Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 235: The same lineage

Shuozhou, Hushan Pass.

The warriors, holding bows and crossbows, walked slowly on the city wall, pacing back and forth.

The gate of the checkpoint was tightly closed, and bursts of shouting and screaming could be heard from inside from time to time.

Some warriors were sharp-eyed and noticed the dust rising in the distance at a glance. Someone immediately beat the war drum. The next moment, a large number of warriors rushed onto the city wall, raised their weapons and aimed at the outside of the city.

Guan Wei put on his clothes, hurriedly walked up the city wall, and looked into the distance.

At that moment, Yang Zhong's troops appeared in various places from time to time, attacking many checkpoints and garrisons on the border. Although Shuozhou had not yet suffered a formal attack, the defenders dared not be negligent. For a moment, the soldiers were ready to fight and light the beacon fire.

The next moment, the knights appeared in the distance.

The commander-in-chief raised a flag with the word "Kou" on it and was dressed like a Qi person.

But the defending general still did not dare to believe it. He ordered his men to be ready to light the beacon at any time, and he himself moved forward a little and stared at the pedestrians in the distance.

They finally arrived at the city gate. Kou Liu walked out slowly and looked at the guard on the city wall.

"it's me!"

"Open the city gate!"

The guard certainly knew Kou Liu. At this moment, he no longer hesitated and ordered the city gate to be opened. Kou Liu led many knights and quickly rushed into the checkpoint.

The guarding general ran down the city wall with a smile on his face, ordered the gate to be closed again, and stepped forward to lead the bandits' horses.

Kou Liu looked around. The soldiers in the checkpoint were now lined up as if facing a powerful enemy. The supplies in the city were stacked separately, and many protective preparations were made around the storehouses. Ditches were dug, and high fireproof walls were built between the houses. There were still arrows on the wooden targets in the distance, and there were traces of horses' trampling on the ground.

Kou Liu looked around and couldn't help nodding his head. The more he looked, the more satisfied he became.

"Not bad, you didn't neglect your training, your defense was well prepared, and you responded well just now."

He looked at the garrison commander, "I will report your merits to General Anxi."

The defending general was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked him, saying that he dared not do it.

"This is what I should do. The general has sent people to tell us several times to be vigilant and not to underestimate Yang Zhong. I have always kept it in mind and dare not neglect it."

Kou Liu then looked into the distance, where more than thirty people were standing, all leading horses, staring at Kou Liu with expressionless faces.

They just stood there, out of tune with the knights around them, and didn't seem like the same kind of people.

They were not the same kind of people to begin with. The Shuozhou soldiers did not get along well with them and did not accept them very much. However, they did not care about this and continued to stick together, just hoping to get a chance to make military achievements.

The defending general met Kou Liu's gaze and looked at the soldiers from Yecheng.

His smile faltered and his brows raised.

He smiled and said hurriedly: "These knights from Ye City are also living very well here. I have always followed the general's orders and never treated them differently."

Kou Liu glanced at him meaningfully. Whether they were treated differently or not could be seen from their current positions. They didn't even take him into consideration during training.

However, this is not something that is incomprehensible.

If the Shuozhou soldiers went to Yecheng, they would enjoy the same treatment.

Kou Liu looked at those people and waved.

Those knights led their horses and walked towards Kou Liu in a swagger. Apart from the regional issue, their own attitude was also the reason for their exclusion. The elite of Yecheng naturally looked down on soldiers from other places.

Kou Liu said, "I came here on the orders of the general to gather the soldiers of Yecheng and go to the border to fight Yang Zhong."

"If anyone is afraid, they can stay."

"We are willing to go!"

Several leaders quickly spoke up.

They came to the frontier to get a chance to make achievements. If they just stayed at the checkpoint, they wouldn't get any military merit and would be rejected by the local soldiers. So what's the point of staying there?

Moreover, they found that the knights brought by Kouliu at this moment were almost all their old colleagues.

It seems that they are going to gather all of them together to fight in the wild.

Kou Liu immediately asked them to prepare. The commander was a little surprised. He looked at the knights who were preparing, and then secretly came to Kou Liu's side, "General Kou, the general is going to gather troops from Shuozhou, why not call us?"

Kou Liu said seriously: "Yang Zhong's attack is very fierce. Shuozhou must not be lost. Naturally, you are needed to take charge."

"Even if we don't encounter any enemies while stationed here, it will still be a credit. Don't worry."

The garrison commander quickly explained: "I am not seeking military merit, I just want to help the general."

"You have done a good job now. I will tell the general the truth."

"Thank you General Kou!!"

The garrison commander became even more enthusiastic and sent people to help the soldiers from Yecheng prepare their luggage. As Kou Liu listened to his flattery, his thoughts inevitably drifted to Wuchuan in the distance.

He didn't know why his brother suddenly sent someone to him and asked him to gather the soldiers from Yecheng and rush to Wuchuan as soon as possible. Was the military situation so critical that these unreliable soldiers from Yecheng needed to be mobilized?
Just when Kou Liu was daydreaming, the guard also asked the same question.

"I heard that various places had defeated the Pseudo-Zhou many times, so why are they calling in troops from Shuozhou? Could it be that Yang Zhong has stepped up his offensive?"

Kou Liu laughed loudly, "Don't worry too much, Yang Zhong is nothing, everything on the border is as it was before, General Anxi is invincible and will never make any mistakes!"

"Yang Zhong is getting more and more ferocious! General Anxi's troops are insufficient, and in the battle of Shiben, even the knights were killed! Otherwise, how could the bandits temporarily summon the knights to support? This fortress is about to be broken!"

"Lord Gao! Shuozhou is not safe anymore! Let's retreat! I will protect you and take you back to Jinyang! It's safe there!"

Zu Ting's face was pale and he was trembling as he sat next to Gao Yan. When he spoke like this, Gao Yan was so frightened that he almost jumped up and the book in his hand fell to the ground.

He quickly stood up and asked the servants to guard the door and not allow anyone to approach.

Then he looked at Zu Ting with some dissatisfaction in his eyes, "How can you say such horrific words in front of others?!"

"If this gets out, won't it ruin the morale of the army?!"

Zu Ting said with a sad face, "It will get out sooner or later."

"That's not right. The battle report from the front clearly states that Shiben won a great victory. General Anxi defeated Yang Zhong and Yang Zhong's offensive has begun to stall. Why do you make it sound so dangerous?"

Zu Ting sighed.

"Ugh."

"You are right. General Anxi did win the battle once, but is Yang Zhong easy to deal with? How much loss did General Anxi suffer in order to win this battle?"

"The border troops are scattered all over the place, and there aren't many troops that can go out to fight in the field. Yang Zhong has 10,000 elite troops, and there are also auxiliary troops. What's more, there are more than 200,000 Turks outside the Great Wall!"

"Yao Xiong can no longer hold on. Beiheng is still okay, but Dongyan and other states have been conquered one after another. The Zhou people have led the Turks to the border town of Hengzhou and have started a war with Zhang Heizu."

"Yang Zhong sharpened his sword and summoned the knights again, ready to attack with all his strength."

"General Anxi couldn't hold on any longer, so he sent Kouliu to lead the knights to provide support."

"My king, given the current situation, what else can we do except escape?"

Gao Yan frowned and said nothing. He remained silent for a long time, and then said firmly: "I will never run away."

"If General Anxi is defeated, I will die with him."

"I am a governor appointed by the government. If I keep the land, I will live. If I lose the land, I will die. I have no complaints!"

Zu Ting looked at him in astonishment, and suddenly sighed again, "You are determined to die with Shuozhou, but this can't help General Anxi. At present, there are too few soldiers on the border. General Anxi has no troops to lead out to fight. He can't fight back and can only defend passively. In this way, he will be defeated one by one by the enemy. If there were field troops, they could go to various places to provide support at any time. How could the situation be so bad!"

Hearing Zu Ting's sigh, Gao Yan hurriedly said, "I still have hundreds of guards, you can let them go!"

Zu Ting was stunned and didn't say anything. Looking at his eyes, Gao Yan didn't know what to say. He thought for a moment and said, "Well, I will send someone to lead part of the Shuozhou army to support them."

Zu Ting was horrified. "Your Majesty! How can this be possible? If the enemy suddenly attacks the checkpoints in Shuozhou, how can we resist without sufficient troops?"

"Don't worry. Gather the people in the city and defend it. Let the rest of the soldiers go to the border. If the border is lost, even if Shuozhou has more troops, can it stop Yang Zhong?"

Zu Ting was full of hesitation, "This, this is not appropriate! We need soldiers to protect us."

"I've made up my mind!"

"If Zujun is afraid, you can flee to Sizhou first!"

Zu Ting didn't dare to speak, and left in shame, covering his face.

But when he walked out of the mansion and got into his carriage, Zu Ting put down his hand, and an indescribable smile spread across his face.

He likes this kind of old-fashioned good guy, this kind of person is so easy to deal with.

These words made him take the initiative to weaken the military strength of the border checkpoints in Shuozhou.

Zu Ting rushed to Tian Zili's residence with a smile on his face.

Tian Zili was very busy, and the officials were surrounding him, so Zu Ting had a hard time getting in. Fortunately, Tian Zili saw him coming and asked the officials to leave temporarily. Zu Ting then came closer. He looked at the documents in front of Tian Zili, glanced at them casually, and then sat aside. "The governor said that he would dispatch some soldiers to the border to support General Anxi."

"Please prepare their marching rations. The food collected during these days can be used to escort them to General Anxi."

Tian Zili frowned and looked at the strange man in front of him.

Tian Zili had never seen such a strange person.

He knows everything, both good and bad, and does things without any sense of propriety, making it impossible for people to guess what he is thinking, but in the end they can all be connected. Until the very end, no one can ever see what he really wants to do.

Seeing Tian Zili's suspicious look, Zu Ting chuckled, "Of course I hinted at him to do this. Can you guess what I meant?"

"My grandfather weakened Shuozhou's military power. Could it be that he wanted to give Shuozhou to the Pseudo-Zhou?"

Zu Ting was stunned and clapped his hands immediately, "Smart!"

"How did you know?"

Tian Zili immediately placed his hand on the hilt of the sword, but Zu Ting shook his head, "You have also read Zheng Daoqian's letter before, don't you see it?"

"What do you see?"

"Think carefully about Wei Xiaokuan's idea. He sent someone to ask He Shikai to report to Gao Zhan, and asked Lou Rui, Gao Yu and others to stay in Yecheng, Duan Shao to go to Pingyang, Gao Ji to stay in Sixian, and Gao Zhan to go to Jinyang."

Zu Ting put his finger in his mouth, sucked it for a while, and then started to gesture on Tian Zili's desk.

"This is Jinyang, this is Sizhou, this is Pingyang, and this is Yecheng."

"Look, does this look like a person, with his arms and legs spread out, exposing his heart to the enemy?"

"The generals under Yang Zhong, as well as those Turks, are currently entangled with the general."

"If Yang Zhong leads the troops, he should start from here."

Zu Ting slammed the table heavily, and his hand moved straight towards Jinyang.

"If he bypassed Beishuo and broke through several checkpoints in Shuozhou, would he have headed all the way to Jinyang? The one sitting here is actually this pig Gao Ji."

Tian Zili immediately reacted, "Wei Xiaokuan wants Yang Zhong to capture Jinyang?!"

Zu Ting shook his head. "Yang Zhong's army is not large enough. It will be very difficult to defeat Jinyang. However, this will definitely be enough to make Gao Zhan suffer. Gao Zhan looks strong but weak. He looks powerful and imposing, but he actually doesn't have much ability. I bet with you that if Yang Zhong approaches Jinyang, his first thought will definitely be to escape!"

"After Gao Zhan ascended the throne, he alienated the royal family, the civil officials, and the nobles, and only doted on He Shikai all day long. Maybe everyone needs a chance."

"Of course, if Yang Zhong can defeat Jinyang and kill Gao Zhan, that would be a great thing."

"It's hard to say, anyway, Gao Zhan is having a hard time."

Zu Ting said excitedly: "We have to be prepared for the aftermath. The power in the court is about to change. If we can find a way to let Gao Yu and others take power, put Gao Zhan under house arrest, or even remove him and find someone to replace him! Don't you think it would be a great thing for us?"

Tian Zili shook his head, "I don't know."

"However, if you weaken the troops at the checkpoints outside Shuozhou and allow Yang Zhong to attack, I'm afraid it won't be a good thing for the people along the way."

Zu Ting raised his head and said unhappily, "Woman's kindness."

"If such a foolish and tyrannical ruler and ministers hold power for one more day, tens of thousands of people will die. How many civilians died in the battle of Jizhou? Yang Zhong led more than a thousand cavalrymen and killed everyone along the way, leaving no one alive. He killed fewer people than Gao Zhan and He Shikai. Those who want to do great things cannot hesitate, let alone be timid. When I met the general, he said that he was not afraid of killing people, let alone dying! This is exactly what he meant!"

"Now, whether you support or oppose it, there is no way to change the situation."

"But don't worry, I won't let you bear any bad reputation!"

"I will take all the bad reputation on myself!"

"You just need to assist me. The most important thing right now is to find a solution for Gao Ji."

Sizhou.

The knights stood on the official road, divided into two neat rows.

The official road was desolate and all the trees around it had been cut down.

In the ditches beside the official road, you can see many corpses. Most of the corpses are not formed, and the skulls are only the size of a fist. They are piled up like this, and the air is cold and chilly.

Gao Changgong frowned, he didn't dare turn around to look at the gullies.

After Your Majesty came to the throne, he decided to implement benevolent policies, exempted land taxes in many areas, allowed farmers to keep grain, and let them get rich first.

But the government had a lot to do, and money and grain were needed everywhere, so it could only slightly increase miscellaneous taxes.

The officials became more and more outrageous and acted recklessly, levying head taxes several times a year and at one point lowering the age for head taxes from seven to one year old. Having another child in a peasant family did not bring joy but endless pain and despair.

Due to multiple and special levies, farmers dare not have children anymore, and those who already have children can only live in ditches.

They should not be considered beasts. They just made a choice between dying one person and dying the whole family. They threw their children and their hearts into the ditch, and died on that day.

Gao Anagong stood behind Gao Changgong, glanced at Gao Changgong, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

When he led his troops to the battle, he was extremely happy, thinking that this was a great opportunity to wash away the shame, but Duan Shao then arranged for Gao Changgong to follow him.

In name, he was his deputy general, but in terms of status, how could he dare to use a prince as his deputy general?

He was suppressed in everything and his position was almost marginalized, which made Gao Anagong very helpless, but he did not dare to turn against him.

Fortunately, the suffering is finally over.

In the distance, a group of knights gathered around a carriage and galloped towards here. Seeing the carriage, Gao Anago's eyes lit up and he took a step forward.

The knights formed up around him and the carriage slowly stopped.

A young man got out of the carriage.

He has a handsome appearance, and is cut from the same mold as Gao Zhan and others, with a tall and handsome appearance.

Sometimes, Gao Anagong could not tell his brothers apart. Among the second generation, only Emperor Wenxuan was the easiest to identify, and among the third generation, only Gao Yanzong was the easiest to identify.

The rest of the people almost all share the same body shape and face, and they are all beautiful, just in different ways.

Gao Ji immediately looked at Gao Changgong, who hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Uncle!!"

"Haha, long time no see."

"Is your brother okay?"

The two men immediately exchanged greetings, and Gao Anagong also stepped forward to greet them with a smile. Gao Ji glanced at him and forced a smile in response.

But Gao Anagong realized that he was obviously not as kind to him as he was to Gao Changgong.

They entered the city and the government office, and Gao Ji was talking to Gao Changgong the whole time.

Entering the office, Gao Ji was sitting at the upper seat, with Gao Anagong and Gao Changgong sitting on both sides.

Gao Ji then asked about the local garrison situation. Gao Changgong answered hurriedly. Gao Ji nodded and acted as if he knew a lot.

"it is good!"

"This couldn't be better!"

Gao Anagong took the opportunity to have wine served, but Gao Changgong did not drink it, and Gao Ji took a few sips alone.

"Changgong, you have to go to Dingzhou."

"what?"

"The Turks have invaded Hengzhou. They will probably bypass Shuozhou and raid Ying, Ding and other places. Nothing can happen to Dingzhou. If I leave, you will have to guard it."

Gao Changgong frowned, "Uncle, if you stay here alone, won't you be without manpower?"

"Don't worry. I heard that the temple will send someone to serve as the chief commander, and I will be the deputy."

Gao Changgong was even more surprised, "Who should I send?"

Gao Ji scratched his head and said, "I don't know either."

He suddenly turned his head and said, "Mother, you should know, right? Who was sent?"

"Just tell me."

"I know you don't like me, but how can a brother be better than me?"

"Oh, brother, I'm not talking about you."

Immediately afterwards, Gao Jihu began to chat passionately with the people around him. He spoke very quickly and it was impossible to understand what he was saying or even who he was talking to.

Gao Changgong and Gao Anagong looked at each other in astonishment.

(End of this chapter)