Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 229 The Invincible Man
The wind howled.

Gao Rui stood outside the palace, gazing at the sky in the distance, his face ashen, and said nothing.

Gao Yuanhai walked up to his side with a smile on his face at some point. Looking at the solemn Gao Rui, Gao Yuanhai clasped his hands together and chanted a Buddhist name.

"Don't worry, sir."

"Great Qi is blessed by the Buddha, and the minor illness of the Pseudo-Zhou is not worth mentioning."

Gao Rui turned his head and looked at him. His eyes were so fierce that Gao Yuanhai was shocked and took two steps back.

"Your Majesty has changed."

"Although Your Majesty loved to have fun in the past, he knew the fundamentals of the country. Although he favored villains, he would not let them interfere in government affairs. He knew that the country was the most important thing, acted decisively, and was able to listen to advice."

"How come it has become like this in less than half a year since I ascended the throne?"

Gao Yuanhai bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, do not criticize the emperor."

Gao Rui turned his head and looked at the palace behind him.

"This throne has made him dizzy."

"If I had known this, I wouldn't have run for him."

Gao Yuanhai trembled all over, his teeth were almost stuck together, and he mumbled and couldn't speak. He turned around trembling, and immediately used his hands and feet to escape from this place in a weird posture, without any of his usual dignity.

To die! !
In the palace, Gao Zhan was panting and putting on his clothes. He looked at He Shikai beside him with an unconcealable smile on his face, "Hahaha, it's done!!"

He Shikai also laughed, "Yang Zhong came at the right time."

"If it had been a year later, I'm afraid the situation would have been different."

Gao Zhan put on his clothes, nodded, and his face gradually became solemn. "You are right. Liu Taozi is recruiting soldiers and his power is growing stronger day by day."

"Now, Beishuo, Beiheng, Shuo, Heng and other places all obey his military orders. We can't keep him here any longer. In another year, he will become a serious threat to me and I won't be able to get rid of him even if I want to!"

"When I first ascended the throne, I had no military merits, so I could only indulge Liu Taozi. Now that I have defeated Gao Guiyan, I can use this military merit to promote some generals, and then I can gain a firm foothold in the army. Liu Taozi and Yang Zhong combined are not enough for me to defeat!"

He Shikai said again: "Your Majesty, there is just one thing, you must be careful that Liu Taozi might jump off the wall and defect to the Pseudo-Zhou."

Gao Zhan laughed, "Isn't that great?"

"I went over to invite Duan Shao and the others over, had a drink with them, and hinted to them at the banquet about attacking Liu Taozi, but they were unwilling to send troops. Duan Shao said that he was an old man in the family and there was no need to worry. Lou Rui even personally vouched for him!!"

"Huo Luguang pretended not to hear anything and fooled me!"

"If he really rebelled, could Duan Shao and others still use this as an excuse?"

"Duan Shao just defeated Gao Guiyan, and his skills are still hot. If I let him lead an army of 100,000, can Yang Zhong and Liu Taozi combined be his opponent?!"

Gao Zhan stood up, looking radiant and heroic.

"As a king, how can you be controlled by your subjects?!"

"If we don't kill Liu Taozi while he's still weak, do we have to wait until he's strong enough to deal with him?!"

"Shikai, you will be in charge of these matters."

"Block Shuo, Heng and other border checkpoints, and don't let anyone in or out!"

"Don't allow the counties and prefectures along the border to transport food and supplies to them! Let them focus on defending the checkpoints!"

"Go over to the Fifth Military Minister in person!"

"Once the war breaks out, the consumption of money and food cannot be easily solved."

"I want to see Liu Taozi's men starving to death, to see him cornered, and to see his head brought before me! I want to cut off his face and stick it on the gate of Zhuhua!!!"

At this moment, He Shikai felt his blood boiling and his whole body was full of energy.

He said with a stern face, "I am willing to accomplish this great task for your majesty!!"

He Shikai led many of his confidants out of the palace. He was wearing an official uniform and looked very arrogant. He was no longer the fawning servant he used to be. He got on the carriage, with the knights leading the way and the armored soldiers following beside him. They rushed towards the south of the city in a mighty procession.

Sitting in the car, He Shikai grinned.

If this can be done, not only can Liu Taozi be killed, but also those opponents who support Liu Taozi in the court can be wiped out.
The knights roared and drove away the pedestrians along the road. Their targets were not limited to the common people. Students, ordinary nobles, and even patrolling soldiers were all ruthlessly driven away. The city was in chaos. He Shikai did not hide his arrogance at all. Surrounded by nearly a hundred soldiers, he arrived at his destination.

The Minister of Five Armies led many of his followers to greet them.

This Shangshu was tall and handsome, and he looked very amiable when he stood there. If Liu Taozi were here, he would definitely recognize him.

Cui Ang is one of the two Cuis from Boling.

Unlike Cui Jishu who was dismissed and driven out of Yecheng, Cui Ang reaped the benefits. Relying on his extremely bad relationship with Liu Taozi, after Gao Zhan ascended the throne, Cui Ang took charge of the military affairs of the world. The military management of Da Qi was subdivided, and the Minister of the Five Armies was in charge of the five military affairs. His main responsibility was the logistics of the army of the world, so it was mostly held by civil servants.

"Greetings, Lord He!"

Cui Ang went to pay his respects.

He Shikai strode up to him and helped him up.

The two looked at each other.

"Hahaha~~~"

The next moment, they both burst into laughter.

He Shikai took Cui Ang's hand, and the two walked towards the government office. Many confidants looked at this scene in amazement and followed them. They came to the study. Cui Ang stopped and looked at the officials behind him, "You guys go and do your own things! I have important matters to discuss with He Gong! Don't disturb me!!"

The officials said yes and turned to leave.

Cui Ang and He Shikai sat in the house. As soon as they sat down, He Shikai smiled and said, "It's done!"

"Okay! Okay!"

He Shikai lowered his head again, "But, I may have to inconvenience Cui Gong."

"As long as I can get rid of this scourge, I won't regret dying!!!"

Cui Ang's eyes were red, and his lips were trembling. "My family members all died at the hands of this villain. I am the only one left. Every day I think about how to get rid of this scourge for the people of the world!"

"In order to achieve this goal, I dare not neglect it for even a day!"

"Give me your orders, Lord!"

"it is good!!"

He Shikai was also very excited. He held Cui Ang's hand and whispered, "Before the food you sent this time was sent out, it was checked by the Imperial Censor and the people from the Grand Marshal's Mansion. It's easy to deal with the people from the Grand Marshal's Mansion, but the Imperial Censor's side was all arranged by Gao Yu. I sent people to try several times, but they refused to budge! If you want to dismiss him, it's hard to deal with him because he has Gao Yu's support."

"Then what?!"

"No problem. After checking, the Imperial Censor will not be traveling with us. Only a clerk from the Grand Marshal's Office will be accompanying us. This clerk was promoted by me."

Cui Ang said "Oh", and He Shikai continued: "When the grain is transported to Sizhou, someone will be waiting there with a second caravan in advance. We just need to let the officials exchange the caravans and hide the caravan that is actually escorting money, grain and military equipment in Sizhou. The rest of the people can continue on their way with the grain carts waiting there."

"Shuozhou is flooded, so we can't enter the city. When the grain carts get close to Shuozhou, we can abandon the carts and run away."

"As long as Gao Yan is not allowed to see the grain carts in the first place, it will be fine. You have already insisted that the grain carts have already gone to Shuozhou. The various departments have verified it and testified for you. The states along the way have also verified it and testified for you. Shuozhou cannot explain it clearly."

Cui Ang pursed his lips and asked in a low voice: "What about the real money and food?"

"Mr. Cui! This matter is for the sake of the world, how can we care about the money and grain?!"

"He Gong, I'm not being picky, but to do something like this, you always need to arrange things for the upper and lower levels. Which one can be missing, the officials and soldiers who escort the money and grain?"

"I'll give you 30%"

"He Gong! I'm not doing this for my own benefit! I'm doing this for the success of this matter! The money and food and military supplies are only delivered once every six months, in March and September. If we miss this opportunity, we'll have to wait until September!"

"Forty percent! No more!"

The two discussed important matters in the study.

Outside the study, a man lowered his body and listened very seriously.

The man looked around vigilantly, then put his head against the door and listened clearly.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes full of anger.

There were footsteps in the distance, and the man fled in a hurry.

Soon, the man changed his clothes and walked out of the office with a few confidants.

The clerk at the door looked at him and hurried forward to salute.

"Mr. Heba? You want to go out?"

"Go home and rest. If you need anything, come to my house and find me."

"only!!"

The man got into the car expressionlessly and led the soldiers away.

The clerk looked at him with envy and said to his colleague beside him: "Mr. Heba really has a comfortable life. He can come and go as he pleases, and no one cares."

"Oh, if your uncle were a great protector, you would be happier than him!"

The man was Heba Cheng. After being convicted at the frontier and escorted to Yecheng, he was soon reinstated as the chancellor of the Five Armies.

Sitting in the carriage, Heba Cheng's face looked quite ugly. He hurried back to his house, had the door closed, and then led many of his confidants back to the study.

Heba Cheng sat in the upper seat and looked around at the people around him, "Liu Zhizhi is in trouble!"

Everyone was shocked. Some of them had followed Heba Cheng when they were at the frontier and also knew Liu Taozi.

"In the past few days, Cui Ang has been secretly replacing the escort personnel. He found reasons to dismiss many people and promoted some people I have never seen."

"I thought he was plotting something. When he came here with the soldiers today, he was particularly excited. So I sent someone to remove the guards and went to listen myself."

"They want to replace the money and food sent to the border, so that General Anxi can go to war hungry!!!"

Speaking of this matter, Heba Cheng was particularly angry. After all, he himself was one of the victims of the money and grain problem. Although there was the most stringent verification system, the money and grain could never arrive at the border intact. This was the case with the previous winter supplies, and now it was happening again, and this time it was even worse. This was not just embezzlement, but they were preparing to send empty trucks to the border!

The confidant hurriedly said: "My lord, you can report this matter to His Majesty!"

"Your Majesty?! I think this matter was led by Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty doesn't dare to force Liu Zhizhi openly. He doesn't have the final say in the court. Many generals and ministers will not allow him to do so. So he secretly uses these villains' tricks!!"

Everyone was a little surprised, "Then what should we do?"

"Su Tai, you must pass through the merchant's place, pretending to be a horse dealer, and quickly go to Shuozhou to inform Zhizhi's subordinates of what is happening here!"

"It must be quick!"

"You have to look carefully at the person. In Shuozhou, Tian Zili is trustworthy. You know him. When you get there, go find Tian Zili directly!"

"only!!"

"Gao Chen, go to Cheng'an in the name of buying grain and look for Cheng'an magistrate Lu Qubing. He is the closest to Liu Zhizhi. Cheng'an has a lot of grain, so he might be able to help."

"only!!"

Heba Cheng's eyes widened. "The rest of you, don't go out yet. Contact more friends and call them all to come to me!"

"I'm in Yecheng, and I'm a worthless minister! Cui Ang and his people look down on me, saying that I'm a frontier barbarian. The nobles in the court don't want to associate with me, saying that I'm Liu Zhizhi's lackey! Even my uncle said that I ruined his relationship with everyone and wouldn't let me see him!!"

"Why am I being treated so unfairly here?!"

"Damn it, if this doesn't work out, I'll cut off He Shikai's head and take you to Liu Taozi! How can he still treat us badly?!"

"only!!!"

Beishuo.

Han Qinhu lowered his body and led a mighty force of thousands of infantry and cavalry, advancing rapidly along the mountain path.

The sound of horse hooves is particularly crisp.

The official road became much easier to walk on. They passed a mountain road and finally arrived at the flat and wide official road.

The villages and towns in the distance were empty, with no one in sight.

Han Qinhu was not surprised and immediately issued an order, "Quickly prepare siege equipment!!"

The soldiers immediately got busy. Although the Zhou people practiced the system of military service, they also had auxiliary troops. Yang Zhong's 10,000 infantry and cavalry were only elite troops, not auxiliary troops. Usually, auxiliary troops did not directly participate in battles, but were responsible for transporting food, clearing the way, building siege equipment, cooking, setting up camps and so on.

The laborers quickly began to work, and trees on both sides kept falling down.

Han Qinhu was looking at the garrison town in the distance.

Baima Garrison was an extremely important garrison of the Qi Dynasty.

Yang Zhong led his troops to formally fight with Liu Taozi. Taking advantage of the fact that Liu Taozi was still in Shiben, Yang Zhong led the main force to attack the three garrisons that Liu Taozi had just occupied, and recaptured Xin'an Garrison and Tianzhu Garrison. The remaining troops fled to Niutou and redeployed their defenses.

Yang Zhong did not choose to advance steadily, as that did not fit his marching style. He decided to take advantage of the extremely long defense line of the Qi people, cut the enemy apart, bypass the well-defended castles, capture those important transportation routes, and prevent Liu Taozi's orders from being transmitted to the distant garrisons, so as to smash them into pieces and defeat them one by one.

Han Qinhu served as the vanguard, and his destination was Bai Ma. By capturing Bai Ma, he could encircle Liu Taozi outside Beishuo. Unless he went around the Turks, he would not be able to communicate easily with Shuozhou and other areas.

The people of Qi had already heard the news, and the villages and towns along the way were empty, and the laborers had probably withdrawn back to the garrisons.

Han Qinhu looked at Baima Fort in the distance with a fierce look in his eyes.

On the tower of Baima Fort, the garrison commander Li Qihu stared at the Zhou army in the distance with a grim expression.

The left and right lieutenants put their hands on their swords, "General! We demand a fight!!"

"When they come from afar, send troops to fight them and prevent them from building their weapons!"

Li Qihu said seriously: "There are only a few hundred soldiers in the city, and we don't know the exact strength of the enemy. We must not rush into battle, but fight to defend the city!!"

"Even if we die, we can't lose Baima Fort!!"

"only!!!"

The Zhou army slowly approached the city. Tall shield carts appeared outside the city. Knights and infantrymen shouted. In the distance, clouds of dust were rising, making it impossible to see the specific strength of the Zhou army.

"kill!!!"

"Whoosh~~~"

Arrows streaked across the sky, and the two sides continued to shoot at each other. Han Qinhu, wearing heavy armor, charged forward. Baima was not very strong, and there were not many soldiers in the city. He wanted to make a concerted effort and take down Baima in one battle! !

Han Qinhu roared and led the soldiers to charge. Arrows fell from the sky and Han Qinhu didn't know how many times he was hit. The shield in his hand was almost full of arrows. The soldiers roared and rushed up. Ladders were heavily placed on the city wall. Archers kept shooting at the top of the city to suppress the guards in the city.

Han Qinhu led the way, climbing the ladder and moving forward. His white horse was against the mountains. Under the three walls were densely packed Zhou people. Even the auxiliary soldiers joined in, some holding up large shields, and some holding the ladders tightly.

Soldiers kept falling down, screaming.

"Pfft."

Stones fell from the city wall, the large shields were broken, and the soldiers under the shields fell to the ground.

"Ah!!!"

The ladder was pushed away by several soldiers, and the soldiers screamed and flew out from the ladder.

Han Qinhu roared and increased his speed. He smashed the spear in front of him with his shield, jumped onto the city wall, and slashed left and right with a big knife in his hand.

More and more Zhou people rushed up the city wall.

"The city has been breached!!"

"Surrender and you won't be killed!!"

Li Qihu held a long weapon in his hand, his eyes wide with anger, and looked around, "We have received great kindness from the general! Today is the day to repay him!!"

"As long as I am alive, the city will not fall!!"

"kill!!!"

The soldiers fought angrily with the Zhou people who climbed up the city wall. Han Qinhu killed four or five people in a row, but there were still an endless stream of soldiers charging towards him. Han Qinhu was killed and retreated continuously, and he leaned against the edge of the city wall.

Fortunately, some armored soldiers rushed up from both sides. They surrounded Han Qinhu and formed a formal battle formation to ensure that there would be a steady stream of soldiers rushing up behind him.

Han Qinhu's knife was bent and his body was covered with dozens of wounds. There were corpses piled up inside and outside the city walls.

He was on the verge of collapse, but fortunately, there were not many people from Qi left.

The densely packed soldiers on the city wall gradually became sparse.

He saw the enemy's main general in the distance roaring and rushing into the crowd, and his condition was not much better than his own.

Suddenly, the sound of war drums was heard in the city.

"kill!!!!"

The next moment, a group of soldiers rushed up from the steps of each city wall. These soldiers were holding weapons and full of energy. Most of them were not wearing armor, their weapons were quite simple, and they were not tall. But for the Zhou people who were already running out of strength, this sudden appearance of fresh forces was a huge blow.

Han Qinhu didn't have time to react before every place was occupied by these living forces.

They rushed forward, killing the Zhou people who stood in their way one after another, and their killing became more and more fierce.

"kill!!!"

The shouts and cries of killing started again.

The enemies seemed to have no specific number at all, and they were rushing out from the steps and rushing up the city wall in an endless stream.

Han Qinhu was shocked and angry, "Auxiliary soldiers?! Where did so many auxiliary soldiers come from?!"

The next moment, he saw soldiers rushing up from a distance, some holding hoes, some holding axes, and some holding hunting bows.

Is this still a soldier?!

Force civilians to fight? ?
The fully-armed elite soldier had just raised his shield when the broken swords, broken sticks and broken arrows fell down together. The soldier screamed and his shield dropped from his hands. The next moment, he was overwhelmed by those men and was directly drowned without a sound.

Seeing his elite soldiers being killed by a group of auxiliary soldiers and civilians, Han Qinhu's eyes were bloodshot and he was heartbroken.

“Retreat!! Retreat!!”

(End of this chapter)