Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 358 It’s a bit ugly

Jinyang.

There were flames all over the city and screams were heard everywhere.

There were hurried footsteps on the road and screams as the door was smashed.

Inside the courtyard, many warriors were holding weapons, looking vigilantly in the direction of the gate, their faces pale and trembling.

There were many warriors armed with powerful crossbows around, occupying advantageous terrain and pointing their weapons at several entrances.

In the inner room, a group of people gathered around Zhao Yanshen, talking.

Compared to everyone's panic, Zhao Yanshen's expression was relatively calm.

He sat there, his expression unchanged.

His son, Zhao Zhongjiang, was standing right in front of him, his voice trembling.

"Father, run, find a way to escape from here."

"Someone started to attack our mansion last night. We are still too few in number. Let's run away first!"

The other disciples and guests also nodded.

"Mr. Zhao, if we don't run now, it will be too late."

"I sent people to check outside. There was chaos inside and outside the city. There was no order. Soldiers were looting everywhere. Many generals were killed. There were constant shouts of killing in the palace!"

"We have to find a way to leave!"

Everyone tried to persuade him.

After Duan Shao secretly ran away with the emperor, the whole of Jinyang began to fall into chaos. Following Duan Shao's instructions, Zhao Yanshen tried his best to appease many generals, thinking of taking them to Liu Taozi as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, he was facing a group of old Xianbei.

The old Xianbei people never cared about the future, but only the present.

When they learned that Duan Shao and the emperor had left and there was a loss of military power in Jinyang, the generals immediately became restless and wanted to take Duan Shao's position and become the head of Jinyang.

She Diluo was the first to take action.

He gathered everyone together in the name of discussing important matters, and then forced them to submit to him. Then a fight broke out, and some died and some were injured. When they learned that their commander had been killed, their officers and soldiers also began to attack each other.

The shortage of food and fodder exacerbated the chaos.

In just a short period of time, the entire Jinyang became this horrible state.

The Jinyang soldiers under the command of various military leaders fought each other. Some Jinyang soldiers who could not get food and grass came out to make trouble. They began to kill people crazily and loot everywhere. The whole Jinyang turned into hell in an instant.

Civil officials such as Zhao Yanshen could not play any role in this situation. They could only close the door and hope for the best.

Those ministers who rushed forward to appease the rebellious soldiers had all their heads dried up by the wind.

Zhao Yanshen sighed deeply.

He looked at the people in front of him who were terrified. It was normal to be afraid.

These crazy people in Jinyang started to cause chaos, and no general was able to suppress them in time, so everyone was afraid of them.

Some things were beyond Zhao Yanshen's expectations, and perhaps even beyond Duan Shao's expectations.

Zhao Yanshen originally thought that the generals, who were short of food and had lost their commander, would not object to following him to join Liu Taozi.

After all, Liu Taozi also has considerable prestige among the Jinyang soldiers.

However, he still underestimated the desires of these lunatics.

When they learned that Duan Shao was gone, their first thought was to seize Duan Shao's position.

No matter how many days I can be the Grand Marshal, I will just do it first.

Then, a huge internal melee broke out. Jinyang, where the old Xianbei were most concentrated, was massacred by their own people. There were fire and screams everywhere.

Zhao Yanshen looked at them and whispered, "When Duan Shao left, the general's men must have known about the situation in Jinyang."

"I think they may have already engaged those disorderly soldiers outside the city."

"Don't be afraid. Stay in the mansion. It would be dangerous if you leave rashly."

Everyone lowered their heads, fidgeting restlessly, like a frightened bird; some of the timid ones even began to wipe away their tears.

Zhao Yanshen closed his eyes again.

Duan Shao successfully escaped, and chaos broke out in Jinyang.

All the planning he had done for so many years was torn to pieces just when it was about to succeed.

Zhao Yanshen couldn't help but smile bitterly.

As expected, am I still not suitable for doing big things?
At this moment, the warriors in the courtyard suddenly started shouting again, and the sound of banging on the door was faintly heard. The hearts of everyone in the house rose to their throats, and they drew their swords tremblingly.

"let me go!"

"Let me go~~"

There were cries of grief coming from the village, and the surrounding houses were all ablaze with fire.

There were many corpses lying on the ground, and a soldier was holding a woman and walking out of the fire with laughter.

On a dead tree in the distance, a crow flapped its wings in fear and fled in a hurry.

The rebel soldiers piled up all the living and dead women they found together, and a few others went to search along the way. Those in charge of guarding had already begun to lay down their weapons and take off their clothes.

The ground began to tremble slightly.

The rebel soldiers didn't care and were just immersed in venting their animal desires.

With the sound of neighing of war horses, a cavalry rushed out from a distant path.

The moment these knights came out, they began to draw their bows and shoot arrows.

"Swish swish~~"

"Pfft~~"

A round of arrows killed all the soldiers who stayed here. Almost no arrows missed the target, and every one of them hit the enemy.

There were cries of surprise from not far away. The soldiers, who were carrying many packages of different sizes on their backs, saw these knights and quickly raised their weapons.

The knights galloped past and faced these chaotic soldiers.

A moment later, more than a dozen soldiers fell down and were buried in the sea of ​​fire they had ignited.

The knights began to check on the village women.

More and more troops appeared from the path.

There are cavalry and infantry.

The army hurried past along the small road, and scouts came back to report the situation.

Yao Xiong rode a tall warhorse and walked at the front of the army.

His face was gloomy and his eyes were flashing with anger.

There was another person riding a horse beside him, it was Gao Yanzong.

Yao Xiong and he looked at the burned village and the corpses everywhere.

Yao Xiong said viciously: "Sometimes, I really want to write to my brother and ask him not to recover the Jinyang troops. It is not too much to kill all these soldiers."

Gao Yanzong looked a little embarrassed. He said, "This is how rebel soldiers are. No matter who they are from, once they rebel against the barracks and leave their officers, they will become the most ferocious bandits. It has nothing to do with whether they are from Jinyang or not."

"The soldiers of Jinyang are the sharpest blades in the world. They are good at following orders and will behave like their commander."

"As long as they are fed and well-fed, they will not hesitate to attack Chang'an immediately."

Yao Xiong was still very angry. "I didn't encounter many of the brave Jinyang soldiers you mentioned along the way. Instead, I encountered many bandits."

"They are not only causing trouble in Jinyang, but also running around. If I hadn't made arrangements to block these beasts on all sides, I don't know to what extent Bingzhou would have been harmed!"

Gao Yanzong did not answer, but just shook his head regretfully.

After letting Duan Shao escape, Yao Xiong led his troops near Jinyang, contacted Lao Tian, ​​and prepared to recapture Jinyang.

But then internal strife broke out in Jinyang. The generals killed each other, and a large number of defeated soldiers fled, becoming a ragtag army without officers, burning, killing and looting. Yao Xiong had no choice but to deploy the surrounding defense lines first, trying to reduce the harm caused by the ragtag soldiers, and then lead his men to encircle and suppress the rebellious Jinyang soldiers.

As they got closer to Jinyang, they encountered more and more disorderly soldiers, rebellious soldiers, and even soldiers killing each other.

If he encountered an army that still had an organization but was killing each other, Yao Xiong would let Gao Yanzong step in.

Gao Yanzong still had some status in Jinyang. Faced with these Jinyang soldiers who had no commander and were led by officers, he could use his personal prestige to make them surrender and return to the settlements arranged for them.

If the problem cannot be solved by personal prestige, then it can be solved by killing the rebel general in battle.

But if you encounter a group of chaotic soldiers who have completely lost their order and are burning, killing and looting, you should just shoot them to death.

Yao Xiong led his troops to continue advancing.

Going further ahead is Jinyang City.

Just by looking at what he saw along the way, Yao Xiong could imagine what Jinyang was like at that moment.

"kill!!!"

Just after passing through the small path, we arrived at the official road leading to Jinyang.

Yao Xiong and others saw two armies fighting in the distance.

Both armies were large in size, with several thousand people. One group of them occupied the post houses beside the official road and put up resistance around the post houses and the dense woods. There were many archers on the roofs, shooting the enemies rushing towards them.

The charging force was mostly composed of cavalry, running back and forth and shooting arrows.

Yao Xiong's face turned dark, and Gao Yanzong hurriedly said: "General Yao, don't do anything yet, I will go and persuade them." Gao Yanzong rode his horse out and rushed towards them.

Gao Yanzong rushed into the battle array of both sides. He looked around and saw the flags in the distance. He suddenly shouted, "Ke Baqing!! Kezhu Hunque!! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Get out of here!!"

Gao Yanzong's roar was like thunder.

For a moment, the knights around him couldn't help but slow down.

"stop!!"

Someone shouted loudly, and the cavalrymen who were charging in groups began to slow down, gradually retreat, and quickly line up on both sides.

Gao Yanzong faced these people alone, with no fear on his face, holding a lance and looking fiery.

"Ke Baqing!! You bastard?! Where are you hiding?!"

A moment later, a general rushed out from among the knights. The general was not very old, and looked only a few years older than Gao Yanzong. His armor was stained with blood.

He rushed to Gao Yanzong and looked at him in disbelief.

"My Lord?!"

"is it you?!"

"Why, before it was just your legs that were weak, now your eyes are blind too?!"

The general dismounted from his horse and rushed to Gao Yanzong, saluted him, and then said with red eyes, "Your Majesty!"

"My general was killed by the rebels. We are all without support and food."

Gao Yanzong looked into the distance and saw those people still watching with eager eyes.

"Kezhu Hunque! Damn it, get out of here!"

Gao Yanzong shouted angrily again.

A moment later, a man rode out from the enemy side. After seeing who was coming, he sped up and dismounted when he got close to Gao Yanzong.

"Your Majesty!!"

Kezhu Hunque looked angrily at Ke Baqing who was standing beside him.

"My king! You have to make the decision for me. This guy is a rebel. He even dared to bring people to ambush me and try to steal my military rations!!"

"Asshole! You were the first one to do it!"

The two were about to quarrel, and Gao Yanzong stopped them again.

"Look at how you look, it's really a shame!"

"They are all old people from Jinyang. They used to eat, drink and sleep together. But now that the Grand Marshal is gone, they have turned against each other and killed each other, allowing the defeated soldiers to slaughter their fellow countrymen!!"

"Is this how you lead the Jinyang soldiers?!"

The two generals immediately lowered their heads, looking somewhat ugly.

But he didn't dare to say anything.

Gao Yanzong signaled them to follow him and led them back.

The two followed Gao Yanzong on the left and right. "I have already submitted to the general. When the general learned about the chaos in Jinyang, he had already led his troops to Jinyang. Fortunately, you met me. If you had met the general, would he still allow you to be so presumptuous?"

The two looked at each other, and Ke Baqing asked hurriedly: "Your Majesty, but the Grand Marshal has issued a letter saying that the general."

"Why? You still want to fight the general?"

"How dare you, how dare you."

"Duan Shao has already left. From now on, the general will have the final say on the area north of the river, and all the Jinyang soldiers will belong to him."

"You two should pay your respects to General Yao Xiong first."

Gao Yanzong took them to meet Yao Xiong. Although Yao Xiong looked very unhappy, he did not make things difficult for the two generals. Gao Yanzong then asked Yao Xiong to send a group of people to take the two men to different places for resettlement.

Gao Yanzong held them back and whispered, "Behave yourself! Food and drink will be arranged for you when you arrive. If anyone dares to cause trouble for me again, I will chop him up first and then let the wizard curse him so that he will not rest in peace even after his death!"

The two were frightened and agreed again.

Gao Yanzong sent away two groups of people in this way, with a helpless look on his face.

"These two people have followed me to Yecheng in the past. At that time, they were my capable men. Our relationship is not very good, but we are old acquaintances. I didn't expect that..."

"If I had known earlier, I would have kidnapped Duan Shao and taken him with me. I never thought he would do such a thing."

"He had been stationed in Jinyang for many years, but he didn't care at all and allowed the rebels to wreak havoc."

Yao Xiong raised his head and looked towards the city in the distance where flames were rising to the sky.

"When we first learned that Duan Shao had left, many people in the country were still discussing how to deal with these military leaders stationed in Jinyang."

"Now it seems that we don't have to solve the problem. They can solve the problem themselves."

Yao Xiong took something out of his arms and threw it to Gao Yanzong in front of him.

Gao Yanzong took it hurriedly, looked down, and was a little surprised.

"This is??"

"This is the tiger talisman of the Bingzhou Army."

"I will leave the Bingzhou army to you to command. You should lead them in front and restore order to the Jinyang soldiers as soon as possible and appease the people in various places."

Gao Yanzong was a little surprised. Yao Xiong, who was going to attack Jinyang, was holding two tiger talismans in his hands, and both the Shuozhou and Bingzhou soldiers were under his command.

The two had known each other in the past, but when they met this time, their relationship was not that close. Their attitudes and positions towards the Jinyang soldiers were different.

Gao Yanzong asked in confusion: "There are other people in the army, why let me lead the army?"

"I don't like Jinyang soldiers, and I don't like you that much either."

"But my brother once told me that you can correct your mistakes, are brave and strong, and have the talent to be a great general."

"I listen to my brother. He is never wrong."

"Since you have the talent of a great general, come and help me put an end to this mess as soon as possible."

Gao Yanzong shook the tiger talisman in his hand and then put it into his sleeve.

He looked at Yao Xiong solemnly.

"The general was not wrong."

He looked at several officers, motioned them to follow him, and immediately charged towards the city.

Yao Xiong looked at the rest of the people and said, "Quickly deploy troops at several city gates of Jinyang to prevent these people from escaping!"

The two men assigned the tasks and went to do their work.

Yao Xiong assigned his soldiers to the vicinity of each city gate and asked them to find favorable terrain, dig trenches on the spot, and set up fortifications to prevent the enemy from entering or leaving the city.

Compared to Yao Xiong, who had complicated tasks to do, Gao Yanzong had very simple things to do.

Rush forward and stab to death the disobedient one.

Gao Yanzong led a light cavalry and headed straight for Jinyang City.

Whenever he encountered an army along the way, he would first warn them and demand their surrender. If the other party was unwilling or showed contempt, Gao Yanzong would lead his troops to attack directly.

Although the Jinyang soldiers were strong, they had lost their general to organize them and were directly attacked by Gao Yanzong, so they were unable to hold their ground.

Gao Yanzong is of the same nature as Xiao Mohe, tall and fat, with immense strength. When fighting, he is like a mad bull, always at the forefront, charging into anyone he sees. The fat boy was born with supernatural powers, and after years of training, he seems to be better than his brother in terms of martial arts alone.

Most ordinary generals were killed by Gao Yanzong after meeting him.

Occasionally there were a few who could hold out for a round. Relying on his abnormal physical fitness, this agile fat man covered in flesh stabbed down one rebel general after another.

And more and more people are willing to follow him.

Gao Yanzong fearlessly charged into Jinyang from the east gate and out from the west gate, with human heads hanging on both sides of his horse.

Then they turned around and fought back to clear the streets again.

Yao Xiong stood at the city gate, watching nearly 10,000 rebels in the city being chased around by Gao Yanzong.

These Jinyang soldiers, who were usually so powerful, now only regretted that they had only two legs. They were chased from the East Gate to the West Gate, and then from the West Gate along the outer wall to the North Gate.

Gao Yanzong only gave the enemy one chance. If they didn't surrender, they would be hunted down and killed. It would be too late to surrender then.

Yao Xiong was stunned for a long time when he saw the fat man driving the Jinyang soldiers around like sheep.

Even though he's ugly, he's a damn good fighter!

Zhao Yanshen walked out of the door tremblingly.

The streets were littered with corpses.

The strong smell of blood hit his face.

There were only a hundred or so riders in this sea of ​​blood and corpses. The leader was completely red, as if he had swam in blood. Even his eyes were red, and he was staring at Zhao Yanshen.

The younger generations around Zhao Yanshen were so scared that they fell to the ground, and they didn't dare to face each other.

Zhao Yanshen stared at the man in front of him for a long time before he recognized him!

"King Ander?!"

Gao Yanzong wiped the blood off his face, revealing his rebellious face.

He looked at Zhao Yanshen in front of him with contempt, "Old Zhao? Are you still alive?"

ps: I’m having a little writer’s block, and I’m not very satisfied with the writing of the second chapter. I’ll revise it and post it again tomorrow, and then update three more chapters to complete it!
(End of this chapter)