Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 250 Still Not Peaceful
Sizhou, Yangqu City.

The shadow of war has not yet dissipated from this high city.

The remains of people and buildings have been cleared away, but the post-war sadness has not been cleared away along with them.

The soldiers stationed on the city walls had sad faces and said nothing.

The buildings in the city were charred everywhere, and some houses were only half left.

The numb woman sat in the collapsed courtyard wall in a daze, looking at the road blankly.

A knight passed by the road in a hurry, without even glancing at the ruins on both sides.

Inside the government office, Gao Yan sat on the upper seat with a serious face. This wise king, who was known for his generosity, rarely showed an angry look at this moment.

Tian Zili was sitting on his left, glaring at the man sitting on his right.

Sitting on the right was the former Grand Commander of the Six States, Dugu Yongye.

Dugu Yongye had a very beautiful beard. He was tall but not too burly, and was quite strong.

His skin was dark, but his eyes were the brightest.

At this moment, he looked at the King of Pingyang in front of him seriously, without any awe in his eyes, "Your Majesty, since the enemy has left, there is no need for you to stay here any longer. The war has just ended, and it is a time when bandits are rampant. Your Majesty should return to Shuozhou as soon as possible."

"Your Majesty has entrusted me with the task of defending Jinyang. As long as Your Majesty has not dismissed me, I will stay here."

"Now that the enemy has retreated, there is no need for the king to assist me anymore."

Gao Yan said nothing, but Tian Zili sneered, "When the general was defeated by Yang Zhong and fled everywhere, why didn't he urge us to leave earlier?"

Dugu Yongye glanced at him and said seriously: "I will lose to Yang Zhong, not because I am not as good as him, but because of my loyalty."

"If I follow the example of a certain general and attack Jinyang without caring about it, I might succeed if I sneak attack the enemy's important city."

"But I couldn't do such a thing. When I learned that Yang Zhong had crossed the river, I ignored other things and rushed to stop him with my men. But he attacked me and I was defeated."

Tian Zili laughed in anger after hearing his insinuations. "It is a blessing for the Great Qi to have a loyal minister like the general. But when Yang Zhong besieged Jinyang and forced the emperor to surrender, why didn't you go to rescue him? Instead, you retreated to the hinterland and defended yourself."

Dugu Yongye shook his head in disdain, "What else can I say to someone who knows nothing about military affairs?"

He looked at Gao Yan and said, "Your Majesty, there is not much food here. There are more and more deserters, and there is not enough for us to eat. I am afraid that the army will starve tomorrow. Once the army starves, who knows what they will do. Please consider it carefully."

After Dugu Yongye finished speaking, he stood up and left the inner room.

Gao Yan's face was very ugly. After the other party left, he said, "He is threatening me. Does he dare to kill me?!"

Tian Zili's expression was not as ugly as before. He said calmly: "This person is close to Your Majesty and has a grudge against General Anxi."

"Besides, he has some intention of holding the government hostage."

"In the past, when he was stationed in Heluo, he had the intention of nurturing the enemy for his own benefit. Moreover, this person is very good at disguising himself. He says one thing and thinks another. He is hypocritical and claims to be loyal to the emperor and the country, but in fact he colluded with the nobles to withhold food and grass and seize farmland. If the nobles are unwilling to get close to him, he will find ways to discredit them."

"It is said that he had robbed a woman from the people. When General Hulu found out, he wanted to impeach him. He reported General Hulu to the court, saying that General Hulu wanted to rob his two maids, but he refused to give them to them, so General Hulu slandered him. Both sides had their own stories."

"But compared to him, I still trust General Hulu's character more."

Gao Yan frowned, "Holding the government hostage?"

"Yes, the current situation in the court seems stable, but because of King Pingyuan, many changes have occurred. He gathered the defeated soldiers and sat in Sizhou, but he refused to meet the envoys sent by the court. It is obvious that he wants a higher position and power."

"He wants the temple to fight for him and give him more."

Gao Yan cursed loudly, "He led the troops to guard Sizhou, but let Yang Zhong break through easily. His crime is only second to Gao Anagong. What reward does he want?!"

"Zili, how do we deal with this person?"

Tian Zili frowned slightly.

The character of these founding heroes and generals was really worse than one another. They were greedy, cruel and tyrannical, but they were really good at fighting.

Although Dugu Yongye was defeated by Yang Zhong, it was because his opponent was Yang Zhong, and the monarch of his own side also exerted his strength in this battle, forcing people like Gao Ji to share the military power, and sending people to deceive him even after the city had fallen.
He had no choice but to say, "Your Majesty, Duguzhi has more than 5,000 infantry and cavalry in the city, and he is accepting more and more defeated soldiers. We have only brought more than 3,000 people, all of whom are local troops. We are no match for them."

"He has a team of private soldiers around him, called the Vanguard Army. This Vanguard Army has more than 200 people, each of whom is a brave warrior picked from thousands of miles away. They wear heavy armor and always go first in battle. Dugu Yongye always uses these people as the vanguard when fighting others, so he always wins. Even though he was defeated by Yang Zhong this time, those people were able to protect him and successfully escape, keeping him safe and sound."

"If we turn against him now, I'm afraid something terrible will happen."

Hearing Tian Zili's words, Gao Yan sighed, "What should we do? Should we withdraw from the city?"

Tian Zili narrowed his eyes, "We can't retreat. General Anxi must be on his way now. We have to defend this place and welcome his arrival. We can't let him be blocked in Sizhou."

Gao Yan was suddenly at a loss as to what to do. He couldn't retreat, nor could he win the fight.

"My king, are you familiar with King Pingyuan?"

Tian Zili suddenly asked.

Gao Yan was stunned. "Of course they are familiar with each other, but not too close. King Pingyuan is closer to your majesty."

"It doesn't matter whether we are close or not, as long as we are familiar with each other."

Tian Zili had the door closed and began to conspire with Gao Yan.

That night, several skilled fighters quietly climbed over the wall of the government office, jumped into the darkness, and disappeared without a trace.

The next day, it was bright and clear.

Dugu Yongye put on armor, and the soldiers were distributed around him, gradually gathering at the gate of the government office.

Dugu Yongye's eyes were mostly filled with disdain.

A member of the royal family who has never fought in a war wants to suppress me with a scholar?
When I followed Emperor Wenxuan to fight, you were playing in the mud somewhere else!

King Pengcheng thought that he could do whatever he wanted with Liu Taozi's support, but this was also wishful thinking!
He had to stay here, and Liu Taozi didn't dare to lead all his troops to attack. It was hard to say whether he could get past him. He was not a small follower who could be slaughtered at will along the way.

Whenever your grandfather sees me, he has to politely call me Grand Commander.

Dugu Yongye cursed in his heart and turned to look at the soldiers at the door of the government office. He keenly discovered that the soldiers at the door of the government office had been replaced.

Dugu Yongye walked into the government office surrounded by his vanguard camp.

The atmosphere in the government office suddenly became different. Armored soldiers walked around with cold eyes. These local troops had changed their past timidity and were not afraid when they saw themselves.

Dugu Yongye suddenly felt something was wrong, but he was not afraid.

With all the elite troops around him, do these bastards still want to surround and kill him? Just these hundred people can slaughter thousands of you!
Led by a soldier, Dugu Yongye strode to the main house and rushed in.

Gao Yan sat in the upper seat, there was no longer any anger on his face. Instead, he smiled and looked at Dugu Yongye happily.

Dugu Yongye frowned immediately. Tian Zili stood up hurriedly, walked to his side quickly, and took his hand. "General Dugu, you are finally here. I was wrong these days and offended you. Please take a seat."

Tian Zili's excessive enthusiasm made Dugu Yongye extremely uneasy.

He still sat down, and before he could speak, Tian Zili hurriedly said: "General Dugu. The king and I led the troops here because of the imperial edict. Now the imperial edict has not yet been issued for us to leave, so please forgive us for staying here for a while and don't drive us away."

"We will definitely not stay too long, please do not rush us to leave, General."

Tian Zili spoke very sincerely.

Gao Yan nodded repeatedly, with a gleam in his eyes.

Dugu Yongye quickly retracted his hand and looked at Tian Zilie and Gao Yan vigilantly. As a veteran, countless thoughts emerged in his mind at this moment.

Why did you suddenly lower your head?
Why did they suddenly change their attitude? They knew clearly that begging would be useless.

This guy definitely has bad intentions. What is he thinking?
Dugu Yongye withdrew his hand and looked at Prince Pingyang again. He said helplessly: "Your Majesty, it's not me who urged you, but this foreign governor, well, if Your Majesty wants to stay, then stay for another day, but don't stay too long."

Dugu Yongye didn't even say anything more, just turned around and left.

Looking at Dugu Yongye who left in a hurry, Gao Yan took out the document from his sleeve in a daze and looked at Tian Zili who was standing beside him.

"How come he's gone before this plan even works?"

Tian Zili chuckled, "This guy is very cautious. I guess we can't be too direct with him. We have to let him guess for himself."

Dugu Yongye hurriedly left the office and immediately sent people to investigate the situation of entering and leaving the city gate and the office last night and today.

At night, the soldiers placed all the names in front of him.

Dugu Yongye picked up these lists and compared them one by one.

Finally, he called the soldiers who were responsible for keeping an eye on the government office and asked them about it. He learned that several knights, looking exhausted, had entered the government office early in the morning.

Dugu Yongye quickly looked at the armored soldier, "What's the accent of those knights?"

The soldier was confused. "How would we know? We have never heard him speak."

Dugu Yongye called the soldiers guarding the city gate and compared them with the knights entering the city. The credentials they presented showed that they were soldiers from Shuozhou, but the soldiers guarding the city gate told Dugu Yongye that their accents were completely different from those of the Shuozhou soldiers stationed locally, and seemed to be the accent of Jizhou.

At this moment, Dugu Yongye suddenly panicked.

Jizhou accent?
In and outside Jinyang, there was only one person who had knights with a Jizhou accent under his command. He was King Duan Shao of Pingyuan, who once served as the Governor of Jizhou and the Commander-in-Chief of Six States and recruited local knights as his backbone.

The reason why Dugu Yongye dared to act so rampant was because the situation was not yet clear, and he followed Duan Shao and chose not to rush to take sides.

He thought of the reactions of Tian Zili and others.

Could it be that King Pingyuan has chosen to submit to the new court? ?
They concealed the news from me and begged me, showing weakness to me, just to make me drive them out by force, so that I would lose the opportunity to ease the situation and stand completely on the opposite side of the new court? ?
Or is this just their strategy?
Did he do this on purpose to guide me to think in this direction, just to delay time and wait for their general to arrive?
Or do they intentionally make themselves feel like they are deliberately leading themselves on? Is the purpose to isolate themselves?
For a moment, Dugu Yongye began to think in his mind. He thought about it layer by layer. At the end, he shook his head suddenly, picked up the wine bag from the side, and took a sip.

The next moment, Dugu Yongye suddenly put down the wine bag.

He looked at the soldiers around him.

"Gather the troops immediately!!"

At the same time, in the government office, Gao Yan was discussing with Tian Zilie how to prevent Dugu Yongye from taking action rashly and how to delay time to allow Liu Taozi to arrive.

As they were talking, some soldiers came hurriedly.

"Your Majesty!! Dugu Yongye is gathering the troops!"

Gao Yan was horrified, "Is he going to take action?"

Tian Zilie calmed Gao Yan and asked the scouts to continue their investigation.

Afterwards, the scouts brought news again that Dugu Yongye had led his troops to leave Yangqu and head towards Jinyang.

Gao Yan was still very surprised, "What's going on?"

"Abandoned the city?"

Tian Zili frowned, "This guy is unwilling to take risks and ran to find King Pingyuan."

"He wants to join forces with King Pingyuan and follow King Pingyuan to do things."

"If King Pingyuan has already surrendered, he should surrender directly to King Pingyuan and show his attitude. If he finds out that we have deceived him, he should continue to stick with King Pingyuan. In short, hiding behind King Pingyuan will not cause any loss."

Tian Zili frowned slightly, "If this guy stays with King Pingyuan, it will be even more difficult to persuade King Pingyuan to surrender in the future."

But at the moment, Tian Zilie didn't want to think about the future. After Dugu Yongye left on his own initiative, he hurried to gather the defeated soldiers on behalf of the other side, strengthen the city defense, and prepare to welcome Liu Taozi's arrival.

On the fourth day after Dugu Yongye left, Liu Taozi led the knights and appeared outside the city.

This was the first time Prince Pingyang met the legendary Liu Taozi.

Gao Yan was riding on a horse, looking into the distance with a smile on his face. Tian Zilie was standing beside him. Tian Zilie was also very excited, as he hadn't seen his brother for a long time.

When Liu Taozi led his men closer, Tian Zilie almost left Gao Yan behind and took the initiative to pay a visit.

When the two sides met, Gao Yan took the initiative to dismount to show his respect for Liu Taozi. Liu Taozi did not act arrogantly and dismounted to return the greeting.

"Hahaha, General Liu is famous. It is truly amazing that we meet today! He is such a brave man! No wonder he was able to defeat Yang Zhong twice. He is truly the best general of our Great Qi!"

Gao Yan didn't know much about military affairs, he only looked at battle records. He felt that since Yang Zhong was able to kill his way out of Jinyang and no one dared to stop him, and Liu Taozi was able to defeat him twice, then Liu Taozi was the number one.

He held Liu Taozi's hand affectionately, and his nerves, which had been tense since leaving Shuozhou, seemed to relax a little.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, General Liu is here."

Liu Taozi didn't say anything and remained as indifferent as usual.

Tian Zili stepped forward in time, "Brother!"

Liu Taozi nodded and looked towards the city. Tian Zili didn't need him to ask, and said immediately: "Dugu Yongye is not sure about Duan Shao's thoughts. He has already run to Duan Shao. This man is cunning and greedy. He doesn't get along with the general and is not easy to deal with."

Gao Yan also nodded hurriedly, "This man is really cunning. He wanted to intimidate the imperial court in exchange for rewards."

With Gao Yan around, Tian Zilie was unable to say many things. After everyone entered the city, Liu Taozi asked Potala Ku and Dugu Jie to take over the local defense.

Sitting in the government office, Gao Yan expressed his admiration for Liu Taozi without hesitation.

"General Liu, the country is in danger right now, and this is the time when a loyal person like you is needed to step forward. King Pengcheng has no other choice but to do this. Alas, General, please don't think that he is going to rebel. King Pengcheng definitely has no such intention."

Gao Yan did not forget to explain to his younger brother.

The three of them drank some wine and ate some meat, and Gao Yan decided to take a rest. He hadn't had a good rest for several days.

Only after he left did Tian Zili quickly change his expression.

"Brother!!!"

"Get up"

Liu Taozi helped him up, and Tian Zili wiped his tears. "I was worried when I learned that my brother was fighting with Yang Zhong at the border. God bless you, that old man Yang Zhong couldn't hurt my brother!"

Tian Zili and Liu Taozi exchanged pleasantries for a while before talking about important matters.

"Brother, our original idea was to let Gao Wei inherit the throne. In this way, the Lou family's relatives, the Hu family's relatives, or the nobles and generals would all be able to accept it. However, when everything was ready, the Queen Mother passed away."

Liu Taozi was stunned, Tian Zili said hurriedly: "I just learned this news, and I haven't had time to send someone to report to my brother, and I haven't spread it. Duan Shao is still waiting for the Queen Mother's order, but the Queen Mother is no longer here. Zu Ting wants Lou Rui to talk to him, but many people think that Lou Rui will join forces with Duan Shao. Duan Shao alone is scary enough, if Lou Rui is added, how terrible will it be?"

"Ah."

Liu Taozi nodded slightly.

"Duan Shao is close to His Majesty, and he is not sure what King Pengcheng wants to do. I will go over to persuade him personally."

"Brother, you can't take risks! Duan Shao is not alone. There are many honorable veterans around him, and they are not on good terms with you."

"It's OK. Duan Shao, just explain it clearly and make him believe it. The two sides have not reached the point where they must fight to the death. As for those people around him, they are just pigs and dogs. As long as the trend is favorable to them, they can ignore it even if it is a vengeance for the murder of their father."

(End of this chapter)