifts, he actually said directly: "These are all granted by my General Anxi. From now on, this place will be under the jurisdiction of my general. If the county government issues an order to implement various matters within and outside the county, it will be good governance! You must not be afraid!"

The old farmer carried the cloth on his back, his face flushed red, perhaps because of the cold or excitement. He nodded repeatedly in response to the official's instructions.

"I know, I know!"

"Long live the general!!"

Sanli's stern face also relaxed a little, and he smiled and nodded, "Just remember it."

Liu Taozi was watching this scene when Tian Zili hurried over. He had finished his work outside the city and had given instructions. He looked at Liu Taozi and then at the crowded crowd in the distance. "How did you do that? You let me wait here. I'll go now."

"Zili."

Liu Taozi stopped him and asked, "The clerk said that we were saved by the general. Was it you who ordered it?"

Tian Zili immediately panicked, feeling ashamed of being caught stealing. He hurriedly explained, "Brother, I don't have any other intentions. I just want to appease the people."

"Outside the Great Wall, the people trust the government. No matter what orders we give, they rush to do them."

"But Shuozhou and Hengzhou are both large states with a large population. When there are many people, there are many ideas. When we issue an order, they all run away and are unwilling to get close to the government office. So I asked everyone to bring up their brother's name. They may have heard of your name, and when they heard that you were General Anxi, they were willing to obey and had absolutely no other ideas."

Liu Taozi was silent for a moment, "You are still a little too impatient."

"Brother! I was not wrong. You were the one who distributed these. Otherwise, how could you say that it was Gao Zhan who distributed them? He even swallowed up the supplies of the border soldiers!"

"The same is true for the garrisons in Beishuo and Beiheng! They all know that the new emperor did not provide them with supplies, so the general went to Shuozhou to get them back!"

"The late emperor has indeed been kind to us, and the things were indeed distributed by him. I think it is right for the people to accept his kindness!"

"But what is Gao Zhan?"

Tian Zili had no respect for the new emperor in his eyes. He said unhappily, "Brother, we are in charge of four states now. With Shuozhou and Hengzhou, we can solve most of the food and material problems. Shuozhou and Hengzhou have plenty of arable land, but they didn't pay taxes in the past, so they are poor!"

"Now that these cultivated lands are inhabited by civilians, the mines dare not fail to deliver finished products. By next year, we will have food, iron, horses, and the Han soldiers will be almost fully trained. Why should we be afraid of him?!"

Liu Taozi said softly: "The reason why we are able to succeed so smoothly is not because we are strong, nor because the enemy is too weak."

"It's because we are doing good. I have no selfish motives. Everything I do is for the country."

"So even though there are capable fighters like Duan Shao, Hulugu, and Gao Changgong, they are unwilling to go against me. They pretend to know nothing and allow us to do whatever we want."

"Gao Yu will directly approve the officials I recommend, and will also find a way to send good officials to help us."

"As long as I have no intention of rebellion and everything I do is for the country, they can pretend not to know about many things and may even help me privately."

"But what you are doing now will destroy the current situation."

Tian Zili was stunned for a moment, then he sighed and lowered his head.

"Brother, I know I was wrong."

"I am too proud. I will give the order right now and ask them to change their name to "the grace of the temple."

Liu Taozi looked at Tian Zili, who was looking very depressed, and suddenly said:
"In fact, although most people have never been to school, they know what is good and what is bad."

"Even if they don't say it, they probably understand it in their hearts."

"It is better to do one thing for them than to say a hundred words to them."

Tian Zili suddenly raised his head.

"only!!"

(End of this chapter)