Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 278: Heavenly Genius
The court meeting convened by Zu Ting ended successfully.

Zu Ting stood in the upper seat with a smile on his face, while Wei Shou, Lu Sidao and others came forward and surrounded him.

If a temporary office could be established, these old ministers would undoubtedly be the most comfortable.

Wei Shou stood beside Zu Ting with a smile on his face. "Grandpa, this idea is really brilliant. It's brilliant!"

"Hahaha, if the border officials collectively petitioned, it wouldn't be General Wei forcing the emperor to abdicate, and the imperial court wouldn't dare to refuse. But if they wanted to send someone to take the position, who would dare to take the position?"

"Unless Gao Yu is sent here, however, if Gao Yu can come, then we will accept it! If Gao Yu comes to this office, it will be hard to say which of the two Shangshutai is real and which is fake!"

Wei Shou was quite old and had a great reputation. In General Wei’s mansion, everyone who saw him had to call him Duke Wei.

He offended many forces in Yecheng and became a commoner. He was unable to resume his post even after arriving at General Wei's Mansion. The main reason was that there was no position suitable for him. His qualifications were too great and he could not be given a minor official position, nor could he afford a major official position.

If there was a Xingtai, he would accept it even if he was given the title of Shangshu. He only wanted the title of Shangshu, and the real power could be given to the left and right chancellors. He would not get involved.

Lu Sidao had the same idea.

Zu Ting looked at Wei Shou. Although this man was a flatterer, he still had some talent.

He contributed a lot to the new department this time.

However, Zu Ting still reminded him, and said slowly: "Duke Wei, once this is accomplished, you will be able to return to your post immediately, and perhaps your future achievements will be greater than before."

"However, you must remember that of the people who came to Wuchuan from Yecheng, only a few of you are left now, so you must not dare to break the law."

Wei Shou nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Zu Ting left with a big laugh. Lu Sidao waited until he was far away before he let out a long sigh.

"Oh, I hope it works. Although I get a salary, I don't have an official position. I just stay in this general's mansion and there's nothing to do."

He looked at Wei Shou helplessly and said dimly, "You shouldn't have advised me in the first place."

When Liu Taozi convened the first court meeting, Lu Sidao had already begun to waver.

He wanted to escape at that time, but Wei Shou pushed him once, making him afraid to speak.

Even now, the situation has not improved at all, and various bans are quite unfriendly to these celebrities.

Many of the people who had followed them at the beginning, two of them were even executed for robbing women. As for the rest, some were caught after escaping, and some were caught for various minor problems. In short, only these few people have survived until now.

Lu Sidao regretted it very much at this moment, but he didn't dare to escape.

Looking at the other person's eyes, Wei Shou was very displeased.

"I thought you had understood it, but you still insist on not changing your ways. Are you blaming me?"

Wei Shou snorted coldly, "General Wei will do great things sooner or later. Even if he fails to achieve the last step, the land of Hebei will belong to him. Fan Yanglu, come on, guess why your people were not exterminated like other big families, and why they were able to survive after sharing the punishment?"

Lu Sidao was stunned, his eyes a little surprised.

"Do you think it's because your clan has less evidence than others?"

"I still think you guys did too good a job, and General Wei's Mansion can't find out?"

Wei Shou cursed, "Isn't it because you have made some contributions in the General Wei's mansion that I have spared you some face and not killed you?"

"You dare to blame me now?"

"If you find this kind of life boring, write to General Wei tomorrow and tell him that you are seriously ill and unable to work, and that you want to go home to recuperate. I want to see what Fan Yanglu will become in the future."

At this moment, Lu Sidao suddenly woke up.

He suddenly grabbed Wei Shou's hand, his eyes full of gratitude.

"I am stupid! Thank you, Lord Wei! Thank you, Lord Wei!!"

Wei Shou looked at him unhappily. This guy had wanted to back out from the beginning. He helped him because he was a good writer, but he didn't wait for him to thank him. But he was still blaming himself in his heart? ?
No wonder he was able to leak secrets and was kicked out of the Zhongshutai!

Lu Sidao's face turned red and he just kept thanking her.

At the door, Wang Xi, Xian'an, Yuan Xiu Bo, Tang Yong and four other people walked out one after another.

If a mobile office can be set up, these people will also be the beneficiaries.

But these people did not show any obvious happiness.

Yuan Xiu Bo said slowly: "Zu Ting summoned us here this time to prepare us to fight against the temple."

Yuan Xiu Bo was different from Tang Yong and Wei Shou. They were not driven out by others. Instead, they decided to leave the quagmire and actually do something.

They could not accept changes in their positions as easily as Wei Shou and others.

Zu Ting's meeting was obviously to inform everyone that from now on, the imperial court would be regarded as the enemy and they would compete with them.
These people are still somewhat conflicted.

Wang Xi said softly at this moment; "A villain like Hu Changren controls the government, and a man like the Prince of Zhao died outside. I think there is no need to worry about it."

"Hu Changren is not without talent. When Emperor Xiao Zhao was still alive, he thought he could be promoted."

"But this man has no morals at all. He opposed He Shikai only because He Shikai was too powerful and he was jealous. He is an ambitious and short-sighted person."

Tang Yong agreed with Wang Xi's statement, which was more direct.

"The government is hopeless. All of them are incompetent and mediocre."

"Government orders cannot reach the local level at all. Everything is just empty talk and remains within the three platforms."

"After the Equal Field Order was implemented, the only place where it was enforced was Yecheng. This is because King Pengcheng has his eyes fixed on Yecheng. This temple has long been the seat of government for Yecheng. Outside of Yecheng, it is nothing."

"It has long been in name only."

Xian'an smiled bitterly, "Mr. Tang is the one who dares to say it."

"What am I afraid to say? When I was in Ye City, I tried three methods but failed to deal with a group of traitors who were reselling weapons. I knew it then."

"You can call me a traitor, but I accept it. The government has been in decline for a long time. It was not during the time of Hu Changren, but even earlier. I think it was when Prime Minister Yang was killed."

Hearing this, Wang Xi subconsciously refuted: "It was not like this during the time of Emperor Xiao Zhao."

Tang Yong did not argue with him. "Anyway, this is the situation now. No matter when it started, it can't be fixed. Hurry up and write a petition to set up an office so that we can do more practical things. This year is good and it should be a bumper year. Next year, let's see if we can get the other states in. Hebei should belong to General Wei. Jizhou and Dingzhou are such good places. But they have governed such a mess and yet they sent some villains to serve as local governors."

The others didn't dare to speak.

They just walked out of the office.

And there was another group of people who were walking towards the North Platform at this moment.

Cui Gang, Chu Jiande, Tian Zilie and others surrounded Lu Qubing and were also discussing this matter intensely.

"Are you a little too hasty?"

Cui Gang was a little worried. "My brother is away at the battlefield, and Zu Ting has been entrusted with important matters. Zu Ting is impatient, and I'm afraid he didn't discuss these matters with my brother and made the decisions on his own!"

"We can't fall out with the imperial court yet. Not to mention that most of our food and supplies depend on Lou Rui and others, there are still many royal families under our rule. If we fall out with them, how will they cope?"

"Let's not talk about anything else. What should Lanling Wang do here?"

Lu Qubing gently stroked his chin, "This is a matter of time. Sooner or later, we will fall out with the imperial court, and there may even be a war. Lanling Wang cannot be unaware of this."

"If you worry about these things, there is no need to continue with the big things."

"If there really comes a day when I have to meet Lanling Wang and his men in battle, for the sake of great things, I will have no choice but to fight him."

He raised his head with a determined look in his eyes, "The world has become so corrupt. General Wei is creating a great cause to save the people. No matter who we are enemies with or who stands in our way, we must not retreat and must fight to the end!"

Chu Jiande sighed, "Prince Lanling has always attached great importance to Da Qi. I'm afraid he will be particularly entangled this time. I really don't want to be his enemy."

"It's not just Prince Lanling. There are many people in the court, including Lou Rui. If we really want to go to war with the court, I'm afraid they will all stand up."

Tian Zili said, "But just as Lord Lu said, we can't hesitate now. Even if we have to make everyone our enemy, we must continue to move forward. We can't hesitate."

At this moment, everyone has made clear their future plans.

Change the dynasty and establish a new world.

There is no need to say more about this point, it is the consensus in everyone's mind.

They felt both excited and a little nervous. This nervousness was not due to their lack of confidence in themselves, but because they did not want to go through some painful fights.

The atmosphere became a little serious, and Chu Jiande interrupted it by saying, "Why hasn't the lord come back yet? Do you still want to occupy Lingzhou?" Shiya Mountain City.

Liu Taozi, wearing armor, stood on the city wall, looking at the Zhou army in the distance.

The Zhou people's support arrived late. They were unwilling to let Liu Taozi go, but they did not dare to attack. So they kept running back and forth around, as if they wanted to capture Liu Taozi's grain transport convoy, and as if they wanted to show the people of Chang'an how hard they were working.

However, Liu Taozi did not take these reinforcements too seriously.

They don't dare to fight against themselves directly.

The Zhou people are now preparing for the great war in autumn. They didn’t even dare to attack after Yongfeng was captured, let alone it’s just a stone cliff?
Their current actions seem to be for Chang'an to see.

Pretend.

Many generals stood on Liu Taozi's left and right, looking at the Zhou army in the distance. Some of these generals were surrendered Zhou people. When they saw their own army, they were filled with mixed emotions.

Potala Ku said with a smile: "Brother, it's disgusting to see these people wandering around like this. Why don't you let me go out and beat them up once!"

"No need, just let them swing."

Liu Taozi said calmly.

“I don’t know what they are shaking.”

"They are afraid that the general will rob the food line"

"what?"

Potala turned his head and looked at Shi Jing who had spoken, "What did you say?"

Shi Jing hesitated for a moment before bowing to Liu Taozi and saying, "General, all places are transporting food to the front, including Lianggan. From Lianggan to Lingzhou, the road is mostly desert and there are no garrisons. Because it is in the hinterland and is protected by foreign troops, there are not many guards."

"The Zhou people are worried that the general will attack this route, or even lead troops to attack Liang and Gan. There are not many guards in these two places now. The troops have been transferred to the front, and the local soldiers have gone to transport food and grass. A large area of ​​the city is empty. If the general leads the elite cavalry and carries enough food and grass, he can move freely in and out of Liangzhou, causing great casualties, and finally return to Yongfeng from the north."

"They are staying here because they are afraid that the general will go straight to Liang Gan."

In this era dominated by cavalry, this kind of light cavalry long-distance raid combat method was also extremely common. There were also people who used cavalry to successively conquer dozens of cities, causing huge casualties and then retreated.

As Potala listened to Shi Jing's words, his eyes gradually brightened.

He asked in surprise: "There is such a thing?"

Even Liu Taozi couldn't help but look at him a few more times at this moment, "General Shi, you just said that there are many deserts along the way and the journey is long. Can the cavalry pass safely?"

Shi Jing wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Actually, this is not what I thought."

"Whose idea was that?"

Shi Jing looked at the generals around him and said, "I met an old man a few days ago. I heard that he was a participant in the war in the past. When I talked to him, he accidentally mentioned..."

"Where is the old man?"

"I don't know."

"What a pity! This old man must be a strange person living in seclusion!!"

Potala sighed.

Liu Taozi looked at the guilty Shi Jing again, and asked the generals to go back and prepare to leave, but he stopped Shi Jing and asked him to accompany him back to the office.

The two walked on the road one after the other. Shi Jing finally couldn't help it and said hurriedly: "My lord, I just lied, please forgive me."

"I know."

"Is it your son?"

"How did the Lord know?"

"I saw your son that day. He was quite extraordinary."

Shi Jing smiled bitterly and explained, "My son is indeed quite clever. He has always liked to talk about strategy and military affairs. But there were so many people around, so I didn't dare to speak directly."

"Shi Wansui, that's a good name."

"He has been in poor health since childhood, so I gave him this name. I hope he can live a long life. Now he is strong."

Liu Taozi nodded, "Is he still studying?"

"I don't study anymore. I just practice swordplay and horsemanship at home on weekdays."

"Call him over. I want to talk to him about military matters."

Shi Jing was shocked, "General, my child is not qualified to discuss military affairs with you,

"No problem, I just think this kid has talent and I want to test him."

After hearing this, Shi Jing felt relieved. He hurriedly sent someone to his home to take the boy to the government office.

The two men returned to the office. Liu Taozi looked at the documents and reviewed a few copies, and then Shi Wansui was brought to them.

Shi Wansui was very tall and handsome, with a faint smile on his face, revealing his fangs. Unlike the domineering young man like Gao Yanzong, he looked very polite.

"Meet the General!"

"Meet the Father!!"

Shi Wansui bowed and met the two of them. Liu Taozi looked up, examined the little guy, and motioned him to sit aside.

After Shi Wansui expressed his gratitude, he sat aside. He looked up at his father and blinked at him. Shi Jing's face turned dark.

"From what your grandfather said, do you think we can attack Liang Gan?"

"General, you don't know that my grandfather has always been indulgent to me and allowed me to talk about important matters at will. I just talk nonsense. How can I understand the matter of marching and fighting?"

Liu Taozi nodded again and looked at Shi Jing who was standing beside him. "Good teaching."

Shi Jing just smiled awkwardly, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, General."

Liu Taozi then looked at him and said, "Then I will indulge you this time. Tell me, can you attack Liang Gan?"

Shi Wansui cleared his throat and imitated his grandfather's usual behavior, "General, I don't think it's possible now."

"Oh? Why?"

"What we can predict, Duke Sui cannot fail to predict. He may have already set an ambush for us. If we attack now, it will definitely not be effective."

"Oh, then when do you think we can send out troops?"

"When the Duke of Jin leads his army to attack the south, we can send troops."

"Although the Duke of Jin has assembled a large army this time, he is the commander-in-chief himself. I think he will definitely lose. He does not know how to fight, nor how to use generals. He is best at government affairs, but if he uses government ideas when fighting, he will definitely be defeated. However, he has many capable generals around him, so he will not be defeated. However, once the Duke of Jin is defeated, the Duke of Sui will naturally not dare to win."

"Oh? You don't dare to win? Why?"

Shi Wansui laughed, "General, why do you have to ask again? Duke Jin is narrow-minded. My grandfather talked back to him and was thrown into this small place. Duke Jin is going to be defeated, and the one he fears most is Duke Sui. When the time comes, we can launch a small attack and expand our victory."

"You just said that we can't treat military affairs the same as state affairs, but what you are saying now is to treat military affairs the same as state affairs, right?"

"General, I don't understand state affairs. I just see state affairs as part of military affairs and can be used for military purposes. But if we treat military affairs with the same eyes as we treat state affairs, I think we will definitely fail."

Liu Taozi slowly looked at Shi Jing standing beside her.

"Your son."

"A genius."

"If you teach with your heart, you will become a great general."

Liu Taozi looked at Shi Wansui and asked, "Are you willing to stay with me?"

Shi Wansui quickly stood up and said, "Yes! Yes!"

"General, I can replace my father as the cavalry commander! I will protect you by your side!!"

ps: So Wansui was appointed as the general commander of the march, and led the troops to attack them. Entering from Qinglong River, passing Nongdong, passing Xiaobonong and Dabonong, and reaching Nanzhong. The bandits camped in the key points, and Wansui defeated them all. After walking for hundreds of miles, he saw Zhuge Liang's monument to his achievements, and the inscription on the back said: After Wansui, those who defeat me will pass here. Wansui ordered his men to overturn the monument and advance. Crossing the West Two Rivers, entering Qulan River, walking for more than a thousand miles, defeating more than 30 tribes, and capturing more than 20,000 men and women. The barbarians were greatly frightened and sent envoys to surrender and offer pearls one inch in diameter. So he engraved a stone to praise the virtues of Sui. Wansui sent envoys to report to the court, and the emperor granted it.

At the end of the Kaihuang era, the Turkic Khan Datou invaded the border. Datou sent an envoy to ask, "Who is the Sui general?" The scout replied, "It is Shi Wansui." The Turkic asked again, "Is it not the Dunhuang garrison?" The scout replied, "Yes." Datou heard about it and was frightened and left. Wansui chased after him for more than a hundred miles and finally caught up with him. He defeated him and killed several thousand people. He chased him northward for hundreds of miles into the desert. The captives fled and returned. ———"Book of Sui·Biography of Shi Wansui"

(End of this chapter)