Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 295: Meeting in Ye City, Bring More Armored Soldiers

Qi, Jinyong City.

There was snow outside the city, but the official road was still clean.

The woods outside the city were also completely destroyed by the enemy, leaving only tree stumps, making the area outside the city extremely desolate.

The soldiers stood on the city wall, looking into the distance.

At this moment, the generals were leading many knights and standing on the official road, waiting for the triumphant army coming from afar.

If any Zhou person came here and saw these people standing on the official road, he would probably be scared to death.

Duan Shao stood at the front, with Lou Rui and Hulugu Guang on one side, Gao Yanzong, Dugu Yongye, and Huluxian on the other side, and the rest of the knights were basically generals as well, but their status was not as high as the previous ones.

They were all standing here at this moment to welcome Liu Taozi who had come from afar.

After crossing the river from Danzhou, Liu Taozi did not return directly to the border, but went back to Jinyong City.

Of course, he also came to meet these people, and also to discuss some important matters.

Duan Shao stood in the wind, still as gentle, elegant and easy-going as ever, with the same smile on his face.

Huluguang really hates the smile on this guy's face, it's so hypocritical!!
Duan Shao and Hulugu are theoretically of the same generation, but Duan Shao is much older than him, participated in the war earlier, and his military talent is indeed a little ahead, which leads to Hulugu always being suppressed by him. Moreover, their styles are almost opposite. Duan Shao likes stability, while Hulugu likes to rush forward.

Hulugu didn't like him anyway.

Duan Shao did not play with these little guys. He stood alone at the front, stroking his beard gently. Although they were all second-generation in name, he, the second-generation, was on par with the first-generation, that is, Lou Rui. Although they were all relatives and had also participated in the war since childhood, but in terms of merit, Lou Rui had to stand aside.

At this moment, Lou Rui excitedly told Hulugu about the results of this battle.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect Yang Yu to surrender. I heard that many people have suffered at his hands in the past."

Lou Rui was very proud.

Hulugu said, "It was because he was arrogant. He thought you didn't dare to attack, so he set up camp on a flat ground. He didn't send troops to occupy the left and right mountain passes. He just sent some scouts to watch. That's why we were defeated."

"As for surrendering, I think it was probably because this battle had destroyed his spirit."

Lou Rui also agreed with Huluguang's idea, "Anyway, I have already sent the person to Yecheng. I didn't expect such a great achievement to fall into my hands!"

"However, Mingyue's contribution is not small either. He shot and killed Wang Xiong, the Duke of Yong. Tsk, Wang Xiong is much more powerful than Yang Yu, on par with Yang Zhong and others. He died in your hands. What a great contribution."

Hulugu replied: "It was just luck. He was indeed very brave. He attacked from the flank and I was almost defeated. I had to lead my troops to escape in a roundabout way. He chased me closely, so I shot him dead."

"That's why Mingyue's contribution this time is so great."

Lou Rui touched his chin and looked at Guan Dao again, "However, in terms of merit, your son-in-law is the most powerful. We can't compare to him combined."

"He captured three states in a row, killed two important generals, and before returning, he did not forget to severely injure Yuwen Hu. Awesome, awesome."

Lou Rui shook his head and sighed repeatedly.

He looked at Huluguang with some envy, "What a pity, I don't have a daughter."

Hulugu's mouth raised, but soon returned to a solemn look, "He was just lucky. Yang Zhong had few soldiers, and he besieged him with nearly ten times the number of troops, which was a huge sacrifice. Hou Longen was misled by the villain and could not display his power. As for Guanzhong, the troops were empty and there was no commander. Yuwen Hu knew nothing about military affairs."

"That's nothing to praise."

Lou Rui laughed loudly, "If Mingyue doesn't like it, you can give it to me. Although I don't have a daughter, I still have a niece."

Hulugu stopped talking.

On the other side, Gao Yanzong was bragging about his military achievements to everyone.

If it were in the past, everyone would have told the little brat to get lost, but now, they pricked up their ears and listened.

Because Gao Yanzong has already proven his ability. Apart from anything else, this guy can really fight!

How come these two sons of Emperor Wenxiang are both so good at fighting? ?

First it was Gao Changgong, and then it was Gao Yanzong.

It really should not be underestimated.

Just as everyone was talking, a cavalry appeared in the distance.

It is difficult to describe the state of this cavalry.

They formed the simplest long snake formation and marched normally, but the order and momentum could not be hidden at all.

The knights were fully armed, and even the movement of their horses' hooves seemed to be in neat and orderly order. They all leaned forward slightly, looking around with murderous intent. Both sides of their horses were hung with human heads.

Duan Shao's eyes lit up and he stared at the cavalrymen.

The other generals were also staring at them at this moment.

Lou Rui said in astonishment: "No wonder he can accomplish so many things, he is really a strong soldier."

After discovering the people in front, they quickly changed their formation and made a path. Liu Taozi and Gao Changgong walked out from the knights one after another. The knights changed their formation again and the road was blocked.

Duan Shao took the lead in dismounting and walked on foot towards Liu Taozi and others. Seeing Duan Shao dismounting, the others did not dare to continue riding their horses and jumped off and walked towards Liu Taozi.

Of course Liu Taozi also had to step down.

Both sides meet.

"Greetings, Grand Marshal."

Liu Taozi bowed to Duan Shao, who just stared at the knights on the side and said, "Don't disperse this cavalry."

Liu Taozi was stunned, Duan Shao said hurriedly: "With such a strong army, it is best to let them continue to maintain the current size. You can recruit some strong soldiers to join, but don't disperse them to the various armies, otherwise it will be a pity. It is extremely difficult to train such a strong army. They can be used as an important force in the future. If used properly, they can play a very critical role."

"I see."

After Duan Shao finished saying this, he just remembered to return the gift and hurriedly helped Liu Taozi up.

Lou Rui walked forward with a big laugh, "Good boy, good boy!"

"Your Majesty!"

"Hahaha, why bother being so polite to me?"

Lou Rui looked Liu Taozi up and down with some disbelief in his eyes. "I heard from them that you killed Yang Zhong and Hou Longen and went to Chang'an. I couldn't believe it. Later, they said that you ambushed Yuwen Hu's army and killed most of his elite troops. You couldn't even understand the map at that time. Tsk, this is a natural born general!"

"I heard from people that the king was able to defeat a large force with a small number of people and capture Yang Yu alive. I was also extremely surprised."

"Hahaha."

At this time, Hulugu cleared his throat and looked up.

Liu Taozi then looked at him and said, "Greetings, Governor."

"Um???"

"Greetings, my lord."

"Ah."

Gao Yanzong hurried forward and saluted, "Brother!!"

"I have accomplished a great deed this time!!"

"I defeated Yuwen Xian!!"

"I lead the troops"

Once Gao Yanzong started talking, he couldn't stop and began to imitate Lu Gong's behavior. The other generals also hurried forward.

Gao Changgong stood alone in the distance, took off his mask, and watched his younger brother and a group of relatives chatting enthusiastically with Liu Taozi. In the end, he just smiled bitterly.

Dugu Yongye was also standing beside Liu Taozi at this moment. He no longer held his head high as usual, with a smile on his face and a bit of unnaturalness in his eyes. "My lord, if I have offended you in the past, I hope you will not blame me."

The group of nobles who had been very opposed to Liu Taozi in the past were now completely obedient.

Dugu Yongye led his army to defend Jinyong City. He fought to the death against an army of 200,000 and thought he was very powerful. But when he turned around, he saw that the enemy had already marched to Chang'an.

The nobles immediately understood their own position. This group of old Xianbei people had always been like this, only submitting to the strongest person.

Not only Dugu Yongye, but also Duan Shao's Jinyang soldiers and generals no longer regarded Liu Taozi as a big enemy, and they all admired him very much.

If we follow the old Xianbei's alpha wolf system, Liu Taozi specifically asked Duan Shao to give it a try, I guess they wouldn't object.
Gao Changgong waited for a while before Lou Rui noticed him.

"Chang Gong! When did you come?!"

"I just arrived."

"Oh, I was so focused on Taozi that I forgot about you. Come here, come here!"

Lou Rui pulled Gao Changgong aside and started chatting with him with a smile. Duan Shao was still staring at the knights at this moment, and even stepped forward to talk to them.

Lou Rui took Gao Changgong to meet the other people, and Gao Yanzong suddenly realized that his brother was still there!
They all entered the city together.

The soldiers in the city looked at these people with their eyes almost shining.

Everyone walked into the office, Duan Shao sat in the upper seat, and the others sat down again. This time, Liu Taozi's seat was closer to the front. Lou Rui even smiled and asked him to sit in front of him. Liu Taozi changed his usual rules and did not compete with Duan Shao for the upper seat. He sat behind Lou Rui and Hulugu.

Dugu Yongye had already prepared wine and food. The generals sat here, smiling happily.

Lou Rui looked at the people who were laughing and talking about the battle situation, cleared his throat, and drew everyone's attention to himself.

"Hu Changren sent me an imperial edict."

As soon as Lou Rui said this, the original happy atmosphere was immediately interrupted and the smiles on everyone's faces froze instantly.

Even Dugu Yongye looked down on Hu Changren.

No matter how bad Dugu Yongye's personal morality was, at least he knew how to fight and had some blood in his veins.

Dugu Yongye said disdainfully: "This King of Longdong is very proud. Not long ago, he issued an edict to me, wanting his brother to come to Luoyang to succeed me."

"Hahaha, I'll just say there's a rebellion in the area and reject his edict. If I let his brother take over, I don't think we'll need Zhou soldiers, our own people can kill him."

"This guy is so incompetent, he's even worse than Yuwen Hu!!"

Dugu Yongye gave an extremely bad evaluation.

Lou Rui was not angry. He smiled and said, "Hu Changren is certainly not a big deal, but how can we disobey the emperor's order?"

The generals slowly looked at Liu Taozi.

Even Gao Yanzong was like this.

Liu Taozi did not speak, but Huluguang at the side said: "The emperor's edict should be obeyed, but your majesty is young, and the affairs of the court have fallen into the hands of people like Hu Changren. I really don't know whether this edict came from the palace or the Longdong Palace."

Everyone suddenly looked at Hulugu again.

Hulugu's attitude is actually very important. Moreover, unlike a staunch royalist like Duan Shao, it is difficult for anyone to guess Hulugu's true attitude.

On the one hand, he is Liu Taozi's father-in-law and a natural peach supporter.

But on the other hand, he was a founding hero of the Northern Qi Dynasty and had always been a model of loyalty to the emperor. He also had a lot of say among many nobles.

Hulugu did not explain it clearly. He continued, "If Hu Changren controls the government and issues random edicts, we do not have to obey them."

This sentence means different things to different people.

If the emperor issued an edict personally, would you listen?

Everyone pondered for a moment, and Lou Rui spoke again: "The fake Chen is ready to make a move. The court wants me to resign as the Grand Tutor and go south to serve as the governor of Yangzhou and the commander-in-chief of the military affairs of the ten southern states."

"As a royal relative, I have no choice but to obey."

"In addition, he also told me that he was going to promote Zhizhi to the rank of general and commander-in-chief of the military affairs of the ten northern states."

"The Northern Ten States?"

Gao Yanzong was stunned and said disdainfully: "Brother, you have more than ten states under your command now, right? Is this considered a reward?"

"Dingzhou and Jizhou should also be rewarded."

The generals fell silent again.

Duan Shao asked, "What about the rewards for the other generals? I am the last one to arrive, and I have no merit, so I don't deserve any reward. But how will Mingyue, General Dugu, Yanzong, and Changgong be rewarded?"

Lou Rui was a little stunned. "This..."

"It didn't say there would be subsequent rewards."

Dugu Yongye immediately stood up, walked a few steps to Lou Rui, and looked at Lou Rui seriously.

"Your Majesty, I am an old friend of yours, and we have worked together many times in the past. Please tell me the truth, who are the people who have been rewarded?"

Lou Rui looked at everyone and felt a little embarrassed.

"I am here, General Wei."

"and then?"

"Zou Xiaoyu, Zhao Yanshen, Hu Changxing, Gao Wenyao, Lou Dingyuan, Qi Lianmeng"

"I'm fucking cum!!"

Dugu Yongye was furious and interrupted Lou Rui in front of him. He stood up with a ferocious look on his face. He glanced at Lou Rui and Liu Taozi and said, "The King of Dong'an was awarded because he captured Yang Yu, and the King of Pingcheng is even more so. I am convinced that you were awarded!"

"But who the hell are these people behind?!"

"What have they done?"

"I killed the enemy on the front line. My soldiers fought one against a hundred, one against a thousand, and only then was it possible to save Jinyong City from hundreds of thousands of enemy troops. And I can't get a reward for this?!"

Dugu Yongye’s mentality collapsed.

Lou Rui was speechless at this moment. He didn't know what Hu Changren was thinking. Among the first batch of generals and ministers who were rewarded by him, only Lou Rui and Liu Taozi actually participated in the war. The other 18 people who were rewarded were all his own followers. Even he himself was rewarded. He promoted himself to the position of Prime Minister and Recorder of the Secretariat, and increased his fiefdom.

Even King Lou, who usually doesn't behave like a human being, felt that this guy was a little bit inhuman.

How can it be so messed up?
Looking at the furious Dugu Yongye, Duan Shao was somewhat helpless, "General Dugu, please don't be angry. I will go back to Yecheng and ask about this matter truthfully."

"We will never let those meritorious soldiers suffer any injustice."

Dugu Yongye looked at Duan Shao, wanting to say something but stopping himself, and could only sit down angrily.

Gao Yanzong suddenly asked, "Didn't I get any reward either?"

Lou Rui did not answer.

He sneered and suddenly looked at Liu Taozi beside him, "Brother, can you lend me your several thousand cavalrymen?"

"Nonsense!!"

"what you up to?!"

Gao Changgong immediately stood up and looked at his brother unhappily.

Gao Yanzong did not back down in the face of his brother. He cursed: "This bastard, when we faced a powerful enemy before, we ignored him, so he thought he had the power. If he can take charge of the government, why can't I?"

Gao Changgong was so angry that his face turned red and he couldn't speak.

Duan Shao looked at everyone, and finally looked at Liu Taozi, "Prince Pingcheng, what do you think should be done about the affairs of the court?"

Liu Taozi's face was full of indifference, "Hu Changren, you are a villain."

As soon as these words were spoken, the generals immediately became energized. Dugu Yongye, Gao Yanzong and others were eager to try and were just waiting for the general to speak.

Gao Changgong didn't dare to refute and his face was full of confusion.

Liu Taozi looked at Lou Rui, "If Your Majesty wants to go to the south, I can't stop you. However, Your Majesty, please don't have too much contact with people like Hu Changren, otherwise, you will be harmed by him!!"

It was the first time that Lou Rui felt threatened by Liu Taozi. When Liu Taozi said this, his brows were furrowed, and he was not polite at all as usual.

Lou Rui pursed his lips, "I understand."

Liu Taozi looked at Duan Shao again, "Grand Marshal, please allocate an army and give it to Yanzong."

Gao Yanzong was overjoyed and a familiar silly smile appeared on his face.

"Let him go and assist Dazai Gao Yan."

"The Prime Minister is a generous person and is close to everyone. If Yanzong and his brothers can stay around the Prime Minister, the affairs of the court may be more normal. At least, such absurd things will not happen again."

Liu Taozi looked at Gao Yanzong again, "Yanzong, if you go to Yecheng, don't interfere in government affairs, just train your troops and read more military tactics."

"Don't attend the banquet of the ministers, don't meet anyone alone, just stay in the training ground. If you hear any news that may be unfavorable to the Prime Minister, you will send troops to kill Hu Changren and others, and don't spare any of them. You can also tell others in Yecheng that whoever dares to harm the Prime Minister will be executed. If you fail to do so, I will lead the troops to do it."

Everyone shuddered.

Gao Changgong sighed and closed his eyes.

Gao Yanzong was so happy that he quickly stood up and bowed to Liu Taozi, "Brother, don't worry!"

"I don't understand government affairs, but I know how to kill people!"

"If this guy dares to harm my uncle, I will kill his entire family and make sure no one is left alive!"

Duan Shao hesitated for a moment, then slowly let go of his hand.

"it is good."

Duan Shao nodded, and the matter was settled.

Liu Taozi looked at Dugu Yongye and said, "General Dugu, please don't be angry. We didn't get along in the past because you broke the law by occupying farmland. But this time, you have made real military achievements. Mistakes are mistakes, and military achievements are military achievements. I still don't like you, and I may not be close to you in the future, but this time, I will take back all the merits you and your subordinates have made."

Dugu Yongye was stunned, and suddenly felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.

He stood up slowly without saying anything.

He just bowed deeply to Liu Taozi.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)