Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 227 Poisoner
Jizhou.

"kill!!"

Lou Rui raised his lance high, pointed it forward, and the knights charged forward.

At this moment, the entire city was shaking. The city gate had long been breached, and the knights fought their way in. The soldiers they met along the way had no time to resist and were killed one after another. The knights just stepped over these corpses and killed their way to the government office.

The knights attacked everywhere. Some armored soldiers broke open the gates of the courtyards on both sides and rushed in with a grim smile. A moment later, they came out with several heads in their hands. The courtyard was silent.

There were cries and shouts everywhere, and suddenly there were several big fires with blazing flames.

Lou Rui triumphantly led his soldiers into the city. This was a small town, very close to Xindu. As Lou Rui walked on the road, screams never stopped. The knights kept attacking the courtyards, and the cries of women were heard.

The generals remained unmoved.

Soldiers need to vent when fighting.

Generally speaking, after a city is captured, looting, murder, and rape are normal occurrences as long as the general does not order them to be stopped, and the generals generally will not stop them, using them as a reward for the soldiers and as a punishment for those who participated in the rebellion.

Who asked you to rebel against the government?
It is right to be treated like this.

The entire city was ablaze. Under the illumination of the flames, the shadows of several generals were twisted and their faces looked even more hideous.

"I think we can take Xindu tomorrow."

"Gao Guiyan doesn't have anyone capable of fighting. If we can capture him, we will be the first to achieve great success!"

Everybody was very happy, and in this purgatory-like scene, they congratulated each other and showed off their bravery.

The fire from the city illuminated far away.

On the road in the distance, men, women, old and young supported each other, forming a long dragon.

Some were pushing carts, some were carrying children, and some were leaning on crutches. They did not dare to slow down, their faces were pale, and they just kept their heads down and hurried on their way.

The billowing smoke in the distance foreshadowed the fate of those who did not have time to escape.

They didn't dare to stay any longer. The smell of blood mixed with the smell of burning could be smelled clearly even from a distance.

The child kept crying, and the man's face was as stiff as iron. He just walked on the road, carrying the crying child. An old man fell to the ground and struggled to get up. After struggling for a few times, he finally stopped moving. The man passed by him without stopping or even looking at him.

A woman sat aside in despair, screaming a nickname loudly and pulling her hair hard.

Someone was pushing a cart tremblingly, and in the small cart sat children, women, and old people.

The man was trembling all over and seemed like he was about to fall down at any moment.

The crowd was endless and huge.

Suddenly there was a cry of surprise from afar, and a knight rushed out, waving his long sword high.

Pedestrians screamed and fled in all directions.

The knight killed many people until he was tired, then he put away his sword, took the head and left.

They went on and passed several villages and towns. They were empty and uninhabited. They took away everything they could.

After passing several cities, before they got close, knights and soldiers came forward to drive them away and kill them.

They do not accept the dead.

Those scattered officials stared at the dead people in front of them, with green light flashing in their eyes.

Several people rushed forward, pulling a woman. The man rushed over, and the officers hacked him to death with their knives. They hung his head on his waist and dragged the woman away.

The flames burned fiercely, turning the place into a sea of ​​blood and corpses. Evil birds came upon hearing the sound, swooping down, biting, and tearing off large bites of flesh, before flapping their wings and flying away again. There was no end to the sea of ​​blood, and tens of thousands of hunchbacked skeletons stretched out their hands from the sea of ​​blood, but could not grab the straw that would save their lives.

The dead can only keep going.

I didn't know where my destination was, I just saw someone walking in the distance and followed him.

I don’t know where I can survive, but as long as I’m not dead now, I’m alive.

Shuozhou.

Tian Zilie stood on the city wall, frowned, and looked at the huge number of dead bodies in the distance.

The soldiers were guarding the roadside, and the dead would try to run away when they saw them, so the officials had to keep calling out to them, telling them that they were welcome here.

Jizhou is not close to Shuozhou, but they have nowhere to go.

"Thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much."

The man picked up the dry biscuit, knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the official. The official's originally irritable expression subsided a little. He waved his hand and turned to look at the next person.

Faint sobbing sounds could be heard from below the city wall.

I don’t know who started it, but the crying became louder and louder, even drowning out the voices of the officials.

Tian Zili looked into the distance in silence.

Two lines of tears quietly slid down his face.

"Mr. Tian!!"

Some officials rushed up to the city wall in a hurry, holding many documents in their hands, sweating profusely.

"Too many. More than 3,000 people came today. There were riots in Loufa Town, Erlang Town, and Bushu Village outside the city. A man was stealing in Loufa Town and three people were beaten to death by villagers. A man in Erlang Town fought with local villagers, killing six people and injuring 13. The villagers of Bushu drove the man away, and we don't know how many people were killed or injured."

Tian Zili wiped his face with his sleeve, looked at him, took the document and began to check it.

"It seems that we still need to send soldiers to guard along the way."

"Mr. Tian, ​​there is also the resettlement issue. The city is already full and there are many disturbances in the city."

The two were discussing on the city wall when there was another commotion below the city. Tian Zili looked into the distance.

A group of people appeared in the distance. They were very powerful, with knights leading the way and driving away the dead people blocking their way. They were heading towards this place, and Tian Zili was not surprised.

He already knew who the visitors were, and even knew why they came.

He quickly told the scribe to get ready and went downstairs.

When Tian Zili reached the city gate, a carriage came galloping over, scaring many people. When they arrived at the city gate, Zu Ting quickly got out of the carriage, ran to Tian Zili's side, put on some clothes, and asked, "Are you here?"

Tian Zili nodded slightly.

Zu Ting followed him out of the city. After the soldiers separated the dead, they stopped. A luxurious carriage drove out from the soldiers. Pingyang King Gao Yan got off the carriage, looked at the dead on both sides with a frown.

Zu Ting immediately stepped forward to pay his respects, "Zu Ting pays respects to the king!!"

"Tian Zi bows to the king!"

Gao Yan then looked at the two of them, "Are there so many dead?"

"The Jizhou War left tens of thousands of people homeless"

Zu Ting's eyes were red, and he couldn't help wiping away his tears. "Please forgive me, my king. We didn't wait for you to come, and we privately allowed all places to accept the deceased. The main reason was that the counties were afraid of problems and dared not accept them. We couldn't let them all die in the wild."

Gao Yan sighed, "Can we settle down?"

"Shuozhou doesn't have much food to begin with. We can still sustain it now, but in a few days, I'm afraid it won't be enough."

Gao Yan pursed his lips, and Tian Zili invited him into the city.

Although both were provincial governors, Gao Yan and Gao Anagong were treated completely differently. Gao Yan was a prince of the royal family and the brother of the current emperor. He had a very good reputation and was a generous person. In addition to his title of prince, he also held the position of Grand Tutor.

When he learned that it was he who was coming, Tian Zili felt a little uneasy.

If Gao Yan is held hostage by the old method used to deal with Gao Anagong, then the allies in the court will no longer condone it. Gao Zhan had the idea of ​​sending troops a long time ago, and those in the court dissuaded him from time to time to maintain a strange balance. Holding Gao Anagong hostage can be said to be a sign of worry about this villain. What does Gao Yan want to do by holding Gao Yan hostage? ? Holding the royal family hostage to rebel?
But if we don't take tough measures, the other party will take away the power of Shuozhou.

Several people walked into the city, and all three of them looked worried, but they were not worried about the same thing.

When he arrived at the government office, Gao Yan met with many officials there.

These officials were not directly arranged by Liu Taozi. They were all local officials. Liu Taozi cleaned out those who were not incompetent, kept some, and promoted some.

Gao Yan chatted with everyone gently and exchanged greetings.

Zu Ting stood beside Tian Zili and whispered, "Mr. Tian, ​​you must not give in."

"Shuozhou must belong to the lord. This is the foundation for achieving great things."

"Don't hold him hostage."

Tian Zili looked at Gao Yan in the distance and said calmly.

Zu Ting was a little surprised, "Mr. Tian actually wanted to hold him hostage? He is a royal family member, a real prince, how could you have such an idea?" "Don't be angry, hehehe, just watch me, among the princes, this guy is the easiest to deal with."

"Later, just follow whatever I say."

Zu Ting said a few words and rubbed his hands, not knowing what he was thinking.

Gao Yan sat in the upper seat, Zu Ting and Tian Zili sat beside him respectively, and the rest of the officials sat in the distance.

Gao Yan had a general impression of the crowd. Just as he was about to speak, Zu Ting suddenly stood up, walked to the middle, and bowed to him.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Gao Yan was not angry either, "You go ahead and talk."

"We originally stayed here because there were rebels in Shuozhou, causing unrest on the border. Now that the king has come to Shuozhou, it is time for us to leave."

"Please agree, Your Majesty, we will leave Shuozhou tomorrow."

When these words were spoken, all the officials present were somewhat surprised, not knowing what Zu Ting meant.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see how much Liu Taozi valued Shuozhou. He sent many people to Shuozhou and did a lot of things. Everyone was still thinking about how Tian Zili and Zu Ting would deal with the pressure from Gao Yan. Unexpectedly, this person said he wanted to leave as soon as he opened his mouth. Is he so decisive? ?

Gao Yan was obviously stunned. He asked in surprise, "Why are you so anxious?"

Zu Ting said seriously: "Your Majesty, in the cold winter of the year before last, the clothes, charcoal, money and grain distributed by the imperial court to the border areas were snatched away by the rebels in Shuozhou, who were also planning to collude with the pseudo-Zhou. My general had no choice but to send troops to Shuozhou, take back the things, and eliminate the traitors here."

"But at that time, Shuozhou had no governor. In order to prevent the bandits from rising again, the general arranged for us to stay here."

"After Governor Gao arrived, we assisted him in handling all matters."

"Now that the king has come to govern Shuozhou, the king's ability is known to the world. The general has nothing to worry about, so we will naturally leave."

"Your Majesty, you don't know that the general is fighting the Zhou people outside Jinhe and is short of manpower. We have arranged a lot of soldiers and many scattered officials in Shuozhou. Now is the time to take them away and return to Wuchuan to help our general."

After hearing Zu Ting's words, the officials around him were somewhat surprised. They looked at each other and their faces changed drastically.

Gao Yan didn't react yet. He stroked his beard and said, "I have really wronged General Anxi these days and made him very tired."

He was about to agree when Shi Daozhi, who was standing beside him, stood up and said, "Your Majesty!"

"You have just arrived in Shuozhou and are not familiar with the place yet. I think it would be better to let them stay for a while. Once you are familiar with the place, it will not be too late to let them leave."

Gao Yan was a little confused about the current situation.

Aren’t these officials in Shuozhou very disgusted with Tian Zili and others?
Why are these people still opposing Zu Ting when he says he wants to leave?
Zu Ting stood up and said unhappily: "What are you talking about, Shi Jun?!"

"We are outsiders, so how can we be familiar with the situation in Shuozhou? You are the officials of Shuozhou. Now that the king is here, isn't it enough for you to help him get familiar with the local area? Do you have to keep us here?"

Gao Yan widened his eyes, looked at Zu Ting, and then at Shi Daozhi.

Shi Daozhi looked at Gao Yan, his face tangled, and begged with tears in his eyes: "My king, they really can't leave."

"Why?"

Gao Yan asked doubtfully.

Shi Daozhi hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, there was a great battle in Jizhou, and a large number of the dead fled to Shuozhou. They are now being resettled in various places, and the local officials and soldiers who maintain law and order are all people sent by the general to help."

"If they all evacuate now, the dead will immediately cause chaos everywhere, and the entire Shuozhou will be in chaos, and no one will be able to control it!!"

Gao Yan reacted suddenly.

Oh I got it.

He smiled and looked at Zu Ting, and said, "In that case, don't rush to leave. Take care of the deceased first. I will take care of the money and food issue."

"No!"

"Your Majesty!!"

Zu Ting rudely interrupted Gao Yan. He seemed not to be afraid of the other party's anger at all. At this moment, he raised his head and said seriously: "Please forgive my rudeness, Your Majesty, but we must not stay!"

"My general came to Shuozhou with good intentions to quell the rebellion, and he spent so much time and effort, investing a lot, just to appease the locals, and do it for the sake of the court!"

"But when this matter got to the imperial court, it became like my general was causing chaos, sending troops to occupy Shuozhou and attempting to rebel!"

"There are even villains who want to trick the general into Yecheng and kill him!"

"I really feel sorry for my general!!"

Gao Yan looked at him blankly and quickly stood up. "What nonsense is this? Who said General Anxi wanted to rebel? Who said he wanted to be killed? These are all rumors."

Zu Ting's eyes were red, and he wiped away his tears again, "My king, should a person who is loyal to the country end up like this?"

"Now you want to keep us, but the general still needs us to help him resist Yang Zhong. Yang Zhong is a pseudo-Zhou general, how can he be so easy to deal with?"

"If we stay here, we will bring bad reputation to the general!"

"Please don't embarrass us, my king, and let us go!"

Shi Daozhi's eyes were filled with grief and anger. You still want us to beg you to stay? You invited the dead in, and now you want to leave without caring about them? What the hell should we do?

Shi Daozhi said hurriedly: "If the grandfather is in a hurry to leave, you can take the deceased with you to the border."

Zu Ting nodded, "Okay."

He looked at Gao Yan and said, "Your Majesty is now the governor of Shuozhou. I have no power to do anything. Lord Shi asks Your Majesty to order the dead to be driven out to the border."

Shi Daozhi was speechless and his face turned red.

Gao Yan sat in the upper seat and was silent for a long time before he asked, "What do you want me to do in order for you to stay?"

"How can I stay here without a name?"

Gao Yan nodded and looked at Tian Zili. "That's easy. I can recommend Tian Zili to officially take up the post of Shuozhou Beijia. I will also recommend the appointments of the people left behind by General Anxi. Is that ok?"

Zu Ting bowed again.

"only!!"

He looked at Tian Zilie standing aside and motioned for Tian Zilie to take orders.

Tian Zili frowned and said nothing.

Gao Yan looked at him and suddenly laughed, "Mr. Tian, ​​don't be embarrassed. Just obey my orders. I will write a letter to General Anxi to inform him."

"I have been fascinated by him for a long time. Hahahaha, you will have to help introduce him to me in the future."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Tian Zilie then bowed, and Gao Yan hurriedly ended the meeting.

Zu Ting followed Tian Zili out, his face full of pride, "How is it? Now I have a status to stay in Shuozhou, and all the officials are our people. If he wants to do something, he can only go through us. After the deceased is settled, there will be other things. In short, big things are constantly happening. Gao Yan doesn't want to cause chaos in Shuozhou, so he must use us. The more he uses us, the more this place belongs to us. No matter if he is a Taifu or something else, I will still sideline him!!"

Tian Zili stopped and looked sideways at him.

"Did you know very early on that Gao Guiyan was planning a rebellion?"

"Oh?"

"You asked us to welcome the dead ahead of time, and after the dead were placed in various places, you used these dead to intimidate King Pingyang, forcing him to make concessions and keep us."

"I don't have such ability, it's just a coincidence."

Zu Ting smiled sinisterly, sneaked up to Tian Zili, and whispered: "Assisting the general and creating a great cause is not something you can do just by talking nonsense. You are still far from it. Read more books, read more books."

After saying this, Zu Ting looked up and laughed loudly and left.

Tian Zili watched him go away without saying anything. At this moment, a soldier suddenly ran over and stood in front of him.

"Mr. Tian, ​​the king invites you."

Gao Yan sat in the upper seat with a smile, looking at Tian Zili beside him, "I don't like Zu Ting that person very much, but it's not easy to leave you alone."

"In fact, I never thought of driving you away."

Gao Yan suddenly said: "I have always felt that Liu Zhizhi is a man who can save the country. I really want to make friends with him and am willing to follow him to help the country."

"I called you here for no other reason than to ask you to write a letter to General Liu, telling him not to worry about Shuozhou and to go fight that old bastard Yang Zhong with peace of mind."

"I will solve the problem of money and food."

"We will never withhold even a penny or a grain of rice sent to the frontier."

(End of this chapter)