Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 249 Rapid progress

sunset.

The Zhou soldiers disappeared in the distance in a panic, leaving behind a pile of chariots, flags, armor and weapons.

The deafening shouts of the Qi people resounded through the sky.

Liu Taozi looked coldly at Yang Zhong who disappeared in the distance, without any joy of victory.

Liu Taozi still failed to keep Yang Zhong. This guy was too decisive. He did not fight with Liu's army but retreated as soon as he met them. He even maintained his organization while retreating and did not get dispersed.

His breakout was completely different from Liu Taozi's. Liu Taozi took the lead and charged, using his courage to tear open the enemy's formation and then broke through. Yang Zhong divided his troops into three groups and retreated in a roundabout manner. Every time he felt that he was being attacked from the side, forcing Liu Taozi to slow down. But as soon as he slowed down, he immediately bypassed and kept a distance. The three cavalry units relied on this roundabout approach to allow the main general to successfully escape.

Liu Taozi seriously thought about Yang Zhong's tactics. These were things that had never been recorded in military books, and not everyone dared to execute them.

But it is very effective. If it can be used in large-scale legion battles, can we treat the enemy's large army like a dog?
Potala appeared beside Liu Taozi with a smile on his face, carrying several human heads in his hands.

"Agan! This time I am the one who made the most contributions! I caused the most damage!"

Then, he felt a little regretful, "What a pity, I let the old thief Yang Zhong get away!"

"This old man runs so fast! If we can chop off his head, the Zhou people won't dare to invade for five or six years!"

Liu Taozi stared at the hillside in the distance without saying anything.

At the foot of the hill, Yang Zhong was breathlessly gathering his defeated soldiers. He was covered in blood and his whole body was shaking violently again. Several generals who had followed him to the battle were also in a rather miserable state at this moment, each of them suffering varying degrees of injuries. Listening to the thunderous cheers coming from the opposite side of the hill, everyone was silent.

A trace of surprise also flashed across Yang Zhong's face.

This terrifying morale was something he had heard before when he followed the white-robed Chen Qianzhi in the Northern Expedition. The cheers that resounded through the sky were so powerful.

Li Mu was a little uneasy at this moment. "When we first met, this guy's ability to lead troops in battle was just average. Today, his tactics of advancing and pursuing are not inferior to many generals. His two-stage charge just now is your most common tactic, right?"

Yang Zhong suddenly laughed, "This brat actually dared to use my tactics to attack me."

"I learned this when I followed a general to war. I didn't expect that someone else would learn it now. Next year, I will definitely ask him for an explanation and let him see the tactics!"

"withdraw!!!"

At Yang Zhong's command, the generals who had been silent all raised their heads, regained some courage, and quickly left the place.

Yang Zhong said it very easily, but as he rode on his warhorse and gazed into the distance, his expression was extremely complicated.

This kid is making great progress!!
Could it be that I am really old?

Why can't my own children be like him?
The cold wind stirred the trees on both sides of the road, swaying them gently.

A few wild dogs gathered together, wagging their tails, and gnawed on something.

The evil bird let out a sharp cry and flew through the air, causing the wild dogs to raise their heads with pieces of meat hanging from the corners of their mouths.

"Whoosh~~"

The arrows flew out and pierced the body of the vicious dogs immediately. They fell to the ground twitching. The rest of the vicious dogs whimpered and fled in all directions. As the arrows became more and more, the wild dogs were shot dead one by one.

The scouts then put away their arrows and continued to explore the road ahead.

Liu Taozi led the army along the official road, which was exceptionally flat. The knights escorted the carriages, carrying the spoils that Yang Zhong had worked so hard to obtain, and followed Liu Taozi proudly, advancing slowly towards Shuozhou.

There were more and more corpses on both sides of the road.

There were men, women, old people, children, people from Qi, people from Zhou, and Turks.

The killing destroyed everyone equally. Even the invaders did not get any exceptions and turned into cold corpses.

The farmland in the distance, which should have had a good harvest, was now in ruins, trampled by horses' hooves and deliberately set on fire.

The Zhou people did not want to see a strong and vibrant border fortress, so Yang Zhong divided his troops to attack various places, with the main goal of destroying production.

From Jinyang to Beishuo, and then to Yan and Anzhou.

The village was burned down, the peasants were killed by the intruders, and the women and children were abducted.

Black smoke was billowing everywhere, and it continued for several days.

The injured old horse pushed its motionless owner with its head, and finally sat down beside his owner in despair.

Liu Taozi had just walked forward for a distance when a scout led a few people and hurriedly came here.

He was an official from the nearest village or town, and he brought two other township officials with him.

The village official was old and had a leg injury. He limped to Liu Taozi with a crutch and bowed to greet him.

The village official looked up and wanted to congratulate Liu Taozi on his victory.

But when the words came to his lips, he couldn't say them, and his whole body was just trembling.

Liu Taozi looked at the black smoke in the distance.

"How's it going?"

The village official stretched out his hand and pointed to his home in the distance.

He couldn't utter a word, but just whimpered again, and the sound was like that of the wild dog that had been shot just now.

He gestured with his hands, trying to speak, but after a few deep breaths, no words came out. Tears kept falling. Finally, he covered his face with his hands and cried in pain.

Liu Taozi looked at the soldiers behind him and said, "Distribute food and provide relief to the victims."

The joy of victory on the faces of the soldiers was dispersed a lot at this moment. Potala's face was solemn. He nodded and led the soldiers quickly.

Liu Taozi looked at the township official who was crying bitterly.

"There won't be a next time."

The young man who followed the village official came out at this moment and said, "General, a group of people passed by earlier, saying they were angels and were waiting for you in Wuchuan. Before they left, they told us to let you know if we saw you leading troops passing by."

Liu Taozi's eyebrows jumped, and he looked at the soldiers beside him, "Send someone to tell them to let the angel come to Shuozhou to meet me."

"only!!!"

Liu Taozi led the knights to continue advancing, and after marching for a long time, they finally arrived in Shuozhou.

Shuozhou was much better off than other places. The impact of the war was controlled in some areas. At least the area around the government was safe and had not been looted.

When Liu Taozi arrived in Zhaoyuan, Gao Yan and Tian Zilie were not there.

The ones who came out of the city to greet him were Lu Qubing and Heba Cheng.

In addition to the two of them, there was another acquaintance, Dugu Jie, the prefect of Liyang County.

Lu Qubing stood on tiptoe, and the moment he saw Liu Taozi's cavalry appear, he trotted forward to greet them. The others did not dare to do so, and hurriedly prepared to kneel down to greet them.

Liu Taozi reined in his horse and looked at Lu Qubing who was running towards him. Several knights around him raised their bows and crossbows, but Potora signaled them to put them down.

"General Tao Liu!!"

Lu Qubing gave a standard salute, but quickly raised his head and looked at Liu Taozi, "You are not injured, are you?! I heard that you fought in the heart of the Pseudo-Zhou? Where is Yang Zhong? Did you capture him?"

When we first met, he started asking a series of questions.

Liu Taozi was not surprised at all. He dismounted from his horse, and the knights dismounted one after another.

"No problem. Let's talk about it after we get into the city."

Lu Qubing knew that now was not a good time to exchange pleasantries, so he quickly stopped talking and followed Liu Taozi towards the city.

"Meet General Liu!!"

Heba Cheng and Dugu Jie hurriedly paid their respects to him.

They didn't dare to be as casual as Lu Qubing. They were trembling with fear when facing Liu Taozi.

The main reason was that Liu Taozi was now too famous. He was a ruthless man who defeated Yang Zhong twice and defeated more than 100,000 Turks with more than 3,000 elite cavalry.

Well, although there are some inside stories in these two matters, the results of the battles are also real. The ability to fight is one factor, and his own power is also an important factor. Everyone can see that Liu Taozi has gradually become the biggest military leader in the country. This trend is already somewhat dangerous. He is heading in the direction of a certain Tianzhu general. Who dares to disrespect him?

"Brother Heba, you are here."

Heba Cheng's feelings were also extremely complicated at this moment.

Back then, Liu Taozi was a general under his command. Although he always sat in the seat at every meeting, he was nominally his subordinate after all. But in just a few years, he had transformed himself into an important general of the country.

Heba Cheng was not jealous. When Liu Taozi was the General of Anxi, he was a little jealous. But now that he was about to become the Grand Commander with real power, Heba Cheng did not have the slightest jealousy in his heart.

Because Heba Cheng had offended Prince Shunyang and many nobles, after he returned to Yecheng, Gao Yan transferred him to the Secretariat with the intention of training him.

But Gao Yan soon became seriously ill, and Heba Cheng suffered a lot of retaliation and was not accepted. Even his uncle became more and more distant from him.

Until this time, he could no longer bear it and chose to go directly to Liu Taozi.

"General!!"

Heba Cheng bowed again, and Liu Taozi helped him up. "Brother Heba, you don't have to be like this. I have heard everything. If you hadn't informed me in time, I would have fought against Yang Zhong on an empty stomach. Now that we can repel the enemy, it is all because of Brother Heba's contribution."

"Thank you, General! I don't dare to take credit for it. I just want to follow you and serve you!"

Liu Taozi nodded and said, "I will submit a petition to the emperor to re-promote you to the rank of general and have you sit in charge of an important town on the border."

Heba Cheng's eyes turned red and he wanted to pay his respects for the third time, but Liu Taozi held him back.

Liu Taozi looked at Dugu Jie who was standing aside, "Dugu County Commandant."

"General!!"

Heba Cheng hurriedly said, "General, Dugu Jun was dismissed from his post in Liyang and had nowhere to go. I led Cheng'an and his men to flee to Liyang, and Governor Shi asked Dugu Jun to lead his private soldiers to protect us."

"When the emperor left Yecheng, Governor Shi asked Dugu Jun to escort us to Shuozhou. Dugu Jun made many contributions along the way, defeating many thieves and rebels. He just escorted many old and weak people here."

Dugu Jie looked at Liu Taozi eagerly.

When Liu Taozi was in Liyang County, Dugu Jie had a close relationship with him. Later, Liu Taozi left and Gao Yan came to power. He began to replace the county lieutenants in various places with Han people. As a Xianbei man, he was in bad luck and was directly dismissed. He had nowhere to go, so he stayed in Liyang. Fortunately, Shi Yao was promoted to the position of prefect. Considering his relationship with Dugu Jie, he took good care of him and allowed him to continue living in Liyang.

Dugu Jie wanted to run away to Liu Taozi more than once. It can be said that he had a friendship with Liu Taozi, but the gap between their status was getting bigger and bigger.

How could he, a commoner, have the face to seek friendship with a third-rank general? ?
The two sides were not that close.

He had no choice but to waste his time in Liyang, thinking that he would just die of old age in a daze. Who could have imagined that he would meet Heba Cheng and Liu Taozi's fellow villagers from Cheng'an who fled to Liyang for refuge.

After learning about this from Shi Yao, Dugu Jie immediately jumped up. He had tried his best to protect everyone along the way. This was his only chance to get close to General Liu again.

Hard work pays off, and he finally succeeded in the escort and appeared in front of Liu Taozi again.

After Heba Cheng finished speaking, Dugu Jie hurriedly said: "General Heba, you are too kind. When I was in Liyang, I was grateful to you for your kindness. This time I am just repaying you."

Liu Taozi said, "I appreciate Lord Dugu's kindness this time. I wonder if Lord Dugu is willing to condescend to serve as a general under my command?"

Dugu Jie was overjoyed, "Thank you, General!!"

Liu Taozi then led a few people into the city, and the officials of Shuozhou followed them. Potola led the knights to the parade ground to rest.

The city was quite peaceful. There were not many people living there, but there were no signs of war. Some brave people even stood in the distance and looked over here.

Everyone walked into the office and sat down.

After Liu Taozi sat down, he looked at Lu Qubing standing aside.

Lu Qubing immediately said, "Prince Pingyang and Tian Changshi are now in Sandui City, Sizhou. Prince Lanling has led his troops to Jinyang. Prince Pingyuan and General Hulu have also led their troops back."

"Huolvguang sent someone to meet with Lanling King and inquire about the situation."

"But the King of Pingyuan has not come near. He has set up camp alone and has not come into contact with the other kings. The King of Pingyang sent messengers to him, but they were unable to see him."

"The Prime Minister has taken over the government, and the Prince of Zhao and others are assisting him in governing the country."

Lu Qubing immediately explained the current situation to Liu Taozi.

Gao Zhan has been completely placed under house arrest, and it is Gao Yin who handles state affairs. However, the forces in the country are not completely unified. Duan Shao and Hulugu, the two generals who lead the troops, have not yet surrendered to the court headed by Gao Yin. Duan Shao in particular has not had any interaction with the new court.

Lu Qubing whispered: "Although the great event has been accomplished, King Pingyuan should not be underestimated."

"Prince Pingyuan leads the elite troops of Jinyang. He is also very good at fighting and has a great reputation in the army. Even General Hulu would not dare to say that he has a chance of winning against him."

"General, you should go to Jinyang as soon as possible and meet with King Pingyuan to let him know that we are not causing trouble."

Liu Taozi nodded and said, "The army will rest for now. I will set off for Jinyang tomorrow."

"Qubing, Shuozhou is temporarily handed over to you. You are the governor of Shuozhou. The autumn harvest must not be delayed."

Lu Qubing was stunned. Are you going to appoint the governor yourself? At least pretend to submit a report.

Liu Taozi looked at Heba Cheng and Dugu Jie, "General Heba, you stay in Shuozhou for the time being. The war has just ended, and this is when the bandits are most rampant. Shuozhou cannot allow chaos to occur."

"only!!"

"General Dugu, please follow me to Jinyang."

"only."

Liu Taozi also instructed local officials to follow Lu Qubing's arrangements and not to disobey. The officials dared not say a word and obeyed the orders one after another.

The current officials in Shuozhou were all promoted by Liu Taozi. Moreover, the news of Liu Taozi's appointment had spread everywhere. These people had more or less heard some news and knew that they would be tied to Liu Taozi in the future and would obey his orders.

Only after the decision and deployment were made did everyone leave in batches. In the end, only these three people were left by Liu Taozi.

The room was quiet. Lu Qubing stopped pretending and relaxed, looking comfortable.

"I was the one who taught you, but now I don't even dare to call you Brother Taozi. When I rushed out to see you just now, the knights around you almost shot me to death."

"You have really risen to the top of the official ranks. I heard that you have been the governor of Hengshuo, the general of the Wei army, the governor of six states, and the Duke of Zhenxiang. This is the limit of your official rank. If you want to be promoted any further, you can only be crowned a king or one of the three highest officials."

Listening to Lu Qubing's words, Heba Cheng and Dugu Jie both lowered their heads, not knowing whether to laugh or not.

Liu Taozi glanced at him and asked, "Why, Lord Lu can't stand seeing me become king?"

Lu Qubing laughed, "General Liu, are you planning to arrest me and punish me for disrespect?"

Liu Taozi smiled.

Heba Cheng and Dugu Jie were both stunned.

Lu Qubing made a few jokes before he got serious. "Brother Taozi, King Pingyuan's affairs are really hard to handle."

"When the Zhou people retreat, if King Pingyuan takes the opportunity to attack, Hulugu may not be able to fight him. King Lanling will definitely not be able to defeat him, and Lou Rui of Yecheng will not fight him. He alone can change the entire situation at any time!"

"King Pengcheng and King Pingyuan are not close, so this must be resolved as soon as possible."

"However, King Pingyuan is not reckless. He knows right from wrong. As long as we make him understand that the current situation is the best choice and let him know that King Pengcheng has no intention of ascending the throne, we can appease him."

"Also, things are not peaceful in Yecheng either."

"Everyone has different ideas. It's only because there is a powerful enemy nearby that they reluctantly come up with a compromise. King Pengcheng wants to use you as a backer, thinking that with you, the ministers will not oppose him. But with King Pingyuan around, your deterrent power is not as strong as when Yang Zhong was still around."

"If Yang Zhong withdraws, Yecheng will soon be in chaos!"

"I still hope that you can settle in Jinyang as soon as possible and appease King Pingyuan. Only in this way can Yecheng be pacified."

Lu Qubing stroked his chin again, "If the turmoil in Yecheng is unavoidable, then you should just take action and kill these people who are harming the country and the people first!!"

Liu Taozi was stunned. He looked at Lu Qubing and asked, "When did Lord Lu become so decisive?"

"After the Yecheng angels killed people indiscriminately in Cheng'an."

(End of this chapter)